zambak_IT_windows7
.pdf
WINDOWS 7
CHAPTER 1
OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 7 is an operating system. An operating system is a collection of programs (software) that controls computer's hardware devices, interact with programs, as well as the way the computer responds to your commands. Here is what an operating system does:
Controls Hardware
Windows controls all devices of your computer system. It makes graphics and text appear on your monitor, and makes your mouse point and click.
Runs Programs
Windows runs all your programs. Without Windows, your word processor (WordPad, Notepad, Microsoft Word etc.), Web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera etc.), and games wouldn't work. Windows lets your programs talk to your hardware, for example, your word processor can print documents to the printer or your modem communicates and you can surf on the Internet by using your Web browsers.
Organizes Files
Windows stores information in files and folders on your computer's storage units such as hard disk, flashcards or floppy, just like you store files and folders in a filing cabinet.
Think of Operating System as an orchestra conductor who makes sure all the parts of your computer, your hardware and programs work together. What makes operating systems special is its ability to make computer operations easy. With Windows, all you have to do is point and click to do something much, much easier.
Programs are tools that help you perform certain tasks. Whenever you work with your computer, you are using Windows 7 either directly or indirectly through another program, such as Windows Explorer.
Windows gets its name from all the cute little windows it places on your monitor. Each window shows information, such as a picture, a program that you're running, or a baffling technical reprimand. You can put several windows on-screen at the same time and jump from window to window, visiting different programs. You can also enlarge a window to fill the entire screen.
Before you install Windows 7 you must consider the following steps:
Make sure your hardware components meet the minimum requirements.
Obtain compatible hardware and software, such as upgrade packs and device drivers.
Obtain network information.
Back up your files you want to restore.
Determine whether you want to perform an upgrade to Windows 7 or install a new copy.
Hardware Requirements
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit) (512 Mb is also possible but with low quality)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
VGA monitor + Keyboard
Mouse or compatible pointing device
DVD drive (or removable storage device)
1
WINDOWS 7
Windows 7 Interface
Windows 7 offers a new visual design. The start menu, taskbar, and other desktop elements all have new looks. The start menu provides access to most useful items on your computer including all programs, most recent documents, help and support, and other items on your computer. Windows 7 also includes more start menu optimization options.
Frequently used programs
Desktop
The desktop is composed of the contents of your computer screen after Windows 7 has been started.
Taskbar
The taskbar is the strip along the bottom of the screen. It typically shows, from left to right, the Start button, the Quick Launch bar, buttons for certain utilities and programs and the time. Also, all open programs are displayed as buttons on the taskbar.
Start button
The Start button is located on the left edge of the taskbar, and it is the most important component on the Windows desktop. It is the launching point for every program and window on your computer. Click the Start button to open a series of menus for starting programs, most frequently used programs, finding and opening folders and files, setting options, getting help, adding hardware and software, and shutting down the computer.
Window
The window is a frame on the screen that displays the contents of opened files, folders, or programs. Several windows can be displayed on the screen at one time, either side by side, top
2
WINDOWS 7
to bottom, or overlapping. You will learn how to move and resize windows later in this chapter.
Start menu
You can open the Start menu by clicking the Start button. Start menu lets you easily access the most useful items on your computer. All Programs item opens a list of programs currently installed on your computer. Programs are added to the most frequently used programs list above All Programs item when you use them.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts are a type of icon that offers quick access to files, folders, or programs. You can create a shortcut that appears on the desktop and provides faster access to a file. You use shortcuts in the same way you use other icons, double-clicking them to open files, folders, or run programs. Shortcuts look similar to other icons except that each has a small, curved arrow in its bottom-left corner. You might think of shortcuts as placeholders for other icons. You can create, copy, move, and delete a shortcut without affecting the file, folder, or program itself.
Icons
Files, folders, and programs are represented by icons. A file's icon is represented by the program the file was created in. For example, the icon of a Microsoft Word (
) is similar to the icon of Microsoft Word Program (
) the document was created in.
3
WINDOWS 7
Starting up.
When you turn on your computer you will asked for password which you set when you install windows 7 on your computer.
Turning Off Computer
When you've finished using your computer, you need to shut down Windows before you turn your computer off. Shutting down gives Windows a chance to tidy up after itself, saving information in the computer's memory to the local disk, cleaning up temporary files, and verifying that you've saved any changes you made to
any files you worked on.
Exiting options:
Sleep: Use Stand by if you have a laptop and are going to leave your computer briefly but want to conserve as much energy as possible while you are away. After you return to your computer, you will be able to pick up exactly where you left off.
Shut down: Use this option if you want to turn your computer off. It saves your Windows settings and saves any information stored in memory to the local disk.
Restart: Saves any Windows settings, writes any information stored in your computer's memory to the local disk, and restarts your computer. Use this option if Windows or your Windows-based programs start acting flaky. You sometimes have to restart your computer after installing new software.
Log off: This option closes all your programs and disconnects your computer from the network, preparing your computer to be used by other users.
Hibernate: Your computer shuts down after saving everything in memory on your hard disk. When you bring your computer out of hibernation,
4
WINDOWS 7
all programs and documents that were open are restored to your desktop. With this option you don't need to save and close when you want to shut down and then reopen all the programs you were working on when you turn on the computer.
Lock: This option is for password locking your computer.
If you want to change sleep to hibernate you must go to Control Panel/Power Options. In the left panel click Choose what the power buttons do. Then change sleep to hibernate.
Windows help and support center
If you need any information about Windows 7, Windows Help and Support Center can help you. To open Help and Support Center window, you can select Help and Support item in the Start menu. This window has a Search box. You can write the words you want information about into that box. You can also click on a help topic or task listed
in this window.
Why Windows XP owners should switch to Windows 7, what’s new?
Microsoft releases a new version of Windows every few years. If you bought your PC between 2001 and 2006, you've probably grown accustomed to the mechanics of Windows XP. That leaves the nagging question, why bother upgrading to Windows 7 when Windows XP works just fine?
Actually, if Windows XP is running just fine, you may not need Windows 7. But because your PC could be almost six years old — an antique in the tech world — Microsoft hopes the following improvements in Windows 7 will push your hand toward your credit card:
5
WINDOWS 7
DVD burning: More than five years after DVD burners hit the market; Windows can finally take advantage of them without third-party software. Windows 7 can copy files and movies to DVDs as well as to CDs. Its DVD Maker program gathers your vacation photos and burns a slick slide show onto a DVD, ready for passing out to every yoga retreat attendee.
Easier file searches: Windows XP really drags its feet when searching for files. Searching for a filename takes several minutes on a crowded hard drive, and if you're searching your files for a particular word or phrase, you're in for a long weekend. Windows 7, by contrast, spends its idle time fine-tuning an index of every word on your hard drive. Type a word from a file's name or contents into the Start menu's Search box, and Windows 7 quickly finds the goods.
New Internet Explorer: Windows 7's new Internet Explorer 8 lets you surf the Web more easily and securely. It has the old standbys — tabbed browsing, RSS feeds, and a filter alerting you to potential fraudulent Web sites — and other new
features. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Media Center: This |
entertainment |
center |
not only |
plays |
DVDs |
and |
music but |
|||
also |
lets |
you watch |
TV on your PC and even record shows onto |
your |
hard |
drive |
||||
for |
later |
viewing. |
Recording TV |
shows |
requires |
a PC |
with |
a |
TV |
Tuner. |
Taskbar: Microsoft spent some time building on Vista's three-dimensional look. The new taskbar in Windows 7 adds pop-up thumbnails, shown in Figure 1-2, that help you find a lost window. Or, right-click a taskbar icon to see more information about it — your recent history of browsed Web sites.
Looking through the Aero Glass
As long as you run Windows 7 on a PC with some oomph in the graphics department, the Windows 7 Aero Glass interface (did you notice the see-through look ) rates as a significant improvement over the boxy, now-antiquated look of Windows XP. (Windows 7 Starter Edition doesn't support Aero Glass.)
♦Window locations: You can frequently locate the specific window you want faster, easier, and more accurately.
♦Window organization: Organizing windows by stacking them on the desktop works better than in previous versions of Windows because you can peek through the edges.
♦Window switching: Switching among windows feels less like a black art than it did in Windows XP.
6
WINDOWS 7
Using Aero Flip 3D
With Aero flip 3D; you can quickly preview all of your open windows (for example, open files, folders, and documents) without clicking the taskbar. Flip 3D displays your open windows in a stack. At the top of the stack, you'll see one open window. To see other windows, you can flip through the stack.
To switch windows using flip 3D
1. Press Ctrl++Tab.
2. Press Tab to move through the windows. (You can also press Right Arrow or
Down Arrow to move forward one window, or press Left Arrow or Up Arrow to move backward one window.)
3. Click a window in the stack to display that window, or click outside the stack to close flip 3D without switching windows. You can also rotate the wheel on your mouse to quickly move through the open windows.
The versions of Windows 7
Windows XP came in two easy-to-understand versions: one for home and one for business. Windows Vista split into five different versions, each with a different price tag, and a confusing array of features. Windows 7 ups the confusion level with seven versions, but the versions are much easier to figure out.
The vast majority of consumers will choose Windows 7 Home Premium, and most businesses will choose Windows 7 Professional.
Windows 7 Starter Edition, a stunted version that's available only preinstalled on netbooks. It doesn't support the Aero Glass interface. It doesn't let you change your desktop background. Starter can't run automatic backups to another computer on your network. There's no Media Center, no Sticky Notes, and the Snipping Tool got, uh, cut.
Windows 7 Home Basic is available only in emerging countries, where the price of Windows typically exceeds the average gross monthly income of an experienced programmer with a college degree. Even if it's available where you live, you don't want it. With any Aero Glass and no Media Center, it isn't worth the effort.
Windows 7 Home Premium ranks as the baseline system. Almost everybody who buys a new computer will buy Home Premium. It includes all the new interface goodies and Windows Media Center plus almost all the other features that you know as Windows 7. Two stinkers: Premium won't allow you to run automatic backups to another computer on your network, and you can't control a Windows 7 Home Premium computer with another computer by using Remote.
7
WINDOWS 7
Windows 7 Professional includes everything in Home Premium plus the ability to attach the computer to a corporate domain network; the Encrypting File System (see the "Encrypting File System and Bit Locker" sidebar, later in this chapter) for scrambling your hard drive's data; and the software necessary for your computer to act as a Remote Desktop host.
Windows 7 Enterprise Microsoft sells this large business version in bulk to large businesses.
Windows 7 Ultimate -This version aims at the wallets of information technology specialists who spend much of their lives in front of their keyboards. Ultimate add support for Bit Locker and BitLockerTo Go ("Encrypting File System and Bit Locker") data encryption; all the language packs; Branch Cache, for speeding file access on large, corporate networks; and the ability to boot from a virtual hard drive.
8
WINDOWS 7
CHAPTER 2
The Desktop and Start menu
Setting desktop background and screensaver:
1.Right-click a blank part of the desktop, choose Personalize, and click the Desktop Background option along the window’s bottom left corner.
2.Click any one of the pictures, shown in Figure 2, and Windows 7 quickly places it onto your desktop’s background.
Desktop
background
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
Desktop Bacground settings
Click the Save button to keep it on your desktop. Click the Picture Location menu to see more pictures. Or, if you’re still searching, move to the next step.
9
WINDOWS 7
3.Click the Browse button and click a file from inside your Pictures folder. Most people store their digital photos in their Pictures folder or library.
4.Found a good picture? Exit the program, and your chosen photo stays stuck to your desktop as the background.
Screen saver
Applying a Screen Saver
A screen saver is a moving image that appears on the computer screen when you haven't used your computer for a while. Screen savers were originally used to protect screens from screen burn, which could occur when a static image was left on the screen for hours. You don't have to worry about screen burn with today's monitors, but many people still like to use screen savers for entertainment and to personalize their computers.A screen saver is activated automatically after your computer has been idle for the number of minutes specified in the
10