Tuesday, May 19, 2009

15 things to do after installing Windows 7 RC

Another very good article I found while looking through some support docs for Windows 7 RC. I have tried some of the optimizations suggested in this article and it does really work and make a very big difference (I can say that because I am running Windows 7 on 1 Gig RAM, 1.73 GHz processor).

Original Article : Click here

1. Download Free Windows 7 Guides and Videos from Microsoft

Microsoft is offering a few free guides and videos which can help you in understanding Windows 7 better. So don't forget to take a look at these goodies:

Learn More About Windows 7 Using Free Guides from Microsoft


2. Make Windows 7 Faster

Although Windows 7 is already very fast but we can make it a bit more fast by disabling unnecessary services, startup items and animations. You should take a look at following tutorial:

Master Tutorial to Make Your Windows 7 Super Fast


3. Customize Windows 7 Login Screen

Windows 7 allows you to easily change the Login Screen (or Welcome Screen) using Windows registry. You even don't need any 3rd party software for it. So change the login screen background with your favorite picture:

Windows 7 Supports Login Screen Customization Without 3rd Party Software


4. Remove Unwanted Windows Components

You can completely remove Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Search and many other Windows components in Windows 7 which was not possible in previous Windows versions:

Windows 7 Allows to Remove IE, WMP and Many Other Windows Components


5. Organize Taskbar Buttons

Did you know you can move Taskbar buttons to change their positions? Windows 7 allows you to re-arrange taskbar buttons:

Did You Know You can Move Taskbar Buttons in Windows 7?


6. Link your Windows User Account with your Windows Live ID

If you have a Windows Live ID, you can link your Windows 7 user account with your Windows Live ID to start communication between various computers:

How to Link Your Windows 7 User Account with Windows Live ID


7. Search AskVG within Windows 7 Explorer

You can add AskVG link in Windows 7 Explorer and can start searching for AskVG articles within your Explorer:

Download AskVG Search Connector for Windows 7 Federated Search


8. Show Titlebar Text in Windows 7 Explorer

Windows 7 doesn't show Titlebar text in Explorer. If you want to enable it, you can use a small utility mentioned in following article:

How to Show Titlebar Text in Windows 7 Explorer?


9. Change Startmenu Power Button Action

By default, Windows 7 Startmenu power button is set to "Hibernate". If you want to change it to Shutdown or anything else, you can follow this tutorial:

How to Customize Power Button Action in Windows 7 Start Menu?


10. Become Familiar with Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

Learn all useful keyboard shortcuts which can make your Windows 7 experience better and easier:

Some Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 7


11. Customize System Tray Clock

Windows 7 shows both date and time in system tray clock. You can customize it to show Day and Month names as well.

How to Show Day and Month Names in System Tray Date in Windows 7

How to Show AM / PM Symbols in System Tray Clock in Windows 7


12. Get Classic Thin Taskbar Back

If you don't like the new Superbar, you can get the classic thin Taskbar back:

How to Get the Old Thin Taskbar Buttons with Text in Windows 7?


13. Get Windows Media Player Taskbar Toolbar Back

Windows Media Player in Windows 7 doesn't contain the mini Taskbar toolbar. If you are missing it, you can get it back using following tutorial:

How to Get Windows Media Player (WMP) Taskbar Toolbar Back in Windows 7?


14. Get Classic Wordpad and Paint Back

Windows 7 contains new redesigned Wordpad and Paint applications which provide Ribbon interface. If you are not used to this new interface, you can get classic Wordpad and Paint back using following tutorials:

How to Get the Good Old Wordpad (without Ribbons) Working in Windows 7?

How to Get the Good Old MS Paint (without Ribbons) Working in Windows 7?


15. Get "Quick Launch" Toolbar and "Show Desktop" button Back

Microsoft has removed the "Quick Launch" toolbar from Taskbar. That's why you can't even access the "Show Desktop" button. You can get both things back using following tutorials:

How to Get the Good Old “Quick Launch” Toolbar Back in Windows 7?

How to Get the Good Old “Show Desktop” Feature Back in Windows 7?

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