Windows 7 handles disk defragmentation automatically.

To prevent future issues with your PC and keep system performance as speedy as possible, it’s important that you take good care of the hard drive installed inside your Windows 7 computer. While some of this maintenance is handled for you automatically, there are a number of manual checks you can make to keep everything running smoothly.

Defragmentation and error checking: Right-click on your primary hard drive in My Computer to access the defragmentation and disk checking tools. The defrag utility should already be set to run on a regular schedule – be sure to set one up if it isn’t. The error checking feature is more suitable for trying to tackle serious problems with your hard drive (such as corrupt data or issues with Windows booting up).

Remove unwanted programs: This should be done on a regular basis to keep the registry and the hard drive clutter-free. Windows 7 has its own uninstall routine built into Control Panel, but for more comprehensive results you might want to try out one of the many third-party applications available, such as Revo Uninstaller.

Clean up junk files: In the Accessories/ System Tools  folder on the Start menu you’ll find a Disk Cleanup utility. Run this to uncover redundant installation files and temporary data that can be safely removed from your system. Not only will you benefit from extra hard disk drive space, Windows will have an easier time getting to the files and documents that are actually important.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

There's a wealth of content available on the Windows 7 website.

Once your operating system is installed and configured, it’s easy to forget about new updates and features that will be released from time to time. The official Windows 7 portal on the Microsoft website is a great place to find new graphical themes, desktop gadgets, and other material – full previews of the downloads are provided to make it easier to find material that you’re interested in.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Windows 7 enables you to set the volume by program.

It can be useful to adjust the volume level of your PC on a program-by-program basis – you might want to make sure your listening in iTunes isn’t interrupted by streaming audio and advertising in your Web browser, for example. Windows 7 makes this possible in just a couple of mouse clicks – click the volume icon in the notification area, then follow the Mixer link. You’ll see a list of active programs producing audio, and you can adjust the sliders individually. The overall volume level will match the loudest application in the list.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Windows 7 has continued to enjoy strong sales.

Microsoft has claimed that it has sold 90 million copies of its operating system since it launched to manufacturers in July 2009. The announcement was made by CFO Peter Klein at a technology conference, and the company also produced a blog post about the milestone. For more details, see the full story at The Register.

The taskbar can be tweaked in a variety of ways.

If you’re upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista, then you’ll probably notice a number of changes made by Microsoft to the dependable taskbar. Bars are shorter, programs can be pinned into position as well as being rearranged as necessary. In fact, the Windows 7 taskbar offers more flexibility and customisation options than it did in previous versions of the operating system, so you can easily tailor it to suit your needs.

Reposition the taskbar: simply left-click on a blank area of the taskbar and drag it to one of the edges of the screen. If it doesn’t move, it’s probably locked – right-click and untick the Lock the taskbar option.

Bars not buttons: if you prefer the older look of the taskbar, where you can see program and document names rather than square icons, this is easily achieved. Right-click on the taskbar and choose Properties. Open the Taskbar buttons drop-down menu – either of the last two options will reinstate the labels. Automatic grouping of windows (e.g. multiple Word documents) can also be controlled from here.

Shrink the taskbar: to make the taskbar even smaller, you can opt for the Use small icons option on the Properties screen. As in previous versions of Windows, you can opt to auto-hide the taskbar when not in use as well.

Pin applications to the taskbar: programs can now be pinned to the taskbar as well as the Start menu. Right-click on an application icon and choose Pin this program to taskbar to do this. You can then launch the software in question with a single click without having to open up the Start menu at all.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Windows 7 can create a customised wallpaper slideshow.

As well as allowing you to load animated wallpapers, Windows 7 also enables you to create a slideshow of pictures that it will rotate through automatically. Right-click on a blank area of the desktop, choose Personalise and then click the Desktop Background link at the bottom. Ctrl+click or drag a box around the wallpapers that you’d like to use, then set the interval time for the slideshow via the drop-down list at the bottom. Check the Shuffle tick box if you want the selected images to appear in a random order. Click Save changes to confirm.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Drivers can be updated from Device Manager.

Device drivers are small bits of software that tell your Windows PC how to communicate with the hardware that’s installed – they make sure that you see an A on screen when you tap it on your keyboard, and ensure that a red colour in your image editing application appears red when it comes out of your printer. Updating these drivers on a regular basis can give you access to new features, improve hardware performance, and help to squash any bugs or problems with your peripherals. To update a driver from within Windows 7, launch Device Manager through Control Panel, right-click on the piece of hardware in question, and choose Update Driver Software from the menu that appears.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Windows 7 offers plenty of help for troubleshooting problems.

Even the most well-maintained PCs can run into problems, but thankfully Windows 7 includes a Help and Support section that can provide assistance in getting everything running smoothly again. You’ll find a link to the Help and Support section on the right of the Start menu, and once you’ve selected this you’ll be met with a new window where you can enter details of your query. Either enter some search terms into the box at the top, or browse the help topics using the link underneath. In the majority of scenarios you’ll be taken through a step-by-step troubleshooter that will try and pinpoint the cause of your computer problems as well as suggest some possible solutions.

As you would expect, the Help and Support pages make extensive use of online content, which is integrated seamlessly into the same window. You can find additional online resources at the official Microsoft support pages, and again you can enter some search terms or browse through the lists of issues manually. By the time you’ve worked your way through the options here, you should have fixed the problem or have a good idea about how to proceed. A Google search is always worth trying as well, because it’s likely that other users have suffered the same difficulties you have – because of the wealth of information out on the Web, try and be as specific as possible in your search (this might involve including any error codes you can see and the version of Windows that you’re running). We’d also recommend taking a look at our PC Help blog, which covers a wealth of popular queries.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Windows 7's network sharing features are easy to access.

Windows 7 has been designed to use on a network at home or around the office, and comes complete with a broad range of features for sharing files, folders and devices with other users. Microsoft has tried to make these network features as straightforward as possible, and you can be up and running with a couple of clicks of the mouse if you’re trying to get access to an existing network. It’s worth taking some time to check the settings you’re using, however, to ensure that you’re not granting other users more privileges than you’d like.

Open up the Network and Sharing Centre from Control Panel, then click the Advanced sharing settings link on the left. From here you’ll be able to configure network discovery (detecting other PCs), file and printer sharing, media streaming, and access to the Public folders on your machine. You can also set up password-protected sharing, which adds another layer of security to the sharing process.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)

Uninstalling programs from Windows 7 is straightforward.

It’s important that you regularly uninstall programs that you’re no longer using with Windows 7 – you’ll find that as well as retrieving some hard disk space, the registry and other Windows system files have a better chance of staying free from clutter which could affect the performance of your PC.

There’s a link to the Uninstall or change a program screen in Control Panel – once you follow this link you’ll be shown a list of all the software currently installed. Click on any entry for further details. To remove an application from your system, click on Remove.

(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 2nd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)