The Essential Windows 7 Blog — Tips and guides for Microsoft's latest operating system from the team at PC Utilities magazine

Tips: mute other programs in Windows 7

July 5, 2010

New in Windows 7 is a feature that will reduce the volume of your applications when the system detects that you’re receiving or making a phonecall with your PC (via a service such as Skype). To tweak this behaviour, or to disable it completely, open up the Hardware and Sound/ Sound dialog from Control Panel [...]

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Tips: use Run as… in Windows 7

July 2, 2010

After being left out of Vista, the option to run an application as a different user makes a return in Windows 7. To do this, hold down Shift, then right-click on a shortcut or executable file and choose Run as a different user from the menu that appears. This should come in handy if you’re [...]

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How to: share photos in Windows 7

June 30, 2010

Part of the pleasure in taking photographs is in sharing them with others, whether it’s your immediately family or a global audience. The Internet makes it easier than ever to publish your content, so your family can see your new baby, your friends can catch up on your latest holiday, and prospective employers can see [...]

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Tips: switch off transparency in Windows 7

June 28, 2010

Windows 7 harnesses the power available in the latest video cards and integrated motherboard graphics to display translucent windows that reveal part of the background around the edges. If you find this distracting – the window title can prove particularly hard to read – then you can switch the feature off. Open up Control Panel [...]

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Tips: modify user account control in Windows 7

June 25, 2010

User Account Control was introduced with Vista to warn users when changes were made to the system, but many found it too intrusive. In Windows 7, you can customise the level of User Account Control and thus the number of confirmation messages that will appear on screen. To do this, follow the Change User Account [...]

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How to: speed up Windows 7 performance

June 23, 2010

No matter how fast your PC is when you first install Windows or first unpack it from its box, it doesn’t stay that way for long. As you add more software designed to make your life easier and more productive, clutter can build up in the registry, in your running processes, and in the files [...]

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Tips: stay in sync with other time zones

June 21, 2010

If you have family members or work colleagues in other parts of the world, then you can configure Windows 7 to display two or three clocks instead of just one. Click the time and date in the notification area, then follow the settings link to add new clocks. The additional times will be displayed both [...]

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Tips: save your searches in Windows 7

June 18, 2010

Any search run in Windows 7 can be saved as a virtual folder ready to be recalled again at a later date. On every results screen you’ll notice a button labelled Save Search – click on this to store the query in the Searches folder associated with your user account. Each time you open up [...]

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News: The essential Windows 7 handbook 3rd edition now on sale

June 17, 2010

The latest edition of our Essential Windows 7 Handbook goes on sale today across the UK. This 3rd edition features a wealth of revised and updated content, covering every new feature in the operating system and providing an invaluable reference guide for Windows 7 users. Find out how to: manage music, video and photos improve [...]

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How to: stop spam emails in Windows 7

June 16, 2010

Spam emails can be a problem for anyone with an inbox – because it costs virtually nothing for marketing companies to send out electronic mail, it has become a popular way of pushing goods and services out to users who would much rather be left in peace. Thankfully, Windows Live Mail features an anti-junk scanner [...]

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