Category: Windows 7 support

How to Turn Windows Defender On or Off in Windows 7

Information

This will show you how to turn Windows Defender On or Off in Windows 7. When Windows Defender is on, you will be alerted when spyware and other potentially unwanted software tries to install itself or run on your computer. By default, Windows Defender is turned on in Windows 7.

Warning

It’s important to run antispyware software whenever you’re using your computer. Spyware and other potentially unwanted software can try to install itself on your computer any time you connect to the Internet. It can also infect your computer when you install some programs using a CD, DVD, or other removable media. Spyware or potentially unwanted software can also be programmed to run at unexpected times, not just when it’s installed.

OPTION ONE

Turn Off Windows Defender

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View), and click on the Windows Defender icon.

2. Click on Tools on the toolbar at the top. (See screenshot below)

3. Under Settings, click on Options. (See screenshot below)

4. In the left pane, click on Administrator. (See screenshot below)

5. Uncheck the Use this program box. (See screenshot below step 4)

7. Click on the Save button. (See screenshot below step 4)

8. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

9. Click on the Close button. (See screenshot below)

OPTION TWO

Turn On Windows Defender

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View), and click on the Windows Defender icon.

2. Click on the click here to turn it on link. (See screenshot below)

NOTE:

This will take a moment to finish.

3. When finished, close the Windows Defender window. (See screenshot below step two in OPTION ONE)

NOTE:

To help prevent spyware and other potentially unwanted software from running on your computer, it is recommended that you also turn on Windows Defender real-time protection and select all real-time protection options.

November 26, 2010
How to Change the Date and Time in Windows 7

Information

This will show you how to set or change the date and time for the system clock in Windows 7. This tutorial is not for Windows Xp.

Here’s How:

1. Right click on the clock, at the far right of the taskbar, and click on Adjust Date/Time. (See screenshot below)

A) Go to step 3.

OR

2. Left click on the clock, at the far right of the taskbar, and click on Change date and time settings. (See screenshot below)

3. Click on the Change date and time button. (See screenshot below)

4. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes (if administrator) or enter the administrator’s password (if standard user).

5. To Change the Date

A) Under the left Date section, select a month and day for your current date. (See screenshot below step 6)

6. To Change the Time

A) Under the right Time section, select or type in your current time. (See screenshot below step 6)

7. Click on OK. (See screenshot below)

8. Click on OK. (See screenshot below step 3)

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November 25, 2010
HOW TO SETUP INTERNET STREAMING IN WMP 12

Information:

This will show you how to set up internet streaming in windows 7 using windows media player 12.

Note:

This has worked for me im using Windows 7 RC X64 i would assume that it works the same for all. The Screens might look different but should mostly be the same

Warning:

In order for this to work you must have

1: Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5

2: A Live ID ( @hotmail.com @msn.com @live.com should all work, or what ever your LIVE ID is)

3: Your windows accounts do not need the be the same

4: This MUST be done on both systems or all systems that you want to be able to connect too or connect from

5: You are able to connect to more then one remote system

Here’s How:

1. Open WMP 12

Once open click at the top of the left side of the window STREAM here in Yellow then click on the Allow Internet Access To Home Media

2. Click on Link an online ID

3. Click on Add An online ID provider.

4. Click here

5. The last step should have opened this window here.

Click Downloads Below or Scroll Down the page to get to the downloads make sure you pick the right OS 32-bit OR 64-bit

6. Either Run or Save then run latter.

Just Click Run. Let it download start the installer.

When done click on Finsh.

7. GO back to WMP 12 you should still have this window here open

Click on Link A online ID.

8. Click on Link Online ID

9. Sign-in with your ID User Name and Password.

10. Back to WMP 12 one last time

Allow Internet Access To Home Media

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November 24, 2010
Improve Battery Life in Windows 7 with the Built-In Power Troubleshooter

Anybody who has a Windows 7 laptop is going to be concerned with how to make the battery last longer, but did you realize there’s a built-in troubleshooting wizard in Windows 7 that helps you maximize your battery life?

This is, only one of the ways to maximize your battery life—your best bet is to adjust your screen brightness and get rid of unnecessary applications that abuse the CPU. This article may not be applicable for Windows XP

Using the Troubleshooter

You can click through a whole bunch of Control Panel links to get to the troubleshooter, but it’s a whole lot easier to just type improve power into the search box, and then click on the resulting item in the list(This is where Windows Xp cannot catch up with Windows 7.

The wizard will apply the changes by default, but you can click the advanced link and uncheck the option for applying automatically if you’d like.

Once you’ve run the wizard, it will check for any potential problems in your settings—if you’ve adjusted your power plans in a way that isn’t a good idea, for instance. You can also use the View detailed information link

This will show you a huge list of items, and you can see that the wizard didn’t find any problems with those items.

Even if your PC doesn’t have the problems listed, it’s actually rather interesting to look through—for instance, did you ever realize that a screen saver utilizes battery power which can be used elsewhere on your laptop?

November 23, 2010
How to Add or Remove a Windows Firewall Exception in Windows 7

Information:

This will show you how to add or remove a Windows Firewall program exception for each type of network location (ex: Private or Public) that you use in Windows 7. Some of these steps may or may not work on Windows XP.

Warning:

When you add a program to the list of allowed programs in a firewall you allow a particular program to send information to or from your computer through the firewall. Allowing a program to communicate through a firewall (sometimes called unblocking) is like opening a tiny door in the firewall.

Each time you allow a program to communicate through a firewall, your computer becomes a bit less secure. The more allowed programs your firewall has, the more opportunities there are for hackers or malicious software to use one of those openings to spread a worm, access your files, or use your computer to spread malicious software to others.

To help decrease your security risk:

Only allow a program when you really need to, and remove programs from the list of allowed programs that you no longer need.

Never allow a program that you do not recognize to communicate through the firewall.

Here’s How:

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View).

2. Click on the Windows Firewall icon.

3. Click on the Allow a program through Windows Firewall link in the left blue pane. (See screenshot below)

4. Click on the Change Settings button. (See screenshot below)

5. To Allow or Unallow an Existing Exception –

A) On the left side, check the program exception Name box to allow, or uncheck to unallow through Windows Firewall. (See screenshot below)

B) If you allowed the program exception, then check (allow) or uncheck (unallow) the box for each Private or Public network location you want the program to have access through Windows Firewall. (See screenshot below)

6. To Add a Program Exception –

A) Click on the Allow another program button. (See screenshot below)

B) If the Program is Listed – (See screenshot below step 6D)

Click on the program to highlight it.

Go to step 6D.

C) If the Program is Not Listed – (See screenshot below step 6D)

Click on the Browse button.

Navigate to the program’s exe file location, usually in a C:\Program Files folder, and click on the program’s exe file to select (highlight) it and click on the Open button.

D) Click on the Add button. (See screenshot below)

E) Do step 5 to allow to unallow this program exception. (See screenshot below)

7. To Remove a Program Exception –

A) Click on the program exception name to select (highlight) it and click on the Remove button. (See screenshot below)

WARNING:

This will remove the selected exception immediately.

8. When done, click on OK. (See screenshot below either step 5B or 6E)

9. Close the Windows Firewall window. (See screenshot below step 3)

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November 22, 2010
How to Turn Windows Firewall On or Off in Windows 7

Information

Windows Firewall can help prevent hackers or malicious software from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or network.

This will show you how to to turn Windows Firewall On or Off for each type of network location (ex: Private or Public) that you use in Windows 7. Windows Firewall is turned on by default in Windows 7.

EXAMPLE: Windows Firewall On and Off

NOTE:

Notice that there is a option for Windows Firewall to be on or off with Private networks and Public networks. If you have Inactive showing on a network location, this means that you do not have a network connection for that type of network location. Active means that you do.

Here’s How:

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View).

2. Click on the Windows Firewall icon.

3. Click on the Turn Windows Firewall on or off link in the left blue pane. (See screenshot below)

OPTION ONE

Home or Work (Private) Network Location Settings

4. To Turn On Windows Firewall –

A) Select (dot) Turn on Windows Firewall. (See screenshot below step 5)

B) If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

C) Check the Windows Firewall notifications settings you want. (See screenshot below step 5)

D) Go to OPTION TWO below.

5. To Turn Off Windows Firewall –

A) Select (dot) Turn off Windows Firewall. (See screenshot below)

B) If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

C) Go to OPTION TWO below.

OPTION TWO

Public Network Location Settings

6. To Turn On Windows Firewall –

A) Select (dot) Turn on Windows Firewall. (See screenshot below step 7)

B) If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

C) Check the Windows Firewall notifications settings you want. (See screenshot below step 7)

D) Go to OPTION TWO below.

7. To Turn Off Windows Firewall –

A) Select (dot) Turn off Windows Firewall. (See screenshot below)

B) If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

C) Go to OPTION TWO below.

8. Click on OK. (See screenshot above)

9. Close the Windows Firewall window when done. (See screenshot below step 3)

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November 22, 2010
How to Change User Account Control (UAC) Notification Settings in Windows 7

Information

When turned on, User Account Control helps prevent potentially harmful programs from making changes to your computer in Windows 7 by notifying and asking you for permission before letting the program run or install.You dont have this feature in Windows XP.

This tutorial will show you how to change the User Account Control (UAC) for when to be notified about changes to your computer.

Warning

Turning off UAC by setting it to the lowest bottom level will also disable Protected Mode in Internet Explorer.

Through User Accounts

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View).

2. Click on the User Accounts icon.

3. Click on the Change User Account Control settings link. (See screenshot below)

4. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes to approve.

5. Adjust the slider to the level of protection of how much you want to be notified from UAC. (See screenshots below)

6. Click on OK when done.

7. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes to approve.

8. If you have just turned UAC off, then you will need to click on restart the computer, or manually restart the computer, to apply the changes. (See screenshot below)

NOTE:

Simply turning on UAC or changing the UAC level without turning it off will not require a restart.

November 19, 2010
How to Activate Windows 7 Online

Information

Activation is the required process of ensuring that Windows 7 on your computer is genuine and used according to the Microsoft Software License Terms. This tutorial will show you how to activate Windows 7 online with your valid product key number.

To activate online, your computer will need an Internet connection.

Note

Genuine Windows is a recurring process that checks your product key to ensure it’s being used with the hardware it was paired with during activation. If the product key is found to be non-genuine, or not valid, it’s likely that the product key is either being used on another computer or is counterfeit. For more information about genuine Windows, go to the genuine Windows website for FAQ’s.

You might have to activate Windows 7 again if:

You uninstall Windows 7 on one computer and then install it on another. During installation, enter the product key that came with Windows. If automatic activation fails, follow the instructions that walk you through activating Windows by phone. You will have 30 days to activate Windows.

You make a significant hardware change to your computer, such as upgrading the hard disk and memory at the same time. If a major hardware change requires activating Windows again, you will be notified and will have three days to activate Windows.

You reformat your hard disk. Reformatting erases your activation status. In this case, you’ll have 30 days to activate Windows again.

A virus or malware infects your computer and deletes your activation status.

Warning

You must activate Windows 7 within the 30 days grace period after installation before it expires. When Windows 7 is activated, you’ll be able to use every feature of Windows 7.

If you chose to automatically activate Windows when I’m online when you set up your computer, automatic activation begins trying to activate your copy of Windows 7 three days after you log on for the first time. See METHOD ONE below.

If you install Windows 7 on a second computer, you must buy an additional product key number to activate the second installation to continue using Windows 7 on both computers.

EXAMPLE: Windows 7 Activated

OPTION ONE

Automatically Activate Windows 7

NOTE:

This is for when you are doing a clean install or Upgrade install of Windows 7.

1. When you get to this step during installation below, type in your valid product key number and check the automatically activate Windows when I’m online box.

NOTE:

Automatic activation will now begin trying to activate your copy of Windows 7 three days after you log on for the first time.

OPTION TWO

Manually Activate Windows 7

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items view), and click on the System icon.

A) Go to step 3.

OR

2. Open the Start Menu, and right click on the Computer button and click on Properties. (See screenshot below)

3. Under the Windows activation section at the bottom, click on the 30 days to activate. Activate Windows now link. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: If you did METHOD ONE above, then you will see 3 days to activate. Activate Windows now instead.

4. Select the Activate Windows online now option. (See screenshot below)

5. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

6. Type in your valid Windows 7 product key number, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: You will not see this screen if you have entered your product key number during the clean installation or Upgrade installation of Windows 7, or if you did METHOD ONE above.

7. If successful, click on the Close button. (See screenshot below)

Note

If the product key is found to be non-genuine, or not valid, it’s likely that the product key is either being used on another computer or is counterfeit. For more information about genuine Windows, go to the genuine Windows website.

8. Windows 7 is now activated and genuine. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: Genuine Windows is a recurring process that checks your product key is being used with the hardware it was paired with during activation.

Tip

If online activation fails, then try to activate by phone instead.

November 19, 2010
How to Enable or Disable the Windows 7 Built-in Administrator Account

Information

Standard user (Users) – The standard account can help protect your computer by preventing users from making changes that affect everyone who uses the computer, such as deleting files that are required for the computer to work. We recommend creating a standard account for each user. When you are logged on to Windows with a standard account, you can do almost anything that you can do with an administrator account, but if you want to do something that affects other users of the computer, such as installing software or changing security settings, Windows might ask you with a UAC prompt to provide a password for an administrator account.

The default administrator account that is created during the installation of Windows 7, or setup already for you on a OEM (ex: Dell) computer, will have complete access to the computer and can make any desired changes. To help make the computer more secure, this administrator account may be asked with a UAC prompt to provide their password or confirmation before making changes that affect other users.

The built-in Administrator account is an account that has full access and permission on the computer, and will not be prompted by UAC.

This will show you how to enable or disable the built-in Administrator account in Windows 7.

Note

By default, the built-in administrator account is named Administrator, and is disabled.

Warning

If you enable the built-in Administrator account, it is recommended to create a password for it to help keep it secured.

OPTION ONE

Through Local Users and Groups

NOTE: This option will only be available in the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.

1. Open the Local Users and Groups manager.

2. In the left pane, click on the Users folder. (See screenshot below step 3)

3. In the middle pane, right click on Administrator and click on Properties. (See screenshot below)

4. To Enable the Buit-in Administrator Account

A) Uncheck the Account is disabled box. (See screenshot below step 6)

B) Go to step 6.

5. To Disable the Buit-in Administrator Account

A) Check the Account is disabled box. (See screenshot below step 6)

6. Click on OK. (See screenshot below)

7. Close the Local Users and Groups window. (See screenshot below step 3)

8. Log off, and you will now see the built-in Administrator account log on icon added (enabled) or removed (disabled) from the log on screen. (See screeenshot below)

NOTE:

Click on the Administrator icon to log on to the built-in Administrator account.

OPTION TWO

Through a Elevated Command Prompt

NOTE:

This option can be used in all editions of Windows 7. If your Windows 7 uses another language than English, then you may need to translate the word administrator partof the commands below to your language to use instead.

1. Open a elevated command prompt.

2. To Enable the Hidden Built-In Administrator Account

A) In the elevated command prompt, type

net user administrator /active:yes and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

B) Go to step 4.

3. To Disable the Hidden Built-In Administrator Account

A) In the elevated command prompt, type

net user administrator /active:no and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

4. Close the elevated command prompt.

5. Log off, and you will now see the built-in Administrator account log on icon added (enabled) or removed (disabled) from the log on screen. (See screeenshot below)

NOTE:

Click on the Administrator icon to log on to the built-in Administrator account.

OPTION THREE

Through Local Security Policy

NOTE:

This option will only be available in the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.

1. Open the Local Security Policy editor.

2. In the left pane, expand Local Policies, and click on Security Options. (See screenshot below)

3. In the right pane, right click on Accounts: Administrator account status and click on Properties. (See screenshot above)

4. To Enable the Hidden Built-In Administrator Account

A) Select (dot) Enabled. (See screenshot below step 6)

B) Go to step 6.

5. To Disable the Hidden Built-In Administrator Account

A) Select (dot) Disabled. (See screenshot below step 6)

6. Click on OK. (See screenshot below)

7. Close the Local Security Policy window. (See screenshot below step 2)

8. Log off, and you will now see the built-in Administrator account log on icon added (enabled) or removed (disabled) from the log on screen. (See screeenshot below)

NOTE:

Click on the Administrator icon to log on to the built-in Administrator account.

November 18, 2010
How to Use the BCDEDIT Command Line Tool

Information

This will show you how to use BCDEDIT in the command prompt and avoid the need of third party applications like EasyBCD.

Note

Bcdedit is a really powerful tool that Windows Vista and Windows 7 uses to manage the boot loader entries.

BCDEDIT needs a boot loader file to boot your system.

A boot loader is a file that contains necessary information that instruct the system how to boot/start an operating system.

Windows 7 and Vista bootloader file is \bootmgr

Windows XP bootloader file is \ntldr

BCDEDIT can support other bootloaders too, like grub for linux. You just have to place the bootloader file on the root of the boot manager partition. e.g. \grldr and you have a grub boot loader enabled.

Bcdedit edits a file called bcd , which is located in Windows 7’s hidden partition under \boot\bcd.

In Vista, its located under C:\boot\bcd.

Warning

You must be logged on in an administrator account to be able to do this tutorial.

To Use bcdedit:

1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type bcdedit and press enter.

NOTE: By typing just bcdedit you just list your boot entries.

Example:

A boot entry consists of 4 main elements:

1. Identifier

The identifier is how the system has named the boot entry.

2. Device

The device is the drive or virtual image that the system will use to boot the boot entry.

3. Path

The path is the location on the device where the bootloader file is found.

4. Description

The description is the friendly name we give to our boot entry, e.g. “Windows 7“

You see next to the identifiers their UUIDs in {}. The UUID is the unique codename that the system gives to each boot entry and cannot be changed.

The standard identifier UUIDs are explained below:

{bootmgr} = the boot manager

{current} = the OS you selected to boot at startup.

{default} = the default OS selected to boot the PC.

{ntldr} = Windows Legacy OS Loader (for windows xp)

there are others like {memdiag} or {ramdisk} but they can’t be of much use right now.

Warning

IMPORTANT: make a backup of your bcd file first. To do that, type:

bcdedit /export C:\SAVEDBCD

This will create a file c:\savebcd which is your boot entry backup.

If you mess up, you can always undo changes by:

bcdedit /import c:\savedbcd

Now to see how we can control the above entries, here are some examples:

bcdedit /set {current} description “My edited Windows Boot Entry”

NOTE: This changes the title of the boot menu entry “{current}”.

bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=E:

NOTE: This tells bcd that Windows XP partition is drive E:

bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr

NOTE: This tells bcd that the ntldr file which is the winxp bootloader is on root folder “\” (of drive e: as stated above)

bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addfirst

NOTE: This places Windows XP as the first OS on the menu list.

bcdedit /default {ntldr}

NOTE: This places Windows XP as the default OS to boot first with.

bcdedit /displayorder {33342343-3424-2342342342-2344} /addlast

NOTE: This tells bcd that the boot entry with UUID 3334… should be the last entry on the menu.

You can copy your existing VISTA or Windows 7 boot entry to another identical. Then you can change settings on the new entry to experiment. You will always have the first entry available, so it’s safe to play with.

bcdedit /copy {current} /d “New Windows 7 boot entry I just copied!”

this will give you a line:

NOTE: The entry was successfully copied to {4c21825f-e04b-11dd-b760-00195b61617a}. The {4c21825f-e04b-11dd-b760-00195b61617a} is the UUID of the new entry that the system just created. Yours will be different than mine! This is its identifier and you should use this to address that entry. Example:

bcdedit /set {4c21825f-e04b-11dd-b760-00195b61617a} numpoc 2

NOTE: This adds the 2 CPU Core support during boot, like you do in msconfig.

bcdedit /deletevalue {4c21825f-e04b-11dd-b760-00195b61617a} numproc

NOTE: This deletes the numproc parameter from entry {4c21825f….}

bcdedit /delete {4c21825f-e04b-11dd-b760-00195b61617a}

NOTE: This deletes the boot entry {4c21825f….} completely. In order to delete an {ntldr} entry, you must use the /f switch to force deletion: bcdedit /delete {ntldr} /f

You can always type just bcdedit to see your current settings.

What else can I do with BCDEDIT?

You can use BCDEDIT to alter any boot parameter , like you would in msconfig, only more. BCDEDIT works from booting with installation dvd too, so it can be handy for recovery purposes.

bcdedit /timeout 5

NOTE: This sets the wait-to-select-OS menu timeout at startup to 5 seconds . You will notice that I didn’t give a UUID above. If you omit the UUID, it applies automatically to the relavant UUID. So: bcdedit /timeout 5 is identical to bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 5

Some more advanced examples:

bcdedit /set {current} detecthal yes

bcdedit /set {current} detecthal no

NOTE: The above commands sets the detecthal to yes or no for entry {current}

To create a new boot entry to load Windows XP from a partition on your disk:

NOTE: The example below uses F: as the Windows XP partition. Replace with your xp drive letter.

bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d “Windows XP“

bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=F:

bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr

bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast

Note:

Final note: BCDEDIT works from installation boot dvd too. If you mess up with a setting and you cannot boot, just boot from DVD and enter Repair Computer, then go to command prompt and there you go. You can play again with bcdedit to restore your system back.

November 18, 2010