Windows 7 Overview. The Desktop. Notification Area. Taskbar

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1 Windows 7 Overview The Desktop Notification Area (far right end of the Taskbar) Customization: You configure which icons and/or notifications you want to be visible or not on the task bar. To customize notifications, go to Start > Control Panel > Notification Area Icons. Action Center: Configure your Action Center settings for Security and Maintenance features (Start > Control Panel > Action Center) Show/Hide Desktop icon: click this icon will either minimize all open windows visible on your desktop, or reveal all open windows if they have been previously minimized. Taskbar Quick Launch: You can place shortcuts to programs, folders or files on the Quick Launch area for easy access. Pinning: Secondary-click any program to add its shortcut to the task bar s Quick Launch area. Start button: Click on the Start Button to reveal the Start Menu. The Start Menu shows you almost all of the programs you have installed on your computer, as well as the many folders on your computer you might want to visit (i.e. Documents, Pictures, Music, etc.) Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 1

2 Start Menu Menu Layout: As with other versions of Windows, the Start Menu s left column shows you the Programs you have installed on your computer, and the right column shows locations (folders) on your computer you can access. Pinning: Just as you can secondary-click and pin any program to your Task Bar, you can also pin any program to your Start Menu. Items pinned to the Start Menu will appear at the top of the Start Menu, left hand side, just above a faint gray line (the faint gray line does not appear until after you have pinned an item to the Start Menu). Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 2

3 All Programs: Opening subfolders/menus on the All Programs list no longer opens new menus covering your work area. Now submenus open below and as a subset of its parent folder. There may also be a scrollbar (if needed) on the right side of this white, All Programs column (scrollbar not shown in this example). Shutdown/Restart: Shutdown and Restart are now immediate. No longer will you be prompted for a confirmation. Start Menu Search: Windows built in Search function is somewhat different than previous versions of Windows. Click on Start button and look for the new Search programs and files box. Enter whatever information you know about the item(s) you are looking for and either press Enter or click the magnifying glass. Your entire computer will be searched. Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 3

4 Folders/Windows Explorer Address bar: The Address bar shows the folder path of your current location (your current folder location is the last item at the right-end of the path). Windows Explorer Search: Open Windows Explorer (i.e. any folder) and notice the new Search box in the top-right corner of the window. Enter whatever information you know about the item(s) you are looking for and press Enter or click the magnifying glass. Windows will search through only the current folder you are looking in, as well as all subfolders in this current folder. Toolbar: The toolbar in a window is context sensitive. The buttons available on the toolbar will change depending on which folder you are viewing and which, if any, icons you have selected in that window. Organize: The Organize menu provides access to many common tools in Windows, such as Delete, Copy, Cut and Paste, as well as quick access to the Folder Options Control Panel ( Folder and search options ) Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 4

5 Navigation pane Favorites Libraries Both Favorites and Libraries provide customizable shortcuts to common places on your computer where you might want to store or access files. Individual files and website links cannot be added to either the Favorites or Libraries lists. To add folders to either category, simply right-click-and-drag the folder to either location on your Navigation pane, and select Include in library for Libraries and select Create link in favorites for Favorites. There are other ways of working with Libraries. Read the built-in Windows help file on Libraries ; click Start > Help and Support, and type Libraries in the search box. Review the list of search results to see which addresses what you want to learn. Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 5

6 User Profiles User Profiles have always been part of the way Microsoft organizes login accounts in Windows. Windows 7 makes this profile folder more accessible and easier to understand. For demonstration purposes only, open your computer, then your OS hard drive (i.e. Start > Computer > Local Disk C:) and you will notice a folder called Users: Open the Users folder and your Profile folder will be visible, along with possibly other accounts on your computer (i.e. Public, Administrator, Default User, other family members, coworkers, etc.). Warning: do not delete or change the name of any of these folders, or your computer may no longer function properly! The normal way you access this Profile folder, if needed, is by clicking on the Start button, then your user account name at the top of the gray column: Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 6

7 Open your user Profile folder and you will see all the folders you have access to, and all the folders where your documents can be stored and accessed: Profile Folders explained: Contacts: Contains your personal Contacts if you use a Microsoft based program (i.e. Outlook, Live Essentials, etc.) Desktop: This folder contains all the files and folders that appear on your Desktop (some people do not realize that the Desktop is actually a folder, whose contents are graphically represented as a Desktop environment for your daily use. Note that some files/folders on your desktop are not visible in the profile Desktop folder, such as the Recycle Bin. Downloads: Most reputable Web Browsers will put all your downloads from the internet in this folder. Favorites: Microsoft Internet Explorer stores all your Favorites in this folder. They can be accessed both directly from this folder, or from within Internet Explorer (this Favorites folder is not the same as the Navigation Pane Favorites, even though Microsoft has confusingly given them the same name. Links: This folder contains all the Favorites that appear in Windows Explorer Navigation Pane. My Documents: This is the typical storage area for any documents you create. My Music: Is used by most reputable programs to store your music files. My Pictures: Is used by most reputable programs to store your photographs. My Videos: Is used by most reputable programs to store your video files. Saved Games: Any Microsoft Game you play (Start > All Programs > Games) and choose to save for later use, will be saved in this folder. Searches: When you search for files or folders from either the Start Menu search or from Windows Explorer search, you will be given an option to save this search for future use. Saved Searches are stored in this folder. Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 7

8 Copy and Move Move and Replace Don't move Move but keep both files Devices and Printers Start > Devices and Printers Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 8

9 Add/Remove Programs Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features (adding Windows specific programs, Turn Windows features on or off ) Personalization Start > Control Panel > Personalization Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 9

10 This training session was developed for the Public Computing Center (PCC) and Mobile Public Computing Center (mpcc) at Mid York Library System. The PCC and epcc are funded by two Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) grants. These grants are part of $9.5 million that was awarded to the New York State Library, a unit of the Office of Cultural Education within the New York State Education Department (NYSED) by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in order to increase access to computers in public libraries across New York State. Funding for this award is being provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Windows 7 Overview; rev.2/15/12 Page 10