Computer Corner

January 2010
Hidden Win7 tools can save you time and trouble
By Guruka Singh

Some of Windows 7's best new features aren't so easy to find.
These include a problem recorder to aid tech support, a list of the programs affected by a System Restore, more precise power adjustments for notebooks and netbooks, and keyboard shortcuts that open system resources.

Somehow, the new tools have been lost in all the Windows 7 hype. That's a shame, because they can increase your productivity tremendously. Unfortunately, finding them can be a bit difficult. Here's a quick review of my favorite, little-known Win7 features.

Win7's troubleshooter is a boon to tech support 
One of Win7's handiest new tools is the Problem Steps Recorder, a sort of help-desk aid. When something goes haywire with your PC, tech-support staff will usually ask you to reproduce the specific sequence of actions that led to the problem. But trying to explain what happened — and when it happened — can be difficult.

Problem Steps Recorder to the rescue! To launch the utility, press the Windows key, type psr, and press Enter. Click Start Recorder and redo the steps that led to the problem. PSR records every mouse click and key press. It also creates screen shots and zips them all into an MHTML file you can send as an e-mail attachment to tech support. After the techs open the MHTML file, they can determine exactly what's going on with your system.

Preview the changes before restoring your PC

The venerable System Restore application gets a welcome makeover in Win7. The XP and Vista versions of System Restore let you pick a restore point but give no indication of the apps, drivers, and settings that would be affected by the restoration's changes. In fact, sometimes Windows Vista would simply erase all your restore points. Ouch! By contrast, Windows 7's System Restore not only is finally really reliable, but it also adds a new index reader that lets you see exactly what will be changed if you revert to a specific restore point.

To use this feature, press the Windows key, type system restore and press Enter. When the applet opens, select a restore point and click Scan for affected programs. A list of the files that will be deleted, added, or changed by the action will be displayed for you to review before committing to that particular restore point. (See picture below - Note that in this example, the restore point would affect no files or programs.)

Monitor the power used by a laptop or netbook
Windows 7's Powercfg utility gives you insight into what's sucking up the battery power of your notebook or netbook. Powercfg also lets you adjust your power settings and extend your machine's battery life.
To start your new power-efficiency calculator, press the Windows key, type cmd, right-click cmd.exe, and click Run as administrator. Type powercfg -energy at the command line. Powercfg scans your system and saves its findings in the System32 folder by default as an HTML file named Energy-Report.html. To open the file, press the Windows key, type energy-report.html, and click, or double-click the resulting file.
Using Powercfg and deciphering its test results can be tricky. For information on Powercfg's reports, check out this article.

Fast access to Win7 resources via the keyboard
Some of Win7's best timesavers are staring you right in the face! Yup! Right there on your keyboard - particularly via the previously under-utilized Windows key. You probably already know that pressing the Windows key opens the Start menu. But did you know that holding the Win key in combination with other keys does a lot more?
Win7's Windows-key combinations speed up opening system tools, navigating between files and applications, and performing other common tasks. (Note that many of these shortcuts work in XP and Vista as well.)

I love using keyboard shortcuts!  They are much faster than using the mouse once you get used to them, and you don’t need to take your hands off the keyboard.

Win+Pause: Displays the System Control Panel applet.
Win+D: Shows the desktop.
Win+Spacebar: Shows the desktop without minimizing open windows (Aero Peek).
Win+E: Opens Windows Explorer with Computer selected.
Win+F: Opens a Search window for finding files or folders.
Win+Ctrl+F: Opens a Search window for finding computers on a network.
Win+G: Cycles through Gadgets (if any are installed).
Win+L: Locks your computer or switches users.
Win+M: Minimizes all windows.
Win+Shift+M: Restores minimized windows.
Win+P: Chooses a presentation display mode.
Win+R: Opens the Run dialog box.
Win+T: Cycles through and previews programs on the taskbar.
Win+U: Opens the Ease of Access Center (Utility Manager in XP).
Win+X: Opens the Windows Mobility Center (which isn't installed by default on desktop PCs).
Win+(numbers 1 to 5): Starts the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, it switches to that program.
Win+Shift+(numbers 1 to 5): Starts a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Win+Ctrl+(numbers 1 to 5): Switches to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Win+Alt+(numbers 1 to 5): Opens the Jump List of recently accessed items for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Win+Tab: Cycles through open programs by using Aero Flip 3-D. You can then use your mouse wheel to scroll through open windows. Of course, you must have Aero working; Win7 Home Basic and Starter Editions don't use Aero.
Win+Ctrl+Tab and then Left or Right Arrow: Opens Aero Flip 3-D to cycle through open programs.
Win+Ctrl+B: Switches to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
Ctrl+click: Pressing Ctrl while clicking a taskbar icon will scroll through multiple windows of that icon's application.
Win+Up Arrow: Maximizes the window.
Win+Left Arrow: Docks the active window to the left half of the screen.
Win+Right Arrow: Docks the active window to the right half of the screen.
Win+Down Arrow: Minimizes the window.
Win+Shift+Up Arrow: Stretches the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
Win+Shift+Left or Right Arrow: Moves the window from one monitor to another.
Win+Home: Minimizes all but the active window.

End-of-year cleanup for Windows XP and Internet Explorer
At the end of each year, I take a little time to make sure my computers are thoroughly patched. I also review whether the PCs may need service packs or more memory. I update their security software and perform other general maintenance.

Are you still running Windows XP? If so, I recommend installing Service Pack 3 if you haven't already done so. Make sure you have a full backup before you do so. Support for XP SP2 will end in July 2010. After that date, Microsoft will provide security updates only for XP systems with SP3 installed.

What about Internet Explorer 8? So far, my best experiences with IE 8 have been on Windows 7 PCs. If you are running Windows XP, at the very least, you should have IE 7 installed. IE 6 is an infection waiting to happen — it hasn't been safe for years and probably never was. IE 8 may not yet be on my thumbs-up list for XP users yet, but IE 6 is definitely a big thumbs-down.

Free PDF Tool Suite
If you are using Office 2007, you can save a document as an Acrobat (PDF) file directly from any Office application, but you still cannot edit PDF files, combine them, optimize them for minimum size or digitally sign them. Pdf995Suite is a combination of three applications that together comprise an integrated solution for your PDF document publishing needs allowing you to create, edit and digitally sign Acrobat PDF documents. Each tool is available individually so you can choose the level of functionality you desire. Its easy-to-use interface helps you to create PDF files by simply selecting the "print" command from any application, creating documents which can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer.

All three products are available as free downloads. The free versions display a sponsor page in your web browser (not the document itself) each time you run the software. If you would prefer not to see sponsor pages, you may upgrade by obtaining individual keys for each product at any time for $9.95 each.

Please keep letting me know if this column is useful to you and also keep sending me your suggestions for column topics, along with your own tips or cool downloads, so I can share them with the Sangat here. Just email them to me at guruka@sikhnet.com

Thanks!