Some questions about Win 7

Spanking new Win 7 just set up today. Questions:

1. How to navigate to Windows Explorer in Win 7 just like in XP? (In XP I just had to press the Windows Key and the *e* buttons to show Windows Explorer tree)

2. Ability to create restore points whenever I want. How and where?

2a. Where can I find the slider to to decrease the size of Windows Restore?

3. Does Win 7 defrag automatically? Does Puran Defrag a better job? (I was impressed with and liked Puran very much as it did an excellent job in XP)

4. Does ERUNTgui work in Win 7 & and do I need it? I like the security of registry backups.

5. Speccy. Does it work on Win 7 or problems if using it. (on XP no problems)

Rather than creating 5 different threads I though to put them all together. Hope you don't mind.

TIA for any guidance and/or instructions.

(Didn't find any answers on the above in the Win 7 books that I purchased and ebooks that I downloaded for free)

 

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1694479&posted=1#post1694479

Congratulations, Oma!! :highfive
Is that a new machine? Must be a little unsettling since you were so familiar with XP.
It will be a while before I make the change.

Speccy is supported on Win 7.
Piriform: Speccy Docs

Don't know about the GUI, but ERUNT supposedly does work with Win 7.
ERUNT FAQ

Microsoft Natural Keyboard keys

Keyboard shortcuts: all editions of Windows 7

 

Hi Oma,

Congrats on your new machine! Win7 is very good OS. Lots of small improvements on XP. I'm sure you will be happy with it.

I'm not a shortcut person so I mostly use the Start/Orb button Search box. Just start typing what you are looking for and it will make auto-fill suggestions. I find it works well. (Another note is I find the Help functions in Win7 very good. In XP, clicking on Help was fairly useless since the answers never fit your question but Win7's help is vastly improved. Definitely, give it a try if you get stuck in some Windows function to see if the info is relevant.)

1. Not sure if pic below is the tree you are looking for, but right clicking in the Explorer left pane gives you the option of Expanding the folders in the left pane automatically as you navigate in the main window. (Note: the Organize button top left is handy and has Folder Options readily available much like the old Tools menu in XP.)

2. Right-click Computer and Select Properties. Select System Protection from the left and in the window that opens is the Create button for System Restore. Or type Create Restore into the Search box and Create a Restore Point will appear in the result list.

2a. The Configure button is found in the same window. It allows you to define max size for individual drives or all drives at once.

( I don't know if it is only my Win7 installation but I find restore points seem to disappear every few weeks. Not because of space but totally disappear. You might want to monitor your existing restore points for a month or two to make sure they remain available. I've started creating a restore point about once a week just to make sure one is always available.)

5. Speccy should work no problem. (Not related to Speccy but once in a while a program that requires administrative privileges will not run unless you right-click and select Run as Administrator. The reason I mention it is sometimes you will get no error message when running a program--just nothing happens. If I can think of a specific example I will post back, but just wanted to make you aware that if a program doesn't work the way you expect you might want to try right-clicking the .exe and running it as administrator.)

Just saw plodr's post and wanted to add that sevenforums is a good site for information on Win7. Lots of good guides by poster Brink over there. I've found his posts particularly useful.

 

Thanks so much guys. Could not get back to you sooner re couldn't get online all morning. Spoke with ISP and Dell PRO Support and Dell think it's the integrated network card. Tomorrow a Dell tech will come home to fix it. Strange that just now I can go online. But I won't cancel their visit tomorrow in case it may happen again.

I've printed out all your answers and bookmarked all links. Yes, I did have some links already from Windows 7 forum but not the ones that plodr linked me to.

Win 7 is a steep learning curve for me as I was lulled to sleep with XP. :-D Now I better wake up and start using some grey matter that perhaps is still lurking around somewhere?

 

Damn it hun, no Internet out of the box?! This really sucks! What's wrong with Dell?

 

Yesterday all was fine. The problem started this morning when I powered on the machine. Nasty surprise eh? I read somewhere that WU on Win 7 applies their updates when shutting down, not sure of that though if that could have caused it? I first thought that that was the problem. Dell had to get me to do some steps that I never had to do on XP and the tech said it is the network card.

Lemme see if I can update Avast now.

 

On every 2nd Tuesday of the month, I would do a manual update of Windows XP to see what kind of updates there were in store. Of course, since I've got now Win 7 there were a lot of updates to be done yesterday and today again WU presented itself again with a message to update and then I did a manual update via its Security Center. I've read somewhere that the time of WU can be changed and need to put a shortcut on my desk to do a manual update as well. Still a ton of stuff to be done to adjust this new PC to my liking though.

 

re: Microsoft Update

The Target: that I use for my Desktop MS Update link is:

[noparse]"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us[/noparse]

The path, the part in quotation marks, might be different for Win 7.
(searched, but couldn't find it )

(IF you have 64-bit, select the 32-bit version.)

 

@mjnc, the link to WU is not working for me, just gives instructions how to do updates on your machine so it doesn't take me to the WU site.

Tech put in a new motherboard just now. I'm so glad that I chose PRO support which includes next business day tech support at home or business. Also get North American telephone and remote support. He said that all computers are mostly the same what hardware is concerned. The main difference he said is the service that companies provide to their customers and he said that Dell gives better service than others. He should know because he works for more companies than Dell. This is the 3rd Dell desktop. No lappy for me since I'm not going anywhere.

 

So I guess it's working properly now? Sucks when one has to pay for shipping or a maintenance plan for something that should be part of a included warranty.

 

Yes, it's working fine now, except for yesterday morning when it didn't. I told him that it was working later in the day but was afraid it would conk out on me at any time. He said that in those cases, they just replace the parts. I think that payment for Pro support is/was worth it since I wouldn't be too happy having to send a desktop back even though Dell would most likely pay for shipping if still under warranty if Dell authorized the return. The Pro support is just way easier and I didn't mind paying for it.

 

Not always, some updates work that way, other don't require a shutdown and restart. Actually, this is no different than with Windows XP.

 

What you describe sounds like what happens when you go to update.microsoft.com with any browser other than Internet Explorer.

Start Internet Explorer and try the address there.

Gees, had to replace the motherboard on a new machine. :eek
Don't they test those things before shipping them out? rolleyes

 

Ya, pretty poor QA on their end. Crap happens all the time but Dell has been going downhill for a long time IMO.

 

Manufacturer of the motherboard is Dell. If I remember correctly the Dimension 4600 had a Phoenix motherboard

It was probably the integrated network card so that's why the entire mobo had to be replaced. Could have been not seated properly, who knows?

@mjnc: I can't get yet into the Windows update. Had forgotten how to make a shortcut which I had on XP in a toolbar. Anyways I'll figure it out.

I don't remember if it was in this thread or another one about the Vostro reviews. Thanks for that. My Vostro is not the same as in the reviews, it's an *el cheapo* version.

Intel Core is i5-2500 CPU @ 3.30 GHZ, 4 GB, no USB3, HDD 500 GB and current free space is 414 GB. 38 GB used already, compared to about 12 GB I had on XP after 7½ years of use. Must be the 64 bit and Windows 7 that's causing the 38 GB?

@augie: Dell may have gone down over the years, its warranty is still there and what swayed me over to get another Dell was reading reviews about the Vostro, less bloatware and of course their pro support. I loved their next business day service which I had to use already.

 

That 38GB seems a bit high Oma :confused My W7 Ult x64, c/w Office 2007, both VMWare and VirtualBox, and masses of other installed software has been stable at around 30GB for over a year now. I have moved the Docs, Pics, and Music etc folders off of the system partition though.

 

This is the address I use in the desktop shortcut on my XP, I can't guarantee it works for Win7 though.
You early adopters, always on the cutting edge :-D

hcp://services/centers/update

 

It's right on the Programs menu. Click Start, All Programs, and select Windows Update.

 

Mind if I ask why you don't use WU off of the All Programs menu? It takes you to the same place as MadMal's hcp link, though that doesn't work in Win 7.

EDIT - sorry usaf - we cross posted

 

No it doesn't work in IE, too bad. I used to have a shortcut on my toolbar (in the taskbar) to reach Windows XP to do manual updates.

Must be it then, but I will check out how many GB it takes for pictures, music and videos.

Did that already and it doesn't work. I'll have to work at it. Thanks though.

 

That doesn't take me to a link. I want the link to do manual updates just like in XP. I don't get Microsoft's link with all what I tried.

 

You can choose which updates to install from the Windows Update panel from the Programs menu. What more do you need?

 

If you had a direct link to WU in XP then you must have created it yourself, as it is not there in the default install. Anyway, you can create a link by right clicking the WU item in All Programs and using Send To ... Desktop (create shortcut)

 

Yes, I did create a link in XP in 2004 but had forgotten how to do it. Success this time around! Thank you.

 

There sems to be a bit of confusion about these different ways of getting to Windows updates, I would like to offer an explanation and screenshots.
Please remember this is on my Windows XP

Windows Update - All Programs See first image WU All Programs
When I go to All Programs and launch Windows Update it launches Internet Explorer and I am taken to the website.
I am then asked to install an ActiveX which I do and then I can check for updates but this ActiveX install never 'sticks'. The website says I have to install it every time I go to there. I don't know why this happens and I haven't researched it much because I found a better method of checking for updates using the Desktop Shortcut I created.

Windows Update - Desktop Shortcut See second image WU Shortcut
Right click on an empty space on the Desktop > New > Shortcut
Paste in the following address:
hcp://services/centers/update
Next > give it a name

When I launch that shortcut, according to Task Manager Help and Support Center is running but not Internet Explorer
After a quick check to see if I have the Latest version of windows updating software I can check for updates, I am never asked to install ActiveX.

I can only guess the address is different for Win7

 

That hcp address only works in XP. Try it in Vista or 7 and the page cannot be displayed. But there is a more fundamental difference with 7 - it is the first MS OS that does not need IE to access WU. You can use any browser. MS nearly had to have their arm twisted off but they finally capitulated.

You should not be being asked about the Activex every time - that's a malfunction.

 

Really the transition from XP to 7 is seamless. If you look at it, XP was a interface change from N2k, with background changes. Vista was another interface with some background changes from XP. 7 was a tweak on Vista, with some more background changes. Going from one to the next is not a problem. Problem lies, when people make up their own fears and do not adapt.

 

For Windows update, you just need to click on the link in the All Programs that states "Windows update." No longer does the conventional update page work with Vista & 7. Even easier, click on the globe for start, type in the box the word "Windows Update". Works like a charm every time.

 

Perhaps I'm missing some point here but I believe no browser needs be involved at all to manage Windows Updates in Windows 7. The function simply does not require use of any web browser in Win 7. It's entirely managed from the Windows Update control panel. The only time a browser is involved is when you double click on an update in your list of updates to view details about it and then click on a hyperlink there to view more info online.

 

Ever tried just WU? :-D

 

Again, with the changes that have been made to 7 & Vista, it is a completely different process to do Windows Update. You just have to go to All Programs, click on "Windows Update" and that is it. People are making this harder than it is.

 

You've got it right. In XP one was taken to MSFT website link for manual updates. From what I noticed and was told here on MG Win 7 doesn't do that anymore. Don't know about Vista since I never had that one. The shortcut that I created takes me to Win 7 update (no browser - website link), that's the difference, hehe.

 

For everyone's info, this is how it is playing out with Microsoft's OS's:

NT 3.1 was entirely new.
NT 3.5 was NT 3.1 with some perf/size changes.
NT 3.51 was NT 3.5 with PowerPC support.
NT 4.0 was NT 3.51 with some changes.
Win 2000 was NT 4.0 with some changes.
XP/2003 was Win2000 with some changes.
Vista/2008 was XP/2003 with some changes.
Win7/2008R2 was Vista/2008 with some changes.
Win8 will be Win7/2008R2 with some changes.

 

Earthling was just saying typing WU in the Search box will open Windows Update window (no browser needed). It is a handy tip for an easy way to open update.

 

Vista was when the change was made to get rid of the browser to do the updates. Pretty soon, the user will be taken out of the mix, and updates will start to be done with no interaction. As it is currently, critical updates are automatically downloaded in 7, with no user interaction. They are installed once you reboot, or the machine will do so if you have not for a while.

 

Again, there has been no browser input since Vista. Why is it that everyone is making this harder than it actually is. Yes, WU in the search box will bring up the Windows Update, but it does not bring up the window. Everyone is over geeking all of this, and there is no need to do so. Anyone ever heard the term K.I.S.S.?

 

That's it, I skipped Vista, lucky me. :-D So you're saying that people are not adapting when/if a brand new OS is confusing to them, even if one has never even seen or touched a Win 7? rolleyes

 

There is nothing confusing about Vista. BTW, you are using Vista if you have Windows 7. And no, it is not confusing, unless you believe into the FUD. It is like those that state that using Linux & Mac OS is so confusing. It is like those that use smart phones, but will not touch a iPhone or Android phone, because they believe the noise and their own self that they think that it is confusing.

Sorry, but moving from XP to 7 is no different. Now the difference will be when MS gets done killing the line, when Windows 8 comes out. That will either dumb down people, or confuse the hell out of a lot of them.

 

@brownizs. That may be for you, but we all are different. Don't judge people so indiscriminately.

 

Who is judging people? Only person I see doing it is you.

 

Isn't it mild for this time of year? :-D

 

Thanks David. Yes I did put a shortcut of WU to a toolbar (having 3 now) as this one fits nicely with all the other security apps. Yes, I knew that WU could be pinned to the start menu but chose not to. It will take some time to get used to the Win 7 gui and to find everything but it's going a bit better. What I was concerned with was installing security software first and other favorite software apps. poldr gave some excellent links and have been browsing there and learning bit by bit.