Desktop theme/background for windows 7

To change the desktop background and possibly the theme, right-click on the desktop and choose Personalize.

Compared to Windows XP, the new menu is a little more cluttered, hence more confusing, but after a moment or two, you'll get the idea what's going on.

Themes

You can switch between different themes, Basic being the sickly blue theme we're currently using, Windows Classic being the reliable, good ole theme that you should be using, plus a handful of other, less common ones. You also get numerous Aero themes if you wish to use them.

Regardless of the theme you choose, you can setup different Windows colors and backgrounds.

How to change screen resolutions in Windows 7

To change the screen resolution in Windows 7, you need to use the Screen Resolution dialog box that can be opened via the Control Panel.

Use the following steps to open the Screen Resolution dialog box.

1 – Click on the Start Menu.

2 – Click on Control Panel.

3 – Click on Change desktop background.

 Areas to take note of:

Resolution

This dropdown menu shows you the currently selected screen resolution on your PC and allows you to change the screen resolution settings.

Changing the Screen Resolution

Click on the Resolution dropdown menu to reveal the adjustment slider bar. Move the slider bar up and down to change the settings. Notice as you move the adjustment slider bar up and down, you can see a mini preview of the new settings in the screen above.

Once you’re happy with your new screen resolution settings, click on the Apply button to save them. You will then be presented with a confirmation box asking you whether you would like to confirm the change or to revert back to the previous settings.

Power saving options For windows 7

First, it helps to get acquainted with Windows 7 Power settings. It's easy to reach the Power Options control panel, just hit the Start Button and select Control Panel in the second, shaded column on the right.

Now select All Control Panel Items...

...and make your way down to Power Options and click. (Alternately, select System and Security, then Power Options.)

After clicking on the Power Options icon, you're asked to Select a Power Plan.

There are two options that are immediately available: Balanced (the default) and Power saver. Balanced turns off the display after 10 minutes of inactivity and puts your computer into sleep mode after 30 minutes. Power saver halves those times to 5 minutes and 15 minutes respectively.

More proof that Microsoft is making you work at disabling power management options, users will have to open Show additional plans to display a third, High performance profile that shuts off the display after 15 minutes but never enters sleep mode.

Apart from that, you can create your own custom power plan by selecting the link on the left or editing an existing plan and tweaking the advanced settings to your liking, including whether to prompt for a password when your computer wakes and assign a power setting (like sleep or shutdown) to the power button.

For me, Balanced works well right off the bat. After 10 minutes of no input, the screen goes predictably dark, and after 30 minutes, there's no hard drive activity. After a good shake of the mouse, my system (an aging 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 with 2 GB of memory) wakes from sleep in less than 5 seconds, plus an extra couple of seconds to reestablish my network connection.

Setting Up Your Mouse in Windows 7

To configure the mouse click settings in Windows 7, click ‘Start –> then search for and select ‘Change mouse click settings’

 Next put a check into the box ‘Switching primary and secondary buttons’ and click ‘OK’ with secondary button.

How To Install and Troubleshoot Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drives

Serial ATA interface disk drives are designed for easy installation. It is not necessary to set any jumpers, terminators, or other settings on this drive for proper operation. The jumper block adjacent to the SATA interface connector on SATA 150MB/s drives is for factory use only.  The jumper block adjacent to the SATA interface connector on SATA 300MB/s drives can be used to force the drive into SATA 150MB/s mode for use with older SATA controllers that only work with SATA 150MB/s drives.

With a Serial ATA interface, each disk drive has its own cable that connects directly to a Serial ATA host adapter or a Serial ATA port on your motherboard. Unlike Parallel ATA, there is no master-slave relationship between drives that use a Serial ATA interface.

You can use a Serial ATA drive in the same system with Parallel ATA drives as long as both interfaces are supported on the motherboard or with a host adapter. This makes it easy to add Serial ATA compatibility to your existing system without removing existing Parallel ATA disk drives.

What You Need

·        A Phillips screwdriver and four 6-32 UNC drive mounting screws.

·        A Serial ATA interface cable (sold separately). Maximum length is 39 inches (1 meter).

·        A Serial ATA-compatible power cable or adapter (sold separately).

·        A version of Windows with FAT32 or NTFS file system.

·        A system with a motherboard that has a Serial ATA connector on it, or a Serial ATA host adapter and available PCI slot in which to install the adapter.

Refer to your computer system documentation to see if your system supports Serial ATA on the motherboard and to locate the Serial ATA connector. If your system does not have a Serial ATA connector on the motherboard, you must purchase a Serial ATA host adapter that is compatible with your computer and operating system and install it with the appropriate device driver according to the host adapter manufacturer's installation instructions.

Handling Precautions

Disk drives are fragile. Do not drop or jar the drive. Handle the drive only by the edges or frame. Keep the drive in the protective anti-static container until you are ready to install it to minimize handling damage.

·         Drive electronics are extremely sensitive to static electricity. While installing the drive, wear a wrist strap and cable connected to ground.

·         Turn off the power to the host system during installation.

·         Do not disassemble the drive. Doing so voids the warranty.

·         Do not apply pressure or attach labels to the circuit board or to the top of the drive.

Attaching Cables and Mounting the Drive

1.       Attach one end of the drive interface cable to the Serial ATA interface connector on your computer's motherboard or Serial ATA host adapter (see your computer manual for connector locations). Host adapter configuration is shown below.

Note: Serial ATA connectors are keyed to ensure correct orientation.

1.       Attach the interface and power cables to the drive.

2.       Secure the drive using four 6-32 UNC mounting screws in either the side-mounting or bottom-mounting holes. Insert the screws no more than 0.20 inches (5.08 mm) into the bottom-mounting holes and no more than 0.14 inches (3.55 mm) into the side-mounting holes.

Note: Do not over tighten the screws or use metric screws. This may damage

the drive.

Configuring the BIOS

Close your computer case and restart your computer. Your computer may automatically detect your new drive. If your computer does not automatically detect your new drive, follow the steps below.

Restart your computer. While the computer restarts, run the system setup program (sometimes called BIOS or CMOS setup). This is usually done by pressing a special key, such as DELETE, ESC, or F1 during the startup process.

Within the system setup program, instruct the system to auto detect your new drive.

Save the settings and exit the setup program. When your computer restarts, it should recognize your new drive. If your system still doesn't recognize your new drive, see the troubleshooting section on the back of this sheet.

Note: Serial ATA is a new interface type. Some older systems may see the drive and classify it as a SCSI device if you are using a Serial ATA host adapter. This is normal even though this is not a SCSI disc drive. Many systems’ BIOS will not identify a Serial ATA drive connected to a PCI SATA host adapter.  This is because a PCI SATA Host Adapter has its own BIOS which is used to identify hard drives connected to it which is separate from the BIOS of the computer.  To determine whether or not the SATA Host Adapter is detecting the Serial ATA hard drive, please consult the documentation provided by the Serial ATA Host Adapter’s manufacturer. This does not affect drive performance or capacity.

How To Install Clean Windows 7

To begin the Windows 7 clean install process, you'll need to boot from the Windows 7 DVD.

Watch for a Press any key to boot from CD or DVD... message similar to the one shown in the screenshot above.

Press a key to force the computer to boot from the Windows 7 DVD. If you do not press a key, your PC will attempt to boot to the next device in the boot order, which is probably your hard drive. If this happens, chances are your current operating system will boot.

Note: If you existing Windows installation begins to boot or you see a "No Operating System Found" or "NTLDR is missing" error here instead of the screen above, the most probable reason is that your PC is not setup to boot to the CD/DVD drive first. To correct this problem, you'll need to change the boot order in BIOS to list the CD/DVD drive first.

Note: It's perfectly fine if, instead of the screen above, the Windows 7 setup process begins automatically (see the next step). If this happens, consider this step complete and move on.

You don't need to do anything at this point but wait for Windows 7 to finishing loading files in preparation for the setup process.

Note: No changes are being made to your computer at this time. Windows 7 is just temporarily "loading files" into memory for the setup process. You'll be removing everything on your computer as part of the Windows 7 clean install in a future step.

 After the Windows 7 install files are loaded into memory, you'll see the Windows 7 splash screen, indicating that the set-up process is about to begin.

You don't need to do anything at this point.

Choose the Language to install, Time and currency format, and Keyboard or input method that you'd like to use in your new Windows 7 installation.

Click Next.

Click on the Install now button in the centre of the screen, under the Windows 7 logo.

This will officially begin the Windows 7 clean install process.

Note: Do not click the Repair your computer link at the bottom of the window even if you're completing this clean install of Windows 7 as part of some larger repair project for your computer.

The Repair your computer link is used to start a Windows 7 Startup Repair or perform another recovery or repair task from System Recovery Options.

Important: If you're performing a clean install of Windows 7 as a solution to a major problem but have not yet tried a Startup Repair, do that first. It could save you the trouble of completing this clean install process.

The Windows 7 setup process is now beginning.

No need to press any keys here.

The next screen that appears is a textbox containing the Windows 7 Software License.

Read through the agreement, check the I accept the license terms checkbox under the agreement text and then click Next to confirm that you agree with the terms.

Note: You should always read "small print" especially when it comes to operating systems and other software. Most programs, Windows 7 included, have legally binding limits on how many computers the application can be installed on, among other limitations.

Important: You are not breaking any laws or contracts by reinstalling Windows 7 via this clean install. As long as this particular copy of Windows 7 is only being operated on one computer, you're OK.

In the type of installation do you want? Window that appears next, you're offered the choice of Upgrade and Custom (advanced).

Click on the Custom (advanced) button.

Important: Even if you are upgrading from a previous operating system to Windows 7, I highly recommend that you do not follow the Upgrade installation. You'll get better performance with less chance of issues if you follow these clean install steps.

In this screen, you'll see each partition that Windows 7 recognizes.

The main difference in a Windows 7 clean install verses other kinds of Windows 7 installation methods is that a clean install involves the removal of all operating system related partitions.

Windows 7 setup considers partition management as an advanced task so you'll need to click the Drive options (advanced) link to make those options available.

In the next few steps you'll delete the partitions containing the operating system you're replacing with Windows 7, be it Windows Vista, Windows XP, a previous installation of Windows 7, etc.

Now that all available drive options are listed, you can delete any operating system related partitions from your existing hard drive(s).

Important: Before continuing, be aware that deleting a partition will permanently erase all data from that drive. By all data I mean the operating system installed, all programs, all data saved by those programs, all music, all video, all documents, etc. that might be on that particular drive.

Highlight the partition you want to delete and then click the Delete link.

Note: Your list of partitions may differ considerably from mine shown above. On my computer, I am performing a clean install of Windows 7 on a computer with a single 30GB hard drive that has previously had Windows 7 installed.

If you have multiple hard drives and/or multiple partitions on those drive(s), take great care in confirming that you're deleting the correct partition(s). Many people, for example, have second hard drives or partitions that act as backup drives. That's certainly not a drive you want to be deleting.

 After deleting the partition, Windows 7 setup will prompt you to confirm the deletion.

The message says "The partition might contain recovery files, system files, or important software from your computer manufacturer. If you delete this partition, any data stored on it will be lost."

Click the OK button.

Important: As I spelled out in the last step, please be aware that all the data stored on that drive will be lost. If you have not backed up everything you want to keep, click Cancel, end the Windows 7 clean install process, restart your computer to boot back into whatever operating system you have installed, and backup everything you want to keep.

To be clear: This is the point of no return! There's no reason to be scared, I just want it to be very clear that you can't undo the deletion of the drive you selected after you click this OK button.

If there are any other partitions that need to be deleted, you can do so at this time.

For example, the Windows 7 installation I had on my PC previously created this special 100MB (very small) partition to store system data in. This is most definitely related to the operating system that I'm trying to completely remove from my computer so I'll delete this as well.

Highlight the partition and click the Delete link.

Note: As you can see, the partition we deleted in the last step is gone. It may appear like it's still there but if you look closely, you'll see that that same 29.9GB space is now described as Unallocated Space, not as a partition.

Just as in Step 12, Windows 7 setup will prompt you to confirm the deletion of this partition.

Click the OK button to confirm.

Important: Just as before, please be aware that all the data stored on this particular drive will be lost.

Installing windows 7 is not difficult at all if you  follow the steps above