Windows 7 represents an impressive advancement over previous Microsoft operating systems, performing better in performance tests than Vista and even rivalling XP in some instances.
Critical and important security updates will continue until January 2020 through an extended security update program, and many businesses are already adopting it as their operating system of choice.
Touchscreen
Windows 7 was specifically created with multitouch support in mind, giving touchscreens another way of interacting with computers and making it simpler and faster for you to get what information you need from them. If you plan on incorporating one into your PC setup, a compatible monitor and drivers may be necessary.
If you have a touchscreen device, you will notice that some applications have been enhanced to work with Windows 7’s enhanced input features. For instance, Paint has been transformed into Finger Paint; you can now use two fingers at once to paint. Jump Lists and the ability to quickly place application windows were also optimized so as to become more touch friendly.
If your touchscreen stops functioning as expected, restarting the computer may help solve the issue. If not, updating its driver may be necessary – to do this open Device Manager and click Pen and Touch tab, or download and install touch screen drivers directly from the Internet.
Another possible cause may be a virus infection on your computer. To ensure full removal, run a full virus scan and potentially install additional antivirus software as needed to eradicate the threat. Furthermore, remove any cases or items which might obstruct its function – especially cases that could potentially stop touchscreen from working as intended.
Virtual Hard Disks
One of the great new features in Windows 7 is its ability to mount virtual hard disks. These are different than physical drives in your PC (which Explorer displays) in that they consist of virtual images that you can use like any extra hard drive – you can encrypt and share these virtual drives, use them for file storage purposes and more!
To create a VHD, right-click your computer desktop icon and select Manage, followed by Disk Management. Here you will see all available disks and partitions; alternatively you can right-click Disk Management MMC snap-in and select Create VHD; this opens a similar window where you can choose where the file will be saved as well as specify its size in MB/GB/TB units and decide whether dynamic expansion or set size are possible.
Once the creation process has concluded, you’ll notice a virtual disk appear in Disk Management with unallocated space. Before using it for anything useful, however, initialization must first take place by right-clicking its unallocated space and selecting ‘Initialize Disk.’ When this has happened, your Basic disk should now appear light blue in Explorer just like any other physical drive and you can store files, install software packages or even boot from it (but keep in mind that VHD format has an internal limit of under 2 TiB (2040 GiB). You can use this VHD format’s limit is roughly 2 TiB (2040 GiB for dynamic or differencing VHDs).
Multi-core processors
Multicore processors have become one of the most revolutionary advances in processor technology over the past decade, providing PC manufacturers with more processing engines in a smaller form factor while decreasing power consumption and improving performance. Most commonly known as Intel Core processors but AMD also produces multicore chips.
Microsoft operating systems have always been at the forefront when it comes to multicore support, with Windows 7 supporting multiprocessors and automatically taking advantage of extra cores if your hardware supports it.
Older hardware may require an update or other manual adjustment in order to enable multiprocessor support, so if your machine doesn’t support multicores you should still be able to run Windows 7, but be mindful that its performance might be less optimal on an older system with less cores than on more modern machines.
Determining how many cores a CPU has is straightforward on any version of Windows 7, from Starter through Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate editions as well as Windows Embedded Standard Enterprise (formerly Windows Embedded Standard). To quickly see this information on any processor you may own, launch Task Manager by simultaneously pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys; when it opens click Performance tab in bottom-right corner for graph with details about how many CPUs your computer contains and which are active at once.
Redesigned taskbar
The Taskbar has been completely revamped for maximum usability. It now stands taller than in Vista and icons are larger, plus there are new animations and features.
One of the most useful features is Jump List, which combines recent items menu, task bar right click contextual menu and common activities associated with each application into one simple list for easy accessing different programs and their windows without ever leaving Taskbar.
Pinnable programs give your taskbar an almost dock-like quality, making launching applications faster by clicking their icons directly. This feature is especially handy for users that switch back and forth between many programs frequently.
Aero Peek is an eye-catching visual effect that displays thumbnails of all open windows on your system, making it easier for you to identify what it is you need to do at any given moment. By clicking any thumbnail, a full-size version of it will open, making it much simpler.
However, Microsoft wasn’t completely successful with Windows 8. Perhaps most notably was their removal of dragging-and-dropping applications to and from the taskbar; many users found this functionality invaluable, so its absence in this release came as a great disappointment. We can only hope that Microsoft will restore it for Windows 9!
Search bar
Windows 7’s search bar provides a quick way of quickly finding files, folders, programs and e-mail messages on your computer. As soon as you begin typing it displays results almost instantaneously while also understanding synonyms and other file properties; additionally if enabled content searching will search inside files too!
To use the search bar, click on the Start menu and type your query directly into the box. Your results appear instantly as you type, ranked by their relevance to your query. Special characters like NOT and/or prefixing a dash can narrow your search; alternatively you could expand or narrow it further with plus signs or quotes to force an exact phrase search.
Windows 7’s Libraries provide an additional layer of organization and search functionality, making files easier to find and search. Libraries can even serve as your default save location – any new items saved elsewhere on your computer will automatically be moved into it!
If your Windows 7 search has become less than effective, rebuilding its search index could be the answer to your problems. While this step will take time and may temporarily slow down your PC while taking place, it should help alleviate your troubles and should be performed at a convenient time (preferably when not using the computer). For optimal results it should be completed when your PC is unattended.
Libraries
Libraries are an exciting new feature in Windows 7 that makes life simpler when working with data across a network. They allow users to group files from various locations onto one logical folder that can then be searched using Windows Explorer search functionality – making life much simpler when working with data remotely.
Libraries can be especially helpful when managing large amounts of data with no discernable structure, where different file types reside in separate folders and locations. While their operation is straightforward enough for anyone to understand and use properly, libraries offer some powerful capabilities when used effectively.
Windows 7 includes pre-built system libraries for Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos that users can easily access their personal My Documents folder as well as public Documents folder. Users may add additional folders indexed offline to any library – even ones on external USB drives!
To create a library in Windows Explorer, right-click and choose “New Library”, give it a name, select folders to include, then change their default save location by right-clicking them in the list and choosing an option from there. Optimizing libraries with specific file types helps with document organization.
