Windows 7: The Missing Manual

Easier yet, you can drag a file’s icon from your Windows desktop right into the box where you normally type. (This trick works well with pictures, because your conversation partner sees the graphic right in his chat window.) This is a fantastic way to transfer a file that would be too big to send by email. A chat window never gets “full,” and no attachment is too large to send. And it even works to send files between PCs and Macs. This method halves the time of transfer, too, since your recipients get the file as you upload it. They don’t have to wait 20 minutes for you to send the file and then another 20 minutes to download it, as they would with email or FTP. ••Send email. If someone messages you,“Hey, will you email me directions?” you can do so on the spot. Point to the person’s name in your buddy list; from the shortcut menu, choose “Send e-mail.” Your email program opens up automatically so you can send the note along; if your buddy’s email address is part of his profile, the message is even preaddressed. ••Send a text message to a cellphone. This is really cool: You can send text messages directly to your friends’ cellphones. Just point to the person’s name in your buddy list and, from the shortcut menu, choose “Send mobile text (SMS).”Note: If you’ve never entered this person’s cellphone number, the command says, “Enter a mobile number”instead. Do it. In the box that pops up, type a short message (a couple of sentences, tops), and then press Enter. Instantly, that message shows up on the person’s cellphone! Amazingly, you can even carry on an interactive conversation this way. If the per- son writes you back from the phone, the message appears right in the Messenger window, as though you were actually chatting. ••Change the background. You can change the white background to a faded, pale photo, if that’s the kind of thing that floats your boat. Just click the Background button at the bottom of the chat window (the sixth icon). You’re offered an array of ready-to-use window backgrounds; you can see one of them in Figure 7-20. To get rid of the background and revert to soothing white, choose the slashed-circle background (lower right of the pop-up menu).Audio ChatsMessenger becomes much more exciting when you exploit its AV Club capabilities.You can conduct audio chats, speaking into your microphone and listening to theresponses from your speaker.To begin an audio chat, you have two choices:

••In the buddy list, choose ActionsÆCallÆ“Call a contact’s computer.” (To see the Actions menu, tap Alt, or click the tiny Menu icon Å in the upper-right.) ••If you’re already in a text chat, click CallÆ“Call computer” on the toolbar.Once your invitation is accepted, you can begin speaking to each other. World-overlong distance, computer to computer, absolutely free. There may be a delay, like you’recalling overseas on a bad connection, but hey—it’s free.Tip: You can also place a call to an actual phone number, thanks to a feature called Windows Live Call. Todo that, choose ActionsÆCallÆ”Call a contact’s phone” (or Æ”Call phone,” to enter a number not alreadyin your address book). Click the contact name (or enter the phone number, complete with 1 plus the areacode) and then click Call.(Another way: Point to a contact’s name; from the shortcut menu, choose “Call mobile.”)You’ll discover that this kind of calling is not free. However, it’s very cheap—2 cents a minute from the U.S. toEurope, for example. You’ll be guided through the setup procedure, which involves depositing some moneyup front, via a Web site.Video ChatsIf you and your partner both have broadband Internet connections and Web cam-eras, an even more impressive feat awaits: You can conduct a free video chat. Thisisn’t the jerky, out-of-audio-sync, Triscuit-sized video of days gone by. If you’ve gotthe PC muscle and bandwidth, your partners are as crisp, clear, bright, and smoothas television.Tip: You and your buddy don’t both need the gear. If only you have a camera, for example, your less-equippedbuddy can see you but has to speak (audio only) or type in response.To begin a video chat, you have the usual two choices: ••In the buddy list, choose ActionsÆCallÆ“Start a Video Call.” (To see the Actions menu, tap Alt, or click the Å icon in the upper-right.)Tip: If you want to see the other guy but you’re not presentable enough to show yourself, you can use “Viewa contact’s webcam” instead, for a one-way effect. ••If you’re already in a text chat, click Video on the toolbar.A window opens, showing both you and your pal (Figure 7-21).And now, some video-chat notes: ••If your conversation partners seem unwilling to make eye contact, it’s not because they’re shifty. They’re just looking at you, on the screen, rather than at the cam- era—and chances are you aren’t looking into your camera, either. ••A headset gives much better sound quality (both ends) than mike and speaker.

••This cutting-edge technology can occasionally present cutting-edge glitches. The video quality deteriorates, the transmission aborts suddenly, the audio has an an- noying echo, and so on. When problems strike, choose ToolsÆ“Audio and video setup” to see if Messenger can fix it. Figure 7-21: You’ll probably dis- cover that you need some kind of light in front of you to avoid being too shadowy. Don’t forget that you can keep type-chat- ting in the right-side area—great when what you need to say is, “I can see you, but I can’t hear you!” ••You can save your typed transcripts of instant message conversations. Choose ToolsÆOptionsÆMessages, and then turn on “Automatically keep a history of my conversations.” Use the Change button to specify which folder you want to contain the transcripts.Cosmetic TweaksIf you’ve done nothing but chat in Messenger, you haven’t even scratched the surface.You can customize and tailor this thing to within an inch of its life.

To see your options, click the little Options button (the middle of the three next to the Search box on the buddy list). In the Options dialog box, you have an enormous number of settings to fiddle with. Some of the highlights: ••Personal. Controls how you want other people to see you: your name, your picture, your profile, your status message, your Webcam. ••Layout. Governs what sections of your buddy list appear. For example, you can hide the groups, the favorites, the what’s-new list, and so on. You also get to choose how big people’s icons appear: Large, Medium, Small, or Invisible. ••Sign in. Do you want Messenger to open and sign in automatically when you turn on the PC? Do you want to be able to sign in from more than one place (for example, your PC and your phone)? ••Messages. Do you want to get nudges, winks, photos, and voice clips as people send them to you? Do you want to hide smileys (because they are, after all, insufferable)? Do you want Messenger to keep a transcript of your chats? ••Alerts. Do you want Messenger to beep and pop up a message when contacts come online? When you get email? When your message is received? ••Sounds. What sounds do you want to hear when someone signs in? When someone invites you to chat? When someone “nudges” you? ••File Transfer. Where do you want transferred files to go? Do you want them scanned for viruses? ••Privacy. Here are the lists of people you want to block. ••Security. Various checkboxes for features intended to stop you from stumbling onto viruses or spyware. ••Connection. Troubleshooting tools to use if you’re not getting good audio or video quality.310 windows 7: the missing manual

8chapterThe Control PanelLike the control panel in the cockpit of an airplane, the Control Panel is an 311 extremely important feature of Windows 7. It’s teeming with miniature appli- cations (or applets) that govern every conceivable setting for every conceivablecomponent of your computer. Some are so important that you may use them (or theircorresponding notification-area icons) every day. Others are so obscure that you’llwonder what on earth inspired Microsoft to create them. This chapter covers them all.Note: Here and there, within the Control Panel, you’ll spot a little Windows security-shield icon. It tells youthat you’re about to make an important, major change to the operating system, something that will affecteveryone who uses this PC—fiddling with its network settings, for example, or changing its clock. To proveyour worthiness (and to prove that you’re not an evil virus attempting to make a nasty change), you’ll beasked to authenticate yourself; see the box on page 726 for details.Many Roads to Control PanelAll VersionsThere are two ways to change a setting on your PC. There’s the traditional way, whichbegins with opening the Control Panel and drilling down from there. And there’s theWindows 7 way, which involves jumping directly to the setting you want, using theStart menu’s Search box. Herewith: the steps for both methods.The Control Panel ItselfTo have a look at your Control Panel applet collection, choose StartÆControl Panelto open the Control Panel window. chapter 8: the control panel

You see that for the fourth-straight Windows edition, Microsoft has rejiggered thelayout in an attempt to make the thing easier to navigate. (Figure 8-1).The “View by” pop-up menu (upper right) shows that there are three ways to view thecomplete collection of control panels: by category or as a list of small or large icons. Figure 8-1: The Control Panel categories have been expanded and rearranged to make it even easier for novices to find tasks. Clicking a category heading takes you to the associated list of tasks (and their applets). For your convenience, several tasks are listed under more than one category. It seems that even Microsoft couldn’t decide where each should definitively go.up to speedControl Panel Terminology HellThe Control Panel continues to be an object of bafflement boxes that walk you through a procedure) or even ordinaryfor Microsoft, not to mention its customers; from version to Explorer windows. And even among the applets, the look andversion of Windows, this window undergoes more reorga- substance of the Control Panel panels vary widely.nizations than a bankrupt airline. So what are people supposed to call these things? The worldWindows 7 presents the most oddball arrangement yet. needs a general term for the motley assortment of icons inThere are far more icons in the Control Panel than ever the Control Panel window.before—about 50 of them, in fact. But they’re not all thesame kind of thing. To help you and your well-intentioned author from going quietly insane, this chapter refers to all the Control PanelSome are the traditional applets, meaning mini-applications icons as either icons (which they definitely are), control(little programs). Others are nothing more than tabbed panels, or applets (which most of them are—and besides,dialog boxes. Some open up wizards (interview dialog that’s the traditional term for them).312 windows 7: the missing manual

Category view 313Here’s a rundown of the new, improved Control Panel home categories: ••System and Security. In this category are system and administrative tasks like back- ing up and restoring, setting your power options, and security options (firewall, encryption, and so on). ••Network and Internet. This category contains settings related to networking, In- ternet options, offline files (page 635), and Sync Center (to manage synchronizing data between computers and network folders). ••Hardware and Sound. Here you find everything for managing gadgets connected to your computer: printer settings, projector settings, laptop adjustments, and so on. ••Programs. You’ll probably use this one a lot. Here’s how you uninstall programs, choose which program is your preferred one (for Web browsing or opening graph- ics, for example), turn Windows features on and off, and manage your desktop gadgets. ••User Accounts and Family Safety. This category contains the settings you need to manage the accounts on the computer (Chapter 23), including the limited accounts that parents can create for their children. ••Appearance and Personalization. Here’s a big category indeed. It covers all things cosmetic, from how the desktop looks (plus taskbar, Sidebar, and personalization settings) to folder options, fonts, and ease-of-access settings. ••Clock, Language, and Region. These time, language, and clock settings all have one thing in common: They differ according to where in the world you are. ••Ease of Access. This revamped category replaces the Accessibility Options dialog box from Windows XP. It’s one-stop shopping for every feature Microsoft has dreamed up to assist the disabled. It’s also the rabbit hole into Speech Recogni- tion Options.Classic viewThe category concept sounds OK in principle, but it’ll drive veterans nuts. You don’twant to guess what category Fax wound up in—you just want to open the old Printand Fax control panel, right now.Fortunately, Classic view is still available. That’s where the Control Panel displays all50 icons in alphabetical order (Figure 8-2).Use the “View by” pop-up menu in the upper-right, and choose either “Small icons”or “Large icons.” Then double-click the icon of the applet you’d like to use.Control Panel via SearchEver try to configure a setting in the Control Panel but forget which applet it’s in? Hap-pens all the time. It’s perfectly possible to waste some time, clicking likely categories,opening and closing a few applet icons, backing out, and trying again. chapter 8: the control panel

Use the Search box in the Start menu instead. It’s uncannily good at taking you to thecontrol panel you really want.Quick: Where do you go to set up your monitor’s color settings? Would it be under theSystem and Security category? Hardware and Sound? Appearance and Personalization? Figure 8-2: Classic view might be overwhelming for novices, because the task icons give little indication about what settings they actually contain. Here’s a hint: Remember that you can just move your mouse over a task and pause there. A tooltip pops up, giving you an idea of what’s inside.Don’t worry about it. Press the w key to open the Start menu; type color; when yousee Color Management highlighted in the results list, press Enter to open it. (On otherquests, you might type fonts, sound, battery, accounts, date, CDs, speech, or whatever.)Yes, you’ve had to type, just like in the ancient DOS days—but you saved a lot of time,steps, and fumbling. It just works really well. (There’s a similar Search box right inthe Control Panel window itself.)Tip: There are other shortcuts to the Control Panel, too, that don’t require typing.First, you can turn on the feature that lets you choose a certain control panel’s name directly from the Startmenu, as described on page 44.Or, if you don’t mind a cluttered desktop, make a shortcut for the applets you access most. To do that,open the Control Panel. Right-click the icon you want; from the shortcut menu, choose “Create shortcut.”It automatically places it on the desktop for you. Or, what the heck—drag an applet right out of the ControlPanel into the Start menu to install it there!

The Control Panel, Applet by AppletAll VersionsIcon view is the perfect structure for a chapter that describes each Control Panel ap-plet, since it’s organized in alphabetical order. The rest of this chapter assumes you’relooking at the Control Panel in one of the two Icon views.Action CenterHere’s the new Windows 7 Action Center: a single, consolidated window listing everysecurity- and maintenance-related concern that Windows has at the moment. Begrateful: These all used to be separate balloons harassing you from the right end ofthe taskbar. For details, see Chapter 20.Administrative ToolsThis icon is actually a folder containing a suite of very technical administrative utilities.These tools, intended for serious technowizards only, are explained in Chapter 20.AutoPlayWhat do you want to happen when you insert a CD? Do you want to see a window ofwhat’s on it? Do you want the music on it to start playing? Do you want to auto-runwhatever software installer is on it? Do you want whatever photos it contains to getcopied to your Pictures library?The answer, of course, is, “Depends on what kind of CD it is,” and also, “That shouldbe up to me.”That’s the purpose of the AutoPlay feature of Windows 7. It differentiates betweendifferent kinds of audio CDs and DVDs, video CDs and DVDs, programs (like soft-ware and games), pictures, video and audio files, blank CDs and DVDs, and evenproprietary kinds of discs, like Blu-ray, HD, and Super Video. It even lets you managehow externally attached devices (like a camera or USB drive) are handled.Each time you insert such a disc or drive, you get the dialog box shown at top inFigure 8-3, asking how you want to handle it—this time, and every time you insertfrequently asked questionWhat happened to AutoRun?What the heck? I’ve inserted a flash drive that I know con- Why? Because the bad guys were using the AutoRun featuretains a software installer, but it doesn’t run automatically as an evil backdoor for installing viruses and other nastieslike it did in Windows Vista. What’s going on? on your PC. You’d insert a flash drive, and bing!—something would auto-install without your awareness.Microsoft made a big change in Windows 7: It turned off theability for software installers to autorun from USB gadgets Nowadays, if you really want to run an installer from a flashlike flash drives. drive, choose StartÆComputer, open the drive’s icon, and run the installer manually by double-clicking it. chapter 8: the control panel 315

a similar gadget thereafter. For each kind of disc, the pop-up menu offers you obvi- ous choices by disc type (like “Play audio CD” for music CDs), as well as standard options like “Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer,” “Take no action,” or “Ask me every time.” Figure 8-3: Top: The AutoPlay window appears whenever you insert a record- able CD or DVD, memory card, or flash drive. You can say what you want to happen (like “Import pictures” or “Burn files to disc”) just for this time, or—by turning on “Always do this”— forever. But what if you want to change your mind? Bottom: Finally: a single, easy-to-use place to change the automatic actions for all kinds of discs and memory sticks. To set what happens when you insert each type of device or disc, open the adjoining pop- up menu. It displays a list of possible actions, like “Play audio CD,” “Rip music from CD,” “Open folder to view files,” or “Take no action.” Behind the scenes, your choices are recorded in the AutoPlay control panel, where you can change your mind or just look over the choices you’ve made so far (Figure 8-3, bottom).316 windows 7: the missing manual

Tip: If you’ve never liked AutoPlay and you don’t want Windows to do anything when you insert a disc, justturn off “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices” at the top of the window.Backup and Restore CenterBackup and Restore Center controls how you back up your computer (and restoreit). Check out Chapter 22 for more detailed information.BitLocker Drive EncryptionBitLocker encrypts the data on your drives to keep them from being accessed by thebad guys who might steal your laptop. For details, see Chapter 21.Color ManagementMicrosoft created this applet in conjunction with Canon in an effort to make colorsmore consistent from screen to printer. Details are in Chapter 17.Credential ManagerCredential Manager, formerly called “Stored User Names and Passwords,” lets youteach Windows to memorize your corporate account names and passwords. It’s notthe same thing as the Web-browser feature that memorizes your passwords for every-day Web sites (like banking sites). Instead, Credential Manager stores passwords forshared network drives and corporate-intranet Web sites, the ones where you have toenter a name and password before you even see the home page.Date and TimeYour PC’s concept of what time it is can be very important. Every file you create orsave is stamped with this time, and every email you send or receive is marked with it.When you drag a document into a folder that contains a different draft of the samething, Windows warns that you’re about to replace an older version with a newer one(or vice versa)—but only if your clock is set correctly.This program offers three tabs: ••Date and Time. Here’s where you can change the time, date, and time zone for the computer (Figure 8-4)—if, that is, you’d rather not have the computer set its own clock (read on).Tip: In the “Time zone” section of the Date and Time tab, you can find exactly when Windows thinks daylightsaving time is going to start (or end, depending on what time of year it is). In addition, there’s an option toremind you a week before the time change occurs, so you don’t wind up unexpectedly sleep-deprived onthe day of your big TV appearance. ••Additional Clocks. If you work overseas, or if you have friends, relatives, or clients in different time zones, you’ll like this one; it’s the only thing that stands between you and waking them up at three in the morning because you forgot what time it is where they live.

This feature shows you, at a glance, what time it is in other parts of the world. You can give them any display name you want, like “Paris” or “Mother-in-Law time.” Note that the additional clocks’ times are based on the PC’s own local time. So if the computer’s main clock is wrong, the other clocks will be wrong, too. Figure 8-5 shows how to check one of your additional clocks.Tip: If you click the time on the taskbar instead of just pointing to it (Figure 8-5), you get three large, beautifulanalog clocks in a pop-up window. Figure 8-4: Top: The Date and Time tab has a lovely analog clock displaying the time. You can’t actually use it to set the time, but it looks nice. To make a change to the date or time of the computer, click “Change date and time.” Bottom: At that point, select the correct date by using the calendar. Specify the correct time by typing in the hour, minute, and seconds. Yes, type it; the ≤ and ≥ next to the time field are too inefficient, except when you’re changing AM to PM or vice versa. ••Internet Time. This option has nothing to do with Swatch Internet Time, a 1998 concept of time that was designed to eliminate the complications of time zones. (Then again, it introduced complications of its own, like dividing up the 24-hour day into 1,000 parts called “beats,” each one being 1 minute and 26.4 seconds long.)

Instead, this tab teaches your PC to set its own clock by consulting one of the highly accurate scientific clocks on the Internet. To turn the feature on or off, or to specify which atomic Internet clock you want to use as the master clock, click Change Settings. (No need to worry about daylight saving time, either; the time servers take that into account).Note: Your PC resets its clock once a week—if it’s connected to the Internet at the time. If not, it gives upuntil the following week. If you have a dial-up modem, in other words, you might consider connecting tothe Internet every now and then and using the “Update now” button to compensate for all the times yourPC unsuccessfully tried to set its own clock. Figure 8-5: To see the time for the additional clocks, point without clicking over the time in the notification area. You get a pop-up displaying the time on the additional clock (or clocks) that you configured.Default ProgramsIn an age when Microsoft is often accused of leveraging Windows to take over otherrealms of software, like Web browsing and graphics, the company created this com-mand center. It’s where you choose your preferred Web browser, music-playingprogram, email program, and so on—which may or may not be the ones providedby Microsoft.You’re offered four links: ••Set your default programs. Here’s where you teach Windows that you want your own programs to replace the Microsoft versions. For instance, you can say that, when you double-click a music file, you want to open iTunes and not Windows Media Player. For details, see page 319. ••Associate a file type or protocol. This window lets you specify exactly what kind of file you want to have opened by what program. (That’s essentially what happens in the background when you set a default program.) File associations are covered in more depth on page 242. ••Change AutoPlay Settings. This option opens the AutoPlay applet described on page 315. ••Set program access and computer defaults. Here, you can not only manage what programs are used by default, like browsing with Internet Explorer or getting email with Windows Mail, but also disable certain programs so that they can’t be used

at all. It’s organized in rather combative schemes: You can choose to prefer Micro- soft products (disabling access to the non-Microsoft interlopers), Non-Microsoft products (pro-third party, anti-Microsoft), or create a Custom scheme, in which you can specifically choose a mix of both. See page 249 for more information. Desktop Gadgets This icon is nothing more than a shortcut to the Gadgets window described on page 235. Device Manager The Device Manager console shows you where all your hardware money was spent. Here, you or your tech-support person can troubleshoot a flaky device, disable and enable devices, and manage device drivers. If you’re comfortable handling these more advanced tasks, then Chapter 18 is for you. Devices and Printers Double-click to open the new Devices and Printers window, where everything you’ve attached to your PC—Webcam, printer, scanner, mouse, whatever—appears with its own picture and details screen. Chapter 17 has the details. Display This one opens the “Make it easier to read what’s on your screen” window described on page 192. The task pane on the left side offers links to other screen-related controls, like “Adjust resolution,” “Change display settings” (meaning resolution), and so on. Ease of Access Center The Ease of Access Center is a completely revamped version of the Accessibility Options of Windows XP. It’s designed to make computing easier for people with disabilities, although some of the options here can benefit anyone. See page 287 for details. Folder Options This program offers three tabs—General,View, and Search—all of which are described in Chapter 3. Fonts This icon is a shortcut to a folder; it’s not an applet. It opens into a window that reveals all the typefaces installed on your machine, as described in Chapter 17. Getting Started What’s this thing doing here? It’s not a control panel at all. Instead, it’s the welcome screen that greets you every single time you log in (until you turn off the “Run at startup” checkbox). This window conveniently displays how to get started with Win- dows, transfer stuff from your old PC, and so on. For a more detailed look at this window and its offerings, see Chapter 1.320 windows 7: the missing manual

HomeGroup 321The HomeGroup icon opens the “Change homegroup settings” screen, where you canchange the password or perform other administrative tasks related to your homegroup(home file-sharing network). Homegroups are described in Chapter 26.Indexing OptionsThe Start menu’s Search box is so magnificently fast because it doesn’t actually rootthrough all your files. Instead, it roots only through an index of your files, an invisible,compact database file that Windows maintains in the background.This dialog box lets you manage indexing functions and change what gets indexed,and it lets you know how many items have been indexed. To learn more about theparticulars of indexing and how to use it, see Chapter 3.Internet OptionsA better name for this program would have been “Web Browser Options,” since all itssettings apply to Web browsing—and, specifically, to Internet Explorer. As a matter offact, this is the same dialog box that opens from the ToolsÆInternet Options menucommand within Internet Explorer. Its tabs break down like this: ••General, Security, Privacy, and Content. These tabs control your home page, cache files, search-field defaults, and history list. They also let you define certain Web pages as off-limits for your kids, and manage RSS feeds, as well as block pop-up windows. Details on these options are in Chapter 10. ••Connections. Controls when your PC modem dials. ••Programs. Use this tab to manage browser add-ons, decide whether or not In- ternet Explorer should warn you whenever it is not the default browser (for your protection, of course), or choose the default programs that open, should you click a link to email someone, open a media file, or view the HTML source of a Web page (ViewÆSource). ••Advanced. On this tab, you find dozens of checkboxes, most of which are useful only in rare circumstances and affect your Web experience only in minor ways. For example, “Enable personalized favorites menu” shortens your list of bookmarks over time, as Internet Explorer hides the names of Web sites you haven’t visited in a while. (A click on the arrow at the bottom of the Favorites menu makes them reappear.) Similarly, turning off the “Show Go button in Address bar” checkbox hides the Go button at the right of the address bar. After you’ve typed a Web address (URL), you must press Enter to open the corresponding Web page instead of clicking a Go button on the screen. And so on.iSCSI InitiatorThis applet is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it requires tech support or your net-work administrator to set up properly and is completely useless for computers not on chapter 8: the control panel

a network. Just opening it could wind up opening holes in your Windows Firewall.You’ve been warned.KeyboardYou’re probably too young to remember the antique known as a typewriter. On someelectric versions of this machine, you could hold down the letter X key to type a seriesof XXXXXXXs—ideal for crossing something out in a contract, for example.On a PC, every key behaves this way. Hold down any key long enough, and it startsspitting out repetitions, making it easy to type,“No WAAAAAY!” or “You go, grrrrrl!”for example. (The same rule applies when you hold down the arrow keys to scrollthrough a text document, hold down the = key to build a separator line betweenparagraphs, hold down Backspace to eliminate a word, and so on.) The Speed tab ofthis dialog box (Figure 8-6) governs the settings. ••Repeat delay. This slider determines how long you must hold down the key before it starts repeating (to prevent triggering repetitions accidentally). ••Repeat rate. The second slider governs how fast each key spits out letters once the spitting has begun. After making these adjustments, click the “Click here and hold down a key” test box to try out the new settings.power users’ cliniciSCSI InitiatorYou’ve already been warned that iSCSI Initiator is for system are walking on the ground? That’s the kind of speed boostadministrators, and you still want to know about it? iSCSI gives you.OK, fine. To make this work, your computer initiates the process of finding and connecting to the target iSCSI storage deviceiSCSI Initiator is a way of connecting your computer to across the network. (That’s why this applet is called iSCSIhard drives on almost any kind of network—even across Initiator, get it?)the Internet. Your computer must have an iSCSI service running on it, andIn the old days, accessing such externally stored data was the ports that iSCSI uses must be open on your computer’spainfully slow. If you needed a file on that distant hard drive, firewall. (The applet offers to do this part for you.) Once theyou didn’t dare work on it “live” from across the network; service is started and the ports are open (or you’ve canceledit would be just too slow. So you’d download the files to through the prompts), you can get to the iSCSI Initiator dialogyour computer first, work on it, and then upload it when box and configure its settings. It’s at that point that you reallyyou were done. need a highly paid network professional to configure the settings, because it’s filled with such fun settings as CHAPAnd that’s why Microsoft created iSCSI. It’s not as fast as or IPsec authentication, the IP address of the RADIUS server,using your computer’s internal hard drive, but it’s a big im- the IP address of the target device, and more.provement. Ever walked on one of those moving sidewalksbetween airport terminals, zooming past the people who322 windows 7: the missing manual

••Cursor blink rate. The “Cursor blink rate” slider actually has nothing to do with the cursor, the little arrow that you move around with the mouse. Instead, it governs the blinking rate of the insertion point, the blinking marker that indicates where typing will begin when you’re word processing, for example. A blink rate that’s too slow makes it more difficult to find your insertion point in a window filled with data. A blink rate that’s too rapid can be distracting. Figure 8-6: How fast do you want your keys to repeat? This dialog box also offers a Hardware tab, but you won’t go there very often. You’ll use it exclusively when you’re trying to trouble- shoot your keyboard or its driver.Location and Other SensorsThese days, small computers like netbooks come equipped with sensors, like tiltsensors and GPS location sensors. Well, OK, they don’t really come with sensors, butMicrosoft wishes they would.Just in case these ever do become standard PC components, Microsoft has built thispanel, which lets you turn these sensors on and off individually. The real point hereis the location sensor, which bothers people with a strong sense of privacy.MouseAll the icons, buttons, and menus in Windows make the mouse a very important tool.And the Mouse dialog box is its configuration headquarters (Figure 8-7).

Buttons tab This tab offers three useful controls: “Button configuration,” “Double-click speed,” and “ClickLock.” Figure 8-7: If you’re a southpaw, you’ve probably realized that the advantages of being left- handed when you play tennis or baseball were lost on the folks who designed the computer mouse. It’s no surprise, then, that most mice are shaped poorly for lefties—but at least you can correct the way the buttons work. ••Button configuration. This checkbox is for people who are left-handed and keep their mouse on the left side of the keyboard. Turning on this checkbox lets you switch the functions of the right and left mouse buttons so that your index finger naturally rests on the primary button (the one that selects and drags). ••Double-click speed. Double-clicking isn’t a very natural maneuver. If you double- click too slowly, the icon you’re trying to open remains stubbornly closed. Or worse, if you accidentally double-click an icon’s name instead of its picture, Windows sees your double-click as two single clicks, which tells it that you’re trying to rename the icon. The difference in time between a double-click and two single clicks is usually well under a second. That’s an extremely narrow window, so let Windows know what you consider to be a double-click by adjusting this slider. The left end of the slider bar represents 0.9 seconds, and the right end represents 0.1 seconds. If you need more time between clicks, move the slider to the left; by contrast, if your reflexes are highly tuned (or you drink a lot of coffee), try sliding the slider to the right.324 windows 7: the missing manual

Each time you adjust the slider, remember to test your adjustment by double- 325 clicking the little folder to the right of the Speed slider. If the folder opens, you’ve successfully double-clicked. If not, adjust the slider again. ••ClickLock. ClickLock is for people blessed with large monitors or laptop trackpads who, when dragging icons onscreen, get tired of keeping the mouse button pressed continually. Instead, you can make Windows“hold down”the button automatically, avoiding years of unpleasant finger cramps and messy litigation. When ClickLock is turned on, you can drag objects on the screen like this: First, point to the item you want to drag, such as an icon. Press the left mouse or trackpad button for the ClickLock interval. (You can specify this interval by clicking the Settings button in this dialog box.) When you release the mouse button, it acts as though it’s still pressed. Now you can drag the icon across the screen by moving the mouse (or stroking the trackpad) without holding any button down. To release the button, hold it down again for your specified time interval.Pointers tabSee page 188 for details on changing the shape of your cursor.Pointers Options tabSee page 189 for a rundown of these cursor-related functions.Wheel tabThe scroll wheel on the top of your mouse may be the greatest mouse enhancementsince they got rid of the dust-collecting ball on the bottom. It lets you zoom throughWeb pages, email lists, and documents with a twitch of your index finger.Use these controls to specify just how much each wheel notch scrolls. (You may notsee this tab at all if your mouse doesn’t have a wheel.)Hardware tabThe Mouse program provides this tab exclusively for its Properties buttons, whichtakes you to the Device Manager’s device properties dialog box. Useful if you have totroubleshoot a bad driver.Network and Sharing CenterThis network command center offers, among other things, a handy map that showsexactly how your PC is connected to the Internet. It also contains a tidy list of allnetworking-related features (file sharing, printer sharing, and so on), complete withon/off switches. See Chapter 26 for details.Notification Area IconsDouble-click to open up a screen where you can hide or show specific icons in yoursystem tray (at the right end of your taskbar), as described in Chapter 2. chapter 8: the control panel

Parental Controls This applet lets you, the wise parent, control what your inexperienced or out-of-control loved one (usually a child, but sometimes a spouse) can and cannot do on (or with) the computer. For more information, see Chapter 10. Pen and Input Devices This applet opens up a dialog box where you can configure how your stylus (pen) interacts with the desktop and windows. (You need this control panel primarily if you have a tablet PC or a graphics tablet.) For details, see Chapter 19. Performance Information and Tools Windows 7 needs a fast computer. Just how fast is yours? This control panel breaks it down for you, even going so far as giving your PC a grade for speed. In addition, this window has convenient links to tabs of several other applets (like Power Options, Indexing Service, and System Performance), as well as access to the old Disk Cleanup utility. For power users, there’s even a kickin’ Advanced Tools win- dow stocked with speed-related goodies, logs, and reports. For details, see Chapters 20 and 21. Personalization Have you ever admired the family photo or space shuttle picture plastered across a coworker’s PC desktop? Wished the cursor were bigger? Been annoyed that you have to log in again every time your screen saver kicks in? All these are aspects of the Personalization applet. It’s such a big topic, it gets its own chapter: Chapter 4. Phone and Modem You’ll probably need to access these settings only once: the first time you set up your PC or laptop to dial out. Details in Chapter 9. Power Options The Power Options program manages the power consumption of your computer. That’s a big deal when you’re running off a laptop’s battery, of course, but it’s also important if you’d like to save money (and the environment) by cutting down on the juice consumed by your desktop PC. The options you see depend on your PC’s particular features. Figure 8-8 displays the Power Options for a typical computer. In Windows 7, Microsoft has tried to simplify the business of managing the electricity/ speed tradeoff in two ways. First, it has abandoned the old name power scheme and adopted a new one: power plan. You can feel the clouds breaking up already. (A power plan dictates things like how soon the computer goes to sleep, how bright the screen is, what speed the processor cranks at, and so on.)326 windows 7: the missing manual

power users’ clinic The Story of God ModeIt started on a blog called jkontherun.com: the crazy rumor Here are a few of the folders you can create. In each case,that Microsoft had created a secret Control Panel view called you can type anything you want before the period, as longGod Mode, and that only power users could access it. as the hexadecimal code that follows is correct.Crazy thing is, it’s true. “God Mode” is a simple folder that AutoPlay. {9C60DE1E-E5FC-40f4-A487-460851A8D915}brings all aspects of Windows 7 control—Control Panelfunctions, interface customization, accessibility options—to DateandTime. {E2E7934B-DCE5-43C4-9576-7FE4F75E7480}a single location. FolderOptions. {6DFD7C5C-2451-11d3-A299-00C04F8E-To create this all-powerful Control Panel folder, start by F6AF}creating an empty folder anywhere. Give it this name: Fonts. {93412589-74D4-4E4E-AD0E-E0CB621440FD}GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} Homegroup. {67CA7650-96E6-4FDD-BB43-A8E774F73A57}One typo, and you’re toast. But if InternetOptions. {A3DD4F92-658A-you type it correctly, the folder trans- 410F-84FD-6FBBBEF2FFFE}forms into a strange little icon calledGodMode. Open it, and you get NetworkandSharingCenter.the super-cool Control Panel view {8E908FC9-BECC-40f6-915B-shown here, with major headings F4CA0E70D03D}and minor ones in a tidy alphabeticallist—and even a “Search GodMode” PowerOptions. {025A5937-A6BE-box at the top. Fantastic! Convenient! 4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}Slick! Secret! Sound. {F2DDFC82-8F12-4CDD-Or not. B7DC-D4FE1425AA4D}As it turned out, the bloggers had SpeechRecognition. {58E3C745-gotten just about everything about D971-4081-9034-86E34B30836A}God Mode wrong. It isn’t unique toWindows 7, it isn’t unique to the Troubleshooting.{C58C4893-3BE0-Control Panel, and it isn’t actually 4B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651}called God Mode. Mobility Center. {5ea4f148-308c- 46d7-98a9-49041b1dd468}Turns out it was in Vista, too. And “God Mode” is a name There are many more, as a quick Google search will tellthe bloggers came up with; in fact, you can type any folder you. Not all of them work in Windows 7 (sometimes, thename you want before the first period. Call it Master Control folder you’re renaming with the magic name simply doesn’tPanel, or All Tasks, or whatever. change its icon and adopt its new personality). And of course, there’s not a whole lot of point in going to this trouble; ifAnd it turns out, finally, that this Control Panel thing isn’t you really want direct access to a certain Control Panel ap-secret; it’s a documented shortcut for programmers. Actu- plet, you can simply drag it to your desktop right from theally, “God Mode” is only one of a dozen summary folders Control Panel window!you can create. You can also create folders that offer lists ofwhat’s in the Action Center, desktop gadgets, the Devices But even if it’s not that secret, not that special, and not thatand Printers window, and so on. new, it’s still cool.

Second, it presents you right up front with three premade power plans: ••Balanced, which is meant to strike a balance between energy savings and perfor- mance. When you’re working hard, you get all the speed your PC can deliver; when you’re thinking or resting, the processor slows down to save juice. ••Power saver slows down your computer, but saves power—a handy one for laptop luggers who aren’t doing anything more strenuous than word processing. Figure 8-8: Top: The factory setting power plan, reasonably enough, is the Balanced plan. To take a look at the settings, click “Change plan settings.” Middle: At first glance, it looks like you can change only a couple of settings, like when the computer sleeps and when the display turns off. Bottom: But if you click the “Change advanced power settings” link, you can see that the dialog box has more settings. Now you’ve got the full range of control over your screen, hard drive, wireless antenna, processor, installed PCI cards, and other power- related elements. Click the + to expand a topic, and then twiddle with the settings.328 windows 7: the missing manual

••High performance (click “Show additional plans” to see it) sucks power like a black hole but grants you the computer’s highest speed possible.Tip: You don’t have to open the Control Panel to change among these canned plans. On a laptop, forexample, you can just click the battery icon on your notification area and choose from the pop-up menu.Creating your own planBut adding to Microsoft’s three starter plans can be useful, not only because yougain more control, but also because you get to see exactly what a plan is made of. InWindows 7, you create a new plan by modifying one of Microsoft’s three starter plans.Start by clicking “Create a power plan” (left side of the window). On the next screen,click the plan you want to modify, type a name for your plan (say, PowerPoint Mode),and then click Next.The “Change settings” dialog box now appears. Yeah, yeah, you can use the pop-upmenus to specify how soon your PC sleeps and turns off its monitor; if you’re usinga laptop, you can even specify different timings depending on whether you’re runningon battery power or plugged into the wall. Boring!The real fun begins when you click “Change advanced power settings” (Figure 8-8,bottom). Lots of these subsettings are technical and tweaky, but a few are amazinglyuseful (click the + button next to each one to see your options): ••Require a password on wakeup. Nice security feature if you’re worried about other people in your home or office seeing what you were working on before your machine went to sleep to save power. ••Hard disk. Making it stop spinning after a few minutes of inactivity saves a lot of juice. The downside: The PC takes longer to report in for work when you return to it and wake it up. ••Wireless Adapter Settings. If you’re not using your computer, you can tell it to throttle back on its WiFi wireless networking signals to save juice. ••Sleep. How soon should the machine enter low-power sleep state after you’ve left it idle? And should it sleep or hibernate (page 39)? ••Power buttons and lid. What should happen when you close the lid of your laptop or press its Power or Sleep button (if it has one)? ••PCI Express. If you’ve got any adapter cards installed, and they’re modern and Windows 7-aware, then they, too, can save you power by sleeping when not in use. ••Processor power management. When you’re running on battery, just how much are you willing to let your processor slow down to save juice? ••Display. These controls govern how fast your monitor turns off to save power.