Katherine Murray - My Microsoft Windows 7 PC

Katherine Murray

800 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA

My Microsoft Windows 7 PC

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-4895-9
ISBN-10: 0-7897-4895-9

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Greg Wiegand

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR
Loretta Yates

MARKETING MANAGER
Dan Powell

DEVELOPMENT EDITOR
Todd Brakke

MANAGING EDITOR
Kristy Hart

SENIOR PROJECT EDITOR
Lori Lyons

COPY EDITOR
Chuck Hutchinson

INDEXER
Tim Wright

PROOFREADER
Sheri Cain

TECHNICAL EDITOR
Sharon Fields

PUBLISHING COORDINATOR
Cindy Teeters

BOOK DESIGNER
Anne Jones

COMPOSITOR
Bronkella Publishing LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing: October 2011

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an as is basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book.

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Katherine Murray has been writing about technology since before Microsoft Windowsany Microsoft Windowseven existed. Shes worked with every consumer version of Windows that has ever been made, marveling with the masses at Windows 3.1, swearing at Windows ME, enjoying Windows XP, and threatening to throw her computer off the roof, thanks to Windows Vista. Now with Windows 7, she feels we have arrived at a sleek, smart, reasonably lightweight operating system that does pretty much what most users need it to do. She started writing about technology 24 years ago and still enjoys it, specializing in Microsoft Office technologies and the fascinating ways in which we stay in touch with each other through cloud technology, blogging, social media, and more. Youll find Katherines blog, BlogOffice, at www.murrayblogoffice.blogspot.com. In addition to writing books, she writes regularly for CNETs TechRepublic and Windows Secrets.

This book is dedicated to the folks who just want their computers to work, simply and easily, so they can get on with the really fun things in life (like grandchildren!).

Most creative projects require the talents and know-how of a number of people, and this is certainly true in the world of book publishing. Many thanks to the whole crew at Que Publishing for their insight, encouragement, and great editing all the way through My Microsoft Windows 7 PC. Special thanks to Loretta Yates for thinking of me for this project and to Laura Norman, series editor, for her experience and good suggestions on practical preparations for this project. I also greatly appreciate the expertise of Todd Brakke, development editor; Lori Lyons, project editor; Chuck Hutchinson, copy editor; and Sharon Fields, technical editor, who helped ensure that everything you find in the book is accurate and easy to read.

Its been a real pleasure for me to come back to Que and write after all these years. My career in technical writing began at Que way back in 1987 (really!), when I wrote Using PFS: First Publisher. The world has changed since then, but its great to see that Ques caring about quality has been a constant all the way along.

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what were doing right, what we could do better, what areas youd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom youre willing to pass our way.

As Editor-in-Chief for Que Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didnt like about this bookas well as what we can do to make our books better.

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book. We do have a User Service group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the book.

When you write, please be sure to include this books title and author as well as your name, email address, and phone number. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book.

Email:

Mail: Greg Wiegand
Editor-in-Chief
Que Publishing
800 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

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If youre new to computers (or even if youre not), you might not be too familiar with what your operating system can do for you. Many people purchase their computers with a specific set of tasks in mind. You want to check email, update your favorite social media sites, and browse and shop online. Or you plan to use your home computer to work on the files from work youre not quite finished with. Or maybe youre interested in organizing your photos, music, or videos in a way that makes them easy to find later.

In this book, youll learn how to use Windows 7 to do all these thingsand moreon your Windows 7 PC. Well begin with a simple introduction to your machine, and soon youll know how to connect various devices to your system and get Windows 7 talking to them. Throughout the rest of this book, youll learn how to accomplish all the other basic tasks youd like to master with Windows 7, including setting up security and privacy measures for your system, finding files, preparing media, working with pictures, networking your home computers, and much, much more.

Windows 7 gives you a simple, streamlined way to work with the programs, files, and settings on your computer. As youll learn in more detail in , the screen is easy to understand and navigate, and mouse and keyboard techniques are easy to learn. The familiar Start menu has been enhanced to give you easy access to programs and files of all sorts, and the taskbar, along the bottom of your window for starters, makes it simple to choose the file and program you want to work with.