I haven't used Windows since the year 2000, but a new job means this longtime Mac user needs to learn how to. A couple specifics related to image editing and task management software plus general words of wisdom/ encouragement requested within.
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posted by hwickline
on May 20, 2013 -
11 answers
I usually navigate my Windows 7 Explorer windows via keyboard. I type the name of a directory, then hit enter to open it. But when the new directory comes up, typing finds the first filename alphabetically, which would be fine if I had my directories sorted by file name, but I do not - they're sorted by file type instead. Once a file is selected after typing the first letter, Windows's selection continues looking in the display order (first by type then alphabetically) but does not wrap to the beginning of the directory, so if I was trying to select a folder and ended up with a file, then I either have to click in the window or wait a few seconds and hit Home to get to the start of the window. How do I change this so it will initially give preference to file type and not just file names?
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posted by Lakmir
on May 17, 2013 -
5 answers
My work computer is a laptop running Windows 7. I am working far from my office this week (as I often do) and I connect to my work server through Remote Desktop Connection. Typically this is pretty much problem-free, but for the last two or three days, when I log in to the server, I am seeing the server's desktop not as a full screen, but in a window about 10" wide on my 17.3" laptop screen. As well, while the laptop's screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio, the window looks to be 4:3. Attempting to resize the window through the Maximize/Restore Down icon avails me naught: I can mouse over the edges of the window and drag it to a new size, but it maxes out at the size that I mention, which covers maybe 60% of the screen's real estate. Numerous reboots and resets have not rectified it and I am at a loss as to how to proceed.
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posted by ricochet biscuit
on Apr 24, 2013 -
6 answers
My friend's laptop runs windows 7. After resetting last night she's getting an Operating System Not Found error during boot. Assuming the hard drive hasn't completely failed, what are the best, simplest tools she can use to either fix the problem or at least get her important data off the drive? She has access to another computer with a cd/dvd burner, an 8GB USB flash drive, and blank cds. She doesn't have access to the system restore disc or anything like that. She can get a blank DVD if that's simplest.
I was leaning toward Knoppix as the Linux distribution for a live dvd, but if there's an easier way I'd love to hear it. Thanks.
posted by Green With You
on Mar 16, 2013 -
11 answers
I'm reformatting the hard drive of my parent's Windows 7 PC to give to somebody. That's all well and good--software is reinstalled, drivers are updated, Windows Update looks happy. When I started the machine for the first time after Windows 7 installation was complete, it did it's standard thing where it asked what the user name was, what the PC name was, basic settings, etc. Is there any way to redo that setup for the new owner when they turn it on for the first time?
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posted by jroybal
on Jan 10, 2013 -
5 answers
I moved an SSD to a new system. Now I can't access files on the old hdd that were created during the time the SSD was a part of that old system. Can they be brought back to life?
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posted by peacay
on Jan 9, 2013 -
15 answers
I have a Dell laptop with Windows 7 32-bit on it and I'm having the weirdest issue with it. The "Devices and Printers" control panel window hangs every time I open it. It gets to about 90% of the way, according to the progress bar, and then stops. I can manage my printers using the Admin tools but everything else is unreachable. Is there any way to fix this short of a Windows re-install? This is a work laptop and I'd rather not have to go through our IT service department since they'll nuke everything on it that wasn't there when I got it.
posted by tommasz
on Jan 4, 2013 -
8 answers
How can I tweak the Windows 7 search index so that I can find all files on both the SSD and the hdd?
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posted by peacay
on Jan 1, 2013 -
6 answers
After restarting Windows 7 (SP 1) today, my chosen Small text setting (100% at 100 dpi on a 1920 x 1200 resolution) had been replaced by Medium (125%). Text everywhere looked huge. I switched back to Small, but now a lot of my system text (like
title bar text and
context menu text ) is extremely small, much smaller than before, and some other text, like the listing of subject headings in my Thunderbird email client and the tab text in Firefox, is also incredibly small. How to get back to my original Small appearance?
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posted by maudlin
on Oct 23, 2012 -
4 answers
I have a genuine copy of Windows 7 Ultimate which i have previously installed and activated through Microsoft. I wanted to reinstall Windows today but I've found the DVD has somehow been scratched and my DVD drive refuses to read the disc. If i download a copy of Windows 7 from BitTorrent and install it using my genuine CD key, will I get into any trouble? Will it even work? If not, what are my options?
posted by Effigy2000
on Oct 16, 2012 -
9 answers
How can I set up a Windows 7 PC to be clean and stay clean? I don't want file bits and temporary files to clog it up, I don't want a million image files the size of a dot. I don't want this computer to run like molasses after a few years of web browsing and use. What is the best way to do that?
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posted by cashman
on Oct 12, 2012 -
20 answers
In Windows 7, I have several examples of identically-named files in the same folder. As far as I know, this shouldn't be possible. Any ideas about why this would have happened and how to fix it?
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posted by FreelanceBureaucrat
on Aug 12, 2012 -
13 answers
I'd like to select which network interface is used for Internet access on a per-application basis. How do I do this on 64bit Windows 7?
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posted by ODiV
on Aug 8, 2012 -
10 answers
Repairing friend's laptop(s). Will be nuking from space. Which Windows OS version to install? Also, failing wifi on second laptop. *sigh*
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posted by jadepearl
on May 24, 2012 -
13 answers
I'm looking to sort an entire folder alphabetically by name, but Windows 7 insists on always keeping files and folders separate.
There was a solution for XP
earlier, but under 7 that option is nowhere to be seen. I'm open to 3rd party file manager solutions, just as long as they don't look like a programmer with ADHD designed it
ala.
posted by a.
on Feb 22, 2012 -
3 answers
I have questions about how to use the new directory structures we now have under Windows 7 and Vista.
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posted by crapmatic
on Jan 10, 2012 -
3 answers
I'm trying to customize a default user profile in Windows 7 professional, with the intent of using it to create a mandatory profile. Microsoft requires the use of Sysprep. I am but an intern, and Sysprep confuses me. I can't get Sysprep to run with the command-line switches I need.
The SteadyState replacement saga continues...
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posted by UrbanEye
on Nov 16, 2011 -
2 answers
Crap! My computer is borked and I don't know what to do about it. System Restore can't seem to find Windows, either.
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posted by Scientist
on Nov 16, 2011 -
9 answers
Has anyone made a solid, stable, fancier, and Windows 7 compatible version of the awesome old Windows XP "Starfield" screensaver?
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posted by Esefa
on Aug 26, 2011 -
9 answers
How can I configure WiFi and iTunes on a Windows 7 machine, when not only don't I know much about Windows 7, but the entire user interface is in Russian?
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posted by amtho
on Aug 12, 2011 -
7 answers
In the Windows 7 explorer context menu, I'd like to add an item under 'new' that's like "New Folder" but instead creates a folder named e.g. 2011-07-26. I have no idea where I'd start; any approaches or software I should look into?
posted by the mad poster!
on Jul 26, 2011 -
11 answers
I'm looking for a dial up modem for a 64bit windows 7 laptop.
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posted by kg
on Jun 6, 2011 -
3 answers
Windows 7 has been installed over Windows XP and I need access to some files from the old OS, but there are some serious permission issues.
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posted by charred husk
on May 23, 2011 -
4 answers
I'm on a company provided Windows 7 laptop. Here's what I know:
When using the "Windows Classic" Theme (right click on desktop>personalize>select "Windows Classic" theme), Windows Explorer does NOT hang/hourglass for ~30 seconds when accessing files/navigating folders. All clicks to save files, navigate through local and distributed files (our MyDocs folder is stored on the Company's distributed file system), etc., are immediately responsive.
When using ANY other theme, clicking on navigation of files (local and DFS, even when not connected to the company network) hangs for 10-30 seconds.
What gives? Do all of the themes (minus the "Classic" theme) have some sort of "network call" that look through My Docs (which is technically on the DFS/my company's servers, that has a 30 timeout if the network doesn't respond?)
Any ideas how to fix this (change a registry setting, ask the company IT team to make a change to a group policy setting, etc.)? What's so special about the "Windows Classic" theme? It's ugly, but it saves me 30 seconds every time I touch a file, open windows explorer, etc.
Thanks in advance!
posted by thankyoumuchly
on May 17, 2011 -
6 answers
I have a small simple 16 bit windows application that I need access to from a couple dozen Windows 7 64 bit computers. Unfortunately we lost some of the source code so recompiling it is not in the cards any time soon.
Is there a way I can host this app on something like Amazon AWS and give all these users access to run the app via a browser or some other method?
Installing VM lite or the windows virtual pc is not an option unfortunately. These users would need access to this program concurrently. The VMWare solutions are far too expensive and the VMLite product that might help we won't be out for some time.
Thank you for reading my post. Have a great one.
posted by JohnGL
on Apr 22, 2011 -
7 answers
I have a piece of software that works on Windows 7, 32-bit, but not on x64 versions. Is it possible to get it working on my computer, perhaps in a VM? I also have the linux version of the software.
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posted by Canageek
on Mar 23, 2011 -
11 answers
My computer doesn't seem to recognize attached hardware in Windows XP mode under Windows 7.
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posted by medusa
on Feb 28, 2011 -
6 answers
Files from a previous install of Windows 7 seem to be between worlds - they are taking up space on my hard disk, but I can't see them in the file explorer? How can I get them to show up?
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posted by pilibeen
on Jan 9, 2011 -
4 answers
I have, to aid in not permitting myself to stay up too late, set Windows 7's Task Scheduler to automatically hibernate at a certain time in the evening that varies according to weekday. However, if I manually hibernate the system beforehand (
i.e., go to sleep earlier than the deadline), when I wake it the next morning, it hibernates shortly thereafter. However, importantly, I do
not have the "Run task as soon as a scheduled start is missed" checkbox turned on. I've seen
this, but Richard's suggestion of only letting the task run after a certain idle period – I don't think it'd be suitable as I don't want activity (either mine or the computer's) to be able to push things past the deadline. Any ideas as to what I can do?
posted by WCityMike
on Jan 5, 2011 -
10 answers
I have remote staff in a dozen different countries, and many of them have installed pirated copies of Windows 7 on organizational laptops. We're trying to make sure all organizational computers are using legal licenses. What's the best way to do this?
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posted by drycleanonly
on Jan 4, 2011 -
8 answers
How can I replace the hard drive on my laptop and then get the operating system which I legally have installed right now back onto it?
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posted by brenton
on Jan 2, 2011 -
14 answers
My netbook refuses to start in Windows 7, though it will boot into Ubuntu from a USB thumb drive. How can I repair Windows' startup from outside of Windows and/or booting from a thumb drive?
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posted by nicebookrack
on Dec 13, 2010 -
6 answers
I have a problem with Windows 7 startup after I made some hardware changes. The computer won't boot automatically and I'm hoping for some suggestions.
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posted by Mokusatsu
on Dec 5, 2010 -
5 answers
Why do my screens attached to my DELL laptop running Windows 7 turn a slightly orange hue every day at 4:45pm until I shut down and restart?
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posted by metajc
on Nov 22, 2010 -
2 answers
Massive unintended file deletion? I had almost my whole CD & LP collection digitized on a Maxtor OneTouch 750Gb drive. Last week, I installed Zune software on my Windows 7 PC, and all of a sudden, those files are gone, daddy, gone from the drive. Hope me recover my files!
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posted by beelzbubba
on Oct 29, 2010 -
7 answers
Windows 7 security: I want to use the same boot for general use and audio production. Can you help me review my plan for decent performance and security?
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posted by Not Supplied
on Aug 24, 2010 -
8 answers
My Windows 7 (64bit) PC crashed and now wants me to login. However, I have never set up a user account. What the heck do I do now?
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posted by ninazer0
on Jul 13, 2010 -
4 answers
Since upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Professional, my Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop keeps overheating and switching itself off.
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posted by ellieBOA
on Jun 1, 2010 -
7 answers
Constant pop-ups on Internet Explorer, even though Firefox is my default browser. Something's making them happen. How do I stop it?
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posted by mippy
on May 3, 2010 -
17 answers
Can I use a Keyspan USB-to-serial adapter with a Windows XP 32-bit application running within XP Compatibility Mode within Windows 7 Professional 64-bit?
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posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Apr 13, 2010 -
13 answers
Install windows 7 install problems + can I install enterprise (with an enterprise key) from an ultimate disk?
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posted by kraigory
on Feb 23, 2010 -
3 answers
