19 Tips Every Windows 7 User Needs to Know

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    19 Tips Every Windows 7 User Needs to KnowCreated 04/23/2010 - 1:42pm

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    19 Tips Every Windows 7User Needs to KnowPosted 04/23/10 at 03:42:29 PM by Norman Chan, Mark Soper & Jon Phillips

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    Your OS drive s your whole PC experience , so it's your jobas an enthusiast to kee p it in a high state of tune

    Twist cap carefully. Only pour into Maximum PC-approved computer tanks.

    After installing a new OS, mos t people jus t jump right in and s tart driving it through all their favorite applications andgames . Makes s ense, right? The operating system, after all, should be a background player in the computing experiencea means to an end, with the end being web surfing, content editing, and wanton destruction in the firs t-person shooter ofones choice.

    The problem, however, is that most people, even a lot of self-described power us ers, never take the time to really tune thenew OS, exploring its m enus and setting up the interface for the fastest, mos t convenient operation bas ed on personalpreferences. And as operating systems offer more and m ore user controls, its the curious, performan ce-mindedenthusias t who has the mos t to gain from tuning an OS to his or her liking.

    Its been about six months s ince Windows 7 hit the market, so we figure most of our readers have made their upgrades.

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    For those whove made that jump, we present a bottle of our favorite Windows 7 tips, each designed to help you extract thevery last bits of convenience and GUI-navigating performance from your own personal dream machine. And if you haventyet upgraded to Win7, we trust you will after reading this article, as its core featureslet alone i ts actual Lab-benchmarkedperformance kicks Vis ta and XP ass .

    We close out our tuning sess ion with a tip des igned to supercharge the process of installing the OS. By loading Windows 7onto a USB key, and making that key a bootable drive, you can do an end-run around slow optical-drive technology andinstall your OS in (pardon the pun) a flash.

    Its time to get started. Park your computer, but dont shut down. This is one PC tune-up that can only be done with yourengine running.

    Keyboard Shortcuts for Committed Mouse AbolitionistsLets kick off this power-user party with keyboard shortcutstricks every enthusias t should memorize when m astering anew OS. Were confident the following time-saving keystrokes will save you precious neural process ing cycles, and m akeyour mous e jealous with neglect.

    Alt + P

    In Windows Explorer, this s hortcut activates a preview pane of your selected file, be it an im age, s ound, or video document.This panel is great for previewing images in your photos directory, obviating the need for fancier third-party software.

    Windows + Up and Windows + Down

    If a window isnt maximized, pressing the Windows + Up arrow key will m ake it fill your entire screen. Windows + Downarrow will minim ize that active window.

    Windows + Shift + Up and Windows + Shift + Down

    Hitting these three keys will vertically stretch an active window to the maximum desktop height (the width of the window,however, will stay the same). Press ing Windows + Shift+ Down will res tore the window to its previous dimens ions.

    Windows + + and Windows + -

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    Pressing the Windows button with either the plus or minus key activates the Magnifier, letting you zoom in on the entiredesktop or open a rectangular magnifying lens to zoom in on (and out of) parts of your screen. You can also customize theMagnifier to follow your mouse pointer or keyboard cursor.

    Windows + Left and Windows + Right

    These two shortcuts will make your active window fill up exactly one half of your screendepending on which arrow key you

    use. And once a window is fixed to one side of the screen, you can repeat the shortcut with the same arrow key to flip it tothe other s ide.

    Windows + Home

    This s hortcut minim izes every open window on your desktop except the active window. Pressing this s hortcut againrestores all the minimized windows.

    Windows + T

    Like Alt + Tab (still our all-time-favorite Windows shortcut), Windows + T cycles through thumbnails of your open programsvia the Taskbars peek menu.

    Windows + E

    Automatically opens up a new Explorer window to s how your Libraries folder.

    Windows + P

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    Manage your multiple-monitor setup more efficiently with this handy shortcut. Windows + P opens a s m all overlay that letsyou configure a s econd dis play or projector. You can s witch from a s ingle m onitor to dual-display in either mirror or extend-desktop mode.

    Windows + Shift + Left and Windows + Shift + Right

    If youre us ing two or m ore disp laysand you are, arent you?memorize this shortcut to easily move a window from onescreen to the other. The window retains its s ize and relative position on the new screen, which is u seful when working withmultiple documents.

    Windows + [Number]

    Programs (and new ins tances) pinned to your Taskbar can be launched by hitting Windows and the appropriate numberkey. Windows + 1, for example, launches the first application in the taskbar, while Windows + 4 will launch the fourth.

    Windows + Space

    This combo performs the sam e function as m oving your mouse to the bottom right of the Taskbar: It makes every activewindow transparent (save faint outlines) s o you can view the des ktop underneath.

    Track Your Actions with Problem Step Recorder

    To aid their development of Windows 7 beta versions , the Microsoft engineers buil t in a diagnos tic tool called ProblemSteps Recorder that combines s creen captures with mouse tracking to record your actions. You can launch this programfrom the Start Menu by typing psr.exe in the search field. Hit the Record button and the applet tracks your mouse andkeyboard input while taking screenshots that correspond with each new action. When you stop recording, your sess ion issaved to an HTML slide show recreating your steps , to which you can add comments and annotations. This tool is insanelyuseful if you need to create a tutorial for a computer-illiterate relative. Hi Mom, hi Dad!

    Master Your New Font Manager

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    Font management is much improved in Windows 7. The Add Fonts dialog is history, and in its place is new functionalitywithin the Fonts folder itself. First, the folder now shows font previews via each font files icon (visible with Large or ExtraLarge icon views). Second, fonts from a s ingle set will no longer show up as different fonts; theyre now combined as asingle family, which can be expanded by double-clicking the icon. Third, you can now toggle fonts on and off by right-clicking a font icon and selecting the Hide option. This prevents applications from loading the font (thus s aving memory),but still keeps the file retained in the Font folder. Finally, Windows 7 includes a new fancy, free-flowing font called Gabriolathat shows off the advanced antialiasing, text rendering, and stylistic alternate font flourishes afforded by DirectWrite(Microsofts API for 2D text rendering) and OpenType.

    Next Page: Windows 7 Tips continued >>

    Launch Games with Keystrokes

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    One of our bigges t annoyances with Windows Vista was the Games Folder, aka the Gaming Grotto, aka the GamingGhetto. In Vista, Games for Windows titles and other game shortcuts automatically install to this directory, which you canonly access with a Start Menu s hortcut. This scheme prevents you from starting a gam e from the Start Menu search bar(aka the power user, keyboard-only method). Indeed, while you can launch any other application by mashing the Windowskey, and typing its name in the Start Menu field, this isnt the case for games installed to Vistas Games Folder. Well, thisoversight is fixed in Windows 7, and the universe is now home to slightly less evil.

    Burn a Spittin' ImageYou can quit messing around with ostensibly free, malware-infected burning software, because Windows 7 comes loadedwith a DVD and CD ISO burning application. Just double-click your image file and Windows will s tart a tiny program windowto help burn your disc. Its a bare-bones app, but it works!

    Become More Wordly with Hidden Wallpapers

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    Besides its default desktop wallpaper, Win7 includes desktop backgrounds catered to your region (which is identifiedwhen you first install the OS). We Americans, for example, get s ix 1900x1200 im ages showing off National Parks andbeaches. However, if your tastes run more internationaldont worry, we wont hold that against youyou can grabwallpapers for other regions from a hidden folder. Type globalization in a search of your C: drive. The only result should bea folder located in the main Windows directory, and you should only be able to see ELS and Sorting folders nested here.Now s earch for MCT in the top-right search bar. This will display five new unindexed folders, each corresponding to adifferent global region. Browse these folders for some extra themes and wallpapers specific to Australia, United Kingdom,South Africa, and Canada.

    Take Control of UAC

    Despite good intentions, User Account Control pop-ups were one of the mos t annoying aspects of Vista , and thus UACbecame a feature that most of us im mediately disabled after a clean ins tall. UAC in Windows 7 displays fewer warnings,but you can also fine-tune its notification habits by launching the UAC Settings dialog from the Start Menu. Just type UAC inthe Start Menu s earch field and click the result. We find that setting the bar to just one tick above Never notify provides acomfortable balance between mindful s ecurity and incessant, Alice Kramdencaliber nagging.

    Calculate Your Mortgage and Other Math Tricks

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    The reliable Calculator applet has been beefed up to do m ore than just bas ic arithmetic. You can now toggle betweenStandard, Scientific, Programmer, and even Statistics modes. In addi tion, the Options m enu lets you pull out many newautomated conversation tools, such as Unit Conversion (e.g., Angles, Temperature, Velocity, and Volume) and DateCalculation (e.g., calculate the difference between two dates). More templates give you the ability to crunch gas mileage,lease tipping points, and even mortgage estimates (yeah, right!) based on any variables you input.

    Reveal All of Your Drives

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    If you use built-in m emory-card readers in a 3.5-inch drive bay or on your desktop display, empty memory card s lots will notshow up as drives in My Computer. But that doesnt mean theyre not still there. To reveal hidden mem ory card slots, openMy Computer. Press Alt to show the toolbar at the top of the screen, and go to Folder Options under Tools. Hit the View taband uncheck the Hide empty drives in the Computer folder option.

    Use Devices and Printers to Quickly Dig into Hardware

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    Tired of switching between Device Manager, Properties menus for your devices, and the Start Menu to manage and useprinters, digital cameras, mice, and other peripherals? Windows 7 comes to your rescue with its Devices and Printersdialog. Open Control Panel and select View Devices and Printers from the Hardware and Sound category. Right-click adevice icon in Devices and Printers to configure the hardware, create shortcuts, troubleshoot, view properties, and runprogram s. Devices and Printers can s ave you a lot of effort. For example, when you use it to manage your computer, youhave one-touch access to 12 different Control Panel and Explorer interfaces. And when you use a Windows 7specificdriver that supports Device Stage, Devices and Printers uses thumbnail art of the actual device , as shown.

    Next Page: Windows 7 Tips continued >>

    Calibrate Your Notebook's Text and Color

    After doing a clean ins tall of Windows 7 on a notebook, the first thing you should do is tune and cal ibrate ClearType text andDisplay Color. Windows 7 includes two built-in wizards that run you through the entire process , pain-free. Launch

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    ClearType Text Tuning by typing cttune in the Start Menu s earch field and opening the s earch result. Youll go through abrief series of steps that ask you to identify the best-looking text-rendering m ethod. For Display Color Calibrationuseful ifyoure us ing Windows 7 with a projector or large-screen LCDsearch and launch dccw from the Start Menu. Itll run youthrough a series of pages where you can adjust the gamma, brightness , contrast, and color of the screen to make imageslook their best.

    Control AutoPlay Settings Like a Megalomaniacal Tyrant

    Windows 7s version of AutoPlay, like its predecessors, lets you s pecify what to do with media types when you connect anexternal drive or insert a disc. Sure, you may have hated AutoPlay in Windows XP, but Win7 provides you with reasons totake a fresh look. As in Vista, Win7 lets you configure AutoPlay settings by media type, but you should poke around for moretweaking options. Open Control Panel, select Hardware and Sound, and then select AutoPlay. By default, Win7 usesAutoPlay for all media and devices; this can be unchecked, and from there you can personalize AutoPlay actions like amadm an. Note that each type of mediamusic CDs , DVDs, software and games, media files, blank media, and videodiscsoffers you choices based on Windows utilities as well as third-party programs. Choose your favorite app as anAutoPlay default, or to keep the traditional pop-up AutoPlay menu, select Ask Me Every Time.

    Solve External Hard Drive Hassles with Convert.exe

    Windows 7 prefers hard disk drives that use the NTFS file system: Its integrated backup program cannot back up files fromor to drives that use the older FAT32 file system. So, if you select a drive that uses FAT32 as the backup location, Windows7 displays an error message. FAT32, a leftover from the days of Windows 98, works with both MacOS and Windows (whichis why mos t external hard disks use this file system by default), but it lacks the features needed to fully support Windows 7backup. Use Convert.exe to solve this problem. Open a command-prompt session and use the following command tochange your external hard disks file system: convert x: /fs:ntfs (replace x with the actual drive letter of your external harddis k). Convert.exe will check your external hard disk for errors, verify theres enough space for conversion, and then convert

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    with abandon. While this theoretically will not destroy your data, we recommend you back up your files first.

    Convert WMC Recordings for Use with Vista and XP

    Windows Media Center (WMC) improved in the jump from Vista to Windows 7youll find better integration of cable,broadcast, and Internet TV in the program guide, better support for widescreen displays, and a refined user interface,among other changes. But if you want to share your recordings with Windows XP or Vista us ers, or use the dozens ofrecording and file-conversion utilities made for those versions of WMC, youre sort of screwed, as Windows 7 no longeruses the DVR-MS file format for recording. Instead, it uses WTV (Windows TV), and WTV files cant be used by olderversions of WMC or Windows Media Player.

    You can, however, convert a TV recording from WTV to DVR-MS by using the conversion utility provided in Win7.

    TV recordings are stored by default in the Public Recorded TV library. Open the library, right-click the recording, and selectConvert to DVR-MS Format. At the end of the conversion process, the Recorded TV library contains both your original .wtvfile as well the .dvr-ms conversion. The .dvr-ms file can be used with programs designed for Windows XP and WindowsVista Windows Media Center, and can be played on Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player in Windows XPand Windows Vista.

    Command Windows 7 to Generate an Energy Report

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    As a power us er, you may be concerned with power consum ption, making the command-line utility powercfg.exe a mus t-see. To create a report on your PCs energy appetite, press the Windows key and type cmd in the search box. Right-clickcmd and s elect Run as Administrator. Now, select the box and type powercfg energy at the command-line prompt, andhit Enter. Powercfg will run for about 60 seconds, then generate a report called energy-report.html inC:\Windows\system32. This report will notify you of anything in your computer that is keeping the CPU cycling, thus burningpower and sucking notebook batteries dry. After you run the report, youll likely find that USB devices never enteredSuspend state. While you might think the power consumption of a USB key is pretty ins ignificant, if it prevents the CPU fromcycling off, that device can really hit where it hurtsin your batterys nards .

    Cling (Desperately) to Vista's Taskbar

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    Lets s tart with the bad news: Windows 7 eliminates the option to use the classic grey Windows 2000style Taskbar.Youre als o comm itted to the modern version of the Start Menu. But the good news is that you can s till tweak the Taskbar tomake i t run like it did in Windows Vista, replacing the program icons with the names of each open app. Right-click theTaskbar and hit Properties . Check the Use s mall icons box and select Combine when Taskbar is full from the drop-down m enu under Taskbar buttons. You still get the peek-view thumbnail feature of the Taskbar, and inactive programsremain as single icons, but open programs will display their full names .

    Next Page: Windows 7 Tips continued >>

    Exile Programs to the System TrayAll active programs show up as icons on the Taskbar, whether you want them to or not. While this is useful for webbrowsing or word processing, your taskbar can get cluttered with icons you would normally expect to be hidden away, likethose for Steam or a chat client. You can, however, keep active instances of these programs hidden away in the SystemTray/Notification Area by right-clicking their shortcuts, navigating to the Com patibility tab, and selecting Windows Vistaunder the Compatibility Mode drop-down m enu. Just be aware that this only works for programs that would previously hideaway from the Taskbar in Vista.

    Manage Your Jump Lists

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    The Jump Lis t, a list of shortcuts to files or tasks for a particular Start Menu or Taskbar item, is one of the mos t significantimprovements in Windows 7. Each time you open a file or website, or run a task with a program that supports Jump Lis ts,Windows 7 stores the shortcut to the file, website, or task for reuse. Unlike Windows XP, however, Windows 7 doesntgroup these shortcuts into a single location. Instead, it stores shortcuts for each programs files, websites, or tasks in aseparate s hortcut lis taka the Jump List. To see the Jump List for a program in the Start Menu, sim ply click the right-arrow

    icon. To see the Jump List for a program icon on the Taskbar, right-click the icon. Windows eventually removes items fromthe Jump Lis t when it runs out of space, but you can override this. To make any Jump List item a perm anent entry, highlightit and click the pushpin icon (reverse this process to unpin it). And if the idea of leaving an icon trail of all your recent historydisturbs you, you can disable Jump Lists entirely: Right-click the Start Menu, choose Properties, and uncheck the twoboxes under Privacy.

    Organize Your Taskbar and System Tray

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    The programs that you pin to your Taskbar can be moved around to any order you want, whether theyre just shortcut iconsor currently active applications. The Taskbar, if unlocked, can als o be dragged to latch to the left, right, or even top of yourdesktop. As shown below, Windows 7 improves side-docked Taskbar support with better gradient rendering and shortcutsupport. It really works well if youre using a widescreen monitor. Just as the Taskbar icons can be rearranged at will, theicons in the System Tray (actually called the Notification Area) can be dragged and set to any order, as well. Hidden Iconscan be dragged back into view, and you can hide icons by dragging them over the white triangle, and dropping them intothe Hidden Icon wellmuch easier than working through the Notification Area Customization m enu.

    Accelerate Your Start Menu

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    The Start Menu hasnt changed much from Vista, but there are some notable improvements. The behavior of the powerbutton has been changed to Shut Down, as opposed to Hibernate, which was the asinine default in Vista . But you can als ochange the button default to do other actions. Right-click the Start Menu, and choose Properties. From the Power ButtonAction drop-down, you can choose a new default button behavior. If you hit the Cus tomize button, youll enter a world ofopportunities that help you control what the Start Menu displays. Most options are turned off, but you may want some on,like the option to dis play recorded TV files, a feature thats new in Windows 7. Also be aware that Start Menu items shouldbe se t to Display as a link if you want them to open up Jump Lis ts.

    Arrange Files by Type, Month, Artist, and Other Options

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    Windows Vista introduced the concept of using the Details folder view to group files by criteria such as name, datemodified, type, size, and other options. These choices are s till available in any folder by right-clicking ins ide the folder andselecting them from the options m enu. But Window 7 does Vista one better with its new Libraries scheme, which enablesyou to view the contents of m ultiple file locations in a single logical folder. And as youd expect, each Library comes correctwith contextual file-arrangement options that vary according to whats being viewed. For example, in the Pictures library, youcan choose from Day, Rating, Tag, and Month. For videos, m aybe arranging by Length, as in our screenshot, is mos trelevant. You get the point.

    Pin Folders to Favorites and Start Menu

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    Explorers Jump List shows your seven m ost frequently visited folders, but you can m anually bookmark s ome favorites tothe top of the list by pinning folder locations. Just right-click any foldereither on your des ktop or from an open instance ofExplorerand drag that folder icon to the Explorer shortcut on the Taskbar. Youll see a mess age that reads Pin toWindows Explorer before you release the mous e button. The folder will appear under a Pinned s ection of the Jump List,and you can remove it by clicking the Unpin from this list icon on the right side of the panel. You can als o right-click anddrag a folder directly to the Start button to pin that folder to the general Start lis t.

    Next Page: Put an OS in Your Pocket >>

    Put an OS in Your PocketHow to load Windows 7 onto a bootable USB key

    To complete your Windows 7 power-user experience, you may consider dropping the whole darn OS onto a USB drive.Whether you carry it around in your pocket or toss it in a desk drawer, its a perfect boot disk for emergency installsincluding those times when youre working with a netbook or some other computer that lacks an optical drive. Even better,your ins tall times will be s ignificantly reduced, thanks to your keys flash m emorywe shaved off minutes from our totalinstall time.

    Heres how to create a schmancy-fancy boot key for either Windows 7 or Vistabut not for other OSes, so please dont try!Weve run a truncated version of this article in the m agazine before, but because i t was so incredibly popularand sogermane to this feature storyweve decided to share it again, this time with more detail and screens.

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    1. Format Your USB Key

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    Plug in your USB key and back up any existing data stored on it. Youll need to format the key (thus erasing existing data)before you can make it a bootable device. We used an 8GB key, but a 4GB key will als o work.

    2. Partition that Key in CMD

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    Open up a com mand prompt as an Administrator. You can do this by searching for cmd.exe in your Windows/System32folder, right-clicking the executable, and selecting Run as adminis trator. Alternatively, type CMD in the Start Menu searchfield and activate the command prompt using Ctrl + Shift + Enter.

    You s hould now be under C:\Windows\system32 (ass uming your Windows partition is the C drive). Type diskpart in thecommand line to enter the Disk Partition command-line tool, which lets you format and create partitions on active disks.Now type list disk to reveal a list of all your active disks, each of which is ass ociated with a number. Make a note of which

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    one is your USB key, based on the capacity. In this screenshot, our USB drive is Disk 2.

    3. Format Away (Command-Prompt Style)

    Its now time to enter a load of commands to properly partition the key, and format for the NTFS (did you know this standsfor New Technology File System?). In succession, enter the followingand type carefully, Jimbo!

    Select Disk # (where # is the number of your USB dis k. We typed Select Disk 2 for this job)

    Clean (this removes any existing partitions from the USB disk, including any hidden sectors)

    Create Partition Primary (creates a new primary partition with default parameters)

    Select Partition 1 (focuses operation on the newly created partition)

    Active (sets the partition to active, informing the dis k firmware that this is a valid system partition)

    Format FS=NTFS (formats the partition with the NTFS file system. This may take s everal minutes to com plete, dependingon the size of your USB key)

    Assign (this gives the USB drive a Windows volume and next available drive letter, which you should write down. In ourcase, drive L was assigned)

    Exit (quits the Dis kPart tool)

    4. Copy Windows DVD to a Desktop Folder

    Insert the Windows 7 installation DVD into your drive, and view the files that it contains. Copy all of the files to a folder onyour Desktop. We put the dis c contents in a folder named Windows 7.

    5. Turn Your Key into a Bootable Dev ice

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    Now, go back to your comm and prompt, running it as an Adminis trator. Using the CD command, navigate your way to thefolder where you placed the Windows disk ISO files . Your command line path should look something likeC:\Users\USERNAMEHERE\Desktop\Windows 7\ if you followed our lead on folder placement. Now type the followingcommands:

    CD Boot (this gets you into the boot directory)

    Bootsect.exe /nt60 L: (this assumes L is the drive letter assigned to your USB key from the previous step)

    In case youre wondering, Bootsect infuses boot managercompatible code into your USB key to make i t a bootable device.Also be aware that if youre currently running 32-bit Windows Vista or 7, Bootsect will only work if you use the files from the

    32-bit Windows 7 install disc. The Bootsect executable from the 64-bit version will not run in 32-bi t Vista. Dont forget it!

    6. Load the USB Key with Your Install Files

    Copy all of the extracted ISO files into the USB drive. You dont need to do this from the command prompt. Just drag anddrop the files from the Windows 7 folder into the USB drive us ing Windows Explorer. We also recommend copying yourhardware drivers onto the same key so the ins tallation wizard can find them.

    Your USB key is now all ready to go! Plug it into your target system and m ake sure you enter the BIOS (typically by hitting F2or F12) to temporarily change the boot order to allow booting from the USB key before your primary hard drive or opticaldrive. Now, when you plug the key into a machine, your system should automatically begin speedily downloading setupfiles off of the USB key and entering Windows 7 ins tallation.

    COMMENTS: 21TAGS: how to , OS, tips , tricks , features , windows 7 , keyboard s hortcuts , bootable USB

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