How do I do this in Windows 7

[Luckyflux]

Hi there,

I just recently installed Windows 7 on a laptop. Now I am trying to find my way around the OS, trying to get used to the new layout.

Is there a website that explains how to do something in Win7 that you used to do in XP?

For example, if I want to rename the computer name where is that? I know how to do it in XP, but not W7.

I know I will eventually get the hang of it, but having a quick reference list would be very handy.

I tried a search but I don't even know what to search for, everything I try always comes up with installing Win7 from XP and upgrading from XP.

Other examples are, joining a workgroup or domain. Changing the wallpaper. Logging in and setting up an administrator account.

Thanks in advance, any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[The Fatman]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help/getting-started

The built in Help features in Win7 are also very good for new users, I definitely recommend them for general questions.

EDITED TO ADD: Remember, 7 is not an upgrade from XP, it is a whole new OS. In most instances, the just from XP to Vista/7 is more drastic than the jump from 9x to XP was. In a lot of cases, there is no 1:1 analog for actions you could do in XP. If something comes up you can't figure out, forget about XP and ask the question to Google or the Help feature as if you were a totally new user.

 

[Marc]

Hi there,

I just recently installed Windows 7 on a laptop. Now I am trying to find my way around the OS, trying to get used to the new layout.

Is there a website that explains how to do something in Win7 that you used to do in XP?

For example, if I want to rename the computer name where is that? I know how to do it in XP, but not W7.

I know I will eventually get the hang of it, but having a quick reference list would be very handy.

I tried a search but I don't even know what to search for, everything I try always comes up with installing Win7 from XP and upgrading from XP.

Other examples are, joining a workgroup or domain. Changing the wallpaper. Logging in and setting up an administrator account.

Thanks in advance, any help will be greatly appreciated

One you look past the surface you'll find things are pretty much the same as they've alwasy been - for example you still rename the computer through the system properties it's just move slighty because you have to go advanced options first.

 

[sojourner]

Yea, most of that stuff is done exactly the same way in WIN7.

 

[Luckyflux]

Where the heck is Run? (I know where DMC is...)

I can type run in the search bar thing, and then it pulls up the run window which says it resides in Programs, yet when I look in programs I cannot see Run?

I hate having to re-learn all of Microsoft's nonsense.....

 

[The Fatman]

Where the heck is Run? (I know where DMC is...)

I can type run in the search bar thing, and then it pulls up the run window which says it resides in Programs, yet when I look in programs I cannot see Run?

I hate having to re-learn all of Microsoft's nonsense.....

they took run out starting with Vista. You should be able to type any run commands in the start menu "Start Search" bar under your frequent programs.

If you really want your run command back, you can go to your Start Menu & Taskbar options in the control panel and manually add it back in.

 

[JessicaD]

Luckyflux,
Should you want to review some additional resources to help you find your way around Windows 7 when coming from Windows XP Microsoft does have a site with whitepapers, tutorials, walkthroughs and screen casts on all the “under the hood” features in Win 7. Check out the Springboard site for Windows 7 on TechNet here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd361745.aspx
Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team

 

[Capn Flukie]

I hate having to re-learn all of Microsoft's nonsense.....

Yoda Gates: You must unlearn what you have learned. Feed me you must.

 

[apostle83]

Where is run?

Run is on your keyboard, when you hit the Windows Key and R at the same time. Run has not run away from this.

 

[Marc]

Where is run?

Run is on your keyboard, when you hit the Windows Key and R at the same time. Run has not run away from this.

And Run was also at the bottom of the startmenu for the better part of 12 years and people got used to it being there.

 

[The Doctor]

Yeah, once you scratch the surface, most the system properties and configuration control panels are shared between the entire span of Windows 2000 through 7. That said, the new event log system is very nice in Win 7.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Where is run?

Run is on your keyboard, when you hit the Windows Key and R at the same time. Run has not run away from this.

I've been using Vista for quite a while and did not realize this, would have saved me some grief.

Now if they'd just bring back the full-screen console window....(though I know most people wouldn't even know that's missing)

 

[Noname Given]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help/getting-started

The built in Help features in Win7 are also very good for new users, I definitely recommend them for general questions.

EDITED TO ADD: Remember, 7 is not an upgrade from XP, it is a whole new OS. In most instances, the just from XP to Vista/7 is more drastic than the jump from 9x to XP was. In a lot of cases, there is no 1:1 analog for actions you could do in XP. If something comes up you can't figure out, forget about XP and ask the question to Google or the Help feature as if you were a totally new user.

Actually, (and true to MS practices of the past); there honestly IS 1:1 analogs for most WinXP functions - they're just organized and skinned a bit diifferently from WinXP - but honestly - the basics are the same:

1) Msconfig still allows you to tweak your startup in EXACTLY the same faction.

2) The control panel and hardware devices list are EXACTLY the same.

3) The Windows Registry (and regedit) are th same.

etc.

In fact the biggest difference I noticed is DXDiag no longer allows you to run your own tests manually. Now, Win7 does seem to do a slightly better job of memory management - but overall, the interface IS WinXP slightly re-skinned and re-organized a bit (and no, I personally don't think the re-organization is any more or less intuative then what we had under WinXP - It's just more that Steve Balmer feels that redoing the GUI makes people feel the OS re-skins are 'newer').

And BTW - was working on mainframes and terminals back in the 1970ies and have been working on PCs since the self made Altair, TRS-80, Apple, first IBM XT class PC, etc. So, while Win7 IS better in some respects, the 'guts' are still basically WindowsNT based.

 

[TheGodBen]

And Run was also at the bottom of the startmenu for the better part of 12 years and people got used to it being there.

The thing with Run is that most people didn't use it, and for those that did a lot of its functionality was already in the Start Search bar, so it would have been redundant. The only people that really needed Run anymore were power users, and if they couldn't figure out how to put it back on the Start menu they weren't really power users.

Now renaming "Add or Remove Programs" to "Programs and Features", that was inexcusable!

 

[Marc]

And Run was also at the bottom of the startmenu for the better part of 12 years and people got used to it being there.

The thing with Run is that most people didn't use it, and for those that did a lot of its functionality was already in the Start Search bar, so it would have been redundant. The only people that really needed Run anymore were power users, and if they couldn't figure out how to put it back on the Start menu they weren't really power users.

Now renaming "Add or Remove Programs" to "Programs and Features", that was inexcusable!

And moving the folders configuration option from the My Computer where it was handy to change a seting on the fly to the control Panel.