General Windows 7

Windows 7 (Or Win7) is a version of the Microsoft Windows Family of Operating Systems. It has been surpassed by Windows 8 and Windows 10. 

Windows 7 offered a clean redesign of a lot of changes that were first implemented in Windows Vista. Other big changes included the "Super Bar" --a new task bar that folds multiple windows for the same application into one button and allows users to pin applications to their task bar (similar to the Dock in OS X).

Like all versions of the OS since '95, Windows relies heavily on its graphical interface. Applications are usually started either from shortcuts on the desktop or from pinned shortcuts on the taskbar. Each window is usually a self-contained instance of the software (Not totally true, but visually --yes) and everything relevant to that application is in that window.

The Start Button (now reduced to just the Windows Logo) is also relied on to navigate and quickly move around in Windows' file manager: Explorer (Not to be confused with Internet Explorer).

The Desktop in the Help Desk is running Windows 7.

Managing Windows 7

Windows 7 offers a handful of useful tools for managing system and user settings.

Control Panel

The Control Panel is the central hub for various system settings in Windows. These includes networking (Network and Sharing Center), application management (Programs and Features), firewall settings (Windows Firewall), updates (Windows Update), and user account settings (User Accounts), among other things.

Services

Services, brought up by running services.msc is an application that, as you may guess, displays all currently installed services and give the option to start, restart, or quit them. Within Knox, services you may need to look for are the handful related to Sophos.

Device Manager

Device Manager --accessible either by searching in the search bar or right clicking on "computer" in the start menu and choosing manage-- shows all installed devices and allows users to enable, disable and update the drivers for these devices, including the wireless card, CD/DVD drive, Mouse & Keyboard, etc. In cases where a specific device is acting oddly, uninstalling and reinstalling the driver may help.

CAUTION: While most devices will reinstall their drivers after the computer reboots, wireless cards are notorious for not doing this. Worse, since the driver software isn't stored locally, you end up in a chicken before the egg situation: Windows wants to go online to search for the driver, but it can't because the driver it's looking for is the wireless card's driver. To fix this, you'll need to go online from another computer and search for the driver yourself.

Task Manager

The Task Manager, found by right clicking on the clock in the task bar and choosing Task Manager, is your best friend for finding out what Windows is up to. In the old days, the interrupt key combo Ctrl-Alt-Del (Remember that!?) would bring the task manager up automatically. The Task Manager has useful tabs that list which (windowed) applications are running, which processes are running, what services are running, and the even the current percent usage of the CPU.

The most useful thing the Task Manager can do for you is by the far the ability to identify and kill unruly processes. Just right click on the one you want to kill and choose End Process. This will instantly kill any program associated with the process.

System Configuration (AKA: msconfig)

Type msconfig into the search bar or run command to bring up the System Configuration window. Honestly, the most useful thing here is in the startup tab, where you can decide what processes and applications should start when Windows starts. Want Windows to boot to an idle desktop faster? Un-check things from the startup tab!

CAUTION: Don't un-check things you are unfamiliar with or you might break something. Stick to what you know (Skype, Update tools from Apple, Google, etc).

The Command Prompt (cmd)

See: The Command Prompt (cmd)

Safe Mode

See: Windows Safe Mode

Updating Windows 7

If an update is available, Windows will download it and will update automatically when the computer shuts down. In other cases, it may inform the user that Windows needs to restart to finish installing an update where the user has the option to postpone or restart the computer now.

Not all Windows Updates can proceed automatically, however. Some require that user accept a new license agreement or some other required user input. For this, the user will need manually preform the update by opening the Windows Update Application from Control Panel.

The Start Button

Because some faculty can get confused, yes, the Windows Icon in the bottom left of the task bar is still called the Start Button.

About Libraries

Libraries make it easier to find, work with, and organize files scattered across your PC or network. A library makes it easy to search one place---no matter where files are actually stored. The result? You find things faster and can get more done.

Say you're assembling a family album from snapshots stashed on an external hard drive, your spouse’s PC, and your work laptop. In the past, hunting down specific shots would've been a chore. In Windows 7, you simply create a library, name it something (perhaps, "Family Photos"), and then tell Windows which far-flung folders your new library should include. Your photos are still physically located in three different spots---but now they show up in a single window.

Windows 7 comes with libraries already created for documents, music, pictures, and videos. You’ll find your files already sorted into these libraries. You can personalize these, or create your own, with just a few clicks. There's more. You can also quickly sort the things in your libraries---for example, documents by type, pictures by date taken, or music by genre. All this organization can extend to your whole family, since you can easily share libraries with people on a home network