Chapter 6 summary

Chapter 6 deals with Control Panel in Win7.

In order to change settings marked with a shield in Control Panel, you must have an Administrator Account; User Accounts are generally blocked from access to sensitive Control Panel functions (the menu may not even be visible).

The Control Panel can be displayed by category or by either large or small icons (more similar to previous versions of Windows).

The System and Security window controls Windows Firewall, the Windows Action Center, the System window, Windows Update, Power Options, Backup and Restore, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Administrative Tools, and sometimes NVIDIA controls.

The Windows Action Center displays recent security messages (marked by a blue flag in the Notification Area).  It offers ways to modify security features on the computer including firewall settings, Windows automatic updating, virus protection, spyware/malware protection, Internet security settings, User Account Control settings and Network Access protection.  Two arrows (one for security, one for maintenance) drop down expanded lists of selections and their current settings.

Windows Firewall provides protection against unauthorized use of your computer by monitoring and restricting information travelling between your computer and a network or the internet.  It is automatically launched when Win7 launches.  Using third-party software firewalls with Windows Firewall may cause unexpected effects; a decision should be made about which firewall should remain functional and which should be shut down.

The System window provides summary information about your computer such as its installed processor, RAM memory, computer name, domain, and workgroup settings, and Windows activation data.  You can access Device Manager from here and update Win7 registration information.  The Windows Experience Index link off this page shows the Performance Information and Tools window, which gives scores for the processor, RAM memory, graphics, gaming graphics and primary hard disk, leading to an overall score between 1 (pitiful) and 7.9 (da bomb) for your computer in Microsoft's opinion.  This score helps in deciding whether your computer can support new hardware.
The Device Manager link leads to a list of hardware devices and provides means to analyze and troubleshoot hardware problems (the main difference here from previous versions of Windows is presentation, not content). Each device has a way to view its properties, and each property can be double-clicked for a status and driver summary.

Windows Update is turned on by default when Win7 is installed; it automatically searches for updates whenever your computer is on and connected to the Internet.  Unlike previous versions, the updates are also automatically installed.  There is also a way to view update history.  Updates can fail, and failed updates can be retried manually from the update history.  If Windows Update shows updates are available, they can be installed manually (particularly optional updates which are not installed automatically).

Chapter 6 skips over the Network and Internet window as this is discussed in Appendix C.

The Hardware and Sound Window is used to install devices, configure AutoPlay for devices, configure the mouse, scanners and cameras, connect to a projector, and many more matters dealing with connecting a peripheral to your computer.  Normally, when you connect a peripheral to your computer Win7 will install and configure it automatically, but the Hardware and Sound window provides controls to installing a device manually or for changing the configuration after it is installed. There are detailed procedures for installing and deleting printers (local or network; Bluetooth and wireless printers are handled under the network selection), for changing the mouse button configuration, to adjust the mouse double-click speed, to turn on and use ClickLock (rather than having to click and hold to highlight a block of text, for example), to adjust the mouse pointer speed, to turn on Snap To if desired (Snap To causes a mouse pointer to go to the default button in any dialog box), and to display a pointer trail.  You can also adjust AutoPlay settings for all media and devices inserted into your computer.

The Programs window replaces Program Manager in older versions of Windows.  Uninstalling programs from the Programs and Features window means you don't have to recall whether the program has its own uninstall program or uses the Windows uninstaller.  It removes all files (except user data files like documents or spreadsheets) from the computer.  Unlike previous versions, you do not install programs from Control Panel; you install from an optical disc, flash drive, or download from the Internet.

The User Accounts and Family Safety window provides access to create, modify and delete user accounts and control what access each account has to the computer.  We explored this a little bit in Chapter 1 -- those of us who had Administrator access, anyway! ^_^"  Rather than shutting down the computer to log on as a different user, you can use the Switch User command to leave the current user in its present state and go to the desktop of a different user.  Clicking Log Off will log off the current user and return to the Welcome Screen.

The Clock, Language and Region Window allows control of the date and time display in the Notification Area, including adding another clock to show time in a different time zone when you hover the mouse above the taskbar clock and modifying how the date is displayed.  It seems reasonable that this also controls what language Windows speaks, but Chapter 6 is silent on this point.

The Ease of Access link on the CLR window provides access to accessibility tools such as magnifier, narrator, on-screen keyboard and high contrast views.  A computer used by a blind person could be set to not have a display and to read all text.  A computer used by a hearing-impaired person could be set to generate a visual warning when the computer makes a sound and to turn on captions (when available) when a program speaks or makes sounds.  A computer used by somebody who is mobility impaired can be set to use the numeric keypad instead of the mouse to move the mouse pointer, click, double-click and drag,  High Contrast is useful to people who are visually impaired because it makes a greater contrast between objects on the screen and therefore makes it easier for the person to read the text.

As always, Chapter 6 reminds us how to log off and turn off the computer.