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DIR Return to: Windows 7 Vista & XP
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#Post#: 19--------------------------------------------------
Windows built in software OR "Why buy it when you already h
ave it for free"
By: Intelinside Date: January 21, 2012, 2:26 pm
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Within Windows 7 there are many built in function/software that
never seem to be well publicised. These vary in quality (my
opinion) from the excellent to the NOT WORTH HAVING.
In no particular order these are:-
Calculator, much improved over the previous versions. Can be
easily started by pressing the WIN key and typing CAL and
pressing enter. It now has the date, unit conversion, scientific
functions built in.
Snipping tool, can be used instead of the old PRINT SCREEN
button, has 4 options for capturing clips. Can be easily started
by pressing the WIN key and typing SNIP and pressing enter.
Sticky notes, a replacement for the old post it notes people
used to stick on their monitors. Can be easily started by
pressing the WIN key and typing STICKY and pressing enter.
Notepad, the very very very basic word processor, has it uses.
I usually use this to paste lists copied from tables on the
internet. They can then be opened by EXCEL and worked on in a
spread sheet. Can be easily started by pressing the WIN key and
typing NOTEPAD and pressing enter.
Wordpad, has improved over the years and is now an acceptable
word processor (well fro free anyway). Can be easily started by
pressing the WIN key and typing WORDPAD and pressing enter.
PSR, the personal steps recorder, not the best named program in
the collection but very useful as name does not convey its
uses. When started it will record all actions Mouse & keyboard +
snapshots of the screens. When recording is finished a highly
compressed zip file is created and this can be emailed to
someone to show how to carry out a task or to ask foe help when
you cannot complete something ( WARNING NEVER NEVER NEVER use
this if you are having a proble with accessing online
banking/credit card functions….IT RECORDS EVERYTHING) Start it
by typing PSR in the search box.
Backup, Restore and System image tools, these work well although
a little basic. There is free software out there that can be
easier to use but why add more to your system when these inbuilt
items are sufficient.
Disc Defragmenter. The inbuilt one will defrag the page file and
if set to run on a schedule you will generally not know it is
running. I personally prefer AUSLOGICS disc defrag (its free)
it does the job as needed and does not bother you with constant
messages.
Paint, I don’t think I have ever used paint but I have seen some
wonderful things created with it
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2sPl_Z7ZU
Windows Media player, every time I attempt to play some video I
always get messages about missing codecs, every time I play
audio I seem to wait a lifetime for the program to fire up. I
now use, and always load onto repaired machines, VLC media
player. Once you get passed its very basic interface it has some
serious functions built in, its free (well there’s a surprise).
Windows DVD maker and BURN to disc, these are fairly basic again
in the feel and general usage but they do complete the tasks
quickly and cleanly.
Not really built in software as such but some very useful
functions.
The “power options” found in the control panel. You can make
some very useful changes here that will seriously increase the
battery life on a laptop. Two of the easiest setting are “what
closing the lid does” and “what pressing the power button does”.
My view is that closing the lid should send the machine to SLEEP
and pressing the power button should SHUT IT DOWN.
Connecting to a projector. This used to be a bit hit and miss
when you needed to use Function key and either F4 or F5. Now
pressing the WIN Key and “P” brings up a visual display of where
to send the video output.
The MATHS INPUT PANEL, this is really only of use if you have a
tablet pc, and you constantly need to use complicated
mathematics functions. It can interpret freehand drawn maths
symbols and store them for future use. Although it has limited
or no use on a laptop if it is disabled it also causes other
needed functions to stop working (Disable it at your peril) this
also applies to the handwriting recognition software. Although
having said that we have not told you how to disable built in
functions that are using system resources.
Speech recognition software known internally as WSR. Even after
basic training of about 20 minutes the system can perform many
functions and learns from its mistakes quite quickly (providing
you tell it when errors are made) See another thread about this
an an attached PDF file for some instructions.
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