Windows: The Official Magazine

Windows 7 promotion

Are you a demanding PC user? If so, you need Windows 7. Microsoft’s new operating system promises and delivers the ultimate computing experience.

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Top 7 Backup Tips

1

It’s not worth deciding on some convoluted back-up plan that you’ll never keep up. If all you need to save is your Documents folder, making complete system images every week is a waste of time. You’ll give up long before you have your system crash, and lose everything.

2

It’s always worth keeping at least two copies of your files, one on a physical medium such as a DVD or external hard drive, another in an online backup service – so if your home is damaged by fire or flood, you’ve still got your documents.

3

Online backup services are generally reliable, but they rarely make a cast iron guarantee that your data will be safe, or offer any comeback if they lose it. This is especially true with free ones, which might disappear, be bought out, or change focus at any time.

4

Never keep your backups on your main computer. A virus, an accident or a hard disc crash could easily destroy them along with the original versions.

5

Your files matter, your Windows 7 installation doesn’t. Reinstalling may be a pain, but you’ll be back up and running in minutes. You can’t replace lost photos or documents.

6

You can’t back up programs by just copying their folder from Program Files – at least, not all of them. Most require registry entries, drivers and other bits from around your system. Only a system image is guaranteed to restore settings.

7

Restoring previous files can be a lifesaver, but don’t get into the habit of thinking of it as a safety net. If you’re going to be making big changes to a document that you may or may not want to undo, the best way is always to save it as a new copy until you’re sure.

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Save the day with System Restore

Windows 7 has many great features, but System Restore is one of the few genuine lifesavers. Its job is to keep notes of everything you change on your computer, enabling you to reverse them with a couple of clicks. Times you might need to use it include clearing up a bit of spyware that managed to sneak its way on to your system, error messages suddenly appearing after installing a new tool, or a critical error developing.

System Restore is switched on by default when you install Windows 7, although it’s always worth doublechecking. Type ‘restore’ into your Start menu (not pressing Return) and you’ll see the three key options – opening System Restore, and shortcuts to creating and restoring from a Restore Point. Windows 7 creates these automatically, once a week or just before you install new software, but you’re not bound to this schedule – you can create your own Restore Points whenever you like. For the most part, though, this isn’t necessary.

Changes, changes

The most important thing to remember about System Restore is that it isn’t a file backup tool – it’s a system backup tool, and there’s a critical difference. System Restore’s job is to look out for Windows files; the programs that you install; registry settings that get changed; and other behind-the-scenes elements – not your documents. The advantage of this is that in the event of a disaster, you can get your system up and running without needing to worry about anything you created post-Restore Point being wiped away. The downside is that there’s not much that it can do if your problem is a deleted file or corrupted photograph.

Windows 7 does add one useful feature, however. Along with system data, Restore Points track any changes to files and folders, enabling you to go back to previous versions. Right-click on any file or folder, choose ‘Restore previous versions’ and you will see the list. This is fantastic for documents with a long lifespan, but it doesn’t help you if you only need to rewind time by an hour or so.

System security

What can help is that System Restore works hand-in-hand with Windows Backup, although this isn’t switched on by default. You’ll find the option to use it in System and Security in your Control Panel. This provides extra previous-version support, with its saved copies accessed from the same place as the System Restore ones mentioned earlier; file backups that enable you to retrieve individual documents; and most dramatically, full system images. A system image is a complete copy of your hard disc – Windows, system settings, your documents, your files, even your wallpaper settings – that can simply be dropped back on to the drive after a crash, ready to use as though nothing ever happened.

Online backup

It’s a good idea to couple all this built-in protection with an online service. Your data may be safe on a DVD or a network drive at home, but a fire or similar disaster isn’t likely to stop at just your computer. Saving a copy of critical files to the internet gives you many more options, often including access to your files wherever you go, not just if you need to recover them. Not needing to have DVDs or portable hard drives to hand also means that the process can be invisible, rather than a weekly chore, and can be performed on a more regular basis than any of us would have time for – every few minutes, not every few days. For mass backup and restoration, we like Carbonite (£33 a year from www.carbonite.com). If you want easier access to your files when on the move, Livedrive (www.livedrive.com) is an excellent mix of backup tool and online storage. The standard version offers 100GB of space for £39.95 a year. Combine all these, and there’s not much that can go wrong. You might lose a file on your hard drive, but you’ll always have a copy close to hand. Fail to prepare for disaster, however, and when the worst happens, there’ll be nothing you can do.

Protecting your system

Make sure you cover all the bases to keep your files safe

1 AUTOMATIC PROCESS System Restore runs automatically, and there aren’t any complicated options to keep track of. The recommended restore point is simply the last one, but you don’t need to remember what it did – important changes are listed.

2 ALTERNATIVE POINTS To see more Restore Points, simply click Choose a different restore point followed by Next. This lists the ones Windows has saved, and by clicking Scan for affected programs you get more detail without having to actually run the process.

3 BACK UP Backup requires more effort. Visit System and Security in Control Panel to activate it. You can choose to save your files to a network drive (Professional/Ultimate edition only), but in most cases you’ll be burning to a DVD.

4 SELECT FILES The default is to let Windows choose which files to back up – which includes the desktop, libraries and standard Windows folders, such as Documents. This will cover 99 per cent of files you want, but you can add more or be more selective.

5 WHOLE HARD DRIVE The System Image option, on the other hand, copies your whole hard disc. This requires multiple DVDs or a second hard disc (a risky proposition) for a complete system reinstall, but you can’t pull individual files from the archive.

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10 Windows 7 secrets you can’t live without

Windows 7 is almost here. A lot has been written about the most popular features, such as the HomeGroup file sharing, Jump Lists that enable you to access your files faster and the smarter desktop. But what about the features behind the headlines? The clever additions you might not have heard about but, once you know about them, you’ll wonder how you did without? We delve deeper.

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Identify this – issue 36!

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10 things you didn’t know Hotmail could do

Windows Live Hotmail has been offering free email accounts for 13 years now, and in that time a whole host of features has been added and expanded. Even though most of us just use Hotmail for sending and receiving emails, if you dig a little deeper, you may be surprised by how much more you can do.

1 Receive emails from other accounts

Many of us have more than one email account nowadays, and it can be a real chore to visit each inbox separately to keep track of all your new emails. Email programs that you run from Windows, such as Windows Live Mail, enable you to add a number of different email accounts – and so does Hotmail. All you need to do is click on the Add an e-mail account link underneath the folder list, then insert all the account details to get all of your emails from one Hotmail inbox.

MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS Save time every day – get all your emails together in one place with Hotmail

2 Send an email from another email account

Not only can you access emails you’ve received in other email accounts through your Windows Live Hotmail inbox, you can also compose an email in Hotmail and then choose another email account to send it from. All you need to do when composing a new email is click the arrow next to your email address in the From: ?eld and select Add an e-mail address.

3 Set another address for recipients to reply to

If you send emails from Hotmail but would like your contacts to send their emails to another address when they click the Reply button, go to Options > More options > Reply-to address. Select Other address and then enter the email address you want the replies to be sent to. Normal emails sent to you will still go to your Hotmail account, but any emails in reply to an email you have sent will go straight to the alternative address.

4 Never delete a message again

Once upon a time, with free online email accounts such as Hotmail you would be given a limited amount of space to store your emails. Once your inbox became too full with emails, you would need to delete some of your older messages to be able to receive any more. This could be a pain if people often sent you emails with large ?les attached. This is no longer the case with Windows Live Hotmail, because it offers you ever-growing storage, so you will never run out of space or have to delete an email again.

5 Chat with Windows Live Messenger

If you’re using a computer that does not have Windows Live Messenger installed, and doesn’t allow software to be downloaded, don’t worry – you can chat to your Windows Live Messenger friends through Hotmail. Click the Messenger button at the top-right corner of the screen and select Sign in to Messenger (Web).

6 Let people know when you’re on holiday

If you manage to escape to a holiday destination where you can’t access the internet, you may worry that people who email you while you’re away think that your lack of response is rude. By setting an auto response, you can write a quick email explaining that you are away and when you are likely to read and respond to their email. This will be sent to any of your contacts who email you while you’re on holiday. From your inbox click Options > More options > Send automated vacation replies. Don’t forget to turn it off when you return, though!

END HOLIDAY HASSLE Let people know you’re away, then forget about email and enjoy yourself

7 Let your mobile tell you about new emails

If you are not near a computer but want to know whenever your Hotmail account receives a new email, you can set Hotmail to send a text message to your phone. Go to Options > More options > Mobile alerts for new messages and sign up for Windows Live Mobile. You’ll be alerted whenever your account receives an email. The service is free, though your phone company may charge you for receiving the texts.

8 Make Hotmail your default email program

In Windows you can designate a speci?c application to be your default email program. This means that when you click on an email address, or press a button to create a new email, the program that you’ve chosen is automatically opened for you to compose your email. Even though it is not strictly a program, you can set Hotmail as your default email application. To do this, download Register Windows Live Hotmail with the Default Programs tool from http://snipurl.com/j9r4h. Follow the instructions on the website to run the program, then go to Start > Default Programs > Set your default programs. Select Windows Live Hotmail and click Set this program as default.

9 Automatically sort email into folders

If you receive all kinds of emails in your Hotmail inbox – from work emails, social network updates and personal emails to newsletters and online offers – you can save your inbox from getting too messy by letting Windows Live Hotmail automatically sort your emails into folders as you receive them. For example, it could place any email with the word ‘Work’ in the subject into a folder especially for work emails, or file messages from your parents’ email address under ‘Family’. Go to Options > More options > Automatically sort e-mail into folders > New Filter. Enter the criteria you wish the email to ful?l before being sent to a speci?c folder, and you’ll instantly be more organised.

10 Insert video or images into emails

You can liven up your emails with relevant pictures and videos from the web with just a few clicks in Windows Live Hotmail. All you need to do is create a new email in Hotmail by clicking New. On the right-hand side of the screen is the Quick add bar. Select either Images or Videos and then in the search box type in what you want to find. Hotmail then displays relevant media that you can add to your email with a click of a button.

PICTURE PERFECT Spice up your emails with pictures and video, added in just a few clicks

If you don’t already have a Windows Live Hotmail account and want to sign up for one to try out these tips, go to www.hotmail.com. Then just click the Sign up button underneath Don’t have a Windows Live ID? to create your new account.

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10 Windows gadgets you can’t live without

Gadgets are the best way to bring your desktop to life, with handy tools that help you get more from your PC. Since the launch of Windows Vista, the number of Windows gadgets has exploded and there are now over 3,000 on the Windows Live Gallery website, all downloadable for free. To access this free library, right-click the Sidebar, choose Add Gadgets, and click Get more gadgets online.

In Windows Vista these gadgets live on the Windows Sidebar, and they’re automatically pinned to the right-hand side of the screen. It’s possible, however, to drag your gadgets on to the desktop and let them roam free, and this has set the tone for Windows 7. In the new operating system, Microsoft has kept the gadget library, but cut the need for the Sidebar, and you can place your gadgets wherever you want.

The success of the early gadgets that were bundled with Windows Vista, such as the weather gadget, notepad and slideshow, spurred many businesses to commission their own and come up with some fantastic ideas. National Rail was one of the first organisations to release a gadget, which you could set to your local station for live updates on train delays. The Met Of?ce soon followed suit, with an excellent weather gadget, and now there’s a gadget for pretty much anything you can think of.

STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Facebook Explorer enables you to get a real-time update of friends’ statuses and any requests, pokes or messages straight to your desktop. Hardened Facebook users will love the Facebook Photos gadget tool, which displays pictures from your account on your desktop and enables you to drag folders of snaps to the gadget and have them automatically uploaded to Facebook.

FIND CONTACTS FASTER

If you use Windows Live Messenger as your contacts book, the Messenger Gadget puts them on your desktop and makes it even easier to send messages, and see who’s online. It doesn’t allow groupings, which are in the full app, but it makes sending messages faster.

LOOK DEEP INSIDE YOUR SYSTEM

Keeping an eye on system resources gives a fantastic insight into the workings of your PC, and what types of tasks put strain on your system. The All CPU Meter is a geek’s paradise, and is one of the best resource monitors on the web.

STAY ON TOP OF YOUR EMAIL

The Unread Mail gadget shows you when you have new mail, and plugs in to most mail applications such as Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Hotmail automatically. If you use Microsoft Of?ce Outlook, try the Outlook Info gadget, so you can see your calendar, inbox and tasks in one place.

STAY SECURE

Using a ?le shredder is best practice when it comes to sensitive ?les, which can be restored even if cleared from the Recycle Bin. Putting the File Shredder Utility on your desktop makes perfect sense, so you can stay secure with the minimum effort.

DON’T GET RAINED ON

For weather watchers, this is the ultimate gadget. The Met Of?ce Gadget is only available from http://www.metof?ce.gov.uk and shows current weather conditions including rainfall, tides, off-shore conditions, cloud cover and much more.

STAY IN TOUCH

An essential gadget for Twitter users who want to stay connected with their contacts, but don’t want to use the web application or something as bulky as TweetDeck. Chirpr shows the last 10 tweets from your contacts and enables you to quickly send messages to the service, or reply to others.

NEVER MISS YOUR TRAIN AGAIN

One of the originals and still the best, the National Rail Gadget gives you up-to-the-minute updates on train times, arrivals and departures from any UK railway station, and also shows delays. The National RailGadget is a ?ne example of using your desktop effectively, and can save you wasted time on the platform.

SAVE MONEY BY GRABBING BARGAINS

If you’re a regular eBay user, there’s a host of gadgets to help you keep track of your items, but the Auction Sidebar gives a fantastic mix of functions for the general user. You can keep track of watched items, quick search for items for those impulse purchases, and even bid straight from the Sidebar to bag last-second bargains.

TAKE A BREAK

Sometimes you need to take a break from the stresses of daily life, be that work, booking a holiday or doing some course work. There are loads of Sidebar games available from the Windows Live Gadget Gallery, and these have moved from simple Tetris games, to cool Flash-based ?ying games such as Hostile Skies.

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Identify this – issue 35!

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