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Windows 7 hints and tips

Can't find it? Search for it!

Some parts of Windows 7 are very similar to Vista, but a lot has changed too. Sometimes you will be lost and you won't be able to find something that you know is probably there, but you just can't find where it is.

Dialogs or features that were in one place in Vista are now called something else and are not in their old position. Don't panic because there's a solution.

The Search facility is far superior in Windows 7 and you can find a lot of things by clicking the Start button and entering a word or phrase that will identify the item you want.

The Search function isn't a dumb word matching search and it has some intelligence.

For example, if you enter customise you'll find that a list of results are displayed that include Add gadgets to the desktop, change the theme, change the power saving settings, change the screen saver, and so on.

All these are customisation features, but the word 'customise' doesn't actually appear in any of the results.

Who needs Run? Use Search instead

In Windows XP you will be used to clicking the Start button and then selecting the Run menu option to enter a command like cmd (open a command prompt window), msconfig (run the startup configuration editor), or regedit (run the registry editor).

Like Vista, in Windows 7 the Run command is on the Start, All Programs, Accessories menu rather than on the Start menu. However, you will find that you don't need it as much because the Search box can act just like the run box.

For example, if you enter any of the commands above into the Search box they will do exactly the same as if you had entered them into the Run box.

So most of the time you can just click the Start button and type in the command that you want to run.

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