Ask Leo!: Windows 7

How do I make something run automatically when I log in to Windows 7?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:44:03 -08:00

Running Windows 7, I'd like Internet Explorer to start automatically when I log in. How do I do that?

]]> As is evidenced by all the malware that does it, making something start when Windows starts or when you login is actually pretty easy.

I'll show you one of the simplest approaches.

Is it worth upgrading to Windows 7?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:37:48 -08:00

Is it worth up grading from Vista to windows 7? If so what cost and can I do it without causing problems? how do I do it?

]]> My recommendation for how to do it is simple - reformat and reinstall - and I'll explain why I always recommend that.

Whether you should upgrade isn't quite so simple, and falls into the "it depends" bucket.

Overall I'm pretty happy with Windows 7, and based on the rate of questions and problems I'm hearing about, it's doing fairly well for other people as well.

What are the steps to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:30:08 -08:00

My wife's computer has been in need of a "reformat and reinstall" for some time. It just had some flaky behavior that couldn't really be attributed to anything specific, other than software rot.

After having and using Windows 7 on two new machines in the last couple of months, I'd come to the conclusion that it was a fine, fine replacement for Windows XP in our situation. The only open question was "would it work on her older machine?".

There were a couple of minor hiccups, but the short answer is: yes.

Let me describe the machine, my process, and what we have running today.

What is Windows 7's "Windows XP Mode"? (And can I use it to get Outlook Express back?)

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:10:36 -08:00

I'm hearing a lot of backlash against Windows 7 for a completely unexpected reason; not for incompatibilities or instabilities but for the removal of Outlook Express.

Outlook Express was actually removed in Windows Vista, being replaced by Windows Mail. That, in turn, was removed from Windows 7, and replaced with ... nothing. The official approach is to download Windows Live Mail, which is very Outlook Express-like.

But it's not Outlook Express.

It turns out that, yes, Windows XP Mode might be a solution.

It's not terribly simple, but it can work.

In fact, it can work for many programs that for one reason or another simply will not work in Windows 7, but used to work in Windows XP.

How do I get rid of boot choices in Windows 7?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:24:21 -08:00

I have downloaded the retail version of Windows 7 on my "C" drive, but I am unable to remove the boot choice which previously allowed me to either open the RC Windows 7 on another internal HD, or open the Windows Vista OS on my "C" drive. I did format the other HD, which I now use for backups only. The "Startup and Recovery" pop-up window referred to in your last newsletter, which I looked up, does not provide an option to carry out the "edit". Apart from the other details as per your illustration the "edit" option is simply not shown. Please enlighten me how to otherwise remove this 2nd boot choice.

]]> Yep, things changed (back in Vista, I believe).

The good news is that it's still pretty easy to modify your boot choices.

You just need to drop to the Windows Command prompt - as administrator, of course.