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Chapter 7
Survey of Windows Features and
Support Tools
 Objectives

• Use Windows to interface with users, files and

folders, applications, and hardware
• Use Windows tools to examine and support the
system
• Make network connections using Windows
• Manage local user accounts and Microsoft accounts
in Windows

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 Windows Interfaces

• Operating system (OS) software

– Controls a computer
• Four main functions of all OSs
– Provide a user interface
– Manage files
– Manage hardware
– Manage applications
• Windows 8 is an upgrade to Windows 7, which was
preceded by Windows Vista

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 Windows Interfaces

Figure 7-1 Users and applications depend on the OS to relate to all applications and hardware components

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 Windows Interfaces

• Editions of Windows 8:
– Windows 8, Windows 8 Professional, Windows 8
Enterprise, and Windows RT
– Windows 8.1 is a free update
• Editions of Windows 7:
– Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows
7 Professional, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows
7 Home Basic, and Windows 7 Starter
• Every Windows OS provides a graphical user
interface (GUI)

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 Windows 8 Modern Interface

• Windows 8 modern interface

– Also called the Windows 8 interface and formerly
called the Metro User Interface or Metro UI
– The Start screen contains tiles that represent lean
apps (use few system resources)
– Some apps use live tiles
• Offer continuous real-time updates
– Uses pages in comparison to windows used on the
desktop
– Designed for touch screens

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 Windows 8 Modern Interface

Figure 7-2 The Windows 8 Start screen is used to view app tiles and to open apps

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 Windows 8 Modern Interface

• Charms bar appears on the right side of the screen

when you move your pointer to a right corner
– Click a charm to select it
• Settings charm can be useful
– Items at the top of the Settings pane can change
depending on the situation

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 Windows 8 Modern Interface

Figure 7-3 (a) The charms bar, (b) the Settings pane on the Start screen,
and (c) the Settings pane on the desktop

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 Windows 8 Modern Interface

• Power icon in the upper-right corner of the Start

screen can be used to shut down or restart
computer
– Items on this menu might include Sleep and
Hibernate

Figure 7-4 Use the Power icon at

the top of the Start screen to shut
down or restart the system

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 Windows 8 Desktop

• To access the desktop, click the Desktop tile on the

Start screen
– You can click the Start button in the taskbar to return
to the Start screen
• Taskbar is normally located at the bottom of the
Windows desktop
• Notification area (system tray or systray) is usually
on the right side of the taskbar and displays open
services
– Service is a program that runs in the background

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 Windows 8 Desktop

• To launch a program from the desktop, use one of

these methods:
– Start screen
– Quick Launch menu
– Pin to taskbar
– Double-click the program file in File Explorer
– Shortcut on desktop
– Run box

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 Windows 8 Desktop

Figure 7-9 Windows 8 desktop with charms bar in view

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 Windows 8 Desktop

• Tips about managing windows on the desktop:

– Press and drag the title bar of a window to move the
window
– Drag a window to the top of the screen to maximize it
– Press and shake the title bar of a window to minimize
all other windows except the one you shake

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 Windows 7 Desktop

• Desktop is the initial screen that is displayed

• Windows 7/Vista desktop provides a 3-D user
interface called the Aero user interface
– Aero interface is not available for the Windows 7
Starter and Home Basic editions
– Windows 7 requires 1 GB of RAM and a video card
that supports Aero
• Can have gadgets on the desktop
– Gadget is a mini-app that provides information such
as the time, date, news headlines, or weather

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 Windows 7 Desktop

Figure 7-13 The Windows 7 desktop using the Aero interface has a glassy transparent look

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 Windows 7 Desktop
• Start menu
– Username shown at the top right
– Applications used often are listed in the white left
column (can change from time to time)
– User libraries, files and OS utilities are listed in the
dark right column
– A Windows 7 library is a collection of folders

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 Windows 7 Desktop

Figure 7-14 The Windows 7 Start menu

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 Windows Tools for Users and
Technicians
• All users need to know how to use File Explorer or
Windows Explorer
• A technician also needs to know how to use:
– Control Panel
– Power Options
– System Window
– System Information Window
– Action Center

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 Windows 8 File Explorer And Windows
7 Windows Explorer
• To Open File Explorer or Windows Explorer
– Click the yellow File Explorer or Windows Explorer
icon in the taskbar
• From Windows 8 desktop:
– Open the Quick Launch menu (press Win+X) and
click File Explorer in the menu
• For Windows 7:
– Right-click Start and select Open Windows Explorer
from the menu

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 Windows 8 File Explorer And Windows
7 Windows Explorer

Figure 7-15 Windows 8 File Explorer window with the Computer ribbon showing

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 Windows 8 File Explorer And Windows
7 Windows Explorer

Figure 7-16 Windows 7 Windows Explorer window with the Computer item in the left pane showing

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 Files and Directories

• Every OS manages a hard drive, optical drive, USB

drive, or other type of drive by using directories (also
called folders), subdirectories, and files
• Drive is organized with a single root directory
– At top of the top-down hierarchical structure of
subdirectories
– Exception: hard drive
• Divided into partitions
• Each volume has its own root directory and hierarchical
structure of subdirectories

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 Files and Directories

Figure 7-17 Storage devices such as a USB drive, CD, or hard drive, are organized
into directories and subdirectories that contain files

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 Files and Directories
• Root directory can hold files or other directories
– These directories are called subdirectories, child
directories, or folders
– Any directory can have files and other subdirectories
in it

Figure 7-18 A hard drive can be divided into one or more partitions that can each
contain a volume such as drive C: or drive D:

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 Files and Directories

• Path: location of a file referenced by a drive and

directories

Figure 7-19 The complete path to a file includes the volume letter, directories, filename, and
file extension; the colon, backslashes, and period are required to separate items in the path

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 Navigate the Folder Structure

• Tips to navigate when working with File Explorer

or Windows Explorer
– Click or double-click items in the left pane (called
navigation pane) to drill down to subfolders
– To control how files appear in the right pane in
Windows 8, click one of the icons in the lower-right
corner to select Thumbnail view or Details view
• For Windows 7, click the View icon and select your
view

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 Navigate the Folder Structure
• Tips to navigate when working with File Explorer or
Windows Explorer (cont’d):
– To control column headings that appear in the Details
view, right-click a column heading and select the
headings that you want to appear

Figure 7-21 Right-click a column heading to select columns to display in Details view

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 Navigate the Folder Structure

• Tips to navigate when working with File Explorer or

Windows Explorer (cont’d):
– Use the Search box in the upper-right corner of the
window
– Use the forward and back arrows in upper-left corner
to move forward and backward to previous views
– Click a right arrow in the path displayed in the
address bar at the top of the Explorer widows to see a
drop-down list of subfolder

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 Navigate the Folder Structure

Figure 7-22 Click a right arrow in the address bar to move up the folder
tree and down to a new folder

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 Create a Folder

• Create a folder:
– Select parent folder
– Use one of these methods to create a folder:
• In Windows 8, select the Home ribbon and click New
folder
– In Windows 7, click New folder on the menu bar
• Right-click in the white area of the right pane
– Select New from the shortcut menu
– Click Folder to create a regular folder of click
Compressed Folder to create a compressed folder
– Folder is created and highlighted so that it may be
renamed
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 Navigate the Folder Structure

Figure 7-24 Edit the new folder’s name

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 Create a File

• Methods to create a file

– Use a particular application
– Use File Explorer or Windows Explorer
• Right-click in the unused white area in the right pane of
the window and point to New
• Click the application you want to use in order to create
a file
• You can rename the filename (keep file extension the
same)

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 Copy, Move, Rename, or Delete Files
or Folders
• Copy
– Right-click file, select Copy from the shortcut menu
– Click in folder white area where the copied item goes
– Select Paste from the shortcut menu
• Alternative way to copy or move
– Drag and drop item to its new location (move)
– To copy, hold down the Ctrl key while you drag and
drop
• Rename a file or folder
– Right-click it and select Rename
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 Copy, Move, Rename, or Delete Files
or Folders
• Delete a file or folder
– Select the item and press the Delete key
– Can also, right-click on the item and select Delete
from the shortcut menu
• To select multiple items to delete, copy, or move at
the same time, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key as
you click
– Shift key selects adjacent items in a list
– Ctrl key selects nonadjacent items in a list
• Deleted files are stored in Recycle Bin on desktop
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 Create a Shortcut

• Use File Explorer or Windows Explorer to locate the

data file or program file
– Right-click, click Create shortcut in the menu

Figure 7-25 Place a

shortcut to a program file
on the Windows desktop

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 The Control Panel

• Contains applets used to manage the system

• Accessing Control Panel in Windows
– Right-click Start (click Start in Windows 7) and the
click Control Panel
• By default, Control Panel appears in category view
– Utilities are grouped by category
– Can switch to classic view by clicking Category

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 The Control Panel

Figure 7-26 Many technicians prefer to use Control in Classic view to more easily access utilities

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 Folder Options

• Folder Options applet in Control Panel can be used

to view and change options assigned to folders
– Controls how users view files in a folder, what users
can do with the files
– File extension
• Used to identify file types
• Windows does not show file extensions if it knows
which application is associated with a file extension
• Windows hides system files until you force it to show
them

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 Power Options

• Power Options applet of Control Panel can help you

conserve power and increase the time before a
battery pack on a laptop needs recharging
• Different power-saving states:
– Sleep mode (suspend mode) – Windows saves
current state including open files to memory
• Everything is shut down except memory and enough of
system to respond to a wake-up
– Hibernation – saves all work to the hard drive and
powers down the system

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 System Window

• System window: can give you a quick look at what

hardware and software is installed
• To open the System window in Windows 8:
– Open the Quick Launch menu (press Win+X)
– Click System
• In Windows 7:
– Click Start
– Right-click Computer
– Select Properties

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 System Window
• Useful information found there:
– Edition of Windows
– Type of OS installed
– Type of processor installed
– Whether Windows has been activated

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 System Information Window

• Used to view detailed information about the system

• Important features to view
– BIOS version installed
– RAM is installed
– OS installation directory
– Hard drive size
– Names of currently running drivers
• Device drivers: small programs stored on hard drive
that tell the computer how to communicate with a
specific hardware device

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 System Information Window
• To run System Information in Windows 8:
– Open the Quick Launch menu
– Click Run
– Enter msinfo32.exe in the Run box and press Enter
• To run System Information in Windows 7:
– Click Start
– Enter Msinfo32.exe in the Search box and press
Enter

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 Action Center

• Action Center: tool to use when you want to make a

quick jab at solving a computer problem
– Lists errors and issues that need attention
– Action center flag appears in the notification area of
the taskbar

Figure 7-35 A red X on the Action

Center flag in the taskbar
indicates a critical issue needs
resolving

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 Action Center

Figure 7-36 The Action Center shows a critical problem that needs a resolution

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 Windows Network Connections

• If a network is public (public hotspot) resources are

not shared
• Private networks often share their resources
• Windows offers three ways to share resources:
– Workgroups
– Homegroups
– Domain

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 Windows Workgroup and Homegroup

• Peer-to-peer (P2P) network

– A network that doesn’t have centralized control
• In a Windows workgroup
– Each computer maintains a list of users and their
rights on that particular computer
• In a homegroup
– Each computer shares files, folders, libraries, and
printers with other computer in the homegroup
– Provides less security than a workgroup

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 Windows Domain

• Windows domain is implemented on a larger, private

network
– Forms a logical group of networked computers that
share a centralized directory database of user
account information and security for entire group of
computers
– A type of client-server network where resources are
managed by centralized computers
– The directory database is controlled by a network
operating system (NOS)

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 Windows Domain

Figure 7-38 A Windows domain is a type of client/server network where security on

each computer or other device is controlled by a centralized database on a domain
controller

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 Windows Domain

• Windows Server Active Directory

– Windows directory database
– Each user must have his own domain-level account
called a global account, network ID, domain account,
or global username
• If connecting a computer to a domain:
– Administrator will tell you the network ID and
password to the domain that you can sign in to the
network

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 Public and Private Networks
• Windows 8 offers two types of network security:
– Public network security – Windows configures strong
firewall settings and you cannot join a homegroup or
domain
– Private network security – you can join a homegroup or
domain and share files and printers
• Windows 7 security options:
– Public network – Network Discovery is turned off
– Home network – Network Discovery is on and can join a
homegroup
– Work network – Network Discovery is on and you can join
a domain, but not a homegroup
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 Making a Windows 8 Network
Connection
• To make a wired connection, plug in the cable and
Windows does the rest
– Unless you have an unusual network setup
• To create a wireless connection in Windows 8, use
the charms bar:
– Click the Settings charm, click the network icon, click
a network to select it, click Connect
– Enter security key (if network is secured)
– Open your browser window and verify you have
access to the Internet

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 Making a Windows 8 Network
Connection
• To view network information and to troubleshoot
network problems:
– Use the Network and Sharing Center
• Right-click the Network icon in the taskbar, click Open
Network and Sharing Center in the menu that appears
• Or, open Control Panel in classic view and click
Network and Sharing Center

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 Making a Windows 8 Network
Connection

Figure 7-43 Windows 8 Network and Sharing Center reports network information
and gives access to network troubleshooting tools

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 Making a Windows 7 Network
Connection
• In Widows 7, to connect to a wireless network and
secure the connection:
– Click the network icon in the taskbar, click a network
and click Connect
– If network is secured, enter the security key
– To verify or change the security setting, open the
Network and Sharing Center window

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 Domain Setup

• To access resources controlled by a Windows

domain, you will need the network ID and password
to the domain provided by administrator
– Open the System window
– Under Computer name, domain, and workgroup
settings, click Change settings
– In the System Properties box that appears, click
Network ID and follow directions on screen

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 Domain Setup

Figure 7-47 Setup Windows to join a domain

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 Windows User Accounts
• Windows supports various types and privileges for
user accounts:
– The scope of the account – a local account is created
on the local computer and is recognized only on the
local computer
– Privileges for the account – two types of privileges
assigned to user account: administrator account and a
standard account
– A Microsoft account – an email address, which allows
you to access several online accounts including
Microsoft OneDrive, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,
Skype, Outlook.com, and others
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 Using a Microsoft Account with
Windows 8
• Advantages and disadvantages of signing in to
Windows using a Microsoft account:
– Personal settings across several devices
– OneDrive storage in the cloud
– Windows Store
– Private settings are stored on the local computer

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 Connecting a Microsoft Account to a
Local Account or Network ID
• To connect an existing local account or network ID
to a Microsoft account:
– Open the charms bar, select the Settings charm,
select Change PC settings, and click Accounts
– Select Your account and then click Connect to a
Microsoft account
• To switch Microsoft account back to a local account:
– Open the charms bar and go to PC settings screen,
click Accounts, and click Disconnect

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 Connecting a Microsoft Account to a
Local Account or Network ID

Figure 7-55 The Windows user account can be converted from a

Microsoft account to a local user account

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 Connecting a Microsoft Account to a
Local Account or Network ID
• When signing in to Windows using a local account,
network ID, or Microsoft account, consider where
the account is authenticated:
– Local account is authenticated on the local computer
and gives access to the local computer
– Network ID is authenticated by a computer on the
network, gives you access to the local computer and
other resources on the network
– Microsoft account is authenticated on the live.com
website, gives access to the local computer and
online resources
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 User Account Control Box

• User Account Control (UAC) dialog box appears

each time a user attempts to perform an action that
can be done only with administrative privileges
• Used to:
– Prevent malicious background tasks from gaining
administrative privileges when the administrator is
logged on
– Administrator can log in using a less powerful user
account for normal desktop activities, but still be able
to perform administrative tasks while logged in as a
regular user
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 User Account Control Box

Figure 7-56 (a) and (b) (a) the User Account Control box of an administrator does not
require an administrative password; (b) The UAC box of a standard User
requires an administrative password

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 Summary
• OS manages system resources for users and
applications
• Windows 8 offers two GUIs: modern interface and the
Windows 8 desktop
– Windows 7/Vista desktop offers the Aero user interface
• Ways to launch an application in Windows 8: using the
Start screen, Quick Launch menu, icon pinned to
taskbar, File Explorer, shortcut, and Run option
– In Windows 7/Vista: use the Start menu, search box,
icons pinned to taskbar, Windows Explorer, or a shortcut

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 Summary
• Windows 8 File Explorer and Windows 7 Windows
Explorer are used to manage files and folders on
storage devices
• The file extension indicates how the file contents are
organized and formatted and what program uses the
file
• Control Panel give access to a group of utility
programs used to manage the system
– Folder Options applet changes the way files and
folders are displayed in Explorer
– Power Options applet manages power settings
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 Summary
• The System window gives a quick overview of the
system
• The System Information window gives detailed
information about the computer
• The Action Center is used to solve problems with
security and computer maintenance issues
• Windows 8/7 supports workgroups, homegroups, and
domains to manage resources
• A network ID and password is used to authenticate to
a Windows domain, which gives access to network
resources
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 Summary

• Use the Network and Sharing Center to view

information about network connections and solve
network problems
• Use the System window to set up a computer to a
Widows domain
• Windows supports local accounts that are
recognized only on the local computer and network
IDs that are recognized on a Windows domain
• Two types of privileges assigned to a Windows
account: administrator account and standard
account
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 Summary

• Windows 8 offers a Microsoft account that is

authenticated online at live.com website
• Use the Settings charm to manage Windows 8 user
accounts
• You can associate a Microsoft account with a local
account or network ID on a domain
• The User Account Control (UAC) box is used to
protect the system against malware or accidental
changes to a system done by inexperienced users

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