Chapter 6 Customing Your Computer Using Control Panel

Chapter 6 covers using the control panel to customize your computer. There are eight main categories with links within each of the main categories. It is in the control panel where you will find the settings for the system and security of your computer, add devices, install/uninstall programs, set up or modify user accounts, change the clock/language/region, add an ease of use feature, and much more.

The System and Security category is where you can view settings for the Firewall, change system settings, configure Windows Update, change the power settings, schedule backups and much more. By default Windows 7 turns on the firewall to protect your computer from unauthorized users between your computer and the internet. If you happen to use a different firewall or security suite like I do (Norton's Security Suite) you will find Windows 7's firewall turned off and a message that says 'These settings are being managed by vendor application Norton 360' (see screen shot below). The Action Center is where you can review your computer's status and resolve issues, change user account control settings, troubleshoot common issues, and restore to an earlier time. Click on the System's link to see what your Windows Experience Index rating is. Mine isn't very good, 3.6, the lowest score is gaming graphics 3.6, all of the other scores are 7.2 for processor, 7.2 for memory, 4.7 for graphics, and 5.9 for primary hard disk data transfer rate.

Firewall managed by Norton's 360

Usually when I plug in a new printer, Windows configures it automatically, but you can add printers manually through the Hardware and Sound category. To do this you must know which port the printer is connected and find the printer in the list of devices so that the correct printer driver is installed.

I learned how to customize the mouse by clicking on the link under Devices and Printers that says 'Mouse'. You can configure the mouse buttons to behave differently, adjust the double-click speed, turn on Clicklock and/or Snap To, adjust pointer speed, and add a tail to the pointer. The Clicklock and Snap To features are useful. What the Clicklock does is allows you to click and drag select information without having to hold down the mouse button. The Snap To feature allows for the pointer to snap to the default button in any dialog box. Of the two, I would likely use Clicklock more.

Also in the Hardware and Sound category is a link to customize the AutoPlay features. This is something new to me. You can modify the settings for all media and devices, how they behave when inserted into the computer such as an audio CD, DVD movie, software and games, video files, pictures, audio files.

If you want to uninstall an application, you can do this using the Programs category. Click on the 'uninstall a program' link under Programs and Features. Here you can also view installed Windows updates, turn Windows features on or off, view the personalize gallery, configure older applications to run in Windows 7, add/customize desktop gadgets, and view how to install a program.

The User Accounts and Family Safety category has a link called Windows CardSpace. This is something I am totally unfamiliar with. Apparently this is to manage information cards that are used to log on to online services. Microsoft says Windows CardSpace can replace the user names and passwords that you use to register with and log on to websites and online services. Wikipedia claims that on February 15th 2011, Microsoft announced that Windows CardSpace 2.0 will not be shipped. Microsoft is currently working on a replacement called U-Prove. I guess I won't be investigating any more about this. I probably wouldn't use this feature anyway. The other features of this category includes creating and managing user accounts, setting up parental controls for accounts, and set up mail profiles.

The other categories in the Control Panel are Network and Internet, Appearance and Personalization, Clock/Language/Region, and Ease of Access.  The Clock/Language/Region allows you to adjust the date and time, with region and language options. Ease of Access makes the computer easier to use people who have mobility, hearing or vision impaired. People like myself who are hard of hearing may find some of the features useful. There's an option called Sound Sentry that turns on captions when a program speaks or makes sounds if captions are available. I'll have to give this a try to see if it will work for me.

I haven't had a chance to complete the activities for this chapter but when I do I will update this post with my comments.