- Packing for the Road - Connectivity
- Packing for the Road Power
- Keeping Your System Safe and Secure
- Stuff You Might Not Need
- Windows 7 Tips for Road Warriors
Windows 7 Tips for Road Warriors
Windows 7 provides a host of features useful for travelers. Here’s how to make your travel less stressful:
Changing Your Windows Desktop
If you’re plagued with screen glare and didn’t pick up a glare filter, switch to a high-contrast Windows desktop. Buried within the Windows 7 Personalization menu are high-contrast refugees from the pre-Aero time period. What they lack in visual pizzazz they make up for in readability in bright sunlight.
Easy Projector Connections
If you’ll be connecting with a projector at your destination, learn the magic of pressing the Windows + P key: this key combination brings up the projector connection utility. Choose your display preference, and Windows 7 does the heavy lifting for you.
Windows Media Center and HDTVs / Projectors
An HDTV or projector at your destination is a great reason to get acquainted with Windows Media Center. If you hook your laptop up to a big-screen TV or projector, you can enjoy streaming online videos and your mobile DVD collection in comfort, and flip through your digital photos by using its “10-foot UI (user interface).”
To put Windows Media Center on an external display, you can do it the hard way or the easy way. The hard way:
- Connect the display to your computer.
- Turn it on.
- Right-click the desktop.
- Select Screen Resolution.
- Click Detect.
- Select Extend the desktop.
- Start Windows Media Center.
- Drag it to the secondary display.
The easier way is to install and use programs such as MurGeeMon or Maxifier; these programs can start Windows Media Center and put it on the secondary display for you.
Power Management
If you’re going to be away from a power outlet, get acquainted with the power management features in your version of Windows. In Windows 7, you have unparalleled ability to tweak power settings, and to find out how efficiently your computer uses power, run the Powercfg –energy command from the command prompt.