Subscriber Steve Weiss wrote me to ask about Windows 7. I’ll address the second two questions here — the first one in this week’s online newsletter. The first question needs some visual images to make the process more clear:
I just installed win7 and it is so superior to vista. But i have a few questions:1. How do i reorganize the start menu to create folders of categories of pgms (ie, multimedia would contain windows media player, vlc, etc)?
2. How can i create toolbar buttons for copy, cut and paste?
3. How can i access the C Drive on other machines on my home network (i can only access the public folder)?Any help you can provide would be appreciated.
Steve weiss
The second question asked how to create toolbar buttons for copy, cut and paste.
Since Steve prefaced his questions by referring to Windows 7, I assume he’s talking about putting those buttons on the Windows 7 task bar, as Windows 7 does not have a function called a toolbar. Of course, it’s possible that the question was meant to apply to a specific program…
Unfortunately, if he meant the Windows 7 taskbar, the question indicates a misunderstanding of the taskbar in Windows 7. The taskbar does double-duty in Windows 7: it’s a Quick Launch bar, which allows you to place ( the Windows 7 term is "pin" ) program icons on the taskbar so you can start them with a click.
The taskbar also shows a highlight around any active program. If you hover over the active program’s icon on the taskbar, Windows 7 will display actual previews of any open windows of that program.
However, the button functions to which Steve referred in his second question are functions that occur within a program. They’re not applications in and of themselves.
Steve’s third question asked about network access to the C: drive on other computers on his home network.
The key to doing this is that, on any computer for which he wants to access the C: drive from anohter computer, he has to turn on the Share function for that C: drive.
Windows XP and Windows 7, so I assume Windows Vista applies similarly, will allow the administrator to share the C: drive on the computer.
The methods are slightly different, but the bottom line is the same. You can share the C: drive.
You start by opening Windows 7 or My Computer, right-clicking on the C: drive, and selecting the Context Menu item for Sharing.
In Windows XP, this item is "Sharing and Security…" Windows XP will immediately try to talk you out of such a dangerous choice. In order to proceed, you have to click on "If you understand the risk but still want to share the root of the drive, click here."
Then, it gives you the standard Windows XP sharing tab. If this the first time you’ve chosen to share anything from this specific computer, you’ll get another warning and have to confirm your intent to share the computer’s files & folders again.
In Windows 7, the Context Menu choice is "Share with" and its sub-menu item "Advanced Sharing…" That will open the Local Disk (C:) Properties dialog box and display the Sharing tab.
Once again, you’ll have to pick Advanced Sharing…, which is a button this time. Click on the checkbox labelled "Share this folder" and define the Share Name that you want to use (what do you want it to show to the other computers. Of course, you’ll have to click OK, too.
Once you’ve shared the C: drive on the target computers, you should be able to get to them from your Windows 7 computer without any problem.
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