by Lori Cunningham

They say a picture is worth a thousand of words.  With this picture, they might just be right.  Have you seen this type of graphic before?  It’s becoming more prevalent in newspapers, magazines, the Internet, product labels, even on billboards !  What is it and what does it mean?  This graphic is called a QR code.  QR stands for Quick Response and it was developed by a Japanese company in 1994.  The QR code has content hidden in its matrix code to be decoded at high speed.   So what kind of high tech scanner do you need to decode the message?

Believe it or not, all you need is your cellphone and QR scanner software – which is available on the Internet for free.  Once you have downloaded the QR software, like this one from KAYWA, open the program.  Your camera will turn on with a red box in your camera viewfinder.  Position the red box around the QR graphic and wallah!  Your phone browser will open up and the URL webpage decoded in the QR code will appear.  Go ahead and try it with the graphic above – it’s an URL to an article I wrote on cool tech products to buy for Grads & Dads.

So the beauty of the QR code is that it can contain website addresses, geo coordinates, and any kind of text.  QR codes can provide much more information than the basic UPC code you see on today’s product labels.  Companies are developing methods now to create color QR codes so that the colors generated will match their product labels. 

You might be wondering, “OK, this is kind of cool, but how is it a new way to shop?”  Well, for starters, it will help you find information faster.  You could be looking at a newspaper article on Canada and you might notice a QR code embedded as a part of the article.  Rather than moving to your computer to look up their website, grab your phone with its QR scanner and scan in the QR code.  You’ll instantly be taken to their website to get more relevant information.  No typing required.  It also works for billboards.  If you see a billboard along the freeway with a large QR code, you can scan it (not while driving of course!)  Get information about the product being advertised instantly.

QR codes are like buying a new car.  You never noticed how many people have a car like yours until you buy one.  Look around, you’ll start seeing QR codes everywhere now that you are aware what they are.

I put together a little video showing you how I used the Tilt2 phone to read the QR code in this article.  Take a look, then download your own QR reader from KAYWA, or any other QR reader, and try it for yourself!

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I’ll be the first to admit that I am a pro at quickly getting a smooth, fast running computer to run slow.  I tend to download different programs to try out – some trials, some full versions.  My desktop tends to collect a zoo of shortcut links – so many that they are no longer “shortcuts” since I need to wade through a ton of shortcuts to find the shortcut I’m looking for!  

What are Some of the Main Reasons Your Computer May be Running Slow?  

• Extra programs/services could be loading when you boot up your computer that you don’t need. 
• The Windows registry, which stores settings and options for the Windows operating system gets overloaded with unnecessary references which can cause your computer to crash or freeze.
• Security threats can cause issues with your computer.
• Temporary and history files divert your computer’s processing power and should be discarded frequently.
• Hard drives and RAM (system memory) get fragmented which make it harder for your computer to open files and start programs.

I have tried various “free trials” for computer clean-up programs.  They seem to work great and give me an entire laundry list of all the problems I have.  Then they fix only five and say that’s all the trial can do for me.  What a disappointment.  So I obtained a copy of System Mechanic from the folks at Iolo.com to review their product and report back to you if it helped my computer.   

To no surprise, I received a system status of “poor.”  I knew this was the case because my computer runs sluggish and takes a long time to boot up.  

What I didn’t realize was how bad off my poor computer was.  I had over 412 registry problems, 15 vulnerable security issues, and 1 GB of system clutter!  Yikes! 

To further enhance my computer’s effectiveness, I found that I could turn off  programs and services I didn’t use much:

I have to admit, I love diagnostic tools like this – and System Mechanic 9.5 is full of over 40 useful tools that you can use automatically or as needed: 

OK, you’re probably wondering how did my computer fare through all of these tests and pokes?  Here are my final results after running the complete diagnostics twice, the same day I loaded the program: 

As you can see, I was able to recover nearly 1 GB of hard drive space and 222 MB of RAM, fix over 400 registry problems, repair 15 security vulnerabilities, and take care of 7 start up problems.  Phew!  That’s a lot of fixes! 

System Mechanic 9.5 is the number one selling PC tune-up software on the market.  They have repaired over 70 million computers since 1998.  System Mechanic retails for $49.95 but is currently offered for $24.95 at Iolo’s website for a one-year licence.  System Mechanic call also be purchased at Costco, Sam’s, Target, Best Buy, Office Max, Office Depot, etc.

A Mom’s Perspective 

I shudder to think where I was headed with my computer had I not been able to fix a lot of these issues now.  I was already starting to have some strange problems with my computer before I tried System Mechanic 9.5.  My hope is that those issues are far behind me.  As with kids, if you don’t nip things in the bud right away, you’ll have larger problems later.  Take the time today or this week to clean up your computer.  Keeping your computer in check will help increase the longevity of your computer. 

Well, after loading the System Mechanic software, retreiving all the drive and memory space, and fixing registry, security, and start-up issues in under 15 minutes, I feel as if I have saved several hours of work.  Time for a long lunch!

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Windows 7 desktop

By Lori Cunningham

Windows 7 provides a playground full of opportunities to learn and play with your digital media– your photos and videos.  We’ve all seen those great short movies that some of our friends have created using their vacation photos and videos.  How we wish we could do that too.  But who has the time or interest to learn it all?

With the help of Windows 7 and Windows Live  Essentials (free download), it is now easier than ever to upload your photos and videos, tag, label, and file them, fix or correct (photos), and  even create a “movie” with them.  I am a photo and video enthusiast and I have been waiting for years to “have the time” to create movies out of my photo/video memories.  With Windows Live Movie Maker, this dream is quickly becoming a reality.

This article is the final part of a three part series reviewing some of the compelling reasons why you should consider Windows 7.  The first article, “Windows 7 Review:  Media Center,” reviews the benefits of Media Center and it’s potential to share pictures, movies, TV shows, and videos on computers and TVs throughout the house.   The second part of the series, “Windows 7 Review:  Useful Features,” explains  many features that make Windows 7 more efficient to find things and get things done more effectively.  A copy of Windows 7 Premium was given to me by Microsoft to review as a result of the Windows 7 house party I threw on their behalf.

Uploading Your Photos & Videos

Windows 7: Importing pictures just got easier

Uploading media onto my computer using Windows 7 was a “wow” experience for me.   The process of uploading media from a camera or a media disk is similar to how it is in Vista.  However, now there is a new option called “Import pictures and videos using Windows Live Photo Gallery.”  ALWAYS use this option as it provides  enhanced functionality.  If you don’t see this option when uploading your photos or videos, this means that you did not first download and execute the free Windows Live  Essentials package, as discussed in the “Windows 7 Review:  Useful Features” article.

 After you choose the “import pictures and videos using Windows Live Photo Gallery” option, you will receive the “Import Photos and Videos” screen above.  Choose “Review, organize, and group items to import.”  This option will provide you with a very helpful screen that allows you to select only those dates you choose to from your camera.  I have a 60GB hard drive on my camcorder/camera.  I like to keep my trip pics on the camera to show friends our latest trip.  Now with Windows 7, I only download the pictures that I choose. 

 

Windows 7: Import only those pictures you select

 Another thing to point out is that Windows 7 recognizes HD digital video formats.  This is a HUGE benefit for those of us who were early adapters and purchased HD video camcorders.  In the past, I had to use  Sony proprietary based software to view my videos and I could not  view them from Windows Explorer file folders.  Now, I can easily view my video thumbnails, watch the video, and tag them as easily as I can my pictures.

Organize your Pictures and Videos

From this screen you can name the folders you want to import and add tags.  For example, I named the first folder “5-1-2009 Mexican Weekend Cruise” and tagged the photos “cruise, vacation, Mexico, family, trip.”  The import process allows you to choose name and tags for every date or “group” of pictures it finds on your  camera/video camera.  Once all the files are imported and deleted from my camera, I move all the new folders into my “2009″ folder for  better organization.

Once you’ve downloaded your files, open up your pictures using Windows Live Photo Gallery to rename your pictures, add the Author (person shooting the pic/video), and any other descriptive tags.  A neat new feature is being able to tag  

people in the picture.  In the picture below I clicked on the little boy’s head and the “Tag Someone” box appears with names I’ve used to tag other people in the past.  Using tags will help you to easily find people in pictures using the search feature later.  Tags are written to the photo picture, so even if you share them online or e-mail them to others, the tag will show up when a person hovers their mouse over the faces you tagged.

Windows Photo Gallery Live has many great features in its menu:

Fix – with one click you can “Auto Adjust” pictures – which adjusts light and contrast levels and corrects colors, straightens the picture.  You can easily fix red eye and crop your picture.  You can manually adjust colors, brightness, and contrast as well.  Want to see the picture in a different light?  Turn the photo into black and white, sepia, or a few other variations.  This video shows how easy it is to adjust your pictures:

Publish- you can publish your pictures to your Microsoft Live account (if you have one), to Flickr, or YouTube easily.  Watch this video to see how: 

E-mail- this is a great feature.  Just select the photos you want to send and click on the E-mail tab.  You will be asked what size you want the pics to be re-sized to (original size, large,  medium, small, smaller) then the pics will be inserted into an e-mail for you, ready to send.

Print- printing couldn’t be any easier.  Select the pictures you would like to print and click on the Print button.  You can send them to be printed at SnapFish, Kodak, Shutterfly, CVS, or FujiFilm or you can print them at home with your own printer.  With just a couple of clicks you can print 5×7′s, 8×10′s, 3.5×5′s, etc. of the same picture or several pictures together from your home printer.

Make – here you can make a Panoramic picture, movie (discussed later in this article), blog post, burn a DVD, burn a data CD.  Interested in seeing how you can stitch together a Panoramic picture?  Watch this quick video: 

Want to make a quick DVD to show your latest vacation pics to your friends?  Creating a DVD is almost effortless using Windows 7.  Watch this video to see what you can produce:

Slide Show – a wonderful feature that instantly turns your pictures into a nice slide show.  Just select which pictures you want and click on slide show – instantly your pictures are artistically shown in a beautiful slide show.  Bored of the format of your slide show?  No problem.  There are  7 slide show themes to choose from.  You can also make all the pictures black and white or sepia by checking them in the slide show options box.  This is a great way to show friends your vacation pics or enjoy your children’s childhood pics.

You’re In the Movies!

Now it’s your turn to turn your  beautiful pictures and videos into a brilliantly produced movie to impress your friends.  With Movie Maker (part of the Windows Essentials Live download), turning your media into a movie is a snap.  The Movie Maker is easily accessible from Windows Live Photo Gallery by clicking on the “Make” menu, as described just above and selecting “Make a Movie”. 

Microsoft claims you can make a cool movie in under 30 seconds.  Don’t believe it?  (I do, I’ve done it).  Watch this video and after a brief introduction, it will show you how to make your movie within the first 45 seconds of this video.  The movie continues to show you how easy it is to customize your video once you have used the feature called “Auto Movie.”  The video is nearly 6 minutes long – but I highly recommend watching it if you’re interested in making movies – Windows Live Movie Maker makes it incredibly easy to do – for novices and experts alike.

Making a movie is easy, just open the program, add your pictures and video, and click on “Auto Movie.”  Movie Maker will than ask you if you’d like to add music to your movie and direct you to your “My Music” folders so you can select a song.  Then Movie Maker will add transitions and a title slide for you to edit.  In addition, it will ensure that the music you selected ends when your pictures/videos end.  So you won’t have music lingering on well after your movie has ended.

Click on Edit to make any  changes to your movie – you can change the music, add another song, change the transitions, make one of the pictures black and white or sepia, add text in between or on any of your pictures, shorten video clips, the list goes on.  “Auto Movie” helps you to get started and will produce a great movie.  Still, you have the option to tweak the movie and enhance it if you’re so inclined.

Furthermore, you can easily burn your movie to DVD.  Movie Maker supports High Definition, so you can save your movie in 480, 720, and 1080 high-definition formats.  You can also upload your video to YouTube, FaceBook, and other online sites to share with your friends and family.

Create a stunning video of your family pics to share with the grandparents.  Volunteer to create a DVD movie to showcase all of the great playing your daughter’s soccer team did during the season.  Create a quick movie showing the fun everyone had at your last party and e-mail it out to all those who attended.    It’s never been easier or faster to create and share your pictures and videos. 

A Mom’s View

I highly recommend Windows 7.   The ease of use and enhanced functionality when working with pictures and videos is alone enough reason to upgrade.  Windows 7 gives you a way to organize and create professional looking slide  shows and movies showcasing your children and family activities.  If you’ve never taken the time to learn how to work with your pictures on your computer, now is the time.  If you’re like me and have thousands of pictures on your computer but have never made them into interesting creative movies and slide shows to share with friends and family, your time has come.

I took the time to write a three part Windows 7 Review series because I have used Windows 7 extensively have found it to be very beneficial in helping me to find programs and files more easily, work more effectively despite having 6 programs and 20 Internet Explorer windows open at one time, upload, organize, and showcase my pictures and videos, record TV shows, and share my media (photos, videos, movies, and music) around the house using Media Center. 

 I hope you enjoyed the WellConnectedMom.com’s series on Windows 7.  If you missed the first two articles of my Windows 7 Review, you can easily click to see them here:

“Windows 7 Review:  Media Center,” reviews the benefits of Media Center and it’s potential to share pictures, movies, TV shows, and videos on computers and TVs throughout the house. 

 “Windows 7 Review:  Useful Features,” explains  many features that makes Windows 7 more efficient to find things and get things done more effectively.

I am happy to say that there are even more neat features I didn’t get to in my reviews.  Nonetheless, I covered most of the features that I have found to be the most useful.  Please leave comments with your thoughts and if your using Windows 7 now, comment with the good things and the bad about your experience with Windows 7.

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by Lori Cunningham

This article is part two of a three part series reviewing Windows 7.  The first article, “Windows 7 Review:  Media Center,” reviews the benefits of Media Center and it’s potential to share pictures, movies, TV shows, and videos on computers and TVs throughout the house.  This article will further explain  why Windows 7 is a valuable upgrade from Windows Vista or XP as it contains plenty of features that make it much more efficient to find things and get things done more effectively.   The last article explains the ease of use and possibilities of storing and using your photos and videos. 

Finding things is now a breeze with the Start Menu Search box.    The new taskbar helps me keep track of all of my open windows and it’s easier than ever to go directly to the window I am looking for.   The Jump Lists I use extensively.  And the Snipping Tool – well, that’s the bomb!  To find out what these features are, you can find them easily below.  For those of you who want a more thorough review, I have briefly discussed many of the larger new features of Windows 7 here.

But the fun doesn’t stop here.  In the next article of my Windows 7 Review series, I will show you how Windows 7 handles Photos and  Videos which are very important families.   For those of you who are photo and video enthusiasts, you’ll be very pleased with some of the new features Microsoft has included in Windows 7.

Windows 7 is actually tighter and lighter than its operating system predecessors.  This is an amazing feat for Microsoft.  This was accomplished by unbundling some of the programs that were bundled with Windows Vista, such as Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Contacts, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft Agent, and a few more.

Many people did not use these programs, so Microsoft simply removed them from Windows 7.  However, for those people who did like these programs, Microsoft has made them available through a simple install called “Windows Live Essentials.”  I highly recommend this install, for the Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker are “essentials” for those of you who love digital photography and videography.  Photos and videos are the subject of Part 3 of my Windows Review series, which will come out shortly.

Windows 7 is chockfull of useful features, you’ll never go back to a previous operating system. OK, hold onto to your seats, here we go on our tour of Windows 7!

Windows Taskbar

Windows 7 has a new taskbar that is very useful and productive.  It contains the traditional Windows logo for the “Start” (the main way to access your programs.)  It also shows you all of the active programs you are using. If you have favorite programs you use often, you can “pin” them to the taskbar so they will always show.  For example, I pinned my file manager (the first button) to the taskbar so I can easily access my file folders.  I also pinned Outlook, so I can check my calendar and e-mail quickly, and Microsoft One Note, where I keep all my info for different projects I’m working on.  These three buttons will always be there.  If the buttons are highlighted with light, that means they are open and I am using them.  If there is no highlight, such as in the case of the second Outlook button below, it means the program is not open.  You can pin as many of your favorite or frequently used programs as you’d like.

One of the great features of this toolbar is the ability to see a preview of each of the programs you have open.  For example, I have three windows open in my file manager:

And nine windows open in my browser:

I can see the open windows simply by hovering my mouse on the File Manager button or Internet Explorer button on the taskbar.  The preview feature is very helpful for finding your way through your windows – especially if you’re an incurable  multi-tasker like myself.

In addition tothe preview features, more information is available to the right on the taskbar.  It will show your clock and access buttons to your sound, network, and PC Safety.  At the very end of the taskbar is slightly highlighted upright rectangle.  Clicking on this rectangle will show your desktop.

I never accessed my desktop much before but now it is very easy to do.  You can see that you can add “gadgets” to your desktop just like you could with Windows Vista.

To see the Windows taskbar in action while picking up a few more tips, watch this video:

Jump Lists

Jump lists are another great feature that expand upon the added productivity you get from the new taskbar.  To access a jump list, right click on one of the active programs you have on your taskbar.  Doing so will open a new menu which will give you additional options.

 For example, right clicking on the File Manager tab will pop up the menu on the left.  The Jump List shows the folder I pinned as well as the frequent folders I use.  If I were to right click on the PowerPoint task bar icon, it would show me the most recent documents I opened as well as any currently opened docs.  Right clicking on the Internet Explorer button gives me the Jump List pictured on the right above.  I use Jump Lists all the time to quickly get to where I need to go.  Here’s a video to show Jump Lists in action:

Windows Search

Windows Search is another feature I can’t live without.  You can find it by clicking on the Windows Start button.  Search is at the bottom off the menu.  Search anything you are looking for on your computer.  Perhaps you uploaded a great picture of your son and you can’t remember what location it uploaded to.  If you tagged his name to the picture when you uploaded your pictures (Be sure to see my upcoming Windows 7 Review:  Pictures and Videos to show you how to do this), just type in his name and your search results will show you all the pictures tagged or titled with his name in it, starting from most recent to oldest.  Any other files or documents will also show up in your search if his name is in them. 

 Windows 7 has upgraded the old photo gallery in Vista to Windows Live Photo Gallery.  As I mentioned earlier in the article, this is one of those programs you will get when you download the Windows Live Essentials package.  I use this program a lot.  I have not yet pinned it anywhere, so I just search for gallery and Search results show me the program, how I can go online to Windows Live, and any pictures or videos relating to Windows Live gallery.

I LOVE this feature – I use it all the time and have successfully found documents and pictures that would have taken me forever to find in Vista or XP.  Here’s a short video that expands on Window Search:

Windows Search is an amazing tool.  It also searches your Outlook e-mails – new and archived highlighting your searched word in every pertinent e-mail.   Search even uses a filter for .tiff files where Windows 7 performs an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) scan on .tiff files to show you images with the word you are searching.  Furthermore, you can customize your search to find the search word on other computers connected through your network and even the Internet!    To obtain these additional results, just click on “See more results.” Now that’s powerful!

Aero Shake

Allows you to “shake” the window you’re using so that all the other windows disappear.  This is particularly useful if you have a lot of windows open.  This is not a feature that I use much, but it’s fun to shake the windows.  To get a better understanding of how to use Aero Shake, watch this video:

 

Aero Snap

Snap is a handy tool that I used every once in a while.  Snap makes it easy to compare two open windows at the same time.  For example, you can move your Outlook Calendar window by clicking and dragging the top of the window and moving it all the way to the left.  It will then “snap” in place.  Take an open window  e-mail you received with important dates and “snap” it to the right of your screen.  You now have an easy way to review and work between the two windows.  This is a great tool for many things such as downloading bank data and working in Quicken or working on a PowerPoint presentation in one window while searching the web for pictures or quotes in another window.  To see Snap in action, watch this video:

Aero Peek

Allows you to take a peek at all the minimized windows you have open at one time by hovering your mouse on the horizontal highlighted desktop button I wrote about earlier.  I rarely minimize my windows, so this isn’t a feature I use.  Here’s Aero Peek in action:

Snipping Tool

I LOVE this feature.  I use this tool all the time when I write my articles for wellconnectedmom.com.  The  Snipping Tool allows me to snip or cut out just a picture or a portion of anything that is on the screen.  I used the Snipping Tool to make many of the pictures in this article.  It’s easier than screen print because you snip precisely what you want.  You don’t need to crop it like you do with print screen.  After you snip the item you want, you can either paste it somewhere or save it as a picture.  The Snipping Tool in action:

Parental Controls 

Windows 7 comes with some great tools to help parents to limit the things their children can do while on the computer.    Searching for Parental Controls from the Start Search box allows you to easily access this helpful tool.  First you set up an account of the computer with your child’s name.  In order to use the computer, they will need to log-on using their name and the password you give them.  For their account, you can enforce time limits — actual hours of the day that the computer will be accessible for your child.  You can limit your child to certain ratings for any games you have on the computer.  You can also allow or block other specific programs on your computer. 

In addition, as a part of the “Windows Live Essentials” download, you gain additional Parental Controls which will assist you in limiting and monitoring your child’s online activity.  To learn more, see  Protecting your Kids with Family Safety. Limits include types of websites and social interaction with Microsoft Messenger, Hotmail, etc.  Here’s how Parental Controls work:

 

Libraries

Libraries are a handy way to organize your files.  Windows 7 comes set up with four libraries already set up for you, namely Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos.  Although libraries look and act like folders, they are not folders.  They really act more as shortcuts to documents you have specified.  For example, if you are doing a scrap booking project on your daughter, Alyssa, you could create a Library called “Alyssa” and add file folders pertaining to Alyssa, such as pictures, videos, documents or files which contain homemade party initiations or cards you’ve made, etc.  It will now be easier to comb through all the information you have on Alyssa to work on your scrapbook.  Libraries are a great tool for work as well.  You can group together all of your relevant docs, pics, and videos for each project in one convenient spot. 

 But wait, there’s more!  Not only can you create Libraries for your own PC, you can also point to folders on other computers on your network.  This works great for me because my husbands’ computer has most of our music mp3′s.  I have some as well.  Now with one click, I can access all of our mp3′s easily.  Watch Libraries in action:
 

HomeGroups

Is a network sharing function that makes it easier than ever to share documents, music, videos, and pictures amongst different computers in the house.  However, there is a catch.  Every computer in the house needs to be on the same domain (which was the case even in Vista and previous versions) and every computer must be running Windows 7.   If you meet these requirements, review this HomeGroup Guideto help you set it up.   If these two requirements aren’t met, you won’t be able to set up a HomeGroup.  If you have various versions of Windows on your computers throughout the house, no worries.  You can still use the old fashioned way of setting up computers on the network.  Using HomeGroup just makes it easier.  I searched for video examples of HomeGroup and could only find an Australian commercial that shows the  benefits once you set one up:

 

Themes

Themes have improved over those found in Vista as well.  Now you can have several images set as your wallpaper and set how often you’d like these images rotated.  In essence, it becomes a slide show of your pictures.  You can choose to customize the Themes and add your own pictures, or you can choose from the stunning pictures Windows 7 has included.  Below are two examples – the first theme is Landscapes and the second one shows the Architecture Theme:  

You can change your screen saver to a basic selection or you can have it display pictures from your computer, which is a lot more fun.  After the amount of time that you set lapses, the screensaver automatically comes on depicting pictures from your computer.

A Mom’s Perspective

I am a mom who works on the computer a lot to review and write e-mail’s, send and receive documents for sports schedules, letters, sign-ups, etc, write articles, upload, organize and send out the kids pictures, create digital scrapbooks, surf the Internet and download useful information for later use, etc..  Windows 7 is a welcome change to help manage my “chaos” on the computer.  I don’t have hours at a time to spend on my computer.  I am constantly being interrupted and to actually finish a task on the computer is pretty amazing.  The ease of finding documents, music, pictures, e-mail’s, etc has greatly enhanced my productivity and time spent searching for things.

My favorite features of Windows 7 are yet to come.  Be sure to check out my last review in the Windows 7 Series on pictures and videos as well.  If you missed the first article in the Windows 7 review, you can find it in the Windows 7 Review:  Media Center post.

Please leave comments to tell your thoughts on this article or Windows 7.   WellConnectedMom’s mission is to review gadgets, technology, and websites relevant to you, Moms.  Feel free to make suggestions for future articles.

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 I recently hosted a Windows 7 house party to show the new features and benefits of the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.  As Windows 7 has just launched, there is a lot of buzz around it.  All new computers are either bundled with Windows 7 or there is a promise to give you a free upgrade.  Is Windows 7 just another highly marketed upgrade or is it worth your serious attention?  If you’re not buying a new computer, is upgrading to Windows 7 really going to help you much?  In a three part series, I will take you through some of the compelling reasons why you should consider Windows 7. 

This first article will focus on Windows Media Center.  The second article will focus on Windows 7 Review:  Useful Features.  The last article will conclude with Windows 7 Review: Photos & Videos.

Most computers with Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems have Media Center on them.  Yet, many people have never opened Media Center on their computer.  Today is the day you’ll open this great program up, if you haven’t already.  Media Center has a wealth of multimedia entertainment just waiting to be used.  With Media Center you can access your favorite music, pictures, and videos.  In addition, if you have a TV tuner and a coaxial connection from your TV provider, you can record live TV – it is a fully functional  DVR.

Media Center is a powerhouse of media – right at your fingertips.  After some initial set-up, Media Center will point to all of your music, photos, and video files.  To begin set-up, open Media Center and scroll to Tasks.  Then scroll left-right to find Settings.  Click on Settings.  Media Center will then guide you through the necessary steps to set up your media files.  Microsoft Windows 7 has a helpful website to assist you in setting up Windows 7 Media Center on your Windows 7 installed computer: Understanding Media Center.

  Media Center contains five main areas: Pictures & Videos, Music, Sports, Movies, and TV.  An overview of each of these areas is given below.

Pictures & Videos

 Media Center is a great tool for showing off your pictures.  Upon opening Media Center, click on “Pictures and Videos.”   You will be impressed by the way Media Center displays all of your pictures.

 

Scrolling through your pictures is a lot of fun, it’s a great way to see visually how many pictures you actually have on your computer.  The real beauty comes when you choose the Slide Show option.  Instantly you’ll get a great slide show featuring the pictures you selected.  You can choose to view just one folder or select all pictures and your computer will run through all of them until it finishes or it will continue if you choose loop.  I love this Pictures feature - I play it when we have friends over and the pictures are just background, but it can really add interest to a party.  Now your pictures aren’t laying dormant in your computer, they’ve been brought back to life.  To make your slide shows even more exciting, begin playing some music from the “Music” section of Media Center first.

 

Videos can also be played through Media Center.  You can actually watch your home videos with Media Center.  I did take the time several years back to upload my old video camera’s videos up to my computer.  And now, I have a Sony HD camcorder and have been uploading my videos.   With Media Center, it’s no longer a huge chore to play my videos. 

 

Music

Similar to Pictures and Videos, once you run Media Center setup on your music, Media Center will find all music on your computer.  Upon selecting Music, you will be treated to a visually appealing page such as the one below. 

 

Media Center connects to the Internet and finds any available Album covers for each of your songs.  It won’t find every album, but it finds a bunch nonetheless.  In Music, you can scroll by album, artists, genre, playlists that you create, etc. Once you select Play, you will be treated to neat visual graphics while the music plays on.  So select your favorite albums, create a playlist, and enjoy your favorite tunes. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sports

Although the Sports section of Media Center is not very graphically appealing, it’s a great place to get the latest scores in any sports league, research upcoming games and game times, or even set up your own Fantasy football team and track each players scores. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During set-up, Media Center will find any movies you have downloaded or copied from your personal DVD  collection.  It will then go out to the Internet and find the movie title and artwork to make it easier to view your movie collection.  Windows Media Player is bundled up with Media Center, so the controls are pretty much the same.  You can search movies by title, year released, genre, type, dated added, etc. 

 

 But the fun doesn’t have to stop at your computer.  Read the section below about Watching Media Center from the Comfort of Your Couch.  This is really where Media Center gets exciting.

TV

If your computer has a TV tuner card and you are able to connect your TV signal to your computer, you will be able to watch and record live TV.  For help, watch this video on TV Tuner Set-Up with Windows Media Center– it will walk you through the steps you need to take.  This video uses a HP TouchSmart computer – but set-up is similar for any computer or laptop with a TV Tuner.

After setting up Media Center to recognize the channels your TV carrier receives, Media Center will search the Internet for the latest TV guide for your TV carrier.  Within minutes you’ll have a complete guide showing all the shows that are playing this week on TV.  Your computer is now your new digital video recorder (DVR).   With a click of the button you can record a single episode or a season full of your favorite show.  If  you have a particular show or movie but don’t see it listed, you can search for it.  If Media Center does not see your searched show in the TV lineup within the new couple of weeks, you can save the search and Media Center will automatically record if for you when it becomes available.   Any show that you record will reside on your computer, so you can watch it without the need for an Internet connection.  This is especially good if you have a laptop and want to take shows on the road with you.  Business people and kids alike can appreciate taking their fave TV shows on a personal DVR on a trip.

Microsoft’s Ben Reed demonstrates the new TV Guide Features in Windows 7 Media Center:

 

 In addition, Media Center has included a section called Internet TV.  Internet TV includes TV found on the Internet.  Although there are a lot more shows available than what was initially available when Vista first started, there is still opportunity for more shows.  Nonetheless, CBS content, including Big Brother (past seasons), Survivor (current and past seasons), CSI, NCIS, The Amazing Race, Medium, and a bunch of other shows are available.  Other channels include MSN, MSNBC, PBS, The CW, etc.  You won’t catch all your favorite shows on these channels, so you have to search through them.  For example, there are no kids shows available on the PBS channel.  But hey, if you loved Melrose Place and 90210, you can see them again on The CW.  One night I was searching and I found the old Family Ties shows.  I loved that show!  Oops, I’m showing my age!

Watching live TV, recording TV, and watching Internet TV is a lot of fun – but watching TV from your computer is not always the most relaxing.  What if you could watch your TV shows, videos, pictures, music, and keep track of your sports teams right from your couch in your family room? Is this possible?

 Watching Media Center from the Comfort of Your Own Couch

Yes, it is possible to access Media Center from your couch.  Microsoft has made it possible to extend Media Center from your computer to any TV in the house – however, you will need some additional equipment and some help setting it up.  If you already have a wired or wireless home network enabled and an Xbox 360, you have all you need to get started.   If you have a wired/wireless network but no Xbox, and no plans to buy an Xbox, you can buy a Media Center Extender which plugs into your TV and can connect to your wired/wireless network. 

A Media Center Extender costs anywhere from $200-$300, depending upon the brand and model.  The Xbox 360 costs similarly dependent upon the model.  To me, the better cost value is to buy the Xbox 360, that way you have the capability of playing games and watching movies from the console.  However, the main drawback is that in order to watch your Media Center media, Xbox needs to be on.  Xbox has a fan that needs to run to keep the unit cooled down.  It can be noisy and you’ll want to turn it off when not in use.  With a Media Center Extender, you can keep it on all the time and it does not make any noise. 

I’ll add that another way around this network business is to put your computer or laptop in your family room and attach it directly to the TV.  There will be little to no delay in displaying movies and you’ll have all your data at your fingertips – plus you can surf the web and use your TV as a large monitor.  Nonetheless, your computer does have a fan, so you will hear the fan running ocassionally. 

 Have an Xbox 360 already and want to learn more?  Watch this video from Microsoft’s Ben Reed:

My SQUEEZE on Windows 7 Media Center

Windows 7 Media Center is a great program.  It is a fantastic media toolbox to view your pics, music, etc. on your computer.  The DVR features are great and you don’t have to “rent” this DVR.  You can watch your favorite shows in a smaller window while you work on your computer.  Or, using the Media Center remote control that came with your Media Center PC, you can kick back in a chair away from the computer to watch TV.

Now that I’ve told you about all the gems and benefits of using Media Center, I will tell you that I rarely open up Media Center on my computer.  I think it’s a fantastic program and it has great user capabilities.  Nonetheless, when I’m at the computer, Idon’t watch TV and I use Windows Gallery Live and iTunes to view my pictures and listen to my music.

So why then am I so gung-ho about Windows 7 Media Center?  Because of it’s extension capabiliy.  I LOVE the fact that I can access my music, photos, home videos, movies, and recorded TV from my couch in my family room.  I do not need to be cramped up in my office chair to see this great content.  I can easily show friends our latest pics without having to leave the family room to go to my home office.  I can quickly set party mood music using my playlists to play in the background.  I can almost effortlessly show my daughter the video footage I took from her soccer game earlier in the day.  And I can do all this on my big screen TV.  I am doing all this usig my wireless network and Xbox 360.  Now all of a sudden, my filed away media gains new life.

Of course, Windows 7 Media Center isn’t perfect using Extenders.  One of my biggest pet peeves is the start-up – having to start up Xbox 360 and go through the screens to begin Media Center.  In addition, Media Center takes up a lot of your computer’s processing power, so it is best not to have other programs on your computer open at the same time. 

In my next article, I will go over Useful Features of Windows 7.  The last article in this Windows 7 series will focus on Photos and Videos.  Be sure to subscribe to WellConnectedMom.com so you won’t miss out on these upcoming articles.

Lori

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