Controlling the Control Panel

The inner workings of Windows 7 reveal themselves inside the mysterious (and somewhat haughtily named) Control Panel. Choose Start → Control Panel to plug away at the innards.

The main categories of the Control Panel span the breadth (and plumb the depth) of Windows 7-dumb:

• System and Security: Use an enormous array of tools for troubleshooting and adjusting your PC, backing up your data, controlling how Windows conducts searches, checking your performance rating, and generally making your PC work when it doesn't want to. Check out the components of the Windows 7 mighty security arsenal, including Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and the efficacy of your antivirus software. This is also the place to make changes to the Internet Explorer security settings. Unfortunately, this category also includes all the tools you need to shoot yourself in the foot, consistently and reliably, day in and day out. Use this part of the Control Panel with discretion and respect.
• Network and Internet: Set up a network or a HomeGroup. Set up Internet connections, particularly if you're sharing an Internet connection across a network, or if you have a cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) service. Deal with conflicting wireless networks. Configure synchronization between computers. Many security settings in this category duplicate those in the Security category.
• Hardware and Sound: The "all other" category. Add or remove printers and connect to other printers on your network. Troubleshoot printers. Install, remove, and set the options for scanners and digital cameras, mice, game controllers, joysticks, keyboards, and pen devices. Power settings are here, too.
• Programs: Add and remove specific features in some programs (most notably, Windows 7 and Office). Uninstall programs. Change the association between filename extensions and the programs that run them (so that you can, for example, have iTunes play WMA audio files). Microsoft also kindly gives you an easy way to buy new programs online.
• User Accounts and Family Safety: Add or remove users from the Windows Welcome screen. Enable the Guest account. Change user account characteristics, including passwords. A couple of rudimentary parental controls appear here, but for the more advanced choices, you need to download and install Windows Live Family Safety.
• Appearance and Personalization: Turn on the Glass effect and make your windows translucent. Change what your desktop looks like - wallpaper, colors, mouse pointers, screen saver, and icon size and spacing, for example. Set the screen resolution (for example, 1280 x 1024 or 2048 x 1280) so that you can pack more information onto your screen - assuming that your eyes (and screen) can handle it. Make the Windows taskbar hide when you're not using it, and change the items on your Start menu. Change what Windows Explorer shows when you're looking at folders. Add or remove fonts.
• Clock, Language, and Region: Set the time and date - although doubleclicking the clock on the Windows taskbar is much simpler - or tell Windows to synchronize the clock automatically. You can also add support for complex languages (such as Thai) and right-to-left languages, and change how dates, times, currency, and numbers appear.
• Ease of Access: Change settings to help you see the screen, use the keyboard or mouse, or have Windows flash part of your screen when the speaker would play a sound. Also set up speech recognition.
• All Control Panel Items: Flip the Control Panel back into its Windows XP form, with many little icons jumbled together.

Many Control Panel settings duplicate options you see elsewhere in Windows 7, but some capabilities that seem like they should be Control Panel mainstays remain mysteriously absent. You have at least 157 different ways in the Control Panel to turn on Windows automatic updating.