Tech Tip of the Day: How to connect to a network printer using Windows 7

Windows 7 can "discover" printers and other computers that are on the same network.

Method 1: Using Network discovery to find and install a printer resource available on the network.

1. Click Start and then click Devices and Printers
   
   
   
   
2. Click on Add a printer
   
   
   
3. Click on Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer
   
   
   
   
4. Click on Have Disk and insert the disk or CD that came with your printer.
   
   
   
   
5. Select the printer model from the list and click Next.
   
   
   
   Windows should install the printer software and or drivers on the computer.
   If you have more than one computer/laptop on the network, repeat the process on each system.
   
   
6. Once installation is done you can change the default printer to use or select the printer from within your print menu of your application.

Note: Make sure all the computers and printer are on same network or connected to the same router. If you have more than one printer configured on your computer make sure you select the appropriate printer before you are start to print.

You can also watch a video about this topic. Click here to watch the video.

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to view the Windows Experience Index Score of your computer in Windows 7

Description: This article outlines the process of viewing the Windows Experience Index (WEI) score of your computer in Windows 7.

Foreword: The Windows Experience Index (WEI) is a system that is built into Windows Vista/7 that allows a user to generate an at a glance assessment of the performance of key system components. The generated score will be on a scale of 1.0 to 7.9, with 1.0 being the lowest possible performance rating and 7.9 being the greatest.

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Left click on the Control Panel Link.
   
   
   
   
3. Set the Control Panel to Large Icons View.
   
   
   
   
4. Left click on the Performance Information and Tools Link.
   
   
   
   
5. Left click on the Rate this computer Button to begin the assessment.
   
   
   
   
6. Your Windows Experience Index base score will be shown upon completion as outlined in the image below.
   
   

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to set up Disk Quotas in Windows 7

For more assistance contact Technical Support, click here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to change the amount of Virtual Memory in Windows 7

Description: Virtual Memory is space on your hard drive that the system can use as an extension of your memory if it is full. This can help systems that have lower amounts of physical memory to run more efficiently. Virtual memory is slower than physical memory but can help performance.

1. Click Start and select Control Panel.
   
   
   
   
2. When the control panel opens click System and Security.
   
   
   
   
3. On the next screen click on System.
   
   
   
   
4. On the panel to the left click Advanced System Settings.
   
   
   
   
5. From the tabs along the top select Advanced.
   
   
   
   
6. Then select Settings under performance.
   
   
   
   
7. In the window that comes up select Advanced again.
   
   
   
   
8. The computer will display how much virtual memory it currently has.
   
   
   
   
9. If you want to increase this amount you can do so by clicking Change.
   
   
   
   
10. The bottom of the screen will display the current settings and what Windows recommends.
    
    
    
    
11. If you would like to change this amount deselect the checkbox by Automatically manage paging file size and select custom size.
    
    
    
    
12. You can then input the amount you would like into the initial and maximum size boxes.
    
    
    
    
13. Once you have changed the size to the desired amount click Set.
    
    
    
    
14. Then click OK.
    
    
    
    
15. Then close any windows that are still open and restart the computer, This reboot may take longer than normal as it makes the changes.
16. The changes are now in effect.

For more assistance contact Technical Support click here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to mount a virtual hard drive (VHD) in Windows 7

Description: This article describes how to mount a virtual hard drive (VHD) in Windows 7.

1. VHD is a file extension in Windows that stands for Virtual Hard Disk. It is a publically available image format specification that allows the encapsulation of an entire hard disk in one file. It is capable of hosting several formats such as NTFS, FAT, exFAT and UDFS and may be used as a boot drive by programs such as Microsoft's Virtual PC. One may wish to access the contents of a virtual hard drive without actually booting it up. This is natively possible in Windows 7 by mounting the image to appear as another hard drive.
   
   
2. To mount a virtual hard drive in Windows 7 click on the Start orb.
   
   
   
   
3. Click Control Panel.
   
   
   
   
4. Click System and Security.
   
   
   
   
5. In the Administrative Tools category click Create and format hard disk partitions.
   
   
   
   
6. Click the Action menu and select Attach VHD.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. A new window will open. Click the Browse button.
   
   
   
   
8. Browse to the location of the VHD file, select it and click Open.
   
   
   
   
9. The path will now appear in the Location box. Click OK.
   
   
   
   
10. The VHD file now appears as a new hard drive attached to the next available drive letter in Windows Explorer.
    
    
    

For more assistance contact Technical Support click here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to network a Windows 7 PC to a Mac running OS X Part 3: Accessing the shared files

Description: This guide will walk through two different ways of accessing the files on your network: Accessing the files on your Mac from your Windows 7 PC and accessing the files on your PC from your Mac.

Accessing Mac files from the PC

1. Click Start and select Computer.
   
   
   
   
2. In the Address bar at the top, type two back slashes and the IP address of the Mac noted
   earlier and press Enter.
   
   
   
   
3. A box asking for user credentials will pop up. Type the user name of the Mac and enter the appropriate password then click OK.
   
   
   
   
4. Browse to any files you wish to view or transfer to the PC from the Mac.
   
   

Accessing PC files from the Mac

1. Click the Finder icon in the dock.
   
   
   
   
2. On the left side of the Finder window, click the name of your PC.
   
   
   
   
3. The connection will fail. This is due to invalid credentials. Once the connection fails click the
   Connect As... button.
   
   
   
   
4. Enter the User Name and Password for the user account on the PC and click Connect.
   
   
   
   
5. Browse the shared folders and transfer files as desired.
   
   

For more assistance contact Technical Support click here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to network a Windows 7 PC to a Mac running OS X Part 2: OS X Setup

Description: Now that the Windows side of things is set, this guide will walk through how to set up OS X on the network.

1. Click the Apple button in the upper left then select System Preferences.
   
   
   
   
2. Within System Preferences select Sharing under the Internet & Wireless heading.
   
   
   
   
3. Click the Options button in the Sharing window.
   
   
   
   
4. Make sure both Share files and folders using AFP and Share files and folders using SMB (Windows) are checked along with the current account and click Done.
   
   
   
   
5. Select which items are to be shared on the left including File Sharing.
   
   
   
   
6. Make note of the IP address of the Mac listed for future reference listed in this window.
   
   
   
   
7. Click the + below Shared Folders to add any additional folders to be shared.
   
   

Now both the Windows 7 machine and the OS X machine are set to share files and folders on the network. Check out our third and final article in this series for a walkthrough on how to access files between the two computers.

For more assistance contact Technical Support click here.