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 export a key or sub key of your registry in Windows 7

Description: Before making any changes to your registry it is recommended that you make a backup copy of the key, sub key, or the complete registry. The following article will detail how to export a portion of or the whole registry, in case you would like to undo changes that have been made to the registry by importing a backup copy in the future.

1. Open the Registry editor by clicking the Start button and type "regedit" (without the quotes) into the search programs and files box, and then press enter.
   
   
   
   
2. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation
   
3. After providing confirmation the registry editor window will appear.
   
   
   
   
4. Locate and click the key or sub key that you want to backup.
   
   
   
   
5. Click the File menu, and then click Export
   
   
   
   
6. In the Save in box, select the location where you want to save the backup copy to, and then, type a name for the backup file in the File name box.
   
   
   
   
7. Click Save. If you would like to back up the complete registry select the export range of all and then click Save

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Tech Tip of the Day: How to backup your computer's registry

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 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: Keyboard shortcuts in Windows 7