Basic Info For Windows 7

Windows 7 Editions

Windows 7 is available in six different editions, but only Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate are widely available at retail

View your computer information

You can view a summary of important information about your computer by opening System in Control Panel. You can see basic hardware information, such as your computer's name, and which edition of Windows your computer is running. You can change important system settings by clicking the links in the left pane of System.

• Open System by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.

View basic information about your computer

System presents a summary view of basic details about your computer, including:

• Windows edition. Lists information about the version and edition of Windowsrunning on your computer.
• System. Displays your computer's Windows Experience Index base score, which is a number that describes the overall capability of your computer. Your computer's processor type, speed, and quantity are listed, if your computer uses multiple processors. For example, if your computer has two processors, you will see (2 processors) displayed. Also displayed is how much random access memory (RAM) is installed. For more information about your computer's base score and what it means, see what is the windows Experience Index?
• Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings. Displays your computer's name and workgroup or domain information. You can change this information and add user accounts by clicking Change settings.
• Windows activation. Activation verifies that your copy of Windows is genuine, which helps prevent software piracy. For more information, see Activating Windows: frequently asked questions.

Change Windows system settings

The links in the left pane provide access to additional system settings. If you're looking for the information that you used to find in System in Control Panel when using earlier versions of Windows, you will find that same information by clicking the links in the left pane.

• Device Manager. Use Device Manager to change settings and update drivers.
• Remote settings. Change settings for Remote Desktop, which enables you to connect to a remote computer, and Remote Assistance, which enables you to invite someone to connect to your computer to help with a computer problem.
• System Protection. Manage settings that automatically create the restore points that System Restore uses to restore your computer's system settings. You can turn System Protection on or off for the disks on your computer, and you can create restore points manually. For more information, search Windows Help and Support for "System Restore."
• Advanced System Settings. Access advanced performance, user profile, and system startup settings, including Data Execution Prevention, which monitors programs and reports possible security attacks. You can also change your computer's virtual memory settings.