Windows 7 Logon Image Changer

Most, if not all, of you know how to change the background image on your monitors, but it's a little tougher to personalize the initial Windows 7 logon screen image (shown below).



There is a complex and somewhat hazardous way of doing it, involving going directly into the registry and modifying it (instructions available here). Don't try this unless you know what you are doing!

A much easier method is to use the free Tweaks.com Logon Changer, available for download at http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon/. It's easy to use, doesn't require installation, and will automatically resize and recompress your images while leaving the original file untouched. You can preview any number of images before making your decision, or revert back to the original image with the click of a button. A screenshot of the Logon Changer in action is below; notice the easy-to-use 4 button tool panel at the bottom of the image. The only limitation is that the background you select needs to be smaller than 256KB.

Windows Snipping Tool

Windows Vista and Windows 7 have a neat little gizmo hidden in the Accessories menu: the Snipping Tool. This very handy little tool allows you to take quick screenshots of any area of your monitor. The New menu pulldown (screenshot at left) allows you to take screenshots of your entire screen or a specific window of your screen. Yyou can also define the screenshot area yourself, creating either a rectanglar screenshot or a "freeform" screenshot that allows you to draw an irregular shape and take a screenshot of whatever is inside it.

To use the tool, go to All Programs, choose Accessories, and then choose Snipping Tool. Click the pulldown menu and choose either Free-form, Rectangular, Window, or Full-screen, and then define your screenshot area. Use the File menu to save the result as a .png, a .gif, a .jpg, or even an .html file.

Thanks to Ruth Willson for the tip!

How to Get Rid of Windows Messenger in Windows 7

Windows 7 automatically pins Windows Messenger (Microsoft's Instant Messaging service) to your taskbar. It takes up system resources, runs on startup and uses system memory. Plus, there are better IM clients out there (Digsby, ICQ, etc.).

It can be a hard program to hunt down and uninstall. Here's how to get rid of Messenger in Windows 7.

Go to the Control Panel. Select Uninstall a program.

Scroll down the list of applications. Select Windows Live Essentials.

Chose Uninstall (don't worry, this won't uninstall all of your Windows Live components, just the ones you choose).

Check the Messenger checkbox and click Continue.

That's it!

Setting Up a System Backup in Windows 7

To set up a backup in Windows 7, open up Computer, right-click on your local drive and select Properties. Then click on the Tools tab and click the Back up now button.



Click Set up backup.



Choose your backup location. An external backup location is recommended; a network location is an excellent option (you might need a password to do so).



Choose if you want Windows to decide what to backup, or if you want to do it yourself.



If you decide to do it yourself, choose what you want to back up.



Review your settings. The bottom of this dialogue box also allows you to set a scheduled backup day and time (circled).



Set your schedule. After the schedule is set, click Save Settings and Run Backup. Be aware this could take over an hour, particularly if this is your first backup.

Find Large Files and Folders

There is a fast and handy download available at Treesize that allows you to see at a glance how your hard drive space is allocated. If you sort the results by size, you can see which files and folders are unnecessarily eating up your storage space.

I recently used this tool after installing Windows 7 and discovering I only had 3 gigabytes of space left. This tool allowed me to find a folder called windows.old that was taking up an extraordinary 40 gigabytes of space. I deleted it, and presto, 40 more gigabytes of space were freed up.

Thanks to Angie Asmus for suggesting the tool to me.