Common windows 7 problem and their solution PART 2

7. Missing Explorer folders

Click Start > Computer in Windows 7 and you'll find system folders like Control Panel and the Recycle Bin are no longer displayed in the left-hand Explorepane. This seems likea backward step to us, but there's a quick solution. Click Tools > Folder Options, check"Show all folders", click OK and all your top-level system folders will reappear.

8. Missing applets

Windows 7 installs quickly and takes up less hard drive spacethan you might expect, but in part that's down to cheating - Mail, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery and other applets are no longer bundled with a standard Windowsinstallation. Instead you must download the programs you need from the Windows Live Essentials site .
Installing Live Essentials will also get you potentially unnecessary extras, though, like an ActiveX control to help in uploading files to Windows Live SkyDrive. And the Windows Live Sign-In Assistant, which can be useful if you want to switch between multiple Windows Live accounts. If you have only one Windows Live account, and no plans to use Live SkyDrive, then these can safely be removed from the Control Panel Uninstall A Program applet.
TAKE YOUR PICK: You can install as many, or as few of the Live Essentials programs as you like

9. Too many minidumps

By default Windows 7 now keeps the last50 minidump files (memory images saved when your PC crashes). If you're keen on using dump files to troubleshoot crashes then this is good news, but if you've no interest in that kind of advanced debuggingthen minidumps are just a waste of your valuable hard drive space. In which case you should run REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl, and set MiniDumpsCount to 1. Windows will only now keep the last dump file and you'll free up a little hard drive space.

10. HP Multifunction Printer problems

If you've an HP multifunction printerwith its "Full FeatureSoftware solution" or "Basic Driver solution" installed then, after upgrading to Windows 7, you mayfind the printer stops working. Pressthe buttons on the front of the printer and nothing will happen; launch the software manually and you'll see reports that it can't connect to your hardware.
The problem is that afew files and Registry entries havebeen lost in the migration to Windows Vista, and even reinstalling the original HP softwarewon't help. Fortunately there's a new version of HP Solution Center that should get everything working again, though, and you can find out more about it at the HP support site .

11. Hidden extensions
Explorer's default settings in Windows 7 hide file extensions, as well as system files and folders.
To fix this, launch Explorer and click Tools > Folder Options > View.
Clear the "Hide extensions for known file types" to show file extensions,reducing the likelihood that you'll accidentally double-click on virus.txt.exe in future.
And as long as there are no novice users on your system who might go poking around in Explorer, we'd also choose to"Show hidden files and folders" as well as clear the "Hide protected operating system files" box. It'soften important to see these files when you're troubleshooting, or following problem-solving instructions from someone else.
13-17: Fixing XP mode and audio issues

12. DVD audio issues
Windows 7 runs well even on old notebooks, say reviewers, and in general they're right.But we have seen reports of problems, for example with DVD audio, where movie sound is either completely unintelligible or doesn't appear at all.
Should anything similar happen to you then head off to Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound> Sound, right-click your current default playback device (it'll have a green tick displayed) and selectProperties.
Then click Advanced, clear any settings in the Exclusive Mode box and click OK. You've now ensured that older or badly-behaved drivers can't take complete control of the speakers any more, and this alone will often be enough to get your system working again. (But if it doesn't, installing new audio drivers is your next best option.)