Windows 7 introduced a large number of productivity improvements for the taskbar. Taskbar is the horizontal area, typically at the button of the screen in Windows 7 (location is configurable, so sometime you can see taskbar on the side or even on top of the screen). Task bar is the home of the Windows Start button, it also shows the application(s) you are running and shows the status icons of the key processes of operating system. In this article we are going to find out the key improvements Microsoft had introduced in Windows 7 and how are they going to help you out work faster and more effectively.

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All computer users would like to become as productive as possible in their use of technology. This series of articles covers new features of modern platforms and describes how you can become more efficient in using it. The first article in the series is about Windows 7 and how you can become more effective managing your files.

There is an extremely helpful feature that was introduced in Windows 7 by Microsoft:  the Preview Pane helps you quickly preview different type of documents in Windows Explorer. It will help to save you time when browsing and previewing files of the various types. To initiate this feature open up Windows Explorer and navigate to any folder of your choice, where different documents are located. Once inside the folder the preview can be initiated by the simple keyboard shortcut ALT+P. Preview supports a large number of file extensions for preview – a much bigger list than previous versions of Windows.

Another way to get to the preview mode is to use the menu in Windows Explorer and enable it via Organize->Layout->Preview pane. But for faster access, just hit ALT+P on the keyboard to show or hide the pane.

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We had a visitor to our youtube channel send us a message that they installed a hard drive alongside the drive that is already in the machine and now it will not boot up.  Instead it gives the error “BOOTMGR missing”.

This is a pretty common error and is relatively simple to fix but it can be pretty confusing the first time you see it.  In your computer’s bios it keeps a boot device order.  Most of you will know the boot order from needing to set it to boot from cd to use your diagnostic cd or load a new Operating System.  However some computers also keep another order that is called “hard drive boot priority” and it decides which storage device boots first when you are booting from a hard drive.

If you hooked up a hard drive to “device 2″ on your motherboard when you first installed it and come along and plug in a drive to a higher port (0 or 1) the bios with automatically default to booting from the newly installed drive.  Since this drive is meant for data storage and has no OS on it you get a BOOTMGR or boot manager missing error.  Going into the bios and setting your hard drive priority to the correct drive should correct this issue.  If you have multiple drives that are the same model (they will show up as the same thing) then just try them in a few different configurations until you find one that works.

MakeUseOf.com is a website/blog where you can read about cool websites, computer tricks and downloads that make your life easier and more productive. MakeUseOf’s mission is to guide you through the web and tell you about hot websites that you have never heard of, best software programs, and all kinds of “how to” tips for Windows, Mac and Linux computer users. Launched in 2006, MakeUseOf has over 450,000 subscribers and was founded by Aibek Esengulov and Kaly Mochoev.  By subscribing to the site, you get daily e-mails about the newsletter so you are always in touch with the website. Along with the newsletter, MakeUseOf has tons of give-aways. Recently I won the WinX Cell Phone Video Converter and received a personal e-mail from Jackson Chung, Associate Editor of MakeUseof.com telling me that I won and thanked me for subscribing. When you get a chance, check out these people and subscribe to the newsletter, you will not regret it.

A processor upgrade can be a massive performance boost to any system.  Like other complex systems it will be held back by its slowest component.  Even given that restriction a processor upgrade can be a worthy venture.

The first step is to identify your own motherboard.  You can use software tools like CPUID to identify your board, or you can open up the case and note the numbering on the board itself.  Typically found between the expansion slots but sometimes elsewhere, you can then run these numbers through a search engine and figure out what you have.  Make sure that you bios is up to date as well.  After you do this you need to check for compatible processors.  Most motherboard manufacturers will have CPU support lists for their motherboards available on their websites.  If it is a manufacturer’s pc like an HP or Gateway you may need to dig a little harder.

As a rule, processors of the same family will work in the same motherboard.  Core 2 6300 and a Core 2 6600 should literally be a plug and play upgrade.  When you go to other families or different configurations, like a core 2 7300 or a core 2 quad 6600 you might run into more problems.  You need to be wary of the heat output and make sure your heat sink can handle the new processor as well as the motherboard.

If you are using a retail PC you might get to the point where you can’t find a support list for pc’s and you are looking at not being able to upgrade.  At this point, check and see if other version of that chipset in an aftermarket board like a Gigabyte or an Asus can support that processor.  If they can, go on Google and search for other models of your pc and upgrades with the processor you are after.  If you can find other people who have successfully upgraded to that processor odds are you won’t have any problem with it as long as you are running the same bios and version of the board.

If you cannot find anyone I would most likely decide not to try the upgrade, but that is your decision.  Be aware that most retailers won’t take cpu’s back once they have been opened.  This leaves EBay for you to try to make some of your investment back if you decide to purchase and it does not work.