Enabling a TPM Chip in Windows 7

Now, I have just discovered that built into my PC I have a TPM chip. And I discovered this totally by accident!  I was doing some reading up on BitLocker and DirectAccess (here is a post on how to configure BitLocker on an operating system drive and here is a post on configuring DirectAccess) and stumbled across a command that would tell you about any available TPM chips on your PC. I figured I'd give it a go and see what happened and hey! I've got a TPM chip!
A TPM is a Trusted Platform Module, and it is the international standard for a dedicated microprocessor called a secure cryptoprocessor, which is designed to secure hardware by integrating cryptographic keys into devices. 
To find out if there is an available TPM chip on your PC, click start, click run, and then type in the box tpm.msc. If you have an available TPM chip you will see something that looks like this.

To initialize the TPM you need to right click on the TPM Management on Local Computer option in the sidebar and select Initialize TPM.

You will be prompted to restart your computer and follow the instructions given.


When prompted you will need to press F1 to accept changes. When your computer has restarted you should this pop-up. Select for the password to be automatically created.

You will then need to select whether you would like to print the password or store it on a memory stick. Mine will be stored on a memory stick.

Once the password is saved you will need to click Initialize.

You will then have to wait while the chip is initialized.


Once the chip is initialized you will be able to make use of features such as BitLocker and DirectAccess.

Configuring Remote Connections In Windows 7

Remote Desktop Protocol is used to connect remotely from one computer to another, for example from a PC to a laptop or vice versa. 
I am going to show you how to allow connections from PC's and laptops on the same network as your own PC.
Remote desktop is not enabled by default. To turn it on you need to open the control panel, and select System.

In the sidebar you need to select Remote Settings

You then need to tick the box that says "Allow remote connections.." and select where the connections are allowed to come from. We are allowing connections from computers running any remote desktop version.


If you select the Advanced settings you can choose whether you want your PC to be controlled remotely, and how long an invitation can be left open. You can also select to create invitations that can only be used from computers running Windows Vista or later versions.
 

 If you select Add Users you can choose to add users that you want to have access to your PC. You can also remove a user if you no longer want them to have access. 

Once you are done you just need to click apply and ok, and you will be able to access your PC from another computer on the same network as your PC.

Configuring Mobile Computing in Windows 7.

If you are using a laptop with Windows 7 you can quickly access settings, such as brightness, volume control and Wi-Fi, by usin the Windows Mobility Centre. All of the settings are located together in the same place, so you don't need to remember where each setting is or spend time trying to find it. This is helpful if you need to change between settings quickly, for example if you are travelling from your desk to a meeting.
To find the Mobility Centre, open the control panel and select Windows Mobility Centre (it is a lot easier to find if you are using the Large Icons view.)


The mobility centre displays all of the most commonly used settings. Different options are displayed depending on your system, and extra tiles may be added my the manufacturer of your laptop.




Using the Mobility Centre you can change the display brightness and volume.


You can change the power mode that you are using.


You can turn your wireless on and off as well as choose which network you would like to connect to. 


You can connect to an external display.


You can sync to other devices.


And if you are putting on a presentation you can change turn on the presentation option.



And that's it, a quick simple run down on using the mobility centre :)

Installing an External Sound Card in Windows 7

Today I'm going to show you how to install and configure an external soundcard. I am using a Line 6 GuitarPort. Most devices within Windows 7 are configured automatically, however there are some devices that Windows is unable to find the drivers for, and the GuitarPort is one of these.
When the device is first plugged in, Windows 7 will automatically attempt to find the drivers.


If you click on the bubble you will see:

If Windows is unable to find the driver you will then see:

No matter what device you are installing, this is the basic process, this does not just apply to sound cards.
If Windows has been unable to install the driver you will need to go on the manufacturers website to download the driver. You will most likely need to select the make and model of the device, and the operating system you are using. This is how it looks on the Line 6 website.

You then need to select the download. You may need to select whether you want to save or run the file. 
 
 The download will show in your browser (I'm using firefox).

 Once it is finished you need to click on it to start the installer. The UAC will ask you for permission to install the software and then the installer will launch.

 You will have to accept the terms and conditions from the manufacturer of the device.

 You may find you can select what you would like to install.

You will need to select where to install it.

The drivers will now be installed.

Once the drivers have finished installing, your device will be ready to use!

Configuring a VHD in Windows 7

Virtual hard disks are file types that act like physical hard disks. Starting in Windows 7 you can mount VHD's exactly like a physical disk, allowing you to copy files to it and even boot from it.
To create a VHD you need to go to your control panel, select administrative tools, computer management and then disk management from the sidebar.
Once you are in disk management you need to select Action and Create a VHD from the toolbar at the top of the window.

Choose the amount of space you would like to give the drive, and then click browse to select where you would like the drive to be stored.

Select where your drive will be stored and give it a name.

You will be able to see the progress in the bar at the bottom of the screen.

When it is done you will see "disk 1" underneath your physical drive(s) in the disk manager.

 Before you can do anything you will need to initialize the disk. To do this right click on the disk name and select initialize disk.

You then need to confirm the disk you are initializing.

You then need to create a new simple volume on the disk. To do this you need to right click on the drive and select new simple volume

You need to select what portion of the disk you would like to use to create the volume.

 You then need to select whether you would like to assign a drive letter, or mount an empty NTFS folder.

 Then you need to select whether or not you would like to format the drive, and how you would like it formatting.

When you are ready click finish. If there is anything you want to change click back.

 And that's it. You now have a virtual disk that's ready to be used just like a physical disk!

 Simples!

Improving Performance In Windows 7

It is a general fact of computing that after a while, the shiny, new computer that you've bought will start to slow down, especially after you've installed programs and anti-virus, and started storing files and media.
There are a lot of ways to improve the performance of Windows, and your PC, without having to upgrade anything.
The simplest thing to do is delete any programs that you don't use.
Go to programs and features on the control panel (if you are looking at the control panel in category view this will just be programs)

A list of the programs installed on your computer will appear. From here you can select to uninstall any programs that you don't use, or possibly don't recognise.

If you have no programs installed that you can bear to part with you can try limiting the programs that start when the computer starts.
Click start and type MSCONFIG in the search bar.

Under the startup tab you will see a list of all of the programs and applications that start when the computer boots.To disable all the programs click Disable all, to only disable selected programs just untick the box.

If this still doesn't work, you're going to have to start getting techinical.
First you can try defragmenting your disk. This means that any files for the same program stored in seperate locations on your hard disk will all be put in the same location. This means that the system will not have to spend as much time looking for the files in seperate locations.
To defragment the disk, go to my computer, right click on the disk you would like to defragment and select properties.

Under the tools tab select defragment now.

You may find that your PC is scheduled to defragment regularly. However, if you would like to bypass this and continue with the defragmentation then you can just click defragment disk.

You will then be able to see the progress of the defragmentation.

If you still don't see an improvement in performance you can try performing a disk cleanup. You can do this from the general tab of the disks properties.

 The system will calculate how much space you will be able to free.

You can then select what you would like to delete from the disk.If you click on clean up system files the system will also check for any system files that are not needed, in order to free up more space.

When you have selected the files you would like to delete you will need to confirm your decision.

The system will then clean up the drive.

If this still has no effect (maybe now would be a good time to start thinking about an upgrade), you can try running less programs at once, for example only having one browser open, and closing any programs that are just sitting idly.
You can also adjust the visual settings for better performance. Open your control panel and in the search bar type "performance information and tools" and select the link that comes up.

You then need to select Adjust visual effects in the sidebar.

The best option is to select the option "Adjust for best performance"

The appearance will not be fantastically pretty after you click apply, but you may find your computer starting to perform a bit better.

If you'd like something a little less boxy you can choose to let Windows decide what is best for your computer.This should, in theory, balance prettiness and performance.


A simple tip for improving performance is to restart your computer regularly, at least once a week. By restarting you are forcing any processes and applications running in the background to stop running. Now you may think shutting down computers is something everyone does every day and so this should be fairly common sense, but if you're anything like me, laptops won't get restarted often. I just close the lid on my laptop and let it go to sleep!

Checking for viruses and spyware is also a good move, because your PC may be running slow because it has been infected.

If you've made it this far and your computer is still running slow, well the only remaining options are upgrades.
You can try installing more RAM in your computer. Windows 7 can generally run on 1GB of RAM, but it runs better with 2GB, and for optimal performance you could try running it with 3GB.

The other option is to check the speed of your computer, and decide if you need a new computer entirely.
To check the speed of your computer using the Windows Experience Index you need to open the control panel and search for performance information and tools. When you click the link you will see a score on the home page. If this number is lower than 2 or 3 it might be worth getting a new computer!

Looking at this score, I should probably consider a new computer at some point!