Getting StartED with Windows 7 150 ExplainED The warning about not being able to undo System Restore is not meant to scare you. If you are running System Restore from Safe Mode or from the System Recovery Options menu, it usually means you were already in an unstable situation. You may not have any better or safer options except running System Restore. 5. Click Yes. System Restore starts and displays the screens shown in Figures 5-27 and 5-28. Figure 5-27. After System Restore starts, do not try to use your computer. Turn it off or shut it down. Figure 5-28. Windows displays this System Restore screen while performing the restore. System Restore will restart the computer when it is finished. 151 Chapter 5: Fixing Problems from A to Ctrl+Z After Windows restarts and you log on, System Restore displays a message that it is complete, as shown in Figure 5-29. Figure 5-29. System Restore completed successfully. NotED If you get a message that System Restore was not successful or did not complete, you may need to run System Restore again with a different restore point, or try a more advanced recovery option. 6. Check your computer to see whether it is now running correctly and the problems are gone. If you are still experiencing the same problems or new ones, run System Restore again and use an earlier restore point. If there are no earlier points available, or you’ve tried several restore points and none of them have fixed the problem, you may need to try Advanced Recovery. See the “Using Advanced Recovery” section. Updating device drivers The device manufacturers usually provide the drivers that enable your computer to work with printers and other devices that you attach to or install inside your computer. Microsoft may provide device drivers if they apply to a wide variety of products in a category. Sometimes a new version of Windows leaves some older devices behind. If the device is several years old, the manufacturer may not have an updated driver available for Windows 7 right away. When you attach that device to your new Windows 7 machine, it may not work if it needs a new driver for Windows 7. Generally, almost all device drivers that worked in Windows Vista will work in Windows 7. Getting StartED with Windows 7 152 Examples of devices that may need updated drivers This is not an exhaustive list, but gives you an idea of the wide variety of devices that may need updated drivers:  Printers  Scanners  Web cams  Wireless network cards and adapters  Wireless routers  USB switchers (for connecting a device to more than one computer at a time)  USB multicard readers  Digital cameras  MP3 players  External hard drives  DVD drives  Network-attached storage ExplainED A new computer with Windows 7 installed at the factory should have all the drivers for the devices and hardware that are installed in the computer. You should not have to update drivers on a Windows 7 computer when you take it out of the box. Sometimes the computer manufacturer or the store selling the computer bundles it with other external hardware such as multifunction printers. This added device might need updated drivers to run on Windows 7. If you bought a Windows Vista computer with the promise of a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it became available, you may have to update some drivers after you install the Windows 7 upgrade. Check the manufacturer’s website before upgrading to see whether there are additional drivers that you need to download. You may discover that you need new drivers in the following ways:  You use Windows Easy Transfer, and the Transfer Report lists devices that need updated drivers.  You run the Devices and Printers troubleshooter, and it detects devices that need updated drivers. 153 Chapter 5: Fixing Problems from A to Ctrl+Z  You attach a device to your computer, and the Add New Hardware wizard cannot find the right driver.  A notification appears in the notification area of the taskbar.  In Devices and Printers in Control Panel, or in Device Manager, one of the devices has a yellow warning icon. When Windows detects that it needs a driver, it will check the drivers stored on the computer, or if you allow it, will look for drivers on the Internet. Sometimes all that is needed is the device installation disc. Most devices that work on Windows Vista should work on Windows 7. But if you are moving from Windows XP (or older) to Windows 7, you are more likely to run into a few devices that don’t work right away. Getting the correct drivers to your computer can be the tricky part. After you have the updated drivers, installing the drivers on your computer usually is a cinch. Locating updated drivers Try any of the following to locate updated drivers:  Install the device with the device’s installation disc.  Run the Devices and Printers troubleshooter. Sometimes the device just needs to be enabled. The troubleshooter can fix that. If the troubleshooter detects a missing or outdated driver, it can check your computer and the Internet for updated drivers.  Go to the device manufacturer’s website and check the support area for a downloads or drivers section. Look for updated device installation programs or drivers for Windows 7. If there is no Windows 7 device installation or driver listed, see if there is one for Windows Vista. Download and install the Windows Vista version.  If the manufacturer doesn’t have a Windows 7 driver but is working on one and hopes to release it soon, you could wait for the updated drivers.  Search Internet user forums for drivers or other people with the same problem. For example, there didn’t appear to be an updated driver for an older sound card on an older computer that was upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7. Searching for Sound Card Name drivers produced a list of user websites where this particular sound card was discussed. Sifting through the messages posted on these sites provided several possible solutions:  Download the Vista or Windows XP device installation program or drivers and install them using the Program Compatibility troubleshooter. Getting StartED with Windows 7 154  Buy and install a new sound card that is compatible with Windows 7.  In this example, installing the drivers through the Program Compatibility troubleshooter solved the problem. Updating the drivers on your computer Here are the steps for updating the drivers for a device on your computer: 1. Locate and install the device drivers from the device installation disc or a download from the Internet. 2. lick the Start button, and in the Start menu’s search box, type Device Manager. In the list that appears, click Device Manager. 3. Locate the device with the yellow warning icon, right-click it, and then click Update Driver. Figure 5-30 displays a warning on a Mass Storage Controller device. Figure 5-30. When you right-click a device, you can update the driver, disable the device, or uninstall the driver. 155 Chapter 5: Fixing Problems from A to Ctrl+Z 4. Click Update Driver Software. Windows asks where to search for the driver software, as shown in Figure 5-31. Figure 5-31. If you’ve already downloaded the drivers, you still need to direct Windows to the location on your computer. 5. Click Browse my computer for driver software. Figure 5-32 displays your options for finding the driver software. Getting StartED with Windows 7 156 Figure 5-32. When drivers have been installed on the computer, sometimes all that is needed is to tell Windows where to find the driver for a device. 6. Click Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer. A list of device types is displayed, as shown in Figure 5-33. Figure 5-33. Scroll through a list of device types until you find one that matches your device. 157 Chapter 5: Fixing Problems from A to Ctrl+Z 7. Select the device type and then click Next. A list is displayed of the manufacturers of the type of device you selected, as shown in Figure 5-34. Figure 5-34. Click a manufacturer and then select a model from that manufacturer. 8. Select the Manufacturer and then a Model from that manufacturer, or click Have Disk if you have the device’s installation disc or a driver disc. 9. Click Next. If you select a driver that Windows does not think is a good match, Windows will display a warning similar to Figure 5-35. Getting StartED with Windows 7 158 Figure 5-35. Installing the wrong driver could cause problems with your computer. If you proceed anyway, Windows will try to install the driver software. If it is the wrong driver, the device may not even start, as shown in Figure 5-36. In this case, you may need more information to correctly identify the manufacturer and model, so you can download the right drivers. Figure 5-36. If the wrong driver is installed, the device may not work. 159 Chapter 5: Fixing Problems from A to Ctrl+Z If the correct driver is installed, you will get a notification in the taskbar that the installation was successful, as shown in Figure 5-37. Figure 5-37. Successful device driver software installation Using Advanced Recovery Sometimes none of the previous methods can solve your problem. You’ve tried troubleshooters, uninstalling or updating device drivers, uninstalling programs, and System Restore. There are two basic advanced recovery methods, both of which may cause you to lose data on your computer. Before you use any of these methods, it is very important that you completely back up all important files and documents to a location outside your computer, such as an external hard drive or network storage. Before you can use one of these methods, you’ll need a system image backup from before your problems started, or your Windows installation or recovery disc provided by your computer manufacturer. Using a System image to recover A system image is a backup of your entire hard drive. When you restore your system image, it is everything that was on the image. You cannot selectively restore parts of your system image. You must have created system image backups before you started experiencing problems. After you have problems, you cannot really make a good system image backup because it will still have the problems on it. LinkED For information about how to create a system image, see Chapter 6. [...]... data safe on your computer with regular backups, and automatic updates of antivirus, antispyware, and Windows 1 65 Getting StartED with Windows 7 Here’s a review of what you’ve learned in this chapter: How to use Windows troubleshooters to identify problems and solutions How to use Programs and Features in Control Panel to fix problems How to Safe Mode to start Windows 7 with just basic functions so... it in, wait a few minutes for Windows 7 to recognize and identify it, and then click Refresh to make it appear in the list 171 Getting StartED with Windows 7 Figure 6-2 Choose where you want your backups to be stored; external hard drives are usually the best option ExplainED The Save on a network button will be available only with Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate 3 172 To do the most comprehensive... drive with a storage capacity greater than your system’s For example, if your system came with a 50 0GB hard drive, your external hard drive should be 50 0GB or more This will ensure that you always have as much backup space as you’ll possibly need and can keep the backups for as long as possible 169 Getting StartED with Windows 7 NotED If you’re using the Professional or Ultimate version of Windows 7, ... The contents of these Windows Help and Support topics are shown in a separate window, so you don’t lose your place in the window or feature you were using, as shown in Figure 5- 39 163 Getting StartED with Windows 7 Figure 5- 39 Windows Help and Support can provide more information if the screen you are viewing is not clear, or you just need to know more Accessing Help and Support Windows Help and Support... and so forth With file backup you can store as much or as little data as you like You get to choose specific folders, drives, or libraries 1 67 Getting StartED with Windows 7 to make copies of, or you can let Windows decide for you Similarly, if you ever need to restore data from a file backup, you can choose specific folders to restore—even individual files File backups don’t make copies of Windows operating... files in places other than standard user account folders or if you just want to back up a handful of specific folders 173 Getting StartED with Windows 7 4 Review your backup settings to make sure they’re correct (Figure 6-4) Note that Windows automatically runs weekly backups on Sunday at 7 p.m If you’d rather do them on a different day or time or do them more or less frequently (such as daily or monthly),... backup settings NotED Windows automatically manages the amount of disk space it uses for both file and system image backups, saving older backups until they must be deleted to make room for newer ones Clicking Manage space will let you view or adjust how backup disk space is used or delete individual file backups to free up space for other uses 1 75 Getting StartED with Windows 7 Creating a system image... your system image 2 Select the check boxes for the extra drives you want the system image to include (Figure 6 -7) , and then go to the next screen Figure 6 -7 Select all the drives you want the system image to include 177 Getting StartED with Windows 7 3 Confirm the drives that will be part of the system image, and click Start backup (Figure 6-8) Figure 6-8 Confirm the system image settings before clicking... (Figure 6-9) Figure 6-9 A system repair disc will start your computer when Windows can’t load 179 Getting StartED with Windows 7 ExplainED A system repair disc works the same way whether you use a CD or DVD Use a CD if possible—they’re cheaper Restoring data from backups Once your system and its personal data are safely backed up, Windows gives you the option to restore individual files or folders, groups... additional content on the Web To access Windows Help and Support, click the Start button and then click Help and Support Windows Help and Support is displayed, as shown in Figure 5- 40 164 Chapter 5: Fixing Problems from A to Ctrl+Z Figure 5- 40 Windows Help and Support home page Summary An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure —Benjamin Franklin Problems will happen with computers and sometimes are . select a driver that Windows does not think is a good match, Windows will display a warning similar to Figure 5- 35. Getting StartED with Windows 7 158 Figure 5- 35. Installing the wrong. Windows 7 machine, it may not work if it needs a new driver for Windows 7. Generally, almost all device drivers that worked in Windows Vista will work in Windows 7. Getting StartED with Windows. place in the window or feature you were using, as shown in Figure 5- 39. Getting StartED with Windows 7 164 Figure 5- 39. Windows Help and Support can provide more information if the screen