Microsoft's latest OS is rich in features and performance, but there's always room for improvement. Try these tips to optimize your system.

If you have a Windows 7 system, you know that there's a lot to like about Microsoft's newest OS. More svelte and nimble than its troubled predecessor, Vista, Windows 7 offers a refreshing new look, fewer compatibility issues, simpler home networking, and a faster start-up. Still, as we all know, no OS is perfect; there are always nips and tucks that can improve the user experience. That's where we come in. Our collection of tips and tricks can help boost the speed of your Win 7 system, make it more secure, improve its look, customize it, and much more.

Speed It Up

One of the main virtues of Windows 7 is its speed, especially when compared with its predecessor, Vista. But most people haven't experienced the 15-second boot for the operating system that Microsoft engineers were shooting for. Here are 12 tips to speed up Windows 7.

1) Uninstall bloatware that came with your laptop or PC. Or even apps you installed but no longer want. Head to Control Panel | Programs | Uninstall a program and take the hatchet to anything, such as unwanted games or software, that you'll never need. Many programs will load processes at boot time and take up valuable RAM and CPU cycles. While you're in here, you can also click Turn Windows Features On or Off and scan the list to see if there's anything you don't use. You might also want to try out software utilities such as PCDecrapifier and Revo Uninstaller.

2) Limit startup procesess. In the Start button's search box, type MSCONFIG, then head to the Startup tab. You'll likely see a slew of apps, mostly for system support, but you'll be able to identify some that clearly aren't necessary. There's absolutely no need to have Google Update or even QuickTime running all the time, for example. Don't delete those that support your hardware or security, but anything blatantly nonproductive can go. You may have to check the program names online with a site like processlibrary.com to see what they are—they may even be malware. If you want to get more granular, run Microsoft's Autoruns utility.

3) Add more RAM. Windows 7 isn't as much of a hog as Vista, but if you're moving from XP, the memory requirements are greater.

4) Turn off search indexing. If you do a lot of searching, this won't appeal to you, as some searches will be slower. To turn off indexing, open the Indexing Options Control Panel window (if you just type "index" in the Start button search box, you'll see that choice at the top of the start menu), click Modify and remove locations being indexed and file types, too. If you want to leave search indexing on, but find that it occasionally slows you down, you can stop its process when you need extra speed. Right-click on Computer either in the Start menu or on the desktop, and choose Manage. Then double-click Services and Applications, then Services. Find Windows Search, and double-click on that. From this properties dialog, you can choose a Startup type of Manual or Disabled to have the process silent by default.

5) Defragment your hard drive. Your disk stores data in chunks wherever there's disk space, regardless of whether the space is contiguous for one file. Defragging tidies everything up and blocks a program's bits together so that the reader heads don't have to shuttle back and forth to read a whole executable or data file. Windows 7 comes with a built-in defragger that runs automatically at scheduled intervals, but if yours is set by default to run at a time when your PC is usually turned off, it won't get defragged. You can either change the scheduled time, or defrag on demand. Just type "defrag" in the Windows Start Menu search bar, and click on Disk Defragmenter. The version of the utility is improved in Windows 7, and shows more information about what's happening on your disk than Vista did.

6) Change power settings to maximum performance. Of course, this isn't a good choice if you want to save electricity, but it could boost your computing. Head to Control Panel | System and Security | Power Options. From here, click on the left-panel choice Create a power option and choose High Performance.

7) Clean up Your Disk. From the Start menu, choose All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Cleanup. This finds unwanted junk and files such as temporary files, offline Web pages, and installer files on your PC and offers to delete them all at once. You may even find that your Recycle Bin is bulging at the seams: Mine had 1.47GB I didn't know was there! This will generally only have a noticeable affect on speed if your machine is getting close to full, however.

8) Check for Viruses and Spyware. You can run the built-in Windows Defender or a third-party app. You could start with our Editors' Choice, Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2010. If you don't want to pay, though, there are plenty of free antimalware options. Our current Editors' Choice for free AV is Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.1.

9) Use the Performance Troubleshooter. In the Control Panel's search box, type "troubleshooting" and under System and Security, you'll see the choice "Check for performance issues." Run the troubleshooter and it may find the root cause of your slowdown.

10) Turn off Desktop Gadgets. Windows 7 ditched the actual visual sidebar of Vista, but there's still a sidebar process running. Turn it off by typing "gadgets" in the Start menu search bar, choosing "View list of running gadgets" and select each in turn and click Remove to shut down any gadgets you can live without.

11) Don 't use a beautiful desktop background. This will free up extra RAM and therefore boost speed slightly. Right-click on the desktop and choose Personalize, then Desktop Background at the bottom of the resulting dialog window. Set it to a solid color.

12) Turn off Aero effects. Head to the Control Panel's Performance Information and Tools section, and choose Adjust Visual Effects. Here you'll find a long list of effects, but simply choosing Adjust for Best Performance will turn everything off. You'll feel like you stepped back into a decade ago.

Customize It

More than any other Windows OS, Windows 7 allows you to make it your very own, with some handy and simple-to-execute customization options. Here are eight of our favorites.

13) Move the taskbar. Vista and XP let you move the taskbar, too, and users of those operating systems who preferred that the taskbar reside on the sides or top of the screen can easily drag it to any of those locations in Windows 7.

14) Pin your frequently used folders to the taskbar. This works a little differently from pinning an app. You have to right-click the Windows Explorer default pinned icon to see your pinned folder; your new folder doesn't get its own icon.

15) Tone down Notifications. Or pump them up. I always want to see everything, so in the Notification Area Icons control panel I check the Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar check box. But many will want to tone it down, choosing Hide icon and notifications for some services and apps.

16) Change the tray and icons. By default, Windows 7 hides many of the system-tray icons, which you have to hit an up arrow to reveal. I prefer seeing all of them, especially since some apps install system tray icons that I otherwise might not know about, and from which I can easily perform functions of the app. To get to this setting, right-click on the taskbar, choose Properties, then click the Customize button under Notifications. This lists all tray icons, and at the bottom is the check box to show everything.

17) Tone down User Account Control. This was a pain point for a good many Vista users. Now you have options ranging from Always notify me when programs try to install software or make changes to system settings to never doing so. You can even tell it not to do that disconcerting dimming of the desktop.

18) Set up a Home Group. When you designate your Internet connection as Home, you get the option to make all PCs connected to the same router members of a HomeGroup. This means they can share files and stream media to each other. When you create a HomeGroup, you get a password to enter into any other machines you want to join the HomeGroup.

19) Set up your Libraries. Libraries are basically folders that can draw their contents from multiple folders, whether on the same machine, an external drive, or a networked PC. Each library folder has a little link stating the number of locations it draws its contents from; just click this to add more locations.

20) Change Autoplay options. When you plug in a device or disc, the AutoPlay dialog pops up automatically, offering a number of actions you can perform with what you've inserted, such as running an app or viewing files in a folder. Go to Control Panel's Hardware and Sound panel, and you can specify exactly what actions you want AutoPlay to offer.

Give It a Facelift

We like Windows 7's look already, but for those of you who don't, the following 11 utilities give Windows 7 an aesthetic boost, and, in most cases, enhance productivity as well. Almost all of these utilities are free, and the rest are pretty darn cheap. All of these programs are compatible with 32- and 64-bit Windows 7, and many of them will also work with older versions of Windows, too.

21) Work with tiled windows. Windows 7's handy Aero Snap feature lets you work with two tiled windows side by side by dragging them to the left and right edges of the screen. And AquaSnap, a free download, takes things a step further, snapping windows to all four edges of the screen—left, right, top, and bottom—as well as to all four corners for up to eight tiles in all. Better yet, it works within applications, so you can use it to snap child windows (those that are confined within another "parent" window, like in Paint.NET). Another neat feature is AquaGlass, which makes an entire window transparent (not simply the title bar) when you drag it across the screen.

22) Beef up your battery status gauge. Windows 7's standard notification area battery gauge is pretty "meh," and it requires a mouseover to get any information out of it. BatteryBar makes battery status standout on your taskbar (or anywhere on the desktop), and it provides useful bonus info, such as the charge/discharge rate in milliwatts. When your laptop is plugged in, BatteryBar indicates how many minutes to go until fully charged. You even get a battery-wear indicator, which can give you a heads up when your battery may be nearing the end of its useful life. BatteryBar is free. The Pro version ($3 for one year, up to $10 for a lifetime) adds low/critical battery warnings and 20 customizable settings.

23) Make Bluetooth connections easier. The Bluetooth configuration utility built into Windows 7 gets the job done, but it isn't much to look at. Bluetooth Radar 2.2 (free download), on the other hand, is attractive as well as functional. It plots Bluetooth devices (both paired and unpaired) within range of your PC on a faux radar screen, where you can view and change device settings.

24) Give your taskbar a makeover. Windows 7's Taskbar makes a decent application launcher, but each app button you add leaves a bit less room for running programs. With Circle Dock 1.5.6 (free), you fill up a cool-looking circular menu with your favorite programs, files, and folders. Then you customize it by adjusting its size, shape (you can stretch it into an ellipse), and level of transparency, just to start. You can even use the mouse wheel to scroll through your items rotary-style.

25) Create multiple virtual desktops. It doesn't take much to clutter up the Windows desktop with lots of running programs and overlapping windows, even if you're using a large display or multiple monitors. Dexpot 1.5 (free) lets you spread out, organizing your stuff across four virtual desktops, each with its own screen wallpaper, sound effects, and so forth. Switching between virtual desktops is easy (a preview mode shows all of them at once), and you can move open windows between them.

26) Clean up your desktop icons. Trying to find a specific item amid a sea of desktop icons can be daunting. Fences can bring a bit of order to your chaos by organizing related icons into groups, each in its own fenced in pen. Display or hide them all with a mouse double-click. As Frost said, "Good fences make good neighbors." Fences is free, but a $19.95 Pro version adds features, such as a sorting option, adjustable transparency, and the ability to take snapshots of your desktop layout.

27) Change your desktop theme with Windows 7 Personalization Gallery. Desktop themes are a great way to change the ambiance of Windows 7 in just a couple of clicks. Typically, they include a set of automatically rotating wallpapers, a color scheme, and sound effects. There's no reason to settle for the familiar default theme (the Windows logo on a blue background) and the halfdozen others (e.g. architecture, landscape, nature, etc.) that Windows 7 provides. There are plenty of free themes available from Microsoft's Windows 7 Personalization Gallery. Among the scores of themes are some based on countries and geographical settings, animals and nature, holidays, and even (shudder) product brands including automobiles, soda pop, movies, and video games (Gears of War, anyone?).

28) Create your own skins. If you want Windows 7 to tell you things, some gadgets might do the trick, but that's so 2008. Rainmeter 1.1 fills your desktop with many different applets called "skins" (similar to Windows Gadgets but much slicker) that can do things like launch programs, monitor system resources, and pull in data from the Internet via RSS feeds. Creating your own homegrown Rainmeter skins takes considerable effort to master, but a new Raininstaller feature (available in version 1.2 or later) can save a lot of grunt work by installing Rainmeter skins that have been created and distributed by others.

29) Use a simplified version of Task Manager. You can bring up Task Manager to get CPU and RAM usage info, but that's like work. TaskbarMeters (free) puts minimalist CPU and memory gauges right onto the Windows 7 taskbar that you can configure to turn yellow or red once a certain usage threshold is met.

30) Give your Start button a more interesting look. The Start button "Orb" is kinda cool (better than a start menu) but that static logo gets dull. Windows 7 Start Button Changer gives the "Orb" a more interesting look. It includes 10 alternative Start button images. You can find more Start buttons (which are ordinary BMP files) online, including DeviantArt, and then use this utility to place it on your taskbar.

31) Give the user interface a complete overhaul. The Windows desktop looks better than ever, but that's not always saying much if you like personalization. Stardock's WindowBlinds gives the interface a complete overhaul. This utility tweaks the visuals of virtually every aspect of the Windows user interface, from the Start menu and Taskbar to window title bars, borders, and buttons via countless downloadable "skins." You can even make Windows look like the Linux or Mac OS, if you're into that sort of thing. WindowBlinds costs $19.95; the free version is a demo that expires after 30 days.

Tweak the Registry

For geeks who are really looking to change the way Windows 7 looks and behaves, we suggest digging deep—into the registry. Here you can go for more thorough personalization— like changing the look of the log-in screen, the Taskbar, or even Internet Explorer 8's title bar. Most of these hacks require spending only a few minutes in Regedit. But be warned: This type of activity can be potentially dangerous to your computer. Don't dive in unless you feel confident in the Registry. The easiest way to start Regedit is to hit the Window key on your keyboard, type regedit, and then hit Enter. (You can also do this by clicking on the Start button.) Before you make any changes it's probably smart to back up the key or subkey you're planning on tinkering with. Once you've navigated to the key you're planning to change, right-click on it and select "Export" from the pop-up menu. Pick a location to save the resulting REG file, and you're protected. In this story, Registry entries are frequently represented with quotation marks around them; you shouldn't type those in when you're making your changes. And once you've changed a key, it won't take effect right away—you must exit Windows and restart first.

32) Change Your Log-in Screen Background Changing the wallpaper on your desktop is one of the easiest things to do in Windows. But if you can have that display any image you want, why not do the same with your log-in screen?

1. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | Software | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Authentication | LogonUI | Background. 2. Find the OEMBackground key; or right-click in the right pane and select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value to create it (and then give it that name). 3. Double-click on OEMBackground to open it. 4. Change the value in the Value data field to 1. 5. Click OK. 6. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to your Windows directory, then System32\ oobe. If there's a folder in here called "info," go into it; if there's a folder inside of that one called "backgrounds," go into that. If neither exists, you'll need to create them both first. 7. Copy the image (it must be a JPEG, and smaller than 256KB in size) you want to use as your log-in screen background into the info\backgrounds folder. 8. Rename the image background-Default.jpg. (Note: If you choose an image that's sized differently than your desktop and you change your resolution, it will be adjusted to fit—with a possible loss in quality. The info\background folder also supports 12 other files of specific resolutions. The files should be named backgroundXXXXX. jpg, where the XXXXX is one of the following: 900x1440, 960x1280, 1024x1280, 1280x1024, 1024x768, 1280x960, 1600x1200, 1440x900, 1920x1200, 1280x768, or 1360x768. For example, background1920x1200.jpg will be used at 1,920-by-1,200 resolution, and so on.)

The next time you restart your computer, or log out, you'll see this image as the new log-in screen. If you chose an image that prevents the buttons and text from looking their best on the log-in screen, you can adjust their appearance as well.

1. Navigate back to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | Software | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Authentication | LogonUI (you're not going into Background this time). 2. Add a DWORD value called "Button- Set." 3. Change its value to either 1 (darker text shadows and lighter buttons) or 2 (no text shadows and opaque buttons, for darker backgrounds); 0 is the Windows default.

33) Personalize the IE8 Title Bar. If you use Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7, you're probably familiar with the browser's title bar, which appends "Windows Internet Explorer" to the end of every page name. Why not change it to something a little more... you?

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Software | Microsoft | Internet Explorer | Main. 2. Right-click in the right panel, click New, and then select String Value. 3. Name the string value you just created Window Title (space included). 4. Double-click on Window Title. 5. Type your personalized title in the "Value data" field, then click OK.

34) Turn Off Aero Snap. Implemented as an easier way to arrange windows on your desktop, Aero Snap will automatically maximize a window if you drag it to the top of the screen, or resize a window to use exactly half your display's width if you drag it all the way to the left or the right. If you don't find this feature convenient, you can disable it.

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Control Panel | Desktop. 2. Scroll down to WindowArrangementActive in the right-hand pane, and double-click it to open it. 3. Change the number in the Value data field from 1 (Aero Snap is enabled) to 0. 4. Click OK

35) Change Taskbar Button. Stacked Window Behavior By default, the Taskbar groups together multiple windows of a single app, then displays all of them as thumbnails when you click on the program's Taskbar icon. If you think it would be more handy to have Windows automatically open the last window when you click the icon, you can make that happen.

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Software | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Explorer | Advanced. 2. Right-click in the right pane, and select New then DWORD (32-bit) Value. 3. Rename the new DWORD value Last-ActiveClick. 4. Double-click on LastActiveClick to open it. 5. Change the value in the Value data field to 1. 6. Click OK.

36) Change the Width of Taskbar Buttons Windows 7 is set up to always combine Taskbar buttons from the same program and never display their labels. If, however, you've changed the setting to either not combine the windows at all or to only combine them when the Taskbar is full, you can change the icons' width to hide the labels there, too. Here's how.

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Control Panel | Desktop | WindowMetrics 2. Scroll to find the MinWidth entry. If it's not there, you'll have to create it yourself. Right-click in the right pane, select New, then Select String Value, and name the object MinWidth. 3. Double-click MinWidth to open it. 4. Change the number in the Value Data field to the width you want to allot to the icons. With the default small buttons, 38 is sufficient; with the larger icons, you'll want about 52. 5. Click OK .

37) Change the Delay Time of Taskbar Previews Among the cooler features in Windows 7 are Taskbar previews, which appear when you hover the mouse cursor over the Taskbar icon of a currently running program. But when you do this, the preview doesn't appear immediately. Fortunately, you can easily speed it up or, for whatever reason, slow it down.

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Software | Microsoft | Windows| CurrentVersion | Explore | Advanced 2. Right-click in the right pane, click New, and click DWORD Value or DWORD (32-bit) Value. 3. Name the new DWORD ExtendedUIHoverTime. 4. Double click on ExtendedUIHover-Time to open it. 5. Click the Decimal radio button in the Base section. In the Value data field, enter the delay time (in milliseconds) for the preview to appear. (The Windows standard is 400 ms.) 6. Click OK to commit the change. When you hover the mouse cursor over one of the previews, all your other windows will disappear and show just that window. There's a delay associated with this, too. To change this, add a new DWORD in the same location called ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime, and edit it the same way as above, setting its value to whatever you want (in ms).

38) Change the Delay Time of Aero Peek Aero Peek is Windows 7's sleeker replacement for the old Show Desktop button. Just move your mouse cursor over the icon at the right end of the taskbar to turn all your Windows invisible. But this, too, has a delay time associated with it, so if you find yourself accidentally activating it too often, you may want to increase the delay time. Here's how.

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Software | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Explorer | Advanced 2. Right-click in the right pane, click New, and click DWORD Value or DWORD (32-bit) Value. 3. Name the new DWORD Desktop LivePreviewHoverTime. 4. Double click on DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime to open it. 5. Click the Decimal radio button in the Base section. In the Value data field, enter the delay time (in milliseconds) for the preview to appear. (The Windows standard is 1,000 ms.) 6. Click OK to commit the change.

Make It More Secure

When Windows 7 was first unveiled, it was described as "Vista, but better" in many areas, and security is one of them. Windows 7 includes a host of features to protect your system and all of your data. It eases up on the annoying number of User Account Control pop-ups, and improves on protecting your data and the use of applications.

39) Control what applications are used. A feature called AppLocker adds another layer of protection that limits the use of applications to a known list of safe programs. You can even set up rules for authorized applications to cover all future versions of a file so you don't have to reconfigure AppLocker for updated software. Launch AppLocker by typing GPEDIT.MSC in Start Search and press Enter, then navigate to Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Application Control Policies | AppLocker. From here you select Executable Rule, Windows Installer Rule and Script Rule. Then you can choose to apply this rule by Publisher, File hash or Path. Choosing Publisher, for instance, will whitelist all apps from a specific digital signature, which will cover software updates as well. Choosing Path will restrict the execution of programs to a directory path.

40) Protect your data in the event your system goes missing. If you ever lose your laptop, you can rest assured that unauthorized users can't recover your hard-disk data by using BitLocker, a feature included in Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate editions. BitLocker will protect your data as long as your computer was powered off when it went missing. Recovering data requires access to the BitLocker keys or passwords associated with the locked volumes. Thankfully, locating recovery passwords and keys with Windows 7 is much easier than with the tools in Windows Vista. Make sure your BitLocker keys and passwords are backed up by going to Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | BitLocker Drive Encryption. Then choose the protected drive within the Operating System Drives node. Configure BitLocker so that passwords and keys are backed up to Active Directory when BitLocker protection is activated, by enabling the following settings: Save BitLocker recovery information to AD DS for OS drives settings, and Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored in AD DS for OS drives.

41) Encrypt your removable drives. Windows 7's new Bit- Locker To Go feature lets you protect removable drives without the need to buy special software. Be sure to carefully save the 40-digit recovery key, so you won't lose access even if you forget the passphrase. And bear in mind that the encrypted drive will open in read-only mode on pre-Windows 7 computers. Also, while only Enterprise and Ultimate editions can create BTG-encrypted drives, other editions can use them once created.

42) Keep your kids safe. Windows 7's Parental Controls let you limit how much computer time children have, their access to programs and games, and the times they can use certain programs. Access Parental Controls from the Control Panel | User Accounts and Family Safety. Then select or create a non-admin account for your child to use and select what restrictions you wish to impose on that account. For added protection you can download the free Windows Live Family Safety, which lets you filter Web sites and monitor your child's activities while he or she is online.

43) Re wind your system if it bugs out. If you come across a nagging bug in your computer system you can't quite figure out how to fix, System Restore can be a big help. System Restore returns your PC's system files and programs to a time when everything was working fine, before any problems arose. To use it select the Recovery option from the Action Center then select what restore point you want to use. Windows 7 will give you a clear idea of what collateral damage may result from a restore, as it lists all programs and drivers that would be removed or restored by returning to a particular restore point.

44) Back up on a regular schedule. Window 7's Backup and Restore Center feature lets you select folder, libraries, and drives to backup on a regular schedule. To use it click Back Up Your Computer from the Control Panel. From there you can back up files to an external drive, network, or DVD. You can change the backup schedule or manually backup files at any time.

Print With It

Getting your current printer to work in Windows 7 will prove to be either a piece of cake or all but impossible. The newer your printer is, the more likely it is to work with Windows 7. And because Windows 7 is much more like Windows Vista under the hood than Vista was like Windows XP, any printer with a Vista driver is likely to work with Windows 7 using the Vista driver. The best approach to installing your printer in Windows 7 depends on what drivers and downloads are available for it, and from where.

45) Look for Windows 7 Printer Drivers If you're installing Windows 7 as an upgrade to a Vista system that already has your printer drivers installed, and the Windows 7 disc includes drivers for your printer, the new drivers will be installed as part of the upgrade. (Microsoft recommends that you make sure the printers are on during the upgrade installation) If you're doing a fresh install, they won't be. In the first case, you should use Windows Update to check for newer drivers, and then test the printer to find out if the drivers support all of the features you need. If not, go to the manufacturer's Web site and look for a download for your printer for Windows 7. For a fresh install, start by downloading the Windows 7 driver, or driver plus software package from the manufacturer's Web site.

46) Use Vista Drivers If you can't find specific support for Windows 7 for your printer, try installing the printer's Vista drivers and software, assuming there are Vista drivers and software to install. Unfortunately, installing a Vista driver isn't always easy. I ran into an issue with one of the HP printers in my tests, with the installer checking the Windows version and refusing to run.

47) Run in Vista Compatibility Mode If you run into a problem with a Vista installation routine, you may be able to get around it by running the installation program in Windows Vista compatibility mode. Right-click on the installation program's filename, choose Properties, and then the Compatibility tab. Check the Run this program in compatibility mode for: check box, and choose Windows Vista, Windows Vista (Service Pack 1), or Windows Vista (Service Pack 2). Apply the changes, choose OK to close the dialog box, and then run the program.

48) Manually Add Printer Drivers If the Vista installation program won't work, you may still be able to install the Vista printer driver—but not scan drivers or other software—through the Windows Add Printer Wizard. Go to Devices and Printers, choose Add a printer, and work your way through the wizard. When you get to printer options, choose Have disk, navigate to the folder with the driver, and select the printer's INF file.

49) Install Network Printers Locally If the printer is on a network, you may need to tell the Add Printer wizard that you're installing a local printer, use LPT 1 as the port it's connected to, and then change the port setting after the driver is installed. To change the port, go to Devices and Printers, right-click on the printer name, and choose Printer Properties. Then choose the Ports tab and the Add Port button. In most cases, you'll want to highlight Standard TCP/IP Port, choose the New Port button, and then work your way through the rest of the wizard screens, entering the Printer's IP address in the appropriate dialog box.

50) Try a Universal Printer Driver If there are no Vista drivers for your printer, or if the Vista drivers don't work with Windows 7, try a Windows 7 universal print driver (UPD), but only if your printer uses either of the most common page-description languages (PDLs)—PCL or PostScript. A UPD can provide basic printing support for almost any printer that uses the right PDL for the driver. It may or may not support additional features, like duplexing or output sorting.