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4 Common Windows 7 Problems And How To Fix Them

Most Windows 7 problems are related to the upgrade process. Do a clean install if and when you can. You can also refer to my previous article on how to resolve 3 upgrading issues with Windows 7 here. If you are still having issues, hopefully we cover them below. If not, hit us up in the comments or ask it over at MakeUseOf Answers.
We are going to run through 4 Windows 7 problems or issues that you can have on your new Windows 7 machine regardless of the version.
Hopefully these answers will help you out and make Windows 7 the best operating system yet.

There are certain things I do right away when getting a new machine. One of the things I do is disable hibernation as I do not want a huge hiberfil.sys file on my hard drive. But how do I disable it?
I could not find an option anywhere but I went looking online and found a registry option that will permanently disable hibernation and return my precious space back to me. Now I do not like recommending registry modifications when I do not have to, so I found a little command line magic from the HowToGeek. You will need to right click on the command prompt from your start menu and choose “Run as administrator”. Then you can type this command:
powercfg /hibernate off
windows 7 problems
You will need to manually remove the hiberfil.sys and you are good to go.
The next issue we will discuss is the lack of Windows Mail, Movie Maker and Photo Gallery. Windows 7 is a beast and they trimmed the fat, so to speak a little. The installation of your operating system no longer contains a bunch of items. If you find yourself missing one of these items you can quickly download the ones you want from the Windows live Essentials site.
windows 7 problems
Click download, start the installer, choose what you want and you are on your way to emailing, messaging, making movies and more. I like this simply because it reduces the bulk of your operating system.
Our next issue with Windows 7 is a problem I have always had on all my Windows Operating systems since Windows 2000. This is the hiding of known file extensions. This is a great way to be attacked by a virus. If a file is titled Innocent.Doc.VBS, you will only see the icon for a Word Document, making it easier to click on. Hopefully your antivirus software will not let you shoot yourself in the foot. Let’s fix this issue by going to Explorer and clicking Tools > Folder Options > View.
windows 7 problems
Simply uncheck the box next to ”Hide extensions for known file types” to show file extensions and you are good to go.
The last Windows 7 problem we will look at is issues with HP All-in-one printers. If you upgraded to Windows 7 and you have one of these multifunction printers, chances are good that it just stopped working. There are files and registry keys that get removed during the upgrade. If you uninstall and reinstall the drivers directly from Hewlett Packard it will not help. So don’t bother.
microsoft windows 7
What we need to do is visit this Hewlett Packard page and download the correct HP Solution Center for your device. We will be looking to install a version that is 13.00 or higher (If not skip to the next paragraph). If this is available for your product download and install it. And it will fix you up.
If version 13.00 or higher is not available for your product, download this patch for the HP Solution Center [direct download link]. That should solve your problem. You will be able to print, scan or copy anything else you need to again!
I hope these tips helped you! Good luck with all your Windows 7 endeavors!
Still find Windows 7 too confabulating? We may have the solution right here: Get A FREE Copy of Windows® 7 Plain & Simple From O’Reilly [MakeUseOf Giveaway]
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