In this lesson, we're going to talk about the Windows Control Panel.
The Windows Control Panel is the section of windows that enables users to change
various computer hardware and software features.
for example adding hardware adding and removing software
controlling user accounts and configuring network settings are just a
few of the items that can be controlled
in the control panel. To get to the control panel in Windows 7
we're going to click on the Start button in the bottom left corner of the screen
and then click the control panel option from the pop-up menu.
In Windows 8 we will position the mouse button to the bottom left corner of the screen
and right click in the bottom left corner that start screen
then click Control Panel in the power user menu.
you can also use the search box in the top-right corner
on the Start screen in Windows 8. The control panel will display
in two different views, classic view which will list each item individually
and category view which will list the icons grouped in broad categories.
The category view is the default setting. taking a look at each of these categories
first of all system and security in the Action Center
this is where you can manage the security software that is installed on your computer
for example your anti-virus your firewall your anti-spyware
you can change your Account Control settings and you can restore your computer
to an earlier time. The Windows Firewall is a built-in firewall designed
to help protect your machine from online threats
the system area is where you can see information about your PC's performance
and the hardware that's installed on it. For example the RAM
the processor speed and you can even check the device manager
in this area the device manager list all the detected and installed hardware
that can be used to reconfigure peripherals
download driver updates and other things like that.
The Windows Update category is important for protecting your computer
preventing problems with the operating system you can turn on automatic updates
you can even check for updates manually if you prefer.
The Power Options category is going to be of particular interest
to laptop users because of the hibernation and sleep settings.
You can configure it to conserve battery life you can require password when the computer wakes
and you can even change what the power buttons do.
The backup and restore category
lets you backup your computer or restore it from files
from a previous backup the Administrative Tools
is usually used by advanced users you can defrag your hard drive here you
can free up disk space
you can create hard disk partitions and you can even schedule certain tasks to run.
In the Network and Internet group
we can take a look at the PCs connection to the web and other devices on the network.
for the Network and Sharing Center you can configure how you connect to a network
and you can specify which files and folders are shared with others
on the network and even add a wireless device to your network
the home group makes it easier to share music,
photos, videos, things of that nature on a home network
and you can even share resources like printers or external hard drives.
the Internet Options is primarily
going to be settings for your Internet Explorer but it can also
change your home page in your browser and delete browsing history and cookies.
In the hardware and sound category
you can look in the Devices and Printers to add
a device or add a printer or configure a mouse
and this is another way to access the device manager as well.
Autoplay is going to control how Windows deals with new media
for example what happens by default when you put a CD
or DVD into your computer what happens when you plug a USB flash drive into a USB port
the sound category is going to configure speaker and headphone set up
it can change playback and recording devices here as well
power options again important for laptop users primarily
because you can change the power savings
settings, you can change what the power button to do you can also
set it to require a password when the computer wakes.
The display area is where you can adjust your screen resolution you can make text and other items larger
or smaller on the screen as well.
in the program's group, you can uninstall a program. you can view installed
updates that have come from Microsoft you can specify in the default programs group
which programs are used when you double-click
on a file that has specified file types
Desktop gadgets is actually discontinued in Windows 8,
but in Windows 7 it was used to add gadgets to the desktop.
gadgets were items like a clock or a news feed or weather option.
And the Java option here is for the Java control panel.
In the user accounts category, you can setup multiple users on the
single computer, you can personalize your desktop for each of these users
you can change your account picture you can change your account type
from being a standard account to being an administrator's account
and you can even give others access to the computer.
Windows card space was creating a digital identity for users
in Windows 7 but this is actually been discontinued in Windows 8.
The credentials manager stores user names and passwords for website
so that you can automatically log in.
In the mail feature lets you set up mail configuration.
appearance and personalization in the personalization category you can change the theme
the desktop background even a screen saver for your computer
the display lets you adjust the screen resolution
make text and other items larger or smaller based on your needs
again desktop gadgets but these were discontinued in Windows 8.
Task bar and start menu you can customize the
start menu you can customize icons that appear on the taskbar
and you can even change the picture that appears on the Start menu for your account.
Ease of access center will let you a use a screen reader and some other accessibility features.
folder options can be used to show hidden files and folders.
You can specify whether you single click or double-click to open folders
and some other folder customizations.
the fonts category is used to change font settings and a preview delete
or show and hide fonts.
In the clock language in regions grouping, you can use the date and time category to set the time and date on your computer,
or even change the time zone.
The region and language grouping will allow you to change the date the time the number format
change the location and change keyboard and other input methods
the ease of access grouping again is just for accessibility settings
to make it easier to see what's on the monitor to use the mouse and keyboard differently
and even configure speech recognition.
So in conclusion you can see that the control panel is a central location
for a lot of the hardware and software configurations
so take the time to explore the control panel and configure it
to customize your computer to suit your needs.