Receiving Support

Receiving Support

Customers can initiate support with the virtualization solution provider or Microsoft through existing channels for issues related to Windows Server running on a validated virtualization solution. Microsoft only supports Microsoft's products and will not be able to provide support for other companies' solutions. Microsoft and the virtualization solution provider will collaborate through TSANet if the root cause is believed to be from the other party's software and assistance is needed to resolve the issue.

Participating Vendors

The following companies who supply server virtualization software to the marketplace have formally committed to participate in the Server Virtualization Validation Program. Microsoft is working with them to validate their solutions as platforms for Windows Server 2008. Please contact them directly for any additional information.

CA Technologies

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Citrix Systems, Inc.

Hitachi, Ltd.

Novell, Inc.

Oracle, USA Inc.

Parallels Software International, Inc.

Red Hat, Inc.

Riverbed Technology, Inc.

Sun Microsystems

Unisys Corp.

Virtual Iron Software

VMware, Inc.

As more vendors sign up for the SVVP, their names (and any validated solutions) will be added to this site.

Server Virtualization

Welcome to the Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program

To improve customers' support experiences when running Windows Server on virtualization technologies other than Hyper-V™ and Virtual Server, Microsoft has launched the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP).

SVVP is open to any vendor that delivers a machine virtualization solution that hosts Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and subsequent service packs. The virtualization solution can either be hypervisor-based or a hosted solution. The program enables vendors to validate various configurations so that Microsoft customers can receive technical support for Windows Server in virtualized environments.

Customers can benefit from the support provided by Microsoft as part of the regular Windows Server technical support framework when running Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 and subsequent service packs on validated solutions running on server hardware Certified for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, with the same validated processor architecture and not exceeding the maximum virtual memory or processors validated. Microsoft Life Cycle Support policy still applies for support and end of support for specific versions of an operating system and Service Packs.

The Server Virtualization Validation Program is not a logo program, rather a reference that companies and customers will be able to use in conjunction with their validated solutions.

Validated Configurations

The list of validated configurations (Products) will enable customers to identify what configurations have been tested and validated to work with Windows Server, similar to a support matrix for hardware devices. A validated configuration consists of:

• Vendor Name
• Product Name
• Product Version
• Operating System Architecture [32-bit, x64, ia64]
• Processor Architecture [Opteron©, Xeon©, Itanium©]
• The Maximum Supported Processors and Memory validated for a virtual machine to qualify for support

The SVVP only validates virtualization products and Windows Server [all versions] running on server hardware that is Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2. Contact your virtualization vendor for detailed information on what systems, adapters, storage external to the system such as SAN and NAS products, and networking devices such as switches and routers, are supported by the virtualization vendor. Please note that the vendor's virtualization solution may support larger virtualization, additional Operating System architectures and Processor architectures than they have submitted for validation. Additional configurations will not be eligible for support until the vendor performs additional tests and validations.

Windows Server 8

Windows Server 8 is categorically different than its predecessor versions. There’s an argument to say that it’s not actually Windows. It's pre-beta, and it's an enormous statement covering many positions on the chess board. Windows 8 Server editions are preferred to be run, according to Microsoft spokesperson last week, in Server Core format, although Windows GUI will be available if desired. Headless operation can also be used. It's just not Windows by default anymore, but instead, a "cloud operating system" specifically poised towards competing with VMware.
TECHNICAL DETAILS: Windows Server 8: To the Cloud!
I'm pretty sure that VMware's Paul Maritz would have been hung in effigy at the server workshop I attended last week (under heavy secrecy) if it could have been done. Each Windows 8 version can be strongly PowerShell-controlled, and optionally with traditional GUI. Microsoft’s lead server architect is also the “inventor” of the PowerShell scripting methodology, whose command list will exceed 2300 native commandlets in Windows 8. In a way, it’s Microsoft Server 8, and optionally Windows Server 8 and breaks Microsoft's naming convention, as well as Microsoft's established version release timing. No one would speculate when it would arrive, only that it was pre-beta and about to go beta-- but not feature complete.
While seemingly radical for Microsoft, there is much pressure on operational efficiency, coupled to increasingly complex control options and infrastructure character of the operating system. Administrators familiar with Microsoft’s MMC won’t need to fret, as familiar contexts will remain for them, but the center-thrust of Windows Server administration was encouraged to be PowerShell-driven, rather than through the maze of administrative GUIs that have been the mainstay of Windows Server versions for nearly two decades. There are script-managing tools, and Microsoft has evolved a "community" sharing of PowerShell scripts and procedures designed to control Server in a way that's increasingly competing with Unix/Linux/BSD/Solaris scripting languages and procedures-- but in a distinctly Microsoft way.
Underneath the control surface is Hyper-V, and Microsoft listed many features poised towards increasingly “automagic” functionality, although they tended to use the patented Steve Jobs phrase, “It just works”. Heavy attention towards ease of OS instance movement (along with requisite IP address management and resiliency options) within the constructs of cloud were mentioned in the early-stage release that will be available to developers and architectural analysts. Many of the items we saw in the reviewer's workshop were specifically poised towards side-by-side comparable features in VMware's latest version, vSphere 5-- recently released. Of course, underneath Server Editions will be Hyper-V. How the latest cut of Hyper-V will play atop other hypervisors remains to be seen.
Indeed Microsoft called Windows Server 8 a "cloud operating system" but models weren't clear about IaaS, rather, they spoke to organizational PaaS as in the Azure model-- which to date has been slow to release and slow on the uptake. How business partners and MSPs would provide value seemed to be missing data. The cloud components fit a customer mold, we were told.
How the Metro UI plays into the scheme of things appears to be a new layer-- the UI layer. Imagine for a moment where there's a user interface, and underneath application UI, there's a middleware layer that is a communications transport. In turn, there's a back-end that's designed to be application infrastructure, in a three-tiered model. Servers are the back-end substrate, busily doing work and getting shuffled around to meet demand.
The entire Windows Server 8 is a markedly different endeavor for Microsoft, as radical as Windows 2000 was. Microsoft was fighting for server share back then, and reminded us that they believed we're looking at a third generation, and that Microsoft often takes three generations to get it right.

Windows Server 8: An Introduction

Today at the Microsoft BUILD conference I had the pleasure of introducing the developer preview of the next release of Windows Server codenamed Windows Server 8, now available on MSDN.  In a room full of software developers and hardware partners I got to share some of our thinking behind the design of Windows Server 8 to help them prepare their new and existing applications, systems, and devices for the new release.  Now, on this blog, I want to share that same thinking more broadly with a series of posts from me and members of my team.
Let me start with a reminder that this is a developer preview version, the purpose of which is to enable our development team to engage with the industry as we progress toward final release. This developer preview is not for deployments in enterprise environments. However we do welcome feedback from IT professionals doing early evaluations, and I would like to thank many of you for your help in getting us to this point. So far we have surveyed over 26,000 customers, had more than 200 customer meetings and documented over 6000 customer requirements during the course of planning and development.
As the person who leads Windows Server and Windows Azure engineering, I have had the experience of building and operating a cloud platform. We have been able to apply many of our insights from Windows Azure to Windows Server 8, enabling us to deliver world class cloud capabilities to enterprises of all sizes. Windows Server 8 will be a big leap forward, especially in terms of helping IT organizations progress beyond virtualization to build private cloud services.  We innovated and worked with the industry on virtualizing network and storage infrastructures for multitenant support. Our goal is to give customers the choice and flexibility to build and deploy applications across their choice of private and public cloud environments, or a combination of both.
Another big area of focus is on manageability and serviceability of cloud infrastructure without service down time.  For example, one of the most common customer comments we have heard is that patching and updating servers is a costly and error prone process.  We are delivering new technologies, such as “cluster aware updating,” and the ability to script workflows with Powershell to make it an easier and repeatable process to patch multiple servers while maintaining continuous service availability.
Continuous availability of services typically requires expensive hardware infrastructure, but not every IT organization can afford the necessary hardware.  So, with Windows Server 8 we are delivering high availability and disaster recovery at a much better price point, using software technologies and commodity networking, storage and servers.  For example, we are giving customers access to high-end storage capabilities that before required specialized hardware, such as device pooling, disk virtualization, and thin provisioning, in Windows Server 8. To evaluate how development is progressing I have a server in my office with 10 disk drives ranging in size from .5 to 3 terabytes. I find it very easy and quick to pool the disk drives, create volumes, and have them available for service within minutes using the new built in tools.   
This is just a taste of what’s coming in Windows Server 8.  There is much, much more to discuss over the coming weeks and months, so I’ve asked some of our engineering leaders to write posts on this blog to further explain some of the hundreds of new features.  Be on the lookout for those posts in the coming weeks and months. We look forward to engaging with you on the new technologies in Windows Server 8.  
Best,
Bill Laing
Corporate Vice President, Server and Cloud

Windows Defination

The most widely used operating system for desktop and laptop computers. Developed by Microsoft, Windows primarily runs on x86-based CPUs, although some versions run on Intel's Itanium CPUs. Windows provides a graphical user interface and desktop environment in which applications are displayed in resizable, movable windows on screen.

Windows comes in both client and server versions, all of which support networking, the difference being that the server versions are designed to be dedicated servers. The client versions of Windows may also share data over the network and can be configured to grant access to all or specific files only. Windows PCs are used to access a variety of servers on the network, including Windows servers, Unix, Linux and NetWare servers, as well as mainframes. See operating system.

Windows How to's

All the Windows "how to's" in this encyclopedia have a "Win" prefix in front of their name in order to group them together in the index; for example, Win Change window appearance and Win Finding files. For fundamentals on how to work with Windows, see Win abc's.

Following is a summary of Windows versions.

Windows NT Lineage (32 & 64 bit)


Windows 7
The successor to Windows Vista, expected in 2009. See Windows 7.

Windows Vista (2006) - MS Version 6.0
The current client version of Windows, which comes in several flavors (see Windows Vista). Windows Server 2008 is the server version (code named Longhorn Server). See Windows Server 2008.

Windows XP (2001) - MS Version 5.1
Windows XP was the previous version of Windows, available in Home and Professional versions, the latter adding more security and administrative capabilities. There were also versions of XP that ran on AMD's 64-bit CPUs and Intel's 64-bit Itaniums. See Windows XP.

Windows 2000 (2000) - MS Version 5.0
Windows 2000 is an updated version of Windows NT 4 for client and server. It added numerous enhancements including Plug and Play and Active Directory. Windows 2000 comes in one workstation version and three server versions. There are server versions that support AMD's 64-bit CPUs and Intel's 64-bit Itaniums. See Windows 2000.

Windows NT (1993) - MS Versions 3.1, 3.5, 4.0
Windows NT 3.1 was a completely new 32-bit OS with separate client and server versions. Introduced during the reign of Windows 3.1 and two years before Windows 95, it used the same Program Manager user interface as Windows 3.1, but provided greater stability. In 1996, Windows NT 4.0 switched to the Windows 95 Start menu and Taskbar interface, but did not include Plug and Play. NT Server gained significant market share, while NT Workstation (client version) was used by the professional user and did not impact the Windows 95/98 market. See Windows NT.

Windows Sidebar

Windows Sidebar and gadgets (overview)

Windows Sidebar is a long, vertical bar that is displayed on the side of your desktop. It contains mini-programs called gadgets, which offer information at a glance and provide easy access to frequently used tools. For example, you can use gadgets to display a picture slide show, view continuously updated headlines, or look up contacts.

Sidebar and gadgets

Why use Sidebar?

Sidebar can keep information and tools readily available for you to use. For example, you can display news headlines right next to your open programs. This way, if you want to keep track of what's happening in the news while you work, you don't have to stop what you're doing to switch to a news website.

With Sidebar, you can use the Feed Headlines gadget to show the latest news headlines from sources you choose. You don't have to stop working on your document, because the headlines are always visible. If you peripherally see a headline that interests you, you can click that headline, and your web browser will open directly to the story.

To open Sidebar

• Open Windows Sidebar by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, and then clicking Windows Sidebar.

To keep Sidebar visible at all times, you must set it so that other windows won't cover it. The Sidebar width is a fixed size.

To keep windows from covering Sidebar

Because of the space Sidebar requires, this option works best if you're using a large or wide-screen monitor or multiple monitors.

1. Open Windows Sidebar properties by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Windows Sidebar Properties.
2. Select the Sidebar is always on top of other windows check box.
3. Click OK.

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Getting started with gadgets

Windows comes with a small collection of gadgets, but only some of them appear on Sidebar by default. To understand how to use gadgets, let's explore three gadgets that you'll see on Sidebar when you first start Windows: the Clock, Slide Show, and Feed Headlines.

How does the Clock work?

When you point to the Clock gadget, two buttons will appear near its upper-right corner: the Close button—which is the top button—and the Options button.

The Clock

Clicking the Close button removes the Clock from Sidebar. The button below the close button displays options for naming the clock, changing its time zone, and showing its second hand.

Note

Not all gadgets have an Options button. Gadgets without an Options button don't have settings that can be changed.

How does Slide Show work?

Next try resting the pointer on the Slide Show gadget, which displays a continuous slide show of pictures on your computer.

Slide Show

When you point to Slide Show, the Close and Options buttons will appear near the upper-right corner of the gadget.

Clicking the Options button allows you to choose which pictures appear in your slide show, control the speed at which your slide show plays, and change the transition effect between pictures.

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To change the slide show pictures

By default, Slide Show displays items in the Sample Pictures folder.

1. Point to Slide Show, and when the Options button appears, click it.
2. In the Folder box, select the location of the pictures you want to display.
3. Click OK.

To set the slide show speed and transition effect

1. Point to Slide Show, and when the Options button appears, click it.
2. In the Show each picture list, select the number of seconds to show each picture.
3. In the Transition between pictures list, select the transition you want.
4. Click OK.

How does Feed Headlines work?

Feed Headlines can display frequently updated headlines from a website that supplies feeds, also known as RSS feeds, XML feeds, syndicated content, or web feeds. Websites often use feeds to distribute news and blogs. To receive feeds, you need an Internet connection. By default, Feed Headlines won't display any headlines. To start displaying a small set of preselected headlines, click View headlines.

Feed Headlines

When you point to Feed Headlines, the Close and Options buttons will appear near the upper-right corner of the gadget. Clicking the Options button allows you to choose from a list of available feeds. You can add to the list by choosing your own feeds from the web.

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To choose a feed from the web with Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer, a web browser included with Windows, looks for feeds on every webpage you visit.

1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Internet Explorer.
2. Browse to a webpage that has feeds.
   (When Internet Explorer finds available feeds, the Feeds button , located on the Internet Explorer toolbar, will change from gray to orange.)
3. Click the arrow next to the Feeds button, and then, in the list that appears, click the feed you want.
4. On the webpage that appears, click Subscribe to this feed.
5. In the dialog box that appears, click Subscribe.
   The feed should now be available to Feed Headlines. To display the feed in Feed Headlines, see the procedure below.

To display a feed in the Feed Headlines gadget

1. Point to Feed Headlines, and then click the Options button.
2. In the Display this feed list, click the feed you want to display.
3. Click OK.

Note

To scroll through the headlines, point to Feed Headlines, and then click the downward- or upward-pointing arrows that appear on the bottom edge.

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Which gadgets do I have?

Before a gadget can be added to Sidebar, it must be installed on your computer. To see which gadgets are installed on your computer:

1. At the top of Sidebar, click the plus sign (+) to open the Gadget Gallery.
   Add Gadget button
2. Click the scroll buttons to see all the gadgets.
3. Click a gadget, and then click Show details to see information about it at the bottom of the dialog box.

The Gadget Gallery

You can download additional gadgets from the web. To find gadgets online, go to the Microsoft Gadgets website.

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Adding and removing gadgets

You can add any installed gadget to Sidebar. If you want, you can add multiple instances of a gadget. For example, if you are keeping track of time in two time zones, you can add two instances of the Clock gadget and set the time of each accordingly.

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To add a gadget to Sidebar

1. At the top of Sidebar, click the plus sign (+) to open the Gadget Gallery.
   Add Gadget button
2. Double-click a gadget to add it to Sidebar.

To remove a gadget from Sidebar

• Right-click the gadget, and then click Close Gadget.

Organizing gadgets

You can organize your gadgets in any of several ways:

• You can keep all of the gadgets attached to Sidebar.
• You can change the display order of gadgets in Sidebar. To do this, drag a gadget to a new position.
• You can keep some gadgets attached to Sidebar and place some on the desktop.
• You can detach all of the gadgets from Sidebar and place them on the desktop. If you organize your gadgets this way, you might want to close Sidebar.

Start menu

The Start menu (overview)

The Start menu is the main gateway to your computer's programs, folders, and settings. It's called a menu because it provides a list of choices, just as a restaurant menu does. And as "Start" implies, it's often the place that you'll go to start or open things.

Use the Start menu to do these common activities:

• Start programs
• Open commonly used folders
• Search for files, folders, and programs
• Adjust computer settings
• Get help with the Windows operating system
• Turn off the computer
• Log off from Windows or switch to a different user account

Getting started with the Start menu

To open the Start menu, click the Start button in the lower-left corner of your screen. Or, press the Windows logo key on your keyboard. The Start menu appears.

Start button and Start menu

The Start menu is divided into three basic parts:

• The large left pane shows a short list of programs on your computer. Your computer manufacturer can customize this list, so its exact appearance will vary. Clicking All Programs displays a complete list of programs (more on this later).
• In the lower left corner is the search box, which allows you to look for programs and files on your computer by typing in search terms.
• The right pane provides access to commonly used folders, files, settings, and features. It's also where you go to log off from Windows or turn off your computer.

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Opening programs from the Start menu

One of the most common uses of the Start menu is opening programs installed on your computer. To open a program shown in the left pane of the Start menu, click it. The program opens and the Start menu closes.

If you don't see the program you want to open, click All Programs at the bottom of the left pane. Instantly, the left pane displays a long list of programs in alphabetical order, followed by a list of folders:

The Start menu after clicking All Programs

Clicking one of the program icons launches the program, and the Start menu closes. So what's inside the folders? More programs. Click Accessories, for example, and a list of programs that are stored in that folder appears. Click any program to open it. To get back to the programs you saw when you first opened the Start menu, click Back near the bottom of the menu.

Clicking the Accessories folder shows the programs it contains

If you're ever unsure what a program does, move the pointer over its icon or name. A box appears that often contains a description of the program. For example, pointing to Calculator displays this message: "Performs basic arithmetic tasks with an on-screen calculator." This trick works for items in the right pane of the Start menu, too.

Pointing to an item displays information about it

You might notice that over time, the lists of programs in your Start menu change. This happens for two reasons. First, when you install new programs, they get added to the All Programs list. Second, the Start menu detects which programs you use the most, and it places them in the left pane for quick access.

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The Search box

The Search box is one of the most convenient ways to find things on your computer. The exact location of the items doesn't matter—the Search box will scour your programs and all of the folders in your personal folder (which includes Documents, Pictures, Music, Desktop, and other common locations). It will also search your e‑mail messages, saved instant messages, appointments, and contacts.

The Start menu Search box

To use the Search box, open the Start menu and start typing. You don't need to click inside the box first. As you type, the search results appear above the Search box in the left pane of the Start menu.

A program, file, or folder will appear as a search result if:

• Any word in its title matches or begins with your search term.
• Any text in the actual contents of the file—such as the text in a word-processing document—matches or begins with your search term.
• Any word in a property of the file, such as the author, matches or begins with your search term. (For more information about file properties, see View the properties for a file.)

Click any search result to open it. Or, click the Clear button to clear the search results and return to the main programs list. You can also click Search Everywhere to search your entire computer; or Search the Internet to open your web browser and search the Internet for your term.

Besides programs, files and folders, and communications, the Search box also looks through your Internet favorites and the history of websites you've visited. If any of these webpages include the search term, they appear under a heading called "Favorites and History."

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What's in the right pane?

The right pane of the Start menu contains links to parts of Windows that you're likely to use frequently. Here they are, from top to bottom:

• Personal folder. Opens your personal folder, which is named for whoever is currently logged on to Windows. For example, if the current user is Molly Clark, the folder will be named Molly Clark. This folder, in turn, contains user-specific files, including the Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders.
• Documents. Opens the Documents folder, where you can store and open text files, spreadsheets, presentations, and other kinds of documents.
• Pictures. Opens the Pictures folder, where you can store and view digital pictures and graphics files.
• Music. Opens the Music folder, where you can store and play music and other audio files.
• Games. Opens the Games folder, where you can access all of the games on your computer.
• Recent Items. Opens a list of files you've opened recently. Click one of the files in the list to open it.
• Computer. Opens a window where you can access disk drives, cameras, printers, scanners, and other hardware connected to your computer.
• Network. Opens a window where you can access the computers and devices on your network.
• Connect To. Opens a window where you can connect to a new network.
• Control Panel. Opens Control Panel, where you can customize the appearance and functionality of your computer, add or remove programs, set up network connections, and manage user accounts.
• Default Programs. Opens a window where you can choose which program you want Windows to use for activities like web browsing, editing pictures, sending e‑mail, and playing music and videos.
• Help and Support. Opens Windows Help and Support, where you can browse and search Help topics about using Windows and your computer. See Getting help.

At the bottom of the right pane are two buttons: the Power button and the Lock button. Click the Power button to turn off your computer, or click the Lock button to lock your computer without turning it off. Once locked, your computer cannot be used until you unlock it with your password.

Clicking the arrow next to the lock button displays a menu with additional options for switching users, logging off, restarting, or shutting down. For more information, see Log off from Windows and Turn off a computer: frequently asked questions.

Note

The Switch User option does not appear on the Start menu in Windows Vista Starter.

The desktop (overview)

The desktop is the main screen area that you see after you turn on your computer and log on to Windows. Like the top of an actual desk, it serves as a surface for your work. When you open programs or folders, they appear on the desktop. You can also put things on the desktop, such as files and folders, and arrange them however you want.

The desktop is sometimes defined more broadly to include the taskbar and Windows Sidebar. The taskbar sits at the bottom of your screen. It shows you which programs are running and allows you to switch between them. It also contains the Start button , which you can use to access programs, folders, and computer settings. On the side of the screen, Sidebar contains small programs called gadgets.

The desktop, taskbar, and Sidebar

For more information about the taskbar and Sidebar, see The taskbar (overview) and Windows Sidebar and gadgets (overview).

Where did my desktop go?

Because programs run on top of the desktop, the desktop itself is often partially or completely hidden. But it's still there, underneath everything. To see the whole desktop without closing any of your open programs or windows, click the Show Desktop button on the taskbar. The desktop is revealed. Click the icon again to restore all of your windows to the way they were. (If you don't see the icon, see Minimize all open windows to view the desktop for help.)

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Working with desktop icons

Icons are small pictures that represent files, folders, programs, and other items. When you first start Windows, you'll see at least one icon on your desktop: the Recycle Bin (more on that later). Your computer manufacturer might have added other icons to the desktop. Some examples of desktop icons are shown below.

Examples of desktop icons

Double-clicking a desktop icon starts or opens the item it represents. For example, double-clicking the Internet Explorer icon starts Internet Explorer.

Adding and removing icons from the desktop

You can choose which icons appear on the desktop—you can add or remove an icon at any time. Some people like a clean, uncluttered desktop with few or no icons. Others place dozens of icons on their desktop to give them quick access to frequently used programs, files, and folders.

If you want easy access from the desktop to your favorite files or programs, create shortcuts to them. A shortcut is an icon that represents a link to an item, rather than the item itself. When you double-click a shortcut, the item opens. If you delete a shortcut, only the shortcut is removed, not the original item. You can identify shortcuts by the arrow on their icon.

A folder icon (left) and a shortcut icon (right)

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To add a shortcut to the desktop

1. Locate the item that you want to create a shortcut for. (For help with finding a file or folder, see Find a file or folder. For help with finding a program, see The Start menu (overview).)
2. Right-click the item, click Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut). The shortcut icon appears on your desktop.

To add or remove common desktop icons

Common desktop icons include Computer, your personal folder, Network, the Recycle Bin, Internet Explorer, and Control Panel.

1. Right-click an empty area of the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. In the left pane, click Change desktop icons.
3. Under Desktop icons, select the check box for each icon that you want to add to the desktop, or clear the check box for each icon that you want to remove from the desktop, and then click OK.

To move a file from a folder to the desktop

1. Open the folder that contains the file.
2. Drag the file to the desktop.

To remove an icon from the desktop

• Right-click the icon, and then click Delete. If the icon is a shortcut, only the shortcut is removed; the original item is not deleted.

Moving icons around

Windows stacks icons in columns on the left side of the desktop. But you're not stuck with that arrangement. You can move an icon by dragging it to a new place on the desktop.

You can also have Windows automatically arrange your icons. Right-click an empty area of the desktop, click View, and then click Auto Arrange. Windows stacks your icons in the upper-left corner and locks them in place. To unlock the icons so that you can move them again, click Auto Arrange again, clearing the check mark next to it.

Note

By default, Windows spaces icons evenly on an invisible grid. To place icons closer together or with more precision, turn off the grid. Right-click an empty area of the desktop, click View, and then click Align to Grid to clear the check mark. Repeat these steps to turn the grid back on.

Selecting multiple icons

To move or delete a bunch of icons at once, you must first select all of them. Click an empty area of the desktop and drag the mouse. Surround the icons that you want to select with the rectangle that appears. Then release the mouse button. Now you can drag the icons as a group or delete them.

Select multiple desktop icons by dragging a rectangle around them

Hiding desktop icons

If you want to temporarily hide all of your desktop icons without actually removing them, right-click an empty part of the desktop, click View, and then click Show Desktop Icons to clear the check mark from that option. Now no icons are displayed on the desktop. You can get them back by clicking Show Desktop Icons again.

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The Recycle Bin

When you delete a file or folder, it doesn't actually get deleted right away—it goes to the Recycle Bin. That's a good thing, because if you ever change your mind and decide you need a deleted file, you can get it back. See Recover files from the Recycle Bin.

The Recycle Bin when empty (left) and full (right)

If you're sure that you won't need the deleted items again, you can empty the Recycle Bin. Doing that will permanently delete the items and reclaim any disk space they were using. See Permanently delete files from the Recycle Bin.

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Picking a desktop background

One of the easiest ways to personalize your computer is to change the desktop background, also called the wallpaper. You can choose one of the backgrounds provided with Windows, pick a favorite digital picture from your own collection, or use a solid background color. You can also find pictures on the Internet designed to be used as desktop backgrounds. See Change your desktop background (wallpaper).

Turning off

Turning off your computer properly

When you're done using your computer, it's important to turn it off properly—not only to save energy, but also to ensure that your data is saved and to help keep your computer more secure. Best of all, your computer will start quickly the next time you use it.

Use the Power button on the Start menu

To turn off your computer, click the Start button , and then click the Power button in the lower right corner of the Start menu. The Power button normally looks like this:

The Power button (sleep)

When you click this button, your computer goes to sleep. Windows automatically saves your work, the display turns off, and any noise from the computer's fan stops. Usually, a light on the outside of your computer case blinks or turns yellow to indicate that the computer is sleeping. The whole process takes only a few seconds.

Because Windows saves your work, there's no need to close your programs and files before putting your computer to sleep. The next time you turn on your computer (and enter your password, if required), the screen will look exactly as it did when you turned off your computer.

To wake your computer, press the power button on your computer case. Because you don't have to wait for Windows to start, your computer wakes within seconds and you can resume work almost immediately.

Note

While your computer is sleeping, it uses a very small amount of power to maintain your work in its memory. If you're using a mobile PC, don't worry— the battery won't be drained. After the computer has been sleeping for several hours, or if the battery is running low, your work is saved to the hard disk, and then your computer turns off completely, drawing no power.

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Why your Power button might look different

The Start menu's Power button can change its appearance. Under some circumstances, the button looks like this:

The Power button (shut down)

When you click the button in this form, your computer shuts down. Unlike putting your computer to sleep, shutting down closes all open programs, along with Windows itself, and then turns off your display and computer completely. Because shutting down doesn't save your work, you must save your files before shutting down.

The Power button shuts down your computer under the following circumstances:

• The Sleep option is not available on your computer hardware.
• You or your computer administrator has set the Power button to always shut down the computer. (The settings can be changed by following the instructions below.)

  To change the Power button settings

  1. Open Power Options by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Power Options.
  2. Under the currently selected power plan, click Change plan settings.
  3. In the Edit Plan Settings dialog box, click Change advanced power settings.
  4. In the Power Options dialog box, click the plus sign (+) next to Power buttons and lid to expand the list.
  5. Click the plus sign (+) next to Start menu power button to expand the list.
  6. On a desktop computer, in the Setting list, click a setting for the Power button.
     – or –
     On a mobile PC, in the On battery and Plugged in lists, click settings for the Power button.
  7. Click OK.
     If you are connected to a network domain, it's possible that settings made by your network administrator (Group Policy settings) will prevent you from completing the steps above.

There's one other form that the Power button can take. If you've set your computer to receive updates automatically, and the updates are ready to be installed, the button appears with a shield on it:

The Power button (install updates and shut down)

When you click the button in this form, Windows installs the updates and then shuts down your computer when installation is complete.

Note

Starting your computer after it has been shut down takes longer than waking your computer from sleep—typically 30 seconds or more, depending on the speed of your computer.

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When to shut down

Even though putting your computer to sleep is the fastest way to turn it off, and the best option for resuming work quickly, there are certain times when you should shut down instead:

• You are adding or upgrading the hardware inside your computer—such as installing memory, a disk drive, a sound card, or a video card. Shut down the computer, and then disconnect it from its power source before proceeding with the upgrade.
• You are adding a printer, monitor, external drive, or other hardware device that does not connect to a universal serial bus (USB) or IEEE 1394 port on your computer. Shut down the computer before connecting the device.

To shut down your computer, click the arrow next to the Lock button, and then choose Shut Down.

Click the arrow next to the Lock button to access the Shut Down option

Note

When adding hardware that uses a USB cable, you don't need to turn off the computer first. Most newer devices use USB cables. A USB cable looks like this:

USB cable

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Mobile PC users: Close the lid

If you have a mobile PC, there's an even easier way to turn off your computer: Close the lid. You can choose whether your computer sleeps, shuts down, or enters another power-saving state. See Change what happens when you close your mobile PC lid.

If you prefer, you can turn off your mobile PC by pressing the power button on its case. See Change the function of the Power button on a mobile PC.