However, there are ways to make the folder smaller
Viewing is safe; Changes should only be made by experienced PC users.
Monitor outbound connections
By default, the Windows firewall only controls incoming data traffic. But what about the outgoing data traffic, i.e. the data that is sent from your own computer to the network? These usually go on the trip unchecked. It’s not safe enough for professionals. There is only maximum security if both channels are examined for suspicious data. A small configuration change ensures security in both directions.
To ensure that outgoing data traffic is also controlled by the firewall, activate Outgoing connections in the “” area“” the option “” Block“”. This will initially block all Internet programs. In the next step, you tell the firewall which programs are considered trustworthy and are allowed to access the Internet, such as a browser, messenger tool or an e-mail program such as Mozilla Thunderbird. The photo show shows how it works step by step.
Photo show: Activate and set up the Windows firewall Photo show: This is how you use the professional functions of the Windows firewall Photo show: This is how the firewall controls outgoing connections Secure WLAN: Correctly secure the radio network against foreign surfers
You can find more digital topics here.
Windows uses a lot of space on the hard drive. The subfolder WinSxS in particular seems to be spreading across the data carrier – with several gigabytes, spread over tens of thousands of files. But in truth, Windows 7 is fooling its owner.
Computer maintenance – clean and tidy hard drives properly
Computer maintenance
Clean and tidy hard drives properly
The end of the annoying garbage data. Helpful tips. to the video
The WinSxS folder is a real monster within Windows 7 and Windows Vista. If you are looking for memory hogs due to limited hard drive space, you will inevitably find this Windows subfolder. Because, according to Windows Explorer, WinSxS takes up several gigabytes of hard drive space, contains tens of thousands of files in thousands of sub-folders and is growing inexorably. Deleting or cleaning up WinSxS therefore makes sense. But Windows users should refrain from doing that at all costs.
Windows 7 saves this in WinSxS
The folder c: \ windows \ winsxs has been essential to the operating system since it was introduced in this form with Windows Vista. Almost every file in the WinSxS folder is just a reference to the respective file that is located in another location on the hard drive, for example in windows \ system32.
RAM tuning – memory tuning for Windows
RAM tuning
Memory tuning for Windows
Check, release and optimally use RAM. to the video
These links are particularly required by services such as Windows Update, which use this directory to check the status of the operating system.to kill a mockingbird bravery This can be used to determine which patches need to be installed.
Another advantage of the links: Third-party applications do not need to know where the files are that they might want to access. The program simply uses the WinSxS folder.
Windows stores several versions of installed DLL files here so that the system can start the associated applications without compatibility problems. In this way, programs can also use older versions of such a library file if they need them. The newer DLL file remains in the original folder.
Actual size of WinSxS
But WinSxS is not as big a space eater as it seems. “” In reality, it doesn’t use as much disk space as appears with built-in tools like Windows Explorer and the DIR command. The folder is significantly smaller than specified, “” wrote Microsoft’s programming manager Michael Beck in the MSDN blog before Windows 7 was released. On an average system, the size is around 400 megabytes.
The file size displayed in Windows Explorer corresponds to the original file, possibly a multiple of it. According to Microsoft, a displayed folder size of three to five gigabytes is completely normal.
Delete or clean up WinSxS
To ensure the stability of Windows, users should not delete any files or folders from WinSxS. Some programs may stop working if you delete or clean up the WinSxS folder. Windows would also no longer find the linked files.
Microsoft itself does not recommend removing the folder from the hard drive. Even on a freshly set up system, it is not recommended to have WinSxS deleted. Because whoever deletes the folder, takes the opportunity to supply his Windows with patches and updates for optional components.
WinSxS can be made smaller
However, there are ways to make the folder smaller. The Service Pack 1 installation files for Windows 7 that are also stored there can be removed with the disk cleanup. Disadvantage: The service pack cannot be uninstalled afterwards. As an alternative to disk cleanup, we recommend deleting via the command line with the following steps.
Start the command prompt with administrator rights To do this, enter the term input prompt in the search field and right-click on the search hit and select Run as administrator
Now enter DISM.exe / Online / Cleanup-Image / spsuperseded. The superfluous files should be removed from WinSxS.
Microsoft has also added a second function to Windows 7’s disk cleanup. With Windows Update Cleanup, which was added in October 2013, you can throw unnecessary collections of updates from your hard drive, which slimmed down the WinSxS folder again.
These are the biggest memory hogs in Windows Photo Show: The seven worst system brakes Windows: Tidy up service pack files Super cleaner from Microsoft: Small patch makes Windows 7 slimmer
Find space hogs under Windows
Anyone whose hard drive is bursting at the seams and wants to track down the corresponding space hog will quickly fail with the tools of Windows. Special applications such as Disk Space Explorer from TuneUp Utilities or the free HDD Booster and Disk Space Fan are recommended for this task. These programs sort the contents of the hard drive according to file and folder sizes so that storage monsters can be found on the data carrier quickly.
Anyone who takes a lot of photos knows the problem: Organizing the many vacation or family photos sensibly is often cumbersome and usually requires several programs. Windows 7 users, on the other hand, can already access many practical photo tools.
From image search to slide show to photo printout – you can find out what Microsoft has hidden for image processing in Windows 7 in our photo series.
Image import with Windows is a breeze
Windows usually recognizes every camera and every card reader that is connected to the PC via USB. As soon as it is connected, the operating system asks what the detected device should be used for – provided this function has not been deactivated. A convenient wizard helps you to copy images into a directory and give them meaningful names. In this way, the image collection is automatically organized and photos can still be found years later.
Photo search with Windows
If you want to organize your photos even more precisely, you can add individual keywords to individual photos or image packages. The advantage: When applied consistently, such markings can be used, for example, to easily track down all images of a specific person using the Windows search, even if they are in different directories.
Present pictures on Windows PC
Windows 7 usually comes with two modules with which you can present your photos in a beautiful setting: While the clear Windows photo viewer is part of the basic equipment, the extensive media center, which not only shows photos in the right light, is not in all versions included. With Windows 7, the presentation on the screen is far from over.
Photo contact sheets on paper
Thanks to a practical print assistant, pictures can also be conveniently captured on paper. You can make several prints from one picture or arrange several pictures on one sheet of paper. Since the program also enables contact sheets, you can also enjoy a quick and comprehensive overview of your picture collection in analog format.
Save photos to CD
Anyone who collects digital images should be aware of how ephemeral bits and bytes can be on a hard drive. A small virus, a hard drive crash – the souvenir photos of weddings, vacations and other events are lost forever. In order not to run any risk, images should also be regularly backed up on an external data carrier. Of course, it is useful if the operating system already has the right module to conveniently capture photos on CD or DVD. You can find out how to do this in our photo show: Send, burn and more.
Photo show: Import digital photos to Windows Photo show: Sort pictures with Windows Photo show: Print digital photos with Windows Photo show: Send pictures via email with Windows or burn them to CD Photo show: Present photos with Windows Photo show: Rotate and adjust digital photos Photo Show: View thumbnails and photos in Windows
Another tip: If the on-board tools of Windows 7 are not enough, Microsoft offers them Windows Live Photo Gallery an extensive and free additional package for everything to do with digital images for download.
Windows saves data fully automatically, regularly cleans the hard disk, or switches off the PC at a certain time. It’s easy to do with task scheduling. Submit regular jobs that Windows automatically runs at specified times. We show you how to start the robot in Windows.
Computer maintenance – clean and tidy hard drives properly
Computer maintenance
Clean and tidy hard drives properly
The end of the annoying garbage data. Helpful tips. to the video
Automatically log off user
If you are not in front of your computer, you should log out of the operating system. This means that unauthorized users have no access to your data and the system without the appropriate access data. You can even use the task scheduler to automatically log yourself out of Windows – for example, during your lunch break or after work. We will show you how this works in the photo show, automatically log off users.
Photo show: automatically log off the user Photo show: automatically clean up Windows Is your PC running optimally? Checklist for Windows 7 Photo Show: Using hidden functions in Windows 7 Shadow copies: The inconspicuous file reserve in Windows Windows: Cleaning up service pack files
Clean hard drive when logging off
As you work with Windows, more and more data accumulates on the hard drive without being asked. First of all, they serve to ensure that the system works faster or Internet pages are accessed more quickly. However, this not only wastes valuable hard disk space but also slows down the system over time. In addition, the stored data provide telltale information, for example about websites visited or passwords entered. You can use the Windows Task Scheduler to clean up your hard drive. Ideally, you link the task directly to shutting down the computer. In our photo show Clean Up Windows Automatically, you will learn how to automatically clean your hard drive.
Blurred image on the brand new PC? Compared to Windows XP, the font in Windows 7 looks strangely soft, and some users even find it blurry. The cause of the problem is the anti-aliasing Cleartype. With a little trick you can turn off the blurry font from Windows 7 and switch to a razor-sharp display.
Disable anti-aliasing in Windows 7
The anti-aliasing Cleartype is supposed to ensure a better font display on TFT monitors, but is perceived by many users as blurred. Also delivers the photo show: Deactivate anti-aliasing.
Replace character set in Windows 7
After you have deactivated Cleartype in Windows, the display on the Windows desktop still looks blurred. This is because the operating system works with the Segoe UI character set by default. So you have to swap the character set. The free Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) application can help you here, as we show you in our photo show: Replacing Character Set.
Photo Show: Set TFT monitor with Windows 7 Photo Show: Deactivate anti-aliasing in Windows 7 Photo Show: Replace character set in Windows 7
Sharpen fonts in Internet Explorer 9
Even if you have deactivated clear type and sharpened the font under Windows, the display in the browser program Internet Explorer 9 may still be blurred. Fortunately, Microsoft offers a bug fix for this problem as a download. The update is available for manual download from the Microsoft Support Center. Download the update suitable for your operating system. After installation, the operating system must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
Windows is well equipped for enjoying music and films on the PC. Windows Media Player is part of the standard equipment and has everything that belongs to a multimedia computer. What many do not know: the media player can do more than just play music and photos.
Computer video – connect PC to TV
Computer video
Connect PC to TV
Connect PC to TV for video
We’ll show you how to use Windows Media Player to the full and what hidden or little-known functions there are.
The automatic DJ
Let’s start with the automatic playlists. With the jukebox function, you can generate automatic playlists that fill up with your favorite music as if by magic. All you have to do is tell the media player which music or artists you like and how long you want the list to be. The jukebox does the rest. The photo show shows, for example, how to create an automatic playlist for four hours of rock and oldies.
Media Player – Much better than Windows Media Player
Media player
Much better than Windows Media Player
Free tools for playing music and movies. To video