How To Windows 7 Security and Maintenance with Action Center

Security and Maintenance are important with any computer, and Windows 7 has made a number of improvements that make it easier than ever to keep your computer in good shape.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the Action Center, User Account Control Settings, and Troubleshooting to keep your computer running as smoothly as possible. You will also learn how to recover your system settings with System Restore to fix more serious issues.

To Use the Action Center:

If you have any important messages, the flag icon on the taskbar will display a red "X" symbol.

1. To open the Action Center, click on the small flag icon on the taskbar.
2. Review the messages.
3. Click Open Action Center to respond to messages.

To Access the Action Center from the Control Panel:

1. Click Start.
2. Go to the Control Panel.
3. Click Review Your Computer's Status under System and Security.

Fixing problems using the Action Center:

Your messages are displayed in the Action Center pane. Important messages will have a red bar, and less important ones will have a yellow bar. If a security or maintenance issue has a solution, there will be a button on the right side of the message.

Some messages are just notifications and do not indicate a problem with your computer. Those messages will not include a solution button, but they may still have important information or instructions.

• To fix a problem, click the (solution) button and follow the directions on the screen. When you are done, the message will disappear from the Action Center.   

What is User Account Control?

User Account Control warns you when a program or user is trying to change your computer's settings. It puts a temporary lock on your computer until you confirm that you want to allow the changes. This helps to protect your computer from malicious software. When it was introduced in Windows Vista, many users found that it generated too many disruptive pop-up warnings. Windows 7 now lets the user decide how often they will receive those warnings.

To Change Your User Account Control Settings:

1. Open the Action Center.
2. Click Change User Account Control settings.

Use the slider to choose the level of protection you want from User Account Control. It is recommended that you use one of the top two settings. The other two should only be used in special circumstances. It may be best to choose the highest setting and if you end up getting too many pop-ups, you can always lower it to the second setting.

Not all computer problems will be shown in the Action Center. For example, you may be having trouble with aparticular program or device, or with connecting to the internet. For these types of problems, you will want to view the Troubleshooting options.

• To get there, click Troubleshootingat the bottom of the Action Center pane.