Windows® 7 for Dummies®

Chapter 17. The Case of the Broken Window

In This Chapter

• Toning down the Windows 7 permission screens

• Reviving deleted files and folders and their older versions

• Retrieving a forgotten password

• Repairing a mouse

• Fixing vanishing icons and files, stuck menus, and frozen screens

Sometimes you just have a sense that something's wrong. The computer makes quiet grumbling noises, or Windows 7 starts running more slowly than Congress. Other times, something's obviously gone haywire. Programs freeze, menus keep shooting at you, or Windows 7 greets you with a cheery error message when you turn on your computer.

Many of the biggest-looking problems are solved by the smallest-looking solutions. This chapter may be able to point you to the right one.

Windows 7 Keeps Asking Me for Permission

Note

When it came to security, Windows XP was fairly easy to figure out. If you owned an Administrator account — and most people did — Windows XP mostly stayed out of your face. Owners of the less powerful Limited and Guest accounts, however, frequently faced screens telling them that their actions were restricted to Administrator accounts.

Windows Vista took a more strident path, sending nag screens even to Administrator accounts, often for seemingly innocuous actions. Although Windows 7 improves markedly on Windows Vista, you'll occasionally brush up against Windows 7's barbed wire fence. When another program tries to change something on your PC, Windows 7 pokes you with a message like the one shown in Figure 17-1 ...