Windows® 7 for Dummies®

Chapter 6. Briefly Lost, but Quickly Found

In This Chapter

• Finding lost windows and files

• Finding lost programs, e-mails, songs, and documents

• Finding other computers on a network

• Finding information on the Internet

• Saving common searches

• Fine-tuning Windows' searches

Sooner or later, Windows 7 gives you that head-scratching feeling. "Golly," you say, as your nervous fingers tug on your mouse cord, "that stuff was right there a second ago. Where did it go?"

When Windows 7 starts playing hide-and-seek with your information, this chapter tells you where to search and how to make it stop playing foolish games.

Finding Lost Windows on the Desktop

Windows 7 works more like a spike memo holder than an actual desktop. Every time you open a new window, you toss another piece of information onto the spike. The window on top is easy to spot, but how do you reach the windows lying beneath it? If you can see any part of a buried window's edge or corner, a well-placed click will fetch it, bringing it to the top.

When your window is completely buried, look at the desktop's taskbar, that strip along your monitor's bottom edge. (If the taskbar is missing, retrieve it with a press of the Windows key, .) Click your missing window's name on the taskbar to dredge it back to the top. (See Chapter 2 for details about the taskbar.)

Still missing? Try Windows 7's fancy Flip 3D view by holding down the Windows key and pressing Tab. Shown in Figure 6-1, Windows 7 does a magician's shuffle with your windows, letting ...