Waving the White Flag
Users of Windows 7 will notice a new icon in the lower-right part of the screen: a little white flag. That flag is part of the Windows Action Center, a new way to alert you about potential problems with your computer. The Action Center is a one-stop shop that combines notifications from other parts of Windows into a central store, making them easier to find. Let's dig into Action Center and see what it can do.
When there is nothing urgently wrong or pressing that you need to know about, the Action Center flag will appear as shown here (outlined in yellow).
Situation Normal
If there are non-critical issues to look into, hovering your mouse over the Action Center flag will cause a pop-up notification to appear, as shown here. If you get a message, clicking on the flag will give you more detailed information about the concerns. At the bottom is a link to "Open Action Center." Click the link to bring up the main screen.
'X' Marks the Warning
If, however, your flag has a red "X" next to it, that means something more severe is wrong. Hovering your mouse over the flag will bring up another message; click as before to open Action Center. In this case, I've been warned that my Windows Firewall is turned off, leaving me open to attacks.
The Command Center
The main screen of Windows Action Center is broken down into multiple categories: Security and Maintenance are the chief ones, with Troubleshooting and Recovery also included toward the bottom.
Notice the "down" arrows to the right of the Security and Maintenance links. Clicking on those arrows will expand the view, and give more detailed information about the current state of your computer. Where there are problems, suggestions will be included as well.
If there is an urgent issue, as in this case with the Firewall, you will see a red bar to the left. Fixing this problem is as simple as clicking the "Turn on now" button to the right.
Clicking the links at the bottom of the main screen, seen in the previous image, bring up the Troubleshooting and Recovery windows. Recovery is a shortcut to System Restore, which rolls back recent changes made your computer. This screenshot shows the main Troubleshooting section, broken down by category.
To the left of the main Action Center console are a number of links. The main one to be concerned about here is the top one, that says "Change Action Center settings." Clicking that brings you to this screen, which allows you to tailor the Action Center to your liking, turning on or off the various cagetories of notifications. I recommend keeping the default setting of all items being checked. You will get more notifications this way, which could become an annoyance, but you run the risk of missing important information which could affect your computer's security and stability.
The best thing about Windows Action Center is its proactive nature. Windows 7 informs you of problems that are occurring now, as well as issues that could develop into problems in the future -- you don't have to dig around to find out what's wrong. This allows you to head problems off at the pass, and keep your computer in tip-top condition. It's one of the very best things about Windows 7, and a feature you should get to know.
The Quick Guide to the Windows 7 desktop
Users of Windows 7 will notice a new icon in the lower-right part of the screen: a little white flag. That flag is part of the Windows Action Center, a new way to alert you about potential problems with your computer. The Action Center is a one-stop shop that combines notifications from other parts of Windows into a central store, making them easier to find. Let's dig into Action Center and see what it can do.
When there is nothing urgently wrong or pressing that you need to know about, the Action Center flag will appear as shown here (outlined in yellow).
Situation Normal
If there are non-critical issues to look into, hovering your mouse over the Action Center flag will cause a pop-up notification to appear, as shown here. If you get a message, clicking on the flag will give you more detailed information about the concerns. At the bottom is a link to "Open Action Center." Click the link to bring up the main screen.
'X' Marks the Warning
If, however, your flag has a red "X" next to it, that means something more severe is wrong. Hovering your mouse over the flag will bring up another message; click as before to open Action Center. In this case, I've been warned that my Windows Firewall is turned off, leaving me open to attacks.
The Command Center
The main screen of Windows Action Center is broken down into multiple categories: Security and Maintenance are the chief ones, with Troubleshooting and Recovery also included toward the bottom.
Notice the "down" arrows to the right of the Security and Maintenance links. Clicking on those arrows will expand the view, and give more detailed information about the current state of your computer. Where there are problems, suggestions will be included as well.
If there is an urgent issue, as in this case with the Firewall, you will see a red bar to the left. Fixing this problem is as simple as clicking the "Turn on now" button to the right.
Clicking the links at the bottom of the main screen, seen in the previous image, bring up the Troubleshooting and Recovery windows. Recovery is a shortcut to System Restore, which rolls back recent changes made your computer. This screenshot shows the main Troubleshooting section, broken down by category.
To the left of the main Action Center console are a number of links. The main one to be concerned about here is the top one, that says "Change Action Center settings." Clicking that brings you to this screen, which allows you to tailor the Action Center to your liking, turning on or off the various cagetories of notifications. I recommend keeping the default setting of all items being checked. You will get more notifications this way, which could become an annoyance, but you run the risk of missing important information which could affect your computer's security and stability.
The best thing about Windows Action Center is its proactive nature. Windows 7 informs you of problems that are occurring now, as well as issues that could develop into problems in the future -- you don't have to dig around to find out what's wrong. This allows you to head problems off at the pass, and keep your computer in tip-top condition. It's one of the very best things about Windows 7, and a feature you should get to know.
The Quick Guide to the Windows 7 desktop
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