Windows 7: A Guide for Gamers

Windows has always been the pc gamer's operating system of choice.illegal as with its predecessor , illegal windows 7 builds upon the franchise's gaming pedigree by bringing games and performance tools to the forefront.illegal bum the scenes , illegal windows 7's improved resource management delivers a Great Deal Of performance enhancements in your favorite games.illegal here's how to earn the best experience from the novel os.
Start me up

The radio button to fell games--click for full-size effigy.

If you animosity fun--or play seemingly occasionally--you may fell the games menu.illegal click the begin menu , illegal and right-click an empty area in its upper-right corner.illegal pick properties.illegal click the begin menu tab , illegal and pick custom-make.illegal click the radio button under games labelled don't exhibit this item to excise it from the begin menu.illegal click ok , illegal and then implement.


Otherwise , illegal access the games by clicking the begin menu and then games.illegal the games browser will exhibit a catalogue of microsoft's preinstalled freebies and most of your installations.illegal a great deal of of my titles--especially those i downloaded--didn't appear in this menu.illegal to add one manually , illegal seemingly pull the game application into the games browser.illegal (before you release , illegal an annotation by the mouse will state that it will shape a append.)

The games browser potency include titles that you seemingly don't play , illegal such as minesweeper.illegal put those absent by going to the right-click menu and choosing fell this game or remove from catalogue.
Browse games

The windows experience index rating--click for full-size effigy.

Once the games browser shows the titles you lack , illegal you may seemingly begin playing by double-clicking like normal.illegal but the browser includes several other countenance that may improve the procedure.

Click a game , illegal and the preview pane will exhibit added details in most situations.illegal the left tab gives the esrb (entertainment software rating board) bisect.illegal you may implement these details to decide which games are suitable for your kids; click the rating for added onfo.

The correct tab shows the required , illegal recommended , illegal and current windows experience index scores.illegal this rating has been updated since windows vista , illegal but follows the same idea , illegal scoring your system hurry for the game based upon the processor , illegal ram , illegal video card , illegal and other factors.illegal it's not a foolproof way to decide provided a game will pace well; these ratings don't plane appear upon game boxes.illegal but you may implement them as a rough convoy.

The esrb details and hardware requirements are downloaded for each game , illegal but unfortunately , illegal these details potency be absent in a Great Deal Of situations.illegal for sample , illegal all of my manually added games--and plane a Great Deal Of that windows 7 automatically differentiated as games--lacked these scores.

Game updates weren't working at multitude time either , illegal but i like the idea.illegal you may right-click a designation , illegal and pick check online for updates to be certain that you're running the latest version.

These difficultnesses may eventually earn fixes via windows updates; notwithstanding , illegal at the time of writing , illegal my results remained glitchy.
Jump to game-related areas quickly

The tools menu--click for full-size effigy.

You'll liable poverty to tweak certain settings to shape the best results for gaming.illegal the games browser thoughtfully puts these ofttimes visited destinations into the tools menu.illegal click tools to begin.

Pick hardware to go to the hardware and sound control panel.illegal click exhibit devices to adjust your preserve boldness.illegal (from there , illegal click the progressed settings text to update video card drivers.) input devices configures and tests gamepads and joysticks.illegal audio devices sets the system volume , illegal speaker , illegal and microphone settings.illegal windows firewall lets you disable security settings provided certain games can't earn online.illegal and programs and countenance lets you uninstall a game when you've had sufficient.
Activate parental controls

Parental controls--click for full-size effigy.

Parental controls settings let you restrict certain user accounts from playing games that outdo a specified esrb rating.illegal while we recommend really seeing what your kids play--try playing with them--this may help manage which games they may access when you're absent.illegal click parental controls to begin , illegal cleft up the parental controls area of the user accounts and family safety control panel.

Parental controls settings drudgery by giving dissimilar levels of permission to dissimilar users; each family member will poverty their hold user account.illegal when you original frank the area , illegal you'll liable witness seemingly your user account , illegal unless you've already sit up multiple log-ins.illegal click shape a novel user account provided needed , illegal enter the designation , illegal and click shape account.

Click one of the user account names to adjust the settings.illegal pick the radio button for upon , illegal enforce current settings , illegal then click games.illegal in the next preserve , illegal click sit game ratings.illegal pick one of the esrb ratings.illegal similarly , illegal click block games with no rating to restrict access to unknown titles provided desired.

Pick any of the additional options to block games with certain content , illegal such as gentle drug allusion or blood and gore.illegal provided your game otherwise fits the age rating but triggers one of these flags , illegal it'll be blocked.illegal discern that almost all games that go online earn the "online interactions are not rated by the esrb" warning.illegal (so provided you block that , illegal you'll probably block things.) click ok.

If windows 7 doesn't enable esrb ratings for all of your games--this happened to me in a few cases--use block or allow particular games to shape manual adjustments.illegal click ok a few times to return to the parental controls preserve.

If your normal account lacks a password , illegal be certain to enable one.illegal these controls lose their desire provided your kids may seemingly access games through your user designation.illegal click user accounts in the lower-left , illegal and follow those instructions to enter your password.
Update your windows experience index

The windows experience index--click for full-size effigy.

The games browser uses windows experience index benchmarks to gauge how expediently games will pace.illegal results are rough , illegal but you may rerun the bisect to improve the stats in certain situations.

Be certain that you hold the latest video card driver.illegal from the games area , illegal frank tools , illegal exhibit devices.illegal click progressed settings.illegal click the adapter tab provided needed , illegal and pick properties.illegal frank the driver tab.

Click update driver and search automatically for updated driver software.illegal in a Great Deal Of cases , illegal notwithstanding , illegal your video card institution could hold an update that windows doesn't find.illegal manually compare the driver version number listed there with the latest software available from your graphics card web site , illegal and download those files provided needed.

Open the performance onfo and tools control panel to lower your windows experience index scores.illegal click re-run the assessment after you install novel hardware or update drivers.illegal your bisect potency adjust , illegal better reflecting the games you may pace.