Show or hide shadows from Windows 7 borders

In Windows 7, you will see shadow around the borders in all windows. If your computer is slow then one way to improve the performance is by disabling the visual effects. There are 20 visual effects that you can control. Here we will see how to show or hide the shadows from the window borders. Perform the following steps to do so:
1. Click Start button , right-click Computer and click Properties.
2. From the left pane, click Advanced system settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Click the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click Settings... to open Performance Options dialog box.
4. Click Visual Effects tab, click Custom: and do one of the following:
To remove shadow under windows, click to remove the checkmark beside Show shadows under windows.
To show shadow under windows, click to place the checkmark beside Show shadows under windows.
5. Click OK twice.
System Properties dialog box with shadow effect
System Properties dialog box without shadow effect

Set the thickness of the blinking cursor in Windows 7

In Windows 7, the default value for the blinking cursor is 1px. You can change the thickness of the cursor easily. The possible range is 1px - 20px. The image at the right shows the width of the mouse cursor at 1px, 5px, 10px, and 20px.
To set the thickness of the blinking cursor, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Start button and then click Control Panel.
2. If the View by: is Category then click on Ease of Access and then click Ease of Access Center. If the View by: is Large icons or Small icons then click on Ease of Access Center.
3. Under Explore all settings, click Make the computer easier to see.
4. In the Make things on the screen easier to see section, click the Set the thickness of the blinking cursor: dropdown box and make the selection. You may also preview the mouse cursor.
5. Click Apply and then click OK.

Make text and other items on the screen larger or smaller in Windows 7

You can easily make the text and other items like icons appear larger without changing the resolution of the screen. You may also adjust the settings back to default if you do not need the text and other items to appear large. To make text and other items on the screen larger or smaller, perform the following:
1. Click the Start button and then click Control Panel.
2. If the View by: is Category then click on Appearance and Personalization and then click Display. If the View by: is Large icons or Small icons then click on Display.
3. Choose one of the following:
Smaller - 100% (default This is the default setting.
Medium - 125% This setting increases the size by 125%. You may see the difference in the size of the text Medium - 125% and also in the Preview section. To see the actual effect, you have to apply this setting.
Larger - 150% This setting increases by 150%. Again, you may see the difference in the size of the text Larger - 150% and also in the Preview section. If this option does not appear then your computer screen does not support the resolution required for this setting.
4. Click Apply.
5. Log off and login to apply the changes.

Change the name of the computer in Windows 7

If you do not specify a name to your computer while installing Windows 7 then My-PC name will be assigned automatically. You can change the computer name by performing the following steps:
1. Click the Start button . Right-click Computer and then click Properties.
2. From the left pane, click Advanced system settings (If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation to open System Properties dialog box).
3. Click on the Computer Name tab and then click Change...
4. Type a name in the Computer name: box and then click OK.
5. Click OK again in the Computer Name/Domain Changes dialog box.
Restart your computer to have the computer name changed.