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Vista and 7 do not enable you to back up files on your computer selectively. You can only back up personal data with the Backup Status and Configuration Tool or, if you have Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise, perform a complete PC backup by using Windows Complete PC Backup. If you want to pick and choose the file to back up, you need to buy a third-party tool. Also, this tool only allows you to back up to optical media, a hard drive, or a networked drive.

Character Map (All)

Ever been using a program only to discover you need to enter a strange character such as the euro character (€) but your word processor doesn’t support it? That’s when you need the Character Map. It enables you to copy any Unicode character into the Clipboard (Figure 4-75).

Figure 4-75 Character Map

Disk Cleanup (All)

Disk Cleanup looks for unneeded files on your computer, which is handy when your hard drive starts to get full and you need space. You must run Disk Cleanup manually in Windows 2000, but Windows XP and Windows Vista start this program whenever your hard drive gets below 200 MB of free disk space.

Disk Defragmenter (All)

You use Disk Defragmenter to make your hard drive run faster—you’ll see more details on this handy tool in Chapter 12, “Implementing Hard Drives.” You can access this utility in the same way you access the Device Manager; you also find Disk Defragmenter in the Computer Management Console. A simpler method is to select Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools—you’ll find Disk Defragmenter listed there. You can also right-click on any drive in My Computer or Computer, select Properties, and click the Tools tab, where you’ll find a convenient Defragment Now button.

Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (Windows XP)

Suppose you have an old computer full of files and settings, and you just bought yourself a brand new computer. You want to copy everything from your old computer onto your new computert—what to do? Microsoft touts the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard as just the tool you need (Figure 4-76). This utility copies your desktop files and folders and, most conveniently, your settings from Internet Explorer and Outlook Express; however, it won’t copy over your programs, not even the Microsoft ones, and it won’t copy settings for any programs other than IE and Outlook Express. If you need to copy everything from an old computer to a new one, you’ll probably want to use a disk-imaging tool such as Norton Ghost.

Figure 4-76 Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

Windows Easy Transfer (Windows Vista)

Vista’s Windows Easy Transfer is an aggressively updated version of the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. It does everything the older version does and adds the capability to copy user accounts and other settings (Figure 4-77).

Scheduled Tasks (All)

With the Scheduled Tasks utility, you can schedule any program to start and stop any time you wish. The only trick to this utility is that you must enter the program you want to run as a command on the command line, with all the proper switches. Figure 4-78 shows the configuration line for running the Disk Defragmenter program.

Security Center (Windows XP)

The Security Center is a one-stop location for configuring many security features on your computer. This tool is also in the Control Panel. Vista removes Security Center from System Tools. All of these security features, and many more, are discussed in detail in their related chapters.

System Information (All)

System Information is one of those tools that everyone (including the CompTIA A+ exams) likes to talk about, but it’s uncommon to meet techs who say they actually use this tool. System Information shows tons of information about the hardware and software on your PC (Figure 4-79). You can also click on the Tools menu to use it as a launch point for a number of programs.

Figure 4-77 Windows Easy Transfer

Figure 4-78 Task Scheduler

Figure 4-79 System Information

System Restore (XP, Vista)

System Restore is not only handy, it’s