# The Preferences Window

To display the Preferences Window, select Preferences from the Thinking Home menu.

The Preferences Window allows you to set general preferences that apply to the Thinking Home program in general. Along the top of the window are six tabs (General, Speech, Logging, Location, Registration, and Extras). Clicking a tab, displays the options for that tab. The General preferences are described here.

## Enable 24/7 operation | When enabled, Thinking Home continues to run all the time in the background even after you quit. Here are some circumstances in which Thinking Home needs to operate full time: you have responders that send emails to your cell phone or run a script to make a decision, your controller can’t store a schedule, logging is enabled, or you want Thinking Home to respond to speech commands.
## Check for new software | When enabled, Thinking Home checks automatically for software updates at a daily, weekly, or monthly interval. Use the scroll list to select the frequency. Thinking Home tells you when updated software is available and lets you decide whether to install the update.
## Check Now | Push this button to check for new software now.
## Offer setup assistance when new hardware is found | With setup assistance enabled and a new USB controller connected, Thinking Home discovers the device type, manufacturer, part number, address, and sets the default name. The new controller is displayed in the Installed Hardware Window, where you can edit the information.
## Factory Defaults | Resets all preferences back to the factory default values. You cannot undo a reset, but you will be prompted to confirm that you really want to reset. You can cancel or press Reset to do the reset.
## Speech tab | Displays the Speech preferences.
## Logging tab | Displays the Logging preferences.
## Location tab | Displays the Location preferences.
## Registration tab | Displays the Registration preferences.
## Extras tab | Displays the Extras preferences.