Used advanced disk cleanup tools to regain more space

The program behind Vista's disk cleanup tool is the 'cleanmgr.exe' file. If you access this file from the command prompt, you can enable several previously hidden options which give you more control in terms of what is removed from your computer when you run disk cleanup. Let's look at doing this.

To use the cleanmgr command to create custom drive cleaning options:

Open an administrative command prompt (open the start menu, type 'cmd' in the search box and press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER).

Type 'cleanmgr /sagetset: 1' and hit Enter. This brings up a checklist of the items you can set diskcleanup to delete when it is run. You'll notice that there are several options here which are otherwise not available. Choose the options you prefer.

When you hit 'ok' you have saved a cleaning profile. To run that cleaning profile and remove the items you specified from all drives, just enter the following in the command prompt: 'cleanmgr /sagerun: 1'

Install Vista without product key

Don't feel like typing in your product key before installing Windows Vista? It is now possible to install any version of Windows Vista and use it for 30 days before having to enter a product key and activating it.

While on the product key screen during install, just hit the Next button. You will be presented with a new screen that allows you to select the version of Windows Vista you would like to install

Rearm Activation period

Would you like to extend the activation period to the maximum 120 days instead of the 30 day period that is set by default? It is possible and legal to do this using the software licensing manager in Windows Vista. Simply run slmgr -rearm to get another 30 days. You can do this a maximum of three times before Microsoft blocks further extensions.

Boost Windows Shutdown Speed

Start Regedit and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
On the right pane look for the "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" string and change its value to 1000 by right clicking the string and selecting Modify. However, to make sure its going to work OK for you modify the value to WaitToKillServiceTimeout=5000 first and try it out.
Modified value WaitToKillServiceTimeout=1000 (1000 is a bit much for this one so be careful)3000 seems to work just about right but try the 5000 first.
(The default value for WaitToKillServiceTimeout=20000 in case you need to change it back)

Enable or disable Secure Logon (Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to login)

It's important to keep your computer as secure as possible. One way to do so is to enable Secure Logon so that you are required to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to log on.

Press the Windows button or click on start, type netplwiz or control userpasswords2 and press Enter. Click the Advanced tab, select the Require users to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete check box, and then click OK.

Boot Vista with all available processors

While it takes good advantage of today's multiple core processors when it's loaded, Vista will still use only a single processor core when the OS itself is loading. Fortunately you can override this and force Vista to take advantage of all available processors when starting up.

To force Vista to use all processors during the startup process:
Right click on the 'start' menu and type 'msconfig.' Hit Enter.

Go to the 'boot' tab and click 'advanced options.'

Place a check next to the 'number of processors:' option and change the dropdown box to reflect the number of discrete processor cores in your computer.

Hit 'ok' to save. You will need to restart to take advantage of this tip, obviously.

Disable unnecessary services in Windows Vista

There are a few services that Vista runs by default which it is very unlikely that a home user will ever need. You may as well disable these in order to save the small portion of system resources that they consume. Note that this list was designed with a home user and a home networking environment in mind.

If your computer is part of a larger business network, or you use a server-oriented (meaning domain controller, etc.) network at home, please do not make any changes to your existing Vista services.

To disable unnecessary services:open the 'start' menu and type 'services' in the searchbar. Hit Enter.

In the services window, scroll down until you reach the service you want to disable. Right click it and hit 'properties'.

In the 'startup type' dropdown box, change the value to 'disabled', then click the 'stop' button below to stop the service immediately. Hit 'ok.' Alternatively, if you're unsure of an existing program or application using one of the following services we're suggesting be disabled, change the startup type to 'manual' instead, and then click the 'stop' button below to stop the service immediately. By selecting 'manual', if a program calls for this service it will startup instead of generating an error.

Here is a list of Vista services that are safe to disable, with the caveats we mentioned above. Note that not all of these services are present on all versions of Vista, so if you can't find one, don't panic.

Application experience
Application management
Distributed link tracking client
Offline files
Webclient
Tablet PC input service
TCP/IP NETBIOS helper

Restarting a Service: If you find one of these services was needed by software you use everyday, and want to restart it, go back into the Services control panel. Double click on the service you disabled and change 'startup type' back to 'automatic', click ok. Next, right click on the same Service and click "start" to initialize it right away. By setting 'startup type' to automatic, you're telling Vista to automatically start that service the next time the computer starts. If the service is disabled and stopped however, you need to manually re-start it.

Create shortcuts for running applications with certain CPU/Priority settings

If you've tried out the above two tips for assigning specific CPUs to processes and assigning priorities, you've no doubt noticed that all your setting disappear after reboot. How to make these permanent? Well, there's no real easy way, but there is a workaround you can do by creating a custom shortcut to the app you want to run with specific CPU or priority settings. Let's look at how to do this.

To create a shortcut to run an application with specific CPU affinity or priority settings:

First you will need to know the location of the application
you want to run. The best way to find this is with the searchbar in the start menu. Say you wanted to find the executable file for the Vista Sidebar. Open the start menu and type 'sidebar' in the search box.

The first entry you get will be the Windows Vista Sidebar executable file. Right click on it and choose 'properties'. Click the 'open file location' button at the bottom of the next Window.

Make a note of the file path in the navigation bar at the top of the screen. For Sidebar, it's 'c:\program files\windows sidebar\sidebar.exe'.

Now, drop back to the desktop and create a new shortcut by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting 'new/shortcut.'

When the shortcut wizard appears, enter the following into the text box:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start "(the name of the application you want to start, quotes necessary).exe the path to the file you want to run, from the previous step, quotes necessary)"

The brackets should be removed from the above once you substitute your own items, but all other formatting should remain.

Save the shortcut, then use it to start your app with the desired custom settings.

Disable superfetch for computers with less memory

The Vista Superfetch feature is an interesting one. In theory, your Vista PC will 'learn' your typical activities in terms of file and application access, then preconfigure the most commonly used apps in its memory on startup, making them much faster to access. In practice, this works very well on computers with 2GB or more of memory, but leads to a lot of disk thrashing and sluggishness on systems below the magic 2GB line. If you are not happy with the startup speed of your Vista machine, why not try disabling the Superfetch feature?

To stop and disable Vista Superfetch:

Go to the 'start' menu and type 'services' in the search bar. Hit Enter.

In the services window, scroll down until you reach the 'superfetch' service. Right click and choose 'properties.'

Change the 'startup type' dropdown box to 'disabled' and click the 'stop' button to stop the service. Hit 'OK'.

Assign priorities to applications

All recent Microsoft operating systems have contained the concept of priority, meaning in this case, which process gets the most attention from the CPU. In Vista, you can customize these priority settings so that your hardware is concentrating most on what you want it to.

Vista has a range of available settings ranging from 'low' to 'real time'. It should be noted here that any full screen application (including games) is automatically given high priority by Vista, so there are no frames per second increases to be had here. What you can do is tweak your commonly used windowed apps to get the desired level of performance vs. system resource consumption.

To assign custom priorities to applications:
Start the desired application.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose the 'task manager' option.

In the 'applications' tab, locate the desired program and right click on it. Choose 'go to process'.


This will bring you to the 'processes' tab, with the process that drives your application highlighted. Right click on it and choose 'set priority'. The priority list will open. Choose your desired level, but note that choosing 'realtime' is not a good idea if you want to run anything else at the same time.

Note that all settings will be reset to default when you restart the computer.

Assign specific CPUs to specific applications

Windows Vista allows you to easily assign an application to run only on a specific CPU, which Microsoft dubs processor affinity. If you have a dual or multi-core processor in your computer, this can be a good way of getting some use out of the secondary processors. Your mileage may vary, but it's an interesting tool to experiment with and a way of seeing your new multi-core chip at work.

To assign processor affinity settings to an application:

Start the desired application.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose the 'task manager' option.

In the 'applications' tab, locate the desired program and right click on it. Choose 'go to process'.

This will bring you to the 'processes' tab, with the process that drives your application highlighted. Right click on it and choose 'set affinity...'.

The processor affinity window opens. Using the checkboxes, select which processor(s) you want to be able to run that application.

Note that all settings will be reset to default when you restart the computer.

De-automate Windows Defender

By default, Windows Defender will run it's anti-spyware scan daily (albeit at a fairly unsociable hour if possible). Though it runs in the background, this can impact computer system performance the same way any full system file scan will. You may prefer to disable the automatic scanning completely and perform only occasional manual system scans at your discretion.

To de-automate Windows Defender system scans:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'defender.'

Click the 'tools' icon at the top of the window, then the 'options' selection.

Uncheck 'automatically scan my computer'. Click 'save'.

Editing BIOS settings

Several tips in this guide involve making changes within your computer's BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). The BIOS is the set of instructions your motherboard has built into it which allow it to work with the rest of the hardware in your system.

Some BIOS settings can be changed, and the changes stored in a small area of memory built into the board (the CMOS) which is powered by a single coin-cell battery. The actual BIOS itself cannot be changed (though it can be completely written over by a newer BIOS version, see Tip 11).

To edit the BIOS settings, most systems require you to press the DEL key while the computer is going through its initial POST (Power On Self Test) the first screen that appears after turning your system on. Once you are in the BIOS screen, changes can be made to the available settings by highlighting the item, pressing ENTER then choosing from a list - usually with the +/- keys.

Note that these changes will not take effect until you have saved them (using the menu option) and restarted the computer. It is possible that your motherboard's BIOS may not contain some of the settings that we will edit below, as boards from various manufacturers differ widely.

Again to edit the BIOS settings:

Press DEL several times immediately after restarting your computer. Other manufacturers like IBM may require a different key (such as F2, or F6), but this should be listed on the POST screen.

Select the menu and item you wish to edit, press ENTER and choose the correct setting.

Save and exit the BIOS, which will restart your system and put your changes into effect.

Create a password reset disk

If you're running Microsoft Windows XP Professional, you can create a password reset disk that—if you ever forget your password—you can use to log on to your computer. If you forget your password but don’t have a password reset disk, you'll have to reinstall Windows XP to use your computer.

To create a password reset disk

1. Log on to your computer as an administrator.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Under Pick a category, click User Accounts.
4. In the User Accounts window, click the account name that you want to create a password reset disk for.
5. Under the Related Tasks section, click Prevent a forgotten password.
6. On the Welcome to the Forgotten Password Wizard page, click Next.
7. Insert a floppy disk into your disk drive. If necessary, select the disk drive you want to use, and then click Next.

Note: If your computer doesn’t have a floppy disk drive, you won’t be able to use this wizard. If you cannot install a floppy disk drive on your computer or laptop, you could consider using a USB-connected floppy disk drive.

8. Type your password, and then click Next.
9. After the Forgotten Password Wizard creates your password reset disk, click Next.
10.Click Finish.

Increase the Amount of Frequently Used Programs Displayed on the Start Menu

The Windows XP user interface has some learning features, whereby it will customize itself to fit your computing style. One of the most obvious examples of this is the frequently used programs section on the bottom left side of the start menu, where shortcuts for the programs you have most recently used are displayed. Normally, this section only has room for about six program icons, but it's a fast and handy way to access your software, so why not add more?

To increase the amount of icons in the frequently used programs list right click on the start menu and choose 'properties.' Select the 'customize' button to the right of the 'start menu' option.

Change the 'select an icon size for programs' option to 'small icons' and in the 'number of programs on start menu' counter below, enter a new value based on how many icons you would like to see. Realistically, depending on your desktop resolution you are not likely to be able to fit more than 15 or so icons here, but enter a higher number if you wish. The system will cut off what it can't display. Hit 'ok' and enjoy your newly useful start menu.

Remove remote differential compression

The remote differential compression feature of Vista was designed to streamline transfers of files to and from remote directories by keeping track of file changes and only transferring the changed parts of a file or document, rather than the whole thing. This is a great feature for offices that commonly store and access work on network drives, but not so much for home users, especially since the service can eat up system performance while it's working.

To disable remote differential compression:

Go to 'start/control panel/programs/uninstall a program'.

In the sidebar, click 'turn windows features on and off'.

Uncheck 'remote differential compression' and click 'ok.'

Disable search indexing

The indexing service in Windows Vista is a lot better integrated into the operating system than it was with Windows XP, and a lot more useful, given the presence of the searchbar. It's still not essential though, and it still uses up hard disk and memory resources. Disabling the indexing service does not disable the search or search bar functions of Vista, but it will slow down the results a bit. Disabling it will speed the rest of your computer system up a bit, so the trade off is up to you.

To disable the Windows Vista Indexing service:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'services' in the searchbar. Hit Enter.

In the services window, scroll down until you reach the 'windows search' service. Right click it and hit 'properties'.

In the 'startup type' dropdown box, change the value to 'disabled', then click the 'stop' button below to stop the service immediately. Hit 'ok.'

Speed up SATA hard drives in Vista

Vista can also be tweaked to improve the performance of internal SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives. Vista's write cache has two levels, the more basic of which is enabled by default. To really enhance the performance of your SATA hard disks you can enable the 'advanced disk performance' mode.

It should be noted that this tip, like a couple of others in the guide, has the potential to damage your Vista installation. By extending write caching (data held in memory to be written eventually to hard drive) you extend the risk of damaging your system files in the event of a crash or power outage. That being said, you will experience an increase in drive performance, so balance the pros with the cons.

To enable advanced performance on a SATA internal drive:
Go to 'start\computer.'

Right click the SATA drive in the computer window and choose 'properties.'

Click on the 'hardware' tab.

Highlight your SATA drive in the list and click the 'properties' button.

Select the 'policies' tab.

Select the 'enable enhanced performance' option. Note the warning. Click OK.

Boost external hard drive performance

If you use an external hard drive enclosure as secondary storage for your vista computer system, or if you regularly use a USB storage device for large amounts of file transfers, you will benefit from this tip. By changing the way Vista handles writing data to USB storage devices, we can considerably boost the access speed and data transfer rate of said device.

By default, Windows Vista does not use write caching on USB drives, meaning that all data you send to the drive is instantly transferred to the device. Write caching acts as a buffer between the slow mechanical hard drive and the fast system memory. In essence, your computer writes to the cache (another area of memory) which then transfers the data sequentially to the drive, freeing up the rest of your system to do other things.

By enabling write caching on USB drives, you can increase the apparent performance of your external hard disk greatly. Note that flash memory devices will see little to no performance increase with this tweak.

To enable Write Caching on an external drive:
With your external USB drive plugged in and connected, go to 'start\computer.'

Right click the external drive in the computer window and choose 'properties.'

Click on the 'hardware' tab.

Highlight your external drive in the list and click the 'properties' button.

Select the 'policies' tab.

Choose the second option marked 'optimize for performance.' Click ok.

Important: Note that in order to prevent data loss, you will now have to use the 'safely remove hardware' icon in the taskbar whenever you want to remove your external drive. This is not necessary when shutting down the computer system though.

Remove remote differential compression

The remote differential compression feature of Vista was designed to streamline transfers of files to and from remote directories by keeping track of file changes and only transferring the changed parts of a file or document, rather than the whole thing. This is a great feature for offices that commonly store and access work on network drives, but not so much for home users, especially since the service can eat up system performance while it's working.

To disable remote differential compression:

Go to 'start/control panel/programs/uninstall a program'.

In the sidebar, click 'turn windows features on and off'.

Uncheck 'remote differential compression' and click 'ok.'

Disable search indexing

The indexing service in Windows Vista is a lot better integrated into the operating system than it was with Windows XP, and a lot more useful, given the presence of the searchbar. It's still not essential though, and it still uses up hard disk and memory resources. Disabling the indexing service does not disable the search or search bar functions of Vista, but it will slow down the results a bit. Disabling it will speed the rest of your computer system up a bit, so the trade off is up to you.

To disable the Windows Vista Indexing service:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'services' in the searchbar. Hit Enter.

In the services window, scroll down until you reach the 'windows search' service. Right click it and hit 'properties'.

In the 'startup type' dropdown box, change the value to 'disabled', then click the 'stop' button below to stop the service immediately. Hit 'ok.'

Make the 64-bit version of Windows Media Player 11 the default player in Windows Vista x64

Windows Vista x64 users may want to take one additional step because the 64-bit Windows Vista defaults to the 32-bit version of Windows Media Player 11 to ensure broad file and media compatibility. To specify the 64-bit version of Windows Media Player 11 as the default WMP player for 64-bit Vista, we need to redirect a few program shortcuts.

The 32-bit WMP11 program is located in the '.../ProgramFiles(x86)/' folder, while the native 64-bit version of WMP11 is located in the '.../ProgramFiles/' folder.

To set your Vista x64 operating system to default to the 64-bit version of Windows Media Player 11:

Go to Start (the Vista icon in the lower left corner) > and use one of the following commands (without quotes)...

To set 64-bit WMP11 as default player type: "unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:64"

To revert to 32-bit WMP11 as the default player type: "unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:32"

From now on in Windows Vista x64 you will automatically be able to watch DVDs on the 64-bit version of Windows Media player 11. On the off chance the SwapTo command doesn't work, there is a more advanced set of commands detailed here.

Enable DVD playback in Vista Basic and Vista Business

Can't play DVD's in Windows Vista? Unfortunately, Microsoft Windows Vista does not support DVD playback evenly across all its many versions; only Vista Ultimate and Home Premium have the MPEG/2 codec installed out of the box. Notebooks and desktop computers running Vista Business or Vista Home Basic lack this crucial software component, preventing them from playing DVDs.

For the new Vista user settling down to watch a favourite movie, there is nothing more alarming than the unexpected blank DVD screen that results... no matter if the media player is Windows Media Player 11 (WMP11), PowerDVD, or VLC. Luckily, fixing this isn't difficult.

Oddly enough Vista Business / Home Basic itself doesn't offer any great help, suggesting an "upgrade to Vista Ultimate", or occassionally to "reduce screen resolution". There is no need to upgrade the entire operating system just to watch a DVD, and screen size is just fine. The fix is much simpler, and you don't need to go online and pay $15 to $50 for the privilege of adding this feature. A better course of action is to download a free codec pack, essentially a set of decoding tools to allow Windows to read and playback DVD (and DivX for that matter) media.

we recommends the K-Lite codec pack, available here or via an easy Google search. K-Lite Codec Pack 3.6.5 Standard covers all your DVD watching needs, and a good many other codecs too. Download K-Lite from the link above, install the default set or select just the codec you need, then restart the media player. From now on you will be able to watch DVDs in Windows Vista.

Incidently, codec's are like drivers for media files. Whichever media player you choose to watch DVDs on will work once it has access to the correct codec files, but without them even a versatile player like VideoLAN VLC will be unable to play DVD content.

If you are running Windows Vista X64 Business with the 64-bit version of Windows Media Player 11, you will need K-Lite Codec Pack 64-bit Add-on 1.2.0. It can be found here at Betanews.com.

Power options to high performance

By default, Windows Vista uses some fairly conservative power settings, which can be good for your laptop or for the environment, but maybe not for you if you want your computer running at its maximum speed and capability at all times. To remedy this, Microsoft included a third standard power option in the control panel, the 'high performance' setting. What this does is to disable virtually all power saving features (the hard disks will still spin down after 20 minutes if not accessed), allowing your computer to run at it's full rating even when left unattended.

To set your Vista machine's power profile to 'high performance':

Go to 'start/control panel'

Click on 'classic view' in the left hand pane.

Open 'power options'.

Select the 'high performance' power plan.

Learn to use the search bar as a Run command

This is an essential tip for using Windows Vista, so if you haven't figured it out already, please pay attention: The search bar is your friend.

While the lack of options and a Run command can seem a little disorienting for first-time Vista users, the search bar more than makes up for the other changes to the start menu. By default, the search bar will check all your personal folders, the program files and Windows directories and your Email and Internet history and favourites every time you enter something.

What does that mean? It means that every document you've created, every web page you've recently visited and every program you've installed is going to be accessible with just a few keystrokes.

Try this: Hit the Windows key once, type mail and press Enter. Convenient huh? Try again, this time with 'cmd'. Still missing the Run command? Didn't think so. Once you've added sites like Hotmail or Gmail to your favourites, you can access them from the search bar directly in the same fashion.

Disable automatic device driver searching and installation

By default, the Windows Vista update service will search for and download device drivers for your hardware. Trouble is, the drivers that it finds (and installs automatically unless you have disabled the option as seen in tip#12) are not necessarily the best choices for your hardware, and in rare cases may cause their own problems.

To disable automatic driver updates:

Open the 'start' menu and right-click on 'computer'. Choose 'properties'.

Click on 'advanced system settings' on the left-hand pane.

Choose the 'hardware' tab and click 'Windows update driver settings'.

Select the 'never check for drivers when I connect a device' option.

Click 'ok'.

Set Automatic Updates to download only

By default, Windows Vista will automatically download and install any patches and updates that Microsoft considers crucial. This will often result in an automatic operating system restart, which can be canceled if you are at the keyboard, but it can play havoc with your torrent downloading if you are not.

A better way to do things is to have Vista download the patches automatically, but wait for your permission to install them and restart the computer.

To enable manual update installation:

Go to 'start/control panel/security/turn automatic updating on or off'
Select the 'download updates but let me choose whether to install them' option.

Click 'OK'

Windows Vista will now notify you when updates are available via an icon in the taskbar, but will not install them until told to. When you do choose to install the patches, you'll have the opportunity of scanning over the patches and deselecting any you feel are unnecessary.

Turn off User Account Control (UAC)

User Account Control (UAC) is definitely the most maligned, misunderstood and most often mocked new 'feature' of Windows Vista. What is it? You know those little yes/no boxes that pop up when you try to run an installation program, or view device manager or anything else that Vista interprets as an 'administrator' level event? That's UAC.

What it does is attempt to prevent unauthorized changes to the Windows system settings by requiring a manual 'ok' from you, for each and every change. What it also tends to do is annoy people, especially since the popup window does not always appear in the foreground, leaving you to wonder why your installation has frozen.

Fortunately, UAC can be easily disabled, though you should be aware that doing so strips Vista of a considerable extra layer of security against viruses and malware. Effectively, disabling UAC brings us back to XP territory in terms of security, but it makes Vista so much easier to use. If you are a computer novice, you should consider leaving UAC enabled for the time being. For the rest of you, to disable UAC in Windows Vista:

Go to start/control panel/user accounts and family safety/user accounts.
Click on 'turn user account control on or off' and select 'continue' when the UAC box appears.

Uncheck the 'use user account control (UAC) to help protect your computer' option.

Click 'ok'. Vista will require a restart, and following that you will be free of UAC nag windows.

Note that this disables UAC only for the current user.

How to edit the Windows Vista registry

Now that we've backed up the registry, let's look at how to edit it. As mentioned previously, several of the following tips require the registry to be changed, so it's a good idea to get to know the process now.

To edit the Windows Vista registry:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'regedit' in the search box. Hit Enter.

This will open the Regedit program which we will use for any tips that require a registry edit. To navigate in Regedit, use the directory tree in the left hand pane.

The folders in this view are known as registry 'keys'. Keys can contain other 'subkeys' and sets of values which affect the function of Windows Vista. During this tips article we will be creating both new keys and new values.

To create a registry key:

Right click on an empty area of the right-hand pane and choose 'new/key'. Give the newly created key the name specified in the tip. Note that no saving is necessary. Once a change is made to the registry, it's made.

To create a registry value:

Though there are several types of registry values that can be created, the only one we are going to deal with in this article is the DWORD value type. To create one, navigate to the appropriate registry key and subkey as specified in the tip you are following, then right click on an empty area of the right-hand pane and choose 'new/DWORD value'.

Give the new value the specified name, click 'ok', then double click on the newly created DWORD to edit it. Enter the value again as specified in the tip you are following. Click 'ok.' The Windows registry hasn't changed much since WindowsXP.

Back up and Restore the Windows Vista registry

Several of the following tips require editing the Windows Vista registry, a storehouse of settings and configuration information not usually accessible through the main Vista interface. Editing the registry can have dire consequences if the wrong values are changed, so it's always a good idea to make a backup of the registry first. This backup can be easily restored, allowing you to roll back any incorrect changes you made.

To backup the Windows Vista registry:
Open the 'start' menu and type 'regedit' in the search box. Hit Enter.

Highlight 'computer' in the left-hand pane.

Go to 'file\export'.

Choose a location on your computer to save the registry backup file. The preferable location is either on removable storage like a USB drive, or on a separate physical disk from the Windows directory, but anywhere will do in a pinch. Give it an appropriate name like 'registrybackup08'.

To import this image of the registry (and erase any changes made since), follow the first few steps above to open regedit, then go to 'file\import' and load the file you just created.

Enable Readyboost on any flash memory device

If you've been paying attention, you'd have noticed that we have not included Readyboost as one of our performance tips.

However, if you already have a flash memory device or two around the house and want to play at ReadyBoost, but Vista is telling you your toys aren't fast enough to join, this tip could be for you.

To enable ReadyBoost on a 'slow' USB drive or flash memory card:
Insert the device and ignore the autoplay Window.

Open 'start\computer'. Right click on the flash memory device and choose 'properties.'

Go to the 'readyboost' tab and place a check next to 'do not retest this device'. Hit 'ok'.

Unplug your USB device.

Open Regedit (open 'start' menu and type 'regedit.')

Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\EMDMgmt'
In this folder, there should be a folder corresponding to each USB storage device you have ever had attached to your computer. Find the one corresponding to your USB drive and open it.

Double-click on the 'DeviceStatus' value and change it to '2'.

Now replug your USB device. It will now be recognized as ReadyBoost capable.

Boost external hard drive performance

If you use an external hard drive enclosure as secondary storage for your vista computer system, or if you regularly use a USB storage device for large amounts of file transfers, you will benefit from this tip. By changing the way Vista handles writing data to USB storage devices, we can considerably boost the access speed and data transfer rate of said device.

By default, Windows Vista does not use write caching on USB drives, meaning that all data you send to the drive is instantly transferred to the device. Write caching acts as a buffer between the slow mechanical hard drive and the fast system memory. In essence, your computer writes to the cache (another area of memory) which then transfers the data sequentially to the drive, freeing up the rest of your system to do other things.

By enabling write caching on USB drives, you can increase the apparent performance of your external hard disk greatly. Note that flash memory devices will see little to no performance increase with this tweak.

To enable Write Caching on an external drive:

With your external USB drive plugged in and connected, go to 'start\computer.'

Right click the external drive in the computer window and choose 'properties.'

Click on the 'hardware' tab.

Highlight your external drive in the list and click the 'properties' button.

Select the 'policies' tab.

Choose the second option marked 'optimize for performance.' Click ok.

Important:Note that in order to prevent data loss, you will now have to use the 'safely remove hardware' icon in the taskbar whenever you want to remove your external drive. This is not necessary when shutting down the computer system though.

Run programs with administrator rights

Microsoft added a second layer of security to Windows Vista by ensuring that standard user accounts do not have full administrative privileges. This helps to protect the OS by ensuring that users cannot easily change some system settings but it also serves to annoy users who want to easily change some system settings. Fortunately, there's an easy fix. You may already know how to do this if you are Vista savvy, but if you are not, this is required to carry out many of the following tips.

To run a program with Administrative rights:

Type the name of the program in the 'start' menu searchbar.

Right click on the program's icon in the search results and choose 'run as administrator.'

Test the computer's RAM

It's always a good idea to test your memory periodically, especially if you have only just installed Vista, or if you are reading this article because you are having performance or stability issues with the operating system.

Fortunately, Vista has a built in memory testing application which will do the job quite well. You will have to restart and leave the computer system alone for 30 minutes or so though.

To test your memory with the windows Vista memory testing tool:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'memory' in the search bar and hit Enter.

Choose the 'restart now and check for problems' option.

The computer will restart and run through a full memory test. There are other ways to test and diagnose bad system memory.

Update hardware drivers

Windows Vista is still relatively new, so hardware drivers (the programs that make Windows work with your computer's hardware) are still in a state of development. If you haven't updated them recently you should do the rounds of your motherboard, videocard and soundcard (if necessary) manufacturer's websites in order to make sure you have the latest Vista compliant drivers for your gear. You should especially do this if you purchased or assembled your computer system close to the release date of Vista last year, since hardware drivers have made leaps and bounds in performance and stability since then. In fact, a lot of the problems users initially experienced with Windows Vista can be linked to immature drivers, or older WinXP drivers used in place of absent Vista compliant drivers.

Creating a system restore point in Windows Vista

Like XP before it, Vista includes the useful system restore utility. Under ideal conditions, this feature allows you to roll back the entire operating system (excepting personal data) to a previously created 'restore point' allowing you to undo errors caused by faulty programs or changes made to the system. Before we continue further with tweaks, it's a good idea to create one of these restore points and to understand how to return the operating system to a previously created restore point.

To create a system restore point:

Open the 'start' menu and right-click on 'computer'. Choose 'properties'.

From the tasks pane on the left, click 'System Protection'.

Click the 'create' button and give your new restore point an appropriate name like 'system before tweaks' and hit 'create'.

To restore Windows Vista to a previously saved restore point:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'system restore.'

Click 'next'.

Choose the restore point you wish to use by highlighting it and then hit 'next'.

Make sure you have saved any documents, then click 'finish'. The system will restart and revert to the settings saved in the restore point.

Recovering a corrupted file system

If your PC has been infected by the virus and some of its files in the Windows directory be affected or corrupt, is there anything I can do to recover it without re-PC? ..

If a critical or essential gets whacked by a virus, can be restored from the Windows CD.

* Search the file name on the CD, replacing the last character with an underscore (eg Notepad.ex_). If it is found, open the command line and enter the command EXPAND, followed by the full path of the file and the desired destination:

EXPAND D: \ SETUP \ NOTEPAD.EX_C: \ Windows \ NOTEPAD.EXE

If a route contains some space, surround with quotes ( ').

If the file is not found, find the file name unchanged. Probably be within a CAB file, which seeks to Windows XP as a folder. Just right-drag and copy the file to the desired location.

When searched, open a command prompt and enter EXTRACT / L followed by the location, the full pathname of the CAB file and the name of your desired file, for example: EXTRACT / LC: \ Windows D: \ I386 \ Driver.cab Notebook. Exe

If the destination or CAB file path contains spaces, surround with double quotes.
Increase Downloading Speed in Windows Vista

* Logged in administrative mode
* Run command prompt command at the prompt, enter the following command.
* Netsh interface tcp set off global autotuninglevel = disable
* This command will disable the TCP autotuning feature.
* Now restart the computer to take effect.

Enabling addition Avalon effects

Once you have the new Aero engine enabled on your build of Windows codename Longhorn, you can enable additional transition effects that are currently turned off in builds. Follow the steps below to add some additional desktop and explorer effects:

1. Open up regedit.
2. Navigate thru HKEY_Local_Machine, Software, Microsoft, Windows, Current Version, and Explorer.
3. Create a new DWORD and call it MILDesktop.
4. Set the value of MILDesktop to 1.
5. Create a new DWORD and call it MILExplorer.
6. Set the value of MILExplorer to 1.
7. Exit explorer and restart.

I hope your system and drivers can handle the new effects!

Disable error reporting

*Open Control Panel
*Click on Performance and Maintenance.
*Click on System.
*Then click on the Advanced tab
*Click on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
*Select Disable error reporting.
*Click OK
*Click OK