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Restoring BIOS defaults

2008-10-09T08:17:00.003+07:00

It's quite possible that during the course of some of our overclocking tips presented later in the Beginners Guide, your motherboard could seize up and refuse to boot. Don't panic. It is easy to restore the default settings of any modern motherboard fortunately.

If this happens, what you need to do is power off your system, open the side of the case and locate the CMOS battery.

This small battery provides the necessary power to store the changes you have made to the BIOS defaults. If you remove the battery or switch the BIOS clearing jumper (generally found next to the battery, but this may vary, consult your manual) the CMOS memory that holds the changes will be cleared and the BIOS defaults restored, along with your ability to boot your system.

To clear the CMOS settings:

Locate and switch the CMOS clearing jumper, then press the power button once (nothing should happen, but the BIOS will be restored) before resetting it in its original position and powering your system on.

Or

Remove the battery with the aid of a flat head screwdriver. Leave it out for about 10 minutes to be safe, then replace it and restart the system.

Or...

Some motherboard makers allow you to load in the BIOS defaults when you boot up, without having to crack open the case and fiddle around with jumpers or batteries. This may not work for every single motherboard, or computer out there, but it is worth a shot.

First power off the PC, then while holding the "Insert" key down, power the computer back up, and don't let go of that key. If things go as planned, the computer should boot up, and give some little warning about "BIOS checksums loaded." From there, you can let go of the key, and go right into the BIOS and reset it completely, or set your own favorite performance settings. Of course if this doesn't work, then go back and follow our directions for how to reset the CMOS as described above.

Disable IPV6 in Windows Vista

2008-09-19T08:44:00.005+07:00

Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system to feature IP Version 6 as a default networking protocol. This despite the fact that essentially nothing uses it. Since each of your network interfaces is running both IPV6 and standard TCP/IP by default, wouldn't it be a good idea to disable the unnecessary protocol? i think so.

To disable IPV6 in Windows Vista:

Start Regedit and navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tcpip6\Parameters\
Right click on an empty area of the right-hand pane and choose 'new\DWORD value'.

Name the DWORD 'DisabledComponents' and give it the value '0xFF'

You will need to restart your system for this to take effect.

Update Vista's DirectX9 files for better game compatibility

2008-09-19T08:44:00.004+07:00

One of the fixes for getting games to run in Vista that do not normally (such as FEAR and 3Dmark06 as two examples) is relatively simple. These games require the latest version of Directx 9. Vista does not actually contain a full installation of Directx 9, just some elements for compatibility purposes. So, install Directx 9.

To install Directx 9c on Windows Vista:

Unzip the file into a folder on your desktop or in your documents.

Run the DXSETUP file.

You can delete the folder after the install has finished.

Poor game performance? Try DirectX 9 mode

2008-09-19T08:44:00.001+07:00

If you own some of the newer DirectX10-capable games like Bioshock or Crysis, but you are disappointed with the performance you are seeing when you run these games in their full DX10 glory, there's an option which you'll probably want to try. Navigate to the games folder ('start\games') and right click on the icon that starts your directX10 game. You should see a 'play DirectX 9' option. You may sacrifice a few of the visual bells and whistles, but your frame rates are almost guaranteed to be better.

Fix large file copying problems in Windows Vista

2008-09-02T13:45:00.001+07:00

Out of the box Vista can have some issues with large file transfers over a network. This is because of a new Vista feature called 'receive window auto-tuning'. In a nutshell, this allows Vista to automatically scale the size of each packet of data it requests and receives over a network connection to suit the available bandwidth. This is a good thing. However, older networking hardware may have issues with this newfangled technique and refuse to co-operate, leading to dropped file transfers, slow performance and other weirdness.

If you are experiencing network issues with large file transfers and occasional connection problems with applications like Messenger, we recommend that you restrict or disable the receive window auto-tuning feature.

To do this, open a command prompt window with administrative privileges.

Type 'netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=restricted' and press Enter.

If this fixes your issues, relax. If you continue to have networking problems, open another administrative prompt and type 'netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled'.

Enable more simultaneous Downloads in Firefox

2008-09-02T13:43:00.000+07:00

If you prefer to use Firefox (which, like IE7 defaults to only two persistent connections to a given server), here's the Firefox-approved version of the above tip:

Open Firefox and type 'about:config' in the address bar.

Scroll down to the 'network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server' entry.

Double click the entry and change the value to anywhere from 4 to 10.

Restart Firefox.

Enable more simultaneous downloads in Internet Explorer 7

2008-08-14T12:54:00.000+07:00

As was the case with Windows XP, the version of Internet Explorer bundled with Windows Vista is limited to just two simultaneous connections to the same Internet server. This is generally fine, but it can mean that large complicated websites can take longer to open than they should, and it also means that you cannot download more than two files simultaneously from the same location. Fortunately this is easy enough to change.

To increase the number of simultaneous downloads in IE 7:

Open Regedit and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings'

Create a new Dword value called 'MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server' and give it a decimal value between 3 and 5.

Create another new Dword called 'MaxConnectionsPerServer' and give it an identical decimal value.

Close Regedit and restart IE to take better advantage of your bandwidth.

Customize Vista desktop performance

2008-08-06T12:42:00.002+07:00

Whether or not you use the Aero 3D interface, you can tweak a whole range of factors to customize your Windows Vista desktop, or drop features to gain speed on lower-end computer systems. All these options are available in one handy menu which can be found In the advanced properties of the 'computer' option in the Start menu.

To adjust Vista desktop performance settings:

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

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

Go to the 'advanced' tab and under the 'performance' heading, Click 'settings...'

In the 'visual effects' tab, you have a whole range of settings you can disable to boost desktop performance, or you can choose the 'adjust for best performance option' if your system is having great difficulty with Vista.

The ultimate Vista performance tweak (not really)

2008-08-06T12:40:00.001+07:00

The Windows Experience Index (WEI) score is generated by the WinSat program. WinSat stores its results in an XML file on your hard drive, which is then read by the WEI in order to generate your 'score' as displayed in the performance information and tools window.

Wouldn't it be nice to have this instead though?Open the 'start' menu and type 'wordpad' in the search bar. Right click on 'wordpad.exe' in the results and choose 'run as administrator.'

When wordpad opens, go to 'file\open' and navigate to 'c:\windows\performance\winsat\datastore'. Change the file types dropdown box to 'all files...' .

Open the file with the most recent date. Edit lines 12 through 19 and add whatever value you would like to see (in the format #.#). Save the file.

Now open the performance information window ('start' and type 'performance info') and click 'update my score.' When the update is finished, your new score will appear!

(Please note that this tip has absolutely no effect on how your computer actually performs, but it looks good!)

Reveal Vista's hidden context menu power tools

2008-07-19T12:26:00.000+07:00

The right-click context menu in Vista has a few hidden surprises if you press and hold the SHIFT key while you bring it up.

When used on a file, the SHIFT key adds the options to pin the file in question to the start menu, add it to the Quicklaunch bar or save its name and directory location as a text path for pasting into documents.

When used on a folder, the copy as text path option is added, along with the handy ability to pop-up a command prompt window in the folder in question.

Be the super user

2008-07-19T12:25:00.000+07:00

If you're nervous of the consequences of disabling UAC, but want to avoid all the nagging prompts and keyboard shortcuts that leaving it enabled can entail, there's a better way. You can convince the operating system that you are actually the one true admin with a simple command.

To enable full administrative privileges with a normal Vista user account:

Open an administrative command prompt.

Type 'net user administrator activate:yes' and hit Enter.

Enable verbose shutdown messages (Vista business and Ultimate only)

2008-07-19T12:24:00.000+07:00

This is not really a performance tip per se, but it will let you see what is going on when you shutdown Windows Vista, which could help you boost your shutdown speed. With this tip enabled, Vista will inform you of what is going on behind the scenes on the shutdown screen with text messages.

To enable verbose shutdown messages:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'gpedit.msc' in the search bar. Hit Enter.

In the group policy window, navigate to 'computer configuration\administrative template\system' then scroll down in the right-hand pane until you reach the 'verbose vs. normal status messages' option. Double click it and set the option to 'enable'. Hit ok.

Display your backed-up DVD media in Vista Media Center (applies to Vista Home Premium and Ultimate only)

2008-07-15T08:26:00.000+07:00

This not a performance tip per se, but it does correct a major annoyance in the Windows Vista Media Centre default settings. By default, Media Center will not find and list DVD media that you have backed up to your hard drive. Fortunately, correcting this can be done with a quick registry edit.

To enable the gallery display for stored DVD media in Media Center:

Start Regedit and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\DvdSettings'.

Double-click the 'ShowGallery' value and change it to 'Gallery'.

Now the DVD gallery will display in Media Center and enumerate your stored DVD media in the library.

Add administrator account to welcome screen

2008-07-15T08:25:00.000+07:00

Vista is designed so that using the default administrator account is not necessary. Unfortunately, the lever for doing this is the ever-intrusive UAC (User Access Control) which we have already talked about. If you would rather go directly to the source to make your changes and use the administrator account, you might be baffled since this account is inactive by default. Let's look at making the default administrator account one of your login options on the welcome screen, so it's available when needed.

To make the administrator account appear on the login screen we need to do two operations; add a password to the administrator account and make it active.

To add a password to the administrator account and activate it:

Open the 'start menu' and type 'cmd' in the search bar but do not press Enter. Right click on the 'cmd' shortcut where it appears in the search results and choose 'run as administrator'.

In the command prompt, type 'Net user administrator (password)' where (password) is the password you want to apply to the administrator account. Do not include the brackets. Hit Enter.

In the same command prompt, type 'Net user administrator /active:yes' and press Enter.

The administrator account will now appear on the welcome screen and can be used.

Add Encrypt / Decrypt to Right Click Menu

2008-07-09T22:28:00.000+07:00

Windows Vista contains a built in encryption function that can be used to 'lock' specified files or directories so that only your specific user account can access them. This is not password based, but account based, so that unless you are logged in with your specific username and password, the file is inaccessible. It's kind of tricky and time consuming to get at the encryption option in the default Vista interface though. To make access to encryption easy, put it on the context menu with this little registry addition.

Note: It's always good to be careful with encryption, because it is quite possible to lose access to important files completely. For a solid grounding in the topic as it relates to recent versions of Windows.

To add encrypt/decrypt command to the right-click context menu:

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

Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced'

Create a new DWORD value named 'EncryptionContextMenu' and give it a value of 1.

Disable 'GUI boot' to speed startup

2008-07-09T22:17:00.001+07:00

The little animated bar you see while loading Windows can be disabled, which will actually shave a few precious seconds off your startup time. Try it, it worked for us.

To disable the Vista GUI boot:

Open the 'start' menu and enter 'msconfig' in the search bar. Hit Enter.

When the MSConfig window opens, navigate to the 'boot' tab.

Place a checkmark next to the 'No GUI boot' option. Click 'ok'.

Configure Windows Vista autoplay manually to suit your preferences

2008-07-05T15:52:00.001+07:00

The Windows Vista autoplay menu has marginally more useful options than its XP predecessor, but it's still a bit of a pain to click through every time you insert media. Microsoft has included a quick config utility that can make setting your preferred options for each type of media much easier though.

To set autoplay preferences:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'autoplay' in the search bar. Hit Enter.From this screen, you can select what you want to happen when each autoplay-enabled media type is inserted. Leave the 'use autoplay for all media and devices' option at the top checked unless you want to disable autoplay altogether. It is required to use the rest of the options on this screen. When you are done, scroll to the bottom and hit 'save.'

Tweak the mouse scroll wheel

2008-07-02T12:30:00.001+07:00

If your finger is getting sore from all the scrolling around you do on web pages and documents, you can actually tweak the resolution of your mouse's scroll wheel in Windows Vista. By default the OS scrolls 3 lines at a time, but if you want faster scrolling and less finger abuse, this is easy to change with a small registry edit.

To increase mouse wheel scroll speed in Vista:

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

Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop'

Scroll down to the 'WheelScrollLines' value and double click it to edit.

Larger values equate to larger 'notches' on the scroll wheel, but this will require a restart before it's effective.

Disable security notifications

2008-06-30T08:23:00.001+07:00

If you've made one or two of the changes in this article, like disabling UAC for example, and are getting fed up with the Windows security center notifications popping up in the taskbar and nagging you about what you've done, here's how to disable them.

To disable Windows Vista Security Center notification:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'service.msc' in the search bar. Do not press Enter.

Mouse up to the 'services.msc' search result, right-click it and choose 'run as administrator' (this is assuming you have not already disabled UAC, in which case the run-as is not necessary).

In the services window, scroll down to the 'Security Center' 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.'

Using the new 'resource overview' monitor in Windows Vista

2008-06-27T00:07:00.002+07:00

The Windows performance monitor has received a considerable facelift with the release of Vista, and now offers a whole host of monitoring information about your computer, once you've learned how to configure it for easy use. The most obvious and useful new feature is the resource overview window. This screen handily centralizes your CPU, memory, network and hard disk % at use information and allows you to track which files and processes are using your system resources in real-time. Let's take a look at how to use it.

To open the resource overview screen:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'monitor' in the search box and hit Enter.

Welcome to the new and improved resource overview screen. As you can see, the four windows correspond to the four major hardware areas of your system, and show you essentially how hard they are working over the last 60 seconds of time. Now, let's dig a little deeper.

If you double click on any of the four displays, you'll notice that the corresponding heading on the lower part of the screen will expand, offering you more information. For the CPU, we can see exactly which processes have been taking up CPU time over the last minute, and what percentage. For the hard drive, the files that have been read from and written to and how much. For the network which processes are accessing network connections and how much data are they transferring (very useful for identifying possible spyware/trojan virus problems), and for the memory you can see how much memory each running process is consuming and what percentage of that can be shared with other applications or is fully reserved. All-in-all a very useful overview of the activities of your entire computer system right at your fingertips.

Return the Run command to the start menu

2008-06-26T08:29:00.004+07:00

If you find you really can't live without the Windows XP style 'run' command on the start menu, it's easy enough to restore.

To make the 'run' command appear on the start menu:

Right click the 'start' menu and choose 'properties.' Choose the 'start menu' tab.

Click the 'customize' button.

Scroll down until you find the option titled 'run command' and check it. Hit 'ok'.

Backup your entire computer with Vista Backup and restore (Vista Business and Ultimate only)

2008-06-25T09:09:00.002+07:00

If you have a removable USB or eSATA hard drive enclosure, consider this tip once you have your Vista install set up just the way you like it. Vista Business and Ultimate editions allow you to create a backup image of your entire computer, data, applications and all. It does take up a lot of space as you might imagine, so you will pretty much need to dedicate an entire hard drive to it, but it's worth it for the peace of mind it offers.

recommend separating your data and system partitions, making an image of your system partitions and then regularly backing up your data partitions to a source that is not inside your computer.

To make a backup image of your entire system:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'backup' in the search bar. Hit Enter.

Click 'backup computer'.

You can backup either to a separate hard disk partition or to DVD media. You'll end up using at least 5-10 DVDs for a standard Vista install, so that's not really an option.

Once you've indicated which partition you would like to backup to

Run sidebar gadgets without the sidebar

2008-06-25T09:08:00.002+07:00

This tip falls under the category of "why did I not notice this before?". You do not need the physical space of the sidebar to run Microsoft sidebar gadgets. Click your favourite gadget and drag it out of the sidebar onto the desktop and voila! Now you can close the bar, reserve your real-estate and still keep the use of your favourite gadget(s).

It's important to note that when you carry out this tip and close the sidebar, it remains resident in memory and is required to keep the gadget running. Unfortunately this means you can't disable the sidebar completely and still keep your fave gadget on the desktop.

Disable transient multi-monitor manager to speed up boot times

2008-06-22T10:36:00.001+07:00

Microsoft included the TMM program to make it easier for mobile users to connect and disconnect their laptops frequently from one or more separate monitors. Its main function is to detect when a new monitor has been plugged in and pop up a dialog allowing the user to easily configure said device. It also can add some unnecessary overhead, both at startup and by occasionally polling for the presence of D-SUB connected monitors.

To disable TMM:

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

In the computer management window, navigate to 'task scheduler\Task scheduler library\Microsoft\Windows\MobilePC'

To disable the TMM function, right-click on it and choose 'disable.'

Reduce start menu opening delay

2008-06-22T10:21:00.000+07:00

If the Vista interface seems sluggish to you, this tip may help things feel a little more frisky by boosting the speed of the start menu.

To reduce start menu opening time:

Open the 'start' menu, type 'regedit' and hit Enter.

Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop'

Double click on the 'MenuShowDelay' value and change its value to 150.

Disable mandatory thumbnail previews

2008-06-22T10:19:00.000+07:00

By default, Windows Vista renders nearly every directory in thumbnails, which can be a good thing, but can also be a pain if you've got a lot of files and little memory. If you'd like to go back to the XP-centric explorer where thumbs where an option not a mandate, it's easy enough to do, fortunately.

To disable automatic thumbnail previews:

Go to 'start/computer.'

open the 'organize' menu and choose 'folder and search options.'

Choose the view tab and place a check next to the 'always show icons, never thumbnails' option at the top. Hit 'ok.'

Remove unnecessary Windows Vista features

2008-06-19T08:05:00.001+07:00

Like most Microsoft operating systems, Vista uses the 'kitchen sink' approach, bundling more software and applications than you are ever likely to use. Let's look at streamlining your Vista PC a bit and saving some drive space by removing some of these unnecessary applications.

To remove unwanted Vista components:

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

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

The checkboxes list optional features that can be added or disabled. Good options for removal include games, DFS file replication service, windows meeting space and tablet tools.

Enable Windows classic desktop

2008-06-19T08:02:00.000+07:00

If you just can't get used to the look of the Vista interface, or you are running under 1GB of memory and you need to speed up the desktop, try enabling the Windows Classic interface. This is a two step process involving changing both the desktop settings and the Start menu. Note that while in XP the 'classic interface' was that of Windows 2000, in Windows Vista it is the XP interface that is brought up when you make this change.

To revert to the Windows classic interface:

Right click on the 'start' menu and click 'properties'.

Select the 'classic start menu' option and click 'ok'.

Right click on an empty area of the desktop and choose 'personalize.'

Select the 'theme' option.

In the 'theme' dropdown box, choose 'Windows Classic.'

Click 'ok'.

All the bells and whistles are now gone completely.

Disable last access file update

2008-06-18T12:52:00.000+07:00

By default, any Windows installation that is using the NTFS file system (that is, almost any installation of Windows 2000 or later) updates each file with a date stamp every time it is accessed. If you don't think this feature is useful, save yourself some unnecessary disk access by disabling it. Note that this is not the same feature as the 'file last modified on:' information that appears when you bring up the properties of a file in Explorer, so disabling last access update will not disable that information.

To disable last access file updating:

Open the 'start' menu, type 'regedit' and hit Enter.

Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem'

Change the value of the 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate' DWORD to '1'.

Use checkboxes for multiple file selection

2008-06-17T08:14:00.001+07:00

This tip is a perfect example of why people should not give up on Windows Vista. Lurking within the standard Vista explorer interface is a really, really convenient way to highlight multiple files without using shift or CTRL. Welcome to the era of the checkbox. Once you have enabled this feature, you will see a little checkbox at the upper left corner of each icon in the explorer window. Checking this box will highlight the file in question. Genius.

To enable checkbox file selection in Windows Vista:
Go to 'start/computer'.

Click the 'organize' menu and choose 'folder and search options'.

Select the 'view' tab.

Scroll down and check the 'use check boxes to select items' option.

Disable 8.3 name creation for files

2008-06-15T10:55:00.001+07:00

The 8.3 namespace is a method of naming files used in DOS and Windows 3.1 (for example myfile83.exe). This naming standard has not been necessary since Windows 95 hit stores some 12 years ago. To maintain some illusion of backward compatibility the feature has been kept, and if you do happen to use a DOS-based 16-bit application that can only recognize 8.3 character file names, you will need it. Otherwise, as Microsoft itself says:

"The creation of 8.3 filenames and directories for all long filenames and directories on NTFS partitions may decrease directory enumeration performance."

...In other words, it's slowing you down.

To disable 8.3 name creation in Windows Vista:

Open the 'start' menu, type 'regedit' and hit Enter.

Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem'

Change the value of the 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' DWORD to '1'.

Disable unneeded hardware

2008-06-13T08:22:00.001+07:00

Do you use firewire? How about your wired Ethernet connection? If the answer to these questions is no, you might want to consider disabling the unnecessary hardware to free up system resources. This is a simple process and can be reversed with a few clicks of the mouse, so you don't need to worry about the consequences later on.

To disable unnecessary hardware in Windows Vista:

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

Click 'device manager' in the left-hand pane.

When device manager opens, mouse down to the hardware you want to disable. Firewire would be under 'ieee1394', while all network connection hardware is stored in the 'network adapters' section.

To disable a device, right click on it and choose 'disable'. If you think you've made a mistake, return to device manager, right click on the device and choose 'enable' to return it to its previous state.

Check your computer system's health in 60 seconds or less

2008-06-13T08:15:00.002+07:00

Another feature Microsoft added to Vista as part of the performance and reliability monitor upgrade is the system health report generator. This will analyze your system using the various hardware and software monitoring tools available to the OS and give you a one page breakdown of your systems current health, with links to more additional information than you could ever want. The system health report will give you a quick idea on what, if anything is causing problems with your system's performance.

To run the System Health Report Generator:

On the 'start' menu and type 'perform info' in the search bar and hit Enter.

Now click 'advanced tools' in the left-hand pane.

At the bottom of this window, click 'generate a system health report' to run the report generator.

You now have a snapshot of what Vista thinks of your computer and its own configuration.
Read and enjoy!

Rebuild the paging file to optimize performance

2008-06-09T20:41:00.001+07:00

If you have noticed that game performance has diminished or that applications are loading slower than they once did on your Vista system, you may want to give this tip a try. By default, Vista does not clear the contents of the paging file (the area of the hard disk Vista reserves to act as extra RAM memory). Over time it can become fragmented and less efficient. One solution is to reset this file every so often, ensuring a fresh start for your applications and games.

To reset the Windows Vista page file:

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

In the left-hand pane, choose 'advanced system settings'.

Click the 'advanced' tab, then under the 'performance' heading choose 'settings...'

Choose the 'advanced' tab again, then under the 'virtual memory' heading click 'change...'

Uncheck 'automatically manage paging file size for all drives' at the top.

Highlight the drive that contains your paging file. Select the 'custom' size option below.

Change the minimum and maximum page file size to '0' and click set.

Restart the computer.

Reopen the paging file properties window and highlight the drive that contained your page file. Choose the 'system managed size' option and click 'set'. Confirm the overwrite and click 'ok'.

Disable the low disk space check

2008-06-09T20:36:00.001+07:00

If you've got a second hard drive that is filling up, or a partition that's getting near its space limit, Vista will warn you... And warn you... And warn you, with little pop-up notifications appearing in the taskbar every little while. This can get annoying fast, especially when you see that the system is polling the disks every few minutes to bring you this important warning. It's quite easy to disable though, with a quick registry hack doing the job.

One caveat: Having a decent amount of free disk space IS important if the partition in question is your C: drive where Windows resides. If you want to disable this warning, pay occasional attention to the state of your file space please.

To disable the low disk space check/notification:

Open the 'start' menu, type 'regedit' and hit Enter.

Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies'

If you have a registry key named 'Explorer' at this location, click on it to open it. If not, create one by right clicking on the right hand pane and selecting 'new/key.' Call the new key 'Explorer.'

Navigate to Explorer and create a new DWORD value named 'NoLowDiskSpaceChecks' and give it a value of '1'.

Disk checks will now be disabled.

Set a fixed paging file size

2008-06-07T10:47:00.002+07:00

If you want to optimize your Vista system's use of its page file as much as possible, consider setting up a static paging file. Normally, the operating system dynamically resizes the page file as it sees fit, but this resizing operation imposes an overhead on page file operations as well as being unpredictable in terms of the size it takes up on the disk. By setting a static file size, Vista is relieved of the need to manage the paging file which leads to more efficient operation.

To set a fixed paging file size:

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

In the left-hand pane, choose 'advanced system settings'.

Click the 'advanced' tab, then under the 'performance' heading choose 'settings...'

Choose the 'advanced' tab again, then under the 'virtual memory' heading click 'change...'

Uncheck 'automatically manage paging file size for all drives' at the top.

Highlight the drive that contains your paging file. Select the 'custom' size option below.

Now enter in an appropriate amount of space in the minimum and maximum boxes. A good guideline would be 1.5 x the amount of physical memory in your system, so set a 3GB page file for a system with 2GB of system memory.

Click 'set' and 'ok'.

Stop scheduled disk defragmentation

2008-06-06T16:06:00.002+07:00

Microsoft has considerably simplified the disk defragmentation interface in Windows Vista, and made it an automatic process, figuring (probably accurately) that 99% of their user base does not know what disk defragmentation is and would not do it anyhow.

By default, Windows Vista will run a disk defragmentation process (essentially making sure that all the files on your drive occupy contiguous drive space and are not scattered all over the surface of the physical disk) every Wednesday morning at 1AM. If you happen to be up gaming at 1AM on Wednesday morning, this will play havoc with your frame rates. It's probably better to disable the automatic defragmentation process and do it manually once every 3-6 months.

To disable automatic disk defragmentation in Windows Vista:

Open the 'start' menu and type 'defrag' in the search bar. Hit 'Enter'.

Uncheck the 'run on a schedule' check box.

Click 'ok'.

Disable hibernate on desktops

2008-06-06T16:05:00.000+07:00

If you've got a desktop that's on most of the time, doing large amounts of non-critical applications in the background (read downloading), you probably want to disable the hibernation and hybrid-sleep functions of Vista. Doing so will save you a chunk of disk space the size of your physical RAM.

To turn off hibernation in Windows Vista:

Open the 'start menu' and type 'cmd' in the search bar but do not press Enter. Right click on the 'cmd' shortcut where it appears in the search results and choose 'run as administrator'.

In the command prompt, type 'powercfg h off'.

Move the Vista paging file for better performance

2008-06-04T18:17:00.001+07:00

The page file is an area of hard disk space reserved by Windows for use as additional memory. By default, Windows manages and resizes this file dynamically to suit its needs. Vista does a very good job of optimizing the page file on its own, but there is one tweak you may be able to make which will considerably increase its performance. If you have more than one physical hard disk drive installed in your computer, you can move the page file onto the physical drive that does NOT have Windows Vista installed on it. Since most page file hits are related to Windows system operations, this will considerably reduce disk access on your OS drive, speeding everything up.

To move the Windows Vista Page file:

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

In the left-hand pane, choose 'advanced system settings'.

Click the 'advanced' tab, then under the 'performance' heading choose 'settings...'

Choose the 'advanced' tab again, then under the 'virtual memory' heading click 'change...'

Uncheck the 'automatically manage paging file size for all drives' checkbox.

In the window that shows the list of partitions (C:, D:, etc.) choose a partition that resides on the physical hard drive that does not have Windows installed and highlight it. Select the 'system managed size' option then click the 'set' button. This will create a paging file on the hard disk in question.

You will notice that the 'paging file size' for the highlighted drive now reads 'system managed'

Now highlight your C: partition (assuming that this is where Windows Vista is installed). Select the 'no paging file' option and click 'set'.

Your paging file has now been offloaded.

Sidebar to low priority

2008-06-02T22:55:00.000+07:00

So you like the Vista sidebar (and why not?) but you are worried about it consuming unnecessary resources while you are doing things with your computer that do not involve it? We have a solution for you.

What we are going to do is show you how to permanently set the sidebar to be a 'low priority' application for Vista, meaning that the operating system will not devote resources to sidebar apps when other full screen applications are demanding them.

To set the Windows Vista sidebar to low priority permanently:

First follow the steps in Tip #38 above to prevent the sidebar from starting when Vista starts.

Go to 'start/computer' and press 'ALT' to bring up the file menu taskbar.

Go to 'tools\folder options' and select the 'view' tab.

Under the 'hidden files and folders' section, select the 'show hidden files and folders' option. Click 'ok'.

Navigate to 'start\computer\c:\users\(your username)\appdata\roaming\microsoft\windows\start menu\programs\startup\'

Right click on the empty directory and choose 'new\shortcut.'

When the shortcut wizard appears, copy and paste the following:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start "sidebar.exe" /LOW "C:\Program Files\windows sidebar\sidebar.exe"

And click 'ok' to save the shortcut. Now every time you start Windows Vista, the sidebar will be started also, but at low priority only.

Disable the Vista sidebar

2008-06-02T22:52:00.000+07:00

The Vista sidebar is one of the new features of the OS that has attracted wrath and praise in equal amounts. Whether or not you appreciate it's style, ease of use and array of handy gadgets, or hate it's space hogging, system clogging ways, it's impossible to deny that it eats up system resources, even when you are doing other things and not looking at it.

Disabling the Vista gadget sidebar will increase the performance and reduce the load time of your computer system slightly (which is, after all, the point of this PCSTATS Guide). If you do not want to take the drastic step of disabling the sidebar completely, some tips follow which will show you how to make more efficient use of the bar and its gadgets.

To disable the Windows sidebar:

Right click on a blank area of the sidebar and choose 'properties.'

Uncheck the 'Start sidebar when windows starts' option. Hit OK.

Right click on a blank area of the taskbar and choose 'close sidebar.'

Used advanced disk cleanup tools to regain more space

2008-05-31T09:18:00.005+07:00

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

2008-05-29T12:54:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-29T12:51:00.002+07:00

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

2008-05-29T09:47:00.001+07:00

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)

2008-05-29T08:49:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-26T13:05:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-26T12:58:00.004+07:00

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

2008-05-24T08:14:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-23T07:54:00.003+07:00

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

2008-05-22T12:23:00.005+07:00

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

2008-05-22T08:32:00.006+07:00

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

2008-05-21T08:51:00.003+07:00

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

2008-05-21T08:50:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-20T00:08:00.002+07:00

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

2008-05-19T09:09:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-19T09:08:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-19T09:06:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-16T16:10:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-16T16:09:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-16T16:08:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-16T16:07:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-16T08:31:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-16T08:29:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-15T08:09:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-15T08:08:00.004+07:00

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

2008-05-15T08:08:00.003+07:00

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

2008-05-14T18:17:00.001+07:00

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)

2008-05-14T18:16:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-14T08:04:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-14T08:03:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-13T08:07:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-13T08:04:00.002+07:00

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

2008-05-12T19:01:00.001+07:00

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

2008-05-12T18:45:00.002+07:00

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

2008-05-12T18:43:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-12T08:30:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-10T23:40:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-10T23:30:00.000+07:00

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

2008-05-07T07:56:00.000+07:00

*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

Benefits of Vista's Hidden Administrator Account

2008-04-26T09:23:00.001+07:00

The main benefit of activating this hidden Vista Administrator is so that you have access to an account, which does not suffer from the annoying UAC dialog box. Although it is possible to suppress the UAC with a local policy, there is a lingering fear that security is being weakened. Another worry is that rumours persist that some commands don't work properly if you turn of the UAC.
Linked to the benefit of suppressing the UAC dialog box is the fact that this Administrator account has elevated privileges. What this means is that if your run CMD you don't have to 'Run as administrator' before you get unrestricted access to the command line.
Another benefit of knowing this method is to keep the hidden Vista administrator account as a 'back door', for example, if you inadvertently lock out your main account. Sitting there at your computer, you can never believe that you will be so foolish as to lock yourself out, yet logic dictates that somewhere in the world, someone has just done that: locked themselves out of Vista. Would not they like to know how to activate the administrator account?
Naturally, it is a case of administrator by name and administrator by function, this super user is a member of the Local Administrator's group. In many ways this super Administrator account reminds me of the Unix root account. As I am not a 'professor' of Unix I do not know if you can hide root, but you can hide Vista's administrator account with this command:
Net user administrator /active:no.

Make your Vista's admin account works as Real Administror

2008-04-25T13:55:00.000+07:00

For Windows Vista Ultimate /Bussiness/ Enterprise:

1- Click Start, and type "secpol.msc" in the search area and click Enter. (You may receive a prompt from UAC, approve/login and proceed)2- In the left list, choose "Local Policies", then "Security Options"3- Set "Accounts: Administrator account status" to Enabled.4- Set "User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account" to Disabled.For Windows Vista Home Basic / Home Premium1- Click Start, and type "cmd" in the search area, right click on "Command Prompt" and select 'Run as Administrator".2- In the command prompt type "net users Administrator /active:yes" (Note the capital "A" in Administrator) and press Enter, you will get a confirmation as "The command completed successfully".3- Click Start, and type "regedit" in the search area and click Enter, navigate to: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

Double click on "FilterAdministratorToken" and set it to "0"Now log off to take effect and login to Administrator a/c.

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

2008-04-24T20:34:00.001+07:00

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.

Enable support for 4GB of RAM (or more) in Vista 32-bit

2008-04-24T20:29:00.000+07:00

On a computer that has 4 GB of RAM, the System Properties dialog box and the System Information dialog box may report less memory than you expect. This problem occurs because the address space is limited to 4 GB in a 32-bit hardware environment. Memory may be relocated to make room for addresses that the basic input/output system (BIOS) reserves for hardware. However, because of this limitation, Windows Vista cannot access memory that is relocated above the 4 GB boundary.

Solution: Open an elevated Command Prompt, type BCDEdit /set pae ForceEnable and press Enter.

The pae parameter enables Physical Address Extension (PAE). On 32-bit versions of Windows, PAE is disabled by default. PAE is an addressing strategy that uses a page-translation hierarchy to enable systems with 32-bit addressing to address more than 4 GB of physical memory. PAE also supports several advanced system and processor features, such as Data Execution Prevention (DEP; "No execute"), Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA), and hot-add memory, so it is also used on computers with less than 4 GB of memory. PAE must be supported by the processor.

On a computer that supports hardware-enabled Data Execution Prevention (DEP), PAE is automatically enabled when DEP is enabled and automatically disabled when you disable DEP. To enable PAE when DEP is disabled, you must enable PAE explicitly: Open an elevated Command Prompt.
Type BCDEdit /set nx AlwaysOff & BCDEdit /set pae ForceEnable and press Enter.

Open with Notepad

2008-04-23T08:08:00.000+07:00

Do you use notepad very frequently to open all types of text files? This quick tweak will add "Open with Notepad" to all of your file context menus. Whenever you right click on a file, you will have the option to open it in Notepad.

Copy and paste the code below into Notepad. Then save it as a .reg file and import it by clicking on it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad\command]
@="notepad.exe %1"

Fix for 2 Boot Menus When Dual Booting With Another OS

2008-04-23T08:05:00.000+07:00

This will get you down to only 1 boot screen.

It is really easy: On my system my main drive has two partitions. One for XP
and the other for Vista.

My XP installation is on C: and my Vista installation is on F:

I copied the F:\Windows\System32\winload.exe (Vista Installation) file to
C:\Windows\System32 (XP Installation)

Then I edited the boot.ini file as follows:

Original boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows Longhorn"
/NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /FASTDETECT /USENEWLOADER

New Boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /USENEWLOADER
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows Longhorn"
/NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /FASTDETECT /USENEWLOADER

As you can see I just added the /USENEWLOADER switch to the XP Installation.

Create an Elevated Command Prompt shortcut

2008-04-22T08:52:00.001+07:00

Right click on your Command Prompt shortcut and select Properties.Click on the advanced button (at the Shortcut tab), check "Run as Administrator" and click on OK (twice).

Make your Vista's admin account works as Real Administror

2008-04-22T08:50:00.001+07:00

For Windows Vista Ultimate /Bussiness/ Enterprise:
1- Click Start, and type "secpol.msc" in the search area and click Enter. (You may receive a prompt from UAC, approve/login and proceed)
2- In the left list, choose "Local Policies", then "Security Options"
3- Set "Accounts: Administrator account status" to Enabled.
4- Set "User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account" to Disabled.

For Windows Vista Home Basic / Home Premium
1- Click Start, and type "cmd" in the search area, right click on "Command Prompt" and select 'Run as Administrator".
2- In the command prompt type "net users Administrator /active:yes" (Note the capital "A" in Administrator) and press Enter, you will get a confirmation as "The command completed successfully".
3- Click Start, and type "regedit" in the search area and click Enter, navigate to: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]Double click on "FilterAdministratorToken" and set it to "0"

I have accidentally deleted my "Recycle Bin", how can I restore it?

2008-04-21T23:15:00.000+07:00

1. Right click your desktop.
2. Click "Personalize"
3. Select "Change desktop icons".
4. Place a checkmark in the Recycle Bin checkbox.
5. Apply the change and click OK to exit.

Automatically Log On a User Account

2008-04-19T23:05:00.001+07:00

If you are the only user on Windows XP, you could save some time by having Windows XP log you into your user account automatically.

There are a few reauirements for this to work:

* The Welcome screen must be available

Select Start > Control Panel and click User Accounts
Click Change the way users log on or off
Check to make sure that Use the Welcome screen is selected

* Guest account access must be turned off

Select Start > Control Panel and click User Accounts
Click the Guest account
Click Turn off the Guest account

* There must be only one user account on the computer
* The user account must not have a password

Select Start > Control Panel and click User Accounts
Click the user account
Click Remove the password

Watch your cookies

2008-04-17T17:30:00.001+07:00

In XP, the Documents And Settings folder holds all user information, including configuration settings, favorites, and cookies. The Documents And Settings\Username\Cookies folder is where XP stashes cookies. How do you control the number of cookies you allow on your system? Click Start > Control Panel > Network And Internet Connections > Internet Options. Click the Privacy tab, then use the slider bar to modify your cookie settings. For instance, you can block cookies from sites that use personal identification without your consent. To increase your security, try out the other privacy settings in this dialog. The lowest level is Accept All Cookies while the highest is Block All Cookies, with low, medium, medium-high, and high settings in between. (An explanation of each appears as you move between settings.) Keep in mind that rejecting cookies may limit your actions on some Web sites, and some sites use cookies to track how many times you see a popup, for example, on this website, if you blocked cookies, you would see a popup on every page.

Protect your identity

2008-04-17T17:29:00.001+07:00

Like many other audio players, Windows Media Player rushes out to the Internet to find information for you when you play a CD. Some of this information, such as song titles and album art, is useful, but Media Player also identifies your copy of Media Player to the site where it's getting data. Why? According to the help file, "The server uses this unique identifier to monitor your connection. By monitoring your connection, the server can make adjustments to increase the playback quality and to alert you about events that occur when receiving streams over the Internet."
If you're disturbed by this exchange of information, here's how to stop it. In Windows Media Player, click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab. Notice the option that says "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?" Turn it off.

Tips & Tricks window vista

2008-04-16T09:41:00.000+07:00

1. If you hate the look of Aero, click Start/Control Panel/Themes and you can choose a non-Aero theme, such as Windows Classic.
2. Windows Vista's installer can detect serial-ATA (SATA) drives without the need to provide a driver diskette. Don't bother creating a diskette for your SATA drives before you install Vista.
3. If, for some reason, the Vista installation gets interrupted due to an unintentional shutdown or reboot, start the computer without booting the Vista DVD. Windows Vista's installer should pick up where it left off. If it does-n't, then restart the installation over from scratch.
4. When you perform a search with Vista's new, instant search feature, you can save the search in a special folder. This powerful feature allows you to create a virtual folder which, by default, is saved in your \\Searches\ folder. Every time you open such a folder, the search results are updated.
5. In Windows Vista, you can add additional clocks to the system tray. Click the clock, and then click Date and Time Settings. Click the Additional Clocks tab. You can add one or two additional clocks to the tray and select their time zones.
6. You can save your progress in most of the games included with Windows Vista—even the carry-overs from earlier versions of Windows.
7. You can create XML documents, which are more secure than regular text files or even word processor docs. Just create a document in a word processor, print it via the options menu, and select the XPS printer.
8. If you upgrade your graphics card in preparation for Windows Vista, be sure to get a new card with as much local memory as possible. Since Windows Vista renders everything—even the desktop and windows them-selves—as 3D surfaces, local 3D memory greatly improves performance...sometimes even more than a more powerful GPU.

Change Default Folder Locations

2008-04-15T08:19:00.002+07:00

You can change or delete the Windows mandatory locations of folder like My Documents:

1. Open RegEdit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Shell Folders
3. Change the desired folder location, My Documents is normally list as "Personal"
4. Open the Explorer and rename or create the folder you wish.

To change the desired location of the Program Files folder
1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion
2. Change the value of "ProgramFiles", or "ProgramFilesDir"
Now when you install a new program it will default to the new location you have selected.

Changing Windows' Icons

2008-04-15T08:17:00.001+07:00

You can change the Icons Windows uses for folders, the Start Menu, opened and closed folder in the Explorer, and many more.

1. Open RegEdit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Shell Icons
3. Add a string value for each Icon you wish to change.
Example: "3" ="C:\Windows\Icons\MyIcon.ico,0" This will change the closed folders in the Explorer to "MyIcon.ico". Here is a complete list for each value.

0= Unknown file type
1= MSN file types
2= Applications Generic
3= Closed Folder
4= Open Folder
5= 5.25" Drive
6= 3.25" Drive
7= Removable Drive
8= Hard Drive
9= NetWork Drive
10= Network Drive Offline
11= CD-ROM Drive
12= RAM Drive
13= Entire Network

14= Network Hub
15= My Computer
16= Printer
17= Network Neighborhood
18= Network Workgroup
19= Start Menu's Program Folders
20= Start Menu's Documents
21= Start Menu's Setting
22= Start Menu's Find
23= Start Menu's Help
24= Start Menu's Run
25= Start Menu's Suspend
26= Start Menu's PC Undock
27= Start Menu's Shutdown

28= Shared
29= Shortcut Arrow
30= (Unknown Overlay)
31= Recycle Bin Empty
32= Recycle Bin Full
33= Dial-up Network
34= DeskTop
35= Control Panel
36= Start Menu's Programs
37= Printer Folder
38= Fonts Folder
39= Taskbar Icon
40= Audio CD

You need to reboot after making changes. You may need to delete the hidden file ShellIconCache if after rebooting the desired Icons are not displayed.

Internet Connection Sharing

2008-04-14T09:58:00.000+07:00

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection:

Open Network Connections.
Click the dial-up, local area network, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want to share, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.
On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you want this connection to dial automatically when another computer on your home or small office network attempts to access external resources, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box.
If you want other network users to enable or disable the shared Internet connection, select the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box.
Under Internet Connection Sharing, in Home networking connection, select any adapter that connects the computer sharing its Internet connection to the other computers on your network.

Windows Vista Task manager for troubleshooting

2008-04-14T08:13:00.000+07:00

The Windows Task Manager gives you a lot more troubleshooting information in Vista.Click ctr+alt+del, Flip to the Processes tab, and in the View menu, click “Select Columns” and add Description, Command Line, and Image Path Name. Moreover, when you right-click a process, you can select either “Go to Service(s)” or “Open File Location.” These are all long overdue options.

Windows Vista Tips to allow Network access without password

2008-04-14T08:12:00.000+07:00

In windows vista you can access computer locally without password but it does not permit to access other network computer to access it without password. But you can change this default setting.
Go to run and type there “gpedit.msc”.
It will open group policy now go to computer configuration- vista setting- security setting -local policies(here you can set many local policy as per your security demands).-security options.
Now you need to find and disable following options

Double click on accounts: limit local account use of blank password to console login only.

Increase Available Disk Space

2008-04-12T12:36:00.001+07:00

One of the improvements that Microsoft has improved upon over the other Windows releases are Vista's backup features that are incorporated in to System Restore. The backup features are turned on by default so with all of the automatic backing up Vista does, it won't take long to lose quite a bit of disk space. It may not be a bad idea to go in and delete the old backup files and restore points to increase your available disk space. Vista makes this task a very simple one. here's how:
1. Go to Start
2. In the Instant Search text box, type: disk cleanup
3. Open the disk cleanup tool and select the option titled: Files from all users on this computer
4. Select the drive that you would like to cleanup.
5. Select the "More Options" tab.
6. Click the option titled: Clean Up under System Restore and Shadow Copies
7. In the confirmation screen, click "Delete".

Increase your Graphic Cards Performance

2008-04-12T12:28:00.000+07:00

When you purchase a new computer system. All of the default drivers should create a pretty stable and functional
environment. However, if there are those that need much higher performance from their graphics card, perhaps for gaming purposes, then the default driver isn't going to be good enough. Find out which graphics card is installed in your system, then visit the graphics card manufacture and install an updated driver (if available). This should help speed things up rather nicely!