10+ tweaks, tricks, and hacks to make Windows Vista fly, Chapter 2

7. Add Internet Explorer to the Vista Desktop

 

For some reason known only to the Windows Vista development team, there is no easy option to add the Windows Explorer icon to the Vista Desktop. 

You can add Computer, Recycle Bin, and the Control Panel --- perhaps someone can explain that to us. 

In themeantime, if you want to add Internet Explorer you can do it with a Registry hack. Before editing the Windows Registry it is always advisable to make a backup of the Registry file.

• Click the Start button
• Open the Run dialog box (or type regedit in to the search box on the Start Menu)
• Type in regedit and press Enter
• Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel

• Create a new DWORD 32-bit by right clicking in the key area (See Figure K)
• Copy this as the key name including the brackets:

{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}

• Close regedit
• Right click on the Desktop and click the Refresh menu entry --- Internet Explorer should now appear.

Figure K

Regedit Internet Explorer

Figure L

o

Windows Security Center

8: Change Security Center notifications

One of the most often leveled criticisms of Windows has been its lack of security. To overcome that perception Microsoft had programmed Vista to complain loudly and often if it discovers your malware, firewall or virus protection software is off or requires

maintenance. For many users, the constant badgering to update your virus definitions is more annoying then effective. To calm Vista down a bit you can change the way you are notified of potential lax security.

Open the control panel and click the Windows Security Center as shown in Figure L.

Figure M

Choose you preference for notification

Click the link Change the way Security Center alerts me to reach the dialog box shown in Figure M.

9: Set Folder options

One of the first things experienced users change when they get a new Windows computer is change the Folder View options to a preferred setting. Windows Vista is no exception to this rule.

• Open the Control Panel and click on the Folder Options icon
• Click on the View tab (See Figure N)

Figure N

Folder options

• Check or uncheck your folder preferences --- some suggestions:

a.Check show hidden files and folders

b.Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types

c.Uncheck protected operating system files

10: Adjust power settings

By default, Windows Vista sets the power options to what it calls a "Balanced" plan. While for many users this plan will be adequate, there are many who will want to make adjustments. For laptop users specifically, settings can vary greatly when operating on battery power versus plugged into an outlet. To adjust power settings:

Open the Control Panel and then click the Power Options icon (See Figure O)

Figure O

Power Options

Figure P

Power settings

Click on the Change Plan Settings under one of the default plans to make changes (See Figure P)

For additional fine tuning click Change advanced power settings (See Figure Q)

Figure Q

Advanced power settings

11: Reduce Desktop Icons

By default, the Windows Vista Aero GUI uses what it classifies as "Medium" icons on the Desktop. Medium in this case is really quite large. (There is also a Large icon setting, but we won't go there.) To bring the icons back to a less eye-popping size:

• Right click on the Desktop
• Choose the View menu item
• Change to Classic Icons (Figure R)

Figure R

Classic

12 Add another time zone

For many of us working away from home offices at satellite offices, home or on the road, knowing the time across various time zones can be a necessary evil. Windows Vista will allow you to keep time in two additional time zones to the machine time.

• Right click on the time display located in Taskbar System Tray
• Select the Adjust Date/Time menu item
• Click on the Additional Clocks tab (See Figure S)
• Add clocks

Figure S

Choose a time zone

• Click the checkbox next to Show this clock
• Click OK

Now when you mouse over the time in the Taskbar System Tray you will get the time in your chosen time zones.

If you liked this article, subscribe to the feed by clicking the image below to keep informed about new contents of the blog:

10+ tweaks, tricks, and hacks to make Windows Vista fly, Chapter 1

1: Add the Run command to the Start Menu

Beginning way back with the release of Windows 1.0, Microsoft has been all about the GUI interface (more or less effectively). 

But sometimes you just want to run a program without having to navigate the GUI maze of menus and folders. Windows Vista, by default,

does not include the Run command on the Start Menu. This was a common and favorite feature of Windows XP.

To add the Run command back to the Vista Start Menu, follow these steps:

• Right click the Taskbar in an open area
• Click on Properties
• Click on the Start Menu tab (See Figure A)

Figure A

Taskbar and Start Menu Properties

• Click the Customize button to get to the Customize Start Menu
• Scroll down the list until you find the Run command checkbox and check it (See Figure B).
• Click OK and the Run command will now appear on the Start Menu.

Figure B

Customize Start Menu

2. Disable the Welcome Center and Sidebar

The Windows Vista default setting is to show the Welcome Center on startup. While the Welcome Center is mildly interesting the first time you see it, you will quickly tire of it appearing every time you boot your Vista PC. This behavior is easily changed by unchecking the Run a Startup button located at the bottom of the Welcome Center as shown in Figure C.

Figure C

Welcome Center

Similarly, the Vista Sidebar is also on by default. While some users will find the Sidebar and its widgets useful, many will desire the desktop real estate and underlying resources for other more productive uses. You can turn the Sidebar off by:

• Right clicking the Windows Sidebar icon in the system tray
• Click Properties
• Uncheck the Start Sidebar when Windows starts checkbox (See Figure D)
• Click OK

Figure D

Windows Sidebar Properties

3: Change the Product Key

A Windows Vista installation disk essentially has all of the various editions of Vista included on that one disk. Which version gets installed is dependent on what product key you enter during the installation process. At some point you may want to upgrade your current version to a version with more bells and whistles, which would require a new Product Key.

Or you may want to Activate your Windows Vista under a different Product Key for some reason. The easiest way to change your Product Key is through the System applet in the Control Panel. (See Figure E)

Figure E

System applet

Figure F

Windows Activation

Under the Windows Activation section there is a link: Change Product Key. Clicking that link brings up the screen shown in Figure F where you can enter in a different Product Key.

4: Start Windows Explorer at somewhere other than documents

Figure G

Windows Explorer Properties

While Windows Vista has desktop search that will theoretically allow you the option of merely typing in a location on your hard disk to get an Explorer view, some users will undoubtedly prefer to use Windows Explorer. By default, Windows Explorer in Vista shows you the files located in the user Documents folder. Follow these steps to have Windows Explorer start in a different folder:

• Copy the Windows Explorer shortcut, usually found in the Start Menu under Accessories, to the Desktop.

• Right click the shortcut and click properties.
• Click on the Shortcut tab to get the window shown in Figure G.
• Change the Target filed to the desired location.

For example, to have Windows Explorer start at C:\ type in"

C:\Windows\explorer.exe /n, /e, c:\

5: Privacy tweak

As a convenience, Windows Vista by default saves and displays a list of recently opened files and programs on the Start Menu.

Ostensibly, this is supposed to make it easier to find a file or program. However, many users would prefer that information to remain hidden. Here is how to turn it off:

• Right click the Taskbar and click Properties on the resulting menu
• Click the Start Menu tab
• Uncheck the checkboxes under Privacy (See Figure H)
• Click OK

Figure H

Privacy settings

6: Smaller icons on Start Menu

The icons located on the Windows Vista Start Menu default to large (Figure I).

Figure I

Large icons

For many users, the personal preference will be for those icons to be much smaller. Here is how:

• Right click the Taskbar and click on Properties
• Click the Start Menu tab
• Click the Customize button
• Scroll down to the bottom of the list (See Figure J)
• Uncheck the Use large icons checkbox
• Click OK twice

Figure J

No more large icons

If you liked this article, subscribe to the feed by clicking the image below to keep informed about new contents of the blog:

Help protect your PC with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a new, free consumer anti-malware solution for your computer. It helps protect against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

It's available as a no-cost download for Windows XP SP2 and higher, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials now.

Why should I download Microsoft Security Essentials?

• Comprehensive protection—Microsoft Security Essentials helps defend your computer against spyware, viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious software.
• Easy to get, easy to use—Because Microsoft Security Essentials is available at no cost, there's no registration process that requires billing or personal information collection. It installs after a quick download and Genuine Windows validation and then stays automatically up-to-date with the latest protection technology and signature updates.
• Quiet Protection—Microsoft Security Essentials doesn't get in your way. It runs quietly in the background and schedules a scan when your computer is most likely idle. You only see alerts when you need to take action.

Microsoft Security Essentials security status.
Microsoft Security Essentials has a clean, simple home page that shows the security state of your computer.

Microsoft pulled the plug on its Windows Live OneCare security suite before it reached version 3. The company promised to replace it (sort of) with a slim, free tool specifically aimed at malware protection. The just-released Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 offers consumers protection against malware, but in real-world testing it didn't impress.

The 8.5MB download installs in about a minute, but its mandatory update of anti-malware signatures can take 10 minutes or more. After updates, the full installation occupied over 170MB of disk space—more than I expected. The installer necessarily turns on automatic updates, which may pose a problem for advanced users who want to control exactly when Windows installs those updates. 

Microsoft pulled the plug on its Windows Live OneCare security suite before it reached version 3. The company promised to replace it (sort of) with a slim, free tool specifically aimed at malware protection. The just-released Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 offers consumers protection against malware, but in real-world testing it didn't impress.

The 8.5MB download installs in about a minute, but its mandatory update of anti-malware signatures can take 10 minutes or more. After updates, the full installation occupied over 170MB of disk space—more than I expected. The installer necessarily turns on automatic updates, which may pose a problem for advanced users who want to control exactly when Windows installs those updates.  

Average Malware Removal
Getting the product installed on all my test systems took hours and hours, but the fault was mine, not Microsoft's: I've been doing back-to-back suite reviews for months, and I let my test systems get behind on their Windows updates, so I had to bring them all up to speed before installing Security Essentials.

Malware acting as a proxy server blocked the update on one system. Downloading a self-installing update package on another computer solved that one. Many products will remove this proxy without correcting the system's proxy settings, leaving it with no connectivity. Security Essentials removed the threat and fixed the proxy settings; I was impressed. Overall, the installations went smoothly.

The product's beta version warned that a scan might take a few hours; the release version says a few minutes. It still took over an hour on many infested test systems. A full scan of my standard clean system took over 45 minutes, well over the 30-minute average. A repeated scan was no faster.

Security Essentials scored 7.0 of 10 possible points for malware removal. That's just average, although it's only one full point below the top-scoring Norton Internet Security 2010. It detected 92 percent of the threats but left behind many executable files. A couple of threats were still running after it supposedly cleaned them up. In a separate test using commercial keyloggers, it scored a dismal 1.6 points. Only Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.36 with 0.5 point and FortiClient Endpoint Security Standard Edition 4.1 with 0.7 have scored lower.

I analyzed the product's ability to detect and remove rootkits, drawing from both the malware and keylogger categories. Security Essentials boasts live kernel behavior monitoring and other features that should help against rootkits—they didn't. It only detected two-thirds of my rootkit samples. Two were still running and one still functioning as a rootkit after attempted removal. Its antirootkit score of 3.7 is way below average.

Microsoft has publicly warned about the growing problem of rogue security software, called "scareware." I broke out a separate score specifically for scareware samples and found that Security Essentials scored just 4.5 points, another below-average result

Screenshots.

If you liked this article, subscribe to the feed by clicking the image below to keep informed about new contents of the blog:

New Windows 8 wallpapers.

Microsoft is keeping a tight lid on any information about "Windows 8." But back in June, leaked slides on the Web indicate that, with its next client OS, Microsoft will push for near-instant start-up times, integrated facial recognition technologies, support for USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0, compatibility across different devices through the cloud, and simpler streaming of movies and TV shows to any screen.

It's clear that Microsoft intends to cover the increasingly diverse hardware landscape with Windows 8.


Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm, has some ideas of its own for the next version of Windows.

In an as-yet-unpublished report, Directions on Microsoft Research Vice President Michael Cherry compiles a Windows 8 wish list consisting of faster start-up times, a timely release, coherent error messages and more.

This fourth batch of Windows 8 wallpapers were sent in by a fifteen year old.

 
Sunshine In The Trees

Sun Rays Through Red Trees

 
Spring Wallpaper

Mountains And Valley

Flowers Field Wallpaper

 
Lake And Valley

 
Blue Beach Wallpaper

 
Windows8 Fire Wallpaper

 
Windows 8 Colourful Wallpaper 1

 
Windows 8 Elements Wallpaper

 
Windows 8 Infinity Wallpaper

 
Windows 8 The New Begining

 
Windows 8 Colourful Eggs Wallpaper

Windows 8 Beta Black Wallpaper Hd

Freaky Windows 8 Wallpaper Black

If you liked this article, subscribe to the feed by clicking the image below to keep informed about new contents of the blog: