Go Back   Cyber Tech Help Support Forums > Operating Systems > Older Windows Versions > Windows Vista

Notices

Windows Vista Problem solving for the Windows Vista Operating System. Please remember to state which edition of Vista you are using - Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate etc. and whether you are using the 32-bit or 64-bit version if you know.

Reply
 
Topic Tools
  #31  
Old March 28th, 2007, 01:32 AM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
How to Show Hidden Files and Folders

1. Click the Start button
2. Open the Control Panel
3. Click "Appearance and Personalization"
4. Click "Folder Options"
5. Click the View tab
6. Under "Hidden files and folders" select the "Show hidden files and folders" radio button.
7. Click OK

Tutorial w/ screenshots here.

Last edited by Pi rules; March 28th, 2007 at 01:34 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old March 28th, 2007, 01:33 AM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
Turn of Auto Highlight of New Programs

Here's one feature of Vista (and XP) that annoys me - highlighting new programs.

1. Right-click the Start Menu and click "Properties"2. Click the "Customize..." button
3. Scroll down until you see "Highlight newly installed programs" (almost half down the list)
4. Uncheck it
5. Click OK
6. Click OK

Tutorial w/ screenshots here
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old March 28th, 2007, 01:34 AM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
Show the Administrative Tools Menu

The System Administrative Tools have some useful shortcuts in them. To put a menu with the shortcuts on the Start Menu, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Start Menu and click "Properties"
2. Click "Customize..."
3. Scroll down to "System Administrative Tools" (bottom) and which choice you would like: showing it on the Start Menu & All Programs, showing it in only the All Programs Menu, or not showing it at all.

4. Click OK
5. Click OK


Tutorial w/ screenshots here.
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old March 28th, 2007, 01:35 AM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
Change Basic Vista boot options

I'd probably say VistaBoot Pro is better, but this is just a quick way to change a few settings.

By default, Vista loads itself after 30 seconds if you have more than one Operating System (OS) instaled. This tutorial can help you either change the default Operating System ("Microsoft Windows") for Vista, and "Earlier Version of Windows" for XP or another previous version of Windows you have; change the maximum time the list is displayed before the default is loaded; or stop the default from being loaded after a certain period of time. Make sure you are in Windows Vista while doing this.

1. Right-click My Computer and click Properties
2. Click Advanced System Settings
3. Type your password if necessary and click Continue.
4. Under Startup and Recovery, click the Settings button
5. To change the default OS, choose it from the drop-down list. "Microsoft Windows" is Vista, and "Earlier version of Windows" is XP or whatever other pre-Vista Microsoft OS you have on your computer.
6. To stop the default OS from loading after the time, uncheck the checkbox. Or, to change the time the list is displayed before the default OS is loaded, type a new number (in seconds) you would like it to be displayed.

Tutorial w/ screenshots here.
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old April 13th, 2007, 07:17 PM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
How to Change the function of the Power Button or closing the lid

The Power button by default puts your computer in Standby, or Sleep Mode. I personally would rather shut it down, and for my notebook, just close the lid to put it in sleep mode. Here's how to change it:

1. Go to Start and click Control Panel
2. Under the Mobile PC section click "Change Battery Settings"
3. On the left side of the screen, click "Choose what the power button does"
4. Choose what you would like the power button and closing the lid to do.
5. Click Save changes to apply the new changes
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old April 13th, 2007, 07:20 PM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
Change the Start Menu Power Button

By default, the power button in the Start Menu causes your computer to enter Sleep (Standby) mode. I prefer it to shut down, so here's how to change it:
1. Open the Start menu and click Control Panel
2. Under Hardware and Sound, click Power Options
3. Click "Change plan settings" under your current power plan.
4. Click "Change advanced settings"
5. Expand "Power buttons and lid"
6. Expand "Start menu power button" and choose the action you desire for battery power and while your PC is plugged in
7. Click OK, then click Save Changes
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old April 15th, 2007, 10:17 PM
Pi rules's Avatar
Pi rules Pi rules is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
O/S: Linux
Location: US
Posts: 3,111
How to turn off User Account Control

What is UAC?
The goal of UAC is to protect your computer from unauthorized access to your files and settings. However, it does annoy some users.

Should I turn it off?
I would recommend leaving it on unless you are really bothered by it. The extra prompts may be irksome, but they are there to protect your computer. You can turn it on at any time by checking the box in step 6.

How can I disable it?
1. Open the Start Menu and click Control Panel
2. Click “User Accounts and Family Safety”
3. Select “User Accounts”
4. Click “Turn User Account Control on or off”
5. Click Continue (for the last time)
6. Uncheck “Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer.” and click OK.

You may also just open the Start Menu and type User Account Control then go to step 5.

Tutorial with screenshots (soon) here.
Reply With Quote
  #38  
Old May 22nd, 2007, 11:19 PM
peterm69 peterm69 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: bolton, england
Age: 61
Posts: 635
post deleted, duplicated

Last edited by peterm69; May 22nd, 2007 at 11:35 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #39  
Old May 23rd, 2007, 01:42 PM
AnnMarie's Avatar
AnnMarie AnnMarie is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
O/S: Windows Vista 32-bit
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 59,810
Free software for Vista

See here.

NB >>> Please download and use at your own risk. The programs on the Vista Page have been written by Microsoft employees however it is unlikely that Microsoft will offer any support for this software.
Reply With Quote
  #40  
Old June 6th, 2007, 05:07 PM
the_can's Avatar
the_can the_can is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 69
Here's a little trick I learned for Vista owner's. You can control the size of your desktop icons...

To do so:
1 close or minimize all windows
2 left click desktop
3 hold down the ctrl key
4 scroll up or down on your mouse (The scroll function on my touchpad worked fine for this)

I took some screenshots to show, but apparently I'm too much of a noob to post links, so you'll just have to see it for yourself.
Reply With Quote
  #41  
Old July 12th, 2007, 06:34 AM
muddywaters111 muddywaters111 is offline
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4
Most have probably already figured this out but this is for all those Vista Business users who have been craving some classic Minesweeper or Solitaire. The games are actually there but they have to be enabled.

1. Click Start, Then go to control pannel
2. Click on Programs and Features
3. On the left click Turn Windows Features On or Off
4. Press continue
5. Highlight the box marked "Games" and click OK

and thats it now you can have all the old classic windows games plus a few more.
Reply With Quote
  #42  
Old September 24th, 2007, 01:54 AM
cougar62 cougar62 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 177
also remember if you use ultimate to keep those language packs uninstalled unless youre actually going to use them.
Reply With Quote
  #43  
Old September 24th, 2007, 11:22 PM
cougar62 cougar62 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 177
Anyway to speed up shutdown times? it takes a minute or so to boot, over twice the time my xp machine takes to boot. and well, id like to speed this up a bit. any reg tweaks capable of this?
Reply With Quote
  #44  
Old October 17th, 2007, 02:00 AM
AnnMarie's Avatar
AnnMarie AnnMarie is offline
CTH Subscriber
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
O/S: Windows Vista 32-bit
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 59,810
Black Viper's service configuration for optimizing performance. Experiment at your own risk as always folks.
Reply With Quote
  #45  
Old November 24th, 2007, 12:59 AM
squirekat squirekat is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
O/S: Windows XP Pro
Location: Santa Cruz, California
Posts: 953
Found a website with pretty good Vista info...

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Topic Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Topics
Topic Topic Starter Forum Replies Last Post
firefox tips and tweaks has no effect zack_rage Internet / Browsers 3 December 2nd, 2004 06:28 AM
tips for windows xp (tweaks) zack_rage Windows XP 2 November 14th, 2004 03:54 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:48 PM.