Vista Basics, Tweaks and Tips

[Pi rules]

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.

[Pi rules]

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

[Pi rules]

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.

[Pi rules]

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.

[Pi rules]

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

[Pi rules]

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

[Pi rules]

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.

[peterm69]

post deleted, duplicated

[AnnMarie]

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.

[the_can]

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.

[muddywaters111]

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.

[cougar62]

also remember if you use ultimate to keep those language packs uninstalled unless youre actually going to use them.

[cougar62]

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?

[AnnMarie]

Black Viper's service configuration for optimizing performance. Experiment at your own risk as always folks.

[squirekat]

Found a website with pretty good Vista info...

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/