Windows Vista Secrets

[Hardwareman]

Unlocking the Secrets of Vista

You're in possession of Vista! Whether you've installed to replace Windows XP or you bought a PC ... Like everyone else, you've certainly changed some settings: the desktop background, screen saver, the firewall and a few other things found in the Control Panel. Why stop there? Many other settings are available. But they remain in the shadows, lost in the maze of dialog boxes too confidential access, or even inaccessible via the Windows menu.

Is that, in general, Microsoft is trying to dissuade novice users to "destroy" their configuration - and her encumbering hotline calls panic - by changing the settings unexpectedly sensitive system. The editor has therefore taken the habit of "armor" its operating system, a trend that has significantly increased with the arrival of Vista. However, these hidden settings that we are not talking about anecdotal: by amending, you can speed up the startup and shutdown of Windows, Office and customize the Windows Explorer, refine resource sharing your PC network, optimize the overall functioning of the system ...

We suggest you explore some of these hidden settings. To do this, we will use much the Windows registry that hosts numerous operating parameters related to hardware, operating system, the user and the software installed.

But be careful when you go to the intimate settings of the system, you take risks! An improvised manipulation ... and the system may become unstable or crash or you lose data. For this reason, please do not venture into the parameter settings that you can not. While the manipulation we specify have been carefully tested, but if you run in the off-piste is at your own risk ...

To run these different settings, you must have an Administrator account on your PC (the default account created when you install Vista). The maneuvers are nothing sorcerer, but they are strongly discouraged for beginners. So get ready to make many discoveries: Vista is capable of great things, often hidden but very real!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The need to implement our procedures
Windows Vista Home Premium. Parameters and manipulations detailed here operate on the most widespread version of Vista. Most apply to the Basic version.

An Administrator account. To adjust the settings mentioned, you must have all rights on the PC. It automatically if you're the only user.

Easy BCD. If you installed Windows Vista while keeping XP, you need to choose the system to activate at boot the PC. The menu is managed by Multiboot Vista but, strangely, Microsoft has provided no software to configure, modify or repair this mode Multiboot. This gap is filled by providing NeoSmart Easy BCD compatible with XP and Vista. This optional software is available free on www.download.com. It must be installed alternately in each of two partitions: XP and Vista.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unveil files
Some procedures require access to system files, normally hidden. To make them visible, click Start, Computer. In the Windows Explorer, click Organize and then in the menu options on data and research. Enable the View tab. Check the View Files and hidden files.
Uncheck the option Hide extensions for file types known and Hide protected operating system. Click OK. As a precaution, reset these options in their original state as soon as you finish your settings. To do so, in the same dialog box, click the Default button.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make your backups!
The exploration of hidden parameters of Vista is not without risk, create a restore point. You will incident to restore your system to its original state. Open the Control Panel and click in the left pane Display classic. Double-click the System icon, click Advanced System Settings and select the System Protection tab. Make sure the C: drive is checked and click Create. Name this restore point, for example personal and click Create. Wait a moment while Windows creates the point.
If you have trouble following the change of a setting, here's how to restore the system: Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. If the window that opens offers the restore point that you created, select it. Otherwise, click Next and select the restore point in the list. Click Next and confirm the restoration by clicking Finish. Do not touch anything and let Vista restart. Log on as usual. If the system refuses to boot normally, turn off and turn the PC and press the F8 key until the startup menu appears.
Use the arrow keys on the keyboard, select Start in Safe Mode. The display of very poor quality, this is normal. In Safe Mode, Windows starts with a limited number of pilots, so you can diagnose a problem and fix the system. Restore Windows as mentioned above.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Hardwareman]

Modify the registry easily and safely

The parameters and options of operation, namely the "heart" of Windows, are grouped in the registry.

1. Open regedit
To access the registry, click Start. In the Search box, type Regedit and press. The window that appears consists of two parts: left, the tree "key" (the equivalent files in the registry), right the contents of the selected key.

2. Save the keys before any change
Before changing anything in the registry, it is prudent to save the key on which to intervene. To do this, select the key save in the left pane of the window. Then pull down the File menu, Export. Choose a meaningful name and click Save.

REG file is created: it contains the key, subkeys and values they contain. Later, if you want to undo changes to the registry, you just double-click the REG file and choose Yes in the confirmation message. The data file will be reinjected into the registry.

3. See multiple keys simultaneously
It is often useful to show more keys simultaneously, for example, to compare or copy their data. To do this, open a first Regedit. If you try to open a second time in the same way, the editor window is already open again. To open several times Regedit, and click the Start button. In the Search from the Start menu, type regedit-m and press Enter. Repeat this order: a new editor window opens each time.

4. Create a shortcut to save a limb
If you must frequently make a copy of a specific branch of the registry, for example, the branch HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, give it a shortcut. To do this, right-click on the desktop and in the context menu, select the New command. Then click Shortcut. In the design window shortcut, enter the reg export HKCU\Software\Microsoft c:\users\(name)\Documents\hkcu.reg to copy the key in the folder of your documents. Replace (name) by your username. Click the Next button. Name the shortcut and click Finish. Thereafter, when you double-click the shortcut icon, the branch (ie all subkeys and values ) Will be copied into the file hkcu.reg. To restore data, double-click the icon for the file and click Yes.

Modify the registry of another user
You have the Administrator account, and your children (or your colleagues) have a limited account. Normally, when you want to intervene in the environment of the one given by modifying a registry, you are obliged to log in his name. There are more simple: in Regedit window, select the branch HKEY_USERS.

Then pull down the File menu, Load Hive (sic). In the Explorer window that opens, select successively Computer, C: Users and the name of the person you want to edit the registry. Select file Ntusi . DAT and click Open. A message asks you to name the key. Enter the name of your choice (eg Julie). The key inserted contains the values located at HKEY_CURRENT_USER in the registry of the user. After making the changes, select the key inserted above and choose the Unload Hive. A confirmation message appears: validate by clicking the OK button.

[Hardwareman]

Accelerate the opening and closing of the system

Vista takes time to start. By eliminating some unnecessary steps, you go faster.

1. Start faster with msconfig
Click the Windows Start button. In the Search from the Start menu, type msconfig and press Enter. The System Configuration Utility opens. The Startup tab (not Start) presents a list of items that launch automatically. Some are not essential at the start of the PC, such as iTunes, Adobe Reader, the tool indexing of Microsoft Office, Internet software as the Google Toolbar Notifier or compression as Winzip ...

Uncheck them, but do not touch the elements that refer to the operating system. Click OK and agree to restart Windows. Check Do not show ... to eliminate the appearance of this recurring message. In case of problems, reactivate the element that may be required, possibly in safe mode if Windows refuses to boot normally. Besides speeding up the start, reducing this list helps speed the overall functioning of Windows.

2. Speed up the closure of Windows
By default, when you close Vista, the system waits for twenty seconds that the programs of the system (called "services") close. After this period, the recalcitrant are automatically stopped. You can minimize this delay. To do this, run Regedit and open successively the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System, CurrentControlSet, Control. In the right pane, double-click to WaitTo KillServiceTimeout value. In the window of the chain that appears, enter 1000 and confirm by clicking OK. Then open successively the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Control Panel and Desktop.

In the right pane, double-click AutoEndTasks and assign value to this data
1. If these values do not exist, create them: Select the key where it should be included and pull down the Edit menu, New String Value. Enter their name and press the Enter key. Note: After you enable this setting, Windows will close very quickly all open source software ... but without checking in advance if there are still not open files saved!

3. Test Vista for free and legally
One of the interests of Windows Vista is that it requires no product key to use it! You have the right to try it for free. Take a friend a DVD to install Windows and install it on your PC. Leave blank form that asks you the key to DVD and continue the installation. Without product key, you'll receive the full system for thirty days. After this period, it will provide a license key module in the system Control Panel. Either you buy the license online, or you buy a box and you insert the key provided in it. In any case it will be necessary to reinstall Windows.

Then Windows by following the instructions on the screen.

If, after the trial period, you do not provide a valid key, Windows will almost inert. There will be virtually only possible action: entering a license key. Whatever the installation DVD, you can enter the license key to any version. DVDs always contain all versions of Windows, and is the key that activates the one you bought.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BCD easy to manage MultiBoot
If you have multiple operating systems (that is the case, for example, if you install Vista on a PC without deleting Windows XP), you can choose which system should activate the default boot the PC. Launch Easy BCD, click Add / Remove entries to move, delete or add an item in the menu. Then click the Configure Boot. Choose the system that will be implemented by default after the time specified by Bootloader Timeout. In the second frame, change the menu entitled to any proposed system. Press the Save Settings button.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Hardwareman]

Exploit all network resources

A network is made to share files, music, printers ... You manage these shares, whatever the version of Windows that your PC team is.

1. Share a network with PCs running Windows XP
By default, the microphones in XP are not visible in the "mapping" (map of machines connected) network with Vista. To fill this gap, open the Control Panel and double-click Network and Sharing Center. For an overview of the entire network, click View entire mapping. Any PC running Windows XP there are still not. Frustrating! To fill this gap, Microsoft offers a small module named Link Layer Topology Discovery Responder (LLTDR) makes visible in the "mapping" the PC running Windows XP (must have Service Pack 2 or 3).

To retrieve it, open the Microsoft Download Center at www.microsoft.com/downloads. Search for the words Link layer topology. In the results page, click on the name of the module. In the download page, open the list of languages and choose English. Click the Change button. You can then download the module. Warning: You must install it on PCs equipped with Windows XP, not those running Windows Vista.

2. Speed Network Connection
After power-up, if you notice any dead time of several minutes before Windows becomes operational, it is likely that your PC has difficulty in obtaining an IP address from the router. You solve the problem by assigning an IP address final. To do this, open the module Center Network and Sharing Control Panel. In the left pane of the window that appears, click Manage network connections.

The window displays the connections. Right-click on that connects your PC to the LAN or modem and choose Properties. In the Properties window of the connection, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties. The properties window Internet Protocol opens. Check Use the following Internet address. Fill IP address, such as the following: 192.168.0.101. Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0 and Default Gateway: enter the IP address of the ADSL modem.

This address is given in the manual that came with the modem or router. This address is given in the manual that came with the modem or router. If there is a problem or if Windows always starts slowly return to the properties window of Internet protocol and try a different address, for example 192.168.0.102. Beware, each network must have a different IP address!

3. Create a shortcut to the window connections
To access all your network connections (wireless LAN ...), you can associate a shortcut. To do this, right-click on a location free of the Bureau and, in the context menu, choose the New, then click Shortcut. In the window that appears, enter explorer.exe:: (7007ACC7-3202-11D1 AAD2-00-805FC1270E). Click the Next button. Enter a name for the future shortcut, for example My network. Validate by clicking Finish.

4. Share your library
You have music or videos on your PC and you want to benefit other machines. To do this, open the Network and Sharing Center in Control Panel. In the Sharing and Discovery section, click the arrow to the right of sharing files. Then click the Change button. In the window that appears, select the icon for each PC that you authorize access to your files. For each, click Allow. Click Settings to specify what elements you want to share (music, images, videos). Confirm by clicking OK.

If you want to listen to music shared by another PC on the network, open Windows Media Player. Type the Alt key to display the menu bar and pull down the Tools menu, Options. In the Options window, select the Library tab and click the Configure button sharing. Dialog box opens sharing. Check the Search for files shared by other users to select the name of the PC Splitters. Click OK. Multimedia files from other PC appear in your library. Music, images, videos remaining on the original PC. The only constraint should remain switched on continuously.

5. Share a folder out of sight
It is sometimes useful to share a folder ... without it being visible to all. To do this, open Windows Explorer in Vista. Select the folder to hide. Right-click on its icon and choose Properties. In the window that appears, select the Sharing tab and click the Advanced Sharing. Check Share this folder. Enter a share name that ends mandatory by the $ sign. For example: $ italy. Click OK. To access this file, other network users must enter your full address, ie your computer name followed by the shared item. For example, if your computer is named Max, the shared folder is available at: \ \ max \ $ italy. Note that, by default, users will have all rights to the shared folder (reading, writing) .. .

6. Hide your computer in the network
You want your computer to enjoy all the benefits of the network while remaining invisible? Possibly. Run Regedit on the machine to "hide". Open successively key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System, CurrentControlSet, Services, Lanman Server, Parameters. Pull down the Edit menu then, New 32-bit DWORD Value. Name the new key Hidden. Double-click on its name to assign the data 1. Restart Windows. Your computer is most visible in the network. To access, other users must, in the Address box of the window Network or My Network Places, type its name preceded by two slashes, for example \ \ sylvie.

7. Share without a password
Normally, to access a shared resource on your computer, any user of a PC network must provide the name and password for a user account. You can cancel this constraint. On your PC, open the Network and Sharing Center in Control Panel. In the Sharing and Discovery, click the small arrow button to the right of sharing protected by password. Check Disable sharing protected by password password. Next, open Windows Explorer and select the folder to share. Click in the window on the Share button. The File Sharing window opens. Scroll and select Everyone. Validate by clicking Add. Those who access this folder can simply retrieve the files. So they can add or delete files, change their status Player together. Finish by clicking the Share button.

8. Remove the hidden shares
Each drive a shared disk in a network is visible in the window network. All drives are accessible, even if you do not see them. Type in the address area of the window of the letter followed by a $. For example: \ \ max \ D $ for the D: drive on the computer named Max. You can disable this hidden share, that called "administrative share". Run Regedit, and open successively the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System, Current ControlSet Services, Lanmanserver, Parameters. Pull down the Edit menu, New 32-bit DWORD Value. Name the new key AutoShareWks. Double-click on its name to give it the 0 and validate.

[Hardwareman]

Custom office

Trash, start menu, Gadgets component, toolbars on the bottom line: all this seems frozen. And yet ... The office of Vista is adjustable at will.

1. Create your personal toolbar
You can add on the desktop a toolbar where you combine elements of your choice. Right-click on a location free of the Bureau and, in the context menu, select the New command, and then click Folder. Label this folder, for example personal Barre. Drag the folder icon on the edge of the screen and release the mouse button. The toolbar is created. With the right mouse button, drag on this new bar icons elements of your records, documents, programs, shortcuts to a Web site ... When you release the mouse button, a menu appears select the Copy command here. To remove the toolbar, right-click it. In the context menu, choose the Toolbars and click on the name of the bar.

2. Remove the tooltip on the element
When you point the mouse of a desktop or the Start menu, Windows displays some explanations in a tooltip. If you're a beginner, you impede these displays perhaps. To remove them, run Regedit and open successively the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Explorer, Advanced. In the right pane of the window, Double-click the value ShowInfoTip and set it to 0.

3. Remove the arrow shortcuts
Download and install the utility Vista Shortcut Manager on download.com. Run it from the Start menu, click All Programs, Frameworkx, Vista Shortcut Manager. In the program window, select No Arrow to remove the arrow , The option to restore Arrow or Arrow Light option to reduce their size. Click Apply to validate your choice.

4. Go immediately to your favorite files
The files called "system" as Pictures, Documents, Music, Games ... are interesting: they are accessible directly from the Start menu. You can place some on the desktop. You can also place it in a folder of your choice. Each of these is identified by a code named CLSID (Class Identifier). The Computer folder, for example, has the following CLSID: (20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D). To insert in a computer folder, open the folder in the Windows Explorer. In the Organize menu, select the New Folder. Give the new folder the name of your choice, such as My Computer, type a period (but no space) and enter the CLSID folder Computer. With our example, this gives: My computer. (20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D). As a result, the system's computer is accessible through its icon in the folder you have selected. The manipulation works with a score of system folders.

5. Insert your programs in the Start menu
Open the Start menu. At the top left of the strip are two commands. One launches the web browser and other messaging. You can add a command to the area. To do this, right-click on the Start menu on a program's icon and click on the shortcut menu, click Add to the Start menu. The command that runs the program is copied into the upper Start menu. For withdraw an order for the area, click the right mouse button and, in the menu that appears, select the Remove from this list. For this area, simply drag the elements to the desired location. To move a file or a program in the Start menu, drag its icon on the Start button: Windows creates a shortcut and inserts itself in the menu.

6. Close the Windows Sidebar keeping gadgets
You find that the Windows Sidebar (normally located on the right edge of the screen) is too cumbersome ... but you would still retain some gadgets. Get the component and drag them onto the desktop. Then, to disable the pane, right-click on its surface and, in the context menu, choose Properties. The Properties window pane window is displayed. Uncheck Run the Windows Sidebar along with Windows. Confirm with OK. Then click the right mouse button on the surface of the pane. In the menu that appears, select the Close the Windows Sidebar. To find the Windows pane, click the Start button and then click All Programs. Open the Accessories folder and click Windows Sidebar.

7. Limit the damage when Windows freezes
When Windows Explorer crashes, the Bureau and the taskbar freeze also because these three elements are managed by the same process system. Better to isolate the Bureau and the Taskbar in unrelated processes. In this way, blocking one will not affect the other. To do this, run Regedit and open successively the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software, Microsoft, Windows, Current-Version, Explorer. Pull down the Edit menu then, New 32-bit DWORD Value. Give the new key name DesktopProcess. Then double-click on his behalf and set it to 1. Restart Windows.

Please note that this change will increase the space in RAM! Now, when Explorer freezes in a window, try to close it by clicking on the cross in the upper right corner. Otherwise, press Ctrl + Alt + Del, launch Task Manager. In the Applications tab, select Explorer and click End Task. Explorer and other software are independent. If Explorer restarts, and other open source software will not be affected.

8. Complete the command to send ...
When you right-click the mouse on the icon of a file or folder, you find, among other things, a Send To command that offers various destinations (disk drives, USB keys, mail ...) . You can complete the list of destinations and remove those that are unnecessary. list, different for each user, is in the SendTo folder, itself located in the tree C: \ Users \ (your name) \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ SendTo. Put it in the shortcut items you want to add to the list. To quickly create shortcuts, drag icons while maintaining the right mouse button pressed. When you release the button, select the Create shortcuts here. Change the name of the shortcut icon because his name will appear on the Send To list.

9. Change swiftly icon size
If you find that your desktop icons are too small, you can change the size without going through the Control Panel. To do this, click on any icon, press the Ctrl key and rotate the mouse wheel.

[Hardwareman]

Taming the explorer

The browser windows is an indispensable tool. Adapt it to your needs!

1. Find the drop-down menus
If you use Windows XP, you've probably been surprised by the side "minimalist" of the new browser, the menu bar with simply disappeared. In fact, it has not disappeared, it is just hidden. To make it reappear, press the Alt key. Then use the menus as you did with XP. This resurgence is tentative. To find finally, click on the Organize button, select the Layout and click Menu Bar.

2. Create symbolic links
Sometimes one of the files is embedded in a complex tree, for example C:\users\max\Documents\Personal\ You can create a symbolic link (actually a virtual folder), which allows you to designate this issue in a much shorter name, for example C:\Doc. Once this link is created, you will find the doc in the C: drive and you use it exactly as it was the C:\users\max\Documents\Personal\ To create this link, open the Command Prompt window (you'll find the command in the Start menu, point to All Programs, Accessories). mklink Type /d C:\doc C:\users\max\Documents\Personal. Push the enter key.
By way of confirmation, the Command Prompt window displays created for Consolidation C:\doc <<==>> c:\users\max\Documents\Personal. Then exit, and then press Enter to close the window orders. The icon of a virtual folder resembles a shortcut, but it is not. The virtual folder is seen by the system as a true record. While a shortcut is a file, seen as a link. On this principle, you can create as many symbolic links as you want.

3. Open the File Explorer on a specific
When you start Explorer, it opens by default on the Documents folder. You'd rather see immediately another folder? On the Start menu, click All Programs and then Accessories. Click the right button on Windows Explorer. Choose from the context menu, the Properties. Go to the Shortcut tab. The Target box contains the command line that starts Explorer:%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe. For example, if Explorer automatically opens the file budget, in your Documents folder, type the explorer.exe/n, /e, c:\users\max\documents\budget. The /n opens a new window while the /e develops the folder or drive indicated.

4. Change the icon associated with a player
You identify more easily if a player is assigned a particular icon. To achieve this, run Regedit and open successively the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software, Classes, Application. Pull down the Edit menu, New Key. Name this key Explorer.exe. Select it and create one another in the naming Drives. From Similarly, select that key and create in yet another. Give her name as the drive letter you want to change the icon. For example C (letter alone, without the colon).
Select this key and finally create in a final that you could name DefaultIcon. Double-click in the right pane on the value (default) and enter data as the path to a file icon. For example, C:\Windows\lecteur.ico. You can also try the Shell32.dll file that contains many icons. Thus, the path C:\Windows\syste32\shell32.dll,20 active icon of the twentieth Shell32.dll.

5. Adjust the columns display detailed
By enabling the display Details in the Windows Explorer, data files and folders appear in columns. You can automatically adjust the width of columns based on the data they contain: in the bar column title, double-click the boundary between two labels title.

[Hardwareman]

Accelerate and optimize the system

Temporary folders, index files, and so on. With some adjustments, Windows can work faster, making best use of RAM and hard drive.

1. Hold the Windows kernel in RAM
The memory (RAM) is faster than the hard disk. If your PC is equipped with at least 1 GB of RAM (with Vista is likely), you save time by limiting the exchange of data with the hard disk. To do this, you will block the Windows kernel in RAM. Run Regedit and open the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System, CurrentControlSet, Control, Session Manager, Memory Management. Double-click the value DisablePagingExecutive and set it to 1. Restart the PC to implement the change.

2. Make a compatible USB key ReadyBoost
The technique allows Vista ReadyBoost to exploit the memory of a USB drive or a flash memory card as an extension of memory, which improves overall system performance. For a USB key (or a flash memory card) can complement RAM, it must meet certain criteria (capacity of at least 256 MB, support for USB 2.0, speed of at least 2.5 MB / s read and 1.75 MB / s write ...). To find out if your USB drive or flash memory is compatible, insert it into the PC.
If a dialog box prompts you to activate ReadyBoost, the key is compatible. Otherwise, it is not. In this case, open the Computer window and then right-click its icon and choose Properties. Go to the ReadyBoost tab and check the Shut Down option to test the device when I connect. Unplug the key and wait about thirty seconds. Run Regedit and open successively the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software, Microsoft, Windows_NT, CurrentVersion, EMDgmt. Select the name of the key or memory card. Change the Device status and give the data 2. Then the values given in 1000 to WriteSpeedkbs and ReadSpeedkbs. Close Regedit. Reconnect the key or memory card. If Windows does not always use the key, you must obtain another.

3. Move the temporary folder
The temporary folder is used to host Windows data in use. If you have two hard drives, you have every interest in putting this file on the disk faster. On this last (say the D: drive), create a folder that you call, for example, Tempo. Open the Control Panel and double-click the System icon. In the left pane, click Advanced. In the 'Advanced Settings tab, click Environment Variables. Select the first variable (temp) and click the Edit button. Enter the path to the existing folder on the hard drive (in our example, D:\tempo). Confirm by clicking OK. Repeat the same operation for the variable tmp.

4. Orient research in-compressed files
Normally, Windows excluded from the search compressed files. Get it to search those files. Open Explorer. Click on the Organize button and then click Folder Options and research. In the Folder Options window, go to the Search tab. Check in the third frame, the Include compressed files and validate.

5. Disable indexing files
By default, Vista indexes files permanently on your PC, allowing you to find a file quickly based on multiple criteria (author, size, content ...). If you do not use often, you can disable it (the search is always possible, but less quickly). To do this, open the Control Panel and double-click Administrative Tools. Double-click Services and find the line Search Windows. Right-click it and choose Properties. In the Startup type list, select and validate Off all open dialog boxes.