Vista Tutorials and Tips

This excellent guide, recently updated for RC1 of Windows Vista, tells you everything to know about the changes that might break your application, from basic, simple-to-fix things (e.g. GetVersion() reports a major version number of 6) to more esoteric yet complex changes (the GINA extensible logon model has been replaced with a new credential provider model). If you write Windows applications, I'd encourage you to download and read it - it's as simple as that! The Cookbook is a comprehensive guide of Windows Vista changes that can affect XP application Compatibility. This is a MUST read for all application vendors seeking information on upgrading XP applications to Wind…

Vista has something neat in it called junctions. Junctions are very useful and you can create your own. Open up a command prompt and type 'Mklink /?' and you will be presented with the necessary information for creating your own junctions in Vista. How about a junction that looks like a folder but when you copy files to it they are directed to your web site some where on the internet immediately....drag and drop for the internet without any other client needed (FTP, front page, P2P stuff, etc...) OK, the truth now, junctions are not new as they have been in NTFS based OS's for a while. Vista just calls them symlinks - actually symlinks are new but they are so close to w…

So you are using Windows Vista and feel that its slower than Windows XP? Then you have come to the right place. Following tutorial will help you in tweaking your Windows Vista to the max and you'll feel a significant improvement in your system performance. So without wasting any time lets start: 1. Following code contains a few registry modifications, which are completely safe and can increase the performance of Windows Vista. Just paste following code in Notepad, save the file with name "Vishal.reg" (including quotes) and then run it: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To] @="{C2FBB630-2971-11D…

Here's a nice little trick that I've found out. Open command prompt with admin rights.. You can do this by selecting command prompt-->right click, in the start menu and click on "run as admin".. Type this: rundll32 slc.dll, SLRearmwindows Then hit enter and reboot... This will reset the activation time for windows vista.. It's great if you only got 1 day left or you're using Vista the last day before it has to be activated..

Saw this posted on one of the internal forums today, and I thought this was something that was worth sharing. If you're a keyboard junkie, you'll love this. Do you have a few applications that you're always firing up? Would you like a system-wide keyboard shortcut to run them? Here's what you do. Simply add shortcuts to the Quick Launch toolbar, as shown in the screenshot below. Now you can simply use Win+1, Win+2, Win+3 and so on to launch each application. For example, on my machine, Win+3 launches Notepad and Win+6 launches the VS command prompt. This works no matter what application has the focus. More coolness coming your way soon, courtesy of Windows Vista! Tim Sn…

One question we get asked occasionally is: How do I back up my feed list? Well, it turns out that there is a standard way to save a feed list in a single file for backup or other purposes. It's called OPML, and IE7 supports importing and exporting feed lists via OPML. Here is the step-by-step process for backing up your feed list to an OPML file in IE7: Click on the Add button (the star and plus button next to the Favorites Center button -- Alt-Z is the keyboard shortcut). Click on Import and Export in the menu. In the wizard, select Export Feeds from the list of options and click Next. Select where you'd like the file to be put (by default, it's called feeds.opml, in…

Legit Reviews has posted a guide about installing Windows Vista Ultimate with RAID.

The shortcut arrows in Vista are actually overlaid icons. You can get rid of them using a couple of different methods, one of which concerns removing, renaming, or changing the value of the more traditional 'IsShortcut' key (outlined elsewhere in the Vista Tricks and Tips section). However, there is a slight problem with changing the 'IsShortcut' key, since Vista relies heavly on links if you change this key some items that rely on links may fail to start up. So we need another method. Using the reg entery below gets rid of the shortcut arrow overlay. Actually what this reg entry does is substitute the shortcut arrow overlay for a transparent overlay which is exactly wha…

So, you want to BitLocker an existing computer? The other day I decided, probably against better judgement, to turn on BitLocker on my laptop running Windows Vista RC1+. There were several concerns about doing that though: My machine is a Dell Latitude D620, which does not have a TPM chip of any kind. That means that my only option is to use a USB key for BitLocker. When I installed my machine I let the Windows Vista installer partition the drive for me. That means I had one large partition covering the whole drive You mean you are turning on whole hard disk encryption on a beta OS? What are you thinking? Let

Lots of Vista users are facing a strange problem, where the folder icons in User folder change from special glass icons to simple folder icons. Look at the following screenshot: This is how the icons look in User folder which can be accessed using

You have probably run into the situation, where you had to take ownership of the file or folder in Vista, so you can mess with it.. To fasten this process a bit, you can use this script, which will add an option in context menu for the file. Right click on the file --> Send To --> OwnThefile. Here's the code for the script: Dim Act : Set Act = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell") Dim Fso : Set Fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Dim File, File1, File2 For Each File1 in Wscript.Arguments Act.Run("takeown /f " & File1),0,True Act.Run("icacls " & File1 & " /grant administrators:F"),1,True File2 = Split(File1,".") Set File = Fso.GetFi…

In Longhorn the "Details Pane" was shown at Top but now in Windows Vista its shown on bottom. Many ppl still like the good old top details pane like shown in my following theme: New AeroVG Theme for Windows Vista So here I'm posting a detailed tutorial for changing the "Details Pane" location from Bottom to Top in Windows Vista: 1. We'll have to edit "%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll" file. So first take ownership of this file using my following tutorial: Add Take Ownership Option in File / Folder Context Menu in Windows Vista 2. Now open the file in Resource Hacker. 3. Goto "View -> Find Text" (or press Ctrl + F). It'll open Find box. 4. Now type foll…

Hi guys In this tutorial, I'll tell about various system files in Windows Vista, which can be hacked using Resource Hacker / Resource Tuner to change the look of Windows dialog boxes, menus, login screen, boot screen and many other things. So here we start the tutorial: Above are the new system files/locations in Windows Vista which were not present in earlier versions, like XP. But if you want to change look of various dialog boxes like RUN, Progress, System Properies, Startmenu and Taskbar Properties, etc. Then you'll have to edit the same system files which you used to edit in Windows XP. The difference is, now those files dont contain the resources but their .MUI fil…

User Account Control, or UAC for short. Yes, I know its a bad word to many, however, it really is your friend and will save your butt at some time or another. Part of the reason for the anger of some over UAC is its name, think about it, User Account Control...."CONTROL!!!! Why is MS wanting to control my computer?" In the beginning of Vista UAC was named User Account Protection (UAP), perhaps they should have left it named that way because the word 'Protection' is much more suitable then 'Control' when in reality the aim of UAC is to protect the user. Anyway, UAC is here for right now. Rumor has it that UAC will quietly go away beginning with SP1 for Vista, I don't know …

Windows Vista run commands: Color Management — colorcpl Computer Management Launcher — CompMgmtLauncher Control Panel — control Credential Backup and Restore Wizard — credwiz Defragment User Interface — dfrgui Driver Package Installer — dpinst Display Adapter Troubleshooter — AdapterTroubleshooter Encryption File System — rekeywiz Event Viewer — eventvwr Firewall Settings — FirewallSettings Firewall Control Panel — FirewallControlPanel Help Pane — helppane iSCSI Initiator — iscsicpl Iexpress — iexpress Logoff from Vista — logoff Language Pack Installer — lpksetup Microsoft Sync Center — mobsync Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool — msdt Optional Features …

I've read this article in keznews.com and it says that this is a new way to get a genuine key to activate vista.. really genuine?? i dont know.. i haven't tried it yet. You can download the keygen here: Link Removed This has been reported to work!......look at the following user comments!!! zapp2 wrote: This WORKS WORKS WORKS WORKS WORKS WORKS WORKS 2 min a go I ACTIVATED VISTA HOME BASIC..... Shocked Shocked Shocked Computer User U are the BIG MAN Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy CodeCrapper wrote: I GOT A VALID KEY FOR MY VISTA BUSINESS!!!!!! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy salmypal wrote: 5 hours and i got 3 legit keys. will leave it on for 2…

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I was just viewing all vista dll files in PE Explorer, when I discovered this. First, what u should have. (i) A resource editing tools (like PE Explorer) (ii) Ur favorite picture in the following resolutions: (a)1280 X 960 (b)1024 X 768

Here you can find a list of some useful registry tweaks in Vista..

The way Vista tests a USB flash device for use with ReadyBoost can be a little 'deceptive'. Some USB flash devices will initially test as not compatable, however, they may really be compatable. Theres a little trick to it that the average user may not realize, and this may be the reason why some USB flash devices are not listed in the various lists on line as comptable with ReadyBoost when in actuality they may be compatable. When you first plug a USB flash drive in Vista comes up and asks you what you want to do with it, one of the options is to use it to speed up your system, click on this and Vista will check the flash device for compatability with ReadyBoost. The prob…

You can turn off the Vista Start menu baloon tips one of two ways, use either Gpedit.msc or the reg entry below: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ; turn off start menu baloon tips [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=dword:00000091 "NoSMBalloonTip"=dword:00000001

One thing which really annoys me about the Vista desktop is the size of the icons. Perhaps I

System Related Logging on as Local Administrator If you are having trouble logging on as the built-in Administrator account under 5308, you will need to make some registry modifications to display the Administrator account. Log in using the account you created during the Windows Vista setup process. From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories. Right click on "Command Prompt" and click "Run as Administrator". Click on "Allow" from the Windows Security dialog. In the Command Prompt window, type "regedit" (without the quotes) and press Enter. In the Registry Editor, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlog…

I used online translator to translate this article to english language. And here is the source written in german language. :sweatingbullets:

This is becoming a very common question as people move to Windows Vista. You have an external or extra hard drive formatted under Windows XP. In Windows XP you were running as a member of the Built-in Administrators Group, and you could write to it just fine. In Vista, you are also a member of the Built-in Administrators group, but now you can't write to it. The reason is permissions, but the reason they become a problem is because of User Account Control (UAC). If you run whoami /all /FO list on Vista you get a printout of your token. It will have a few lines that look like this: Group Name: BUILTIN\Administrators Type: Alias SID: Attributes: Group used fo…