Windows Vista Tips and Tricks

I posted this at my blog but I thought some of you might like it.
Now that Windows Vista is out, how about some tips and tricks?

10. Disable UAC.
It protects you but it can get really annoying sometimes. Here is how you disable it.
Click the Start Orb
Type CMD in the search and press enter
Copy and paste this code in to the Command Prompt window
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Restart your Computer
You will start to get nagging prompts to re-enable UAC, now you need to disable these prompts.
Click the bubble
At the side, it should say “Change the way Security Center alerts me”, Click that.
Click “Don’t notify me and don’t display the icon”
And there! You have disabled UAC but be warned, you have disabled some of your protection against spyware and viruses.

9. Want to upgrade your copy of Vista to a better version? Use Anytime Upgrade!
If you are thinking about upgrading your copy of Vista, Use Anytime Upgrade! You will save tons of money!
Click the Start Orb
Go into Control Panel
Click Anytime Upgrade
Follow the on-screen prompts.

8. Flip 3D
Want to view all your open Windows in 3D? Press the Windows Key+Tab and you now have your Windows in a 3D view! **You must have a graphic card that can handle glass effects.

7. Change the color of the glass effects
Have glass and you want to change the color of the glass effects? Here is how to change the color.
Right click on your desktop
Click personalize
Click Window Color and Appearance
Change the windows to the color you want!

6. Install games that come with Vista
Some versions of Windows Vista don’t have the games already installed. Here is how to install them.
Click the Start Orb
Click Control Panel
Click Programs and Features
At the side there should be “Turn Windows features on or off”, Click that.
Click the box by Games
Click Ok
Enjoy!

5. Windows Ultimate Extras
If you have Ultimate Edition, you will get “Ultimate Extras”. Ultimate Extras are add-ons for Vista. Some examples are group shot and motion desktop. When these programs are released, they will show up in the Ultimate Extras window. To view that window, do the fallowing,
Click the Start Orb
Click Control Panel
Go into Windows Updates
At the side, there should be a thing that says “Ultimate Extras”, Click that.

4. Talk to your computer
Ever wanted to talk to your computer? Well in Windows Vista, you can!
Click the Start Orb
Click Control Panel
Click Speech Recognition
Click Start Speech Recognition
Now you can tell your computer what to do! Be sure to take the Speech Tutorial first to get your computer use to your voice.

3. Add gadgets to your side bar
Some people don’t know how to add gadgets to the side bar, so here is how you do it.
Click the + at the top of the side bar
Drag the icon of the gadget you want to your side bar and the gadget will appear!

2. Ready Boost
Have a extra memory card laying around and want to put it to use? Well you can add it as extra memory to your computer!
Insert your memory card and you should get a prompt
Click ReadyBoost
Click enable and press ok
You now have extra memory!
*Note: This also works on thumb drives as well.

1. WMP in FireFox not working? Here is a fix.
It’s a fact, some people are still using Fire Fox. If you are one of those people that use FireFox, here is a fix for Windows Media Player movies and songs not playing. Download these dll files and unzip them. Then place them in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins .

I hope you liked these tips and tricks! If you want me to add anything or you have a question, please leave a comment!

AjCollins wrote:

10. Disable UAC.

AjCollins wrote:

I posted this at my blog but I thought some of you might like it.
Now that Windows Vista is out, how about some tips and tricks?

10. Disable UAC.
It protects you but it can get really annoying sometimes. Here is how you disable it.
Click the Start Orb
Type CMD in the search and press enter
Copy and paste this code in to the Command Prompt window
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Restart your Computer
You will start to get nagging prompts to re-enable UAC, now you need to disable these prompts.
Click the bubble
At the side, it should say “Change the way Security Center alerts me”, Click that.
Click “Don’t notify me and don’t display the icon”
And there! You have disabled UAC but be warned, you have disabled some of your protection against spyware and viruses.

I don't understand the overall frustration and hatred towards UAC. If you try to perform a privileged action, it requires you to confirm it, so malware like Joe Blows Super Spyware Search Bar can't start writing in the registry and Program Files unless you allow it to. A small "inconvenience" for the protection it provides. Unfortunately it seems like the early adopters turn it off as soon as they get Vista and when it becomes mainstream, they'll just tell their friends and family to turn it off, too. What a shame, another three to five years of fixing peoples' spyware-ridden boxes.

TimP wrote:

I don't understand the overall frustration and hatred towards UAC. If you try to perform a privileged action, it requires you to confirm it, so malware like Joe Blows Super Spyware Search Bar can't start writing in the registry and Program Files unless you allow it to. A small "inconvenience" for the protection it provides. Unfortunately it seems like the early adopters turn it off as soon as they get Vista and when it becomes mainstream, they'll just tell their friends and family to turn it off, too. What a shame, another three to five years of fixing peoples' spyware-ridden boxes.

This trick also works in Firefox on Server 2003.  I dont know on WMP 10 since I have WMP 11 installed

AjCollins wrote:



1. WMP in FireFox not working? Here is a fix.
It’s a fact, some people are still using Fire Fox. If you are one of those people that use FireFox, here is a fix for Windows Media Player movies and songs not playing. Download these dll files and unzip them. Then place them in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins .

I hope you liked these tips and tricks! If you want me to add anything or you have a question, please leave a comment!

cescotto wrote:


UAC is extremely annoying and it also breaks many applications not designed for vista, especially shell extensions. If you're not going to download and run executable from unknown sources I doubt that you'll ever need it.

i dont know if i need UAC, but UAC seriously isnt a big deal when you get used to it being there. people who turn off UAC are like people who want to run Vista in classic mode, they just dont want to adjust.

Turning off UAC is evil, EVIL I tell ya. Burn the witch.

Seriously though, once you get past the initial frustrating install-stages where you're setting up your machine and installing everything you need it's not that bad really. In my case I get it about once every day or so and since I'm not using nvidia it's pretty seamless, without any flickering or anything.

Advising people to turn of the safety net is a seriously bad thing, even if it doesn't stop all nasty worms or malware it's atleast better than nothing.

I've been explaining to a lot of people why UAC is not annoying and a large improvement over XP. (i.e. easier to run as limited user).  But I shouldn't be doing this, that should have been Microsoft's job.  Maybe in the future when compatibility is less of an issue UAC will be enabled permanently.

cescotto wrote:



UAC is extremely annoying and it also breaks many applications not designed for vista, especially shell extensions. If you're not going to download and run executable from unknown sources I doubt that you'll ever need it.

If you're a developer, it's also important to learn to live with UAC and life as a user without administrative privileges because that's most likely the environment your software is going to be running in.

If developers just disable UAC and hide the warnings, then they're going to get bitten in the arse, particularly if their software is being used in a corporate environment. If they so choose, sysadmins can lock down a Vista system, preventing UAC from being disabled, turning off virtualization and only loading applications installed in secure locations (read: under the C:\Windows and C:\Program Files folders). In that kind of environment, if you don't play by the rules, your code will break.

I have seen some programmers on forums recommend disabling UAC "for compatibility" and they're really doing a disservice to thier users. If any software vendor tells you that to run their software you should disable UAC, that's the surest sign that you need to be looking for some new software.

I have no issue with you posting the tip, but I think its silly for anyone to go ahead and disable UAC, doubly so for developers.

That's one of Vista's main selling points, and it is increased security. If you download a simple little program that shouldn't require root but its going ahead anyway then you have to ask yourself what this application is really doing.

Further more as a developer how can you accurately test your applications without running a almost standard system? Do you want support calls because your application starts throwing up a UAC prompt every second?

As far as Vista goes I am happy with the amount of UAC prompts I receive, in fact I expected there to be more. I am also happy knowing that I have more control over what does and does not gain root on the system, and if I get hit by something it might be as simple as deleting this user and creating a new one.

If you've decided you're going to disable UAC (and I really, really think you shouldn't), you can at least do it the second way mentioned here. That way you get rid of the prompts without actually disabling UAC, so you still get some of the protection (but of course you'll lose the early warning if something malicious is trying to get root access, as well as the ability to stop it; but at least apps that don't need admin rights still won't have them).

Still, I'd suggest you'd better just leave it on.

Dr. Sneath had a series of pretty good vista tips on his blog. Better, I think than these.

Go home with your "tweak" to disable UAC. WTF is wrong with you people?! Leave UAC as it is.

You can actually turn off UAC from the Vista GUI,

control panel --> user accounts --> turn user account on or off

and by the way...IE will not run in protected mode when uac is disabeled. 

And  if you have business, enterprise or ultimate editions, local group policy can be used to config the uac.
Secpol.msc --> security settings\local policies\ security options\ user account control

I was afraid this would happen. For God's sake, just leave UAC on. Next thing you know some magazine will give inexperienced users this 'tip', and everybody will start complaining about how the new security in Vista does not work.