Vista Tips and Tweaks

[Spooky]

Last Access Time (this is often confused with the Last Modified Time, which is only updated when the file changes) in Windows Vista has been disabled by default to improve NTFS performance. However, a very minor issue with this is some applications rely on the Last Access Time.

If you have one of these applications you can re-enable the Last Access Time by using the 'fsutil' utility in a command prompt. The command will be: "fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 0" (without the quotes). You will need to re-boot for this change to take effect.

(There is also a registry entry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem called NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate that can be changed)

[Spooky]

A "mysterious" problem concerning USB drives appeared in the WinXP beta 5 years ago and when it first hit the public. Suddenly, after installing WinXP, people were having problems with their USB drives not remaining active even if the power options were set to never turn off a hard drive. It seemed as if the USB drives would just go to sleep (some drives needed a lenghty wakeup period to work properly). People were complaining about it. This same "mystery" also happens in Vista.

Actually there is no mystery at all and Vista (and winXP) are functioning as intended. The solution to the mystery is quickly revealed by a quck trip to the Device Manager and doing the below.

1. Expand the 'Universal Serial Bus controllers' branch in the Device Manager.

2. Find the items called 'USB Root Hub' and right click on it, then select 'Properties'

3. Then click on the 'Power Management' tab.

4. Uncheck the box for 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'

5. Click the 'OK' button.

6. Repeat 2 - 5 for each 'USB Root Hub' found.

there ya go...mystery solved.

(Of course this is not a cure all for other problems that may be present)

[Spooky]

If you have a need to show Super Hidden files and folders in Vista just change the "SuperHidden" reg key to '1' as indicated in the registry entry below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"SuperHidden"=dword:00000001

Or...you can use the .reg file I attached to this post. No re-boot is necessary. To see the effect you will need to open a new instance of explorer.

BTW, while your looking at that registry area you will notice a bunch of things that you can change here that will be useful for an un-attended set-up when you want to have these items configured when install is complete.

show_super_hidden.reg

Edited November 9, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

Tool Tips! Irritate the heck out of me. These are those little tips that pop up when you put your mouse pointer over something. I usually like to have them turned off when my un-attended installs complete, I use a registry entry to do this. You can get rid of them by using a registry entry too:

Start up Regedit and change the below ShowInfoTip entry value to '0' as shown:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;get rid of tool tips
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowInfoTip"=dword:00000000

You'll need to re-boot after the change is made. If you wish to have tool tips again simply change the ShowInfoTip value to 1.

Edited November 10, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

If your dual booting Vista with WinXP and your planning on migrating to just Vista save your self some time with transfering your stuff.

Boot into WinXP as the administrator and you will have full access to the Vista partition. Since not everything needs to be transfered with a fancy built in transfer wizard you can simply copy over things like your Favorites for example.

Edited November 19, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

dAbReAkA;

use: CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to get task manager to open up directly, or right click on the Taskbar and select "Task Manager" from the context menu.

But as far as changing ctrl+alt+del to do it I don't know of anything right now, but if I come across something i'll post it.

any tweak for making ctrl+alt+del open task manager instead of the "tasks screen"?

Edited November 11, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

You can create your own keyboard shortcuts in Vista by doing the following:

1. Create a shortcut to the program you want to apply a keyboard shortcut to.. Right click the program, then click Create Shortcut, or use your mouse’s right button to drag the item to your desktop and select Create Shortcut Here.

2. Right-click the shortcut you just created and click Properties.

3. Click the Shortcut tab then click the Shortcut key box.

4. Using your keyboard, press the key that you want to use for your shortcut.

5. Press Apply and OK to close the dialog box. When you click the Shortcut key box it will display None until you select.

Keep in mind that the keyboard shortcut you are creating automatically starts with Ctrl + Alt keys.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

Someone sends you an executable file, your antivirus tells you its safe and you were expecting the file, but when you try to run the file you receive the error:

"Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."

do the following if you actually wish to run the file:

Right click on the file and choose properties. At the bottom of the General tab look for a section that says "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer." Click the Unblock button.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

Some things you would use the command prompt for require you to run the command prompt elevated as the Administrator. If you do a lot of command prompt stuff, shell scripting for example, you may want the command prompt to always start up as an Administrator command prompt. To do this simply right click on cmd.exe and choose 'Properties' then click on the 'Compatability' tab and towards the bottom under 'Privilage Level' check the box with 'Run the program as an Administrator' next to it. This also works for other programs.

[Spooky]

Internet Explorer complies with Internet standards (RFC 2068), so it limits by default the number of simultaneous downloads to two, plus a queued one. Sometimes it comes in handy to have more than two downloads available. The same registry tweak that worked in WinXP also works in Vista. So...to increase the amount of downloads available in IE just accomplish the below reg tweak:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;we enable more simultaneous downloads for IE to 20 (default is 2)
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000014
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000014 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000014
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000014

The above is set for 20 simultaneous downloads but you can set it for anything you want.

Edited November 18, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

An X-Mouse - Windows Follow Mouse, feature is something I miss in Windows. In WnXP we could enable this by using the Power Toys. The Power Toys don't seem to work to enable this feature in Vista, but you can still have this if you like by doing the below, but before proceeding remember to back up these registry entries first in case something goes wrong:

(This reg entry change not only makes the window active but makes it the forground window by bringing it foward on top of other windows when the mouse is over it.)

1. Open up Regedit and browse to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

2. Look for the REG_Binary key "UserPreferencesMask" in the right pane. You will see its value as a string of hex numbers. Mine was hex 98,12,03,80,10,00,00,00.

3. Next you need to add the hex value '41' to the first hex value on the left in the hex string found in step 2.

Using the hex string I have as an example: 98h + 41h = d9h. You can use the Calculator (in scientific mode) in Vista to do this simple addition. My new hex value, using my example, string now becomes d9,12,03,80,10,00,00,00

4. Next, Right click on the "UserPreferencesMask" key and choose 'Modify',then alter the original value of

"UserPreferencesMask" to your new value found in step 3.

5. Next, at the same [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] registry location right click in the right pane and choose to add a new DWORD (32-bit) value and name this value "ActiveWndTrkTimeout". Next right click on your new "ActiveWndTrkTimeout" DWORD and choose modify and put in the time (in milliseconds) that suits you for the mouse switching between windows.

6. Close Regedit and re-boot.

Now for multiple windows open on the desktop, the window the mouse pointer is on will become the active window and come to the foreground without having to click on it. You may need to play with the value for "ActiveWndTrkTimeout" a little to get it correct. These are the values (below) I used to test with and the time for the mouse to remain over a window before its bought forward is 3 seconds (3000 miliseconds). Experiment with your time and find something that suits you:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"UserPreferencesMask"=hex:d9,12,03,80,10,00,00,00
"ActiveWndTrkTimeout"=dword:00000bb8

[Spooky]

Enabling ClearType in Vista is easy, you can do it in the GUI, and besides its enabled by default anyway. However, tuning ClearType in Vista is not so easy as there is nothing exposed in the GUI for tuning. ClearType is integrated into Vista. There is , however, a way to adjust ClearType in the registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"FontSmoothing"="2"
"FontSmoothingType"=dword:00000002
"FontSmoothingGamma"=dword:000003e8
"FontSmoothingOrientation"=dword:00000001

These settings affect ClearType 'Globally' across the entire operating system. They may not, however, have much effect for HTML as seen in Internet Explorer. For Internet Explorer you may need to turn on ClearType in the settings for IE.

The "FontSmoothingType", "FontSmoothingGamma", "FontSmoothing", and "FontSmoothingOrientation" items already exist in the registry. The settings for each important item for ClearType activation and tuning are:

"FontSmoothingType" - a DWORD value: 1 = ClearType is not used for the font smoothing, standard font smoothing is used instead - 2 = ClearType is used for font smoothing. (setting to '2' also enables ClearType)

"FontSmoothing" - a DWORD value : 1 = use font smoothing, 2 = use ClearType font smoothing. This is a REG_SZ value, not a dword. This is different from "FontSmoothingType" and is not a switch to help turn on ClearType to begin with. This tells the font smoothing to use AFTER ClearType is enabled.

"FontSmoothingGamma" - a DWORD value: Perhaps the most important setting for ClearType. Range is 1000 to 2200 (integer). Setting to 1000 (the default) produces the most readable text for most people (its the darkest against a white background with a black font). 2200 gives the lighest text. You may be able to go below the 1000 value, I haven't tried that yet since the official lower limit is 1000.

"FontSmoothingOrientation" : This is a hard one to figure out. It seems basically to determine if the display will use RGB, BRG, or a flat pixel structure. Most LCD screens are RGB so play with this one a little if your using a LCD display. The values for this dword are 0, 1, or 2. These values for "FontSmoothingOrientation" and what each does is represented below:

Flat = 0 - The display device has no pixel structure. This means that light sources for each color are spread equally on the pixel area—this is referred to as gray scale rendering. This is how a standard display device works. ClearType is never applied to the rendered text.

RGB = 1 - The display device has pixels that consist of three stripes in the following order: red, green, and blue. ClearType is applied to the rendered text.

BGR = 2 - The display device has pixels that consist of three stripes in the following order: blue, green, and red. ClearType is applied to the rendered text.

Edited November 18, 2006 by Spooky

[MGadAllah]

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.

1. Log in using the account you created during the Windows Vista setup process.
   
2. From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
   
3. Right click on "Command Prompt" and click "Run as Administrator".
   
4. Click on "Allow" from the Windows Security dialog.
   
5. In the Command Prompt window, type "regedit" (without the quotes) and press Enter.
   
6. In the Registry Editor, browse to

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

   
   

7. Add a new key called "SpecialAccounts" (without the quotes).
   
8. In the "SpecialAccounts" key you just made, create a sub-key called "UserList" (without the quotes)
   
9. Make sure you are navigated to

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

   
   

10. In the "UserList" key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) item and name it Administrator.
    
11. Double click on the new DWORD item and set its value to 1.
    
12. Close Registry Editor and the Command Prompt.
    

Increase Performance

The February CTP is quick right from installation, however there is one bug that causes a slow down with the user interface. This bug involves the sliding buttons on the taskbar; by disabling this, performance increases a bit. It's really up to you, but the bug can be very annoying at times. To disable it, just carry out the following actions:

1. Press WinKey+R and type in "sysdm.cpl" (without the quotes).
   
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then under "Performance" click "Settings".
   
3. In the Visual Effects tab, uncheck "Slide taskbar buttons".
   
4. Press OK and close the Performance Options dialog.
   

I have also compiled a registry file that changes a few key settings involving the timings for menus, hover events, etc, which makes the Windows interface more responsive. You can download that here. This was tested and is fully working without any issues, and have also been scanned for viruses.

Also, if you are running this build with an NVIDIA WDDM supported graphics card, you may want to install the latest drivers, this should fix some of the weird issues and lag with the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) and the Aero user interface enabled.

Disable DEP / NoExecute Protection to fix Random Windows Explorer crashes

Due to the way Windows Vista's boot editor has been created, it is now harder to disable DEP / No Execute Protection. However, after some amount of research, it would seem that some of the random Windows Explorer crashes that users are experiencing is caused by this technology. You will need to disable it and reboot, which should cure some of the crashes:

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on "Command Prompt", and click "Run as administrator".
   
2. If asked for permission to run Windows Command Processor, click on Allow.
   
3. At the command prompt, type in "bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff" (without the quotes).
   
4. You should receive a message saying "Operation Completed Successfully".
   
5. Restart the computer, DEP / No Execute should now be disabled.
   

Prevent network flooding and connection drops

The new networking stack contained in Windows Vista February CTP, and as with anything new (and still in beta), it has some issues. This build seems to like dropping connections and in rare cases, blocking all traffic on wireless routers, requiring a restart of the router itself. To fix these problems, complete the following instructions:

WARNING: Please note that this will disable IPv6 connectivity as well as the Windows Firewall security, and is not recommended unless you are experiencing these issues. This will also invalidate any network related bug reports you file against Windows Vista.

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
   
2. LUnder "Network and Internet", click on "View network status and tasks".
   
3. In the left hand pane, click on "Open connections".
   
4. Right click on your network connection (for example: Local Area Connection 3), and then click "Configure".
   
5. If asked for permission to open Network Connections, click on Allow.
   
6. Highlight the following items and press the "Uninstall" button:
   • Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
     

• Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder
  

[*]Uncheck "Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)"

[*]Next, click on the "Configure" button under the name of your network adapter.

[*]Click on the Power Management tab.

[*]Disable all power management items listed on the Power Management tab.

[*]Press OK.

To stop Windows Vista from flooding your network with traffic:

1. Press WinKey+R.
   
2. Type "services.msc" (without the quotes)
   
3. If asked for permission to open "Microsoft Management Console", click Allow.
   
4. Double click on each one of the following services and change its startup type to "Disabled".
   • Base Filtering Engine
     

• IKE and AuthIP Keying Modules
  

• IP Helper Service
  

• IPSec
  

• Windows Firewall
  

Close the Services window and restart Windows.

Disable System Restore

In Build 5308, the System Restore service is one cause of performance issues. For some people, it doesn't even work. So to remedy this, we will need to shut down System Restore and stop it from running:

1. Click on the "Start" button.
   
2. Hover over "Computer", right click on it and then click "Properties".
   
3. On the left hand side, click "Advanced Settings".
   
4. If asked to permit the action, click on "Allow".
   
5. Click on the "System Protection" tab.
   
6. Uncheck any checkboxes listed for your hard drives.
   
7. Press OK.
   

Forcing Glass on Non-WDDM Compatible Cards

WARNING: This tweak may cause a blue screen loop or constant flicker depending on your video card. Use with extreme caution, this tweak is really only here for documentary purposes only.

1. From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
   
2. Right click on "Command Prompt" and click "Run as Administrator".
   
3. Click on "Allow" from the Windows Security dialog.
   
4. In the Command Prompt window, type "regedit" (without the quotes) and press Enter.
   
5. Navigate to

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM

   (if this key doesn't exist, create it)
   

6. Create a new DWORD (32-bit value) of UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.
   

Disable User Account Protection (UAP)

Once you have installed the February CTP and set up an every day user account, one of the first things you will notice is that you have almost no rights to do anything administrator related on your system. Disabling this is purely up to you but if you find UAP is getting in your way, or some applications refuse to run because of it, you may want to take a look at this. Here are the instructions:

NOTE: You should be logged in as Administrator to do this, or you could run the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) elevated.

1. Press WinKey (the flag key on your keyboard) + R and type "secpol.msc". (Without the quotes). If asked to permit Microsoft Management Console to run, allow it.
   
2. In the Local Security Settings window, in the left hand pane, navigate to "Security Settings, Local Policies, Security Options".
   
3. In the pane to the right, scroll all the way to the bottom.
   
4. Set the first two User Account Protection items to "No Prompt", and "Disabled" on the remaining three items.
   
5. Close the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), and if you are asked to save the settings for "Console1", press "No".
   
6. Reboot or log off and log back in to enforce the new settings; or alternatively open an elevated Command Prompt and type "gpupdate /force" (without the quotes), and then press Enter.
   

Alternatively, you can also do this to disable UAP:

1. Press WinKey+R on your keyboard.
   
2. Paste the following into the Run box, including the quotation marks:

   "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"

   
   

3. Press Enter. If asked for permission to perform this action, click "Allow".
   
4. Reboot the system.
   

To renable UAP after applying this method:

1. Press WinKey+R on your keyboard.
   
2. Paste the following into the Run box, including the quotation marks:

   "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD

   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v  EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f"

   
   

3. Press Enter.
   
4. Reboot the system.
   

Shell Related

Turn on the sidebar

The long awaited Windows Sidebar, which first debuted back in the Longhorn alpha builds but was removed and remade into a seperate project has finally made its way back into Windows Vista. However, it is tucked away in 5308. To start it:

1. Click Start, and hover over All Programs.
   
2. Navigate to the Accessories folder.
   
3. Click "Sidebar".
   

Bring back "Run" on the Start menu

One of the most favorite functions in Windows, the "Run" function, has been moved off of the Start menu by default in Windows Vista. To access it, you could press WinKey+R on your keyboard to bring it up. Or you can use the Search functionality built into the Start menu, it also works as the run command. Or, last but not least, you could just put the Run command back on the Start menu where it has lived for years:

1. Right click on the Start button, and click "Properties".
   
2. In the "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" dialog, click "Customize".
   
3. Scroll down and in the list you shall find "Run command". Check the box next to it.
   
4. Close any open dialogs by pressing OK.
   

Toggle DWM

If you find the Aero Glass user interface annoying, or if it is slow on your computer configuration, simply press Ctrl+Shift+F9 to turn it off. Press this key combination again to re-enable it.

Use the Search box in Windows Explorer to filter a file view

Did you know you can easily filter the list of documents and folders in a folder using the Search field in Windows Explorer? For instance if you have a folder containing a lot of folders and documents and you are specifically looking for "Vista", all you need to do is type "Vista", or even just part of the word, such as "Vis" to limit the list of files shown.

Use Flip3D

In build 5270, Microsoft had added a quick launch button to run "Flip3D", the cool new task switching mode in Windows Vista. In the February CTP however, this quick launch item has been removed. If you've forgotten the key combination to run Flip3D, it is currently WinKey+Tab. If you want to run Flip3D without it closing when you let go of the key combination, press Ctrl+WinKey+Tab.

Limit the number of windows shown in Flip3D

If Flip3D is too slow for you or if you have too many windows open, you can easily limit the number of windows displayed in Flip3D. As you tab or scroll through them, other windows will appear.

1. Press WinKey+R on your keyboard.
   
2. Type "regedit.exe" without the quotes.
   
3. If asked for permission to launch the Registry Editor, click Allow.
   
4. Navigate to

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM

   
   

5. Right click on the right hand side of the registry editor, and under New, click on "DWORD (32-bit)".
   
6. Name the new DWORD value "Max3DWindows" (without the quotes)
   
7. Double click on the DWORD value and set it to the maximum number of windows you want displayed in Flip3D. A good number is 5 for low-end cards and 10 for other cards.
   
8. Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
   
9. Press Ctrl+Shift+F9 to shut down DWM, and then press the key combination again to restart it.
   
10. Press WinKey+Tab to display Flip3D.
    

Workaround for the dissapearing start button after using Flip3D

If you use the Flip3D function in Windows Vista February CTP, you may notice that when you return from the Flip3D display screen that the blue start button in the left hand corner is missing. To fix this, simply restart DWM by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F9 twice.

Add another time zone to your clock

One nice addition to Windows Vista is the ability to display the time in other time zones.

1. Click on the clock.
   
2. Click "Date and Time Settings".
   
3. Click on the "Additional Clocks" tab.
   
4. Check the box labelled "Additional Clock #1″, and from the drop down menu choose a time zone.
   
5. Give the clock a name, such as "Microsoft" or "Texas".
   
6. Press OK.
   

You can repeat this for the second additional clock as well.

Windows Explorer

To prevent the Search box from searching sub-folders:

In the February CTP, the Search functionality has changed yet again. This time, when you type something into the search box, it will also search all sub-folders of the current folder. To disable this:

1. Press WinKey+R on your keyboard.
   
2. Type "control folders", and press OK.
   
3. When asked for permission to run "Run a DLL as an App", press Allow.
   
4. Click the "View" tab.
   
5. Uncheck "Search subfolders when typing in the Search box".
   
6. Press OK.
   

To add a location to the Places bar (left hand pane in Windows Explorer)

In Windows Vista, there is a new pane on the left hand side of Windows Explorer which contains links to items you wish to access quickly. It works a bit like the left hand pane in the Mac OS X 10.3+ Finder. In previous builds, you could not really customize the Places bar but now you can! Simply drag and drop a folder onto the plane, and voila!

Display Windows Explorer Classic Menus

If you are a frequent user of the menu in Windows Explorer, you may have a bit of a hard time adjusting to Windows Vista's new Windows Explorer window style, which doesn't include the menu.

There are two ways to bring it back, one is temporary and the other is more permenant:

If you want to view the menu but not have it always displayed, simply press the Alt key. The menu will fade into view.

If you want the menu to always be turned on, click the first button on Layout configuration button (first button on the top most bar in Windows Explorer). From the drop down list, check "Classic Menus".

Folders List Returns!

If you want to view a tree-view of your hard drive and navigational path, simply click on the arrow next to the "Folders" bar in Windows Explorer, located on the Places bar.

Windows Mail

Disable the Windows Mail Splash Screen

Using Windows Mail? If the splash screen is displayed too long for your liking or if you just want to get rid of it, this is the trick for you.

1. Press WinKey+R.
   
2. Type "regedit.exe" without the quotes.
   
3. If you are asked for permission to run the Registry Editor, click on Allow.
   
4. Navigate to

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail

   
   

5. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value called "NoSplash".
   
6. Double click on the "NoSplash" DWORD you just created and set its value to 1.
   
7. Press OK and close the registry editor.
   

Bring back the Outlook Bar in Windows Mail

If you are an avid fan of the Outlook Bar in Microsoft Outlook and the previous Outlook Express, then this tweak is definately for you!

1. Press WinKey+R.
   
2. Type "regedit.exe" without the quotes.
   
3. If you are asked for permission to run the Registry Editor, click on Allow.
   
4. Navigate to

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail

   
   

5. Look for the DWORD (32-bit) item with the name of "Show Legacy Outlook Bar", if it doesn't exist, create it.
   
6. Double click on this value and set the value to 1.
   
7. Press OK and close the registry editor.
   

Start Windows Mail. You should now see the Outlook Bar on the left-hand side.

<a name="ie7">Internet Explorer 7

User Agent String

If you are having issues with certain websites (especially banking and other secure websites), you might want to try this out. It fools the websites into thinking you are running Internet Explorer 6.0.

Copy and paste the following code into Notepad, and save it to your desktop as IE7UserAgent.REG.

Double-click the file to merge it into the Windows Registry, and then restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.

If you are having issues with certain websites (especially banking and other secure websites), you might want to try this out. It fools the websites into thinking you are running Internet Explorer 6.0.Copy and paste the following code into Notepad, and save it to your desktop as IE7UserAgent.REG.Double-click the file to merge it into the Windows Registry, and then restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
  "Version"="MSIE 6.0"
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
  "SV1″=-

You can easily undo this change by copying and pasting the following code into Notepad, and then saving it as IE7Undo.reg and merge it into the Windows Registry. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
  "Version"=-
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
  "SV1″=""

You can test these changes using a simple page that checks the User Agent. We recommend: http://www.fiddlertool.com/useragent.aspx.

The Favorites Center

In Internet Explorer 7, the older style Explorer bars have been replaced and the menus have been hidden by default. "What happened to my favorites, then?" you may wonder. Simple. You will notice a round orange circle with a white star in the center of it. Click on it, and all of your favorites will appear. You will also find your subscribed feeds and history are available from the Favorites Center as well. To close the Favorites Center quickly just press Esc on your keyboard.

Zoom

In previous versions of Internet Explorer, you could use Ctrl+-, Ctrl++, or Ctrl+Scroll Wheel to change the zoom and text size of a page. In Internet Explorer 7, there is a new zoom function which not only allows you to zoom text, it also zooms everything else on the page; making pages, images, and items larger for those with sight problems. To use this feature, locate the little magnifying glass in the bottom right hand corner of the Internet Explorer status bar. Click on it, and select a zoom percentage.

Quick Tabs

Internet Explorer comes with a new feature known as Tabs. Other browsers have had this for a while, such as Mozilla Firefox, and now it is time for Internet Explorer to catch up. When you have multiple tabs open, instead of clicking through each tab to see what it contains, you can use Quick Tabs. To do this, you can either press the Quick Tabs button next to the Favorites Center & Add Favorite buttons, or you can press Ctrl+Q.

Printing from a USB Printer

In this build, there is a known issue that causes printing with Internet Explorer to fail when attempting to use a USB Printer. To resolve this, click Start, All Programs, right click on Internet Explorer, and then click "Run as administrator". When asked for permission to run Internet Explorer, click on Allow. Then print as you normally would.

from here

http://www.tweakvista.com/

Windows Vista: Customize the User Interface tweaks

Disable pop-up balloon tips

Enable New Boot screen in Vista Beta 2

Enable New Vista Aero Cursors

Enable Vista Glass look on Unsupported Video Cards

Fix Windows Vista Fonts

Force Vista Glass on Compatible Hardware

Kill Security Center Notifications

Show Run Command on Start Menu

Slow Motion Aero Animations on Demand

Tweak your glass window borders

Windows Vista: Usability Tips

Checkbox Select Alternative

Install Vista without product key

Launch Flip 3D Alt+Tab Replacement

Make NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices work in Vista

Missing the old File, Edit, View menu bar?

Run as administrator start menu keyboard trick

Stop autostart applications

Wireless Network Search Refresh

Windows Vista: Performance Tweaks

Disable Network Printer Search

Disable Welcome Center

Speed up Start Menu Search

Vista Beta 1 Service Guide: Part 1

Vista Beta 1 Service Guide: Part 2

Windows Vista: Software Tweaks

Add search providers to Internet Explorer 7

Create a Shortcut for Flip 3D

Enable Add-ins in Windows Live Messenger

Enable Vista Glass on Intel GMA 950 Graphics Cards

Internet Explorer 7 keyboard shortcuts

Internet Explorer 7 Privacy Tip

Internet Explorer 7 Quick reference Sheet

Internet Explorer 7 User Agent tweaking tool

Remove Windows Mail splash screen

Resize Partitions with Vista Disk Management

Windows Vista: Security Tweaks

Start Menu Privacy Tweaks

Tweak User Account Protection

Windows Vista: Links

Learn How To Add Glass to your Applications

Official Windows Vista website

Vista Blogs

Windows Vista Development Site

Windows Vista Logos

Windows Vista UX Guidelines

from here

http://www.tweakvista.com/ check for updates

===

EnJOY

[Spooky]

You can add the 'Move To Folder' and 'Copy To Folder' right click context menu items in Vista by creating the below registry entries:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;add 'Copy to Folder' to right click context
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}]

;add 'Move to Folder' to right click context
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}]

Open up Notepad and paste the above, save it as move_copy_folder.reg (or any name you choose), then right click on the file and choose Merge.

Edited November 18, 2006 by Spooky

[Spooky]

I use the heck out of Notepad. Sometimes its handy to have it open a file thats not normally associated with Notepad but can be read by Notepad. To make this more handy for me I add a right click context menu to Vista so that an 'Open with Notepad' context menu item appears if I right click on any file. I use the below reg entries to accomplish this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; add open with notepad to right context
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad\command]
@="notepad.exe %1"

Open up Notepad and paste the above, save it as notepad_right_click.reg (or any name you choose), then right click on the file and choose Merge.

(CAUTION: This reg tweak may create a conflict with Office if its installed. This reg tweak may also increase the computer shutdown time on some systems. In case of conflict the wise thing to do, as with any tweak, is remove this tweak and not try to work around it)

Edited November 19, 2006 by Spooky