Windows Vista® Tips
|
Home
* NEW - Windows 7 Tips and Help
|
How to Share the Root of a Drive Under Vista
Vista makes sharing folders a pain let alone the root of a
drive.
Vista will allow the permissions to be set, even though you have
to do it manually by right clicking, then hitting "share", and
manually setting the permissions to everyone, but then when you
try to access it from a remote computer, it will say "access is
denied".
Here's how to share the root of a drive under Vista:
ie: Drive D: or E: Not Drive c: or the Vista OS drive
Note that Vista will not let you change permissions on certain
folders.
In the Start menu click "Computer"
Right click on the drive and click on properties
Click security tab
Click edit
Click Add
Click Advanced
Click Find Now
Scroll down and Select "Everyone"
Click OK and OK
Select the permissions you want
Click apply/OK
It may take awhile to change all the files permissions.
| We highly recommend using the
programs shown below.
*** Slow
computer, Scan it for registry errors free.
This is a very good scan and repair program.
Here!
***
Repair XP Pro - (Great program)
XP Repair Pro 2007 edition is fully Vista
compatible
The most comprehensive system repair tool on the
market.
*
Scan your PC for errors absolutely Free (Very good)
*
Evidence Eliminator - Erase your surfing history
total "privacy protection".
*
KeyLogPro - Want to know what other people type
on your computer when you are away? |
Network can't get an IP address from a DHCP server
If you aren't able to get an IP address when you connect to a
network that uses DHCP to assign addresses, it may be because of
the extra security on Vista's routing table. The fix involves
making changes on the DHCP server so you may need to contact
your network administrator. Refer him/her to KB article 942971
at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942971/en-us
TweakVI for Windows Vista Free Version
TweakVI was designed for easy tweaking an optimizing a Windows
Vista based computer.
Free at their website.
Automate Your
Defragmentation Routine
Vista has automated some of its maintenance tasks like
defragmenting your hard drive and backing up key system files
and documents. To keep your hard drive defragged regularly, use
the Start menu to click on Computer, and then right-click on the
hard drive you want to schedule. Open its Properties menu, and
under the Tools tab click Defragment Now. Check the "Run on a
schedule box." Use the Modify Schedule button and drop-down
menus in the next screen to set your schedule.
The
nightmare of Sharing a file using Vista
Here is a good explanation of Vista's file sharing and
networking from Network Magic
| We highly recommend using the
programs shown below.
*** Slow
computer, Scan it for registry errors free.
This is a very good scan and repair program.
Here!
***
Repair XP Pro - (Great program)
XP Repair Pro 2007 edition is fully Vista
compatible
The most comprehensive system repair tool on the
market.
*
Scan your PC for errors absolutely Free (Very good)
*
Evidence Eliminator - Erase your surfing history
total "privacy protection".
*
KeyLogPro - Want to know what other people type
on your computer when you are away? |
Performance tools in Vista
Vista provides a set of tools which are intuitive and easy to
use. Go to: Control Panel\System and Maintenance\Performance
Information and Tools\Advanced tools
Click on the 'Generate a health report' - this analyzes your
system and provides suggestions for maximizing performance.
Turn Restore points
on/off for any drive
Go Control Panel/System/Advanced system settings
select System Protection tab and change settings.
Turn shadow text on/off for
icons on the desktop
Windows Vista automatically ads a shadow to the text under the
icons on the desktop. On some backgrounds, this can help to make
the text more readible. However, on others it can have just the
opposite effect. To enable or disable this feature:
Go Control Panel/System/Advanced system settings
Advanced tab and under performance click settings.
Activate Three Clocks
Why settle for one time zone when Vista lets you track three?
Click on the digital clock in the System Tray and click through
to change time settings. In the Additional Clocks tab, you can
check one or both boxes and show two more additional clocks set
to other time zones.
| We highly recommend using the
programs shown below.
*** Slow
computer, Scan it for registry errors free.
This is a very good scan and repair program.
Here!
***
Repair XP Pro - (Great program)
XP Repair Pro 2007 edition is fully Vista
compatible
The most comprehensive system repair tool on the
market.
*
Scan your PC for errors absolutely Free (Very good)
*
Evidence Eliminator - Erase your surfing history
total "privacy protection".
*
KeyLogPro - Want to know what other people type
on your computer when you are away? |
See your computer's ability to run new Vista features
To discover your Vista machine's WinSat rating
Launch the Control Panel, System and Maintenance --> Performance
Information and Tools.
Level 1 at least one sub-system needs upgrading.
Level 2 very basic system.
Level 3 systems runs Aero well, suitable for Word-processing and
email.
Level 4 systems will play HD video.
Level 5 systems delivers any Windows Vista scenario, especially
good for gaming.
Level 5.9 is the highest rating!
Restore Missing Desktop Icons in Windows Vista
Go to Control Panel \ Personalize (or right-click on the desktop
and select Personalize)
Now you can just re-check the checkboxes for whichever icons you
want back on the desktop.
Windows Vista Fonts Look Bad
The default settings enabled by the manufacturer have font
smoothing disabled.
Make sure that ClearType is enabled. Open the classic Appearance
Settings dialog. Right click on the desktop and choose
Personalize. Then click on Window Color and Appearance:
If you have Aero enabled, you’ll have to click on “Open classic
appearance properties for more color options”.
Click on the “Effects…” button and make sure that your computer
has the checkbox for font smoothing enabled.
A good
recommendation for all Vista users
Eset's Nod32 version 2.7 for all current versions of Windows,
including Vista. Nod32 is a done deal, a
no-brainer, just get it. http://www.eset.com/products/index.php
Outstanding product....
Completely clean out the Temp folder in Vista
If you use the Disk Cleanup utility in Vista to clean out
your Temp folder, you may be leaving hundreds of
files there, because it only lists the files that are more than
a week old. If you want to adopt a "no temp file left behind"
policy, you have to empty the folder manually.
Click Start and in the Search box, type %temp%
This will open the Temp folder, which is located by default in
the Users\\AppData\Local path on the drive where Vista is
installed.
Manually highlight all files by pressing CTRL+A.
Press Delete or right click and select Delete from the context
menu.
| We highly recommend using the
programs shown below.
*** Slow
computer, Scan it for registry errors free.
This is a very good scan and repair program.
Here!
***
Repair XP Pro - (Great program)
XP Repair Pro 2007 edition is fully Vista
compatible
The most comprehensive system repair tool on the
market.
*
Scan your PC for errors absolutely Free (Very good)
*
Evidence Eliminator - Erase your surfing history
total "privacy protection".
*
KeyLogPro - Want to know what other people type
on your computer when you are away? |
How well your Vista machine has been running.
Click Start button, click Start Search, type perfmon. When the
Reliability and Performance Monitor finishes initializing,
select, Reliability Monitor.
New Shortcuts in Vista
Winkey + g cycles through the Gadgets, naturally you have to
install a few gadgets for this to work.
Winkey + u activates the Ease of Use Center.
WinKey + x cycles thought the Mobility Center.
Winky + Tab activates the new Vista feature called Flip 3-D.
| We highly recommend using the
programs shown below.
*** Slow
computer, Scan it for registry errors free.
This is a very good scan and repair program.
Here!
***
Repair XP Pro - (Great program)
XP Repair Pro 2007 edition is fully Vista
compatible
The most comprehensive system repair tool on the
market.
*
Scan your PC for errors absolutely Free (Very good)
*
Evidence Eliminator - Erase your surfing history
total "privacy protection".
*
KeyLogPro - Want to know what other people type
on your computer when you are away? |
Speed Up SATA Hard Drives in Windows Vista
Windows Vista has built-in support for Serial ATA(SATA) hard
drives, but it doesn’t automatically enable advanced write
caching features. You can speed up your computer by enabling
this mode in Device Manager.
Type "device" into the start menu search box.
Open the Disk drives section of the tree, and right-click on
your hard drive. Select the Policies tab.
Click the checkbox for Enable advanced performance
Save your search results
After you perform a search using Vista's search feature, you can
save the search in a special folder. This feature allows you to
create a virtual folder which, by default, is saved in your
\\Searches\ folder. Every time you open such a folder, the
search results are updated.
Turn UAC off entirely
Choose Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User
Accounts, then click Turn User Account Control on or off.
|
|
* Repair XP Pro -
(Great program for Vista also)
The most comprehensive system repair tool on the market. We use this program.
|
|