Take Control of Windows Vista

Windows Vista is still in beta and already it is looking really good. There are a lot of features that can help some and hinder others. In this article you will see some tips to get Windows Vista to act the way you want it.

Restore Virtual Folders in the Start Menu in Windows Vista

Windows Vista will index all of your files so they are easy to find. In earlier builds of Windows Vista there would be virtual folders in the start menu to make finding your files easier. In the current beta Microsoft have decided to revert to the old way of pointing to a specific folder. In this tutorial we will show you how to get your start menu pointing back virtual folders.

Alright first you want to right-click on the start menu and go to properties. In the taskbar and start menu properties click on customize. Click on the type of document and click on link to this library.

That's it, just repeat the steps for other kinds of documents. You are all set.

Change the Areo Look in Windows Vista

Windows Vista is all about looking pretty. Pretty comes at a price. When you have all of the effects on in Windows Vista tons of resources are taken up by the user interface. In this tutorial we will show you how to lessen the load from Windows Vista.

First you want to go to the start menu and select the control panel. In the control panel go to appearance and personalization. Under personalization click on the customize colors and change your color scheme. Open up the classic appearance properties and in there you will find personalization, click on it and click on color scheme and change the selection from default to express. Click on OK and save the changes.

That's it. Your PC will be a lot less taxed by they user interface. Vista really seems ram hungry so your PC will need any help it can get.

Disable User Account Protection in Windows Vista.

A mew feature in Windows Vista is the User Account Protection. This protects you from making changes to your system files. So for instance if you wanted to delete a system file from the system32 directory Windows Vista will tell you that you don't have access even if you are a administrator. To some this may be a feature but to others this may be a hassle. In this tutorial we will show you how to disable the User Account Protection in Windows Vista.

Go to the run command by holding the windows key and press R. In the run command type secpol.msc and click on OK. If you are prompted to enter the administrative password do so and click on OK. In the local security settings navigate to security settings then local policies and security options.

Set the two first account protection items to No Prompt and select disabled for the remaining items. Close up everything and you are all set.

You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect. This feature can be really useful for preventing spyware from installing on your system. So it might be recommended to just do this to your admin account.

Run Command in the Windows Vista Start Menu

Way back in the good old days of XP there was a little button in the start menu called the Run command. I miss it soo. So we are going to show you how to get it back in the start menu of Windows Vista.

To get it back right click on the task bar and go to the properties. The taskbar is the place where your clock and Start menu are. In the properties go to the Start menu tab. In this tab click on customize and put a check mark beside the Run Command and click on OK. That's it. I know its a bit of an easy one but if you don't know where to look you wont find it. Anything that was in the list with the Run Command can be added the same way run was.

Enable the Avalon Engine in Windows Vista

Windows Vista inherited a new set of special effects that occur on the desktop doing day to day tasks. The engine that runs all of this and other graphical tasks is called the Avalon Engine. This engine is present in the current beta copy of Windows Vista but is not enabled by default. To top it all off only some ATI graphic cards are only supported.

So to disable the hardware checking to see this new look on another graphic card. Open up your registry editor and navigate to HKEY_local_machine/Software/Microsoft. In this key create a key called DWM. In the DWM key create a DWORD called EnableMachineCheck and give it a value of 0. Restart Windows and you are done.

To enable the Avalon engine open the following path c:WindowsSystem32UXSS.exe

Enjoy the glass like look.

So there you have it. Windows Vista is still in beta and there is already a flood of hacks on the net for it. If you are luck enough to get your hands on a pre release of Windows Vista these tips will make your like easier..

[http://www.HowdidYa.com] is an always growing how to portal for Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Hardware. Our how to articles will show you fix any problem, or modify your electronic stuff to make it your own. Visit our website to submit your own how to's or learn for others.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Manchuk