Some explorer crashes, especially in the early builds of vista, are due to DEP violations. Turn it off and see if it helps.DEP or NoExecute Protection will be a vital part of vista security. During these early builds, however, it can lead to many explorer crashes. If you are getting a lot of explorer crashes, disable it and see if it helps. Disable DEP in Vista: 1. Click Start 2. Click All Programs 3. Click Accessories 4. Right Click on Command Prompt 5. Left click on Run as Administrator 6. Click the Allow button if it asks you for permission 7. Type or copy and paste this into the command prompt window: bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff 8. Hit enter and you should see the confirmation: Operation Completed Successfully 9. Reboot and DEP should be off.... Read More

 Most power users of vista will want to see file extensions for all files. Here is how to see file extensions when browsing in explorer.What the heck! Doesn't windows know that seeing file extensions and people learning what file extensions are is a good thing? Geesh. Here is how to turn it back on in vista. Enable the Display of File Extensions in Vista: 1. Open a folder or open explorer 2. Click the Layout button (to the left of the Views button) as shown in the picture below 3. Click Folder Options 4. Click the View tab 5. Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types 6. Click OK... Read More

 Vista is trying to dumb everything down. Instead of text, now there are little icons for everything. For anybody who can actually read, text is more informative than an icon. Here is how to enable the classic menu styles in folders and explorer.To temporarily turn on the classic menus: Just select the Layout button (which is to the left of the Views button) as shown below. Then click on the Classic Menus selection. Just pressing the ALT key will make the classic menu for that window appear as well. To Always Display Classic Menus: 1. Click the Layout button (as shown above) 2. Click Folder Options 3. Select the View tab 4. Check Always Show Classic Menus... Read More

 Desktop compositing, also known as Desktop Window Manager (DWM), controls the 3d effects in vista. Some programs do not yet work well with these effects enabled. This shortcut will allow you to enable and disable them with ease.Editor's Note: This feature no longer works on later builds of vista. Those grooooovy 3d glass effects are often referred to as Desktop Composition. You may have seen the following Desktop Window Manager message: Desktop composition has been temporarily disabled. A program is running that's not compatible with desktop composition... Even when Vista is not controlling it for you, turning Desktop Composition on or off can be valuable in getting programs to work correctly. You can also turn it off any time you need a speed boost. 3d is always going to be slower than 2d, ya know! Toggle Desktop composition on/off: Ctrl+Shift+F9... Read More

 This prevents the display of recently opened programs and documents in your start menu.Simple modification: right click on the task bar and select properties choose the start menu tab now uncheck the following two options: "Store and display a list of recently opened files" "Store and display a list of recently opened programs" press OK to apply these settings and your privacy is that much more secure. *Side note: Vista still has issues, but i like where MS is going with this new OS. Questions/Comments: william_a_wilson@hotmail.com -William. (marvin_gohan)... Read More

 Stop Windows Vista from constantly asking for your permission to run every .exe and .dllYou will need Administrator Privilages to apply this edit. Being warned by Vista about many operations is a nice feature, but if your computer is secure in your home for instance, you don't really need to type in the admin password EVERY time you want to do something. This hack simply displays a dialog asking if you want to do the change or not. No password required. A simple registry hack: open the start menu (even though it doesn't say start) and search regedit double click the program which appears. now navigate to the path:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System You will need to change 2 keys! key name:ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin double click and (if it isn't already) change it's value to 2. key name:ConsentPromptBehaviorUser double click and change it's value to 2 *Note you will have to logoff and back on before this takes effect.... Read More

 Have Vista Installed, but either don't have a legitimate key, or your key is already in use? Extend your 12 days by disabling the activation!open msconfig: start\run and type msconfig in the window move to the services tab. uncheck both of the following: Software Licensing Service and SL UI Notification Service This will keep the activation from running and the second stops windows from continually reminding you that this has happened. Your product is unregistered, but will continue to run. I have noticed a slightly slower boot, but everything is a little slower with Vista, and it's massive memory usage :) Questions/Comments: william_a_wilson@hotmail.com -William.... Read More

 Vista allows users to run programs under a lesser privileged, non-administrator account. In the long run, this will be much safer. During this transition period, it can be painful. Here's how to turn it on or turn it off. Please don't be confused. Many people call this User Access Protection and others call it User Access Control. It's the darking of the screen and confirmation prompting prior to performing many activities that is an increased security mechanism by microsoft. Enable or Disable UAP/UAC: 1. Click Start 2. Click Control Panel 3. Select System and Maintenance 4. Click Administrative Tools 5. Double-click System Configuration 6. Click Continue (if prompted) 7. Select the Tools tab in the System Configuration window 8. Here you can choose Disable UAP or Enable UAP from the bottom of the listbox 9. Click Launch 10. Reboot to see effect... Read More

 Some builds of vista do not have the flip3d shortcut in the quick launch toolbar. This will walk one through getting it back in there.I have recently discussed the cool new alternative window/task switcher thingie in vista. If you have vista installed, you can view it right now by hitting the following keystrokes: winkey+TAB Many people liked having a shortcut to flip3d in the quick launch toolbar; however, recently it was removed from this area. Here's how to put it back in. 1. Right-click on the quick launch toolbar, but not on an icon 2. Select Open Folder from the context menu. It'll take you to the quick launch folder which should live: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch 3. Right-click in a blank area of this folder 4. Select New and then Shortcut from the context menu 5. For the location textbox, input the following: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe dwmapi #105 6. Click the Next button 7. Name it. (Flip3D, for example) 8. Click Finish The s... Read More

 A couple of people at work have reported this "data is invalid" error during the activation of their vista installation. Here is how to fix vista error 0x8007000D.My vista installation progress continues with good success! On a couple of boxes I have had problems validating due to a 0x8007000D or "Data is Invalid" error. Typically, I have been able to isolate this error to ISO mounting tools such as Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120%. Some antivirus programs may cause this error as well. In fact, sometimes installing one of these tools after activation will actually cause vista to no longer be activated and you may get a "this machine is unlicensed" message also. If you must need a image-mounting tool, try one of the older version of Daemon Tools. I have had good luck with versions 3.33 and earilier.... Read More

 Deciding which Vista version to install can be a difficult decision and can really limit what you can do with your system. Here are practical hints which should help a user decide which version to install. I decided to write this guide after installing 64-bit and 32-bit vista systems on several test boxes.With the gaining popularity of 64-bit chipsets/processors, many users now have the ability to run either 64-bit versions (x64) or 32-bit versions (x86) of software and operating systems. However, if you only have a 32-bit processor, your choice is easy... You can only install the x64 version of Vista if you have a 64-bit processor. For those with 64-bit processors, it seems obvious that installing the x64 version of vista would be ideal. The x64 version has increased security based around the 64-bit structure and programs compiled for 64-bit processors will likely run faster. What's the problem with installing Vista x64 on a 64-bit system? 1. Most hardware does not currently have 64-b... Read More

 I have never understood why Microsoft thinks it is a good idea to hide extensions for files. Here is how to make vista show extensions for all file types.1. Click Start 2. Select Control Panel 3. Select Classic View 4. Double-click Folder Options 5. Click the View Tab 6. Uncheck Hide Extensions for Known File Types 7. Click Apply button (at the bottom of the window) 8. Click Apply to Folders button (at the top of the window) 9. Click OK... Read More

 Vista will be much more high-end audio friendly. As an electronic musician, I am very, very happy to see these changes. Audiophiles should be excited as well. Now you can run your audio higher than CD-quality and give your audio programs higher priority automatically. Woo-hoo!I have always felt that XP was soft on the audio side of things. Vista seems to want to change that. Here's two big improvements in vista audio that you should know about. To change these properties, do the following: 1. Click the Start Circle 2. Select Control Panel 3. Select Classic View 4. Double-click Audio Devices and Sound Themes 5. Under the Audio Device tab, click your Audio (output) Playback Device 6. Click the Properties button 7. Click the Options tab and you will see the following: 8. Here you may change the Default Format to change the bit depth and sample rate. 9. Checking Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device will allow your audio programs to more efficently and effectively con... Read More

 In builds upto and before 5384 (beta 2), installing the official java installation from Sun will cause IE to lock-up. It will also use 100% of the CPU clock cycles. Uninstalling Java's sun will return IE7 to normal. Updated to include fix.In trying to use my favorite RSS aggregator, BlogBridge, I needed to install Sun's Java. In two seperate installations, this has caused IE7 to seize up and use 100% of the CPU clock cycles. Firefox is not affected. Removing the java references in IE's internet options does not help. Uninstalling it completely through the add/remove section of the Programs section of the control panel will get your system back to normal. Other people have reported this as well: http://www.timheuer.com/blog/archive/2006/07/02/vista_java_and_ie.aspx http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=524878&SiteID=17 If I discover a work-around, I will post it here. Installing the old Microsoft Java Virtual Machine did not allow me to run blogbridge so I am assuming... Read More

 You can easily adjust WMP 11's look. Here is how you can customize the appearance of the player.Changing the color of WMP 11 is a snap. 1. Open Windows Media Player 2. Right-click the Now Playing tab 3. Click Show Enhancements 4. The enhancements section will appear at the bottom of the player. Click on the right or left arrow until the Color Chooser is on the screen. 5. Drag the hue and saturation bars to adjust the color. You can also pick a preset or reset it back to the default.... Read More

 This tutorial shows the user how to view hidden files and folders on their system.Seeing your hidden files and system files in Vista is not much different than in XP. Here are the step-by-step directions. Remember that system files are hidden for a reason. Don't go messin' around with stuff. 1. Click the round blue Start thing in the left corner 2. Click Control Panel 3. Click Folder Options 4. Click the View tab 5. Click Show hidden files and folders 6. If you want to see system files as well, unclick Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) 7. Click OK... Read More

 Vista contains a new feature which allows users to decrease the size of partitions without any additional software. This tech-recipe will show users how to use this new feature found in Vista.For those power users out there that have multiple OSs installed on multiple partitions, this will save them time, money, and hard drive space. Previously, decreasing the size of a partition was only available by buying additional partition sizing software. Now Vista has this feature built-in this new OS. How to Shrink a Partition in Vista: 1. Press Win+R to open the run box 2. Type in diskmgmt.msc and click OK 3. Press the Continue button if you need to grant permission 4. Right-click on the partition you wish to shrink 5. Select Shrink Volume... 6. Select your settings and click the Shrink button Do not play with partitions unless you know what you are doing. You can lose any information stored on your hard drive if you are not careful. Enjoy this wonderful new feature of Vista!... Read More

 Vista now includes an automatic defragment system that is enable by default. This tutorial describes how to control this new service.Vista Automatic Defrag: 1. Click Start 2. Click Control Panel 3. Selct the Control Panel Home 4. Click System and Maintenance 5. Under the Administrative Tools section at the bottom, click Defragment your hard drive 6. You may need to grant permission to open the disk fragmenter 7. Click or unclick Run automatically (recommended) depending if you want this feature enabled or disabled. 8. Click OK... Read More

 Frequently web connection problems can be traced to a corrupted DNS cache. Flushing this cache is an easy fix to many of these problems. This is how to flush the cache in Vista.Here is how to fix that corrupted DNS cache in vista. 1. Click the Microsoft Vista Start logo in the bottom left corner of the screen 2. Click All Programs 3. Click Accessories 4. RIGHT-click on Command Prompt 5. Select Run As Administrator 6. In the command window type the following and then hit enter: ipconfig /flushdns 7. You will see the following confirmation: Windows IP Configuration Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.... Read More

 A few network devices do not work correctly with Vista. This bug shows up on a system when a user can connect to some sites but not others. Frequently, this bug can be fixed by following these steps...When a user experiences this bug, the user can connect to some web sites but not to others. The first thing to do is to try upgrading your network drivers. If that does not work, this frequently does. 1. win-key+R to open the run box 2. Type devmgmt.msc and hit ENTER 3. You may have to confirm the UAC 4. Expand Network Adapters 5. Right Click your NIC device 6. Click Properties 7. Click on the Advanced tab 8. Select IPv4 Checksum Offload 9. Set the value to Disabled 10. Click OK 11. You may need to reboot... Read More