Windows Vista Administration The Definitive Guide pptx

Oh, and understand this before picking up this book: I am no Windows Vista expert.Yes, that sounds odd coming from someone who just spent several months writing abook on Vista administra

Windows Vista Administration

The Definitive Guide

Other Microsoft Windows resources from O’Reilly

Related titles MCSA on Windows Server

2003 Core Exams in aNutshell

MCSE Core Required Exams

in a NutshellMicrosoft Windows VistaExam 70-620 GuideWhat’s New in WindowsVista?

Windows Vista: TheDefinitive GuideWindows Vista for Starters:The Missing ManualWindows Vista in a NutshellWindows Vista PocketReference

Windows Vista: The MissingManual

Windows Books

Resource Center

windows.oreilly.com is a complete catalog of O’Reilly’s

Win-dows and Office books, including sample chapters and codeexamples

oreillynet.com is the essential portal for developers interested in

open and emerging technologies, including new platforms, gramming languages, and operating systems

pro-Conferences O’Reilly brings diverse innovators together to nurture the ideas

that spark revolutionary industries We specialize in ing the latest tools and systems, translating the innovator’sknowledge into useful skills for those in the trenches Visit

document-conferences.oreilly.com for our upcoming events.

Safari Bookshelf (safari.oreilly.com) is the premier online

refer-ence library for programmers and IT professionals Conductsearches across more than 1,000 books Subscribers can zero in

on answers to time-critical questions in a matter of seconds.Read the books on your Bookshelf from cover to cover or sim-ply flip to the page you need Try it today with a free trial

Windows Vista Administration

The Definitive Guide

Brian Culp

Windows Vista Administration: The Definitive Guide

by Brian Culp

Copyright © 2007 Brian Culp All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472 O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use Online editions

are also available for most titles (safari.oreilly.com) For more information, contact our

corporate/institutional sales department: (800) 998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.com.

Editor: Colleen Gorman

Production Editor: Rachel Monaghan

Copyeditor: Audrey Doyle

Proofreader: Rachel Monaghan

Indexer: Julie Hawks

Cover Designer: Karen Montgomery

Interior Designer: David Futato

Illustrators: Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read

Printing History:

June 2007: First Edition.

Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of

O’Reilly Media, Inc Windows Vista Administration: The Definitive Guide, the image of a ruddy

shelduck, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume

no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

This book uses RepKover ™ , a durable and flexible lay-flat binding.

ISBN-10: 0-596-52959-7

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 What’s New in Windows Vista? 1

Search with Windows Explorer 38

Vista’s New Printing Options 48

2 A Look at the Different Versions 53

Windows Vista on a Tablet PC 85

3 Networking with Windows Vista 94

Joining a Windows Server Domain 95

Offline Files 160

Using Vista with Live OneCare 169

4 Personalizing Vista 172

Controlling the Start Menu 173

Controlling the System Tray 193Controlling Desktop Theme and Appearance 200

5 Making Vista Easier to Use 221

Changing Language and Regional Settings 222Using Handwriting Recognition 226Working with Speech Recognition 239

6 Vista Startup and Shutdown 264

Your Computer’s Performance Rating 264

7 Working with Hardware 321

Installing a New Hard Drive 338

Managing Printing with Print Management 367

8 Working with Software 382

Installing and Removing Software 382Installing Vista Components 387Starting a Program Automatically 394Setting Default Actions and Programs 402

Configuring Application Compatibility 412

9 Deploying Windows Vista 423

Vista Deployment Scenarios 428Running an Attended Installation 435Deploying with Imaging Software 444Migrating User Information 454

10 Internet Explorer 7 463

12 Securing the Vista Environment 564

Security Features in Vista 571

Staying Current on Security Issues 625

13 Vista and Group Policy 628

What You Can Manage with a Group Policy 642

Troubleshooting Network Connectivity 698

Getting Help from a Newsgroup 715

15 Vista Tips and Tricks 717

Several Really Cool Things, in No Particular Order 718And Now, What I Would Have Changed About Windows Vista If Only… 741

Index 755

Well, if you’ve gotten this far then that’s about half the battle Either the animal onthe cover or maybe the spine caught your attention (kudos to the O’Reilly designteam); or someone said something nice about the book; or you visited my web pageand decided you had a few extra bucks to invest in your Vista education; or you read agood review online or ignored a bad one Dude who wrote that one is crazy, anyway

So now that you’re here, I want to ask a favor: look at the bookshelves around you.Lots of other books on Vista, aren’t there? So what makes this one any different fromany of the other bicep builders you see either lining the shelves, or that have come up

on a web page you’re viewing right now? (I’m taking a flyer that this will be posted inthe “Look Inside” section on Amazon or its equivalent.)

Not to get too egotistical about it, but the answer is me.

I want to take a bit of the brief space afforded by this preface to let you know thatthere’s an actual person behind this book who will be a resource for you as youadministrate Windows Vista computers and the networks that contain them In fact,you can think of this book as the start of a conversation between me and you Theconversation continues on my web site, brianculp.com That site is an essential com-panion for this title, if for no other reason than that you are able to reach me thereand get answers to your Vista-related questions I probably won’t be able to solveevery problem that’s thrown my way, but I’ll do my best

There are some other great reasons for selecting this book For one, it’s very hensive And here’s another: it came out after Windows Vista hit the market Why isthat good? Because a lot of the books around you were drafted and even completedwhile Vista was still in beta, and beta doesn’t mean the finished product

compre-Don’t get me wrong; I drafted the book (most of it, anyway) using a beta copy ofVista as well But in my subsequent review, I stumbled over dozens of things in chap-ter drafts that I had documented during the beta code that were just flat-out wrongonce Vista released to the market

Also, take a quick look at the Table of Contents and get a feel for the subjects this bookcovers It’s targeted toward a fairly high-level audience, but it can also serve quitenicely as a power user guide to some of Vista’s more advanced features In other words,you won’t find a whole lot of discussion about Media Player 11, for example There aremany perfectly capable companion books for Windows Vista, no doubt, and you maywant to read 50 pages on the Media Player But if your goal is to learn about every pos-sible button available in Media Player 11, I can save you time and frustration: this isn’tthe title you want Windows Media Player plays MP3s End of discussion.

Additionally, know beforehand that this book is not the blueprint for a stand-up

comedy act If I were you, I’d be a little wary of computer books that announce just

how funny they are In my experience, everyone has a great sense of humor Just askthem Also in my experience, people who tell you how funny they are tend to be any-thing but Furthermore, not a single person has ever come up to me, or written me

an email, expressing his or her opinion about how the computer book business wassorely lacking in hilarity Yes, you might chuckle a time or two while reading thisbook, but I hold no illusions about why you’ve headed back to this section of thestore in the first place The Dave Barry books (whose own hilarity can be debated; Itend to like them) are elsewhere

Another thing: this book is well written I should know; I wrote almost every singleword That’s not to say that every line of prose is letter-perfect Despite my self-congratulations about the book not coming out until after Vista was released, its

800 pages still have to be produced too quickly for it to end up in the Literaturesection But I do try to adhere to Wm Strunk, Jr.’s mandate as frequently as possi-ble—in essence, I don’t use two words when one will do Additionally, bear inmind that I worked for Microsoft, and I know bad writing when I see it (I neverrealized that “best of class” or “360-degree view of the customer” had so manyusages.) As far as computer documentation goes, believe me, you could do a lotworse

Oh, and understand this before picking up this book: I am no Windows Vista expert.Yes, that sounds odd coming from someone who just spent several months writing abook on Vista administration, so let me add the following: I’ve used and adminis-tered and written about Windows operating systems for a long time now, so I have abaseline of understanding that’s a bit greater than the average bear But I haven’t beenexposed to Windows Vista a whole lot longer than any of you, or anyone else on theplanet, for that matter I may have a gotten a year’s head start on Vista, but how on

earth can I claim any real expertise? Although I’ve worked for Microsoft for the last

two years, I certainly can’t claim a direct lineage to Ballmer, Gates, Ozzie, et al.*

* Not that they’d do a much better job of explaining it anyway I once attended a Ballmer speech while Vista was

in beta where Ballmer exclaimed: “I can’t really tell you everything it does, but just use it and you’ll see.” In print, that makes it look like he was kinda stumped by a simple question But the thing about Ballmer, at least

So instead I sit down, install the beta, then the release candidate, then the manufacturer (RTM) versions, and start clicking around In the course of my click-ing, I push Vista, poke it, ask questions of my colleagues, and read whatever I can get

release-to-my hands on In many ways, this book can be best described as a work of tive journalism; i.e., although I can’t claim a vast expertise with Windows Vista,what I do have is a good starting point

investiga-And so then, now do you

The Structure of This Book

There’s really no right or wrong way to organize a book that covers this muchground So because I have no magic formula, I just organized things based on how Iwould read a book on Vista administration

Were I to read such a book, understand that I would never, ever, read the entirething cover to cover; my bookshelf is chock-full of books pretty much exactly likethis one, and I doubt I’ve ever read a single one cover to cover I would first want toknow what was new in the operating system, just to see what I was getting myselfinto, and Chapter 1 details many of the new features I would then want to take thenew features out for a test drive and see whether they were ones that would/couldreally enhance my time spent at the computer, and Chapter 2 addresses this ques-tion Chapters 3 through 14 then look more specifically at certain administrativetasks, and how they are accomplished with Windows Vista

So, then—here’s what you’ll find in this book:

Chapter 1, What’s New in Windows Vista?

Consider this your official introduction to Windows Vista As mentioned, thischapter examines the many new features of Windows Vista In it, you’ll see a dis-cussion of the new Windows Search capability, look at parental controls, and beintroduced to the many new security features, including User Account Control

Chapter 2, A Look at the Different Versions

This chapter continues the discussion in Chapter 1 by looking at the five ent versions of Windows Vista that most customers (or, more accurately, mostreaders of this book) will be able to choose from In it, we dissect the WindowsVista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Enter-prise, and Vista Ultimate editions We will look at the various technologiesincluded in each, and finally wrap things up with a discussion of the Tablet PCfunctionality In Windows Vista, this is now a built-in feature rather than a sepa-rate operating system

differ-Chapter 3, Networking with Windows Vista

This is the mother of all chapters, as it deals with the rather broad topic ofWindows Vista network administration In fact, the entirety of the book could

performing administrative tasks other than in a network environment? But thischapter focuses on the network part of Vista network administration In it, welook at TCP/IP configuration, and even at TCP/IP version 6, support of which isnow built into the Vista operating system We will also look at common net-work tasks such as joining a Windows Server-based domain, and at securing awireless connection.

Chapter 4, Personalizing Vista

Here we look at personalizing Windows Vista so that it behaves in a way thathelps the end user get the most out of the operating system This means simplythat desktop icons will be where they are most useful for users, that the SystemTray won’t be clogged with too many program icons, and that Vista sends itsdisplay to the correct monitor—or monitors in a multiple-display setup

Chapter 5, Making Vista Easier to Use

The focus of this chapter is to make Windows Vista easier to use Like networkadministration, this topic could encompass much of the remainder of the book

as well, but here we limit the discussion to tools such as Speech and ing recognition, and changing Vista to work with multiple languages The dis-cussion of handwriting recognition, naturally, expands on topics first introduced

Handwrit-in Chapter 2 Also, we discuss the new Accessibility options and the Sync ter, where we configure a host of synchronization relationships

Cen-Chapter 6, Vista Startup and Shutdown

This chapter isolates startup and shutdown behavior, two areas of performancethat administrators often spend a significant amount of time trying to manage.Here we look at ways to improve startup performance, ways to manage batteryconsumption with new Power Options Control Panel application As with manychapters, new features are given more attention than those that have merely beenupdated We discuss the new Sleep power mode in detail

Chapter 7, Working with Hardware

After improving startup performance, we next turn our attention to enhancinghardware performance during operating system use We look at the many deviceinstallation and management options here, then spend a good deal of time talk-ing about management of a single device—the hard drive We look at installa-tion options, the difference between basic and dynamic storage, and at volumeconfiguration choices, including drive shrinkage, a new feature available withWindows Vista Finally, the chapter looks at the new printing options, includ-ing how to manage a Vista print environment with the new Print ManagementMicrosoft Management (MMC) Console snap-in

Chapter 8, Working with Software

Operating systems are intermediaries between the user and hardware, and alsobetween the user and software It logically follows, then, to now turn our atten-tion from the hardware to the software In this chapter, we’ll look at software

install/uninstall procedures, at how to configure default programs, and at cation compatibility.

appli-Chapter 9, Deploying Windows Vista

So far, this book on Vista administration assumed that the operating system wasalready deployed and ready to go But simply deploying the software can presentquite the administrative challenge Chapter 9 looks at different deployment sce-narios, and also discusses how to transfer data from an old computing environ-ment into the new, Vista-based environment

Chapter 10, Internet Explorer 7

There are many new applications/features built into Windows Vista, of course,

as readers of the title have seen many times to this point But it’s a fair bet that

there’s one new application that will be the most-often used new feature,

regard-less of whether the discussion is about end users or administrators It’s InternetExplorer, of course, and version 7 ships embedded into Windows Vista We’llexamine the many new features of this Internet browser here, with an eye towardfeatures that will make the Internet experience safer and more convenient thanever before

Chapter 11, Optimize Performance

Operating systems often work like a dream the day you first take your computerout of the box or perform that clean installation on an existing machine Thegoal of Chapter 11 is to introduce administrators and users to utilities and tech-niques that can help ensure the Vista environment works just as well down theroad In it, we examine the performance optimization tools such as Task Man-ager and the Reliability and Performance Monitor, and also look at some spe-cific steps that can improve performance of computer subsystems such asprocessor, memory, disk, and applications

Chapter 12, Securing the Vista Environment

Security is on the minds of many a Windows system administrator, no doubt,and was certainly foremost in the minds of many a Microsoft Vista developer.Vista introduces several new weapons to the administrative arsenal that will helprun a more secure computing environment Many of the technologies discussedhere have been introduced at various times throughout the book, but they getthe full attention they deserve here

Chapter 13, Vista and Group Policy

Windows administrators will be adding millions of Vista computers to both newand existing Windows Server-based domains over the next few years, and doing

so will open the door to have those computers governed by one or more GroupPolicy Objects But as you’ll learn in this chapter, deployment of Group Policiesisn’t limited solely to Server environments Vista administrators can still managestandalone computers with this powerful administrative lever If there’s onechapter that encompasses the heart and soul of Vista (and Windows) administra-

Chapter 14, Troubleshooting Essentials

This chapter tries to get its arms around the nebulous topic of Vista shooting, the tools for which—for the most part—have been introduced in thepreceding 13 chapters Vista also includes several built-in, automated trouble-shooting routines (like Memory Diagnostics and Disk Diagnostics) that willwork to keep real, roll-up-the-sleeves-and-submit memory-dump-files-for-pars-ing troubleshooting to a bare minimum We will also examine here two utilitiesthat are a vital part of remote computing—Remote Assistance and Remote Desk-top—and look at scenarios where these can be used in a mixed Windows XP/Windows Vista environment

trouble-Chapter 15, Vista Tips and Tricks

This chapter includes tips, tricks, and other cool stuff about Windows Vista thatdoesn’t neatly fit into any certain chapter, but will help you use the new operat-ing system more effectively More tips such as these will be posted to brianculp.com on a regular basis And, just because I’ve got a word processor, you’ll alsolearn what I would change about Windows Vista were I in charge of Microsoftfor a day More importantly that just a forum to share my opinion, however, myhope here is that you’re able to learn from my experience and plan for a few ofthe possible Vista gotchas that I’ve found

How to Use This Book

The first two chapters are good—complementary pieces, really—and when taken as

a whole will give you a rather comprehensive overview of what to expect from dows Vista They’re very good, in fact Also, Chapter 15 is very good—it has a lot ofreally cool tips and tricks, registry hacks, that sort of thing—and also contains some

Win-of my opinion about what’s wrong or missing in Windows Vista so that you can be

on the lookout for these shortcomings and plan accordingly (and remember, it’s justone person’s opinion here)

And, there’s one tip in Chapter 15 that will more than pay for the entire price of thebook I won’t tell you what or where it is, but I promise that this tip alone is oneyou’ll repeat to friends, family, and coworkers

So if I were you, I’d read the first two chapters, flip to Chapter 15, and then referback to some of the other chapters as you see fit Don’t get me wrong: the rest of thebook is very good as well, but it doesn’t exactly make for light reading on the air-plane or beach It contains solid information that will help you use Vista and admin-ister Vista networks, but I don’t expect my agent will be fielding any calls about themovie rights to Chapters 3–14

And don’t think of this title as the be-all and end-all of Windows Vista tion, either Instead, think of it as a starting point for a conversation Me and you:talking about Windows administration, tips and tricks, etc in an effort to deepen

administra-our understanding and, ultimately, make administra-our computer networks run better thanever before And in this, the book’s second section, I offer the following to facilitate

that conversation: my email address, hmsbrian@brianculp.com.

And here’s the deal: I want you to write me with any questions you have about yourcomputer problems That’s right; I said any, as long as Windows Vista is involved

My vision for this book is that the thing you’re holding right now will be just theprinted component of a much larger work Why? Because no matter how manypages this or any book is, at some point the publishers have to take those wordsaway from the author and lock them in place, glue the pages together, and ship thefinished product to the bookstore so that they can begin to see a return on theirinvestment The problem, of course, is that operating systems are words, too, and asyou know, those words change at a much faster pace than the words that documentwhat they do A book on Windows XP, for example, has little relevance if you’ve justpurchased a computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 I don’t have a crys-tal ball, but I expect that Vista will undergo similar overhauls over the course of itslifespan

The good news is that this book has a companion web site, where documentationcan change at almost the same pace as the operating system itself Wait, I take thatback This title will have not a companion web site; instead, the web site will be anintegral part of the work It will ensure that you always have the most up-to-dateinformation about Windows Vista administration Oh, and the address, which

you’ve probably deduced already from the email address, is www.brianculp.com.

Send me your questions and comments and I’ll get back to you If I end up fixingyour computer network along with it, so be it I’ve just saved you the cost of thebook many times over

So that’s the deal Purchase the book if you’d like and then write me—share yourfeedback, suggest a timesaving tip, or post a question I’ll get you a timely response.Together, we’ll complete the remaining chapters of this book as the Windows oper-ating system continues to evolve

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

path-Constant width

Indicates commands, options, switches, variables, attributes, keys, functions,types, classes, namespaces, methods, modules, properties, parameters, values,objects, events, event handlers, XML tags, HTML tags, macros, the contents offiles, or the output from commands

Constant width bold

Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user

Constant width italic

Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values

This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note.

This icon indicates a warning or caution.

Using Code Examples

This book is here to help you get your job done In general, you may use the code inthis book in your programs and documentation You do not need to contact us forpermission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code For example,writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not requirepermission Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books doesrequire permission Answering a question by citing this book and quoting examplecode does not require permission Incorporating a significant amount of examplecode from this book into your product’s documentation does require permission

We appreciate, but do not require, attribution An attribution usually includes the

title, author, publisher, and ISBN For example: “Windows Vista Administration: The

Definitive Guide, by Brian Culp Copyright 2007 Brian Culp, 978-0-596-52959-8.”

If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given

above, feel free to contact us at permissions@oreilly.com.

800-998-9938 (in the United States or Canada)

tech-Safari offers a solution that’s better than e-books It’s a virtual library that lets youeasily search thousands of top tech books, cut and paste code samples, downloadchapters, and find quick answers when you need the most accurate, current informa-

tion Try it for free at http://safari.oreilly.com.

Acknowledgments

Writing any book that makes its way onto a bookstore shelf is a team effort, and abig, thick, book on Windows Vista administration is all the more so because of itssheer size and the breadth of topics covered

Yes, I’ve written much of what follows, but certainly not all Along the way, I’vereceived contributions for all or parts of several chapters from the following people.Each deserves a separate line or recognition in deference to the significance of his orher work:

Jennifer Hageman—Chapters 10 and 11

I would also like to thank the people at O’Reilly who helped pull this entire projecttogether These people include acquisition editors Jeff Pepper, who was at theproject helm at the time of its inception, and Colleen Gorman, who was there to seethe project through to completion They have both done a tremendous job shepherd-ing this book Thanks also to the production team—Audrey Doyle, copyeditor; JulieHawks, indexer; and Rachel Monaghan, production editor.

Other folks who have made valuable contributions to this project include ChrisCrayton and Pawan Bhardwaj

Any errors and/or omissions and/or sentences that are just poorly written have ing to do with the people just mentioned, but exist simply because there is a finiteamount of manpower any one company can commit to clean up after one author

noth-Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1

So here it is Nearly six years since its release of Windows XP, Microsoft has releasedits latest operating system, and it’s coming soon to a computer near you Andbecause you’ve picked up this book, chances are that said computer is the one you’reusing right now

“But so what,” you say “What’s so great about Windows Vista? Why should Iupgrade my own computer to Windows Vista? Better yet, why should every singleperson in my corporate network upgrade? What’s going to make this a cost-effectiveupgrade, and how am I going to justify the expense?”

What follows in this chapter are answers to some of these questions, by way of abrief discussion of some of Vista’s new features But note that the answers are cer-tainly subjective in nature Are Parental Controls vital to systems I administer? Is thisPresentation feature going to save me money? Is Windows Flip 3D going to save timeand confusion? Of course, the answers differ according to the needs of the individualand/or the enterprise

Also realize that this chapter is by no means an exhaustive compendium of thing new in Windows Vista, but rather a guided tour of the significant changes asinterpreted by one person Microsoft has filled up hundreds of pages’ worth of whitepapers covering these new enhancements; my job is to save you time and trouble by

every-highlighting the most significant changes, and moreover, the most significant

fea-tures of these changes.

We’ll start with what’s most obvious: the user interface, including features such asthe new desktop and Sidebar Later in the chapter, we’ll examine a few new featureswith greater “administrative muscle,” such as deployment and customizationoptions In fact, some of the features first introduced here will even merit further dis-cussion during later chapters

The Vista User Interface

I know what you’re thinking: “Meet the new Windows desktop, same as the olddesktop.” And generally speaking, you’re correct If you have used a previous ver-sion of Windows (or any other operating system, for that matter), not a whole lot haschanged—at least at first glance Yes, the desktop background looks better, and yes,the Start button is now a Start “orb.” But it’s still located in the same place, and youcan use it for basically the same purpose: to launch an application

Because not much has changed with the Windows desktop, we won’t spend a lot oftime talking about it here You know where the Start button is; you know how tolaunch a program with a desktop icon Instead, I’ll cover a few new bells and whis-tles, highlight some of the “eye candy,” and focus on how to configure some of theseoptions

Windows Aero

Vista’s most significant overhaul of the user interface can be summed up in a single

word: Aero.*That is Microsoft’s brand name for the new look and feel, although itsfunctionality goes beyond just an improved desktop appearance So, what exactly isAero? It encompasses many characteristics, including:

Glass

The program windows are now translucent, allowing users to see through grams to get an idea of what’s on the window behind, as seen in Figure 1-1 Ifyou maximize the program, the glass goes away and you get the Vista defaultapplication color of gray/black

pro-* Luna was the brand name for the XP visual interface, by the way One of the big differences between Luna

and Aero is that Luna didn’t really add any functionality to the Windows interface, especially when compared

to Windows 2000—it just looked different Aero, on the other hand, does add functionality—Windows Flip

Figure 1-1 Aero’s glass appearance lets you see through applications

Glowing buttons

This isn’t unique to Aero, but it is part and parcel of the new user experience.Buttons such as Minimize, Maximize, and Close now glow when your mousehovers over them You’ll also see this behavior when using certain applicationssuch as those in the Office 2007 suite The glowing buttons make it just a littleeasier than before to be certain that your mouse click will carry out the actionyou intend In other words, although it’s a subtle difference, it’s there to makethe Windows experience more intuitive than ever You see it even when you’renot using Aero, which I’ll explain in just a bit

Windows Flip

Hold down the Alt-Tab keys to see Windows Flip in action (I’ve seen it referred

to as Windows Switcher as well Whatever.) And if you’re thinking, “That’s notnew, I could use Alt-Tab in lots of previous Windows versions,” you’re abso-

lutely correct The difference is that you can now see the program contents rather than just the program icons, which is why, I suppose, it gets its very own feature

name now Windows Flip lets users be more precise when switching betweenprograms If you’re switching among five different PowerPoint presentationsdoing cut/copy/paste operations, say, this can really be a timesaver Try it with avideo running in Windows Media Player Cool

Windows Flip 3D

Taking Windows Flip one step further, Windows Flip 3D arranges all of theopen programs in a Rolodex-style layered arrangement, again letting users actu-ally look into each of their running applications To use Windows Flip 3D, holddown the Windows key on the keyboard and then press the Tab key Reallycool Impress-the-neighbors cool (There’s a Quick Launch shortcut for this aswell, by the way, but the idea of both Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D isthat you can toggle between programs without having to reach for the mouse.)

Technically, all of this new eye candy is part of the Aero appearance setting, which

you can change using a technique that should be pretty familiar to users of previousversions of Windows This will also serve to answer a common question: can I set up

my computer to look like an older version of Windows?

Changing from Aero to another theme

Here’s how to change from Aero to another visual interface:

1 Open the Personalization Control Panel application The easiest way to do this,

in my opinion, is to just right-click an empty space on the desktop and choosePersonalize

2 Choose the Windows Color and Appearance link, opening the Color andAppearance dialog box

3 From there, choose the “Open classic appearance properties for more color

This dialog box should look familiar to users with prior Windows experience, so Iwon’t detail each possibility With this dialog box, you can make Windows lookmore like Windows 2000, using the Windows Standard appearance, or even likeWindows 98 with the Windows Classic setting.

Yeah, well, I don’t see that dialog box. No, you may not The Vista Aero appearancetakes some significant processing horsepower to make it do its magic Systems thatare more than six months old, or laptops in general, might need an upgrade tounlock Aero’s capabilities As we’ll discuss further in Chapter 2, though, computerscan run Vista just fine even if they don’t meet the hardware requirements to displaythe new Aero interface

(Aero is actually part of what Microsoft calls the Windows Vista Premium

experi-ence, and if your system is Vista Premium Ready, it should be enabled as the default

If your system is merely Windows Vista Capable, you’ll use the Windows Vista Basicappearance rather than the Windows Vista Aero appearance The Basic appearanceincludes solid silver program windows and the redesigned buttons.)

Figure 1-2 Change the appearance of Vista

You cannot enable the Vista Aero interface on a Vista Home Basic

machine no matter how good your hardware is.

So, if you don’t see the Windows Color and Appearance dialog box I just tioned, you’re experiencing a new engineering characteristic of Windows Vista That

men-is, if your system isn’t speedy enough to support a certain feature, Vista won’t even

present you with the opportunity to turn it on In fact, Microsoft even takes this

con-cept one step further According to Microsoft, a system running Vista will perform

faster than the exact same system running Windows XP Why? Because Vista does a

better job of optimizing memory and disk usage, and does not allow graphics options

to be turned on that the system cannot support capably

Aero Wizards

Besides Aero, there’s another way in which Windows Vista has changed user tion As millions of Windows users already know, most configuration, installation,and update tasks are performed with the aid of a wizard The job of a Windows wiz-ard is straightforward: it leads you through a series of questions designed to get thedevice, piece of software, or Windows component up and running the way youwant For example, if you want to back up files, you could open the Backup andRestore Center and choose the Back Up Files button You will then see the openingpage of a wizard, shown in Figure 1-3, which asks you a simple question: “Where doyou want to save your backup?”

interac-And although it may escape your notice at first, this Wizard dialog box represents asignificant change over the way wizards used to work, the first such change to wiz-ard behavior in roughly 10 years I’ll explain

The standard for the Windows wizard interface design from the time of Windows 98until now has been something known as Wizard 97 It is the standard still in effectfor the wizards used in Windows XP and Server 2003 Vista Aero wizards give thewizards a major facelift, then, one that incoporates major updates to match the lookand feel of the rest of Windows Vista But I wouldn’t bother mentioning this if itwere just a matter of a prettier window The Aero wizards also change how usersinteract with the wizard How so? Look for these changes when completing a wizard:

• To enhance efficiency, Vista Aero wizards no longer use the Welcome and pletion pages that have been the standard of Wizard 97 (Geek side note: youcan actually disable these Welcome and Completion pages in several currentproducts, which use an “updated” Wizard 97 interface.)

Com-• Aero wizard pages have a prominent main instruction that replaces page ing and subheading

head-• Aero wizards use a Back button that matches the appearance of other Vista dows, especially those used by Windows Explorer The idea here is to focus onthe Command choices, and not on clicking on a Next button repetitively inorder to step through the wizard.

win-• A new control, known as a command link, allows for immediate and moreexpressive choices, carrying out most wizard functions with a single click perwindow

• “Commit” buttons and pages, where the wizard explicitly states what will occur,are introduced If there is no other information that needs to be communicated,these commit pages will be the last ones in the wizard The result, Microsofthopes, is more efficient decision-making and navigation flow

• A “follow-up page” after some Commit pages can direct the user to take logicalfollow-up actions upon completion of the Aero wizard After burning a CD usingWindows Media Player 11, for example, the follow-up page might present theuser with the option to either duplicate the disk or make a disk label

And there’s more: besides a change in the way users (and administrators) will act with Vista’s many configuration wizards, you will also notice a change in the waythe new OS “talks” to you, both with the phrasing tone used and in the way theSecurity Center handles its notifications

inter-Figure 1-3 The opening page of a Vista wizard

Vista’s tone

According to the Vista User Experience Guidelines, Vista has also undergone a sonality change” of sorts by changing the language and overall tone of the user inter-face The stated goal of the new tone is to make communication presented in Vista’smany dialog boxes clearer, more precise, and even encouraging Previous versions ofWindows could have an inconsistent feel both in the way they instructed users toaccomplish tasks, and in the way they made requests for information Much of thathas been remedied now with language that is more direct and user-focused

“per-What’s more, Microsoft also encourages application developers to adopt a differenttone in the applications built for Windows Vista As a result, users should see muchmore consistency in how they are “spoken” to, whether they are using the operatingsystem or an application running on it

Windows System Tray notifications

You know them and love them (cough, cough): Windows System Tray notifications.Notifications allow an application or operating system component with an icon inthe System Tray to create a pop-up window with some information about an event orproblem You’ve no doubt experienced System Tray notifications, which are com-

monly referred to as balloons, from applications like Microsoft Office (when a new

email arrives, for example), or from the operating system (such as when a securitysetting is not as safe as it should be)

Th System Tray notifications were first introduced in Windows 2000 and have beenthe subject of much controversy and headache I am routinely asked about how onecan rid themselves of these balloons, and I share a few techniques in Chapter 15 and

at other places throughout the book The notifications can be particularly annoying

to people who often run full-screen applications such as games, and can be a realmood-killer when one pops up during a PowerPoint presentation As you’ll soon see,however, Vista includes a “Presenter mode” for mobile computers that automati-cally addresses this very issue

Windows Vista notifications aim to be less intrusive by gradually fading in and out,and by not appearing at all if a full-screen application or screensaver is being dis-played—in these cases, notifications are queued until an appropriate time Largericons and multiple font sizes and colors are also introduced with Aero’s notificationwindows

Even the OS font has changed The Segoe UI font is the new default

font for Aero with languages that use Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic

char-acter sets The default font size is also increased from 8 points to 9

points to improve readability.

Lastly, one of the most important enhancements of Aero is its capability to deal withthe high-resolution displays of the future by way of a resolution-independent UI Atpresent, monitors generally have a resolution of 96 dots/pixels per inch (dpi/ppi).Simply put, 48× 48 icons are displayed on-screen in a half-inch square.

Future LCD screens, however, will support resolutions up to 240/320 dpi fore, to be displayed at the same size without quality loss, icons must include muchlarger images That’s why Vista introduces a new standard for Windows icon size:

There-256× 256 pixels

Now that we’ve discussed some of Vista’s new desktop features, let’s spend a littletime learning how to tailor the experience to your liking

Adding an Icon to the Desktop

If you’re performing a clean install, you’ll notice that Vista likes the desktop as clean

as possible In fact, the Recycle Bin should be the only icon you see To bring backold standbys such as My Computer, Internet Explorer, and the Network icons, fol-low these steps:

1 Open the Personalization Control Panel application Again, you can just click an empty area of the desktop and choose Personalize

right-2 In the left pane, choose the “Change desktop icons” link

3 You’ll see the Desktop Icon Settings dialog box shown in Figure 1-4 From here,simply check the checkbox for each icon that you want on Clearing the check-box will remove the desktop icon Click OK to complete the operation

And notice another change here: some of the desktop icon names have beenchanged My Computer is now the more streamlined Computer My Documents has

been replaced by a checkbox called User’s Files, but it still places a folder on the desktop that’s the equivalent of the old My Documents folder The user folder is physically located most typically at C:\Users\ username \Documents I like these

changes

Other desktop changes

Now that you’ve seen how to change the desktop icons, you’re well on your way tomodifying other areas of the desktop appearance It all starts in the PersonalizationControl Panel application

If you want to change the desktop background, for example, you follow the—whatelse?—Desktop Background link To change Vista’s screensaver, follow the ScreenSaver link, opening the Screen Saver dialog box shown in Figure 1-5

You can take it from here The Personalization application also contains links tomanage sound, mouse pointer, theme, and display settings We will look at a few of

these later in the book, but only those that will have a direct impact on the life of anadministrator In other words, feel free to change the email notification sound, butdon’t look for click-step instructions amid these pages.

Because Vista is built especially to enhance the user experience for mobile systems,

we will look at how appearance settings can affect laptop use

Changing appearance settings on laptop computers. One interesting thing to note here isthe Windows Mobility Center, which can also be accessed from the Personalizationapplication Just follow the link on the bottom section of the left pane (There’s aseparate Control Panel icon for this as well.) Especially helpful on mobile comput-ers, the Mobility Center represents not so much new technologies, but rather an eas-ier way to get to these technologies

As you will see in more detail later in this book, the Windows Mobility Center placeskey mobile computer display settings in one location, so you don’t have to open eachitem separately With the Windows Mobility Center, you can keep tabs on sync part-nerships, battery life, and, most relevant to this section, external display and presenta-tion settings You can even change the laptop’s own display settings by clicking on the

Figure 1-4 Add and remove common desktop icons

But my job here is not to provide exhaustive desktop documentation, but rather topoint you in the right direction So, consider that task complete, and we’ll leave thetopic of the desktop for now If you picked up this book for instructions on how to

do things such as change desktop pictures or configure the screensaver, after all,you’ve chosen the wrong title

Let’s instead move to another new technology that’s seen from the desktop: the bar and its constituent gadgets

Side-The Sidebar and Gadgets

The Sidebar is new to Windows Vista The Sidebar by itself really has no ity; rather, it serves as a docking station for one or more gadgets

functional-Gadgets are little applications that can perform a wide variety of functions They can

display information gathered from your computer, such as memory/CPU usage andsong playlists; information gathered from the Internet, such as stock, weather, and

Figure 1-5 Change screensaver settings

RSS feed data; user-supplied information, such as the very handy Notes application;

or none of these things, as is the case with puzzles and games

By default, Vista ships with 13 gadgets: in alphabetical order, they include the lator, Clock, CPU Meter, Currency Conversion, Feed Viewer, Feed Watcher, Notes,Number Puzzle, Picture Puzzle, Recycle Bin, Slide Show, Stocks, and Timer You candownload additional gadgets at the Microsoft Live Gallery web site, which you canfind easily by following a hyperlink in Vista’s Gadget Gallery, detailed shortly.Companies and individuals can also develop and submit their own gadgets Does ITneed a way to quickly update staff about network status? Gadgets might just be theperfect solution Do you want to keep abreast of your fantasy baseball team duringday games? Go ahead and write the gadget yourself All that work time devoted toyour fantasy team will likely earn you a promotion

Calcu-Of course, you don’t have to use the Sidebar if you prefer not to Fortunately, uring Sidebar behavior won’t present much of a challenge

config-Gadgets are also leveraged when you are using something called the

Windows SideShow I explain the SideShow in the “Vista SideShow”

section later in this chapter.

Changing Sidebar Behavior

This is pretty easy stuff For the most part, just remember to click If you click the Sidebar and choose Properties, for example, you’ll see the Properties dialogbox shown in Figure 1-6 This dialog box allows you to stop the Sidebar (and thus,the gadgets) from loading when Windows starts by clearing a single checkbox.Note the options here that allow you to move the Sidebar display to the left or right

right-of the monitor, and further to choose the monitor on which the Sidebar shouldappear

What if you told the Sidebar to go away and now you have a change of heart? No bigdeal There are two easy ways to get it back:

• Right-click the Taskbar notification icon for the Windows Sidebar (it looks like atiny, tiny little desktop) and choose Open

• Open the Control Panel, choose the Classic View, and then open the WindowsSidebar Properties application Look under the Appearance and Personalizationgrouping if you’re using the Standard View

You cannot display a gadget without the Sidebar running You can

move a gadget from the Sidebar to the desktop and then hide the

Side-bar, but the engine on which the gadget relies—the Sidebar—remains

idling in the background.

Adding a Gadget

Adding gadgets to the Sidebar is also fairly straightforward Follow these steps:

1 Right-click the Sidebar and choose Add Gadget from the menu The GadgetsGallery appears, as seen in Figure 1-7

2 Now all that’s left is to choose which gadget to add You can either double-click

or just drag and drop to start using a desired gadget

Note also that you can always “Get more gadgets online” by following that link inthis dialog box You’ll be taken to the Microsoft web site where you can grab one ormore of the hundreds of available Vista gadgets

Finally, know that gadgets don’t even have to live on the Sidebar at all If you want

to see a gadget on the desktop, just click and drag it off the Sidebar and place itwherever you want When you bring a gadget to the desktop, it usually grows in size

as well (This is especially helpful with certain gadgets that display lots of tion, such as the RSS feed watcher or the stock tracker, although this isn’t nearly ashelpful as it could be See Chapter 15 for my full rundown on the Vista gadgets.)

informa-Figure 1-6 Modify Sidebar behavior

If you use gadgets regularly, commit this tip to memory If the gadgets

are hidden by program windows, press the Windows key and the G

key simultaneously to immediately bring the gadgets to the top This is

great for when you’ve moved a gadget from the Sidebar to the

desk-top, but you can also use it to simply display the Sidebar if it’s hiding

behind other windows.

From there, the process of modifying individual gadget behavior will vary depending

on the gadget Generally speaking, though, just right-click the gadget itself andchoose Options to begin the process

Also, note that each gadget is installed locally on the user’s computer, and is

avail-able for all users of the system Gadget files are saved using the gadget file

exten-sion, and can be emailed or distributed on the Web A company can easily write agadget to meet a specific purpose—displaying network status, for example—usingHTML skills that should be old hat to most web developers

Figure 1-7 Add one of the gadgets using this dialog box

Writing your own gadget

You write Vista gadgets using a combination of DHTML for visual layout, JScriptand VBScript for functional code, and an XML file for defining the gadget’s meta-data (author name, description, etc.) This XML code is also referred to as the Gad-get Manifest As long as you’ve got a command of each of these three developerlanguages, you’re on your way

You then can distribute the gadget as a ZIP file with a gadget extension Displaying

the gadget using DHTML allows the same gadget to be used on Microsoft’s Live.comand Windows Live Spaces sites Alternatively, on Windows Vista, the gadget candetect that Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is available and take advan-tage of its graphical capabilities to display in a different way from the Web

Enhanced end-user functionality has been a major directive for Microsoft as it hascreated its newest operating system Of equal, if not greater, importance has beencreating a more secure computing environment The next section of this chapter pro-vides an overview of some of the more prominent features

Check out http://microsoftgadgets.com/Sidebar/DevelopmentOverview.

aspx#howGadgetsWork for a great little overview on creating your

own gadgets.

Security Features

So far, we’ve taken a quick tour of Aero—the new user interface—and Windowsgadgets These are two of the new features that will be most apparent to you whenyou glance at the Vista desktop for the first time But what about other new featuresthat aren’t as readily apparent? Have they made as significant an impact? Absolutely,and we’ll start here with a discussion of the new security features

It is (or was, at the time of this writing) hard to find an article covering Vista thatdoesn’t include some mention about Vista’s many new security features As mostpeople who have even a trace of geek in their blood are well aware, Microsoft hasbeen roundly criticized over the years for creating operating systems in which secu-rity was an afterthought That’s the prevailing wisdom, anyway: Microsoft caresmore about usability and compatibility than security, and there are executivesaplenty at Symantec and McAfee who have the vacation homes and trophy girl-friends to prove it.*

* That was a joke Even better, it was funny, unlike the “humor” found in most computer books I don’t really know whether any Symantec or McAfee executives have trophy girlfriends, but I do know that most of this group is a) male, and b) well paid You can do the probability calculations on your own The point of the whole thing, really, is that a lot of people eat steak for dinner because of Microsoft’s said security missteps.

But now, with Vista, Microsoft has made OS security its top priority In fact, theWeb is chock-full of articles that plagiarize Microsoft’s own marketing statementabout security on Windows Vista:

It’s “engineered to be the most secure version of Windows yet.”

So what does that mean, exactly? It means that Vista includes a number of featuresthat complement one another to help users and administrators avoid security prob-lems that have plagued previous Windows operating systems This section looks atthree of these that are now included with Vista:

• Windows Defender

• Windows Firewall

• Windows Vista Parental Controls

We will discuss each in its own subsection There are others, such as User AccountControl and BitLocker Drive Encryption, which merit a separate section’s worth ofdiscussion

(The same prevailing wisdom that criticized Microsoft for not being secure enough,

by the way, is now trying to have it both ways: the PW now is that security features,such as User Account Control, for example, make the operating system “too secure”for the average user, who will find himself nothing short of aggrieved at having toconfirm steps that can reconfigure his system For more thoughts/criticisms on thesubject, please refer to Chapter 15.)

But I’m not here to repeat prevailing wisdom Instead, I want to give you a decentoverview of what some of these new security features are and how they will protectthe user environment Specific configuration steps will follow later in the book

Windows Defender

Vista ships with a built-in antispyware tool called Windows Defender Previouslyknown as Windows Anti-Spyware (creative, eh?), Defender’s mission is to preventinstallation of malware, which is software that can either install itself or run withoutyour knowledge or consent It’s sometimes difficult to determine whether malwarehas been installed—a well-written piece of malware calls little attention to itself—thus making detection and removal all the more critical Why bother? Because mal-ware has a job, and it’s one you probably don’t want it to do After all, it’s called spy-ware for a reason

Malware applications can be written to gather information about online usage,including vital information such as login names, passwords, and credit card informa-tion They can also change settings on your computer, such as Internet Explorer’shome page, and/or just generally slow down performance In a cruel joke to the

uninformed, many of these malware programs are called Internet optimizers, or

spy-And of course, there’s the pop-up advertisement, brought to you courtesy of that oldfriend, adware Although malware can define a broad range of code—worms, Tro-jans, viruses, and so forth—one of the things Defender works hardest against is thepop up (Really nasty adware can display ads even when you’re not connected to theInternet.)

Windows Defender helps to keep spyware off your computer—and remove it should

it be there—using a three-pronged approach that includes the following:

Real-time protection

How Defender helps prevent new installations of malware Defender alerts youwhenever potentially unwanted software attempts to install itself The real-timeprotection also signals the user when programs attempt to change Windows set-tings Both of these types of real-time alerts appear in the System Tray

SpyNet community

During Defender setup, you’re given the opportunity to join the SpyNet nity; it’s checked by default SpyNet is a good first line of defense against spy-ware, letting you see whether others have installed software that’s not yetclassified If other members of SpyNet haven’t allowed a particular piece of soft-ware, you can use that information when deciding whether to install Yourinstallation choices, then, close the feedback loop by helping other peoplechoose what to do It’s recommended practice to join SpyNet during setup

commu-Scanning options

Defender helps with malware that’s already been installed There are optionswithin to scan manually and at regular intervals You can also specify here whatactions to take with any detected malware

Configuring Windows Defender

We could spend an entire chapter discussing each and every feature of WindowsDefender, but instead I’ll concentrate on just two: automatic scan and Defender defi-nitions Once these two features are in place, Windows Defender works pretty much

on autopilot: it carries out its job without much, if any, additional input from theuser

One of the most important components of the Windows Defender tool is its list ofspyware During a scan, Defender simply compares the list of installed softwareagainst the list of known malware and then detects (and most often deletes) softwarematching what’s on the spyware definitions list

Another important function of the antispyware tool is the automatic scan After all,

an updated list is of little use if it’s not actually used in a scan Fortunately, these twooptions are configured from the same location

Here’s how to make sure your malware definitions are always up-to-date, and thatyour system receives a regular scan:

1 Open Windows Defender You can use several methods, including the ControlPanel (its own app if you’re using the Classic View) Alternatively, you can clickthe link in the Security Center.

2 Click the Tools link, and then the Options link

3 Under “Automatic scanning,” make sure the “Automatically scan my computer(recommended)” checkbox is selected, and set the scanning frequency using thedrop-down boxes, as shown in Figure 1-8

4 To make sure definitions are up-to-date, make sure the “Check for updated nitions before scanning” checkbox is selected

defi-5 Click Save You may be prompted for administrative credentials if you’re usingUser Account Control

Another technology that works in much the same fashion is Windows Firewall,which compares incoming and outgoing network traffic against a list of what is

Figure 1-8 Set Windows Defender to protect your system automatically

Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall prevents the vast majority of Internet attacks from reaching your

computer by closing off points of entry known as ports And even if you’re not

wor-ried about someone hacking into your system—let’s say you’re on a corporate work that’s protected by its own firewall on the gateway router, for example—Windows Firewall can still help enhance network security by stopping your com-puter from sending out malicious software to other systems

net-Before configuring Windows Firewall, a little history is merited Windows Firewall isactually nothing new It’s been around, available for use on Windows 2000 and XP

machines, for some time now It just wasn’t enabled by default—that is, until

Win-dows XP’s Service Pack 2

Port: an endpoint of a logical connection between two computers,

desig-nated by a number The number helps the computer identify what

application/protocol handles the incoming traffic For example, traffic

sent to Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port 80 is handled,

even-tually, by the web browser because port 80 is the designation for HTTP.

Here’s how to enable and disable Windows Firewall:

1 Open the Windows Vista Security Center There are several ways to do this,including from the Control Panel Alternatively, you can right-click the little

“shield” System Tray icon (in the lower-righthand section of the taskbar) for theSecurity Center and choose Open Security Center

2 On the left side of the Security Center, choose Windows Firewall

3 On the left side of the Windows Firewall dialog box, follow the “Turn WindowsFirewall on or off” link (you can also click the Change Settings button) You may

be prompted for an administrator password if User Account Control is on

4 The Windows Firewall dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-9 Choose the

“On (recommended)” radio button and click OK

You can then further configure firewall behavior with the two other tabs seen in theWindows Firewall dialog box:

• The Exceptions tab, as the name implies, allows you to configure exceptions toblocked traffic This is important, as many applications need network connectiv-ity in order to perform as written To add an exception, simply click either the

“Add program” or the “Add port” button and then complete the appropriatedialog boxes To add a program, just select it from the list shown in Figure 1-10and click OK For a port, you’ll name the port, select the protocol, and specifythe port number

Under most circumstances, you’ll only need to specify a program exception You

can find a list of well-known ports at http://webopedia.internet.com/quick_ref/

• The Advanced tab isn’t as advanced as the name implies, but rather just lets youadjust settings for an individual network adapter If you’re on a desktop system,you probably have only a single adapter If you’re using a laptop, however,chances are you have both a wireless and a wired adapter By default, both areselected and firewall settings apply to both connections.

You can also configure firewall settings at the domain level via a

Group Policy Object (GPO) when the Vista computer is part of a

Win-dows server domain If this is the case, you’ll see notification of such

when configuring Windows Firewall For instructions on how to

con-figure Windows Firewall settings with Group Policy, please refer to

Firewall automatically configures the exception To turn off this behavior, uncheckthe “Notify me when Windows Firewall blocks a new program” checkbox in theWindows Firewall Settings dialog box.

An example of a firewall exception at work

So, you want to play Halo against friends online, or you want to listen to the radio

on iTunes, or you want to allow Remote Administration of your computer, or, ter yet, you want to do all three of these things Windows Firewall prevents thisactivity until you configure it otherwise As mentioned, it shouldn’t be a problemunder most circumstances; answer Allow the first time a program tries to access theInternet and you’re on your way If you’ve answered Block previously, though, you’ll

bet-have to follow the steps listed earlier to configure an exception Once you add Halo

to the firewall’s list of allowed programs, you’ll be able to frag at will

That is, unless someone has restricted access to Halo with Parental Controls.

Figure 1-10 Adding a program to the list of exceptions in Windows Firewall

Parental Controls

For a (relatively) long time now, computer administrators have been able to tate how a computer could be used Now Vista gives much of this administrative

dic-power to parents (We’ll use parent here to make things simpler.) Vista does this

with a new feature called Parental Controls, which allows parents to set ters for computer use They make parents the administrators over their family’s

parame-“domain.”

The Vista Parental Controls can be set up to govern four key areas of computer usefor any computer account Although designed for parents to restrict kids’ computeruse, there’s nothing that says these controls can’t be used to keep a beloved spousefrom gambling away the diaper money online, or at least to get a report of suchbehavior They can be used to:

• Set time limits for computer use

• Limit Internet usage

• Prevent users from running certain programs

• Prevent users from playing certain games

And, probably most important, Parental Controls can keep a record of computeractivity We’ll look at the configuration steps for each of these tasks in the followingsections

Parental Controls are available only on the Home Basic, Home

Pre-mium, and Ultimate editions, and as such are mainly of interest to the

home user looking to exert some administrative control over the home

network For the same kinds of control and reporting over program,

game, and Internet usage with the Business or Enterprise edition, the

solution is a GPO.

Limiting computer use

As mentioned, one of the ways to leverage Parental Controls is to set limits on hours

of computer use Options include setting limits for hours of the day, total hours ofcomputer use, or both Here’s what to do:

1 Open the Control Panel (Start ➝ Control Panel), and then open Parental trols If you’re using the Classic View, there’s an icon called Parental Controls Ifyou’re using the Standard View, choose the link called “Set up Parental Controlsfor any user” under the User Accounts and Family Safety grouping (You may beprompted for an administrator password.)

Con-2 Choose the account for whom you’ll be configuring time limits