Windows Vista Power users guide phần 5 docx

MSCONFIG If you are having more serious troubles with Windows Vista, type MSConfig into the search box on the Start Menu to run this advanced system service.. WINDOWS CALENDAR HAS STOP

MSCONFIG

If you are having more serious

troubles with Windows Vista, type

MSConfig into the search box on the

Start Menu to run this advanced

system service

Here are a series of tools that must be

used very carefully but can be very

useful

GENERAL

On the general tab you can select a

limited startup of Windows If you are

having trouble with a drive or piece of

software that starts with Windows

and that you cannot remove, or

maybe you suspect that a Windows

component may be malfunctioning

you can start Windows into a limited

configuration here

BOOT

The boot tab presents more advanced

limited startup options for your PC

SERVICES AND STARTUP

These tabs allow you to disable startup programs and windows services Beware! That unless you know what you are doing disabling Windows services you can paralyse your operating system

TOOLS

Of more use is the tools tab that offers

access to a variety of features including getting help online, system restore and the event viewer, a handy utility that keeps a log of crashes and problems with Windows

SYSTEM FILE CHECKER

Setting up the System File Checker

verifies the integrity of the Operating System files If it finds any file that’s corrupt or that has been tempered

with it’ll replace it from your Vista install DVD

At the Search Box in the Start menu

type CMD to search for the command

prompt When it appears in the

search results, right click on it and

select Run as Administrator

In the window that appears type

SFC /SCANNOW to check the

Operating system and replace any

corrupt or damaged files

SFC /VERIFYONLY to just check the

Operating System and report on its

integrity without repairing anything

I CAN’T ACCESS MY

FILES / IE FAVOURITES

What can sometimes happen when

you move your users folders away

from the drive on which your main

Windows Vista installation is located

(see Moving your files for data

security on page 18) is that you can’t

write, or sometimes even read, the

contents

INTERNET EXPLORER CAN’T SAVE FAVOURITES

If you have moved your

Users folder

to another drive you may have to reset the permissions for IE favourites

Click your name on the

Start Menu

then right click on

favourites, select

Properties and Security

Hre you can

set Full control

permissions for yourself and others

Part of the beefed up security in Windows Vista is file and folder permissions You can access these by

Right clicking on the drive or folder,

selecting Properties and then

selecting the Security tab

Here you will find a list of permissions for user groups The two local ones

are called Administrators and Users

and will be followed by the name of

your computer (STUDY in the

illustration below)

If you are having trouble, try editing

the permissions to allow Full control

to a user group

You are unlikely to need this for a partition or drive on which you have relocated your user files, but it is common to have to set permissions for Internet Explorer Favourites This

is because IE in Vista runs in a special

sandboxed mode which denies it

access to the rest of the operating system, your programs or files without express permission

WINDOWS CALENDAR

HAS STOPPED WORKING

If you have subscribed to an internet,

friend’s or colleagues calendar in the

new Windows Calendar application

you could find that every time Vista

starts you get a dialogue box on your

screen telling you that Windows

Calendar has stopped working This,

hopefully soon to be fixed bug, is

caused by Windows Calendar trying to

update the calendars you have

subscribed to and failing to do so To

fix this open the Task Scheduler from

the Start Menu by clicking All

Programs → Accessories → System

Tools where it is located In the

window that appears, open in the left

hand pane Task Scheduler Library →

Microsoft → Windows → Windows

Calendar and delete the calendar

updating task that appears in the

centre pane Your subscription

calendar(s) will still update whenever

you run Windows Calendar but that’s

really all you need it to do anyway

This is not guaranteed to fix the

problem and hopefully by the time

you read this Microsoft will have

distributed a fix for the problem I

have discovered however through

trial and error that this does work in

most cases

INTERNET EXPLORER IS

MALFUNCTIONING?

With so many plug-ins now available

for Internet Explorer you may find that

occasionally one of them crashes and

takes your internet browser with it To

fix this you have two choices If you

INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS You can run Internet Explorer with all its plug-ins disabled

if one is misbehaving

Go to the Start menu

→ All Programs → Accessories

→ System Tools which frankly is a stupid place

to hide it, you will find Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)

can get Internet Explorer working click

the Tools button, select Manage Add- ons → Enable or Disable Add -ons

where you can disable the offending plug-ins

Alternatively in the Start menu → All Programs → Accessories → System Tools which frankly is a stupid place to hide it, you will find Internet Explorer (No Add-ons) which will run the

browser with all the plug-ins disabled You can then remove the offending plug-in(s) as described previously

GAMING PROBLEMS IN VISTA

Many gamers have reported problems running their favourite games in Windows Vista

It’s true that compared to XP, Vista is

a memory hog However there are currently issues with processor performance hitting 100% when it really shouldn’t be too

Many gamers are holding off for Service Pack 1, at which time they say they’ll make the switch I’ve been resistant to this because of the security and usability improvements that Vista brings to the desktop However I now have to admit that this prudent course may be the most suitable for PC gamers

Memory management software can help with some issues, but clearly there are performance problems here that Microsoft need to sort out with future hotfixes

PART 11

TWEAKING

SYSTEM AND SETTINGS TWEAKS

As with all previous versions of Windows there are system tweaks that are usually advisable to get the most out of your installation

Go to the Control Panel → System → and click on Advanced System Settings in the green left-hand pane

In the window that pops up (see illustration) there are several options you can tweak to get a bit more out of Windows Vista

Under Performance → Settings you

can change some of the appearance options for Windows Vista

VIRTUAL MEMORY

Then under the Advanced tab of that

Window you should click on the

Change button in the Virtual Memory

section Here you should untick the

box labelled “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” and instead choose a custom size where

the initial and maximum sizes are

identical

Virtual Memory is a facility whereby

Windows uses some of your hard

drive space as extra memory when it

needs to If this file can grow and

shrink in size then lots of file

defragmentation can occur over time

With the virtual memory file kept at a

fixed size, unable to grow or shrink,

this can’t happen

DUAL-BOOTING SYSTEMS

If your computers dual boots into, for

example, both Windows XP and

Windows Vista, the Settings button in

the Startup and Recovery section is

where you can control options such as

the amount of time the boot menu

appears for when Windows starts

SYSTEM PROTECTION

AND SYSTEM RESTORE

The System Protection tab is where

System Restore is controlled from

With previous versions of Windows I

have always recommended that

System Restore is switched off

completely as it was a good place for

viruses to hide This was a pity as it

was an otherwise very useful feature,

enabling you to revert to previous

system settings if anything went

wrong with Windows or installed

software

With UAC in place however, viruses

hiding in System Restore should be a

thing of the past Here you can tweak

the settings for this useful feature or

turn it off should you wish

This is also the place from which you

can create system restore points and

recover by reverting to them

REMOTE ASSIST AND REMOTE DESKTOP

Under the Remote tab you can switch

on or off Remote Assist and Remote

Desktop Remote assist is a useful

feature you should leave switched on This allows IT professionals controlled access to your computer to fix problems with Windows or your installed software

If you are unlikely to want to take remote control of your PC from another computer on your home network however you can safely switch off Remote Desktop should you want to There is, however, no risk to leaving it switched on

COMPUTER NAME

Finally, under the Computer Name tab

you can change the name of your

computer to make it more obvious

what it is on your home network For

instance you might want to change it

to Study or Living Room

READYBOOST

This is a useful new feature that lets

you easily add extra memory to

Windows Vista simply by plugging in a

USB pen drive

Not all pen drives are compatible with

ReadyBoost and if you’re buying one

it’s worth checking its ReadyBoost

compatible first

TWEAKING WITH

WINDOWS DEFENDER

Let’s say you have a program, a

scanner utility or media player that

automatically starts up whenever you

start Windows This will slow down

the overall start-up time and you

neither want or need it starting anyway How do you stop it from doing so This is normally a task for advanced tweaking software but surprisingly for anti-spyware software,

Microsoft’s own offering Windows Defender, offers tweaking and start-up

modification tools

Found in the Start-menu, Run

Windows Defender then click on Tools and then Software Explorer This will

allow you t see what’s currently running (useful if you suspect a virus infection) and what’s set to run when you Start Windows It gives you handy options to disable these programs

MSCONFIG

If modifying the start-up programs in Windows Defender doesn’t work, or ifyou run an anti-virus package like Microsoft OneCare that unhelpfully switches Defender off, there’s the

more powerful MSConfig

This is quite common for many types

of software from printer / scanner utilities to media playback packages

Typing MSConfig (Microsoft

Configuration) into the Start Menu search box will let you launch this handy little utility, the Startup tab in

which will allow you to disable these programs

The utility will prom pt you when you reboot to let you know it’s been run, you can tell it this point not to prompt you again

AUTOPLAY OPTIONS

If you get annoyed about files and

windows popping up and starting

whenever you put a CD or memory

card into your computer or some

software you have installed is starting

instead of the software you want to

start then there’s a solution

The options to change these settings

have been made much easier in

Windows Vista Simply select the

AutoPlay option from the Control

Panel and a handy selection of drop

down lists will appear for different

media types

Here you can select the program you

want to run, or nothing if you so wish,

when certain types of media are

inserted into your PC

POWER MANAGEMENT

We all want to do our bit to help save

the planet Tweaking the power

management settings in Windows

Vista can help a bit

In the Control Panel you’ll find Power

Options Here you can tweak the

general settings within Vista, such as

when to switch off the monitor

In addition to this if you click Choose

when the computer sleeps → Change

Advanced Power Settings a window

will appear with a whole array of

advanced power management options

you can tweak

TUNE YOUR START-UP Windows start-up a bit slow? In Windows Defender go

to Tools → Software Explorer to

see a list of programs set

to run when you start Windows

Here you can disable things you don’t need like printer utilities or media players

CHANGE YOUR POWER BUTTON You can change the Start Menu power button from

‘Sleep’ which

is a low-power state

to ‘Shut Down’ to save power

Go to Control Panel → Power Options → Choose when the computer sleeps → Change Advanced Power Settings

CHANGING THE START MENU POWER BUTTON

By default the power button on the Vista Start Menu is ‘sleep’ which will put your PC into a low power state but not actually switch it off

You can change this power button to

‘Shut Down’ easily by going to the Control Panel → Power Options → Choose when the computer sleeps → Change Advanced Power Settings and scroll down the list in the windows that appears until you find Power Buttons and lid in which you can change the default action of the Start Menu Power Button

GREEN COMPUTING

If you are interested in more ways to have an environmentally friendly computing experience and would like

to read more about the topic, I can

highly recommend PC Pro magazine’s

“Complete Guide to Green Computing”

which you can read online

www.pcpro.co.uk/features/101749/co

mplete-guide-to-green-computing.html The article covers a wide variety of

topics from buying a green PC to managing consumables and advanced power management It also gives

handy tips about disposing of your old hardware in a responsible way, all the time dispelling many myths about the

perils of green computing

I can also recommend the intelliplug

from www.oneclickpower.co.uk A special plug adapter that will save on your electricity bill by switching off

peripherals such as your monitor,

printer and speakers when you switch

off your PC

VISTA POWERTOYS

Microsoft have confirmed they are

releasing PowerToys for Windows

Vista The PowerToys for Windows XP

were an extremely useful collection of

utilities and tweaks that greatly

improved the XP experience When

these toys are released this document

will be updated to include a link It’s

well worth keeping one eye out for

the PowerToys in the mean time

however

THIRD PARTY TWEAKS

There is a good selection of

tweaking and other useful utilities

out for Windows Vista and more

will be released all the time

Some of the best I have

encountered are

www.TweakVista.com – A useful

collection of tweaks, tips

and utilities for Windows

Vista

www.VistaBootPro.org – A tool

for modifying, backing

up and, in the event of a

disaster, restoring the

new boot menu system

in Windows Vista

www.vLite.net – By default, Windows

Vista installs every

component of Vista Ultimate

on your hard drive, this is so

that if you decide to choose

Windows Anytime Upgrade

DISABLE THE

START-UP SOUND

To disable the Windows start-up sound in the

Control Panel select Sound then

in the window that appears select the

Sounds tab

and untick

Play Windows start-up sound

should you be running a different version of Windows, you can upgrade

to ultimate without having to put your DVD back in your PC With vLite however you can create a custom install DVD for Windows Vista that doesn’t include (or install) features you may not want, e.g Tablet PC functionality

REMOVE SHORTCUT ARROWS

A little tweak this one but always popular When creating a shortcut to

a program or file you end up with a great big arrow on it that many people find distracting This handy little utility will enable you to remove this

You can download it here

www.frameworkx.com/frameworkx/c ontentblogdetail.aspx?blog=57&id=53

1

IE7 ADD-ONS

There are a whole host of add-ons for

Internet Explorer 7 (and above)

available from www.ieaddons.com

some of which you have to pay for but

many of which are free The best of

these include

IESPELL

A free spell-checker that uses the

spell-checking engine in Microsoft

Office You can download it

from www.iespell.com

IE7PRO

Another free add on that gives

Internet Explorer users many features

commonly found in other browsers

such as Mozilla Firefox These include

Advert blocking and session restore

should the browser crash

ADD YOUR OWN

WALLPAPERS

Selecting Personalization from the

control panel allows you to select your

desktop wallpaper But you can plug

your own photos and wallpapers into

this should you wish

This is as easy as copying the pictures

to the Windows / Web / Wallpaper

folder on the drive on which Vista is

installed

If you also add a tag to your photos

first (you cannot add tags to photos

when they are in this folder) such as

your name, will group the pictures in

the select wallpapers dialog window

appropriately

Of course you can still use a picture anywhere on your PC as a wallpaper

so this is a bit of a gimmick However

if you’re a keen photographer, like I

am, it’s a good way to share your work with friends and family

PREVIEWING PDF FILES IN EXPLORER

The new preview pane in Explorer

windows is a welcome addition to

Windows (See Part 3 – Exploring) but

unfortunately doesn’t support many file types You can download a third-party plug-in to support Adobe’s

popular Portable Document Format

(PDF) files from ryangregg.com/PermaLink,guid,a

29ee2d7-6863-4b70-9fcb-b7db392f9a74.aspx

CREATING ICONS WITHOUT TEXT

I found this useful link

at vistarewired.com/2007/03/03/how

-to-create-icons-without-text

This simple guide will tell you how to have desktop icons without text Let’s face it it’s obvious to us all what the recycle bin and Internet Explorer icons are, and we don’t need the names underneath