Windows Vista™ All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies ®Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc
Trang 4Windows Vista ™
A L L - I N - O N E D E S K R E F E R E N C E
FOR
Trang 7Windows Vista™ All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies ®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600 Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006934840 ISBN-13: 978-0-471-74941-7
ISBN-10: 0-471-74941-9 Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1O/QW/RS/QW/IN
Trang 8About the Author
Curmudgeon, critic, and self-described “Windows Victim,” Woody Leonhard
runs www.AskWoody.com, the Web’s single best source of up-to-the-nanosecondnews about Windows and Office — warts and all Check it out for answers toyour most pressing questions, no-bull analysis of Microsoft’s latest gaffes,and all sorts of information that you can’t find anywhere else
With several dozen computer books under his belt, Woody knows where thebodies are buried He was one of the first Microsoft Consulting Partners and acharter member of the Microsoft Solutions Provider organization He’s a one-man, major Microsoft beta testing site and delights in being a constant thorn
in Microsoft’s side Along with several coauthors and editors, he’s won anunprecedented six Computer Press Association Awards and two AmericanBusiness Press Awards
Woody; his long-time girlfriend, Duangkhae Tongthueng (better known as
“Add”); and twelve talented Thai staff run Khun Woody’s Bakery and its sisteroperation, the Sandwich Shoppe, in Patong, Phuket, Thailand Woody moved
to Phuket in late 2000, where he now lives with Add; his father, George; histeenage son, Justin; and their all-American beagle, Chronos
Most mornings you can see him jogging on Patong Beach with the dogs andthen downing a latte and New Yawk bagel-n-Philly at the Shoppe Feel free todrop by and say, “Sawadee krap!” Microsoft hit squads, please take a numberand form a queue at the rear of the building
Trang 10To Dad, who’s always been there for me
And to Add, who’s helped me in more ways than I ever thought possible
Trang 12Author’s Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Becky Huehls, who’s slaving away at this very momenttrying to get this tome whipped into shape Best of luck with your latest, uh,endeavor, Becky! To the entire editorial crew at Wiley, the ones who righted
my wrongs and slapped my scratchings into something legible, and cially to Melody Layne, head editorial honcho on this project To the folks atSnagit who kept their screen grab utility working all the way through the Vistabeta versions (Whew!) And particular thanks, as always, to Claudette Mooreand Ann Jaroncyk at Moore Literary Agency
Trang 13espe-Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Rebecca Huehls Senior Acquisitions Editor: Melody Layne Copy Editor: John Edwards
Technical Editor: Lee Musick Editorial Manager: Leah P Cameron Media Development Manager:
Laura VanWinkle
Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth
Sr Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Cartoons: Rich Tennant
Proofreaders: Laura Albert, John Greenough,
Christine Pingleton, Christine Sabooni
Indexer: Techbooks Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico
Special Help Mary Lagu, Rebecca Senninger
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director
Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Trang 14Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1
Book I: A Vista Orientation 9
Chapter 1: Windows 4 N00bs 11
Chapter 2: Vista versus the WinXPerienced 27
Chapter 3: Choosing a Version 35
Chapter 4: Upgrades and Clean Installs 43
Book II: Vista Boot Camp 59
Chapter 1: Running Vista from Start to Finish 61
Chapter 2: Controlling Users 97
Chapter 3: Maintaining Your System 113
Chapter 4: Getting the Basic Stuff Done 147
Chapter 5: Getting Help with Vista 171
Book III: Securing Vista 187
Chapter 1: Lock Down: Spies, Spams, Scams, and Slams 189
Chapter 2: Security Center Overview 217
Chapter 3: Windows Firewall Backward and Forward 225
Chapter 4: Patching and Plugging 249
Chapter 5: Virus Protection and the Big Defender 263
Book IV: Customizing Vista 281
Chapter 1: Personalizing Your Desktop 283
Chapter 2: Organizing Your Vista Interface 303
Chapter 3: Searching on Your Desktop 321
Chapter 4: Beating and Cheating Vista’s Games 333
Book V: Vista on the Internet 345
Chapter 1: Getting the Most from the Internet 347
Chapter 2: Finding Your Way around Internet Explorer (And Firefox) 363
Chapter 3: Making Internet Explorer Your Own 387
Chapter 4: Windows Mail and the Alternatives 399
Chapter 5: Working Together — IM OK, You’re OK 413
Chapter 6: Searching on the Internet 425
Trang 15Book VI: Adding Cool Hardware 437
Chapter 1: Finding and Installing the Hardware You Want 439
Chapter 2: iPimping iPods and iTunes 465
Chapter 3: Adding a Second (Or Third) Hard Drive 485
Chapter 4: Picking Printers and Printer/Scanner/Faxers 493
Book VII: Joining the Multimedia Mix 511
Chapter 1: Jammin’ with Windows Media Player 513
Chapter 2: Podcasting 553
Chapter 3: Discovering Digital Cameras 563
Chapter 4: Mugging in the Photo Gallery 581
Chapter 5: Lights! Action! Windows Movie Maker 595
Book VIII: Vista Video 617
Chapter 1: Preparing a Media Center PC 619
Chapter 2: Starting Media Center 631
Chapter 3: Turning On the Tube 641
Chapter 4: Beyond the Media Center Basics 651
Book IX: Setting Up a Vista Network 667
Chapter 1: Those Pesky Network Things You Need to Know 669
Chapter 2: Building Your Network 683
Chapter 3: Putting the Why in Wi-Fi 705
Index 721
Trang 16Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Conventions 3
What You Don’t Have to Read 3
Foolish Assumptions 4
Organization 4
Icons 6
Where to Go from Here 7
Book I: A Vista Orientation 9
Chapter 1: Windows 4 N00bs 11
Hardware and Software 12
Why Do PCs Have to Run Windows? 14
Buying a Computer 14
Inside the big box 15
Screening 17
Managing disks and drives 18
Making PC connections 20
Futzing with sound 22
A Terminology Survival Kit 23
Chapter 2: Vista versus the WinXPerienced 27
What You See 27
The Glass UX 27
Improved video effects 27
Sidebar: A truly active desktop 29
What You Get 30
What Stands in the Way 31
Do You Need Windows Vista? 32
Chapter 3: Choosing a Version 35
The Eightfold Path 35
Versions to Ignore 37
The Final Four 38
Home Basic: Thumbs down 39
Business Edition: Maybe 39
Trang 17Home Premium: Usually the sweet spot 41
The Ultimate 41
Windows Live OneCare 41
Chapter 4: Upgrades and Clean Installs 43
Can Your Computer Handle Vista? 43
Performing a Clean Install 45
Working through the Welcome Center 48
Using Easy Transfer 51
What will transfer 52
Making the transfer 52
Product Activation 54
What If the Wheels Fall Off? 58
Book II: Vista Boot Camp 59
Chapter 1: Running Vista from Start to Finish 61
A Few Quick Steps to Make the Desktop Your Own 61
Disabling the Welcome Center 63
Changing the background 64
Enabling the Sidebar 65
Cleaning up useless icons and programs 65
Making the taskbar taller 66
Mousing with Your Mouse 66
Working with Files and Folders 67
Showing filename extensions 69
Sharing folders 71
Recycling 79
Starting with the Start Button 81
Getting Around 84
Using Windows Explorer 84
Working with the Windows taskbar 90
Creating shortcuts 92
Sleep: Perchance to Dream 94
Chapter 2: Controlling Users 97
Logging On 98
Choosing Account Types 99
Using standard accounts 100
Using administrator accounts 100
Working with User Account Control 101
Disabling User Account Control 104
Adding Users 105
Trang 18Table of Contents xv
Enabling the Guest Account 107
Changing Accounts 107
Changing other users’ settings 108
Changing your own settings 110
Switching Users 111
Chapter 3: Maintaining Your System 113
Using the Control Panel 113
Removing and Changing Programs 116
Removing Windows Patches 118
Making Backups 118
Using shadow copies/previous versions 120
Creating data backups 122
Restoring backed-up data 127
Ghosting with CompletePC backups 130
Maintaining Drives 131
Running an error check 132
Scheduling cleanups 134
Defragmenting a drive 134
Scheduling the Task Scheduler 134
Zipping and Compressing 139
Compressing with NTFS 141
Zipping the easy way with Compressed (zipped) Folders 142
Creating Checkpoints and Using System Restore 143
Chapter 4: Getting the Basic Stuff Done 147
Burning CDs and DVDs 147
Understanding -R and -RW 148
What to burn 149
Mastered or Live File System? 150
Burning with Vista 152
Improving Your Experience Index 158
Getting Word Processing — Free 160
Running Notepad 160
Writing with WordPad 162
Taming the Character Map 164
Calculating — Free 165
Painting 166
Using Sneaky Key Commands 167
Conjuring up the Task Manager 167
Switching coolly 169
Chapter 5: Getting Help with Vista 171
Meeting Windows Help and Support 171
How to Really Get Help 174
Trang 19Connecting to Remote Assistance 176
Understanding the interaction 176
Limiting an invitation 177
Troubleshooting Remote Assistance 178
Making the connection 178
Getting the Most from Vista Help 184
Ensuring that you get all the Help 184
Working through the index 185
Getting Help on the Web 186
Book III: Securing Vista 187
Chapter 1: Lock Down: Spies, Spams, Scams, and Slams 189
Understanding the Hazards 189
Zombies and botnets 191
Phishing 193
0day exploits 195
Staying Informed 196
Getting Protected 198
Viruses, viruses everywhere 198
Credit card fraud 200
Defending your privacy 202
Keeping cookies at bay 203
Reducing spam 207
Recovering from an Attack 209
Don’t Become Part of the Problem 209
Using Parental Controls 211
Chapter 2: Security Center Overview 217
Entering the Security Center 217
Working with the Security Center 219
Scanning for Rootkits 220
Chapter 3: Windows Firewall Backward and Forward 225
Comparing Firewalls 225
Understanding Vista Firewall’s Basic Features 227
Speaking Your Firewall’s Lingo 229
Peeking into Your Firewall 230
Using Public and Private Networks 231
Establishing a network type 232
Changing network types 233
Changing individual network settings 235
Starting, Stopping, and Goosing Inbound WF 237
Trang 20Table of Contents xvii
Making Inbound Exceptions 238
Adding a program 240
Adding a port 241
Coping with Vista’s Outbound Firewall 243
Chapter 4: Patching and Plugging 249
Patching Woes 250
Choosing an Update Level 252
Setting Your Update Level 253
Selectively Patching (A Panacea for Those Woes) 255
Applying patches from Windows Update 256
MS-DEFCON 258
Getting what you need from a Security Bulletin 259
Chapter 5: Virus Protection and the Big Defender 263
Understanding Antivirus Software 263
The challenges for antivirus software 265
What’s a false positive? 266
Live OneCare and the Safety Center 267
Caring for Your Antivirus Program 270
Downloading and Installing AVG Free 272
Making Windows Acknowledge Your AV Program 274
Dealing with Spyware 276
Book IV: Customizing Vista 281
Chapter 1: Personalizing Your Desktop 283
Recognizing Desktop Levels 283
Setting Colors in Vista 286
Picking a Background 288
Energizing the Sidebar 289
Changing Sidebar settings 290
Playing with the gadgets 291
Controlling Icons 292
Changing Mouse Pointers 294
Selecting Screen Savers 295
Changing the screen saver 296
Setting up a Super Boss Key 297
Using Desktop Themes 301
Chapter 2: Organizing Your Vista Interface 303
Customizing the Start Menu 303
Genesis of the Start menu 304
Pinning to the Start menu 305