Archive for the ‘Tips and Tweaks’ Category
This is something everybody should take advantage of. Instead of wasting your time asking others and searching on the net, Microsoft is offering unlimited installation and compatibility support at no charge until March 18, 2009.
This is a step forward for Microsoft’s tech-support. Currently they charge an amount that I consider outrageous for operating system support, especially when they don’t offer even one or two free support sessions for their customers spending hundreds of dollars on Vista. Anyway, if you haven’t updated to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 yet, you should definitely do so right away.
What to do if you cannot update to or install Windows Vista Service Pack 1
List of the most notable changes made by Windows Vista Service Pack 1
English is not the only input language for Windows Vista. Not to be confused with the Windows MUI (Multilingual User Interface) which transforms the entire operating system into the language of your choice and is only available for Windows Vista Ultimate.
To enable keyboards for other languages, open the Start Menu
and type Regional into the Search bar. You should get a habit of using the Search bar in the Start Menu since you can virtually access any part of your computer with it. Normally, this would be found in the Control Panel.
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After making a few tweaks here and there to your computer, you may find that the Windows Snipping Tool had disappeared. I use it quite often for this weblog so when it disappeared, I had quite a headache. I’m sure many also want to know how to bring this tool back.
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When Apple revealed Leopard with their brand new Time Machine feature which allows you to backup individual files from different time periods, everyone was in awe. However, what many do not know is that Vista is also equipped with a similar feature. Yes, you can restore deleted files or previously saved versions of your files on Windows Vista.
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As many of you have probably seen, you can quickly Send a file to a specific location by right clicking it and opening the Send To Menu. What many probably don’t know is that the locations in the menu are fully customizable. This can be quite handy when you save files. For instance, many Word users know that when you save a document, you always start off at My Documents. It’s a big hassle for those with a huge file directory to click 6+ times before arriving at their destination each time. Instead, they could save it in My Documents as a temp and Send the files to a specified location. That’s just an example of how you can use it. Anyway, let me cut to the chase and go into how to customize the menu.
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For many, the sidebar is just a useless space hog. If you want to get rid of the sidebar in Windows Vista, it’s really easy.
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As you install more and more programs, your system tray will begin to expand itself like there’s no tomorrow. Luckily there’s a feature in Windows Vista that allows you to manually choose which icons to hide.
So in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to turn
into
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This is an interesting feature I found while trying to compare Windows Vista Experience Index scores with my friends. Other than boasting purposes, this is also a good way to find out what parts your computer is made of, as well as the speed of your computer parts. It displays the model of your CPU, basic motherboard info, hard drive info, video card info, and network card info. I’ll also go into how to analyze the information for computer upgrades after explaining how to access this hardware summary feature. Although if you are using this feature for the purpose of upgrading and you are ready to download software, skip this tutorial immediately and go download PC Wizard. The reason why I wrote this was because many wanted a feature like this without having to download an extra piece of software.
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We all know how annoying UAC can get, especially when you’ve just installed Windows Vista and you have a dozen of programs and security apps ready to install. A small program called TweakUAC gets rid of this annoyance by putting UAC into “quiet mode.” What it actually does is without turning off UAC,
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One of the greatest things you’ll find on Windows Vista is it’s answer to the iCal, Windows Calendar. Unlike many other desktop calendars, Windows Calendar allows you to subscribe to various types of calendars such as Google Calendar and receive updates. This is great if you prefer Windows Calendar over other calendars but still want to receive data from online sources. For example, Gmail allows you to quickly add an event notice from your email to Google Calendar, but not Windows Calendar.
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