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HANDY VISTA TIPS. |
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| Remove Unwanted Programs from the 'Open With' List. |
| When you rt-click a file, you see the 'Open With' command. Whenever you use any program to open such a file, it gets added to this list, as Windows remembers that you had used it once; if if you were UNABLE to use it for opening that particular file type. If you find too many such unwanted programs in that list, you can remove them with some registry editing. |
| Open regedit and navigate to the following registry key |
| HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ FileExts\ .ext\ OpenWithList |
Here .ext is the file extension for the file type whose 'Open With' list you wish to edit.
Now, just delete the value in this key, that represents the program to be removed, from the 'Open With' list. |
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| How To Keep Start Menu From Closing After Opening Applications. |
| Lets say you want to open more than one application from tart Menu. Then to stop the Start Menu from closing, after you open the first , hold down the shift key while you click on an item. |
| The start menu will stay up and not close, leaving you free to immediately execute the next operation. |
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| Fast-Shut-Down Vista without using 3rd party tool. |
In Vista, you can shut down, restart or log off from Windows in a few quick steps, without going through the Start Menu or using any 3rd party applications. To do so, be on the desktop; that is, press WIN+D or click on 'Show Desktop' in the Quick Launch. |
| Now Press ALT+F4 keys and you will be immediately presented with the Shutdown dialog box ! |
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| Select an option with arrow keys & press Enter. |
| Should you want to lock computer, you can press WIN+L key to do so quickly ! |
| How to Copy fast ... real fast in Vista ! |
| Even after installing the Hotfix KB931770, you are not really satisfied with the speed of Copying or, Moving file in Windows Vista; try this !!! |
| Install and use TeraCopy ! TeraCopy is a feature-rich compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, also providing you with a lot of features: |
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| Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives. |
| Pause and resume file transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click. |
| Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer. |
| Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files. |
| Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual. |
| Must say its fast ... real fast ! |
| Change the size of Vista's Window Thumbnails. |
| There is a simple way to change the size of Vistas Taskbar Thumbnails. If you find them to be a little to small for your liking, go ahead and make them bigger! |
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| AveThumbnailSizer allows the user to change the size of Vista's Window thumbnails, that show, when one hovers over the taskbar button for the window. It can also be configured to start up with your windows. |
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| What I would have liked is a 'Reset to default thumbnail size' button. Otherwise, an excellent and an useful utility. |
| How To Turn Aero, On / Off, in a click. |
Create an AERO OFF shortcut thus:
Right click on an empty area on your desktop.
Select New > Shortcut.
In the first box of the Create Shortcut Wizard, type : Rundll32 dwmApi #104
Click Next. Name the shortcut : AERO OFF , and click Finish.
Then select an appropriate icon for it ! |
Similarly, to Create an AERO ON shortcut;
Right click on an empty area on your desktop.
Select New > Shortcut.
In the first box of the Create Shortcut Wizard, type : Rundll32 dwmApi #102
Click Next. Name the shortcut : AERO OFF , and click Finish.
Then select an appropriate icon for it ! |
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| To Create a shortcut to activate Flip3D, type: Rundll32 dwmApi #105 |
| Pretty useful if you want to turn off/on Aero Transparency, maybe, while playing Games. How To disable or enable Flip 3D, while keeping Aero 'on' may also interest you. |
| To see How To Create Shutdown, Restart, Suspend Shortcuts on Desktop click here. For some Flip3D Tips, go here. |
| Vista's hidden Aurora animation. |
| Actually this one can't really be classified as a 'handy tip', but its nevertheless an interesting one ! |
| It appears that Microsoft loves Aurora's. Not only does Vista have a Hidden Aurora Boot-Screen, there is also a "hidden" Aurora animation. |
| To see the magic just type "winsat aurora" in the start menu search box, and hit Enter. |
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| To exit, click Esc. |
| There is a utility built into Windows Vista used for benchmarking, called the System Assessment Tool; and it uses this Aurora animation. |
| How to Flush or Reset the Vista DNS Cache. |
Quite frequently, internet connection problems can be traced to a corrupted DNS cache. Resetting or Flushing this cache is an easy fix to many of these problems. This is how to clear the DNS cache in Vista.
Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. Rt-click on it and 'Run As Administrator'. Type the following and hit enter:
ipconfig /flushdns
You should be able to see a confirmation dialog window:
Windows IP Configuration. Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache. |
| How to summon Task Manager directly in Vista. |
A tiny but useful tip !
Hit CTRL + ALT + DEL key combo in XP and you get the Task Manager running ! Do that in Vista and you get a dialog, from where you then again select 'Start Task Manager'.
In Vista, to get task manager directly, hit CTRL + SHIFT + ESC instead !!! |
| How To Take Ownership Of System Files . |
| Do so easily now with a single click ! Download this registry fix from MediaFire and just add it to the registry. This option will now appear in your Rt-Click. |
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| Disable Vista's Built-In Zip Functionality. |
| A tip to disable the built-in Zip functionality in Windows Vista. |
| Click start > run
regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll |
| I'd suggest using it if you have another Zip program installed; helps saving resources. |
| How To Hide applets from the Control Panel. |
| Some of us may or may not want some applets (icons) showing in the control panel, for security or any reasons whatsoever |
| Here is a small tut to show how to hide them. There are tools which do that, but this way you can hide any, manually. |
| Lets say you want to hide the 'Folder Options' applet in the control you can do so thus : |
| Open group policy editor : click start > run > gpedit.msc > ok. |
| Open group policy editor > user configuration > administrative templates > control panel > hide specified control panel applets > properties > check enabled > show list of disabled control panel applets > add > Folder Options > ok > apply > ok |
| How to enable Games in Vista Business. |
| Bowing down to pressure from Employers and the Corporates, the Business and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista, have Games disabled by default ! Apparently Minesweeper has apparently been responsible for millions of hours of lost productivity ! |
| Should you wish to turn these Games 'on', simply open the Control Panel > Programs and Features > LHS pane, click Turn Windows Features on or off > in the Window that pops up tick the games you want. |
| How To Run Commands, as an Administrator, from Vista's Search Box. |
| Another small tip ... To run the Command Prompt, as an Administrator, from Vista's Search Box, simply type the command line in the Start menu, hold the Shift and Ctrl keys, and hit Enter. |
| In Vista certain applications are prevented from running due to lack of permissions. So to upgrade its capabilities, you may have to run as an Administrator. Normally, one would search for cmd, rt-click on it an then from the rt-click menu which pops up, select 'Run as Administrator'. Vista Start Menu Search Box serves the same function, if you enter a command, hold the Shift and Ctrl keys, and press Enter. |
| Some New Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows Vista. |
Win+g - Cycles the Gadgets selections.
Win+Spacebar - Brings Gadgets to the front
Win+x - Cycles though the Mobility Center.
Win+Tab - Activates Flip 3-D.
Win+u - Activates the Ease of Use Center.
Win+t - Cycles through Taskbar Programs
Alt +Tab variant - Press Win+1 or +2 and so on. This cycles the open programs on the taskbar. To see all of Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts, click WindowsHelp. To see Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows, in general, see KB126449. To download TechRepublics pdf, click here. To see Vista's New RUN commands, click here. |
| How To Enable / Disable Hibernation in Windows Vista. |
Click Start > Enter cmd in Search Menu > DONT hit enter
Command Prompt or cmd will appear on top in the search results.
Rt click on on it and select Run as Administrator
If UAC prompt appears, click Allow
Now in the cmd window, type: powercfg –h on (or 'off')
Hit Enter. Reboot. |
| How to speed up SATA hard drives. |
In Vista, by default, the advanced write caching feature of SATA hard drives is not enabled. To enable it, write 'devmgmt.msc' in start menu search bar and hit enter to open the Device Manager. In LHS, select Disk Drives and rt-click on it. Open its Properties and got to Policies tab. There select Enable Advanced Performance. Click OK. |
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NOTE. |
Access the hidden classic menu bar in Vista's Explorer in a click
Re-Size Windows Vista Explorer Icons easily.
How To Show Window Titles in Vista's Explorer. |
| HAVE BEEN MOVED TO EXPLORER TIPS. |
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These Links may Interest You:
Windows Vista Explorer Tips
Vista Desktop Tips |
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