Windows Vista

Released in January 2007 as the successor to the vastly popular Windows XP, Vista was always going to have a hard job living up to its predecessor.

With a radical new user interface (for Microsoft at least) Vista was starting to make Windows look like a polished and user friendly interface, unfortunately high hardware requirements to run features such as the Aero interface, and the decision by some hardware vendors to install Vista on low specification machines meant that the products initial launch was poorly received, and quickly bulit up an undeserved bad reputation. On the right hardware, Vista was as capable an operating system as XP, and surpassed it in many fronts.

We are big fans of Vista, and would be more than happy to help you solve your Vista based computing problems, if there isn’t an article below that answers your question then please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will endeavour to provide you with what you need to know.

General Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts – The key to quick, mouseless navigation

Optimisation / Tweaking

The Windows Registry Explained – It runs your system, you need to know what it does.
Stop Windows Update Auto-Rebooting – How to stop this annoying ‘feature’
Vista Administrator Account – How to access the hidden full Administrator account
Monitor Multiple Time Zones – Show two clocks on your desktop
Change User Account Picture – How to personalise your account settings
Remove The IE Search Box – How to get more screen space in Internet Explorer
Change The Power Button Default – Make it do what it’s supposed to
Aero On / Off Switch – Adding an On / Off switch the mouse right click
Small Start Menu Icons – How to customise your start menu icons
Customise The Start Menu – More ways to create your own start menu
Changing the Registered Owner – How to rename the owner of a 2nd hand PC
Create a ‘New email’ shortcut – A quick tip to make better use of your email program

Security

Securing your USB ports – How to stop rogue USB devices from compromising security
Beef Up The Standard Firewall – Solve the shortcomings of the Windows Firewall
User Account Control – Friend or Foe?

Optimisation / Performance Improvement

Improve Boot Time – Using multiple cores to decrease boot time
Boosting Vista – Ten tips to help you squeeze more out of Windows Vista
Reclaim HD Space – How to get space back once you upgrade from XP

Troubleshooting

User Profile Loading Error – How to fix this commonly occuring error.
Clearing The Print Queue – How to get rid of a job stuck in the print queue