Re-Enable the missing IE7 icon on your Vista desktop

One freaking thing which I really don't understand is that the IE7 Icon is defaulty disabled on the Vista desktop. Ok we can understand that MS wants us to start with a very clean system, so no desktop icons except for the recycle bin which you probably don't need for another week or two
Well what's more concerning is that you can't also set the Vista IE7 icon to appear on the desktop because MS removed it from the desktop icons settings. Really strange, but it possible to enable it quite simple...

For users with Longhorn start menu view:

1) Go to the registry editor and browse to the following reg key:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

2) Add a DWORD 32 bit String value named
{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D} with a value of 0 (dword:00000000)

After a refresh on the desktop (F5) you should see your long awaited Vista IE7 Icon back

For users with classic start menu view:

1) Go to the registry editor and browse to the following reg key:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]

2) Add a DWORD 32 bit String value named
{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D} with a value of 0 (dword:00000000)

After a refresh on the desktop (F5) you should see your long awaited Vista IE7 Icon back

Note:
String value named {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D} maybe already exists on target locations.
In this case you only need to change value from 1 to 0.

L2 Cache memory registry setting for Windows Vista

This tweak will set the Vista registry to use your L2 cache memory which is embedded in your CPU.
Every CPU nowerday's has Level 1 cache memory and Level 2 cache memory which enables the core of the cpu to take pieces from the main DDR system memory and calculate with it, then store it back and so on, the size of your L2 cache can be set in the registry of Vista and for some reason it seems that Vista isn't doing this by default.

The registry key where Vista stores the size of your L2 cache is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

In here you will probably see a key called SecondLevelDataCache with a value of 0 which means that windows Vista didn't set the memory size of the L2 cache by itself.

You can set the amount of your CPU L2 Cache here for Vista to use.

Windows Defender, 0x80240029 Solution

- Go to Windows update.
- Click on change settings (on the left).
- Check "never check for updates."
- Remove any other checks (Recommended update and any other).
Then go back to Defender and run the Updates again.

Change the volume of each individual application from your system tray

This is another one of those obvious Vista features that are extremely useful.

You can control the volume of each application individually right from your system tray.

All you have to do is click the volume icon in your system tray, and then click on Mixer at the bottom.

Check Windows Vista Activation Status

Are you a user of Windows Vista Enterprise or Business edition and would like to know the status of activation of a specific computer? Want to make sure that the computer connected properly to the Key Management Server (KMS) or used your Multiple Activation Key (MAK) properly? Or are you a home user and just want to make sure your computer is fully activated?

Included in Windows Vista is very useful utility that will help you check the status of activation of your computer:

1. Click on the Start Button and key in CMD and hit Enter to start up Command Prompt.
2. At the prompt, type in "slmgr.vbs -dli" (Without quotes)
3. After a few seconds you will be presented with a pop-up message with your activation status.

Speed-Up Windows Vista's Start Menu Search

When you perform a search using the search box in the start panel, Windows Vista automatically searches the file index as well. The file index can be quite large because it includes all the files on your hard drive. One way to speed-up searching in your Start Menu applications is to narrow the scope of the search so that it does not include files on the hard drive:

Method 1: Registry Hack
1. Open registry editor using regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer and select Advanced.
3. Find and right-click on Start_SearchFiles and select Modify.
4. Set the Value to 0.
5. Restart the Explorer.exe process or reboot the computer.

Method 2: Start Button
1. Right-click on the Start Button and select Properties.
2. Click on the Customize button.
3. Uncheck Search Communications.
4. Set Search Files to Don't Search for files.
5. Click OK.

Smarter searches in Vista

When you enter a snippet of text in the Search box at the bottom of the Start menu, the results come from just about everywhere: programs, e-mail, files, even your browser history.

You can control which categories appear in Start menu searches using these settings in the Customize Start Menu dialog box (available from a link on the Appearance and Personalization group in Control Panel).

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Remove Search Box in Internet Explorer 7

If you use a third-party toolbar that has a search box or simply never use the search box in Internet Explorer 7 follow these steps to remove the search box from Internet Explorer:

- Start up Registry Editor.
- Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Policies, Microsoft and Internet Explorer.
- Create a new key in Internet Explorer called InfoDelivery.
- Create a new key in InfoDelivery called Restrictions.
- Inside Restrictions, create a new DWORD and call it NoSearchBox.
- Set the value of NoSearchBox to1.
- Restart.

If you ever want to restore your search box, set the value of NoSearchBox to 0 and restart.

Note:
The Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) enables you to view, search for, and change settings in your system registry, which contains information about how your computer runs.
Use Registry Editor with care.Making incorrect changes can damage your system.

Windows Vista Keyboard shortcuts

ALT+TAB
Switch between open items

Windows logo key +TAB
Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D

CTRL+Windows logo key +TAB
Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D

ALT+ESC
Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened

F6
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop

Windows logo key
Open or close the Start menu

Windows logo key +BREAK
Display the System Properties dialog box

Windows logo key +D
Display the desktop

Windows logo key +M
Minimize all windows

Windows logo key +SHIFT+M
Restore minimized windows to the desktop

Windows logo key +E
Open Computer

Windows logo key +F
Search for a file or folder

CTRL+Windows logo key +F
Search for computers (if you are on a network)

Windows logo key +L
Lock your computer (if you are connected to a network domain), or switch users (if you're not connected to a network domain)

Windows logo key +R
Open the Run dialog box

Windows logo key +T
Cycle through programs on the taskbar

Windows logo key +SPACEBAR
Bring all gadgets to the front and select Windows Sidebar

Windows logo key +G
Cycle through Sidebar gadgets

Windows logo key +U
Open Ease of Access Center

Windows logo key +X
Open Windows Mobility Center

Add another time zone to your clock

One nice addition to Windows Vista is the ability to display the time in other time zones.

Click on the clock.

Click Date and Time Settings

Click on the Additional Clocks tab.

Check the box labelled Additional Clock, and from the drop down menu choose a time zone.

Give the clock a name, such as Texas, Germany, Paris, Chicago or anything You want.

Press OK.

You can repeat this for the second additional clock as well.

Enable and Disable Hibernation in Vista via Command Line

If you hate waiting for Vista to load when you start your computer, hibernation is one way to significantly speed up boot. It basically copies your memory to disk and then shuts down. When you start the computer again, it just loads your RAM from disk, and you're up and running where you left off previously. The downside of this is that a file must be created on your hard drive to hold this memory, and the file will be as large as the amount of RAM you have. On my computer that's 2GB, and if you've got 4GB of RAM, well, you do the math! If you don't use hibernate, you can turn it off and save yourself this disk space.

Disable Hibernation in Vista

To disable hibernation, simply click on your Start menu, and type powercfg.exe /hibernate off in your search box. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter, which will run the command line you typed in as an administrator. If you have UAC active, it will prompt you to approve the elevation of privileges, and you'll probably see a quick flash of a command line window appearing and then disappearing. Your work is done!

Enable Hibernation in Vista

To enable hibernation, simply click on your Start menu, and type powercfg.exe /hibernate on in your search box. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter, which will run the command line you typed in as an administrator. If you have UAC active, it will prompt you to approve the elevation of privileges, and you'll probably see a quick flash of a command line window appearing and then disappearing. Your work is done!

Disable Automatic Disk Defragmentation in Vista with dfrgui

By default Windows Vista will automatically defrag your hard drive (defrag: reorder files on the physical hard disk and not to make them easily accessible / re-organising your file cabinets).
The default is that Vista itself schedules the best time for this to do, while this could decrease real-time performance it might be better if you choose when to defrag yourself. An easy way to disable this scheduled defragmentation is as follows.

1) Click START, type dfrgui and hit ENTER. (see figure 1)

Figure 1: Start the Vista Disk Defragmenter

2) Then uncheck Run on a schedule (see figure 2) and click OK.

Figure 2: Uncheck Run on a schedule

Note: While the above is a lot faster :) you can also do this by browsing to Control Panel, System and Maintenance, choose Defragment your harddrive.

Speed up your computer with Windows Readyboost

Windows Vista has a new feature called Readyboost that allows you to plug in your removable media, such as your USB flash device or Smartcards, to store commonly used files for quicker access. Often mistaken for RAM replacement, keep in mind that RAM is much superior than the USB device you use with Readyboost.

Rather than let you decide, Windows Vista makes the decision on whether to enable Readyboost on your device. So before you run outside and get yourself a USB, you’ll want to know the requirements for your USB flash device or Smartcard for Readyboost to be enabled.
2.5 MB/sec for 512KB random writes across the device
3.5 MB/sec for 4KB random reads across the device
A minimum of 230 MB space

If you’ve disabled the Readyboost service, you’ll want to enable it now. Plug in your USB device and you’ll receive a prompt:

Choose Speed up my system and you’ll be taken to the Readyboost properties of your device. You can then use the slider to reserve a certain amount of space for Readyboost.

When using Readyboost, I recommend that you use this in conjunction with Superfetch.