Windows Vista Customization Manual mintywhite.com (v1.3) Windows Vista – Customization Manual v1.3 Customize Windows Vista to Suit Your Needs and Taste Rich Robinson – Microsoft MVP mintywhite.com © 2008-2009 Windows Guides | mintywhite.com. All rights reserved. Windows Vista – Customization Manual If this guide is distributed it is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. Except as permitted by any such license, no part of this guide may be reproduced. This guide may be stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise. Please note that the content in this guide is protected under copyright law. Mintywhite will not be responsible for damages to your computer, software, or data resulting from use of information contained in this document. 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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. ~~~ Dedicated to my wife, Mallory – thanks for being patient with me while I balance my time with you and with work, school, and my web design hobby ~~~ About the Author Rich Robinson is the author and creator of Windows Guides, Windows Forums, and MyWindowsPC. Rich is a Microsoft MVP in the Desktop Experience category and authored Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide, Windows Vista – The Pocket Guide, the PC Security Handbook, and the PC Maintenance Handbook. His hobbies include spending time with family, web design, programming, running, soccer, skiing, and swimming. See more books Rich authored. Contents Introduction 14 Notational Conventions 15 Additional Help 16 2.0 Get Started 17 2.1 Slim Down Your Vista Install 18 2.2 Utilize the Backup and Restore Center 19 2.2.1 Launch the Backup and Restore Center 19 2.2.2 Back up Your Files 19 2.2.3 Restore Your Files 20 2.3 Work with the Windows Registry 20 2.3.1 What is the Windows Registry? 20 2.3.2 Access the Windows Registry Editor 21 2.3.3 Add Keys or Values 21 Windows Vista – Customization Manual | 8 2.3.3.1 Add a New Key 21 2.3.3.2 Add a New Value 22 2.4 Backup and Restore the Registry 22 2.4.1 Backup and Restore the Windows Registry using System Restore 23 2.4.2 Backup and Restore the Windows Registry using the Registry Editor 25 2.4.3 Backup and Restore Individual Registry Entries using the Registry Editor 26 2.5 Get a Windows Vista Recovery Disc 27 2.6 Add “Take Ownership” to Context Menu 28 2.7 Stop UAC Blacking Out the Screen 29 2.8 Disable User Account Control 30 3.0 Clean Your Computer 31 3.1 Automatically Delete Temporary Files 31 3.1.1 Create the Batch File 32 3.1.2 Automate the Process 32 3.2 Clean up Windows 33 3.3 Disable and Delete the Hibernation File 34 3.3.1 Disable Hibernation 35 9 | Contents 3.3.2 Delete the Hibernation File 36 3.3.3 Enable Hibernation 36 3.4 Reclaim Disk Space after Service Pack Install 37 3.4.1 Find out which Service Pack You are Using 38 3.4.2 Remove Service Pack 1 Rollback Files 38 3.4.3 Remove Service Pack 2 Rollback Files 39 3.5 Remove Entries from Add/Remove Programs 40 3.6 Scan Your Drive for Duplicate Files 42 3.6.1 Easy Duplicate Finder Features 43 3.6.2 Easy Duplicate Finder System Requirements 44 3.7 Remove Unwanted Software 44 3.8 Disable Memory Dump Files and Save HDD Space 45 4.0 Change Your Boot and Login Screens 47 4.1 Enable the Aurora Boot Screen 48 4.2 Make a Custom Boot Screen 48 4.3 Customize Your Logon Screen 50 4.4 How to Use Logon Studio 50 4.5 Use Windows Wallpapers for Your Logon Screen 51 Windows Vista – Customization Manual | 10 5.0 Customize Your Start Menu and Desktop 52 5.1 Customize Your Start Menu 53 5.1.1 Customize the Right-hand Panel 53 5.1.2 Customize the Programs List 53 5.2 Add Widgets to Your Start Menu 54 5.3 Search Google and More from the Start Menu 55 5.3.1 Configure Your Start Menu to Search Google 56 5.3.2 Configure Your Start Menu to Search Wikipedia 57 5.3.3 Configure Your Start Menu to Search Yahoo 57 5.4 Choose a Color Scheme 58 5.5 Customize the Taskbar 59 5.5.1 Move the Taskbar 59 5.5.2 Resize the Taskbar 60 5.5.3 Control Taskbar Grouping 60 5.5.4 Auto-hide the Taskbar 62 5.6 Customize Desktop Icons 63 5.7 Change Your Account Picture 64 5.8 Customize Your Mouse 65 5.8.1 Set the Mouse Buttons 66 11 | Contents 5.8.2 Set Mouse Pointer Options 66 5.9 Enable Vista Aero Mouse Cursors 68 5.10 Add a Mac-like Dock to Your Desktop 68 5.11 Remove Icons from the System Tray 69 5.12 Add Extra Clocks 70 5.13 Replace Outdated System Icons 71 5.13.1 How Does Vize Work? 71 6.0 Make the Most Out of Wallpaper & Screensavers 72 6.1 Change Your Desktop Wallpaper 73 6.2 Make Your Wallpaper More Functional 74 6.3 Animate Wallpaper with Dreamscene 75 6.3.1 Install Windows DreamScene 76 6.3.2 Select a Dream 77 6.4 Animate Wallpaper with VLC Player 77 6.5 Make Your Desktop Wallpaper Ripple like Water 79 6.6 Choose a Screensaver 80 6.7 Recommended Screensavers 80 6.7.1 Photo/Video Slideshow Screensaver 81 [...]... or click Continue.) 2 Wait for Windows t o search for available disks and most recent rest ore point s In t he System Properties dialog box , on t he System Protection t ab, click Create 3 Type a name (i.e - - - ) for t he rest ore point and t hen click Create 4 Aft er t he rest ore point is creat ed successfully, click OK t wo t imes Windows Vist a – Cust omizat ion Manual | 2 4 Not e: If Syst em... em - allowing Windows t o run fast er and freeing Windows Vist a – Cust omizat ion Manual | 3 4 up valuable hard disk space It also cleans t races of your online act ivit ies such as your Int ernet hist ory Addit ionally it cont ains a fully feat ured regist ry cleaner Anot her program I use frequent ly is Advanced Syst emCare by Iobit (ASC.) ASC is a comprehensive PC- care ut ilit y t hat has a one-... syst em relat ed problems If you do not have t his DVD, Microsoft provides a recovery disc Windows Vist a – Cust omizat ion Manual | 2 8 Please Note: This disc cannot be used t o inst all or reinst all Windows Vist a Download Windows Vist a Recovery Disc (from NeoSmart t echnologies) (120 MiB.) Or Download Windows Vist a Recovery Disc Torrent Learn how t o burn an ISO image to a DVD 2.6 Add “Take... prompt ed 2.5 Get a Windows Vista Recovery Disc Most new comput ers t hese days come wit h windows Vist a inst alled Most of t hese comput ers don’t come with any kind of Windows Vist a disc Some may come wit h a recovery disc but t hey are bad news as most recovery disks will delet e all your files and rest ore your comput er t o t he st at e it was in when you first purchased it Windows Vist a DVD’s... an ex t ernal hard drive or DVD(s) Windows Vist a – Cust omizat ion Manual | 2 0 2 2 3 Restore Your Files Launch t he Backup and Restore cent er and click Rest ore Files Locat e t he medium your files are st ored on and follow t he inst ruct ions to rest ore your backed up files 2.3 Work with the Windows Registry Throughout t his book you will need t o access t he Windows Regist ry and make changes... t o script your own regist ry files Before doing anyt hing wit h t he Windows Regist ry, you should know what t he regist ry is, how t o back it up, how to rest ore it t o a previous st at e, and how t o add keys and values 2 3 1 What is the Windows Registry? Think of t he Windows regist ry as a control center for your computer Windows set t ings, individual program set t ings, and ot her import ant... over St art up d Let go of t he left mouse but t on to place t he short cut in Startup Now when you log in to Windows Vist a, your t emporary files will be delet ed 3.2 Clean up Windows Cleaning up Windows can be a t edious t ask as t here are many t emporary and unused files st ored everywhere Manual cleaning may be more t horough, but would t ake hours Luckily t here are t wo programs suit ed t o t... wit hin this book Additional Help I’ve organized t he following resources t o help you use t his book and improve your skills wit h and knowledge of Windows 7: • Windows Vist a Forum: Meet Windows Vist a ent husiast s and get your quest ions answered • Windows Vist a Resources: Get t he lat est t ips and guides here 2 0 Get Started Before you get st art ed wit h t his book, t here are a f ew t hings... click Next 5 Confirm your rest ore point , and t hen click Finish System restore - t his restores t he select ed Windows Vist a configurat ion and t hen rest art s t he comput er 2 5 | 2.0 Get St art ed 6 Log on t o the comput er When t he Syst em Rest ore confirmat ion page appears, click OK 2 4 2 Backup and Restore the Windows Registry using the Registry Editor You may back up or rest ore t he ent... 7.4.1 About Vista Folder Background 89 7.4.2 Install Vista Folder Background 89 7.5 Customize Folder Icons 90 8.0 Organizing Your Files 89 8.1 Automatically Move Files from Your Desktop 89 8.2 Use Naming Conventions to Organize Your Data 90 Photo Files 91 Documents 91 Music 91 1 3 | Cont ent s 8.3 Batch Rename Your Files 92 8.3.1 D-FileMU . Windows Vista Customization Manual mintywhite.com (v1.3) Windows Vista – Customization Manual v1.3 Customize Windows Vista to Suit. with and knowledge of Windows 7: • Windows Vista Forum: Meet Windows Vista enthusiasts and get your questions answered. • Windows Vista Resources: Get