Snowman
10-09-2006, 06:29 PM
Hay guys here are some vista tweaks i found Have fun :thumbsup:
Windows Vista Beta 2 expires on the 1st of June 2007, giving you just under a year to use it.
1. Windows Vista Security Tweaks
1. Tweak User Account Protection
A new and quick way in the newer builds is to open the "Start Menu" and click on your picture at the top of the main menu to open up "User Accounts". Click on "Change Security Settings". Uncheck "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer". Click "OK" and exit.
To cut down on malicious software applications and beginner computer users from changing critical computer settings, Microsoft has included a new feature called User Account Protection, primarily known as UAP. UAP is a great step in the right direction. It can be used to prevent a beginner computer user from making changes to their computer by restricting them from accessing or even saving any changes to critical areas. UAP is also helpful against Spyware and other malicious software because it will require the user to consent to the action, before any system changes are made.
UAP is a good feature but sometimes it is necessary to tweak it a little so that it is less annoying for more experienced users. For example, an advanced user may be overwhelmed by the number of pop up authorization they receive. By tweaking the settings they can reduce the number of those they see as well as completely disable UAP. Although I do not recommend you completely disable UAP, you can fine tune it to be easier to get along with.
1. To get started, open up the Local Security Settings MMC to show the local security policies by running secpol.msc.
2. Navigate through Local Policies and Security Options.
3. Scroll through the list on the right of the various security settings until your reach the User Account Protection settings. Refer to the list below of the various settings, to change them, just right click and select Modify.
* User Account Protection: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators
o No Prompt
o Prompt for credentials
o Prompt for consent
* User Account Protection: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users
o No Prompt
o Prompt for credentials
* User Account Protection: Elevate on application installs
o Enable
o Disable
* User Account Protection: Run all users, including administrators, as standard users
o Enable
o Disable
* User Account Protection: Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations
o Enable
o Disable
If you want to completely disable UAP, Select No Prompt or Disable for all of the settings.
2. Start Menu Privacy Tweaks
Every time you open up a document or launch a program Windows Vista keeps track of this information to build the list of application for recently run applications and recent documents list. This can be a convenience or it can be a privacy problems if you use a shared computer. If that is the case, then anyone that uses the computer after you can see what applications you like to run and also see the name of the documents or photos that you looked at.
In Windows Vista Microsoft has provided a easy way to tweak this setting. Follow the steps below to protect your privacy:
1. Right click on the taskbar and select Properties.
2. Click on the Start Menu tab.
3. Uncheck Store and display a list of recently opened files.
4. Uncheck Store and display a list of recently opened programs.
5. Hit OK and you are finished.
Now the applications that you launch and the documents & photos that you look at are no longer recorded.
2. Windows Vista Customize the User Interface tweaks
1. Enable New Boot screen in Vista Beta 2
Tired of the pathetic boot screen in current Vista builds? There is a new trick that will allow you to see what may be the new boot screen for Windows Vista. This new boot screen is still not what we have been expecting but is a move in the right direction compared to the white progress bar screen currently used.
Enable New Boot Screen:
1. Click on the start orb and type in "MSCONFIG" in the textbox.
2. Once the System Configuration tool loads, click on the Boot tab.
3. Under Boot Options check "No GUI Boot".
4. Hit OK and reboot to see the new screen.
2. Enable Vista Glass look on Unsupported Video Cards
Microsoft Windows Vista, formally Codename longhorn has a new user interface system codenamed Avalon. This new user interface engine greatly enhances the look by utilizing several cool looking 3D effects. Of course, to be able to fully utilize the new engine you need a good 3D video card on top of special drivers, WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model).
To turn on this effect just execute c:\Windows\System32\UXSS.exe or enable and start the User Experience Session Management Service.
1. Open up Regedit.
2. Navigate through HKEY_local_machine, Software, and Microsoft.
3. Create a new KEY called DWM.
4. In the new DWM key you created, create a DWORD called EnableMachineCheck.
5. Make sure this value is set to 0 and hardware checking is now disabled.
Quick Note: Although you can get it to run on older hardware, with the lack of WDDM drivers available, it is going to run very slowly.
3. Show Run Command on Start Menu
Windows Vista has a new search bar located on the Start Panel. You can use the new search box to find items in the various folders of your Start Menu as well as run any application from it. Just type in the name of the executable and it will search your hard drive for it and run it. This is a great feature but if you have a lot of files on your computer, then be prepared for a short delay since it may have to search for a while.
If you do not want to wait that long, there is a quick way to get the old Run command back on your Start Panel.
1. Right click on your taskbar and select Properties.
2. Click on the Start Menu Tab and then select Customize.
3. Scroll through the list and check the Run Command check box.
4. Hit OK a few times and it is back.
4. Slow Motion Aero Animations on Demand
For those of you have have the aero glass interface working on your computer, it is possible to hold down the shift key while closing, opening, and minimizing a windows to see the animation in slow motion. If you would like to test this out, just follow the steps below:
1. Open up Regedit.
2. Navigate thru HKEY_local_machine, Software, and Microsoft.
3. Create a new KEY called DWM if it is not aleady there.
4. Create a new DWORD called AnimationsShiftKey inside the DWM folder.
5. Set the new DWORD that you just created to a value of 1.
6. Restart your computer for the effect to activate.
Once you have restarted, just hold down the shift key to see any of the window animations in slow motion.
3. Windows Vista Usability Tips
1. Checkbox Select Alternative
Windows Vista includes a new method to select files when using explorer. Instead of holding down CTRL and then clicking on all the files you want to select, Vista includes the option to check boxes to select items instead. This new feature can be a little hard to get used to at first, but after you use it for a little while, it will be helpful if you were a big user of the CTRL method.
This feature has helped me in situations where I had to select dozens of files or folders and would accidentally click in the wrong area and then I would loose all of my selections, forcing me to start over selecting folders. With the check box feature enabled, accidental clicks that lead to mass de-selection are no longer possible.
Enabling the new feature is very easy, just about anyone could do it. To get started, follow the steps below:
1. In order to begin, you will need to use the Tools menu. In Windows Vista the menu-bar is hidden by default in most windows. Just hit ALT on your keyboard to bring it back. Now that you can see it again, click on Tools and then select Folder Options.
2. Once the Folder Options dialog is displayed, click on the View tab.
3. Under Advanced Settings, scroll down to the bottom of the list and check Use check boxes to select items.
4. Next, click OK and you are finished.
In order to see the new changes you may have to close and reopen all open windows.
2. Missing the old File, Edit, View menu bar
One of the main concepts of Windows Vista is to make things more simple, basically take some of the complexity out of Windows.The decision was made to do away with the old menu bar in many of the windows of Windows Vista because they simply looked too busy and offered the user too many, often confusing, choices.
This all sounds great but we are power users and most of us like complexity because it gives us more control. Thankfully, Microsoft didn't really do away with it completely, they just hid it. The next time you are using Windows Vista and wish that old menu bar was still around, just hit ALT on your keyboard and it magically appear!
4. Windows Vista Performance Tweaks
1. Disable Network Printer Search
When browsing through shared folders and network computers Explorer can slow down when it is searching the local network for printers. This sounds like a great feature and may be useful for some but I would rather disable it to get maximum performance when browsing through folders.
1. Hit Alt to bring up the menubar if it is not already on the screen.
2. Click on Tools and select Folder Options.
3. On the View Tab, uncheck Automatically search for network printers.
2. Disable Welcome Center
As soon as you install Windows Vista you are bombarded by the Welcome Center that is designed to help beginner Windows users easily configure their new computer. This new welcome screen is a nice feature the first time you start using Windows vista but quickly becomes annoying.
Disabling the Welcome Center is very easy to do and can speed up your boot as well.
1. Start Regedit.
2. Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Run.
3. Right click on the WindowsWelcomeCenter key and select Delete.
The next time you restart the Welcome Center will be gone.
3. Vista Beta 2 Service Guide Part 1
I do not support turning off services, You do so at your own risk. JSKY
Windows Vista Beta 2 has several new services and features that we do not all need. Here is the first list of services that are running in Windows Vista Beta 2 and a list of services that you can safely disable. Before I get started, it is necessary to understand how to disable services in Windows Vista. Similar to other version of Windows, you will be using the Services MMC. Follow the steps below to get started with the Services applet.
1. Click Start and then Run.
2. Key in services.msc and press OK. The Services applet will now load.
3. To stop and disable a service, just right click on a service and select Properties.
4. Then, in the properties box change the Startup type to Disabled and hit OK. The next time that you restart your computer the service will no longer be able to start.
Now that you know the basics of disabling a service, I can begin going over the services that I have found that can be disabled to increase your system performance. Below is a list of services that can be disabled. Some provide value added features, so if you use a feature associated with the service consider if it is really worth the slight performance gain compared to the usefulness of the feature.
Digital ID Management Service - Listens for Digital ID related events and invokes the registered Providers to perform their tasks. The order that the Providers are invoked is specified by the dependency settings. If this service is stopped or disabled, this computer and all logged on users will be unable to use the automated functionality. This sounds like a fancy service, but your probably don't have a use for it unless you use any DRM technologies.
Distributed Link Tracking Client - Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network.
Group Policy Client - The service is responsible for applying settings configured by administrators for the computer and users through the Group Policy component. If the service is stopped or disabled, the settings will not be applied and applications and components will not be manageable through Group Policy. Any components or applications that depend on the Group Policy component might not be functional if the service is stopped or disabled. Are you using any of the new account restrictions in Windows Vista, if not, and if this computer is not on a enterprise network, disable this service to free up some bytes.
IKE and AuthIP IPSec keying modules - IKE and AuthIP IPSec keying modules. Unless you are doing crazy VPN stuff, home users have little use for this service.
Infrared monitor service - Supports infrared devices installed on the computer and detects other devices that are in range. Still have any infrared device sitting around? Yeah right!, disable this unless you are still using any legacy devices that require infrared. If so, consider upgrading sometime in the future to this thing called Blue tooth.
Network Access Protection Agent - Allows windows clients to participate in NAP. If you have no use for NAP or don't know what it is, disable this, you probably don't need it.
Peer Name Resolution Protocol - Enables Serverless Peer Name Resolution over the Internet. DNS lookups without a DNS server? Possibly, but still no use for it.
Peer Networking Identity Manager - Provides Identity service for Peer Networking. P2P service that performance users don't need. Unless you are using the new P2P networking features.
Pen Service - Tablet PC Pen Input Service. This service is running by default on my laptop which is not a tablet PC!
PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator Service - The PnP-X bus enumerator for network connected devices.
4. Vista Beta 2 Service Guide Part 2
Windows Vista Beta 2 has several new services and features that we do not all need. Ihere is a list of services that are running in Windows Vista Beta 2 and compiled a list of services that you can safely disable. Before I get started, it is necessary to understand how to disable services in Windows Vista. Similar to other version of Windows, you will be using the Services MMC. Follow the steps below to get started with the Services applet.
1. Click Start and then Run.
2. Key in services.msc and press OK. The Services applet will now load.
3. To stop and disable a service, just right click on a service and select Properties.
4. Then, in the properties box change the Startup type to Disabled and hit OK. The next time that you restart your computer the service will no longer be able to start.
Now that you know the basics of disabling a service, I can begin going over the services that I have found that can be disabled to increase your system performance. Below is a list of services that can be disabled. Some provide value added features, so if you use a feature associated with the service consider if it is really worth the slight performance gain compared to the usefulness of the feature.
Remote Registry - Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer. If this service is stopped, the registry can be modified only by users on this computer. I do not understand why Microsoft always decides to have this service started by default in Windows. This service is really only useful for system administrators in enterprise environments. Although my faith in Microsoft security is growing, for home users and most power users this service is just waiting to be exploited by the latest virus/Trojan. It provide no useful functionality to us so just disable it.
SSDP Discovery Service - Discovers networked devices and services that use the SSDP discovery protocol, such as UPnP devices. Also announces SSDP devices and services running on the local computer. If this service is stopped, SSDP-based devices will not be discovered. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. Do you have any UPnP devices? No, then disable this.
UPnP Device Host - Allows UPnP devices to be hosted on this computer. If this service is stopped, any hosted UPnP devices will stop functioning and no additional hosted devices can be added. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. Do you have any UPnP devices? No, then disable this as well.
WebClient - Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify Internet-based files. If this service is stopped, these functions will not be available. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. This service is used for things like web folder and WEB DAV. If you are like me and don't use these services, then disable them.
Windows Error Reporting Service - Enables error reporting and solution delivery for application failures (crashes and hangs). If this service is stopped, error reporting might not work correctly. This service has always been a favorite for power users to disable. I'm not going to lie, it will give you a slight performance gain if you disable it since less overhead = more resources for your apps. However, Windows Vista is in Beta! Why wouldn't you want Microsoft to hear about the problems you are having. Don't you want them to have a chance to be fixed?
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) - Provides image acquisition services for scanners and cameras. Not used? disable it.
5. Windows Vista Software Tweaks
1. Enable Add-ins in Windows Live Messenger
Copy and Paste the following into a .reg file and import it.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger]
"AddInFeatureEnabled"=dword:00000001
Once you import it, restart Windows Live Messenger and under Options you will have a new list item for Add-ins.
2. Internet Explorer 7 Privacy Tip
Windows Internet Explorer 7 has included a easy new way to protect your privacy by erasing your browsing history and temporary files. This feature will clear your browsing history, delete all of your cookies, delete saved web form data and passwords as well as erase all temporary Internet files. Before you had to complete a series of steps to clear all of theses items or download privacy software, now you can clear all in just one click of a button.
This new feature can be accessed through the Tools menu-bar item. Click on Tools and then select Delete Browsing History. This will automatically launch the utility that will clear all of your private browsing information.
Hope this helps make things easier
Windows Vista Beta 2 expires on the 1st of June 2007, giving you just under a year to use it.
1. Windows Vista Security Tweaks
1. Tweak User Account Protection
A new and quick way in the newer builds is to open the "Start Menu" and click on your picture at the top of the main menu to open up "User Accounts". Click on "Change Security Settings". Uncheck "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer". Click "OK" and exit.
To cut down on malicious software applications and beginner computer users from changing critical computer settings, Microsoft has included a new feature called User Account Protection, primarily known as UAP. UAP is a great step in the right direction. It can be used to prevent a beginner computer user from making changes to their computer by restricting them from accessing or even saving any changes to critical areas. UAP is also helpful against Spyware and other malicious software because it will require the user to consent to the action, before any system changes are made.
UAP is a good feature but sometimes it is necessary to tweak it a little so that it is less annoying for more experienced users. For example, an advanced user may be overwhelmed by the number of pop up authorization they receive. By tweaking the settings they can reduce the number of those they see as well as completely disable UAP. Although I do not recommend you completely disable UAP, you can fine tune it to be easier to get along with.
1. To get started, open up the Local Security Settings MMC to show the local security policies by running secpol.msc.
2. Navigate through Local Policies and Security Options.
3. Scroll through the list on the right of the various security settings until your reach the User Account Protection settings. Refer to the list below of the various settings, to change them, just right click and select Modify.
* User Account Protection: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators
o No Prompt
o Prompt for credentials
o Prompt for consent
* User Account Protection: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users
o No Prompt
o Prompt for credentials
* User Account Protection: Elevate on application installs
o Enable
o Disable
* User Account Protection: Run all users, including administrators, as standard users
o Enable
o Disable
* User Account Protection: Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations
o Enable
o Disable
If you want to completely disable UAP, Select No Prompt or Disable for all of the settings.
2. Start Menu Privacy Tweaks
Every time you open up a document or launch a program Windows Vista keeps track of this information to build the list of application for recently run applications and recent documents list. This can be a convenience or it can be a privacy problems if you use a shared computer. If that is the case, then anyone that uses the computer after you can see what applications you like to run and also see the name of the documents or photos that you looked at.
In Windows Vista Microsoft has provided a easy way to tweak this setting. Follow the steps below to protect your privacy:
1. Right click on the taskbar and select Properties.
2. Click on the Start Menu tab.
3. Uncheck Store and display a list of recently opened files.
4. Uncheck Store and display a list of recently opened programs.
5. Hit OK and you are finished.
Now the applications that you launch and the documents & photos that you look at are no longer recorded.
2. Windows Vista Customize the User Interface tweaks
1. Enable New Boot screen in Vista Beta 2
Tired of the pathetic boot screen in current Vista builds? There is a new trick that will allow you to see what may be the new boot screen for Windows Vista. This new boot screen is still not what we have been expecting but is a move in the right direction compared to the white progress bar screen currently used.
Enable New Boot Screen:
1. Click on the start orb and type in "MSCONFIG" in the textbox.
2. Once the System Configuration tool loads, click on the Boot tab.
3. Under Boot Options check "No GUI Boot".
4. Hit OK and reboot to see the new screen.
2. Enable Vista Glass look on Unsupported Video Cards
Microsoft Windows Vista, formally Codename longhorn has a new user interface system codenamed Avalon. This new user interface engine greatly enhances the look by utilizing several cool looking 3D effects. Of course, to be able to fully utilize the new engine you need a good 3D video card on top of special drivers, WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model).
To turn on this effect just execute c:\Windows\System32\UXSS.exe or enable and start the User Experience Session Management Service.
1. Open up Regedit.
2. Navigate through HKEY_local_machine, Software, and Microsoft.
3. Create a new KEY called DWM.
4. In the new DWM key you created, create a DWORD called EnableMachineCheck.
5. Make sure this value is set to 0 and hardware checking is now disabled.
Quick Note: Although you can get it to run on older hardware, with the lack of WDDM drivers available, it is going to run very slowly.
3. Show Run Command on Start Menu
Windows Vista has a new search bar located on the Start Panel. You can use the new search box to find items in the various folders of your Start Menu as well as run any application from it. Just type in the name of the executable and it will search your hard drive for it and run it. This is a great feature but if you have a lot of files on your computer, then be prepared for a short delay since it may have to search for a while.
If you do not want to wait that long, there is a quick way to get the old Run command back on your Start Panel.
1. Right click on your taskbar and select Properties.
2. Click on the Start Menu Tab and then select Customize.
3. Scroll through the list and check the Run Command check box.
4. Hit OK a few times and it is back.
4. Slow Motion Aero Animations on Demand
For those of you have have the aero glass interface working on your computer, it is possible to hold down the shift key while closing, opening, and minimizing a windows to see the animation in slow motion. If you would like to test this out, just follow the steps below:
1. Open up Regedit.
2. Navigate thru HKEY_local_machine, Software, and Microsoft.
3. Create a new KEY called DWM if it is not aleady there.
4. Create a new DWORD called AnimationsShiftKey inside the DWM folder.
5. Set the new DWORD that you just created to a value of 1.
6. Restart your computer for the effect to activate.
Once you have restarted, just hold down the shift key to see any of the window animations in slow motion.
3. Windows Vista Usability Tips
1. Checkbox Select Alternative
Windows Vista includes a new method to select files when using explorer. Instead of holding down CTRL and then clicking on all the files you want to select, Vista includes the option to check boxes to select items instead. This new feature can be a little hard to get used to at first, but after you use it for a little while, it will be helpful if you were a big user of the CTRL method.
This feature has helped me in situations where I had to select dozens of files or folders and would accidentally click in the wrong area and then I would loose all of my selections, forcing me to start over selecting folders. With the check box feature enabled, accidental clicks that lead to mass de-selection are no longer possible.
Enabling the new feature is very easy, just about anyone could do it. To get started, follow the steps below:
1. In order to begin, you will need to use the Tools menu. In Windows Vista the menu-bar is hidden by default in most windows. Just hit ALT on your keyboard to bring it back. Now that you can see it again, click on Tools and then select Folder Options.
2. Once the Folder Options dialog is displayed, click on the View tab.
3. Under Advanced Settings, scroll down to the bottom of the list and check Use check boxes to select items.
4. Next, click OK and you are finished.
In order to see the new changes you may have to close and reopen all open windows.
2. Missing the old File, Edit, View menu bar
One of the main concepts of Windows Vista is to make things more simple, basically take some of the complexity out of Windows.The decision was made to do away with the old menu bar in many of the windows of Windows Vista because they simply looked too busy and offered the user too many, often confusing, choices.
This all sounds great but we are power users and most of us like complexity because it gives us more control. Thankfully, Microsoft didn't really do away with it completely, they just hid it. The next time you are using Windows Vista and wish that old menu bar was still around, just hit ALT on your keyboard and it magically appear!
4. Windows Vista Performance Tweaks
1. Disable Network Printer Search
When browsing through shared folders and network computers Explorer can slow down when it is searching the local network for printers. This sounds like a great feature and may be useful for some but I would rather disable it to get maximum performance when browsing through folders.
1. Hit Alt to bring up the menubar if it is not already on the screen.
2. Click on Tools and select Folder Options.
3. On the View Tab, uncheck Automatically search for network printers.
2. Disable Welcome Center
As soon as you install Windows Vista you are bombarded by the Welcome Center that is designed to help beginner Windows users easily configure their new computer. This new welcome screen is a nice feature the first time you start using Windows vista but quickly becomes annoying.
Disabling the Welcome Center is very easy to do and can speed up your boot as well.
1. Start Regedit.
2. Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Run.
3. Right click on the WindowsWelcomeCenter key and select Delete.
The next time you restart the Welcome Center will be gone.
3. Vista Beta 2 Service Guide Part 1
I do not support turning off services, You do so at your own risk. JSKY
Windows Vista Beta 2 has several new services and features that we do not all need. Here is the first list of services that are running in Windows Vista Beta 2 and a list of services that you can safely disable. Before I get started, it is necessary to understand how to disable services in Windows Vista. Similar to other version of Windows, you will be using the Services MMC. Follow the steps below to get started with the Services applet.
1. Click Start and then Run.
2. Key in services.msc and press OK. The Services applet will now load.
3. To stop and disable a service, just right click on a service and select Properties.
4. Then, in the properties box change the Startup type to Disabled and hit OK. The next time that you restart your computer the service will no longer be able to start.
Now that you know the basics of disabling a service, I can begin going over the services that I have found that can be disabled to increase your system performance. Below is a list of services that can be disabled. Some provide value added features, so if you use a feature associated with the service consider if it is really worth the slight performance gain compared to the usefulness of the feature.
Digital ID Management Service - Listens for Digital ID related events and invokes the registered Providers to perform their tasks. The order that the Providers are invoked is specified by the dependency settings. If this service is stopped or disabled, this computer and all logged on users will be unable to use the automated functionality. This sounds like a fancy service, but your probably don't have a use for it unless you use any DRM technologies.
Distributed Link Tracking Client - Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network.
Group Policy Client - The service is responsible for applying settings configured by administrators for the computer and users through the Group Policy component. If the service is stopped or disabled, the settings will not be applied and applications and components will not be manageable through Group Policy. Any components or applications that depend on the Group Policy component might not be functional if the service is stopped or disabled. Are you using any of the new account restrictions in Windows Vista, if not, and if this computer is not on a enterprise network, disable this service to free up some bytes.
IKE and AuthIP IPSec keying modules - IKE and AuthIP IPSec keying modules. Unless you are doing crazy VPN stuff, home users have little use for this service.
Infrared monitor service - Supports infrared devices installed on the computer and detects other devices that are in range. Still have any infrared device sitting around? Yeah right!, disable this unless you are still using any legacy devices that require infrared. If so, consider upgrading sometime in the future to this thing called Blue tooth.
Network Access Protection Agent - Allows windows clients to participate in NAP. If you have no use for NAP or don't know what it is, disable this, you probably don't need it.
Peer Name Resolution Protocol - Enables Serverless Peer Name Resolution over the Internet. DNS lookups without a DNS server? Possibly, but still no use for it.
Peer Networking Identity Manager - Provides Identity service for Peer Networking. P2P service that performance users don't need. Unless you are using the new P2P networking features.
Pen Service - Tablet PC Pen Input Service. This service is running by default on my laptop which is not a tablet PC!
PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator Service - The PnP-X bus enumerator for network connected devices.
4. Vista Beta 2 Service Guide Part 2
Windows Vista Beta 2 has several new services and features that we do not all need. Ihere is a list of services that are running in Windows Vista Beta 2 and compiled a list of services that you can safely disable. Before I get started, it is necessary to understand how to disable services in Windows Vista. Similar to other version of Windows, you will be using the Services MMC. Follow the steps below to get started with the Services applet.
1. Click Start and then Run.
2. Key in services.msc and press OK. The Services applet will now load.
3. To stop and disable a service, just right click on a service and select Properties.
4. Then, in the properties box change the Startup type to Disabled and hit OK. The next time that you restart your computer the service will no longer be able to start.
Now that you know the basics of disabling a service, I can begin going over the services that I have found that can be disabled to increase your system performance. Below is a list of services that can be disabled. Some provide value added features, so if you use a feature associated with the service consider if it is really worth the slight performance gain compared to the usefulness of the feature.
Remote Registry - Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer. If this service is stopped, the registry can be modified only by users on this computer. I do not understand why Microsoft always decides to have this service started by default in Windows. This service is really only useful for system administrators in enterprise environments. Although my faith in Microsoft security is growing, for home users and most power users this service is just waiting to be exploited by the latest virus/Trojan. It provide no useful functionality to us so just disable it.
SSDP Discovery Service - Discovers networked devices and services that use the SSDP discovery protocol, such as UPnP devices. Also announces SSDP devices and services running on the local computer. If this service is stopped, SSDP-based devices will not be discovered. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. Do you have any UPnP devices? No, then disable this.
UPnP Device Host - Allows UPnP devices to be hosted on this computer. If this service is stopped, any hosted UPnP devices will stop functioning and no additional hosted devices can be added. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. Do you have any UPnP devices? No, then disable this as well.
WebClient - Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify Internet-based files. If this service is stopped, these functions will not be available. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. This service is used for things like web folder and WEB DAV. If you are like me and don't use these services, then disable them.
Windows Error Reporting Service - Enables error reporting and solution delivery for application failures (crashes and hangs). If this service is stopped, error reporting might not work correctly. This service has always been a favorite for power users to disable. I'm not going to lie, it will give you a slight performance gain if you disable it since less overhead = more resources for your apps. However, Windows Vista is in Beta! Why wouldn't you want Microsoft to hear about the problems you are having. Don't you want them to have a chance to be fixed?
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) - Provides image acquisition services for scanners and cameras. Not used? disable it.
5. Windows Vista Software Tweaks
1. Enable Add-ins in Windows Live Messenger
Copy and Paste the following into a .reg file and import it.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger]
"AddInFeatureEnabled"=dword:00000001
Once you import it, restart Windows Live Messenger and under Options you will have a new list item for Add-ins.
2. Internet Explorer 7 Privacy Tip
Windows Internet Explorer 7 has included a easy new way to protect your privacy by erasing your browsing history and temporary files. This feature will clear your browsing history, delete all of your cookies, delete saved web form data and passwords as well as erase all temporary Internet files. Before you had to complete a series of steps to clear all of theses items or download privacy software, now you can clear all in just one click of a button.
This new feature can be accessed through the Tools menu-bar item. Click on Tools and then select Delete Browsing History. This will automatically launch the utility that will clear all of your private browsing information.
Hope this helps make things easier