Pick your Vista version:

A single Windows Vista DVD contains the code for every version. Normally, you unlock the version you plan to use by entering a product ID that is specific to that version. If you leave out the product ID, the Setup program has no way to know which version you own. So you get to choose your version. This is an ideal way to test different versions for up to 14 days, after which you have to either enter a product ID or do another clean install.

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Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Upgrade at your own risk:

You have three choices when you run Vista setup:
# Boot from the DVD and do a clean install to a fresh partition. Your new installation is assigned drive letter C: when you boot into Vista

.
# Launch Setup from Windows XP and do a clean installation. Your new copy of Windows Vista is assigned the next available drive letter and your existing Windows installation keeps drive C:.
# Launch Setup from Windows XP and choose the Upgrade option. I don't recommend this option unless you have a full image backup to restore as needed.

If you're planning to evaluate Windows Vista in a dual-boot setup, be sure to use a separate partition or physical disk, and allow at least 20GB for testing purposes. Allow more, much more, if you intend to really use Windows Vista.

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Add "My Computer" to Your Vista Taskbar

I like to have the quickest access possible to folders on my desktop, which usually means putting something onto the taskbar if possible. You can add the Computer menu as a folder on the taskbar for the easiest access to your drives. You could also use this tip for any folder you want.

To add a folder to the taskbar, just right-click on the taskbar and choose the Toolbars menu, and then click on New Toolbar.



Just find the folder that you want… in this instance we'll select the Computer icon and then click on Select Folder.


Now you can see the Computer folder right there on the taskbar. If you click the little arrows it will pop up and let you browse through all your drives.



I always add the Desktop to the toolbar as well.

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Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Add an Application to the Quick Launch Menu in Vista

The Quick Launch menu is one of the most useful features in Windows, and Vista makes it even easier to add a program to the menu.

For those of you that are total newbies, the quick launch menu is the little icons by the start button:


You can either drag an application to the quick launch bar… or you can right click, and choose Add to Quick Launch:



Note that you could also use Pin to Start Menu…

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Add Copy To / Move To on Windows Vista Right-Click Menu

There's a registry hack for Windows that will let you add a Copy To Folder or Move To Folder to the right-click menu, which can be very useful when you want to move a file but don't have the other folder open already.

Right-click on a file:



And up pops a nice dialog that you can use to easily drop a file into the right directory.

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Blocking Spam from International Senders in Windows Vista Mail

I don't personally use the Windows Mail client that comes with Windows Vista, but while I was researching how to use it to access my Gmail locally, I discovered a nice option in the Junk Email Options pane.

A large amount of the spam that I get consists of mail coming from all sorts of international domains. Since I don't have any close friends that live in other countries, I really don't need to see any email from anywhere else.

To block all of that spam mail from hitting your inbox, open Windows Mail and go to the Tools \ Junk Mail Options item. Click the International tab, and you should see this screen:



There are two seperate ways that you can block international spam: First, you can block the domains themselves by selecting them here. If you do the Select All option, you should be warned that .US is also in that list.



You can also choose to block message encodings. I blocked all of the asian message encodings, because I definitely can't read those languages, and about 1/10th of the spam I get these days is encoded in one of those types. Again, be careful about doing the Select All option or you will end up blocking all email from everybody.

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Change Internet Explorer in Windows Vista to Search Google by Default

Windows Vista includes Internet Explorer 7, and on a new install it defaults to Microsoft's Live Search, which is just terrible. Here's the easy steps to make Google the default search engine instead.

First, open up Internet Explorer, and then click the little search dropdown:



You should see a page with Google Web Search on it:



Click Google as fast as you can!


Make sure you check the default search provider box.

This will also work in IE7 on XP as well.

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Display your Google Calendar in Windows Calendar

Windows Vista includes a built-in calendar application that's pretty slick, but as an addict to Google Calendar, I'd like to just view my Google calendar in a desktop client. This is where Vista's "Subscribe" to calendar feature works out pretty well.

To subscribe to your Google Calendar, you'll first need to get the iCal link to your calendar. In Google Calendar, go to Settings \ Calendars and then click on your calendar in the list.

You should see a "Private Address" section:


Right click on the ICAL link, and choose Copy Shortcut to copy the link to the clipboard.

Now open Windows Calendar, and click the Subscribe buttton on the toolbar:


Paste the URL into the textbox, and hit the Next button:


After what seems like far too long, you'll see the next screen:

The key thing that you'll want to choose on this screen is the Update interval, which will keep the calendar automatically sync'd up. I also chose a friendlier name.

That's all there is to it. Notice the blue appointments are the ones that came from Google Calendar:

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Fix for New Contact Group Button Not Displaying in Vista

The New Contact Group button wasn't showing up when i went into his Vista Contacts folder.
Turns out the problem is that Vista thought my Contacts folder was a picture folder for some unknown reason.

Notice how the button is completely missing from the toolbar.



To change the folder so that Vista realizes it's a contacts folder, right-click anywhere in the folder, and then choose Customize This Folder from the menu.



Now from the Customize tab, change the "Use this folder type as a template" to Contacts instead of Pictures, or whatever it was set to.



Now when you look at your Contacts folder, you'll see the New Contact Group button as well as the other relevant buttons.


There should really be some better logic to determine the folder type.

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Fix Problems With Copying Large Files in Windows Vista

If you've been having problems copying large files over mapped drives, network disconnects, or having to reboot your router a lot more often than normal, then you can try out this fix to solve the problem.

The problem stems from the new auto-tuning network, which changes the receive window on the fly. Thankfully we can easily turn it off from an administrative mode command prompt.

Open Administrative Mode Command Prompt

Either type cmd into the start menu and use Ctrl+Shift+Enter or right-click the Command Prompt shortcut and choose Run as Administrator.

Turn Off Auto-Tuning


You'll have to reboot your system, but once you do, the problems should be resolved. If they are not you can always turn auto-tuning back on.
Turn On Auto-Tuning

__________________
Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer