This article only applies to computers running Windows Vista (not Home Basic) and those with Tablet PC functionality.

Most people are right handed, and menu’s opening on the right hand side where they normally do can be difficult to work with. This artlicle shows how you can get the messages and menus to open and appear to the left of your hand (or vice versa if appropriate) to make viewing easier.

1.  Go to  Start then Control Panel.
2. Click Tablet PC Settings (in category view and classic view).
3. In the General tab, select either as appropriate:
   Right handed - for right handed people, and menu’s will appear to the left of your hand on-screen.
   Left handed - for left handed people, and menu’s will appear to the right of your hand on-screen.
4. Click Apply, OK and you’re all done.

Thanks to Long Zheng. 

Windows DreamScene Preview is now available for download for Windows Vista Ultimate users. It’s a Beta 2 product which doesn’t run perfectly but shows what DreamScene is like and how good it is. Simply check for updates by going to  Start, Control Panel then Windows Update. It should be picked up with the rest of the updates.

 There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

To “copy to path” basically means, to copy the full address of a file or folder. A file might be in C:\Users\Jeremy\Documents\Work\document.docx and there isn’t really an easy way to find the address of this. Sure you can navigate through Windows and find it… but what if you need the full file address (or the “path”)? Then you might struggle.

Having said that, Windows Vista includes this feature in, but it’s not so easy to find it. To copy to path:

1. Find the file you want to “copy to path”.
2. Hold the Shift key down, right click on the file, and choose Copy as path from the menu.
3. Paste in your destination.

Highly useful when pasting links to upload them somewhere or opening them from a remote window.

To save space in Windows Media Player 11, it is designed in an ergonomic design with tabs across the top. These are Now Playing, Library, Rip, Burn, Sync and Media Guide. You can change which tab opens each time you open Windows Media Player.

To do this, create a shortcut on your desktop (or in a file menu) by right clicking, select New then Shortcut. Depending on which tab you want, select from the following:

• Now Playing tab           wmplayer.exe /Task:NowPlaying
• Library tab                  wmplayer.exe /Task:Library
• Media Guide tab          wmplayer.exe /Task:MediaGuide

Continue the wizard until it finishes, then every time you select that shortcut then it’ll open that specified tab.

You can easily shrink Windows Media Player to a much smaller, compact size. In your full screen menu, at the bottom right hand side of the controls, select the button where the red arrow is pointing to below.

This will automatically switch the application to a smaller, easier to handle, less intrusive and compact.

Download now (Alternative link if above doesn’t work - some router’s/firewall’s don’t like subdomains)
Compatible with: Windows 2000 Professional, All versions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista (32-bit only)

The Report Abuse Desktop Client is an application written by myself and provided by MSBLOG enabling younger users of the Internet to report online abuse or suspicious activity of online sexual predators. It’s free to mirror and distribute, and recommended for those who have a family computer or for families with children who use the Internet. It has an auto-update feature in it as well so it’ll still update easily.

   
(Click to enlarge)

The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) are online organisations set up and moderated by the world’s policing authorities from the USA, England, Australia and Interpol. It provides the ability for users who feel they are being targeted by online sexual predators to report information to make sure that the online community is safer. Already, Microsoft have incorporated the VGT as a tab in Windows Live Messenger, and they’ve shutdown the MSN Chatrooms but this isn’t enough for outside Microsoft and their products.

In beta builds of the operating system, by default it would be printed in the lower right hand corner of the desktop “Windows Vista <version> - for evaluation purposes only” or something similar. You can now get the same thing, but written as :

Windows Vista
Build 6000

To get this, follow these steps:

1. Go to  Start then Run (or press the Windows key +R), type in regedit then press OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Double click the key PaintDesktopVersion and change its value to 1.
4. Restart your machine.

Some people have been having trouble with Internet Explorer 7’s phishing filter, causing it to slow down your browsing experience and even causing it to crash the browser. However Microsoft released a knowledge base article which might be of assistance, with a patch allowing you to upgrade the phishing filter so that it runs more effectively. Check out the knowledge base article here: KB 928089

To disable the phishing filter:

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click “Disable Phishing Filter in the Settings list”.
4. Click Apply, and then click OK.
5. Restart Internet Explorer 7.

Here are some images you can use for each of the 5 Windows Vista editions - Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. Just click on a thumbnail to enlarge then save on your computer.

Please do not link to these images directly - save them onto your own web server if you want to use them on your website.

There are a number of places you can buy Windows Vista from, and it’s seperated into two categories:

Online
You can buy it online here from the Windows Marketplace (recommended), as well from Amazon and PC World. You can probably buy it from most OEM retailers as well, by purchasing it with a new computer.

Offline
Most high-street shops should sell it - PC World, Curry’s, Dixons and all the top leading brands. Just pop in and pick up a copy off the shelf.

There is no “up one button” like in Windows XP () but with the know-how, you’ve still got it and can still get to where you want to go with the littlest of troubles.

As above, the Program Files directory is highlighted - if you wanted to go there, then just click on it. However if you were in the Windows Vista [Z:] directory and you wanted to go to the Computer, you just click on Computer - it’s really as simple as that.

The little arrows () allow you to browse the directories around that particular place. So if you were to pick up the Computer arrow, you’d be able to see your hard drives, your flash drives and network locations.

Don’t forget, once you’ve got the window in focus, you can easily press the Backspace key to go up a level, just like in Windows XP.

Yeh, it may be more secure than Windows XP and all the other operating systems out but you still have the option to automatically login if the computer is soley yours and nobody else uses it.

1. Go to  Start then Run (or press the Windows key + R), type in control userpasswords2 then press OK.
2. At the top of the dialog box, untick the option saying “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer”.
3. Click Apply - a new dialog comes up.
4. Enter the username and password (twice) of the user you wish to auto-login with.
5. Click OK and OK again.

Next time you restart your computer, it will automatically login. When you logoff however, a username and password may still be needed to login. If you forget… just restart!

By standard, Windows Vista doesn’t let local administrators use their powers over a network, otherwise they’d be a network administrator. Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop are unaffected, but it means that you can’t remotely administrate a computer, nor can you connect remotely via a MMC console or other application window.

There is a workaround however - allow local administrators to use their administrative access when accessing a Windows Vista machine remotely:

1. Click  Start then Run (or press the Windows key + R), type in regedit then press OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\.
3. Right click in the right hand pane, click New then click DWORD Value.
4. Name this value LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy then press OK.
5. Double click this DWORD and set the value to 1.
6. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer to finish.

Large icons, medium icons and classic icons - that’s not really enough for me and I’m picky about my icon size. There is a way to make the icons on your desktop exactly the right size that you want.

1. Right click the taskbar and select “Show the Desktop”.
2. Click once on a blank bit of desktop to bring the focus to the desktop and nothing else.
3. Hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, and scroll up on your mousewheel to make the icons bigger, or scroll down on your mousewheel to make the icons smaller.
4. Once you’ve got the right setting - let go of the Ctrl key and rearrange your icons how you like them.

Simple as that

 OK this article shows you how to see the files which can seriously screw up your Windows Vista machine if they are played around with. This is only for advanced people who know what they are doing.

The protected operating system files are really important to Windows for it to run properly, and by defauly are hidden so they can’t be accidentally deleted or modified. However if you need to modify them or delete them or tinker around with them for whatever reason, here’s how to show them off.

1. Open Windows Explorer (or just go to  Start then Computer).
2. Press Alt to show the menu bar, then select View, then Folder and Search Options.
3. Click the View tab, and search for the section marked Hidden Files And Folders.
4. Remove the tick mark from the option saying “Hide protected operating system files (recommended)”
5. Click OK when the warning box displays.
6. Press Apply, then OK.

To reverse this, simply follow the same procedure and ensure that the tick box is filled.

In the notification area of Windows you’ll see the networking icon. This can appear to be animated if there is network activity going on, and it can also be static showing nothing. You can change it from being static to animated and vice-versa really easily. If traffic is being sent or received, the animated icon will show you by flashing the computer screens on the icon.

 To enable the network activity icon:
       1. Right click the networking icon in the notification area.
       2. From the menu, select the “Turn on activity animation” option.

 To disable the network activity icon:
       1. Right click the networking icon in the notification area.
       2. From the menu, select the “Turn off activity animation” option.

Windows Mail shows you your email in a preview pane below your folder list. If you want to change it to a Microsoft Office Outlook view (where the preview pane is on the right of the folder list), do the following:

1. Open Windows Mail (in the Start menu).
2. Click View in the main screen toolbar, from the drop down list select “Layout”.
3. From the Windows Layout properties menu, find the “Preview Pane” settings.
4. Check the appropriate box for the setting you want - below messages or beside messages.
5. Click OK to apply the new settings.

Windows Explorer lets you preview documents, images, videos and allsorts in a small preview pane to the right of the window. But how do you find it? How do you make it appear? All will become clear… (it rhymes!)

1. Open Windows Explorer (or just Start, Computer).
2. Click the Organise button at the top of the window - from the drop down list select “Layout”.
3. From the Layout menu, select “Preview Pane”.
4. Once it’s selected - single click on a document and see it previewed in the Preview pane.

Windows Vista has a hardware memory diagnostic tool which helps aids and checks problems with your hardware memory. It also helps analyse your RAM memory to ensure everything is working fine.

1. Go to Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, then the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool.
2. You can either select the first option to start the test immediately and restart your computer, or to start the next time you restart your computer manually - up to you.
3. Your machine will restart, and the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool will start scanning your memory for problems
4. After the diagnostic tool has finished checking the memory your PC will restart and details of the memory check will be displayed via an icon in the notification area. 

Did you buy your computer with Vista installed from a company and they put in their name as the registered owner? Do you want to change your name to something else? Well for whatever reason you might want to change the registered owner, you can do it relatively easily.

1. Go to Start, Run (or press Windows key + R) and type in regedit then press OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version.
3. Locate in the right hand pane for “RegisteredOwner”, double click on it and change it to your name or whatever you want to call the registered owner.
4. If you wish to change the registered organisation, double click the “RegisteredOrganisation” key.

You may need to logoff/restart for the effects to take place.

With the new operating system just out for release to buy and download, here are 10 reasons why you should upgrade to Windows Vista from existing operating systems.

1. Minimise security threats and system vulnerabilities
   Enhanced online protection with Windows Internet Explorer 7 - including protected mode and the anti-phishing filter to help protect your identity and data. The protected mode mitigates threats from malicious software such as spyware, viruses and root kits. UAC (User Account Controls) makes it easier to implement standard user-privilages on your computer; you can create a separate account for each user and control websites, programs, downloads they can use and install whilst all reducing the attack surface of your company or home computer
2. Help reduce the time and cost of troubleshooting and resolving system issues
   Advanced Group Policies manage critical usage scenarios and corporate machines. With enhanced security and management features on each desktop, you can reduce the time spent responding to help calls.
3. Increase user productivity by simplifying the way people organise and search
   Powerful integrated search capabilities help save people time by helping them to find just about anything on their computers. With a new user interface provides better stability, improved user experience, richer visualisation and easier navigation.
4. Help reduce the time to configure and deploy a new computer
   Tools such as System Image Manager have the potential to make installations faster, more manageable and less error prone. System Image Manager uses the modular architecture of Windows Vista, and it’s XML based; unattended format to enable better servicing and language independance.
5. Reduce the complexity of image configuration and the number of images managed
   A new imaging format in Windows Vista allows for hardware and language independence, reducing the number of desktop images needed when deploying to corporate PC’s with a variety of hardware and language settings.
6. Increase mobile worker productivity by enabling remote access and syncronisation
   Your people can collaborate better with teams, partners and customers, regardless of whether they are on the road or in the office. Sync Center manages data syncronisation between PC’s, devices and wireless connections with enhanced security to help protect your mobile workforce.
7. Minimise the time of supporting mobile and remote systems and people
   Remote Assistance is a collaborative help tool that lets IT professionals remotely view and share control of the user’s computer to assist in diagnosing and resolving computer troubles.
8. Help prevent the loss of critical/sensitive data from lost or stolen machines
   Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption (in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions) securely protects and manages your data if a laptop or computer is lost or stolen.
9. Increase team productivity by making it easier to share ideas without a network
   With Windows Meeting Space feature, your teams can hold peer-to-peer ad hoc meetings to share ideas in real time, without the need for a wireless network or projector.
10. Help facilitate corporate compliance
    Granular event logging, auditing and tracking enable compliance throughout your network.

Every Vista DVD includes the ability to install any edition of Vista without a product key. When you install without a product key, you get an automatic 30 day evaluation period. This probably isn’t news to anyone. What may be news to you however, is that you can easily extend the 30-day Windows Vista grace period to 120 days. No hacks required. This is an official, supported operation directly from Microsoft.

To extend the grace period another 30 days, simply go to Start , Run, type in cmd then press OK. Type in slmgr -rearm then press Enter.

Reboot for the change to take effect, and voila, you have 30 more days. You can only extend three times, so the total grace period for a Vista evaluation is 120 days.

Thanks Bink.

Shadow Copy, also known as Previous Versions, is a technology which enables you to look back over the history of a file. Say you’re working on an important Word document called statistics.docx and you’ve just accidentally deleted everything in the file, saved it and the whole thing crashes. Don’t panic!

With Shadow Copy, it keeps track of what’s changed throughout your document’s history and lets you retrieve any copy of the file that’s been saved previously. Simply right click a file, and select Restore previous versions and select the copy of the file you want to restore - it’s as simple as that.