Have you ever had a password box for a network resource and you can’t click the option to save your username and password? Well there is a way to get around this, and it’s fairly simple as well.

1. Go to Start and in the Search box, type in User Accounts and hit Enter.
2. On the left hand side, click Manage your network passwords.
3. This is where you can add/change passwords for different network resources and folders. To add one, select Add.
4. Fill out the dialog with the appropriate information; server name, username and password.
5. Click OK and close your dialogs open on screen.

Give it a go - see if you can access your network path without entering a single username or password!

.

Internet Explorer 7 only allows you to download two files from the same server at a time.  This is not a software limit but rather a limit imposed based on the web standard. Since this is simply a software setting, it can be modified and you can increase the limit to something much high such as 10.  Follow the steps below to increase your maximum downloads from the same server:

1. Click on  Start and click Run (or press the Windows key + R) and type in regedit then press OK.
2. When Registry Editor loads navigate through
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion and Internet Settings.
3. Right click on MaxConnectionsPerServer and select Modify. Set the decimal value to something greater than 2.
4. Right click on MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and select Modify. Set the decimal value to something greater than 2.
5. Reboot the machine and next time you want to download more than 1 item, you can download more than the number you set in the Registry entry.

Source: TweakVista

It’s very easy for you to run applications and create documents on your Windows Vista PC, but when other people need to get involved, life becomes more difficult. If your group wants to work together on a particular program, for example, they’ll normally have to crowd around your PC, fighting over the keyboard and mouse whenever they want to take control. And having several people work on one document becomes even more of a nightmare when they all try editing the same information at the same time. Fortunately, Windows Vista has the ideal solution, and it’s much easier to use than you might think.

Quick Setup
Launch Windows Meeting Space from Start then All Programs, and you’ll be asked if you’re ready to set up the program. Click Yes, continue setting up Windows Meeting Space and Windows will turn on the necessary networking features for you.

Name Change
By default Windows Vista assumes you want to be known by your user account name during the meeting. Alternatively, you can type in anything you want as a display name here. Leave the other default settings as they are for now, and click OK.

Create a Meeting
If someone else has started a meeting near you, Windows Vista will detect and display it. Otherwise, click Start a new meeting, enter a password (anyone you invite will have to use this) and click the arrow button to move to the next step.

Get to Work
Anyone nearby can now start their copy of Meeting Space and join you, or you can invite others. Click Share to share programs, Add a handout to share files, double-click someone’s name to send them a text note, and enjoy quick, easy meetings.

Thanks to Windows Vista Magazine.

If you haven’t activated Windows, you’ll eventually hit Reduced Functionality Mode. This is a serious problem, as all you can do in this mode is activate Windows… and if you’re not running a genuine copy of Windows then this is where you hit all manner of problems.

This is the screen you’ll be faced with, and the only external application you can use is Windows Internet Explorer. We cn use this to our advantage of course.

1. On the “Activate Windows now” screen shown above, click Access your computer with reduced functionality.
2. Once Internet Explorer loads, hit the Alt key to bring up the menu bar.
3. Click on File and then select Open.
4. On the open dialog, type in c:\windows\explorer.exe and hit OK.

   

5. You will now see the first of many open confirmations that Internet Explorer will prompt you with. Hit OK on the first. You can tick the box so that you won’t see this annoying message again.

   

6. Click Run on the next prompt.

   

7. Finally, hit Run yet again.

   

Windows Explorer will now be open, and you will see the taskbar and the Start menu and the other frills that you would ordinarly be accustomed to. You can now follow the “Run Vista without activation” article to extend activation.

Big thanks to Steve for the screenies.

Mapping a drive to an FTP folder is a long process, but it’s worthwhile. If you regularly upload and download files to and from a web server, you’ll most likely be using FTP. This way, you can have a shortcut in your Computer window letting you have easy access to your online files.

1. Go to  Start, then Computer.
2. Click on Map Network Drive at the top menu bar.
3. Select the Connect to a website that you can use to store your documents and pictures link.
4. Click the Next button when the new wizard appears.
5. Select Choose a custom network location then select Next.
6. Enter in the FTP address of your server, in the form of ftp:// then select Next.
7. Uncheck the box that says Log on anonymously, then enter in your username for your FTP server, then hit Next.
8. Enter in a name for the server which will appear in Computer, then select Next.
9. Click Finish.

From now on, you can view your FTP server’s files in Computer.

Do you have a problem with certain websites loading very slowly? Google around a bit and you’ll find you’re not the only one. Microsoft’s new network stack has had a number of different problems, most of them caused by the rest of the world not being completely up-to-date with the latest standards (backwards compatibility, who needs it!). This problem is no exception.A recent Microsoft Knowledgebase article describes one potential cause of the problem: RFC 1323 compliance. Though the text suggests that it just affects the Enterprise version, the Applies To section lists all versions of Vista. In a nutshell, websites that don’t fully support RFC 1323 or the default Windows Scaling factor of 8 will be very slow or even unaccessible. There is a workaround!

1. Go to Start, type in cmd at the Search bar, then hold Ctrl+Shift and press Enter.
2. At the command prompt, type in and press Enter after each one:
   
   • netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=highlyrestricted
   • netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal 
   • netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disable

3. Close the command prompt by typing exit then pressing the Enter key.

Typically in this day and age, dial up connections are not used, but for those of you who need VPN (virtual private networks) and dial up connections being setup, it’s not so straight forward in Vista. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Start then Control Panel and make sure you’re on the Classic view.
2. Double click on the Network and Sharing Center.
3. In the left hand pane, select “Setup a connection or network”
4. Click the third option down labeled “Setup a dial up connection” for a standard dial up connection.
   Click the fourth option down labeled “Connect to a workplace” for a VPN solution.
5. Carry on with the wizard entering your information as you go.

 It’s important to note, that these wizards will only work if Windows detects a dial-up modem in your computer.

Enabling media sharing lets you share your music, pictures and videos with other computers and users in the same house or the same network as you. To enable media sharing:

1. Go to Start , All Programs, then Windows Media Player.
2. Click on the Library tab, then select Media Sharing from the menu.
3. Check the “Share my media” button, then press OK. (This might take a few seconds to complete as it modifies firewall settings.)

Sleep will not disconnect you from the Internet if you have a broadband connection. Broadband internet connections are always connected; thus when you resume from sleep mode, your internet connection will reconnect automatically. However, if you have a dial-up connection your connection will be disconnected.

If you are actively downloading something, your machine will continue to stay awake until the download completes. However, your screen may blank, but this will not impact your download.

Source: Views on Vista

The simple answer is that there is no Windows Messenger in Windows Vista. Instead you’ll have to download another instant messaging program, but recommended (as it works with your existing Hotmail/MSN accounts) is Windows Live Messenger.

With Windows Live Messenger, you can:

• Get up close and personal with free full-screen video and voice calling to 240 million Messenger users worldwide.
• You can also make cheap phone calls to landlines and mobiles.
• Share all your stuff easily and safely by just dragging files onto a Sharing Folder.
• Use Photo Swap to share photos and more during a conversation or even when you’re offline.
• Even listen to music together with Music Mix.
• Send messages to friends and family even when they’re offline.
• Also text to a mobile phone.

Download Windows Live Messenger now

Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating system’s activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista’s activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry key.

This isn’t a hacker exploit; it doesn’t require any tools or utilities whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.

The following describes the Registry key that’s involved.

1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn’t yet been activated, click the Start button then go to Run (or press the Windows key + R), type regedit then OK.
2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SL
3. Right-click the DWORD named SkipRearm and click Edit. Change this value to 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights - click Start, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an administrator password.
5. Type  slmgr -rearm then press Enter.
6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect.
7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary

Read full story and other tricks at source.

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.

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.

If you can’t connect via Remote Desktop from another machine, it could be as simple as a checkbox option to fix. The chances are Remote Desktop isn’t even enabled, or it doesn’t allow computers which aren’t Terminal Services v6 compatible (basically Windows Vista and above, not Windows XP).

To enable Remote Desktop access on Windows Vista:

1. Click Start, right click Computer and select Properties.
2. In the left hand pane, select Remote Settings.
3. Select the “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop” radio box.
4. You can also select the users you wish to access the computer remotely. Click Select remote users to change which users can access the machine.
5. Click Apply then OK.

Try reconnecting to the Windows Vista machine and it should work fine.

It’s really rather easy; if you didn’t enter a product key during the install then Windows will occasionally remind you (before the 14 day cut-off where it’ll stop working until you enter a key) to enter in a key. If you have entered a key during the install and haven’t activated Windows yet then it’ll occasionally remind you (before the 30 day cut-off where it’ll stop working until you activate) to activate the product.

 Occasionally product key’s don’t work when they should do - this is very rare but can happen. It is highly recommended that you activate your product as soon as you can, but bare in mind whether you want to keep Windows Vista on your machine. If you decide you don’t like it, then don’t activate the product and revert to another operating system. Activating sooner rather than later means if something does go wrong, you have a set grace-time to sort out the problem with your retailer or Microsoft of which you can still use your computer.

To activate Windows manually:

1. Go to Start, right click Computer then select Properties.
2. Scroll down to Windows Activation, then click where it says “x days until automatic activation. Activate Windows now.”
3. Follow the activation steps, entering in your Product Key if necessary.
4. Once activation is successful, it will tell you about genuine software assurances and will tell you on-screen that Windows was successfully activated.

 If you are having trouble with activation, try this article and this article.

To check to see whether your computer has activated properly, there is a simple way to do this using a single command at the Run prompt. This screen tells you the operating system and the edition, it also tells you what type of license you have such as a Volume License or Multiple Activation key or a standard retail copy, gives part of the product key for your verification and the status of the activation.

1. Go to Start and click Run, or press the Windows key + R.
2. Type in: slmgr.vbs -dli then press OK.
3. Wait between 5-20 seconds for the Script Host to bring back the results.
4. Press OK to return to Windows.

Sometimes in the new Help and Support window in Vista you’ll see a message saying “Internet Explorer cannot download help at this time” but you have full Internet connectivity. There’s a way to fix this. Simply copy the following into Notepad:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml]
@=”xmlfile”
“Content Type”=”text/xml”
“PerceivedType”=”text”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\OpenWithList]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\OpenWithList\winword.exe]
@=”"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xml\PersistentHandler]
@=”{7E9D8D44-6926-426F-AA2B-217A819A5CCE}”

In the Save As dialog box, select File type as “all files”, then save the file as “fix.reg” onto your desktop. Go onto your desktop, double click the new registry file and allow it to enter the registry. Restart your Help and Support session, and it should be fixed.

Some people have been experiencing difficulties activating their copies of Vista. These might include error codes which relate to Windows Update, or Windows Server Update Services or error codes which actually have nothing to do with activation whatsoever. However, there are a few workarounds which you can try which will help you overcome the 14-day grace period of not activating.

 Workaround 1
   1. Click Start , go to Run and type in services.msc and press OK.
   2. Make sure that the Background Intelligent Transfer Service as well as Windows Activation is running by double clicking on them, selecting Automatic from the startup-type, and click Start if the service is stopped.

 Workaround 2
As with MSDN and technical testers via Microsoft Connect, you can generate up to 10 activation codes. If you get to the end of your 14 day grace period for activation, right click on Computer, select Properties, then change the product key using a newly generated key from the website. Overall, using 10 keys over 14 day periods, you’ll have about 140 days or so to run Vista, of which a new build would have probably been released anyway.

 Workaround 3
You may not have the Windows Activation installed. Install the components by going to Start , Control Panel, Programs, Windows Features, and make sure that the Windows Activation box is checked. Apply and OK, then restart the activation wizard. A restart may be required.

 Some people have noted that Daemon Tools can sometimes cause activation to fail. Check whether Daemon Tools is installed, and try activating after uninstalling and restarting.

Activation isn’t perfect - it relies on a lot of stuff server side at Microsoft, but also requires some user support. If activation isn’t working for you, try some of the following:

 Set up an Internet connection
 Activation works best online - you don’t have to dial numbers, read numbers out, enter in new numbers, it’s all very simple. Make sure you can access the Internet (try accessing this site in Internet Explorer for a start).

 Check the computer’s date and time
 Windows Activation can get into a bit of a stir if your computer says “16th March 2004″ and the activation server says “2nd November 2006″. Try setting your computer clock and date as precisely as you can, then try re-activating again.

 Make sure the right network ports are open
 Your firewall has all these little holes in called ports - some are specific to activation but they might be closed off. Open them up again - hit Start then click Control Panel, go to Windows Firewall. In the left pane click “Allow a program through Windows Firewall”. In the Exceptions tab, click Add port. Name the port something of your choosing, and add port 80 for the TCP protocol. Do the same but with port 443. Apply, OK, then go back to activation and try again.

 Disconnect unnecessary devices from the computer
 Sometimes having USB devices plugged in such as flash memory and other devices can cause activation not to work. If you have a USB keyboard and mouse, keep these plugged in obviously, but disconnect everything else which isn’t necessary - anything USB, disconnect the printer if attached locally, but don’t pull out your network cable otherwise you won’t be able to activate over the Intenet!

 Using a Volume License Key (VLK)
A VLK is a product key for Windows which is generally used in office environments. You have a whole load of computers, say around 100 machines and instead of buying each individual copy of Windows (which will cost a lot), managers buy a VLK which is the same product key but used on many computers within that office. It costs a lot, but not as much as buying each individual copy of Windows.
 If your VLK doesn’t activate, contact your system administrator. If you are a system administrator, contact your retailer. If you’re a retailer, give the system administrator a quote for more volume license keys and be gentle - they’ve probably had a stressful day.

 Have you already activated but it’s asking you to activate again?
 Could be be because you’ve altered your system so much that it’s almost a new system and Windows thinks it needs activating again. Try activating again - if it works, great but it might cost you one of your precious activations. If it doesn’t activate again, you might need to buy a new copy of Windows. You shouldn’t have to install it again, just activate using the new key you bought.

 You got a key off the Internet off some website which had an awful lot of pornography on it
 Getting a genuine key off a crack website which activates has more chance of working than free ice creams being introduced nationwide in the United Kingdom as a “good will” gesture. Toddle off to a shop and buy a copy of Windows thus getting a genuine key.

As reported by Robert Sweeney (Microsoft) posted on the microsoft.public.windows.vista.networking_sharing newsgroup:
Unfortunately sharing to “Everyone” is broken in Beta 2. Regardless of the permissions you specify, guests and users without passwords will not be able to write to folders shared over the network. There are two bugs in Vista Beta 2 that prevent this from working correctly.

 Bug
There is a bug that limits users without passwords to read-only access over the network. This is the main source of most people’s problems. One side effect of this is printing to a printer from your Vista computer over the network.

 Workaround
In an elevated command window (Start , All Programs, Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator) type in net local group users guest /add

 Bug
There is another bug that prevents users without passwords from accessing files shared under C:\Users.

 Workaround
Right-click on the users folder, select Properties, Sharing, Advanced Sharing, Permissions, Add, type in “everyone” in the available text box, press Enter, change all the permissions to Full Control.
Don’t do this if your computer is on an untrusted network.

Update for Windows Vista RC1
All fixed! If you’re using Beta 2, upgrade to RC1 or RC2 when it arrives.

With Windows Vista’s Network Map feature, enabling you to see a visual represenation of your network, it only picks up Windows NT 6.0 machines (basically Windows Server “Longhorn” or Windows Vista machines”. Microsoft have provided a download which enables Windows XP SP2 users to be seen on a Network Map on Windows Vista.

 Download the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder from Microsoft.

 How do you define Windows Mail?
 Windows Mail is the version of the Mail and News Client that ships with Windows Vista.

 Outlook has nice looking high colour message icons for new messages and read/replied/forwarded/etc… In Windows Mail, there are horrible looking icons that do not even look like mail messages! Will these be updated to Outlook style icons that look good?
 They have a great new set of icons that we are currently integrating into the app. You will see most (hopefully all) of these new icons in the Beta 2 release.

 Does the Windows Mail team plan on implementing RSS Feed into Windows Mail like they did with Office 2007?
 Windows Mail is not implementing RSS in Vista. This is a great idea though.

 Will Windows Mail be back ported to Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 like IE7 is expected to be?
 Windows Mail will is scheduled to only ship in the operating system. Windows Mail Live Desktop does run on Windows XP.

 Is it possible in a future release of Windows Mail to write email in ink on a Tablet PC (like in Outlook 2003 now for example)? It would be a great feature for tablet PC users
 Absolutely! Windows Mail does that now in the February CTP. We even have auto complete for the To: and CC: lines for tablet mode.

 Will “find” in Windows Mail be made better? If so will it be part of an indexed search?
 Yes, email is now indexed in Vista. You can find it with the explorer search feature and in Windows Mail in the world wheel (top of the main window). Finding mail is much easier now!

 Why won’t Windows Mail support Hotmail accounts anymore?
 Hotmail support was removed for a number of reasons within both Windows and the Hotmail organizations.

 How come Microsoft changed the name for Outlook Express to Microsoft Mail?
 One of the reasons for the name change is that it makes us more aligned with the Windows brand and reduces confusion with Outlook.

 Switching newsgroup is still sluggish. We were told this would improve. How far are we now?
 In fact this week we just finished a month long performance drive and this was a key thing addressed in it.

 When Windows Live Mail Desktop Beta is released, is it going to replace Windows Mail?
 No, we’ve worked too hard on it for it to be replaced now! These are two separate apps with different strategies and feature sets.

 What are the “Community features” present in Windows Mail, what do they provide that normal newsgroups don’t, and do beta newsgroups support that?
 Community features are the rating and ranking functionality that allow newsgroup users to mark a specific newsgroup post as useful or not useful. Ranking functionality allows Windows Mail to mark newsgroup posters as MVPs, and also takes the data from the newsgroup ratings and translates it into poster rankings. A person who historically posts ‘useful’ newsgroup feedback is ranked higher than a poster who has not ever posted a newsgroup answer that was marked useful.

 Will the splash screen ever be updated? The blue splash looks bad on Vista - please make something that looks better like the Office 2003 splash or something!
 This is in the works!

 Will Windows Mail be a part of “Longhorn” Server?
 No it is not part of the server package

 What are the the five top things you like in Windows Mail?
 1) Contacts experience is integrated with shell for a richer experience in or outside of Windows Mail;
    2) Better database, less corruption;
    3) It feels cleaner, has improved visuals;
    4) Search and wordwheel helps finding mail and contacts easier and more consistent with the rest of Vista;
    5) Junk mail and phishing integration and improvements.