Microsoft Talk

Here’s how to configure Windows to by pass AutoPlay dialog box and launch Windows Explorer when you insert your USB key in.

1. Insert your flash drive into the USB port.
2. When you see the AutoPlay dialog box, click Cancel.
3. Open My Computer, right-click your flash drive icon, and select Properties.
4. In the Properties dialog box, select the AutoPlay tab.
5. Perform the following steps for each item in the Content Type drop-down list:
   - Select an item in the Content Type drop-down list.
   - Choose Select An Action To Perform in the Actions panel.
   - Select the Open Folder To View Files In Windows Explorer action.
   - Click the Apply button.
6. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.

Windows Explorer, USB, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Windows Explorer, USB, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Aaron shares a scripting technique that allows you to elevate to admin any given process, from the command line or in a script.

Script is written in JavaScript, which needs be placed in your user’s PATH (i.e., any directory mapped in the PATH variable) and executed from the command line.

In Vista activate a command with this script, and the UAC prompt will appear as it would if you’d manually launched the program as admin.

Vista Tip, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista Tip, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

It’s called WOWLoader! Basically a patch by hackers that lets you play Halo2, meant for Windows Vista, on Windows XP SP2.

he latest version of the patch called Wowloader, first introduced at Filefront Forum earlier this week, contains a game setup loader (loader.exe) and a few DLL files like dwmapi.dll, mf.dll, mfplat.dll, wow.dll and xtaskdlg.dll which need to be placed in the directory where Halo 2 is installed. The loader.exe is required to install the game and subsequently launch it everytime. Users have reported to play Halo 2 successfully on Windows XP with Wowloader.

Download Wowloader 0.3

VIA ThinkAbdul

If you have experienced file copying operation to be a pain in Windows Vista, then refer to this Microsoft KB.

Paul’s got a tip for you. Excerpt from his blog post:

I looked at the Folder Options under Control Panel and noticed the very first setting under the View tab: Always show Icons, never Thumbnails. It was not checked. I realized that Vista must read each file when opening the folder for a thumbnail and/or creates one. When I checked the Always show Icons, never Thumbnails, it reduced the time required to open each folder to 3 or 4 seconds.

That’s awesome. Thanks Paul. I am sure we all appreciate this workaround.

Vista, Vista Tip, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, Vista Tip, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

The x64 edition of Vista requires signed drivers for hardware?which can be a real problem if you have an application that attempts to install a driver that isn’t signed. Because driver signing isn’t something many independent software publishers bother to do (some simply lack the resources to do it), that often leaves them out in the cold.

Fortunately, according to Chris Holmes, there’s a workaround: It’s possible to manually edit 64-bit Vista’s boot configuration to disable the check for signed drivers. If you do this, any driver, signed or unsigned, can be installed as long as you have admin privileges.

However, one thing to be mindful of is that if you do this, it’s a one-way street: You have to leave driver-signing off in order for an unsigned driver to work. In other words, you can’t disable driver signing, install the driver in question, then re-enable driver signing. The process is simple enough.

1. Open an elevated CMD prompt (hit Start, type CMD in the search box, and then press Ctrl-Shift-Enter to run CMD as an admin).
2. Type: bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
   (Note: That’s DDISABLE — with two Ds — for “Driver Disable.”)

Driver signing should be disabled after you reboot. Note: The way this command is phrased, it’ll only make the changes in question for the current boot configuration. (If you want to create a second boot configuration with driver signing turned back on, that may be useful.)

Via TechTarget

Vista, Vista x64 Drivers, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, Vista x64 Drivers, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Have you used MSCONFIG in XP? And in VISTA? Well have you compared the two? There is a slight difference in the VISTA version of MSCONFIG.

The General tab

In XP, the General tab offers three radio-button choices: Normal Startup (the default), Diagnostic Startup and Selective Startup. However, the Selective Startup choice in Vista is missing several options.

• “Process SYSTEM.INI” and “Process WIN.INI” are no longer available, due to those system files being completely deprecated in Vista.
• “Use original / modified BOOT.INI” has also been removed, since Windows Vista no longer uses BOOT.INI to hold its startup parameters.
• The “Launch System Restore” and “Expand File” buttons are gone. The former can be launched from the Start menu (just type “Restore” in the Start Menu Search box to find it); the latter was used to expand files from within a .CAB file. Since .CAB files can now be browsed in Explorer as if they were merely subfolders, this function isn’t needed anymore.

The SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI and BOOT.INI tabs have been removed?again, because these system files are no longer required in Windows Vista. The first two were only required for 16-bit program compatibility and the last, as mentioned above, has been superseded by the hidden, binary files used by the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) block. Actually, the BOOT.INI tab is now just the Boot tab, and lets you add new boot entries and edit existing ones (something I’ll explore in detail in a future tip).

Services and Startup tabs

The Services and Startup tabs in Windows Vista’s MSCONFIG are almost exactly the same as in Windows XP. One new addition: Both tabs contain a “Date Disabled” column, which contains the last date the service or startup item in question was manually disabled. The “Hide all Microsoft services” checkbox (in Services) is still present and still works fine.

Tools tab

This tab is entirely new to MSCONFIG in Windows Vista and contains shortcuts to some commonly needed tools, each with a descriptive label: Intenet Options, Task Manager, Performance Monitor, Event Viewer, and so on.

Two other entries will specifically interest Windows Vista users: Enable UAC and Disable UAC. Both options modify the Registry so that UAC will be either enabled or disabled on the next boot. (If you’re worried about some other program trying to hijack MSCONFIG and disable UAC manually, bear in mind that MSCONFIG needs to have a UAC authorization to run in the first place, and any Registry changes cannot take place without a privilege elevation in the first place.)

VIA: TechTarget

Vista, XP, MSCONFIG, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, XP, MSCONFIG, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

VIA i2d

So you haven’t had a heart to install Vista! Right! Well then get going. I mean why not test out Windows Vista without even buying/installing on any of your machine!

To test out Windows Vista, visit: http://www.windowsvistatestdrive.com/

You will be able to choose which edition of Windows Vista to test. 

The above website will be hosting the virtual machines of Windows Vista and will stream it to your javascript enabled browser running Internet Explorer.

Note: Currently only US and Canada visitors can run the virtual machines.

VIA MSBlog

Yep! Have you seen the cool Vista screensavers, like Bubbles, Aurora? I love them! If you haven’t seen them and are using Windows XP, this one is for you.

Grab Vista Screensavers for XP from here. You will not regret. Let me know what did you think of it!

Download

Vista, Screensaver, XP

Vista, Screensaver, XP

LocatePC is an interesting freeware software for Windows XP and Vista that runs silently in the background of your computer without displaying any icons or notifications and sends emails at specified intervals with the location details . When a computer or laptop is stolen and the person who stole it connects to the Internet, a secret email is sent behind the scenes containing the details that you need to track your hardware.

Thank you Abdul

Vista, XP, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, XP, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Tech blog My Digital life links to a modified version of Dreamscene, describing on how to install and use this version on your operating system.

Just download the modified version, unpack it to your system and run a bat file that handles the installation as an administrator.

Dreamscene will then be available after the next restart.

Vista, Dreamscene, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, Dreamscene, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

In this months TechNet Mag edition, focus is on Security. This month’s edition features:

Inside Windows Vista User Account Control

User Account Control, or UAC, is one of the most misunderstood new features in Windows Vista. But its goal—to enable users to run with standard user rights—can solve many security issues. Get an inside look at the problems UAC is designed to address and see exactly how this new feature works.

Keys to Protecting Data with BitLocker Drive Encryption

BitLocker serves two very important purposes: it provides both full-volume data encryption and a way to validate the integrity of early startup components before Windows Vista starts. Get an overview of how BitLocker works and see how it can help you protect your organization.

Exploring the Windows Vista Firewall

Mobility has changed computer threats and the techniques that guard against them. As laptops wander outside the perimeter and come back to the network, you need better ways to protect your systems. Find out how you can use Windows Firewall to protect your computers—on the Internet and on your own internal network.

New ACLs Improve Security in Windows Vista

While ACLs haven’t had a major overhaul, there are a number of important changes you need to know about when managing ACLs in a Windows Vista environment. Discover how 30 ACLs have changed to improve security, find out how they will impact your organization, and learn how to manage these changes in your infrastructure.

Managing Hardware Restrictions via Group Policy

USB thumb-disk keys and other removable devices can make your personal life easier but your professional life harder. For improved security, you need a way to control what hardware devices your users are installing on their work systems. Now you can use Group Policy to control which devices they can use and which ones they can’t.

4 Security Technologies Every IT Organization Must Have

Most businesses share similar security issues. In today’s connected world, there are four general types of security tools that every organization absolutely must have. Find out what these tools are and explore how the technologies involved may work together in the future to create the ideal security solution.

A Powerful New Tool for Certificate Management

Certificates are a key component in your infrastructure— when one expires, productivity can come to a halt. If you rely on a Microsoft PKI environment, the new Identity Lifecycle Manager Certificate Management (ILM-CM) solution can help keep things running smoothly. Find out how this tool can help you improve authentication processes and reduce certificate management costs.

HTML help format

Vista, MSTalkOnline, TechNet, Security, Alpesh Nakar  

Vista, MSTalkOnline, TechNet, Security, Alpesh Nakar

JohnTP shares a cool tweak tool for Vista. It’s Tweak VI.

What’s Tweak VI?

TweakVI is a software that lets you tweak hundreds of hidden features of Windows Vista, optimize your PC and customize it to your needs.

TweakVI is available in 3 different flavours:

1. Basic Edition
2. Premium Edition
3. Ultimate Edition

Only the basic edition is free.

The features not available in the basic edition are

• Memory optimization
• RAM disc drive, Pagefile setting, virtualdrives and ReadyBoost control
• Windows Vista Service manager
• Folder statistics and folder icons
• Autostart settings
• Taskbar and sidebar restrictions and settings
• Internet connection optimization
• File renamer, File shredder
• Password generator
• Manage installed softwares
• Registry repair, cleanup, backup and restore
• User Account Control (UAC) tweaks
• DiscDoctor

Checkout John’s blog for more juice

Vista, Tweak, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, Tweak, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista Aero, that glassy effect on your Vista, is not available on Home Basic version.

There is a work around to that. I cannot test this, since I do not have the Home Basic version. But, you my dear reader can test and let me know if you have Home Basic version of Vista.

Workaround:

Change the values of two registry keys and restart Windows Vista.

1. Open the registry by pressing Windows + R,
2. Type regedit, press enter
3. Navigate to the key Hkey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ DWM \ and change the value of the entry Composition to 1 and the value of CompositionPolicy to 0.
4. Restart

1. Select the Aero interface by right-clicking on the desktop
2. Select Personalize from the menu.
3. Switch to Colors and Appearance
4. Click on Classic Appearance Properties
5. Choose Windows Vista Aero from the menu.

That’s it!

Vista, Aero, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Vista, Aero, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Are still running a beta version of Windows Vista (Beta 2, RC1 and RC2)? These will be expiring on May 31st 2007. So if you are on one of these versions then you will need to upgrade to the final release.

For more information check out the website for what you need to do in this case. Depending on the build you are running you may have to do a clean install or an in-place upgrade. A clean install means you will have to backup all your data and rebuild the machine from scratch. An in-place upgrade will allow you to keep all your settings as they were. However I would still recommend doing a backup before any OS install.

Vista

Vista