PCTips Box

Is Windows Vista Faster Than XP?
Our Windows Vista coverage began with a hands-on diary by MobilityGuru’s Barry Gerber, followed by an assessment of gameplay under Windows Vistaby graphics presidente Darren Polkowski, as well as a complete feature rundown of Vista. Barry took the new operating system and its look & feel with a grain of salt, while Darren was disappointed because OpenGL support was dropped along the way, meaning that Windows Vista currently offers horrible performance for graphics applications utilizing the Open Graphics Library.

We are sure that mainstream users will appreciate the improved usability of Windows Vista, and the average office/multimedia user will likely never notice the lack of OpenGL. However, a chapter on the overall performance of Windows Vista requires more dedication. In particular, two things require an in-depth analysis: (more…)

In this tip you will learn that how to improve the printing quality. Today most of the printers provide you the method to improve the quality of the printing. In the following section you will find step by step instructions on how to improve the printing quality.

* Go to Start > Control Panel
* In the control panel click on the “Printers and Other Hardware” or “Printers and Faxes”.
* Double Click the Printer’s Icon.
* Click the printer preferences in the printer menu.
* Select high quality or best print option in the printer preferences.

In the Windows based operating systems you can improve the quality of your printings through the above mentioned steps. (more…)

As it promised, Microsoft Corp. yesterday started sending Windows Vista users an update that identifies illegal copies of the operating system installed with cracks that the company will disable when it distributes Service Pack 1 (SP1) in two weeks. Last Thursday, Microsoft announced the update, which detects two common cracks used to activate pirated copies of Vista, and said it would hit Windows Update (WU) within a week. Users who have left Vista’s recommended WU settings alone will receive the update automatically. Others, said Microsoft, must enable Automatic Update within Vista or manually call up WU from the Start menu.

A document posted to the company’s support site spelled out the details. Among other things, it promised that the 3MB update “does not affect the functionality of your operating system.” (more…)

The end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 have been a veritable Service Pack fiesta for Microsoft in terms of the company’s flagship products. Both Windows and Office have got their fair share of updates, but the productivity suite of both the 2003 and 2007 versions has simply beaten the Windows client to the punch, so to speak. Microsoft made available both Office 2003 SP3 and Office 2007 SP1 ahead of Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. In fact, the third service pack for Office 2003 dropped as early as September 2007.

Microsoft’s perspective over Office 2003 SP3 is that the service pack represents merely a pit stop for Office users on the road to the Office 2007 System. At the same time, Office 2003 SP3 brought to the table enhancements around the board from security to performance and to increase compatibility with Windows Vista. (more…)

You may be able to free up some valuable space if you’re using two disk partitions, using two physical drives, or dual-booting between XP and Vista on the same machine.

I’ll show you several steps you can take to eliminate duplicate files and get more out of your disks.

Decide on your multiple-partition strategy

Years ago, it was common for users seeking more reliability to divide a hard drive into two or more partitions: portions of a disk, each with a different drive letter. Back then, recovering data from drive d: was easier than from drive c: if the primary partition (containing Windows) became corrupted.

That configuration is rare today, because backup programs and disaster-recovery services have improved. But there are still three situations in which you might find yourself handling two or more partitions or physical disks: (more…)

Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista, is set to bring to the table an overhauled graphical user interface. As far as Windows 7 Milestone 1 (M1) Ultimate Edition Build 6.1.6519.1 is concerned, Windows Aero has survived without any major redesign, for the time being. There is, however, a certain amount of specific nip and tuck touch-ups across the Windows Aero in Windows 7, for build 6.1.6519.1, but nothing definitive, and certainly nothing that provides a clue as to the final visual style of the next Windows iterations. But as an integer part of the Aero UI, the Start Menu is bound to take a heavy hit in terms of revamping in the user interface redesign that will be synonymous with the evolution from Windows Vista to Windows 7. (more…)

Microsoft has increased both the power and complexity of its popular Windows operating system with the release of Windows Vista. The TweakVista™ tweaking utility helps you configure Windows Vista to meet your personal needs by improving performance and customizing system settings.

Unlike other power tools for Windows, TweakVista™ automatically prompts enhancement recommendations, offering easy “one click” updates to otherwise complex configuration changes. TweakVista™ is also safe to use. By utilizing Microsoft’s system-restore technology any changes you make can easily be rolled back. You can freely experiment with different settings without disabling your computer. (more…)

Microsoft has announced that it will start on a new path, one in which Windows Vista, Vista Service Pack 1, Windows 7 as well as Windows Server 2008, and in fact all current and future versions of the Windows client and server opperating systems will embrace open source solutions. The move comes as the company has geared both its high-volume products and business practices toward interoperability.

In this context, the Redmond company indicated that it would launch the “Open Source Interoperability Initiative to promote and enable more interoperability between commercial and community-based open source technologies and Microsoft products, this initiative will provide resources, facilities and events, including labs, plug fests, technical content and opportunities for ongoing cooperative development,” Microsoft said. (more…)

My tips explained how to set up a Vista machine to dual-boot between that OS and Windows XP.

But booting to XP on a dual-boot system has the negative side-effect of deleting any Vista restore points, in addition to all but its latest backup file, and a Registry workaround is required to prevent this.

XP dual-boot is not system-restore friendly

Ian Brown was the first to describe an unfortunate fact of dual-booting XP and Vista: (more…)

How-to set up Windows Update for Windows Vista to update other programs and services like Microsoft Office and Windows Defender along with Windows updates.

By default Windows Update for Windows Vista only delivers updates for the Windows Vista operating system. Did you know that you can set up Windows Updated for Windows Vista to deliver updates for other Microsoft products and services other than Windows Vista?

This is a great feature to keep Microsoft Office, Windows Defender, and other Microsoft products up-to-date effortlessly.

Here’s a list of supported products and services Windows Update for Windows Vista can be set to deliver: (more…)