Windows Vista has a feature called System Restore that automatically backs up registry and system files whenever you install new software or drivers.
This feature is useful when you install evil software that makes your computer run really slow. But don’t worry, System Restore won’t remove Windows Vista.
Using System Restore in Windows Vista: Read More»
Windows XP has a hidden sound track which plays as background music during Windows XP installation process, but most people can’t hear this music because they have a soundcard that won’t have drivers preinstalled on XP. Here’s a way to uncover it:
Navigate to C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images, go to Tools > Folder Options > View, Read More»
If you have more then one OS installed on your computer, but you don’t use it very often, then you would probably want to boost up the startup by skiping the OS selection screen.
First make sure your windows is set not to hide “protected oporating system files” (by going to Control Panel\Folder Options\View tab, and ucheck the “hide protected oporating system files” checkbox) Read More»
Throughout the beta process Microsoft received a lot of feedback on how the taskbar and the window border changes to black when you maximize a window. Before the final release they altered the behavior slightly so the window and taskbar would still turn opaque and black, but with a very slight tint of color that matches the color of your glass. This change satisfied some users but left others still in the dark. Many users wanted a maximized window to remain transparent as well as the taskbar. Once the final build of Windows Vista shipped, all hope was gone that we would have transparent maximized windows, until today.
Using a very cool and free utility called VistaGlazz by CodeGazer.com you can easily make your maximized windows and taskbar transparent. Additionally, this utility allows you to easily patch your uxtheme system files so that you can use hacked visual styles with just the click of a button, instead of the multiple step manual procedure Read More»
Don’t want automatic backups running constantly to annoy you and make installing drivers take longer than it should? Or, just never really see yourself using it? It doesn’t back up your personal files, only system files.
Start
Backup and Restore Center
Create a restore point or change settings
Uncheck next to your disk under ‘Available Disks’
Changing the visual style of Windows is something that has become very popular over the years with Windows XP. In Windows Vista, this is just starting to gain momentum with the release of a few cool hacked visual styles. These alternative visual styles are replacements for the default Aero glass style and offer slight tweaks on the design. Over time there will be more and more higher quality visual styles released for Windows Vista.
If you want to get started, you will need to download the hacked visual style skinning engine files from Rafael Rivera’s site. Rafael has both x86 and x64 versions available. These modified system files remove the requirement for visual style files to be digitally signed by Microsoft. If you need help replacing the system files with the modified files, check out my article on working with system files in Windows Vista. Read More»
In many of the tweaks on this site I have directed you to delete or replace a system file. In Windows Vista this is not always as easy as it sounds since the system files are protected better by the file system than in XP. There are two steps that you need to do in order to be able to replace or delete a system file:
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