of the Microsoft® Vista Windows ™ J. Peter Bruzzese 800 East 96th Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA Tricks of the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Masters ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Copyright © 2007 by Que Publishing Greg Wiegand All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record- ing, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability ACQUISITIONS EDITOR is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although Loretta Yates every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed DEVELOPMENT EDITOR for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Todd Brakke 10-Digit International Standard Book Number: 0-7897-73689-6 13-Digit International Standard Book Number: 978-0-7897-73689-5 MANAGING EDITOR Bruzzese, J. Peter. Gina Kanouse Tricks of the Microsoft Windows Vista masters / J. Peter Bruzzese. — 1st ed. p. cm. PROJECT EDITOR ISBN 0-7897-3689-6 George E. Nedeff 1. Microsoft Windows (Computer file) 2. Operating systems (Computers) I. Title. QA76.76.O63B782157 2007 005.4’46—dc22 COPY EDITOR 2007012299 Megan Wade Printed in the United States of America SENIOR INDEXER First Printing: May 2007 Cheryl Lenser Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks PROOFREADER have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of Harrison Ridge this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the Editorial Services validity of any trademark or service mark. Warning and Disclaimer TECHNICAL EDITOR Terri Stratton Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. PUBLISHING COORDINATOR Bulk Sales Cindy Teeters Que Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPER U.S. Corporate and Government Sales Dan Scherf 1-800-382-3419 [email protected] BOOK DESIGNER For sales outside of the U.S., please contact Anne Jones International Sales [email protected] COMPOSITOR Jake McFarland Contents at a Glance Introduction . 1 1 General Tips and Tricks of the Masters . 7 2 Mastering the Control Panel . 51 3 Mastering Administration . 101 4 Security Enhancements . 135 5 Disk Configuration and Volume Tricks . 181 6 Office 2007 Tricks for Vista Masters . 209 7 Master Vista Networking . 233 8 System Recovery and Diagnostic Tricks . 259 9 Mastering the New Vista Apps . 297 10 Group Policy Power . 319 Index . 339 Table of Contents Introduction . .1 Who Are the Vista Masters? . .2 1 General Tips and Tricks of the Masters . .7 Where to Begin . .7 The Welcome Center . .8 Altering the Welcome Center . .9 Disabling the Welcome Center . .10 Shortcut Keys . .10 Windows Key Shortcuts . .11 User Logging Shortcuts . .12 Creating Your Own Shortcuts . .13 Beyond Vista Tools . .14 Desktop Customization . .15 Enhance Explorer Performance . .15 Changing the Boot Graphic . .16 Start Menu Configuration . .17 Command Prompt for Administrators . .19 Tweaking the Clock . .21 Vista DPI Scalings . .22 Using Shift to Slow Down Animations . .23 The Windows Sidebar . .24 Group Policy Settings . .25 Creating a Gadget . .25 The Boot Process: From XP to Vista . .26 Booting Up in XP . .26 The Vista Boot Process . .27 Editing the Boot Process . .28 Dual-Booting XP and Vista . .31 Removing Vista from Your Dual-Boot System . .32 Contents v MSCONFIG: The System Configuration Tool . .33 General . .34 Boot . .34 Services . .35 Startup . .35 Tools . .36 Additional Information . .37 Shortcut Menu: “Shift” Your Shortcuts . .37 Windows Explorer . .39 Saved Searches: What Are They, and How Can You Make Your Own? . .40 Enabling the Preview Pane . .41 Improvements to the Explorer UI . .42 Selecting Files with Check Boxes. .42 Search: The Next Generation . .43 Search Box Tips . .44 Natural Language Search . .45 File List Heading Tips . .46 Beyond the Standard Search: Advanced Search Options . .47 Some Final Search Points: Internet Search, Control Panel Search . .48 Metadata: Organizing Your Documents, Music, and Pictures . .49 How Do You Add Metadata? . .49 Erasing Metadata Before You Share a Document . .50 2 Mastering the Control Panel . .51 Configuring the Control Panel . .51 Expanding Control Panel from the Start Menu . .52 Getting to Applets As Quickly As Possible . .53 Creating a Customized Control Panel Folder . .55 Breaking Down the Control Panel Applets . .56 Add Hardware . .56 AutoPlay . .58 Date and Time . .59 Default Programs . .59 vi Tricks of the Microsoft Windows Vista Masters Device Manager . ..