Make Tech Easier » windows vista

One More Way to Install Windows 7/Vista/Server 2008 From a USB drive

Soumen Halder — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:35:31 +0000

There are plenty of ways that you can install Windows 7 from USB drive. We have covered two, and here is another one for you.

The following free tool is created by one of the AskVG.com readers created exclusively for the sake of the site. This free tool is coined as A Bootable USB (ABUSB) and it allows you to easily create a bootable USB drive for the purpose of Windows 7 or Vista or Server 2008 installation.

Now let us proceed to the steps to create a bootable USB Drive with Windows 7 or Vista or Server 2008 installation files on it.

Requirements to use this tool :

A USB Drive or simply a pendrive with at least 4GB in free space.
A Windows 7 or Vista or Server 2008 (whichever you are trying to install) bootable DVD Disc or ISO Image.
A PC that has Windows 7 or Vista or Server 2008 already installed. You can borrow one from your friends or use the other one (if you own another) that has a DVD drive. This app is designed to work on these platforms only.

NOTE : Though this utility lets you create a bootable USB, your PC must be able to support booting from USB for this to work. You can check the BIOS settings and set the USB drive to select primary boot device as USB Drive.

Now after making sure you have fulfilled all the three necessities mentioned above start with the steps below

Steps to create a Bootable USB Drive :

1. Download A Bootable USB from the following link onto the PC mentioned in the 3rd step in the requirements section.

Download Bootable USB Drive Creator from Skydrive.

2. Load the OS DVD onto the DVD Drive or mount the ISO Image file onto a virtual drive of the same PC.

3. Its a portable utility and hence don’t need installation. Simply run it. Check the option “I have read and accepted the following License Agreement“. Now click on OK button to launch the main application. The app looks somewhat like below.

4. The app will then carry out the following 4 steps:

Check USB drive (To check whether your USB drive is attached or not)
Format USB drive
Choose DVD or ISO image (To copy the required files to USB drive)
Start the process to create bootable USB drive

By now I’m sure you have figured out that this great tool will now end all worries for those really looking forward to experience Windows 7 but unable to do so due to the lack of a DVD drive. Hope this small trick solve your problem. Fee free to ask questions.

One More Way to Install Windows 7/Vista/Server 2008 From a USB drive originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 8 in Windows Vista

Sharninder — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:35:31 +0000

I like to call myself a reluctant Windows user, at best. Microsoft Windows is something I use only when I have to and even then I make sure I don’t touch Internet Explorer even with a 10 ft pole.

Needless to say, whenever I login to my Windows desktop, every couple of weeks, I usually have a slew of updates waiting for me to install them, which I always dutifully install. That’s what updates are for, right ?

Well, this is where the sad part of the story begins. I haven’t really had a problem with any MS updates till now but when Microsoft, in a recent update, pushed Internet Explorer 8 on my computer, all hell broke loose. A lot of web based applications I rely on daily started acting weird. Active-X Add-ons that I need for my work stopped working. IE 8 crashed a lot more and was much more buggy than IE 7 and that is saying something, considering that I hardly used IE 7 also .

Which is why I decided to get rid of IE 8 once and for all and write this post so that it may benefit others who are in a similar situation. I use Windows Vista so some of the instructions might be Vista specific.

The first step to getting rid of IE 8 is to open the control panel and click on the Program and Features applications.

This application will show you a list of all the programs installed on your machine and allow you to uninstall them. Except for one small problem !

As you can see, Internet Explorer 8 does not show up in the list of programs installed on your machine. Since, IE was installed by Microsoft as part of a system update, The Programs and Features application doesn’t consider it a normal user application.

IE 8 shows up as an update installed on your computer. To get to that list, click on the “View Installed Updates” link in the left sidebar.

You will now see a list of all the updates that you’ve ever installed on your computer. If, like me, you’ve had your windows install for a long time, this will be one long list. Browse through the list and find the update which says Internet Explorer 8.

Select it, and click on “uninstall”. Follow the instructions, if any, and let the uninstaller take charge. Once the uninstall is complete, restart your computer and carry on with your IE 8 free life.

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 8 in Windows Vista originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Tweak Your Windows With Ultimate Windows Tweaker

Damien — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:46:42 +0000

Think you know your Windows well? Wait till you have tried out Ultimate Windows Tweaker, then you will know how much more things that you never know exist can now be tweaked and configured.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a freeware Tweak UI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows Vista and 7, 32-bit & 64-bit. There is no installation required and it can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application. With a few mouse clicks, you will be able to tweak your system and make it runs more faster, stable and more secure.

Once you have downloaded (and extracted) the application, simply double click to launch the UWT.

The tweaks are classified under seven categories, namely Personalization, User Accounts and UAC, System Performance, Security Settings, Network Tweaks, Internet Explorer and Additional Tweaks.

Personalization

This is where you tweak the looks and feels of the Windows Explorer, Start menu and taskbar. You can get it to show/hide menu bar, drive letter, open folders in separate process, disable context menu in Start menu, remove Volume icon from taskbar and many more tweaks.

User Accounts and UAC

Configure the settings for user accounts and UAC.

System Performance

If you are always wondering why is your computer so slow and how you can make it run faster, the System Performance section gives you plenty of options to tweak the performance setting of your computer.

Security Settings

This page doesn’t really deal with the back end security of the system other than giving you the option to disable a number of applications. From the Administrative panel to the applications and Windows update, you can choose which applications you don’t need and disable them here.

Network Tweaks

Internet Explorer

The UWT is able to detect which version of IE you are using and provide the relevant options for you to tweak. Most of the options are available in the IE option page, but this provides a centralised place for you to control all the IE settings.

Overall, the Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a simple, small and powerful tool for you to control the settings of your Windows Vista/7 in a centralised place. For those who are not accustomed to tweaking the registry and accessing the command prompt, this will provide a good tool for you to power up your Windows experience.

Ubuntu users can use the UbuntuTweak to tweak your system.

Tweak Your Windows With Ultimate Windows Tweaker originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Uninstall Windows 7 And Return The Partition To Vista

Damien — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:21:37 +0000

If you have previously dualboot your Windows 7 and Vista and now you wanted to remove it, either because you don’t like it or you are running out of hard disk space, here is the way to do it:

Remove the Windows 7 boot entry

Previously when you install Windows 7, it modifies the bootloader and makes it the default OS to boot up. If you are going to uninstall Windows 7, you will have to remove the entry from the bootloader so that you don’t have any conflicts when booting up later.

Download and install EasyBCD.

Run EasyBCD. On the left pane, click on the Add/Remove Entries.

On the right pane, highlight the Windows 7 entry and click Delete.

Close EasyBCD.

Download GParted iso file and burn the image to a CD.

Boot up your computer with the Gparted live CD. On the main screen, you should see your Windows Vista and Windows 7 partitions.

There are two ways that you can deal with your Windows 7 partition:

1) reformat it and use it as an additional partition to your Vista partition

2) remove the partition and return the extra space back to the Vista partition

Reformat Windows 7 partition

Highlight and right click on the Windows 7 partition. Select Format to -> ntfs.

Click Apply.

Remove Win 7 partition and return it to Vista partition

Highlight the Windows 7 partition and click the Delete button.

Next, highlight the Windows Vista partition and click Resize/Move. Increase the New Size to the maximum. Make sure that the Free Space Preceding and Free Space Following is zero.

Click Apply.

Once all the operations are completed, exit GParted and restart your computer. You should now boot into your Vista. Depending on the option you choose, you will have either a new blank partition that you can use to store data or a bigger Vista partition.

That’s it. Enjoy!

How To Uninstall Windows 7 And Return The Partition To Vista originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Auto-Clean Windows Vista With CCleaner

Norm — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:08:57 +0000

If you’re not familiar with everyone’s favourite system cleaner, CCleaner, it’s a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. This application does a very nice job at cleaning up after you, assuming that you actually remember to run it. In today’s fast-paced world, many of us don’t have the time or capacity it takes to remember all of the little things that have to get done. System maintenance is no exception.

In this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through setting up CCleaner to automatically run on a schedule in Windows Vista so that you can simply set it and forget it.

Configure Your Options

Making sure that you have set the correct options inside of CCleaner is very important if you plan to automate it. For example, what if you decide to run it every night and you have it set to clean out your recent documents or cookies. That could become very frustrating in a very short time.

Start by opening CCleaner and selecting the options you want in the Windows Cleaner section that opens by default. I can’t tell you what settings to use because everyone will have different needs. All I can tell you is that you need to think about each option carefully and consider that possible outcomes.

The next piece that you’ll want to look at is the Advanced Options. Click on the Options button in the lower left corner of the window, then click Advanced. Make sure that Save all settings to INI file is checked.

Create the Scheduled Task

Open up the Start menu in Windows, then go to All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools –> Task Scheduler. If Windows prompts you to tell you that it needs your permission to continue, simply click the Continue button.

Once the task schedule window is open, click on Create Basic Task. A new wizard will open to help you through the process. Give your task a meaningful name and description. I chose “System Cleanup” for the name and “This task launches CCleaner to perform a system cleanup on a regular basis.” Click Next.

The Task Trigger window is where you determine what causes the task to run. In our case, we want a time period to be the trigger. I personally find weekly to be sufficient, but you can choose daily or monthly depending on your individual needs. After you select your trigger, click Next.

Now the scheduler needs you to get a little more granular by selecting the day of the week and the time that the task will run. This choice is very important. For example, if you turn your PC off at night, then you don’t want to run the task in the middle of the night. You also don’t want the task to run when you are likely to be in the middle of using the computer. Once you decide on the finer details, click Next.

Now it’s time to tell the scheduler just exactly what you want it to do. It defaults to Start a program, so just click Next. Click the Browse button and locate the CCleaner.exe program file. The default location is:

C:Program FilesCCleanerCCleaner.exe

In the Add arguments section, add the /AUTO switch. This tells CCleaner to run automatically without waiting for user input. Click Next to get to the Summary screen. Check the box next to Open the Properties Dialog for this task when I click Finish and click the Finish button.

In the Properties window, check the box next to Run with the highest privileges. This is required so that the task can run without prompting you for administrator privileges. Next click on the Conditions tab and check the box next to Wake the computer to run this task. This will bring your computer out of sleep mode in the event that the power saver settings have put it to sleep. Click Ok to finish the process.

You can try out the task to make sure everything was configured properly by right-clicking on your new task and selecting Run.

If everything is ok, you should see the CCleaner icon appear in your system tray.

You can get more info about CCleaner from the CCleaner website, or from our handy walkthrough.

How To Auto-Clean Windows Vista With CCleaner originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Make Your Windows XP/Vista Functions Like Windows 7

Damien — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:26:13 +0000

If you have downloaded and try out Windows 7 beta on your computer, you will know that it comes with plenty of useful features and an improved usability over its previous version. If you like the features very much and would like to implement them to your existing version of Windows (XP or Vista), here are some applications that you can use to make your Windows XP/Vista functions the same as Windows 7.

Taskbar

In Windows 7, the new taskbar features big icons for you to access your favorite application easily. In Windows XP/Vista, this can be easily achieved with Windows 7 Taskbar Iconizer. This is a simple program that you can use to switch the taskbar interface. There is no installation required and you can easily switch back to the original looks.

Download Windows 7 Taskbar Iconizer.

Double click the application to run.

Click on the image to the right to “iconized” your taskbar. Restart your computer for it to take effect.

AeroPeek for Windows XP/Vista

Windows 7 comes with this AeroPeek feature that allows you to view thumbnails of opened windows, take a peek of the desktop when mouse hover on the right-bottom corner and also highlight the active window and make the other windows transparent.

To achieve these effects, we will use a combination of AeroPeek utility and Visual Task Tips.

Download and install AeroPeek and Visual Task Tips. The AeroPeek application requires .NET framework 3.5 to run. If you have not installed, download it here.

Restart your computer. Run the AeroPeek and Visual Task tips via the Start menu. You should be able to achieve the transparent windows and thumbnails effects.

AeroSnap for Windows XP/Vista

The AeroSnap feature automatically resize the window to half the screen size and snap itself to the side when you drag the window to the side (either left or right). When you drag the window to the top of the screen, the Window maximize to full screen.

In Windows XP/Vista, this can be achieved using AeroSnap.

Download and install AeroSnap.

Run AeroSnap via the Start menu. Now drag your window to the side and release and see it miraculously resize and snap itself to the side. You can also drag the window to the top of the screen to maximize it.

It is difficult to show the full effect of the AeroSnap in screenshot. You should try it out yourself.

AeroShake for Windows XP/Vista

AeroShake is another feature in Windows 7 that allows you to minimize all windows, except for the active one by shaking the window with your mouse. In Windows XP/Vista, an AeroShake application was developed using AutoHotKeys scripts.

Download Aeroshake. There is no installation required. Simply double click the downloaded application to run. Drag your active window with the mouse and give it a few big shake. You should see all other windows minimize to the taskbar.

That’s it!

Note: If you are looking to transform your XP/Vista to Windows 7, AskVG has written a very good guide to transform your Windows to Windows 7 without using transformation pack.

Transform Windows XP into Windows 7 without using Customization Pack

Transform Windows Vista into Windows 7 without using Customization Pack

Make Your Windows XP/Vista Functions Like Windows 7 originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Dual Boot Windows Vista And Windows 7

Damien — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:05:05 +0000

For those of you who have waited long for the beta release of Windows 7, Micosoft has finally released the link for you to download a copy to test. In case you have not downloaded, here is the link:

Windows 7 beta 32-bit version
Windows 7 beta 64-bit version (the download is no longer available)

The file size is about 2.4GB in size, so make sure you are on a broadband connection and have several hours to spare. You will have to burn it into a DVD to use it.

Once you have downloaded it, you will have to install it on a working machine in order to access the full functionality. As this is still a beta release and not suitable for daily production use, it is not wise to erase or upgrade your existing Vista to Windows 7. A good way is to create a dual boot system where you can choose to boot into Vista or Win 7. Here’s how it’s done:

Shrink your Vista and create new partition

In your Vista, go to Start -> Control Panel. Click on the System and Maintenance.

Scroll down all the way to find the Administrative Tools. Create on the Create and format hard disk partitions. You should see information about your current hard drive partitioning.

Right click on the chart diagram and select Shrink volume.

A window will pop up to ask you to enter the amount of space to shrink. This is the size that you want your new partition to have. For Win 7, you will need at least 10GB of hard disk space. Click Shrink after you have confirmed the shrinking size.

Back to the Disk Management window, you should see two partition now: one is the C drive and a new unallocated partition. Right-click on the Unallocated partition and select New Simple Volume

Set the volume size of the new partition and click Next.

Next, it will ask you to specify the drive letter of the new partition. To avoid confusion with the drive letter of the CD-ROM, I decided to go with G:. You can set your own drive letter though.

In the next screen, you can specify the file format and Volume label. It is recommended to change the Volume Label to something that is easy to identify, such as Windows 7.

The partitioning will now start. Once it is done, you should see something like this.

Close everything. Place in the Windows 7 DVD and restart the computer.

Installing Windows 7

Boot up your computer using the Windows 7 installer DVD (you might have to configure the BIOS to get the computer to boot from CD-ROM). Let’s the installer run and follow the instruction until you reach the point where it asks you to select the installation partition.Make sure you select the partition that you have just created (not the Vista partition).

Finish up the installation. It should be done in about 30 minutes time.

When it’s done, it will auto-restart. On the boot up screen, you should be able to choose between Windows Vista or Windows 7.

To dual boot windows XP and windows 7

The procedure is the same as the dual-boot between windows XP and Vista.

Accessing Windows Vista partition from Windows 7

When you boot into Windows 7, you will find that you won’t be able to access Vista partition. This is because in Windows 7, both the partitions are registered as Drive C:, thus it only displays the partition that the system boots up with. To solve this issue, simply go to Disk Management and change the drive letter of the Vista partition.

In your Windows 7, go to Disk Management.

Right-click on the Vista partition (the one with the blank entry) and select Change Drive letter and Paths

Click Add to assign a drive letter to the Vista partition.

Save and close all windows. The Vista partition should appear in your Explorer now.

How to Dual Boot Windows Vista And Windows 7 originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Speed Up Your External USB Drives in Windows Vista

Norm — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:11:55 +0000

If you’re like me, you’ve probably expanded the storage on your computer by adding an external hard drive or two. I’m not talking about one of those USB thumb drives. I’m referring to the USB connected 80GB+ drives that often require a separate power source.

In my system I store backups and archived data to the external drive, mostly items that I don’t plan to access frequently. That being said, there is no reason why it couldn’t be a little quicker when I am using it. Windows Vista has a little known tweak that will speed up your external USB hard drives and I’m going to show you how to do it.

The trick to improving the external drive’s performance is in something called Write Caching. The PC Guide defines write caching as:

Caching reads from the hard disk and caching writes to the hard disk are similar in some ways, but very different in others. They are the same in their overall objective: to decouple the fast PC from the slow mechanics of the hard disk. The key difference is that a write involves a change to the hard disk, while a read does not.

When write caching is enabled, when the system sends a write to the hard disk, the logic circuit records the write in its much faster cache, and then immediately sends back an acknowledgement to the operating system saying, in essence, “all done!” The rest of the system can then proceed on its merry way without having to sit around waiting for the actuator to position and the disk to spin, and so on. This is called write-back caching, because the data is stored in the cache and only “written back” to the platters later on.

Due to the fact that caching tells the operating system that it is done even though it isn’t, there is always the potential for data loss if power is cut. The screenshots below show the warning that explains the you must use the Safely Remove Hardware feature to disconnect the drive. Failing to do so could cause data loss. It is also recommended to have your computer connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to assist with unexpected power outages.

Now that the education piece is out of the way, here is how to speed up your external USB drives in Windows Vista.

Start by opening the Control Panel, then open Device Manager. Expand Disk Drives and locate your portable drive.

In my example, I’m using a Western Digital 300 GB external drive. Double-click the external drive that you want to adjust to access the properties window.

Once open, click on the Policies tab and select the Optimize for performance radio button. Click Ok to save your changes. You should see a prompt like the one below advising you to reboot.

The settings won’t actually take effect until you reboot your computer. Once the reboot is complete you’re done! Wasn’t that easy?

Speed Up Your External USB Drives in Windows Vista originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Properly Maintain Hard Drives with Defraggler

Norm — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:36:18 +0000

If you read our earlier article about tuning up your PC with CCleaner, then you already know about the high calibre of software that is developed by Piriform. I’m definitely a big fan of the CCleaner product. I’m sure you can guess that it was a no brainer that when Piriform released their next masterpiece, I just had to try it out!

Enter Defraggler, a powerful and easy-to-use defragmentation tool for your Windows managed hard drives. This defrag tool really sets itself apart from it’s competitors by being a quality product with the perfect price tag – free. This tutorial will give you a nice overview of the Defraggler tool, as well as provide you with the necessary knowledge to use it effectively on your home computer.

First off, lets get to the meat and potatoes. Why do you need to defrag? Simply put, your Windows file system frequently fragments it’s file system by placing pieces of each file that it writes to disk into the first available spots.

The result is an increase in the time it takes to access a file, because the file can be cut into pieces and spread about the physical disk. By defragging your disks, files are relocated so that all of the pieces are in the correct order and placed next to one another. Defragging can easily extend the live or your hard disks and improve system performance.

Install Defraggler

You can get started by downloading and installing the latest edition of Defraggler. I won’t bore you with the details of the installation, because it is incredibly straight forward. I strongly encourage you to keep all of the default settings when you install the application, it will make things a whole lot easier.

Launch Defraggler

You can launch Defraggler from the desktop icon or the Start Menu. Once open, you’ll be presented with the main window, as shown below.

Analyze

As you can see, it’s very straight-forward. Start by selecting the disk you want to perform maintenance on in the upper portion of the window. Next, click the Analyze button to have Defraggler assess the current condition of the file system on the selected drive.

This shouldn’t take very long to process. Once complete, you’ll see a report similar to the following screenshot.

Defrag

You can click the View Files button, if you are interested in seeing which files are actually strewn about the drive. That step is only for interest sake and has no impact on the defrag process. To start the process, click on the Defrag button.

Depending on the size of your drive, the amount stored on it, and the amount of time since the last defrag, this process could take a considerable amount of time to complete. It’s also resource intensive, so don’t start this task while you have a lot of work to do.

Save it for when you might have some downtime and can afford to be away from the computer for an hour or more. Mine didn’t take very long to complete, only about 15 – 20 minutes. Here’s a sample of the report you can expect to see once the job is done.

That’s it. Pretty simple stuff.

You should repeat this process for each drive on your system. You can even defragment your portable USB drives. Even though you have done a great service for your PC, you’re not done yet. Performing a defrag is a great step in the right direction, but to properly manage your system you need to defrag on a regular basis. Defraggler can help!

Scheduled Maintenance

Clicking on the Settings menu, then Options, will open up the main Options dialog box. Click the Schedule tab to set up a schedule that works for you.

Select the drive that you want to schedule maintenance for via the Drive dropdown list. A good place to start is Local Disk (C:). Next place a checkmark in the checkbox labelled Schedule defragmentation for chosen volume. This will activate the lower options, allowing you to specify an interval. This part is personal preference, but I prefer to defrag my drives on a weekly basis. For most users, this will be acceptable.

Now you just have to pick a starting date and time. Do yourself a favor and select a time when the system will not be in high demand from it’s user(s). If you have more than one drive, repeat the process by selecting a different drive from the dropdown list and follow the steps you followed for the first drive.

As you can see in the pictures below, I staggered the days that my drives are defragmented, mainly because of the resource requirements to get the job done.

Just click Ok and your system will do the rest.

There are some advanced components that come with Defraggler and one of them is to check the drive for errors. You can access this utility via the Action menu.

Checking for errors can take a significant amount of time. In fact, I’ve seen it take a couple of hours to actually finish, so don’t start this task unless you have plenty of time to kill.

Summary

Defraggler is an important addition to your PC toolkit. The benefits of learning to use this tool will definitely be seen through extended hard drive life and improved file access performance. It’s easy to use, free to download, and you can set it and forget it.

If you run into any problems, Piriform provides a great support forum that represents a community of help resources.

How To Properly Maintain Hard Drives with Defraggler originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Dual Boot Windows XP And Vista

Damien — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:48:27 +0000

Even though Windows Vista has been around for close to two years, there are still many people who can’t bear to get rid of Win XP due to its stability and better hardware support. Luckily you can get the best of both world by creating a dual boot between Vista and XP.

Here is the tutorial to create a dual boot Vista/XP system. It is divided into 3 scenarios: Installing XP/Vista on a blank unformatted hard disk, installing Vista with XP pre-installed, installing XP with Vista preinstalled. You will find yourself in one of these scenarios.

Installing windows XP and Vista on a blank unformatted hard disk

Step 1: Insert in the WinXP installer CD and boot up the computer into the blue WinXP installer screen.

Press Enter, follow by F8 to reach the hard disk selection screen.

Press C to create a partition. Enter the partition size for WinXP. Press Enter

It will prompt you again to allocate partition size for the remaining space. This time, enter the partition size for Vista and press Enter. Vista will need at least 15 GB of hard disk space.

Once done, the installer will bring you back to the hard disk selection screen, now with two partitioned hard disk.

Select the partition that you going to install WinXP and press Enter.

When it prompts you for partition format, select “Format the partition using the NTFS file system“.

Proceed with the Win XP installation.

Step 2: When you have completed the WinXP installation, insert in the Vista installer CD and reboot the computer into the Vista installer mode.

Follow the instruction on the screen until you reach the point where it asks you to select the partition. Choose the partition that you created for Vista.

Proceed with the installation.

When it is done, it will reboot and you will be able to choose if you want to boot up Win XP (Earlier version of Windows) or Vista.

Dual boot Vista with Win XP pre-installed

Let’s say your hard disk is already installed with Win XP and you want to create a dual boot between your existing Win XP and a new installation of Vista, here’s how you do it.

Follow the instruction here to create a new partition for your Vista installation.

Once you have created a new partition, follow the Step 2 above to install your Vista (make sure you select the correct partition when installing Vista, else you will erase all the data in the WinXP partition).

Dual boot WinXP with Vista pre-installed

If you have bought a new system that comes with Vista pre-installed and you want to create a dual boot between the existing Vista and a new installation of Win XP, here’s how you do it:

Follow the instruction here to create a new partition for your WinXP installation. (Alternatively you can use the Disk management in Vista to resize and create the partition).

Once you have created a new partition, follow the Step 1 above to install your WinXP (make sure you select the correct partition when installing WinXP, else you will erase all the data in the Vista partition).

After you have installed WinXP, you will find that it has erased the bootloader and you can’t boot into your Vista anymore. To fix this, put in your Vista CD and boot the computer into the installer screen.

Choose Repair your computer

Highlight the Vista partition and click Next

Click on Startup Repair from the list of option

The installer will now restore your Vista bootloader. When it is done, it will prompt you to restart your system. Click Finish to restart.

It should boot back to Vista now.

In your Vista, download and install EasyBCD

Launch the application.

On the left pane, select Add/Remove Entries. On the right pane in the Add an Entry section under the Windows tab, select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 under the Type dropdown bar. Name it Windows XP and click Add Entry.

Close the EasyBCD application and restart your system. You should be able to select to boot into Windows Vista or XP now.

That’s it!

How To Dual Boot Windows XP And Vista originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

4 Tools To Make Vista’s UAC Less Annoying Without Compromising Your Security

Damien — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:03:10 +0000

No doubt the Vista User Account Control (UAC) is the single biggest irritation in the whole operating system, but if you are thinking of turning it off altogether, you better think twice. UAC is a security feature that can help prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. By turning it off, you will lose all protection and put yourself in great risk of virus and malware attack. Hopefully, you have not forgotten that Windows has the most number of virus attack in the World.

A better way to deal with the UAC is to tweak it such that it continues to run in the background without popping out the annoying prompt every few seconds. Here are four software that you can use to make your UAC less annoying without compromising your security.

TweakUAC

TweakUAC is a simple tool that allows you to switch your UAC to quiet mode. In other word, it allows you to easily disable the UAC without having to restart the computer. In the quiet mode, you will be elevated to the adminisrator privilege and there won’t be any annoying prompts that pop up every few seconds. This mode is ideal when you need to perform some administrator tasks such as installing/uninstalling applications, cleaning up your system, moving files around and etc.

There is no installation required for TweakUAC. You simply double click on the application to run it. Whenever you are done with your stuff, just run the application again to turn the UAC back on. A neat and simple tool that doesn’t take up much memory and space.

Smart UAC

What SmartUAC does is to replace the UAC with a more powerful and intelligent user control. After the installation, the standard UAC will be disabled and the SmartUAC will take control of the system. In the event where there are potential threats occur, the SmartUAC prompts will appear rather than the standard UAC popup. The difference between the two prompts is that you can get SmartUAC to remember your selection so that it can automatically handle the same event next time it occurs. The longer you use SmartUAC, the less popup you will see.

In addition, SmartUAC also runs in the background and scan the programs for any malicious threat. When such threat is found, a Red Alert prompt will appear to inform you of the potential danger. Similarly, you can pick the course of action for SmartUAC to handle for future event.

Norton User Account Control tool

Unlike SmartUAc, the Norton User Account Control tool will replace only parts of the standard UAC. It will continue to utilize the UAC security feature while providing a more informative and user-friendly interface. When a standard UAC prompt appears, it only inform you of the program that is running. It does not recommend any action or remember your choice. Norton UAC tool is different in such that it displays the security information (signature information of the application) and prompts recommendations based on an assessment on the user-action. There is also a “remember me” feature that allows users to suppress future prompts from the same action.

As can be seen, Norton UAC tool collects user input and is able to make its own assessment without any unnecessary prompts. This is definitely a better and less annoying way than the standard UAC to manage your system.

UAC Snooze

As its name implies, UAC Snooze allows you to temporary stop UAC prompts for a user-defined amount of time and then automatically turn it on once the time is up. During this time, you will be granted elevated privileges so that you can perform all your administrator tasks. The snooze can be set by simply clicking the icon on the system tray.

This is a simple tool that allows you to do your stuff without the annoying UAC prompt. In case you forgot to turn it back on after you are done, the snooze function will come in handy.

UAC Snooze comes with a 30 days trial period after which it costs $5 to register.

How do you deal with the annoying UAC?

4 Tools To Make Vista’s UAC Less Annoying Without Compromising Your Security originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Share Files In VirtualBox With Vista Guest And Ubuntu Host

Damien — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:32:20 +0000

For some of you who have setup Windows Vista as the guest VM in your Ubuntu Virtualbox, you might have some difficulties in getting the Vista guest to access the shared folder in your Ubuntu host. If you are having this problem, here is the way to mount the shared folder on your Vista guest.

First of all, make sure you have already installed both VirtualBox and Windows Vista guest. If you have not, here is the complete installation guide.

Secondly, make sure you have updated your VirtualBox to the latest version (2.0.4). There are some issues in the earlier version which will cause the mounting to fail.

In your Ubuntu machine, open up Virtualbox (Applications -> System Tools -> virtualBox).

Highlight the Vista VM entry (make sure that it is in Powered off state) and click on the Settings icon at the top.

On the left, click on the Network. On the right, make sure that the Enable Network Adaptor and Cable Connected are checked.

On the left, click on the Shared Folders. Then, click on the icon on the far right.

Select the folder that you want to use as a share point. Give it a name.

Click OK to close the Settings window.

Boot up your Vista VM.

Install the guest addition. (Skip this step if you have already done so)

Restart the Vista VM.

Open your Windows Explorer, click on the Map Network Drive

In the Folder input text, enter

\\vboxsvr\sharename

where sharename is the name of the share folder that you add just now. Make sure that the Reconnect at logon is checked. Click Finish

You should now see the shared folder mounted as a network drive.

That’s it.

How To Share Files In VirtualBox With Vista Guest And Ubuntu Host originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Increase Efficiency: Use Windows Vista Shortcut keys

Damien — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:45:30 +0000

Can’t stand the lengthy process to start each application, or looking for more efficient way to increase your productivity? Here are some Windows Vista shortcut keys that might be useful (most of them work in Windows XP as well):

For writing or creating office document, press:

F1 – Display Help
F2 – Rename the selected item
CTRL + C – Copy the selected item
CTRL + V – paste the selected item
CTRL + X – Cut the selected item
CTRL + Z – Undo an action
CTRL + Y – Redo an action
CTRL + RIGHT ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
CTRL + LEFT ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
CTRL + UP ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
CTRL + DOWN ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
CTRL + SHIFT + Arrow – Select a block of text
SHIFT + Any arrow key – Select text within a document
CTRL + A – Select all items
ALT + F4 – Close the current document
ALT + SPACEBAR – Open the shortcut menu for the current document

In your sidebar:

Windows logo key + SPACEBAR – Bring all gadgets to the front and select Sidebar
Windows logo key + G – Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
TAB – Cycle through Sidebar controls

In Photo Gallery:

CTRL+ F – Open the Fix pane
CTRL+ P – Print the selected picture
CTRL+ I – Open or close the Details pane
CTRL+PERIOD (.) – Rotate the picture clockwise
CTRL+COMMA (,) – Rotate the picture counter-clockwise
CTRL+ E – Search for an item
ALT+LEFT ARROW – Go back
ALT+RIGHT ARROW -Go forward
PLUS SIGN (+) -Zoom in or resize the picture thumbnail
MINUS SIGN (-) -Zoom out or resize the picture thumbnail
CTRL+Mouse scroll wheel – Change the size of the picture thumbnail
CTRL+B - Best fit

You can also set a shortcut key for your favorite application.

Open a Windows Explorer and navigate to your favorite application. Right click on the application and select “create shortcut“.
Right click the new shortcut and choose ‘Properties‘
In the shortcut tabs, click on the shortcut key and press any character to denote the shortcut. It will be in the form of “Ctrl + Alt + the character you choose“.
Press OK.

Done. You can now use the shortcut key to launch your favorite application in the desktop.

Increase Efficiency: Use Windows Vista Shortcut keys originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How To Install Windows Vista In Ubuntu Gutsy Using VMware

Damien — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:12:19 +0000

For Ubuntu Gutsy users who find that they can’t live without Windows, or just want to give Vista a try, here’s your savior: VMware Server.

Vmware Server is a free to download virtual machine tool that allows you to install the various type of operating systems under a virtual environment.

Before you attempt to install Windows Vista, please make sure that your computer has at least 1GB of RAM (preferably 2GB), 16GB of hard disk space and a genuine Vista CD.

Here are the steps to install Windows Vista in Ubuntu using Vmware Server.

Download the VMware Server software from VMware download site. Remember to register to get your license key. You will need it for installation.

Launch Archive Manager and extract the downloaded file to /tmp directory

Next, we need to prepare our system for VMware installation.

In your terminal,

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential
sudo apt-get install xinetd

Now the installation,

cd /tmp/vmware-server-distrib (or whatever directory you have extracted to)
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

The installer will then guide you through the installation. Press “Enter” for all the questions. The last step require you to enter the license key.

Once installed, launch the VMware from Application -> System Tools -> Vmware Server Console

Click “Create a new virtual machines”

Choose “Typical” in the Virtual Machine Configuration

Under the Guest Operating system, choose “Microsoft Windows”. At below, scroll down to “Windows Vista (experiemental)”

Enter the name of your virtual machine and choose the location where you want to save it.

Under Network Condition, choose use “Network Address Translation (NAT)”.

Under the Disk Size, allocate 16GB to the disk size and make sure the split disk into 2GB files is checked. If you just want to try out Vista, uncheck the allocate disk space now.

Ok. Now insert in your Vista installer CD.

On the VMware console, click “Power on this virtual machine”.

The virtual machine will now boot up with your installer CD and guide you through the Vista installation process.

Once the installation of Vista is completed, press “Ctrl + Alt” to get out of the VMware console.

On the VM menu, select “Install Vmware tool”. Now you’ve got enhanced graphics and mouse cursor that can move in and out of the virtual machine.

That’s it. Done!

How To Install Windows Vista In Ubuntu Gutsy Using VMware originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)