Last year, I published a list of my “Must Have Windows Applications” and I’ll admit, I hit it up when I got my new notebook this week to remind myself of what I needed to download and install. I’m taking a new philosophy with this Notebook: I’m only going to install what I know I need, and what I know I’ll use on a regular basis. If I find I need something I’ll install it then, and only then. I’m going to try to keep this machine as lean and clean as possible. My ultimate goal is to be able to an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 (final) later this year. This should go well from the reports I’ve seen of folks upgrading x64 Vista systems to the x64 Release Candidate of Windows 7, and I’m sure the leaner the machine, the better.

Some of my changes?

First off, I’ve opted not to install Office. I find I rarely use any of the MS Office applications at home, and I haven’t installed Open Office either – I’m actually going to try to stick with using Google Docs once the need arises.

Secondly, I’ve pretty much given up on learning a hard-core programming language (like C#) right now. I simply have to many other things on my plate, and I don’t have the time to devote too it. I did install Microsoft’s new Small Basic as I have had some great fun with it. Reminds me of being a kid hacking around in QBASIC in DOS

I’ve also changed some of my preferences in other tools as you will see below – so here is my current list of “what I install” first off when setting up a new machine:

7zip – Still my favorite archiving application

AVG Free – Still my favorite Anti-Virus solution. It has a small memory footprint and has proven effective and reliable for me.

Google Chrome – Chrome has quickly become my default browser of choice.

Mozilla Firefox – Although Chrome has become my favorite browser, I still (and probably always will) keep Firefox installed.

Filezilla – Great FTP client that has always served me well.

Dropbox – My friend and co-worker Chris Reeder turned me onto Dropbox and I can’t thank him enough! Be sure to check it out for a cheap/free online backup/sync tool!

Hulu Desktop – Who needs TV when you have Hulu? The web version was great, Hulu Desktop takes Hulu into an entirely different dimension – it’s awesome!

iTunes – I don’t have an iPod (yet), and I still manage/play my .mp3 files with WMP, but I use iTunes to listen to live on-line radio streams & podcasts.

Paint.NET – Has all the image editing tools I need.

RoyalTS – Favorite RDP manager (note, you need the older version to have more than 12 connections)

Pidgin – It’s an IM client…it works.

TweetDeck – My new favorite Twitter client, now that I can create groups and sync them across multiple PC’s.

VirtualBox – I think VirtualBox has passed VMware in speed, features, and functionality – best of all? It’s Free!

VLC – Handles all of those media files that won’t open in anything else!

Vista Codec Pack and x64 Additions – Just extra codecs for WMP.

Windows Live Writer – Best blogging editor ever created – hands down!

Notepad2 (or this improved version to be exact) – I use the improved version – it is available as a native x64 application and has an installer which “replaces” Windows Notepad with Notepad2.

Open Command Prompt Shell Extension – I found this on the same site as the improved Notepad2 – adds a useful contextual menu item to open a command prompt in whatever folder you are browsing in Windows Explorer. I’ve found this little utility to be endlessly useful.

So there you have it, my updated list of awesomely useful tools, utilities and applications. What are your favorites?

Improve your experience in Windows Vista with my FREE TOP 10 recommended downloads.

1. MZ Vista Force is a system tweaker. Use it to accelerate performance, juice your browsing speed, clean up your hard disk, clear out bandwidth-wasting startup programs, and even fine-tune Windows Media Player and Explorer. Many of the settings here are exceedingly fine-grained. Want to change the speed at which the Start menu search displays? With Mz Vista Force, you can. Download Mz Vista Force.

2. Vista Boot Logo Generator allows you to change it easily your boot screen with one that you created yourself or with a graphic that you find online. You’ll have to create or find the image in two sizes: 1024 by 768 pixels, and 800 by 600 pixels. Both must be in .bmp format, at 24-bit color depth. Once you have them this utility replaces your boot screen with them. Download Vista Boot Logo Generator.

3. EasyBCD is a bootloader modification tool for Windows Vista with many advanced options for beginners and power users alike. It gives the user full control over everything that happens during Vista startup and can boot into Ubuntu (Linux), OS X, BSD, etc! Download EasyBCD 1.7

4. TweakUAC One annoyance I mention in a previous post of mine that Windows Vista has is it’s User Account Control (UAC), which nags at you to enter a password or click OK every time you make certain changes or perform certain common actions. You can turn UAC off in Vista if you’d like, but that leaves your system vulnerable. So you might prefer to turn it on at times and off at other times. TweakUAC lets you quickly and easily switch UAC on and off.
Download TweakUAC.

5. Amnesty Generator lets you convert almost any online widget or gadget to a Vista-compatible gadget that you can then run on the Sidebar.
Download Amnesty Generator.

6. vLite lets you remove Vista components that are hard to get rid off. It also lets you tweak Vista in various ways, such as turning Aero on even if your hardware says it can’t be run. Once you’ve switched off components and tweaked the operating system to your heart’s content, vLite helps you create a Vista installation DVD containing your new stripped-down operating system. Download vLite

7. Windows Clippings is for capturing screen shots in Vista, unlike the built in vista Snippet Tool , Windows Clippings can save to an array of formats, and it includes a particularly important feature for capturing Vista screens the ability to capture window shadows. To use it, press the Print Screen key, click the window you want to capture, and then double-click. You can instruct the program to prompt you each time to tell it where you want to save a file, or you can designate a specific folder to receive all screen shots. For basic screen captures, the free version works fine. Download Windows Clippings

8. Feed Plus. If you use IE 7 and the RSS blog reader built into it, you will like this enhancement from Microsoft. It enables you to read all of your feeds from a single location, instead of having to read one feed at a time. This is especially useful for people like me who subscribe to dozens of feeds. Rather than wasting precious moments clicking from feed to feed, you’ll find them all in a single location. Download Feed Plus

9. Vista Battery Saver. If you use a laptop with Vista, then you may want to saves battery life on your Windows Vista PC. It automatically deactivates Windows Aero and the Windows Sidebar when your laptop runs on battery power, which the author claims will extend battery life. You can also have the program automatically turn off Aero or the Sidebar when your batter level drops below a limit that you set. Download Vista Battery Saver

10. CCleaner is one of my favourites. It combines a system cleaner that removes unused and temporary files from your system and also a fully featured registry cleaner! CCleaner allows Windows to run faster, more efficiently and gives you more hard disk space. Download CCleaner

Microsoft Security Advisory: Update to improve Kernel Patch Protection

Microsoft has released a security advisory to announce that an update is available for the Kernel Patch Protection feature that is included with x64-based Windows operating systems. The fix has been made available for those with x64 bit OS here.

Microsoft says “the update does increase the reliability, performance, and resiliency provided by Kernel Patch Protection.” The question is, why and what is really the problem for this high priority update? Allegedly there could be a vulnerability in the x64 kernel which is why this patch update may be so important.  For example PatchGuard keeps 64-bit Vista safer from unsigned code so that when you install a driver from a 3rd party any malicious code does not affect the Kernel.

If you cant wait for the official Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, there are some recent alternatives. Just 2 days ago Microsoft released a reliability and performance update. Download each update individually directly from Microsoft right now. These updates are not available in the automated windows update, so get these while their hot!

If you want the Reliability update get here:
Windows Vista 32 bit version
Windows Vista 64 Bit version

If you want the Performance update get here:
Windows Vista 32 bit version
Windows Vista 64 bit version

Here are a few obvious and not so obvious tweaks you should be doing to your Windows Vista if you are finding performance to be a problem. If you dont want to install 3rd party tweaking utilities or want to just do things manually then follow these suggested tweaks.

Explorer Performance Tweaks

1. Click Start, right click on Computer, and click Properties.
2. Click Advanced System Settings.
3. Click on the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click Settings.
Uncheck these options:

Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide tooltips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Close the Performance Options & System Properties dialogs.

Disable DEP / NoExecute Protection

DEP, otherwise known as NoExecute, is a piece of technology in Windows that prevents processes from being altered in live memory. This lowers the frequency of certain attacks, but it can also have some adverse effects and cause certain things not to run.

Due to the way Windows Vista™’s boot editor has been created, it is now harder to disable DEP / No Execute Protection.

Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on “Command Prompt”, and click “Run as administrator”.
If asked for permission to run Windows Command Processor, click on Allow.
At the command prompt, type in “bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff” (without the quotes).
You should receive a message saying “Operation Completed Successfully”.
Restart the computer, DEP / No Execute should now be disabled.

Disable User Account Control (UAC) For The Administrator Account Only

NOTE: Depending on the version of Windows Vista, you may not have access to step 3. In that case >> Watch my alternative tip <<

1. Click the Start Button
2. From the Start menu, Click All Programs followed by Accessories, then Run
3. In the Run dialogue box type: secpol.msc and then Click OK
4. User Account Control will prompt you for the necessary authorisation. Click Continue button
5. The Local Security Policies window now opens. This window is divided into a Left and Right hand pane
6. In the Left Hand pane look for the Local policies option and Click the > button to expand the list
7. From the expanded list, Click on Security options
8. In the Right hand pane you should see a list of available options (this is rather a long list)
9. Scroll towards the bottom of the list until you come to ‘User account control: behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in admin approval mode’
10. Right Click on this option and Select Properties
11. In the Properties window, Click the drop down menu arrow and, from the available list, Select the ‘Elevate without prompting’ option and then Click OK
12. A warning message will appear in the notification area warning you that UAC has been turned off. This message will appear ever time you boot your PC unless you turn off the option to be notified of security alerts in the Security Center of Control panel
13. Finally, Close the Local security policy Window

Bypass The Vista Log On Screen

1. Click the Start button
2. On the Start menu click Run
3. In the Run dialogue box type ‘control userpasswords2’ (without the quotes) and press OK
4. The User Account properties window will now appear
5. Remove the check mark from the ‘users must enter a user name and password to use this computer’ option
6. Click Apply
7. A new window will now appear
8. In this Window enter the Name and Password you wish to be used to automatically log on to your pc
9. Once you have entered the details click OK to exit the new user name and password dialogue window and then click OK on the User Properties box