With Windows Vista, Microsoft has delivered an evolution in terms of user experience. Still, as the operating system suffers a decent amount of customization, improvements on the Redmond company’s original design are inevitable. And one of the aspects of Vista that could manage with a tad extra eye candy is the boot screen. Now on the adjacent image you can see a portion of the default Vista boot screen, which otherwise is pitch black. Well, nothing to get excited about there, but you have a few options to kick it up a notch.

First off, you can always dig up the Windows Vista hidden boot screen. All you have to do is make your way to the System Configuration Utility and enable the “No GUI Boot” option. Just follow this link in order to get additional details about how to unveil the hidden boot screen in your copy of Vista. The tweak is harmless but, at the same time, it is also limited to only one image consistent with the Aero theme. (more…)

boot logo, boot screen, logo generator, operating system, software developer, system configuration utility,

This tip will show you how to create an unattended disk cleanup which will also empty your prefetch folder. This tip assumes you have Windows XP installed in c:\windows.

Step 1.
Create a new text file and place the following contents inside:

c:\windows\system32\cleanmgr.exe /dc /sageset: 1
c:
cd \
cd c:\windows\prefetch
del *.* /q
(more…)

appication, cache, cleanmgr, cleanup program, disk cleanup, disk space, performance decrease, prefetch folder, unattended, Windows, windows prefetch directory, windows system32

Super fast user switching is a powertoy which makes it easy to switch the active user. But you must be a member of the administrator group to see other users! Quite useless for normal users, but this is done on purpose. I contacted Lou, the programmer of fast.exe, and he said (quote):

“It actually has to do with permissions. As a regular user, you don’t have access to the (InteractiveLogon) service. This is because I didn’t want to open another hole in Windows. This is unavoidable.”

The solution opens a hole, but makes super fast user switching usable. (more…)

administrator password, cmd file, computer, c documents, documents and settings, menu programs, msconfig, powertoy, production systems, registry entry, run registry, service properties, shortcut, switching, Windows, windows system32

Windows Vista – just as its predecessor Windows operating systems offers users the ability to easily control Internet browsing by managing the Hosts file, native to the platform. However, the main difference between Vista and older Windows titles is the introduction of the User Account Control, and the fact that all users run with standard privileges as opposite to administrative rights. This small detail subsequently impacts the ability to edit the Hosts file.

The fact of the matter is that there are two error messages generated in Windows Vista in certain scenarios that either deny access to the Hosts file, or refuse to apply any modifications made by the user. The first is “Access to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ hosts was denied” while the second will read “Cannot create the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file. Make sure that the path and file name are correct.” (more…)

control internet, hijacked, hosts file, Internet, internet browsing, notepad, vista, Web, Windows, windows operating systems, windows system32

When tweaking Vista, at some point you will probably run in to a situation where you need to modify, move or even delete a system file. In Vista, system files are protected by the TrustedInstaller service and Windows File Protection by default. Below, I will show you how you can take ownership of system files and grant yourself the necessary permissions so that you can get your task done.

Warning: Modifying, moving or deleting system files on Vista can have adverse effects on your operating system and in some cases render the system inoperable. Be sure that you know what you are doing prior to proceeding with these instructions. (more…)

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If a system has been patched in the past few months, the nine executables in Windows\System32 will either show an earlier version number, 7.0.6000.374, or the stealth patch: 7.0.6000.381. (The version numbers can be seen by right-clicking a file and choosing Properties. In XP, click the Version tab and then select File Version. In Vista, click the Details tab.)

In addition, PCs that received the update will have new executables in subfolders named 7.0.6000.381 under the following folders: (more…)

computer, executables, folders, system32, system patches, Windows, windows system32, windows update, wups