In Vista you can no longer move your quick launch toolbar to the
side of the screen. For users who have been running XP for a long
time, this can be quite painful. Of course, I know the work
around...
- 1. Right-click on a blank area of the desktop
- 2. Select New Folder from the context menu
- 3. Drag this New Folder to the very side of the screen and let go. The
toolbar should run vertically down the side of your desktop.
- 4. Right-click this new toolbar and select Toolbar and then Quick Launch
- 5. Right-click this new toolbar again and unselect New Folder
- 6. Right-click taskbar at the bottom of the screen, select Toolbars, and
unselect Quick Launch.
- 7. Finally, delete New Folder or drag it to the recycle bin.
Like a scene straight out of Kramer vs. Kramer or Mad
Magazine's Spy vs. Spy, Vista has two types of administrators.
What gives? First, understand that there are two kinds of user
accounts, Administrator and Standard. This refers to the level of
privileges�the things you're allowed to do. In addition, and
separately, there is an account named Administrator. It's typically
used to sort out problems that keep you from logging on to your
normal account. As in Windows XP, you should rename the
Administrator account for security purposes (just don't forget what
you've changed it to). Right-click Computer and click
Manage. Under Local Users and Groups, open Users,
right-click the one named Administrator, and choose Rename.
Then right-click it and choose Properties to delete its
telltale description as well.
Password-protecting your laptop is good overall security, but for
added protection, start encrypting. Vista Enterprise and Ultimate
editions come with BitLocker Drive Encryption, a tool that relies on
a Trusted Platform Module to secure access�check your manual to see
if your notebook has one and update your BIOS if needed. To make the
magic happen, you'll need an extra partition on your hard drive that
you can create with the Vista partitioning tool on your installation
disc or with the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool, a Vista Ultimate
Extra. You'll create one small partition for essential OS files, and
the rest of the drive will hold encrypted files. Format the
partition as NTFS, not FAT32.
In order to limit the havoc that rogue programs can cause,
administrator accounts aren't totally in charge. To gain complete
control (to install antispyware, for example), log on as the
Administrator�but not all the time, or you'll negate this account's
raison d'�tre. The Administrator account won't show up in the User
Accounts control panel, however: It's disabled by default. In Vista
Ultimate or Business editions, right-click it in the Management
Console (as described in the first tip) and select Properties.
Uncheck Account is disabled and it'll show up in the control
panel. That's the super-mega-ultimate account. Don't have Ultimate?
Click Start, type cmd, right-click the cmd.exe item at
top, and choose Run as administrator. Type net user
administrator /active:yes and log off. The Administrator account
now shows up on the welcome screen.
Past Windows versions have let you prove upgrade-readiness by
inserting a CD of the previous OS during the install process. Vista
doesn't; Microsoft specifically says "Windows Vista does not check
upgrade compliance. Therefore, you cannot use an upgrade disc to
perform a clean installation of Windows Vista." To work around this
problem, insert your CD into your clean computer. Don't enter the
code when Vista asks for your license key, simply click Next.
You'll create a system sans activation code that's active for 30
days. Then reboot from the CD; you'll be able to install the OS as
an update to your Vista installation. Now use the activation code.