Tweak tricks for Windows Vista DPA
WASHINGTON: Its difficult to call a new operating system your own until youve customised it to your liking. Making small changes in how an operating system looks and works is commonly referred to as tweaking, and tweaking Windows Vista can be a bit more challenging than with previous versions of Windows. In part, thats because the way you customise Vista has changed a lot and some of the tools that you might have used to tweak Vistas predecessors arent supported under the new operating system. But never fear. With the right know-how, you can still make Vista look and work the way you need it to. Tweak UI for Vista Microsofts popular Tweak UI which allowed users to customise the XP interface in ways that otherwise were not possible without delving deeply into the intimidating registry editor is not designed to run under Windows Vista. Whats worse is that Microsoft has not released an updated version that works under Vista and so far has not announced plans to do so. The good news is that TotalIdea has come to the rescue with the Vista-ready Tweak VI ( http://www.totalidea.com/content/tweakvi/tweakvi-index.html ), an advanced customisation tool that does everything Tweak UI did and more. While there are paid versions of Tweak VI, the slimmed-down free version does everything that most people want - including getting rid of the annoying balloon pop-up reminders in the taskbar, relocating the default document folder, controlling animation effects of the interface, bringing back the underlines in menus, and much more. Spend some time with Tweak VI, and youll have a head start on making Vista work the way you want it to. WinKey under Vista XP users who wanted to increase their productivity by making keyboard shortcuts using the Windows Logo key probably grew to rely upon the free WinKey utility ( http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/WinKey-Download-887.html ). WinKey is no longer being developed, unfortunately, which means that a Vista-enabled version is not in the future. You can still use WinKey under Vista, but youll have to run the installation program in compatibility mode. To do so, right-click the WinKey installation file from within Vista and select Properties from the pop-up menu. In the resulting Properties dialog box, click the Compatibility tab, and select the check box labelled Run this program in compatibility mode for, and make sure Windows XP (Service Pack 2) is selected in the Compatibility mode drop-down list box. Click Apply, and then OK.Now double-click the WinKey installation file, and proceed to install the program as under Windows XP. Once installed, the program will largely work as it did under XP, with some exceptions. Notably, you will not be able to use Windows Key plus a number for a keyboard shortcut. Change your desktop Your Vista desktop isnt really yours until you change the background, the colour of window elements, transparency, and the screen saver. Vista gives you more ways to customise your desktop than any other Windows operating system before it - and generally customisations are easier than ever before. Start by right-clicking the Vista desktop and selecting Personalise from the resulting pop-up menu. Get more gadgets Gadgets are a prominent new feature of Windows Vista. These small, task-oriented applets that line the right side of the Vista screen are designed to keep frequently updated news and information within easy reach at all times. Consequently, youll find gadgets such as news tickers, Internet-linked weather updates, a clock, and a notepad on your Vista screen by default. But personalising Vista is all about choosing the gadgets that best suit your needs and your style of working. That might mean looking beyond the limited number of gadgets supplied with the version of Vista you received. Microsoft maintains a constantly growing repository of gadgets for Vista at the site( http://vista.gallery.microsoft.com/vista/SideBar.aspx ). There youll find gadgets that are both fun and useful, including an eBay ticker, several media players, weather bugs, search tools, and games. Unlimited freedom, unlimited storage. Get it now, on http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html/ To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
