Resize a Partition for Free in Windows Vista

Windows Vista includes a built-in functionality in Disk Management to shrink and expand partitions. No more 3rd party utilities needed!
To get to this utility, open up Control Panel, and type in partition into the search box.. you'll immediately see the link show up:

Shrink a Partition

In the Disk Management screen, just right-click on the partition that you want to shrink, and select "Shrink Volume" from the menu.
In the Shrink dialog, you will want to enter the amount you want to shrink by, not the new size. For example, if you want to shrink your 50gb partition by roughly 10gb so that it will now be roughly 40gb, enter 10000 into the box:

Extend a Partition

In the Disk Management screen, just right-click on the partition that you want to shrink, and select "Extend Volume" from the menu.

On this screen, you can specify the amount that you want to increase the partition by. In this case, I'm going to extend it back to the roughly 50GB size that it was before.
Note that the extend partition feature only works with contiguous space.

Remove Old Drivers After Upgrading to New Hardware

If you are experiencing weird issues after upgrading your hardware, or you've just upgraded to the latest hardware device and aren't seeing the performance you'd like, you might want to remove the old drivers which are still installed for the old hardware, even though you can't normally see them in device manager.
What you have to do is set a less-known flag to allow you to see non-present devices, and then launch device manager. You'll then see the old devices in the list, and can uninstall the drivers for them.
In Windows Vista, the first thing you'll need to do is open a command prompt in administrator mode. Type cmd into the start menu search box, and then use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open in administrator mode. (You can also right-click on the command prompt and choose Run as Administrator)
Now paste in the following line:

SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1

Then type in devmgmt.msc to start up Device Manager from the administrator command prompt:

Once you are in Device Manager, go to the View menu and choose Show Hidden Devices, which will show all the device drivers including things that aren't currently installed in your computer.
Notice how I have 6 mice in the list, even though I only have two installed (and my drawing tablet). The other 3 mice are old mice that I've used until they died…. the Geek tends to wear through input devices very quickly since he never leaves the computer…

You can right-click on the driver and then choose Uninstall from the menu to remove the drivers for that old hardware.
I've found that this can resolve a lot of weird issues, and even increase performance on some machines where you've upgraded a ton of times. This isn't necessarily going to increase performance, but it's nice to have a tidy computer nonetheless.
This tip also works the same in Windows XP.

Turn on Remote Desktop in Windows Vista

Remote Desktop is disabled by default in Windows Vista, but it's easy enough to turn it back on. If you need to access your Vista PC from another box, it's an essential thing to turn on.

To get to the configuration page, you can either right-click the Computer icon and choose properties, or you can type in system into the start menu search box. It'll be the 4th item in the list, as you can see here:

Now you'll want to click the Remote Settings link on the left hand side:

Now you can finally turn it on:

To connect from another Vista PC on the same network, click the bottom radio button. If you need to connect from an XP/2k machine, click the "Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop" radio button.
Don't worry about setting up firewall rules, Vista does that for you automatically.
Note: This will not work for Home editions of Windows Vista.

Change Monitor Timeout From Command Line

It drives me crazy when my monitors turn off while I'm watching a movie. If you want to quickly change the monitor timeout using the command line, it's actually pretty simple.
The powercfg utility can be used on the command line to change power configuration settings, including the monitor timeout, which is what we'll use here.
The command syntax:
powercfg -Change -monitor-timeout-ac 120

Test Drive Windows Vista

http://www.microsoft.com/midsizebusiness/products/WindowsVista/try.mspx?WT.mc_id=31274CE6-7ADC-4C2B-A3C8-7C7847DC18DE

Test drive Windows vista before you choose the edition

Windows Side Show

Windows Vista Sideshow


Overview of Windows SideShow
Windows SideShow is a new technology in Windows Vista. With Windows SideShow, developers can write gadgets to send data from a computer to devices connected to that computer.

Platform Benefits
A gadget can make use of the Windows SideShow APIs available on Microsoft Windows to send data to devices. It is important to understand that a gadget runs on the Windows computer, and does not rely on special code running on the device. This architecture allows for interoperability between gadgets and devices without any built-in hardware dependencies. The following points describe certain key aspects about Windows SideShow:

Gadgets on Windows Vista communicate with the Windows SideShow APIs and are independent of the layers below them. This frees the gadget from having to manage device connection state and other mundane details. Device capabilities are exposed only if requested; otherwise, Windows SideShow handles them automatically.

Windows SideShow is not dependent on the type of connection used by the device. It does not matter whether a device is connected through a USB port, Bluetooth, TCP/IP, or other future protocols; as long as the device is compatible with Windows SideShow, a gadget can easily provide content to it without knowing how the device is connected.

This technology allows developers to create gadgets and extend existing applications specifically for devices with varying display and interaction models. The devices supported by the platform include, but are not limited to, displays attached to a laptop, front-panel computer displays, mobile phones, displays embedded in keyboards and digital picture frames, and other display devices. Some devices can be powered even when the computer is in a low-power mode, such as standby or hibernate, which allows users to access information in new settings and scenarios. The Windows SideShow SDK equips developers with the information to create a gadget for Windows SideShow.

Gadgets for Windows SideShow
A gadget for Windows SideShow is a mini-application or a piece of code running on the PC that sends data to devices using the Windows SideShow platform. The gadget retrieves data from a data source such as an application or web service, and sends this data to the Windows SideShow platform, which sends it to the appropriate devices. A gadget can communicate with the Windows SideShow platform using one of the following options:

Windows SideShow COM APIs from C++

Windows SideShow managed APIs using managed code

Windows SideShow object model in a Microsoft Sidebar gadget

Windows SideShow makes writing gadgets for devices easier by:

Enabling developers to write code that runs on Windows. Developers do not have to write device-specific code to run their gadgets on devices with different specifications.

Abstracting out the details of managing multiple devices (and their connection states) from the gadget developer. Developers need not worry about communicating with each device independently.

Examples of Windows SideShow gadgets:

A calendar gadget can periodically retrieve data from a calendar application like Microsoft Office Outlook, and send it to connected devices. Users can frequently view calendar information on their Windows SideShow-compatible devices to check for the meeting location.

A weather gadget can retrieve data from a web service and update all connected devices with the latest weather information in user-designated locations.

An instant messaging gadget can provide presence information for a user's buddies on their Windows SideShow-compatible devices. It can send notifications when buddies log on, log off, or initiate conversations.

A gadget provides a connection between a data source and the Windows SideShow platform. Developers can write a gadget that responds to updates from a specified data source, , converts it to a format that can be used by Windows SideShow, such as the Simple Content Format, and sends this formatted data to the platform.

Windows SideShow-compatible Devices
Windows SideShow provides a way to display a user’s information on devices with a wide variety of display, processing, and interaction capabilities. Microsoft has designed the Windows SideShow platform to be flexible and extensible by allowing hardware vendors and manufacturers to add Windows SideShow support to new and existing devices.

Users of PCs are not always able or interested in accessing the main display of their computer due to environmental, ergonomic, or power related issues. Most of these users also carry smaller devices with display capabilities more suitable for certain situations, usually for accessing important information quickly. The Windows SideShow platform adds value to mobile and desktop PCs and a user's devices by enabling the user to access information in more scenarios and settings. This platform solves the problem of unifying communication with these devices, enabling applications on the PC to provide secondary devices with relevant content in a simple and consistent manner. For example, low power displays built into laptop lids or bezels allow users to look at information in ergonomically or power constrained situations. Existing devices, such as cell phones, picture frames, or peripheral displays can also be designed to use Windows SideShow.

Windows 7 (Akan datang pada 2010)