Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Where is the Vista Run Command?
When I failed to find the Vista Run command, the fact that I was attempting this task on Friday the 13th, should have rung alarm bells. The root cause was Guy being a Luddite and trying do something the old way.What I should have done was simply use Vista's new Start Search dialog box, in the same way I used the old 'Run' command in XP. All that you need is to type the name of the executable, e.g. cmd, in the Start Search dialog box. See screenshots opposite.
As you configure Vista so you will come to love the way that the new Start Search subtly combines the best of the old XP 'Run box', with the improved Vista Quick Search. What I particularly liked was the way the interface displayed all the matching programs as I typed just the first few letters.
You will also find Quick Search (a sister of Start Search), in the new Windows Explorer. A case of learn a tool in one area and then apply that knowledge to another interface.
User Account Control explained
User Account Control (UAC) is one of the most controversial components of Windows Vista. Its job is to lock down the operating system, stopping rogue programs installing themselves on your PC, and warning you before you make any changes that could compromise security.
It’s annoyed some users who find the interruption of the UAC message irritating, However, before you decide turn it off, it’s important to understand what UAC does and what the consequences of disabling it could be.
UAC came about after concerns over security in Windows XP. Back then, all users were given administrative rights by default, meaning that anyone could make changes to the system, even if they didn’t know what they were doing.
When it came to designing Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to lock down security so that the integrity couldn’t be compromised. Secondary accounts are now assigned ‘standard user’ status, which means they’re not allowed to make changes to the system that may affect security. When they try to do this, UAC will ask for an administrator password before it continues.
In theory, this is the way all systems should be run, and while surfing the internet and performing day-to-day tasks, Microsoft advises you to use a standard account and leave your admin account untouched. If something requires admin privileges, you’ll simply be prompted for a password. This is all very well, but few people actually run their computer this way.
It’s annoyed some users who find the interruption of the UAC message irritating, However, before you decide turn it off, it’s important to understand what UAC does and what the consequences of disabling it could be.
UAC came about after concerns over security in Windows XP. Back then, all users were given administrative rights by default, meaning that anyone could make changes to the system, even if they didn’t know what they were doing.
When it came to designing Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to lock down security so that the integrity couldn’t be compromised. Secondary accounts are now assigned ‘standard user’ status, which means they’re not allowed to make changes to the system that may affect security. When they try to do this, UAC will ask for an administrator password before it continues.
In theory, this is the way all systems should be run, and while surfing the internet and performing day-to-day tasks, Microsoft advises you to use a standard account and leave your admin account untouched. If something requires admin privileges, you’ll simply be prompted for a password. This is all very well, but few people actually run their computer this way.
Friday, June 27, 2008
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:
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:
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.
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.
Note that the extend partition feature only works with contiguous space.
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