Vista - Tips, Tricks & Tweaks

What Happened to the Run Menu?

Arun — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:59:47 +0000

One thing you won’t find on the default Start menu is the Run option, which gen-
erations of Windows users have employed to start programs that may not appear
on any menu. The omission isn’t a problem—if you know the secret. Simply type
the name of the program you want to run (such as notepad) into the Start Search
bar just above the Start button and then press Enter.

Changing to old start menu like in windows xp

Arun — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:53:22 +0000

If you don’t like the new look, you can get the old Start menu back by reverting to the
familiar XP submenu system. Right-click the Start Button, click Properties, select Classic
Start Menu, and then click OK.

The New Start Menu

Arun — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:52:25 +0000

In Vista, the Start button is no longer called Start, and the Start menu looks completely
different from the menu you may be used to in Windows XP. However, it’s still there at the
bottom of the screen, and you may find it a bit better organized.
The old Start button has been replaced by a lighted sphere that displays the Windows flag
logo. Instead of submenus that fly out to the right of the main menu, Vista displays your
most recently used programs in a primary window

If you click All Programs, the Start menu switches to a display of collapsing folders. You
can expand each folder to show you all available programs, but the Start menu keeps the
list within the primary window.

Add “Open with Notepad” to right-click context menu

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:40:21 +0000

Do you use notepad very frequently to open all types of text files? This quick tweak will add “Open with Notepad” to all of your file context menus. Whenever you right click on a file, you will have the option to open it in Notepad.

Copy and paste the code below into Notepad. Then save it as a .reg file and import it by clicking on it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad]
@=”"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad\command]
@=”notepad.exe %1″

Install Vista without product key

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:03:09 +0000

Don’t feel like typing in your product key before installing Windows Vista? It is now possible to install any version of Windows Vista and use it for 14 days before having to enter a product key and activating it.

While on the product key screen during install, just hit the Next button. You will be presented with a new screen that allows you to select the version of Windows Vista you would like to install.

Change Windows Vista Product Key after install

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:59:26 +0000

Do you need to change your product key so that you can activate Windows Vista properly? You can use a great command line tool that will help you do this very easily. Just follow these steps:

Click on the Start Button and key in command prompt so that it shows up on your start menu search list. Right click on the Command Prompt shortcut and select Run As Administrator.
At the administrator command prompt, type in “slmgr.vbs -ipk ”
To activate windows after changing the key, run “slmgr.vbs -ato”

Check Windows Vista Activation Status

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:56:13 +0000

Are you a user of Windows Vista Enterprise or Business edition and would like to know the status of activation of a specific computer? Want to make sure that the computer connected properly to the Key Management Server (KMS) or used your Multiple Activation Key (MAK) properly? Or are you a home user and just want to make sure your computer is fully activated?

Included in Windows Vista is very useful utility that will help you check the status of activation of your computer:

Click on the Start Button and key in CMD and hit Enter to start up Command Prompt.
At the prompt, type in “slmgr.vbs -dli”
After a few seconds you will be presented with a pop-up message with your activation status.

Extend Activation period past 180 days

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:53:52 +0000

This allows you to use Windows Vista without having to activate it for longer than 180 days.

it is possible to setup Task Scheduler to automate these changes to extend the period before you need to activate beyond 180 days. Follow these steps to automate the registry change and activation reset using Task Scheduler:

Click on the Start Button, type in Task Manager and hit Enter.
When Task Scheduler loads, right click on Task Scheduler Library and select Create Task.
Enter in a name for the new task such as “Activation Period Reset”. Also, make sure that the user this account is run under is part of the Administrators group and the Run with highest privileges box is checked.
Click on the Triggers tab and hit the New button.
On the New Trigger tab, select Daily and Recur every 29 days (since activation is required 30 days after a reset) and hit OK.
Click on the Actions tab and hit New.
Enter in slmgr.vbs in the program/script box.
Enter in -rearm in the arguments box and hit OK.
Hit OK to save the settings for the new task you created.
Now you are ready for the second registry key change that will allow you to run the slmgr.vbs -rearm command more than three times. To do this, right click on the Task Scheduler Library folder again and select Create Task.
Enter in a name for the new task such as “Slmgr Reset “. Also, make sure that the user this account is run under is part of the Administrators group and the Run with highest privileges box is checked.
Click on the Triggers tab and hit the New button.
On the New Trigger tab, select Daily and Recur every 179 days (since slmgr needs to be reset after 180 days) and hit OK.
Click on the Actions tab and hit New.
Download and save this registry file to your computer.
Enter in regedit in the program/script box.
Enter in /s “full path to reg file” in the arguments box and hit OK.
Hit OK to save the settings for the new task you created.

Your computer is now configured to automatically reset the activation period every 29 days and reset your ability to reset the activation period every 179 days.

Extend Activation period to 180 days

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:45:56 +0000

Would you like to extend the activation period to the maximum 120 days instead of the 30 day period that is set by default? It is possible and legal to do this using the software licensing manager in Windows Vista. Simply run slmgr -rearm to get another 30 days at an administrative level command prompt. You can do this a maximum of three times before Microsoft blocks further extensions.

Click on the Start Button and type in Command.
The Command Prompt Prompt shortcut will now show up in your start panel search results. Right click on the shortcut and select Run as Administrator.
After Command Prompt loads, type in slmgr.vbs -rearm and hit Enter.
Reboot.

Windows Update

Arun — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:41:08 +0000

Enables the detection, download, and installation of updates for Windows and other programs. If this service is disabled, users of this computer will not be able to use Windows Update or its automatic updating feature, and programs will not be able to use the Windows Update Agent (WUA) API. While many disable this service, I think you are crazy if you do these days.