3D Tweaks-> Vista Perf Builders Tweaks 2

This registry tweak stops Vista® searching for all indexed files on your system while you search for programs in your program menu, please remember to make a backup of your registry before you take any action to alter registry keys, just in case the worst case scenario happens.

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit).

2. Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Explorer and finally Advanced.

3. Find and right click on Start_SearchFiles and select Modify.

4. Set the Value to 0.

5. reboot your computer.

Disable the sidebar
1. Open Control Panel

2. Navigate to and open Appearance and Personalization

3. At this point open Windows Sidebar Properties, here a pop up window appears, uncheck the box which says "Start sidebar when Windows Starts"

4. If you currently have Sidebar running, right click on the Sidebar icon, situated in the taskbar and select exit

5. Reboot and you're set.

Changing the text for Earlier Versions of Windows
If you are dual booting Vista® and say XP®, and want XP® to be the default O/S (Since XP® is installed first then Vista, Vista makes itself the default system) and you will end up with

Older Operating System
Windows Vista®

You can change this to Windows XP Professional SP2 by doing the following

XP® used the boot.ini file to manage booting, Vista® does not. It uses a Boot Manager.

Start>All Programs> Accessories>Command Prompt (supposedly the only way to get there) Also Start>Run>bcdedit will not work.

At the command prompt, in my case was d:\user\*your username*

type the following:

bcdedit

Look at where XP pro is as it says "Older Operating Systems". It was under {ntdlr} so type the following:

bcdedit /set {ntdlr} description "Windows XP Professional SP2"

That was it.

You can also change the time it displays and which one displays first.


bcdedit has taken the place of boot.ini in XP.

if you type bcdedit /? you get the help menu showing what cammands can be used
(have not confirmed if it works or not)
You can also use the same approach if you are dual booting with Windows 2000, Windows 98, etc. Just change the name in the appropriate spot accordingly.

How to disable the UAC (User Account Control)
What you do is go to Start>Control Panel>User Accounts>Turn User Account Control on or off. If it is on, selecting this option will turn it off and vice versa.


On any version of Vista®, except Home Basic and Home Premium, you can disable UAC for administrator accounts by following these steps:

Step 1. Click the Start button and launch the Local Security Policy editor by entering secpol.msc in the Search box.

Step 2. Select the Local Policies item in the left panel to expand the tree, then expand Security Options under Local Policies.

Step 3. Scroll down the list in the right panel to locate User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode. Right-click that item and choose Properties.

Step 4. Select Elevate without prompting and close the dialog.

If you use Vista® Home Basic or Home Premium, the Local Security Policy editor, unfortunately, isn't included. To disable UAC for administrator accounts, you'll need to edit the Registry. Follow these steps to do that — and be extremely careful, since mistakes could render your system unusable!

Step 1. Click Start and enter regedit in the Search box to launch the Registry Editor.

Step 2. Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System

Step 3. Double-click the ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin item.

Step 4. Change the value to 00000000.

Step 5. Close the dialog and exit the Registry Editor.

Show Administrator on Welcome screen
start > run = " control userpasswords2 " select administrator account, click reset password (input new pass) / Ok

start > run = " regedit " create the key below

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

create "DWORD (32bit) Value"
Value Name: Administrator
Value Data: 1

Open command prompt here
Right-click on any folder on your Windows Vista® while holding down the shift key. You'll see an extra context-sensitive menu item there: Open Command Prompt here.

Get rid of the shortcut arrows
You can get rid of the shortcut arrows in Vista® by using an old reg tweak that still works: Open up regedit and go to:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile]

Then re-name 'IsShortcut' to 'AriochIsShortcut' in the right pane.

Close regedit and reboot - shortcut arrows are gone.*


Go straight to the task manager
Windows XP's trusty CTRL + ALT + DEL key combination, which summonses the task manager, has a slightly different effect in Windows Vista: it brings up a selection dialog (pictured) which requires another click or keypress to lock the computer, switch user, log off, change a password, or start the task manager. To go directly to the task manager and bypass this dialog altogether, hit CTRL + SHIFT + ESC instead.

Disable driver-signing enforcement on x64 Editions
Execute from an admin-level command prompt:
bcdedit -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

The old nointegritychecks option doesn't work on Vista® RTM, only the Beta/RC builds. (Thanks McFly)

Quick Aero speed tip
The transparent glass in Windows Vista® computer can look very nice. However, on some computers that have underpowered video adapters will see a performance hit when running the transparent glass effect. One way to speed up Windows Vista® and still get the benefits of aero, such as flip 3D and taskbar thumbnails, is to disable glass transparency.

1. Click on the desktop and select Personalize.
2. Select Windows Color and Appearance.
3. Uncheck Enable Transparency.

3D Cube virtual desktop
Yod'm 3D is a virtual desktop manager that allows you to have 4 different desktops arranged on a 3D cube. Holding down CTRL+SHIFT and using the left or right arrow keys rotate the cube showing the virtual desktops. Alternatively, you can click and drag your mouse to switch desktops.

To download, click here: http://chsalmon.club.fr/index.php?en/Download

Create an Account Lockout Policy
Creating an Account Lockout Policy will protect your account by limiting the number of time a remote application or attacker can try to guess your password. This works by automatically locking out your account after a designated number of incorrect passwords were entered. Your account will remain locked out for a designated period of time before it is automatically unlocked and it can be logged into again. This provides a valuable addition to your account security because it can render brute force password attacks useless. If you have your lockout threshold set to 4 bad attempts and the lockout duration to 15 minutes, an attacker can try to guess your password a maximum of 16 times per hour.

Now that you know how valuable an Account Lockout Policy is, let’s get it setup on your computer:

1. Click on the Start Button and key in Secpol.msc and hit Enter.
2. Navigate through Account Policies and Account Lockout Policy.
3. Right click on Account lockout threshold and select Properties.
4. Enter in the value you want to use and hit OK to save. I like to use 4 here.
5. Windows will set the default values for the lockout duration and Reset account lockout counter values. If you want to change these values from the defaults (30 minutes), right click on them and select Properties. After making your changes hit OK to save and exit.

Use BitLocker Drive Encryption without TPM chip
Windows Vista® includes a new hard drive encryption feature called BitLocker Drive Encryption. BitLocker can be a very useful security feature for businesses and home users that have sensitive and confidential information stored on their computer. Unfortunately, BitLocker Drive Encryption by default requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM Chip) version 1.2 or later installed in your computer. A lot of the computers and laptops on the market do not come with TPM chips installed since they are typically only found in premium model business computers. If you have Windows Vista® Business, Ultimate or Enterprise but do not have a TPM chip, you can still use BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Hidden away in local group policy is a setting that will allow you to turn on the ability to use a USB storage device instead of a TPM key to store the encryption key. This is a great feature for users that don't have the latest high-end hardware because you can still use hard drive encryption. However, every time you turn on your computer, the USB storage device that has the encryption key located on it must be plugged in. Without it, your computer will not boot up. One BitLocker Drive Encryption is setup with a USB storage device, that USB storage device basically becomes the key to your computer.

Follow these steps to turn on the ability to use a USB storage device with BitLocker Drive Encryption on hardware that does not have a TPM device:

1. Click on the Start Button and key in gpedit.msc and hit Enter.
2. Navigate through: Computer Policy, Administrative Templates, Windows Components and BitLocker Drive Encryption.
3. Right click on Control Panel Setup: Enable advanced startup options and select Properties.
Check Enabled and hit OK.

Make menus appear faster or slower
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\CONTROL PANEL\DESKTOP\ and select the MenuShowDelay. Right click the entry and select the Modify option and reduce the number to around 100. Play around with it to find a number that best suits your need. If you increase the number, it slows the menus down.

Reload registry changes without restarting
This I find quite handy. Its really simple. After you have made your registry changes, close any apps and programs you may have running. Bring up Task Manager, locate explorer.exe and kill the process. Once the icons and the task bar have disappeared, click on File>New Task (Run) and type in explorer.exe and everything should be back to the way it was. (except for the changes you made in the registry)

Make Windows Vista® Shut Down Services Quicker
The more applications that you install into Windows, the longer the computer takes to shut down. This is especially true for applications that install a service that runs when the computer starts, and even more true for services that refuse to shut down quickly, or time out when being shut down.

To change Windows to shut down the services quicker, open the registry editor, and browse down to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

You should see a key in the right-hand window called "WaitToKillServiceTimeout", with a default value of "20000", which represents 20000 milliseconds, or 20 seconds. You can change this to a value of "5000" for 5 seconds.

Quickly Enable or Disable Vista® Hibernation
Hibernation is a term used for laptops and portable computers. Windows Vista® (like XP before it) supports the industry standard power management technology known as the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (or ACPI).

This allows the operating system to control power to the computer's disk, monitor and peripheral devices. Hibernate saves an image of your desktop with all open files and documents to your hard disk. After it stores the information in the file it will power down your computer. When you turn on power, your files and documents will open on your desktop exactly as you left them.


Disable Security Center Notifications
The new Windows Security Center in Windows Vista® can be just as annoying as the security centers in previous versions of Windows. I am an advanced of a computer user to know that I do not have anti-virus software installed. I don't need the Windows Security Center to remind me that all the time.

There is a new easy way to disable the security center messages:

1. Click on the Security Center/Windows Security Alerts logo in the system tray.
2. Click Change the way Security Center alerts me.
3. Select I do not want notification messages from Security Center.

Disable Remote Assistance In Vista®
For security purposes, you may choose to disable Remote Assistance in Windows Vista®. If you do, you will be unable to send requests for remote assistance to other users. You can turn of Remote Assistance in Windows Vista® using the steps listed below.

1. Click Start, and select Control Panel.
2. Within the Control Panel, System and Maintenance.
3. Click System.
4. From the list of tasks, click Remote Settings.
5. Under Remote Assistance, remove the check beside the option to "Allow Remote Assistance" connections to this computer.
6. Click OK.


Game Performance Boost
Hopefully this will help some people who are getting unacceptable performance while playing games in Vista®. I found it just makes the difference in BF2 between playable gameplay and unplayable gameplay.

Heres what you can try:

* Find the games .exe file in the instalation directory.
* Right click on the icon.
* Click on Properties.
* Click on the Compatibility tab.
* Check the "Disable visual themes" and "Disable desktop composition".
* Click OK.

Hopefully this helps anyone who needs a little performance boost

Also another little tip, if anyone is playing a game with Punkbuster, and are getting kicked from the server for no apparent reason, try running the game as administrator (right click, select "Run as administrator")

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