Unleashing Windows
Vista Customization and Optimization
CHAPTER 13 Customizing the Windows Vista
Interface 359
CHAPTER 14 Tuning Windows Vista’s
Performance 381
CHAPTER 15 Maintaining Your Windows Vista
System 411
CHAPTER 16 Troubleshooting and Recovering
from Problems 443
CHAPTER 17 Getting the Most Out of Device
Manager 463
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IN THIS CHAPTER
.Customizing the Start Menu for Easier Program and Document Launching .Customizing the Taskbar for
Easier Program and Document Launching
.Controlling Taskbar Grouping .Modifying the Start Menu and
Taskbar with Group Policies .Using Screen Space Efficiently
CHAPTER 13 Customizing the Windows Vista Interface
Microsoft spent countless hours and untold millions of dollars testing and retesting the Windows Vista user inter- face (UI) in its usability labs. It’s important, however, to remember that Windows Vista is an operating system designed for the masses. With an installed base running in the hundreds of millions, it’s only natural that the
Windows UI would incorporate lots of lowest-common- denominator thinking. So, in the end, you have an inter- face that most people find easy to use most of the time; an interface that skews toward accommodating neophytes and the newly digital; an interface designed for a typical computer user, whoever the heck that is.
In other words, unless you consider yourself a typical user (and your purchase of this book proves otherwise), Windows Vista in its right-out-of-the-box getup won’t be right for you. Fortunately, you’ll find no shortage of options and programs that will help you remake Windows Vista in your own image, and that’s just what this chapter shows you how to do. After all, you weren’t produced by a cookie cutter, so why should your operating system look like it was?
Having said that, I should also point out that it’s my philosophy that the litmus test of any interface customiza- tion is a simple question: Does it improve productivity?
I’ve seen far too many tweaks that fiddle uselessly with some obscure setting, resulting in little or no improvement to the user’s day-to-day Windows experience. This may be fine for people with lots of time to kill, but most of us don’t have that luxury, so efficiency and productivity must be the goals of the customization process. (Note that this does not preclude aesthetic improvements to the Windows
Vista interface. A better-looking Windows provides a happier computing experience, and a happier worker is a more productive worker.)
To that end, I devote most of this chapter to the most common of computing tasks:
launching programs and documents. I packed this chapter with useful tips and techniques for rearranging Windows Vista to help you get your programs and documents up and running as quickly and as easily as possible.
Customizing the Start Menu for Easier Program and Document Launching
The whole purpose of the Start menu is, as its name implies, to start things, particularly programs and documents. Yes, you can also launch these objects via shortcut icons on the desktop, but that’s not a great alternative because windows cover the desktop most of the time. So, if you want to get something going in Windows Vista, the vast majority of the time you’re going to have to do it via the Start menu. The good news is that Windows Vista’s Start menu is wonderfully flexible and geared, in fact, to launching objects with as few mouse clicks or keystrokes as possible. To get to that state, however, you have to work with a few relatively obscure options and settings, which you’ll learn about in the next few sections.
Getting More Favorite Programs on the Start Menu
The Start menu is divided vertically into two sections, as shown in Figure 13.1:
Favorite programs—This is the left side of the Start menu, which appears by default with a white background. This side includes the fixed Internet and E-mail icons at the top, and below them are shortcut icons for the nine programs that you’ve used most frequently.
Built-in features—This is the right side of the Start menu, which appears by default with a black or gray background. It contains icons for various Windows Vista folders and
features.
The list of favorite programs is one of the best features in Windows Vista because it ensures that the programs you use most often are always just a couple of mouse clicks away. If there’s a downside to this feature, it’s that it displays only nine icons, so the list omits many frequently used programs. However, if you have enough room, you can tell Windows Vista to display up to 30 icons in this area. Here’s how:
1. Right-click the Start menu and then click Properties. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears.
2. Select the Start Menu tab.
3. Make sure that the Start Menu option is activated and then click the Customize button to its right. The Customize Start Menu dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 13.2.
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FIGURE 13.1 The Start menu lists favorite programs on the left and built-in icons for Vista features on the right.
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Built-in features Pinned programs
Most-used programs
FIGURE 13.2 Use the Customize Start Menu dialog box to set the maximum number of shortcut icons that appear in the Start menu’s list of favorite programs.
4. Use the Number of Recent Programs to Display spin box to specify the number of favorite programs you want to display.
5. If you don’t think you have enough screen space to display all the icons, deactivate the Large Icons option (it’s at the bottom of the list of Start menu features). This significantly reduces the amount of space each icon takes up on the Start menu.
6. Click OK to return to the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.
7. Click OK.
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To prevent a program from appearing on the Start menu’s frequent programs list, open the Registry Editor and display the following key:
HKCR\Applications\program.exe
Here,program.exeis the name of the program’s executable file. (If the key doesn’t exist, create it.) Create a string value called NoStartPage(you don’t need to assign a value to it). Restart Vista to put the new setting into effect.
Clearing the Recent Programs List
Windows Vista allows you to clear the Start menu list of recent programs. Why would you want to do this? You might want to start over with an empty list of frequent programs so that you can populate it with the programs you will use over the next few days.
Alternatively, you might want to keep the list cleared for privacy reasons if other people have access to your computer. Follow these steps to clear the list:
1. Right-click the Start menu and then click Properties. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears.
2. Select the Start Menu tab.
3. Deactivate the Store and Display a List of Recently Opened Programs check box.
4. Click Apply. Windows Vista clears the list.
5. If you want to start a new list, activate the Store and Display a List of Recently Opened Programs check box.
6. Click OK.
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If you need to get rid of only one or two icons from the Start menu’s frequent
programs list, click Start, right-click an icon you want to delete, and then click Remove from This List.
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Customizing the Internet and E-mail Icons
Above the Start menu’s favorite programs list is thepinned programslist (pointed out in Figure 13.1), which contains two icons that appear permanently on the Start menu:
Internet—By default, this icon launches the Internet Explorer web browser.
E-mail—By default, this icon launches the Windows Mail email client.
NOTE
If your computer’s manufacturer or reseller preinstalled Windows Vista, you might notice that the manufacturer or reseller altered the default Internet and email
programs to support other software packaged with your computer. Similarly, third-party programs might mess with these icons. Microsoft Office, for example, will associate Outlook with the E-mail icon. However, you should be able to modify the defaults further to reflect your own preferences.
If you have multiple web browsers or email clients installed on your computer, you can customize these icons to launch a different program. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Right-click the Start menu and then click Properties to display the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.
2. Select the Start Menu tab, make sure that the Start Menu option is activated, and then click the Customize button to its right to open the Customize Start Menu dialog box.
3. If you want the Internet icon to appear on the Start menu, leave the Internet Link check box activated; otherwise, deactivate it and continue with step 5.
4. If the Internet Link check box is activated, use the list to its right to choose the web browser you want associated with the icon.
5. If you want the E-mail icon to appear on the Start menu, leave the E-mail Link check box activated; otherwise, deactivate it and continue with step 7.
6. If the E-mail Link check box is activated, use the list to its right to choose the email client you want associated with the icon.
7. Click OK.
It’s also possible to change the text and icon used for the Internet item on the Start menu. You do this by first displaying the following key in the Registry Editor:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\client\
Here,clientis the name of the executable file of the program associated with the icon (such as Iexplorer.exefor Internet Explorer). The (Default) setting controls the icon text, and the (Default) setting of the DefaultIconsubkey controls the icon.
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Customizing the text and icon for the email item is similar. You’ll find the necessary settings here:
HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\client\
Hereclientis the name of the program associated with the icon (such as Windows Mail).
The (Default) setting controls the icon text, and the (Default) setting of the DefaultIcon subkey controls the icon. Note that you might have to create this subkey.
Setting Program Access and Defaults
You can modify Windows Vista to use other programs as the default for activities such as web browsing, email, instant messaging, and media playing. This enables you to have your favorite programs available in more convenient locations and to have those programs launch automatically in certain situations.
Your version of Windows Vista is most likely set up to use Internet Explorer, Windows Mail, Windows Messenger, and Windows Media Player as the default programs for web browsing, email, instant messaging, and media playing, respectively. This means that Internet Explorer and Windows Mail are associated with the Start menu’s Internet and E- mail items. In addition, it means these programs launch automatically in response to certain events. For example, when you right-click a media file and then click Play, the media plays in Windows Media Player.
You can set up as defaults any other programs you have installed for web browsing, email, instant messaging, and media playing. You can also disable access to programs so that other users cannot launch them on your computer. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Select Start, Default Programs to display the Default Programs window.
2. Click Set Program Access and Computer Defaults and then enter your User Account Control credentials when prompted. Windows Vista displays the Set Program Access and Computer Defaults dialog box.
3. Click the configuration you want to start with:
Computer Manufacturer—This configuration appears if your computer vendor defined its own program defaults.
Microsoft Windows—This configuration is the Windows default as defined by Microsoft.
Non-Microsoft—This configuration is generated by Windows Vista if you have one or more non-Microsoft programs available in any of the categories (such as a web browser or email program).
Custom—Use this item to configure your own default programs.
4. If you activated the Custom configuration, you see options similar to those shown in Figure 13.3. You can do two things with this configuration:
. Activate the option buttons of the programs you prefer to use as the system defaults.
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. Deactivate the Enable Access to This Program check box for any program that you don’t want other users to have access to.
Customizing the Start Menu for Easier Program and Document Launching 365
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FIGURE 13.3 Use the Set Program Access and Computer Defaults feature to set up a custom program configuration for your system.
5. Click OK to put the new defaults into effect.
Pinning a Favorite Program Permanently to the Start Menu
The Start menu’s list of favorite programs is such a time-saving feature that it can be frus- trating if a program drops off the list. Another aggravation is that the icons often change position because Windows Vista displays the programs in order of popularity. When you display the Start menu, this constant shifting of icons can result in a slight hesitation while you look for the icon you want. (This is particularly true if you’ve expanded the maximum number of icons.) Contrast both of these problems with the blissfully static nature of the pinned programs list’s Internet and E-mail icons, which are always where you need them, when you need them.
You can get the same effect with other shortcuts by adding—or pinning—them to the pinned programs list. To do this, first open the Start menu and find the shortcut you want to work with. Then you have two choices:
. Right-click the shortcut and then click Pin to Start Menu . Drag the shortcut and drop it in the pinned programs list
You can also use this technique to pin shortcuts residing on the desktop to the pinned programs lists. If you decide later that you longer want a shortcut pinned to the Start menu, right-click the shortcut and then click Unpin from Start Menu.
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When you display the Start menu, you can select an item quickly by pressing the first letter of the item’s name. If you add several shortcuts to the pinned programs list, however, you might end up with more than one item that begins with the same letter.
To avoid conflicts, rename each of these items so that they begin with a number. For example, renaming “Backup” to “1 Backup” means you can select this item by press- ing 1 when the Start menu is displayed. (To rename a Start menu item, right-click the item and then click Rename.)
Streamlining the Start Menu by Converting Links to Menus
The right side of the Start menu contains a number of built-in Windows Vista features, which are set up as links. That is, you click an item and a window or a program runs in response. That’s fine for items such as Search or Default Programs, but it’s not very effi- cient for an item such as Control Panel where you’re usually looking to launch a specific icon. It seems wasteful to have to open the Control Panel window, launch the icon, and then close Control Panel.
A better approach is to convert a link into a menu of items that would normally display in a separate window. For example, the Control Panel item could display a menu of its icons. One of the nicer features in Windows Vista is that it’s easy to convert many of the Start menu links into menus. Here are the required steps:
1. Right-click the Start menu and then click Properties to display the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears.
2. Select the Start Menu tab, make sure the Start Menu option is activated, and then click the Customize button to its right to open the Customize Start Menu dialog box.
3. In the list of Start menu items, find the following items and activate the Display as a Menu option:
Computer Control Panel Documents Games Music
Personal folder (your user name) Pictures
CHAPTER 13 Customizing the Windows Vista Interface 366
NOTE
To see an example of the Start menu with the Control Panel displayed as a menu, see Figure 10.3 on page 294.
4. Activate the Favorites Menu check box to add a menu of your Internet Explorer favorites to the Start menu.
5. In the Start Menu Items group, find the System Administrative Tools item and acti- vate the Display on the All Programs Menu and the Start Menu option. This gives you an Administrative Tools menu that offers shortcuts to features such as Computer Management, Device Manager, System Configuration, and the Local Security Policy editor.
6. Click OK to return to the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.
7. Make sure that the Store and Display a List of Recently Opened Files check box is activated. This adds the Recent Items menu to the Start menu, which displays the last 15 documents that you worked with.
8. Click OK.
Adding, Moving, and Removing Other Start Menu Icons
In addition to the main Start menu, you can also customize the icons on the All Programs menu and submenus to suit the way you work. Using the techniques I discuss in this section you can perform the following Start menu productivity boosts:
. Move important features closer to the beginning of the All Programs menu hierarchy
. Remove features you don’t use
. Add new commands for features not currently available on the All Programs menu (such as the Registry Editor)
Windows Vista offers three methods for adding and removing Start menu shortcuts, and I explain each of them in the next three sections.
Dragging and Dropping onto the Start Button
The quickest way to add a shortcut is to drag an executable file from Windows Explorer and then do either of the following:
Drop it on the Start button—This pins the shortcut to the Start menu.
Hover over the Start button—After a second or two, the main Start menu appears. Now hover the file over All Programs until the menu appears, and then drop the file where you want the shortcut to appear.
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Working with the Start Menu Folder
The All Programs shortcuts are stored in two places:
. %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs—Shortcuts in this subfolder appear only in the current user’s Start menu. Here, %AppData%is%SystemDrive%\
Users\user\AppData\Roaming, where useris the name of the current user.
. %AllUsersProfile%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs—TheAll Users\
Start Menu\Programssubfolder. Shortcuts in this folder appear to all users. Here,
%AllUsersProfile%is%SystemDrive%\ProgramData.
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A quick way to get to the current user’s Start Menu folder is to right-click the Start button and then click Explore.
By working with these folders, you get the most control over not only where your Start menu shortcuts appear, but also the names of those shortcuts. Here’s a summary of the techniques you can use:
. Within the Programs folder and its subfolders, you can drag existing shortcuts from one folder to another.
. To create a new shortcut, drag the executable file and drop it inside the folder you want to use. Remember that if you want to create a shortcut for a document or other nonexecutable file, right-drag the file and then select Create Shortcuts Here when you drop the file.
. You can create your own folders within the Programs folder hierarchy and they’ll appear as submenus within the All Programs menu.
. You can rename a shortcut the same way you rename any file.
. You can delete a shortcut the same way you delete any file.
Working with All Programs Menu Shortcuts Directly
Many of the chores listed in the previous section are more easily performed by working directly within the All Programs menu itself. That is, you open the All Programs menu, find the shortcut you want to work with, and then use any of these techniques:
. Drag the shortcut to another section of its current menu . Drag the shortcut to another menu or to the Recycle Bin
. Right-click the shortcut and then select a command (such as Delete) from the context menu
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