Windows V I S T A

Speed Up Microsoft Windows Vista

Gadget Play
If you want to display a Gadget on your desktop instead of the Sidebar, right-click the Gadget, select "Detach from Sidebar," and just drag the Gadget where you want it on your screen. To reattach it, right-click it again and select "Attach to Sidebar."

Sight for Sore Eyes
The option to adjust the size of onscreen items such as icons resides in a slightly different place in Vista than in XP. Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Personalization, and click on "Change size of on-screen items." In addition to the 96dpi and 120dpi settings, you can click the Custom DPI button to select even larger scales.

Throw Out the Old
The new Windows Photo Gallery is a cool tool, but its storage demands can become hefty. That's because when you alter a photo, Vista saves a copy of the original. If you want to save space by deleting originals, open the File menu, select Options, and select an interval under "Move originals to Recycle Bin after." The choices range from one day to one year.

Case Closed
If you're using a notebook PC, you can specify how Vista reacts when you shut its lid. Click Start > Control Panel, then click on Mobile PC. Under Power Options, click on "Change what closing the lid does." Next to "When I close the lid:" specify the resulting action when you shut your notebook. You can choose different options for when it's plugged in and when it's using battery power.

Exit Strategy
Windows Mail doesn't automatically remove messages from your Deleted Items folder when you exit it, but you can set it up to do so. Go to Tools > Options, then select the Advanced tab. Click the Maintenance button at the bottom of the tab, then check the box next to "Empty messages from the 'Deleted Items' folder on exit" and click Close > Apply > OK.

Know When to Fold(er) Them
Vista makes searching through your files a lot easier. One way: It offers you the option to save searches as Search Folders for future use. When you perform a search, click the Save Search button in the results window, then name your search and click Save. Later, click on your username on the Start menu, and click on Searches under Favorite Links to see your folder of saved searches. Double-click a saved search to run it again.

Time on Your Side
The expanded parental controls in Vista let you restrict which Web sites your kids can visit, which games they can play, and which programs they can use. You can also limit the times of day your children can use the computer. Assuming you've already set up a user account for your child, go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety, then click "Set up parental controls for any user." Select the child's account, click on "Time limits," and then click on the blue box next to "Blocked." On the time grid, you can then "draw" in the hours you want access to be denied.

Get Out the Map
The Map Network Drive option has disappeared from the Windows Explorer window, but it's a snap to get it back. Simply click the Alt key while in Windows Explorer for the familiar classic File menu. Or you can right-click on Computer (either in the Start menu or in the Explorer menu), and select Map Network Drive.

Feed Your News Addiction
Feed Headlines is one of the most useful Sidebar Gadgets Vista launched with, but you'll probably want more than the four default Microsoft feeds that Vista offers. To include a feed in the Sidebar, simply add a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed to Internet Explorer 7. It will then show up in the "Display this feed" drop-down menu for the Feed Headlines gadget.


New Start
The new Windows Defender antispyware program not only protects your system from rogue applications, but it can also help you prune your slate of programs that load at startup, which can affect performance. Open Windows Defender (from the taskbar or Start > All Programs), then click Tools > Software Explorer. Highlight the name of each program you don't want running at startup, then click Disable > Yes.