Disabling User Account Control
If you feel confident with taking control of security, you probably don’t need the User Account Control (UAC) altogether. To disable UAC, do the following:
1. Open the Start Menu and select Control Panel
2. Select User Accounts
3. Select Turn User Account Control on or off
4. Uncheck the box next to “Use User Account Control (UAC)…” and press OK
You will now be asked to restart your computer to activate your changes. After your computer is restarted you won’t be bothered anymore by the UAC.
To re-enable UAC, repeat the above process and at step 4 recheck the box next to “Use User Account Control (UAC)…” and press OK.
Restoring the Entire Registry using System Restore
1. Click Start, type systempropertiesprotection in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue
2. In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click System Restore
3. In the System Restore dialog box select Choose a different restore point, and then click Next
4. Select the restore point that you want to use, and then click Next
5. Confirm your restore point, and then click Finish System restore - this restores the selected Windows Vista configuration and then restarts the computer
6. Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..
Automatically Delete Temporary Files
The Windows Disk Cleanup Wizard will delete your temporary files, but only if they are over a week old. To create a simple batch script that will clean up your temporary directories, do the following:
Creating the Batch File
1. Open Notepad and type the following:
cd C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local rmdir /S /Q Temp
2. Save the file as cleantemp.bat
3. Now double click on the file to remove your temporary files and free up space on your computer.
If this doesn’t work and gives an access error, try replacing %username% with you windows login username.
Automating the Process
To automate this process, so you do not need to remember to run it, do the following:
1. Right click on the batch file and select create shortcut
2. Place the shortcut in your startup folder in the start menu.
Now when you log in to Windows Vista, your temporary files will be deleted.
Disable Hibernation
1. Click Start, All Programs, and then right click on Command Prompt. (Or type CMD into the start menu search box.)
2. Select Run as administrator.
3. If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
4. In the command prompt window, type “powercfg –h off” (without the quotes).
5. Close the Command Prompt window.
Delete the Hibernation File
1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. (Or type Disk Cleanup into the start menu search box and hit enter.)
2. If prompted to choose a drive, select the drive in which Windows XP/Vista is installed on to and press OK.
3. Disk Cleanup will scan the hard drive and present you with a list of options.
4. Check Hibernation File Cleaner, and then click OK.
5. When asked “Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?” click on the Delete Files button.
Remove Entries from Add/Remove Programs
There may be several reasons for removing certain programs from the add/remove programs list. One reason may be that you have no intention of removing some programs and they are cluttering the list - or you may want to remove that net monitoring program so your kids can’t remove it. In this guide you will learn how to remove these programs.
I recommend you backup your registry before doing this; however, if you follow these instructions, you will be fine.
1. Press the windows key and R
2. Type in regedit
3. Now you will see the registry editor.
4. Go to the following entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
5. In the left pane are the programs (some represented by numbers and letters, and some by their name) and in the right pane you can see the display name.
6. Find the key that corresponds to the program you want to hide. Select the key in the left pane and click File > Export
7. Choose a name for the file and save it. (This will allow you to restore the key when you want to uninstall the program.)
8. Now the key is backed up, you can delete the key by right clicking on it and choosing Delete