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.
That's it and you are done.
Use BitLocker Drive Encryption without TPM chip
Vista & XP Service Pack Blockers Issued
Microsoft Corp. posted a tool to its download site today that will block automatic installations of several upcoming service packs, including Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP SP3.
The Windows Service Pack Blocker ToolKit blocking tools are designed for businesses, particularly large corporations and organizations that require extensive testing before they deploy a service pack or operating system upgrade.
The download includes three versions of the tool -- an executable, a script and a group policy template -- that prevents the service packs from reaching PCs via Windows Update, Microsoft's default update service.
The tool blocks Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 for varying lengths of time. Vista SP1 and XP SP3 can be blocked for as long as 12 months after the service packs are released in final form, while the Server 2003 SP2 blocker bars the download only through March 2008.
Vista SP1, which enters public testing Tuesday, is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2008. Windows XP SP3, on the other hand, has a delivery date of sometime in the first half of next year.
Microsoft has offered similar blockers before, most recently one last year that kept Internet Explorer 7 from automatically installing on Windows XP systems. The tool lets all other updates, including monthly security patches, pass through Windows Update without modification.
Microsoft also plans to unveil Office 2007 SP1 next week, but has said nothing about a blocker for the suite update.
Yahoo! Messenger for Vista finally launched
The long awaited Yahoo! messenger for Windows Vista is finally here. This new messenger has been made exclusively for Windows Vista users. The messenger has something new, especially it's cool looks.
The new features in Yahoo! Messenger include a complete change of layout, skin chooser, filter-as-you-type for easy searching, spell checker and a convenient tabbed conversation window that controls your desktop clutter. The rebuild also incorporates sidebar graphics that have the ability to show favorite contacts separated from conversation windows. Graphical elements in the new IM take Microsoft's graphic subsystem into play for vector based interfaces and enhanced emoticons. The overall look is very Vista-y. In terms of sharing items with your contacts, you can send files as large as 2 GB. There’s also the ability to send IMs to both your Yahoo! and Windows Live Messenger contacts. Yahoo Messenger for Vista also leverages the desktop search in Vista to let the user search for photos stored on the computer, and it includes new animated emoticons.
There are some things missing in this version of Yahoo! Messenger. What’s missing for this preview, however, is the voice, webcam, chat rooms, SMS, IMVironments, Audibles, plug-ins, photo-sharing (unless you send the photo as a file), and conferencing. These features will most probably appear in the next Vista update as they are in works now.
Grab a copy of Yahoo! Messenger for Vista ..
'Purple Screen Of Death' hits Windows Vista Users
While most users of Microsoft Windows-based PCs have seen their systems lockup and display the dreaded 'blue screen of death', a new, lavender-hued variant of the problem has emerged.
The so-called "purple screen of death" occurs when there's a conflict between certain system drivers and Windows Vista's Desktop Window Manager, according to researchers at NeoSmart -- a nonprofit technology tracking firm that first spotted the issue.
When the glitch occurs, windows on the Vista desktop turn purple and become unresponsive, according to NeoSmart. "It's caused by a low-level problem in the kernel, and it does make you want to restart your PC," NeoSmart researchers said in a blog post on the subject.
NeoSmart concedes that the problem is rare, and that most Vista users probably haven't encountered it. "It's something to do with the way the Windows Vista kernel handles a certain exception in the graphics driver subsystem."
One poster on the NeoSmart blog said he was hit with the 'purple screen of death' while his computer was equipped with Nvidia graphics drivers that had not yet been optimized for Vista. "It creeped me out... I mean, why purple, of all colors!?," wrote Mark Anders.
While the "purple screen of death" seems rare and not terribly serious, the system conflict behind the problem is the latest example of the almost innumerable issues that software makers face when rolling out major product upgrades.
Mac users have reported that Apple's new Leopard OS is itself subject to the "blue screen of death" -- a major system crash that previously was confined mostly to Microsoft operating systems.
Part of the problem is that, in their efforts to outdo each other, Apple and Microsoft are loading literally hundreds of new features into their latest offerings -- and testing all of them in all conceivable usage scenarios would be costly and impractical.
In the end, most software makers rely on post-release service packs to fix problems that emerge after a product has shipped. Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista is currently undergoing beta testing.
Vista Tweaking Tools
Looking for tools to get the most out of Windows Vista ??
Here are a few utilities to tweak up Windows Vista ..
1. VistaTweaker - VistaTweaker is, as its name says, a reliable, smart and yet easy-to-use Windows Vista tweaking tool. The interface is nice and simple.
· Every tweak has its description so the user can see what each one does.
· Tweaks are organized into tabs, each tab is subdivided in sections by group boxes. This way it is easy to find the tweak the user is looking for.
2. XdN Tweaker - Tweaking program that supports Vista (and XP/Server 203). It doesn't have tons of tweaking options, but does focus on ones that most users may want to attend to. No installation required (but .NET is for XP/2003). Address areas with Vista UAC, Control Panel, Media Player, Right-Click context options, Files and Folder tweaks, File Associations, Start Menu, IE7, Outlook Express/Windows Mail, Misc. Tools, and System Settings. Pretty handy little utility.
3. Windows Sidebar Styler - Allows some easy fine-tuning of the Windows Sidebar and provides extensions to the Windows Sidebar in Vista. Supports custom styles for resizing and customizing how it integrates with other elements. Still being refined but looks pretty handy.
4. EasyBCD 1.6 - Hard-core NeoSmart tool that is definitely NOT for "average" Vista users. Allows advanced Vista users/tweakers to set up, configure, and tweak the Windows Vista bootloader.
5. TweakUAC - this utility allows folks running under an Administrator-level profile to easily turn off UAC (User Account Control), turn it back on, or keep it running, but suppress the UAC elevation prompt requests.
6. Tweak VI from Totalidea - The basic version is free and additional feature "plugins" can be purchased. It's a nice business model. The Basic version allows you to tweak desktop items, Start menu items, IE, Firefox, hardware settings, system info, virtual desktops, subsystem folders, mousing, and shutdown options.
7. Vispa - This tweak-tool uses a non-install executable and is a bare-bones Vista utility. Run it and you get a long list of check boxes organized by subjects. To apply a setting, activate the checkbox. Pro: simple interface. Con: simple interface. So unless you already know and understand the consequence of your choice, this might not be a utility for Vista noobies.
Enhance SATA disk performance in Vista
Do you have a SATA disk drive in your computer ? If so, you can squeeze a little more performance out of your hard disk. This speeds up the performance of your hard disk by enhancing write caching. However, if your computer is not connected to a battery backup and you loose power you have a increased risk for data loss or corruption. If you have a laptop your chances are data loss or corruption are dramatically less since your laptop battery will kick on if your power source is lost. Let's get started:
- Click on the Start Button and key in Device Manager and hit Enter.
- Expand Disk Drives.
- Right click on your hard drive and select Properties.
- On the Policies tab, check Enable advanced performance.
- Hit OK and close Device Manager.
Crash Windows Vista In 10 Seconds Or Less
Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is a mighty paradox. On the one hand, it's more robust and feature-rich than any of its predecessors. For the most part, it's also more secure and is immune to many pretty sophisticated takedown attempts. But it's got one nasty Achilles' Heel, which'll enable you to crash the OS in under 10 seconds.
One of the simplest command sequences you can think of will take Vista down completely.
Hold down the Windows key and the letter "E" for 10 seconds or so.The next thing you know, Windows Vista is going berserk. I tried it a while ago and it was so annoying that I had to shut down the PC manually.
Give yourself high marks in Vista
The first time many of us opened up the Windows Experience Index (WEI) and saw the pitiful score, we were ticked off .
As you learn more about how the rating works, however, the score probably won't sting as much. To calculate the WEI, Vista takes the lowest of five scores that relate to your processor, RAM and so on. Maybe that's the goal of the WEI -- to embarrass or anger us into spending more money on better hardware.
There are a couple of ways to increase your rating . First off, run the test again. Sometimes just running it again will boost you over the three mark. Another tip is to turn off your Aero glass interface, which will boost performance. Or, you could go right into the .XML file that stores the results and give yourself a higher score.
The Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT), which is the tool that calculates the WEI, stores its output in the
%systemroot%\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore. Each time you run WinSAT, it creates a new XML file and stores it in this folder with the assessment date at the beginning of the file name.
To change your ratings , you will have to do a little hack .
Open the file using WordPad and change the top five scores to whatever number you like and close the file. When you go to look at your WEI settings again, it should show you the new number.
To revert this back to the original , just run the Performance test again .
Speed up Vista
Here are few techniques that can help speed up your Vista system in minutes ..
1. Disable the Indexing Service ..
Indexing services in Windows Vista indexes all the files and folders for faster access. It basically makes search function faster. By default all files are indexed, but you probably won’t need that. It is recommended that you should disable the indexing service on all the items other than the start menu. To speed up Vista, follow these steps:
* Select Start and type "index options", without quotations
* After the Indexing Options are loaded, click the Modify button.
* Then click Show all Locations
* A list of locations will be displayed in the form of a tree. Uncheck those folders which you do not want to be indexed. You can also use the Advanced button to specify file types to be indexed, but this part is optional.
* Click OK button to finalize.
2. Enable advanced write caching ..
Vista comes with built-in support for SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives. By default Vista does not enable write caching. To improve your data retrieval speed you must enable the write caching. Just follow these steps:
* Go to the hard drive properties
* Select the Policies tab
* Select the radio button labeled Optimize for performance.
* Check the boxes titled “Enable write caching on the disk” and “Enable Advance Performance”
* Click OK button to finish.
3. Speed up Start Menu Search ..
The good old MSCONFIG option is available in Vista as well. Lots of crappy programs load at boot time which consume large amount of memory and processor. To tweak follow these steps:
* Go to Start>Run or press Windows + R
* Type “msconfig” and click OK
* The System Configuration dialogue box will be displayed, select the Startup
* You will see list of checkboxes, most of them will be checked. Uncheck those ones which are not needed. More unchecked boxes will lead to better performance.
* Click OK button to finish this tweaking step.
4. Stop extra services ..
There are lots of services that are automatically started by default in Vista. Many such services are of no use for the user. There are services that get automatically added to the list when you install different third party software. They consume lots of RAM and processor. To speed up just follow these steps:
* Go to Start>Run and type “msconfig” without quotations.
* System Configuration window will be displayed.
* Go to the Services tab (middle one)
* To be on the safe side check the box “Hide all Microsoft Services”
* Now you will have a reduced version of the list, select ones that you feel are unnecessary.
* Press OK to finish.
There are some Windows Vista’s services that you can disable without any glitch:
* Windows Error Reporting
* Tablet PC Input Service ( don’t disable if you are using a tablet PC)
* Remote Registry
* Offline Files
* IKE and AuthIP IP Keying Modules
* Distributed Link Tracking Client
* Computer Browser
5. Disable Network Printer Search ..
Disabling network printer search may greatly improve Vista’s performance. When you browse through folders Vista is always looking for network printers. This search ends up in consuming lots of resources. To speed up performance just follow these steps:
* While you are in the explorer (My Computer), go to the Tools menu
* Select Folder options
* Go to the View tab
* Uncheck the box named “Automatically search for network printers”
After completing this step you would certainly feel the difference.
6. Use ReadyBoost ..
Enable Hidden Boot Screen in Windows Vista ..
Here is how you can enable the Aurora Boot Screen in Windows Vista:
1. Click on the start button and type in “MSCONFIG” in the searchbox and press Enter
2. Once the System Configuration tool loads , click on the Boot tab
3. Under Boot Options check “No GUI boot” .
4. Click apply and then OK and restart your computer to see the new boot screen.
The new boot screen looks good !!!
