Windows Vista Tips & Tricks

Ever wanted to have a list of hot keyboard combinations for Windows Vista? Invoke Windows Flip-3D (Aero Tab Switching) via a command line/shortcut or key combination? Or maybe just change the behaviour of User Account Control? This page should be most valuable to you and many instructions are applicable to Windows 7.

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Note: When these sections instruct you to "run", "type" or execute command lines, they mean typing the commands/instruction into Start->Run. Any reference to HKLM (HKey Local Machine) is a location within the Windows Registry (Start->Regedit). These tips & tricks assume you have sufficient knowledge to carry out the instructions and Guru Guy is not responsible for any consequences of implementing them.

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Windows Vista Tips

Windows Vista key combinations.

•     All shortcuts placed on the QuickLaunch are assigned Windows
      Launch shortcuts. Starting from left-to-right, the first shortcut
      can be launched by pressing [Windows Key] + 1, the second launched
      pressing [Windows Key] + 2 etc. (up to 0 on the keyboard - therefore
      first 10 shortcuts on quick launch this way only).
• [Windows]+T: Cycles through programs using the Live Taskbar feature.
• [Windows]+[Spacebar]: Brings the Windows Sidebar to the foreground.
• In a Windows Explorer windows, scrolling the slifer to resize icons between tiles and extra large icons is long-winded!
  Press [Ctrl] key and scroll your mouse wheel up and down to resize the icons from Tiles [smallest] to Extra Large Icons!
• [Ctrl] key and the mouse wheel combination also works on the Desktop.
  Scrolls icons from a microscopic 16 x 16 all the way up to a huge 256 x 256 renditions.
• Turn on Windows Explorer Menu Bar temporarily as required:
      Hold down [ALT] key.
• Copy a path to the Clipboard
      Hold down the [Shift] key, right-click on the file/folder, and select
       "Copy as Path". You can now simply paste it anywhere you want.
• Invoke Flip 3D (Windows Vista Aero beautiful sliding navigation of open windows)
       [Windows Key] + [Tab] or via a shortcut (or even start->run):
      C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe dwmapi.dll #105

Windows Vista Tweaks

• Tweak Windows Vista UAC (User Account Control) by:
      a. secpol.msc
      b. Local Policies->Security Options->Bottom of the list relate to UAC
      c. Change behaviour to "Elevate without prompting".
      d. Also you can change screen locking by "Switch to secure desktop" to "disabled"

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• Legacy Windows 9x 
• Windows Recovery Console Help & Commands

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