Windows Vista came with a built in CD Burning features, but since there are a lot of better freeware CD Burning applications for Windows Vista, you might want to disable Vista built in CD Burning.

This will require you to get your hand dirty with Windows Vista Registry Editor. Be advised that editing, tweaking or playing with the registry can lead your system to serious trouble. Make sure to backup your registry before following the steps below to disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning.

To disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning:

1. Go to start menu > run
2. Type “regedit” without the quote
3. At the registry editor, navigate to
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
4. Right click on the left pane, and create a new DWORD (32bit) key
5. Type NoCDBurning without the quote.
   
6. Double click on NoCDBurning and enter the value as “1″.
7. Close Registry Editor
8. Log off and then log in again for the changes to take effect.

This steps will Disable Windows Vista Built In CD Burning. To re-enable Vista Built In CD Burning, just change the Dword value to “0″.

See also:

• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)
• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Microsoft admits Microsoft Windows Vista mistake (4)
• Disable Task Manager in Windows Vista (0)
• Disable Run Command in Windows Vista (1)

Talk have been circulating on the net about the release of Vista Service Pack 2 before the launch of public beta Windows 7 in mid December this year.

It also have been confirmed that Microsoft have been delivering a beta version of SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 to some of the selected Microsoft hardware and software partner. Microsoft has also put up a page on “Information about Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2″ at their website.

Although there are no details available on the features of the new Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, there are claim that Microsoft will integrate Hyper-V with the Windows Server 2008 in the release of the Service Pack 2.

What makes me wonder if whether Microsoft will integrate and introduce some of the features of Windows 7 in the incoming release of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

See also:

• Windows 7 with DirectX 11 (0)
• Windows 7 will support two touch screen notebook (0)
• Windows 7 will be ready for Christmas (0)
• Windows 7 will be call Windows 7 (2)
• Windows 7 New Features? (0)

Sometimes disabling Task Manager in Windows Vista can prove to be useful in securing your Windows Operating System. This tutorial will show you how to disable Task Manager in Windows Vista.

To disable Task Manager in Windows Vista using Registry Tweak, follow these steps:

1. Go to Start Menu
2. Go to “Run”
3. Type “regedit” without the quote to run Registry Editor
4. Go to
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system.
5. Go to the right pane of Registry Editor, right click and create a new DWORD value
6. Name the DWORD value “DisableTaskMgr” without the quote
7. Set the value to “1″
8. Save and restart your computer

The process above will Disable Task Manager in Windows Vista. To undo the the process, just change the value of “1″ to “0″.

See also:

• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)
• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Microsoft admits Microsoft Windows Vista mistake (4)
• How To Disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning (1)
• Disable Run Command in Windows Vista (1)

Run command is a useful tools in every variant of Microsoft Windows, but sometimes for security purposes you might want to disable the Run command completely in Microsoft Windows. This tutorial will show how to disable run command completely in Microsoft Windows Vista.

To disable run command in Windows Vista

• Go to Windows Vista start menu.
• Type “gpedit.msc” without the quote.
• This will open the Group Policy Editor in Windows Vista
• Go to User Configuration
• Go to Administrative Template
• Go to Start Menu and Taskbar
• Choose “Remove run from start menu”
• Right click on “Remove run from start menu and choose “Properties”
• Select “Enable” at the “Remove run from start menu” properties page
• Click “Ok” and restart your computer

Be advised that by removing Run command, you will not be able to use the Run command anymore and everything that are associated with the run command.

See also:

• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Microsoft admits Microsoft Windows Vista mistake (4)
• Change search engine provider in Windows Internet Explorer 7 (0)
• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)
• How To Disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning (1)

Do you know that the Windows key that sits between your Ctrl and Alt key when combined with other key will produce shortcuts that will save you a lot of time and increase your productivity.

The windows key, or also known as a Flag key, Start key, or Menu key is originally introduced during the Windows 95 Operating System. With the introduction of Microsoft Windows XP, the Windows key were included in every keyboard manufactured after 1st September 2003, by (you guessed who) Microsoft. And, not to be suprised, Microsoft are pushing that all new keyboard will incorporated the new Windows Vista logo (circle) as the Windows key instead of the traditional Windows key logo.

Back to the usage of Windows Key Shortcuts. Below are the shortcuts that you can use by combining the with Windows key:

• Windows Key to Open the Start Menu
• Windows Key + D to Show Desktop
• Windows Key + E to Open My Computer
• Windows Key + F to Open Search
• Windows Key + F + Control Key to Open Search For Computers program
• Windows Key + F1 to Open Help
• Windows Key + L to Switch Between Users, or Lock desktop while unattended
• Windows Key + M to Minimize All Windows
• Windows Key + M + Shift Key to restore after Minimizing All Windows
• Windows Key + R to Open Run Dialog
• Windows Key + U to open Utility Manager
• Windows Key + Y to Open Yahoo Messenger (if loaded)
• Windows Key + Pause Key To Open System Properties
• Windows Key + Tab Key To Switch Between Active Programs
• Windows Key + X to enter Windows Mobility Center (Windows Vista+ only)
• Windows Key + P to switch Projection modes (clone, extend, single, multiple monitors, etc.) (Windows 7 only)

The usage of Windows Key shortcuts will definitely save you a lot of mouse click if you could master them, and incorporate them in your daily Windows computing.

See also:

• No related posts.

Microsoft admits Windows Vista mistake which is Windows Vista is not compatible doesn’t have support for many applications and devices, in the mean time, Microsoft also criticize Apple commercial advertisement which openly humiliating Windows Vista.

Brad Brooks, Windows Vista VP, peaking at a keynote address at Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference claim that Microsoft is ready to admit mistakes and is ready to tell a different story about Windows Vista.

Brooks also claim that In the coming weeks and months, Microsoft will launch a huge advertising campaign that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Microsoft advertised Vista to small businesses in The Wall Street Journal and USA Today the last two weeks, and plans a much larger wave of ads under the tagline “Free the People.” Brooks gave a taste of what’s coming with a few swipes at Apple and some selected highlights of Windows Vista’s features.

Calling Apple as a noisy competitor relating to their “I’m a Mac… and I’m a PC” advertisement, Brooks announce that Microsoft is ready to counterattack Apple.

Considering that the fact that Windows Vista have been on the market for quite some time, and only now that Microsoft openly admit their mistakes is quite annoying to me.

See also:

• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Disable Run Command in Windows Vista (1)
• Change search engine provider in Windows Internet Explorer 7 (0)
• Windows 7 will be call Windows 7 (2)
• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)

Windows Vista Welcome Center is the first screen you would come to when Windows Vista start, if you choose not to turn the Windows Vista Welcome Center off. The Windows Vista welcome center is design to help beginner using Windows Vista by providing basic information about the system.

Rumors have it that one of the key reasons for the Welcome Center appearing by default is so that Microsoft could comply with the government’s request for the OS to provide equal access to all OEMs who want to install software for their customers as part of the antitrust settlement. So, OEMs are entitled to extra information on how to alter the Welcome Center to use it for themselves.

The Windows Vista welcome center can be easily disabled by unchecking the “Run at startup” check box in the bottom left corner of Vista Welcome Center windows. But there are another extreme way to disable Vista Welcome Center by editing Registry, which are unnecessary, but just for the fun of it.

To disable Windows Vista Welcome Center using registry hack:

1. Run regedit: Start Menu > run > regedit > enter
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
3. Delete the key “WelcomeCenter”.

Or you can try this method to disable Windows Vista Welcome Center:

1. Run Command prompt: Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt > Right Click and select “Run as Administrator”.
2. Type : reg delete HKCR\CLSID\{FD6905CE-52F-41F1-9A6F-135D9C6622CC}
3. Enter

Those are two ways to disable Windows Vista Welcome Center using registry hack.

See also:

• No related posts.

Remote assistance in Microsoft Windows Vista is a nifty utility for troubleshooting system remotely. However, due to security reason, you might want to disable remote assistant in Microsoft Windows Vista. By disabling remote assistance in Microsoft Windows Vista, request for remote assistance to other users will be disabled.

Follow the steps below to disable remote assistance in Microsoft Windows Vista

1. Click start menu.
2. Select “Control Panel”.
3. Click “System and Maintenance”.
4. Click “System”.
5. Choose “Remote Settings”.
6. Under “Remote Assistance” , untick “Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer”.
7. Click “Ok”.

See also:

• No related posts.

With all the bugs and issues with Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista latest service pack, some of you might want to wait untill all the bugs and issues regarding Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1 are sorted out by Microsoft. But how do you stop Windows updates from automatically install the latest updates for Windows?

Here is a registry entry to block the automatic XP SP3 and Vista SP1 installation.

1. Open notepad and copy the code below:
   ——————————————————————————————–
   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
   “DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000001
   ——————————————————————————————–
2. Save the file. Choose “Save as type” as “All files” and name the file as “blocksp.reg” (without the quote).
3. Merge the registry entry to block windows service pack installation by double clicking the registry file.

This registry entry will disable the automatic installation of service pack for 12 months.

In case you have changed your mind in the future, just create another registry file (using the same step 1 to 3 above) with the following code:
——————————————————————————————-
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
“DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000000
——————————————————————————————–

This will allow the automatic installation of Windows Service Pack with Windows automatic updates.

See also:

• Windows Vista SP1 proved troublesome (4)
• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 RC2 (3)

Only after the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), users are complaining about the problem that came with the Windows Vista SP1. Some user said that Windows Vista SP1 gave him bluescreen on the third part of the update after he downloaded Windows Vista SP1 through Windows update.

Other problems reported is that after he installed Windows Vista SP1, his computer seems to be slower than usual, making him to switch back to Windows Vista without SP1.

Windows Vista SP1 can be downloaded free from Windows update website, and is available in five languages, which is English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. Microsoft was quoted claiming that Windows Vista SP1 contains numerous features designed to enhance the operating system’s speed, performance, and stability. Among other things, it offers a patch that will allow users to run the BitLocker encryption tool on multiple hard drives. It also improves the speed at which the OS wakes up from hibernate mode.

Windows Vista SP1 will also remove from Vista the so-called Kill Switch, which is a feature that deactivated key components of the Operating System if Microsoft detected users were not running a properly licensed copy of Vista.

Good thing though, as this Kill Switch feature was plagued by false alarms that flagged thousands of legitimate Vista users as software pirates.

See also:

• How to block Windows Automatic Updates from installing XP SP3 and Vista SP1 (1)