5 Essentials to Make Vista Slicker

[Alan]

OK, you've gone through the effort of installing Windows Vista, or else you've bought a fresh, shiny computer with a fresh, shiny copy of Vista on it.
Now what?
Like any self-respecting power user, you want to bend the new operating system to your will. There are plenty of ways you can do that in Windows Vista. To get you started, here are five must-do,s for the first time you run the new operating system.

1. Add gadgets

The Windows Sidebar and its gadgets -- useful and fun mini-apps that sit on the right edge of your desktop -- are one of Vista's niftiest new features. So the first thing you should do is make the Sidebar always visible and add some new gadgets to it.
To make the Windows Sidebar visible, double-click its icon in the System Tray. You'll see several default gadgets already in place. To add new ones, click the plus sign at the top of the Sidebar, then drag the gadgets you like from the window that appears over to the Sidebar. To see even more gadgets, click the "Get more gadgets online" link at the bottom right of the window.

Until now, the list of gadgets available for Vista has been fairly small, but Microsoft just announced partnerships with major media players, including Time, People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle, as well as other companies, which will bring many more gadgets to Vista.
To customize any gadget, hover your mouse over it, click the little wrench icon, and fill out the form that appears. To remove a gadget, hover your mouse over it and click the X. You can even change the opacity of any gadget. Right-click the gadget, and from the Opacity menu item, choose the amount of opacity you want, anywhere from 20% (very transparent) to 100% (no transparency).

2. Get more security -- for free

Windows Vista is more secure than previous versions of Windows, but it's missing one important security feature -- antivirus software. There are plenty of for-pay antivirus tools available, but the truth is, you don't need to pay for good antivirus protection.
There are several free antivirus programs for non-commercial use that work with Windows Vista, including AVG Anti-Virus, PC Tools Anti-Virus and Avast. I've been using Avast with my Vista computer, and it works like a charm. It doesn't take up much RAM or system resources, offers customizable protection, and offers resident protection as well as scanning.

3. Change file and folder defaults

The defaults for displaying files and folders in Windows Vista are truly baffling, and intensely annoying. By default, you won't be able to see operating system files, or certain files and folders (called hidden files and folders). And worse still, most file extensions are hidden.
It's easy to change all that. Run Windows Explorer and choose Organize. Then choose "Folder and Search Options" from the menu that appears, and click the View tab on the Folder Options dialog box. In the "Files and Folders" section under "Advanced settings," select "Show hidden files and folders" in the "Hidden files and folders" group. Then uncheck the boxes next to "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files." Click OK, and you'll be able to view all those file types, as nature intended.

4. Speed up Windows Vista with ReadyBoost

There's a simple and inexpensive way to speed up Windows Vista -- use a USB flash drive in concert with the new ReadyBoost feature. ReadyBoost loads commonly used files into memory on a flash drive so that they're there when you need them. It's faster to load the files from flash memory than from your hard disk, and so it speeds up your PC.
The smallest cache that ReadyBoost can use is 256MB, and the largest is 4GB. For best performance, Microsoft recommends anywhere from a 1:1 to a 2.5:1 ratio of flash memory to system RAM. That means if you have 512MB of RAM, you should use anywhere from 512MB to 1.25GB of flash memory. For a 2GB system, use anywhere from 2GB to 4GB of flash memory.
Keep in mind that not all USB flash drives meet the criteria Microsoft has set for ReadyBoost. The drive must support USB 2.0, and be able to access data at 3.5MB/sec. for 4KB random reads uniformly across the entire device and at 2.5MB/sec. for 512KB random writes uniformly across the device. It's tough to find out about these specs for a particular flash drive before you buy, so make sure you can return whatever you purchase.
As of yet, there is no certification program to tell you which USB flash drives will work and which won't, so you can't look for a logo, either. (Microsoft says it may eventually have a certification program.) However, there's been some third-party research into which USB drives work and which don't. ActiveWin.com has a roundup of select USB drives that are compatible with ReadyBoost. It's a somewhat random list, though. So if your USB flash drive isn't on ActiveWin's list, it's not a bad idea to try it with ReadyBoost to see if it works anyway, as outlined on the next page.
Using ReadyBoost is exceptionally easy. Plug in the USB flash drive, and from the screen that appears, select "Speed up my system." If the flash drive won't work with ReadyBoost, a screen appears telling you so. If it does work with ReadyBoost, you'll see a screen like that shown below. Accept the defaults for how much memory to use for ReadyBoost, or move the slider to change how much to use. Make sure "Use this device" is selected, then click OK. You're ready to go.

5. Customize your desktop

You will spend a good portion of your computing life staring at the Windows Vista desktop. So take a few minutes to make it your own. There are plenty of ways to customize your Windows desktop, including changing the background, screensaver and so on. And there's even a way to customize the transparent glass windows in Aero.
Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize, and a Control Panel applet appears that lets you customize just about any aspect of the desktop, as well as many other Vista features, including the sounds and mouse pointers it uses.
It's all straightforward to do, except for finding out how to customize the color and transparency of glass windows. To do that, click "Windows Color and Appearance." A screen like the one below appears. On the top part of the screen, choose the color you want for your windows. If you want to create a custom color, click "Show color mixer" and use the sliders to create one.

Make sure that the box next to "Enable transparency" is checked if you want your windows to be transparent. If you don't want them transparent, uncheck the box. To change the transparency of your windows, move the slider next to "Color intensity" to the left or right. Moving it to the left makes windows more transparent; to the right makes them more opaque. When you're done, click OK.