Microsoft Windows Vista Unleashed, 2nd Edition

Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Unleashed, Second Edition

Paul McFedries

Second Edition

Includes coverage of Windows Vista Service Pack 1!

Microsoft Windows Vista Unleashed, Second Edition, is a book for people, like you, who don’t consider themselves to be “average users.” It’s a book for anyone who finds that doing things the official way is slower, less efficient, and less powerful because Windows Vista was designed from the ground up to avoid confusing novice users. The result is default settings that restrict flexibility, interminable wizards that turn 2-step tasks into 12-step sagas, and the hiding of powerful and useful programs behind layers of menus and dialog boxes. To unleash the potential of Windows Vista, you need a different approach that blows away Vista’s novice features and scorns the standard way of doing things.

This book goes beyond the standard-issue techniques sanctioned by Microsoft and parroted in other Windows Vista books. Instead, this book offers shortcuts for boosting your productivity, customizations for making Windows Vista work the way you do, workarounds for known Windows Vista problems, and warnings for avoiding Windows Vista pitfalls. Along the way, you’ll learn about all kinds of insider details, undocumented features, powerful tools, and background facts that help put everything into perspective.

Paul McFedries is the president of Logophilia Limited, a technical writing company. He has been working with computers for more than 30 years and has been using Microsoft Windows since version 1. Paul has written more than 50 books that have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

• Learn what’s new in Windows Vista Service Pack 1
• Customize Windows Vista startup
• Troubleshoot software and hardware problems
• Tune Windows Vista’s performance
• Automate Windows Vista with powerful and flexible scripts
• Implement Internet security and privacy features
• Configure and administer a small network
• Get the most out of Control Panel, group policies, the Registry, Device Manager, and other powerful tools
• Set up a complete maintenance program to keep Windows Vista running smoothly
• Discover a complete list of Windows Vista shortcut keys, a detailed look at the Command Prompt, and a batch file primer
• Master the new desktop search engine and learn how to group, stack, and filter files
• Understand and work with Windows Vista’s User Account Control security feature
• Get the most out of your Tablet PC
• Take advantage of new Internet features such as RSS feeds, multiple home pages, and tabbed browsing

Category: Microsoft Operating Systems

Covers: Microsoft Windows Vista

User Level: Intermediate—Advanced

Related Article

Understanding the Windows Vista Reliability Monitor

Online Sample Chapter

Programming the Windows Script Host

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages

Table of Contents

Part I   Unleashing Day-to-Day Windows Vista

1        An Overview of Windows Vista

2        Customizing and Troubleshooting the Windows Vista Startup

3        Exploring Expert File and Folder Techniques

4        Mastering File Types

5        Installing and Running Applications

6        Getting the Most Out of User Accounts

7        Working with Digital Media

8        Vista’s Tools for Business: Contacts, Calendar, and Faxing

9        Mobile Computing in Windows Vista

Part II  Unleashing Essential Windows Vista Power Tools

10      Using Control Panel and Group Policies

11      Getting to Know the Windows Vista Registry

12      Programming the Windows Script Host 

Part III  Unleashing Windows Vista Customization and Optimization

13      Customizing the Windows Vista Interface  

14      Tuning Windows Vista’s Performance 

15      Maintaining Your Windows Vista System 1

16      Troubleshooting and Recovering from Problems

17      Getting the Most Out of Device Manager

Part IV  Unleashing Windows Vista for the Internet

18      Exploring the Web with Internet Explorer       

19      Communicating with Windows Mail     

20      Participating in Internet Newsgroups   

21      Implementing Windows Vista’s Internet Security and Privacy Features  

Part V   Unleashing Windows Vista Networking

22      Setting Up a Small Network      

23      Accessing and Using Your Network     

24      Making Remote Network Connections

Part VI  Appendixes

A        Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts    

B        Using the Windows Vista Command Prompt 

C       Automating Windows Vista with Batch Files