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Windows Vista How To

 



This article describes how to modify a list of programs that run when you start Windows Vista. You can create and modify the list of programs that start automatically when you start or log on to your computer. Some of these programs can be set up to automatically configure themselves to run when you log on to your computer.
    
How to use Backup to protect data and restore files and folders in Windows Vista

Depending on the version of Windows Vista you have, there are two approaches you can take to backing up files: Automatic Backup, which backs up just your files and data; or Complete PC Backup, which backs up everything on your PC, including the operating system and applications.
    


After you upgrade a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer to Windows Vista, you may decide to remove Windows Vista. However, in the Programs and Features item in Control Panel, there is no option to remove Windows Vista. This article describes how to remove Windows Vista by reverting to Windows XP.
    


This article describes how to add media to a Media Center Extender library.
    


This article describes how to remove the Windows.old folder that is generated when you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista. The Windows.old folder contains folders and files that were used in the earlier version of Microsoft Windows that was installed.
    


This article discusses how to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista. It describes how to use the System File Checker tool to scan and replace system files in scenarios where you are troubleshooting an issue in Windows Vista. It also discusses how to use the System Restore tool to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time.
 
   


Windows Photo Gallery displays an image by writing to a Microsoft DirectX surface. However, you may want to force Windows Photo Gallery to display an image by using GDI for the following reasons:
  • You may encounter issues with video card drivers that are incompatible with how Windows Photo Gallery displays an image to a DirectX surface.
  • You may use a utility that must force Windows Photo Gallery to write by using GDI to gain access to screen bits.
 Note: The performance of Windows Photo Gallery decreases significantly when you force the program to display images by using GDI.
    


This article describes how to clear the multiple monitor configuration of a computer that is running Windows Vista.
    


This article describes how to start the Program Compatibility Wizard. The Program Compatibility Wizard prompts you to test your program in different modes (environments) and with various settings.
    


When you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista, Internet Explorer favourites that you used in the earlier version of Windows are stored in the Favourites folder. The Favourites folder is located in the Windows.old folder in Windows Vista. The Windows.old folder is generated when you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista.

This article describes how to move Microsoft Internet Explorer favourites from an earlier version of Microsoft Windows to the Internet Explorer Favourites folder in Windows Vista.
    


When you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista, files that were used in the earlier version of Windows are stored in the Windows.old folder. This article describes how to retrieve files from an earlier version of Microsoft Windows in Windows Vista.


This step-by-step article describes how to create and use a password reset disk in Windows Vista. If you forget your user account password, you can use a password reset disk to create a new password. Create a password reset disk so that you are prepared if you forget your password. By using a password reset disk, you can avoid losing access to the files and to the information on your computer.		    


This article describes how to establish and hang up a Dial-Up connection by rasphone.exe command.
    


This article describes how to disable and re-enable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows Vista.
    


This article contains information about how to disable the scheduled tasks in Windows Vista for automatic file backups, for backup reminders, and for backup error notifications.
    


This step-by-step article describes how to enable and disable Auto-activation feature in Windows Vista.
    


This step-by-step article describes how to enable the built-in administrator account by command-line in Windows Vista. This may be useful if you want to enable the built-in administrator to do some automation work without UAC elevation prompt.


This article describes how to connect to a wireless network in Windows Vista.
    


Some programs manage colour to help make sure that colours appear as accurately as possible on the display and on printed output. This colour management process involves converting colours from a source profile to a destination profile. The source profile is the colour profile of the device from which the image originates. For example, the source profile may be the colour profile of a camera. The destination profile is the colour profile of the device that displays the image or prints the image. If either the source profile or the destination profile is unavailable, the colour conversion operation is unsuccessful. Therefore, when you display the image or print the image to a device that does not have the colour profile, the colours may be inaccurate. The RSWOP.icm cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) colour profile targets the "Specifications for Web Offset Publications" (SWOP) printing standard. This colour profile is installed when you install Microsoft Office. However, by default, this colour profile is not installed in Windows Vista. Therefore, you may experience unexpected results when you use certain programs that manage colour.
    


Activation is required in all versions of Windows Vista. After you install Windows Vista, you have 30 days to activate it online or by telephone. If the 30-day activation period expires before you complete the activation, Windows Vista does not work as expected. You cannot create new files, and you cannot save changes to existing files. You regain full use of Windows Vista when you activate it.
    


This article describes how to upgrade to Windows Vista from an earlier version of Microsoft Windows. This article also describes how to perform a "clean installation" of Windows Vista. When you perform a clean installation, files that were part of the previous installation are deleted.


This article describes how to add the Print Directory feature for folders in Windows XP and in Windows Vista. After you follow the steps that are described in the "More Information" section, you can right-click a folder and then click Print Directory Listing to print a directory listing of the contents of a folder.
    


This article describes how to update a sound card driver in Windows Vista.
    


The "Devices: Unsigned driver installation behaviour" Group Policy setting does not appear in the Local Group Policy Editor user interface (UI) on a computer that is running Windows Vista. Therefore, you cannot apply a Group Policy that has this Group Policy setting from the Windows Vista-based computer to a client computer that is running an earlier version of a Microsoft operating system.

This article describes how to let a user apply a Group Policy that has the "Devices: Unsigned driver installation behaviour" Group Policy setting from a Windows Vista-based computer to a client computer that is running an earlier version of a Microsoft operating system.
    


Windows offers the capability of tracing detailed Kerberos events through the event log mechanism. You can use this information when you troubleshoot Kerberos. This article describes how to enable Kerberos event logging.
    


The Windows Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server provides a "Vendor class" option that you can use to disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on the DHCP client. This article describes how to do this.


This article describes how to back up the registry in Windows XP or Windows Vista.
    


This step-by-step article describes how to set the security settings in Microsoft Windows XP Professional and in Windows Vista back to the default settings for a disaster recovery scenario. You should should only follow these steps when a security change has been applied to the computer that has negative affects and when no backup is available to restore from. The Secsetup.inf template does not contain a full copy of the security settings that are applied during setup.
    


When you try to release and renew the IP address by using the Ipconfig program (Ipconfig.exe), you may receive one of the following error messages.

Message 1
An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Message 2
An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection: the requested service provider could not be loaded or initialized.

When you start Internet Explorer, you may receive the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed

When you use your computer, you may receive the following error message:
Initialization function INITHELPERDLL in IPMONTR.DLL failed to start with error code 10107

Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

When you use the ipconfig /renew command, you may receive the following error messages.

Message 1
An error occurred while renewing interface local area connection: an operation was attempted on something that is not a socket. Unable to contact driver Error code 2.

Message 2
The operation failed since no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation.

Message 3
The attempted operation is not supported for the type of object referenced.

In Device Manager, when you click Show Hidden Devices, the TCP/IP Protocol Driver is listed as disabled under Non-Plug and Play drivers, and you receive error code 24. When you create a dial-up connection, you may receive the following error message:

Error 720: No PPP Control Protocols Configured


This step-by-step article describes how to turn on remote debugging when you are using Microsoft Windows Firewall.
    


The R2 PC Card does not start, and you see the following error message in Device Manager:

This device is either not present, not working properly, or does not have all the drivers installed. (Code 10) Try upgrading the device drivers for this device.
    


This article describes how to create a user-mode process dump file (.dmp file) in Windows Vista. The Windows Error Report feature in Windows Vista generates mini-dump files and heap dump files. The Windows Error Report feature does not generate user-mode process dump files.
    


This article describes how to disable program fixes in Windows Vista. This article also describes how to disable Program Compatibility Assistant warnings in Windows Vista.
    


This article describes how to add a computer or a device to a wireless network by using the Add a PC Wizard in Windows Live OneCare. Additionally, this article describes how to manually add a computer or a device to a wireless network.


By default, Windows Vista and the Windows Server 2008 operating system do not support Internet Protocol security (IPsec) network address translation (NAT) Traversal (NAT-T) security associations to servers that are located behind a NAT device. Therefore, if the virtual private network (VPN) server is behind a NAT device, a Windows Vista-based VPN client computer or a Windows Server 2008-based VPN client computer cannot make a Layer Two Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP)/IPsec connection to the VPN server. This scenario includes VPN servers that are running Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
    


MSINFO32 displays a comprehensive view of your hardware, system components, and software environment. This article contains an overview of the available switches that can be used with the MSINFO32 command in Windows Vista and in Windows XP. You can use the MSINFO32 command-line tool switches to do all of the following:
  • Use System Information from a batch file.
  • Create .nfo or .txt files that contain information from specified categories.
  • Open System Information and display only specific categories.
  • Save a file silently (without opening System Information).
  • Start System Information connected to a remote computer.
  • Create a shortcut that opens System Information in a frequently-used configuration.
    


This article discusses how to enable tracing for a wireless local area network (WLAN) when you start a computer that is running Windows Vista. To enable tracing at the time when a computer starts, you must enable persistent tracing from the command line.


This article describes how to determine whether there are any program-compatibility issues before you install Windows Vista. The information in this article applies specifically to situations in which a program is already installed on a computer that is being upgraded to Windows Vista.
    


When you try to install Windows Vista, the Setup program may indicate that a program that is installed on the computer is incompatible with Windows Vista. When this occurs you receive either a "hard block" or a "soft block."

This article describes how to troubleshoot issues that may stop the Windows Vista Setup program because a program that is installed on the computer is incompatible with Windows Vista.
    


This article describes how to insert test-signed drivers into an offline image of Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
    


This article describes step-by-step instructions for how to disable certain Microsoft Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) components in Windows Vista. To disable IPv6 components, you must be logged on to the Windows Vista computer as a member of the Administrators group, or your user account must be granted permissions to edit the Windows registry.
    


You can use Sc.exe to help develop services for Windows. Sc.exe, which is provided in the Resource Kit, implements calls to all of the Windows service control application programming interface (API) functions. You can set the parameters to these functions by specifying them on the command line. Sc.exe also displays service status and retrieves the values stored in the status structure fields. The tool also lets you specify the name of a remote computer so that you can call the service API functions or view the service status structures on the remote computer.

Sc.exe also allows you to call any of the service control API functions and vary any of the parameters from the command line.


You can use the SFC.exe program to help you troubleshoot crashes that occur in the user mode part of Windows Vista. These crashes may be related to missing or damaged operating system files. The SFC.exe program performs the following operations:
  • It verifies that non-configurable Windows Vista system files have not changed. Also, it verifies that these files match the operating system's definition of which files are expected to be installed on the computer.
  • It repairs non-configurable Windows Vista system files, when it is possible.
This article describes how to analyse the log files that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista. 
    


This article describes how to use Package Manager to uninstall a package in Windows Vista.
    


This article describes how to prepare to install Windows Vista on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP.
    


If a program cannot be installed correctly, the steps that you must take to troubleshoot this problem depend on how the installation has failed.

This article describes how to troubleshoot issues that may prevent a program from being installed correctly on a Windows Vista-based computer.
    


Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an important update for Windows Vista. Windows Vista SP1 contains many reliability and usability updates for Windows Vista. After you install Windows Vista SP1, you may notice that a hardware device or an installed program works differently. Therefore, you may want to uninstall Windows Vista SP1 as a troubleshooting step. This article describes the methods that we recommend to uninstall Windows Vista SP1.


Windows Vista includes Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) version 2.0. An Input Method Editor (IME) lets you type double-byte characters in some languages. For example, you can use an IME to type such characters in Japanese. By default, Windows PE version 2.0 does not include support for an IME. This article describes steps to add this support to Windows PE. To enable IME support in Windows Vista, you must install the OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) or the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) on the same language version of Windows Vista as the IME that you want to use. For example, for Japanese IME support, you must install the OPK or the AIK on a Japanese version of Windows Vista.
    


If you cannot log on to Windows Vista, you can use the Windows Vista System Restore feature. You may be unable to log on to Windows Vista in the following scenarios:
  • Scenario 1: You recently set a new password for the protected administrator account. However, you do not remember the password.
  • Scenario 2: You type the correct logon password. However, Windows Vista does not accept the password because the system is corrupted.
  • Scenario 3: You delete a protected administrator account. Now, you cannot log on to another administrator account.
  • Scenario 4: You change a protected administrator account to a standard user account. Now, you cannot log on to another administrator account.
    


You can use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) to troubleshoot and repair the following items in Windows Vista:
  • A master boot record (MBR)
  • A boot sector
  • A Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store


This article describes how to upgrade from Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista by using the upgrade version of Windows Vista.
    


Windows Vista uses a new format to display registry-based policy settings. These registry-based policy settings appear under Administrative Templates in the Group Policy Object Editor. In Windows Vista, these registry-based policy settings are defined by standards-based XML files that have an .admx file name extension. The .admx file format replaces the legacy .adm file format. The .adm file format uses a proprietary markup language.

This article describes how to use the new .admx and .adml files to create and to administer registry-based policy settings in Windows Vista. This article also explains how the Central Store is used to store and to replicate Windows Vista policy files in a domain environment.
    


This article describes how to revert to the original, unmodified version of an image in Windows Photo Gallery or in Windows Live Photo Gallery.
    


This article describes how to manually restore a previous Windows installation on the computer to replace the current Windows Vista installation. To do this, you must use the command prompt, and you must type specific commands at the command prompt to rename and to move folders between the different versions of Windows.
    


The netsh advfirewall firewall command-line context is available in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Vista. This context provides the functionality for controlling Windows Firewall behaviour that was provided by the netsh firewall context in earlier Windows operating systems. This context also provides functionality for more precise control of firewall rules.


In Windows Vista and in Microsoft Windows Server 2003, you can use Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) to trace events for some COM+ components and for some base COM components. Note ETW is not available in earlier versions of Microsoft Windows. You can trace the following COM+ and COM providers:
  • COMSVCS
  • COMADMIN
  • OLE32
  • DCOMSCM (RPCSS)
    


To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows Vista by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot." A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts. This article describes how to troubleshoot problems in Windows Vista by performing a clean boot. This article also describes how to start the Windows Installer service and how to reset the computer so that it starts as usual.
    


This article describes how to perform a custom installation of Windows Vista on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP.
    


This article describes the User Account Control (UAC) feature in Windows Vista. This article also describes how to run a program as an administrator in Windows Vista.


This article describes how to configure folders to share media that is stored on a Windows Media Center-based PC between the computer and a Media Center Extender. This information applies to a Media Center PC that is running Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista. This article discusses the following topics:
  • Configure permissions to the folders to which you want to have access
  • Share digital media files that are stored on a Windows XP Media Center PC
  • Share digital media files that are stored on a Windows Vista-based Media Center PC
  • Add folders that contain digital media to the Media Center Extender
    


If you upgrade a computer from Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista, and if an error occurs during setup, the rollback phase is initiated. The rollback phase returns the computer to the previous operating system installation. This article describes a successful and unsuccessful rollback phase. The article also describes how to troubleshoot scenarios in which the rollback phase was unsuccessful.
    


This article describes how to restore personal files after you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista. When you perform the custom installation of Windows Vista that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article, Windows Vista creates a Windows.old folder that contains the files from the Microsoft Windows XP installation.

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932856/) You cannot upgrade certain language versions of Windows XP to Windows Vista

You may want to recover personal files from the Windows.old folder, and move them to the installation of Windows Vista.


This article discusses how to enable computer-only authentication for an 802.1X-based network in Windows Vista.
    


This article describes how to move or to copy the music files that were stored in the "My Music" folder in an earlier version of Microsoft Windows to Windows Vista. These files are stored in the Windows.old folder that is created when you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista.
    


This article describes how to remove the association between the display and a colour profile in Windows Vista and in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). You may have to remove the association between the display and a colour profile if a defective colour profile is installed as a display profile. The Windows Live Photo Gallery Viewer respects colour profiles. Therefore, defective profiles will produce unpredictable results when you view an image with a colour managed application and the computer may display images incorrectly.
    


This article describes how to enable the DVD Library feature in Windows Media Center on a Windows Vista-based computer. In Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, DVD content that is stored on the hard disk appears in the My Videos folder. Windows Media Center on a Windows Vista-based computer displays DVD content in a DVD gallery. However, the DVD Gallery is not automatically enabled in Windows Media Center on a Windows Vista-based computer.
    


Typically, you use the ChangeDisplaySettingsEx function to set the desktop display settings. However, on a display device that uses the Windows Vista graphics driver model driver, third-party programs and utilities can use the D3DKMTInvalidateActiveVidPn function to set display settings.

This article contains information about how to use the D3DKMTInvalidateActiveVidPn function in Windows Vista. This function invalidates the video present network (VidPN) that the video graphics driver is using.


This article describes how to migrate files and settings from one Microsoft Windows-based computer to another Windows Vista-based computer by using Windows Easy Transfer.
    


This article describes how to upgrade to Windows Vista from an earlier version of Microsoft Windows. This article also describes how to perform a "clean installation" of Windows Vista. When you perform a clean installation, files that were part of the previous installation are deleted.
    


This article describes how to prepare to upgrade from Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista.
    


The CSC folder is the folder in which Windows Vista stores offline files. You cannot use the Cachemov.exe tool to move the client-side caching (CSC) folder in Windows Vista. However, you can change the location of the CSC folder by configuring the CacheLocation registry value.
    


This article discusses how to disable verification of additional fields in peer certificates during Internet Key Exchange (IKE) negotiation for Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP)/Internet Protocol security (IPsec) tunnel connections in Windows Vista.
    


This article contains steps to help you troubleshoot issues for the following scenarios:
  • You successfully upgrade an earlier version of Windows to Windows Vista. A program that used to run as expected before you upgraded to Windows Vista no longer runs as expected.
  • You successfully install a program on Windows Vista. After you install the program, you cannot start the program, or the program runs but does not run as expected.


If you encounter a Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) message that there is a problem with the product key or the volume license key for your installation of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista, use one of the following methods to resolve the issue.
    


This article describes how to change the settings for the Remote User Account Control (UAC) LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry entry in a Windows Vista image. The LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy setting affects how administrator credentials are applied to remotely administer the computer.
    


The Windows Easy Transfer Companion (WETC) is a program that you can use to help transfer programs from a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) to a computer that is running Windows Vista. WETC does not replace Windows Easy Transfer. Instead, WETC is an independent program that complements Windows Easy Transfer. You can use WETC to transfer many kinds of programs between two computers that are connected by an Easy Transfer Cable or by a network connection.
    


This article describes how to use the Windows optional component setup tool (Ocsetup.exe) to install or to remove Windows optional components in Windows Vista.
    


This article describes scenarios in which potential risks may exist when you use Protected Extensible Authentication protocol (PEAPv0) on a computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 together with authentication servers. The article describes methods that you can use to limit or to possibly eliminate the risks.


The Windows Server 2003 Certificate Services Web enrolment functionality relies on an ActiveX control that is named Xenroll. This ActiveX control is available in Microsoft Windows 2000 and in later versions of Windows. However, Xenroll has been deprecated in Windows Vista and in Windows Server 2008. The sample certificate enrolment Web pages that are included with the original release version of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) are not designed to handle the change in how Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 perform Web-based certificate enrolment operations.
    


In Microsoft Windows XP, the places bar is displayed on the left side of common file dialog boxes. For example, the places bar is in the Save As dialog box. You can customise the places bar in Windows XP by using the following two Group Policy policies:
  • Hide the common dialog places bar
  • Items displayed in places Bar In Windows Vista, the Favourite Links list resembles the places bar
To view the Favourite Links list in the Save As dialog box, click Browse Folders. You can also view the Favourite Links list in Windows Explorer in Windows Vista. However, even though the Favourite Links list in Windows Vista resembles the places bar in Windows XP, you cannot customize the list by using the same Group Policy policies that you can use in Windows XP. The links that appear in the Favourite Links list are stored as Windows Shortcut (.Ink) files in a user profile. The user profile is located in the following folder:

User_Profile\Links

Therefore, instead of using Group Policy to customize the Favourite Links list, you must customize the .Ink files that are in the Links folder.
    


In Microsoft Windows Mail, you can only use the UTF-8 encoding format to import an address book. For example, if you want to export the address book from Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0, and then import the exported address book to Windows Mail, you must use the UTF-8 encoding format to save the Comma Separated Values (CSV) file. The CSV file is used to store the information about the address book.


This article contains step-by-step instructions for installing Windows Vista from a hard disk. This technique is called a flat installation. A flat installation is an alternative to an installation that uses the Windows Vista installation CD or DVD.
    


You can use Windows Media Centre to watch, to pause, and to digitally record live TV in many countries. If a Windows Vista Home Premium–based computer or a Windows Vista Ultimate–based computer has an integrated TV tuner card or an external TV tuner card, you can watch live TV on the computer. To watch live TV, you merely have to plug the antenna output, the cable output, or the video output from the satellite set-top box into the computer tuner card. Then, connect the computer to the TV. This article describes the following components and elements:
  • TV tuner card
  • Current list of Windows Media Centre certified TV tuners and Windows Media Centre compatible TV tuners
  • Countries where Windows Media Centre can receive TV signals
  • High definition (HD) content recording requirements