Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off in Vista

User Account Control (UAC) can help you prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. It works by prompting you for permission when a task requires administrative rights, such as installing software or changing settings that affect other users.

I don’t recommend turning User Account Control off. If you do turn it off, you should turn it back on as soon as possible.

1. Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety (or clicking User Accounts, if you are connected to a network domain), and then clicking User Accounts.

2. Click Turn User Account Control on or off.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. Select the Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer check box to turn on UAC, or clear the check box to turn off UAC, and then click OK.

User Account Control (UAC) can help you prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. It works by prompting you for permission when a task requires administrative rights, such as installing software or changing settings that affect other users.

I don’t recommend turning User Account Control off. If you do turn it off, you should turn it back on as soon as possible.

1. Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety (or clicking User Accounts, if you are connected to a network domain), and then clicking User Accounts.

2. Click Turn User Account Control on or off.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. Select the Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer check box to turn on UAC, or clear the check box to turn off UAC, and then click OK.

Very Important DOS backup Commands ( xcopy & move)

xcopy

e=copies directories and subdirectories including empty ones

h=copies hidden and system files also

k=copies attributes

xcopy

 [destination] /e /h /k
</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0pt; width: 1px; height: 1px;">move</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0pt; width: 1px; height: 1px;">Move files or folders from one place to another place.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0pt; width: 1px; height: 1px;">move [source]

[destination]

xcopy

e=copies directories and subdirectories including empty ones

h=copies hidden and system files also

k=copies attributes

xcopy (source) (destination) /e /h /k

move

Move files or folders from one place to another place.

move (source) (destination)

Clear Memory Cache in Windows XP & Vista to Speed Up Your Computer

Running multiple applications simultaneously in Windows Vista for long periods leads to a gradual decrease in system performance over time.Often the only option to this is a Windows Vista Reboot. Even if you close the application in the Windows Task Manager, the tasks/threads associated with the application are not released completely, depleting the system’s memory resources making the system unstable and sluggish.
Follow the below steps to create shortcut for clearing memory on your Windows Vista Desktop.
•    Right-click on your desktop and Select New > Shortcut
•    In type the location of the item path: Enter below information
%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
•    Click Next. In the next screen, Type a name for this shortcut: Ex: Clear Memory or Process Idle Tasks
•    Click on Finish
Your Clear Memory or Process Idle Tasks shortcut is now created and whenever you feel that your Windows Vista computer is busy not responding to commands, just run this command and it should free up the system.Also note that this tweak works fine in Windows XP also.

Some Useful Network Commands For Windows/DOS

Windows has a whole array of helpful command line tools for configuring and testing Internet and LAN connections. The following is a list of useful network commands that can be used from the command prompt. A lot of these commands are intended for administrating a network, but they are great for savvy home users as well. All of the tools are run by opening a Command window and entering the appropriate command. Go to Start-Run and enter “cmd” to open a Command window.
• net – Used to start, stop and view networking operations.
• ipconfig – Displays the IP Address and other TCP/IP information on your system.
• netstat – Returns protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections.
• hostname – Displays the Microsoft networking computer name.
• lpq – Displays the print queue status of an LPD printer.
• ping – Verify the connectivity or a host across a network.
• nbtstat – Returns protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections.
• ipxroute – Displays and modifies IPX routing tables.
• route – Manipulates TCP/IP routing information
• tracert – Displays route taken by an ICMP to a remote host.
• finger – Displays information about the user
• arp – Displays or modifies information in the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) cache
• getmac – Lists the MAC (Media Access Control) Address on the computer network interfaces
Add /? to the command will provide more information e.g. ipconfig show more information about ipconfig command.

Some Applications:
• Display Connection Configuration: ipconfig /all
• Display DNS Cache Info Configuration: ipconfig /displaydns
• Clear DNS Cache: ipconfig /flushdns
• Release All IP Address Connections: ipconfig /release
• Renew All IP Address Connections: ipconfig /renew
• Re-Register the DNS connections: ipconfig /registerdns
• Change/Modify DHCP Class ID: ipconfig /setclassid
• Network Connections: control netconnections
• Network Setup Wizard: netsetup.cpl
• Test Connectivity: ping www.tomstricks.com
• Trace IP address Route: tracert
• Displays the TCP/IP protocol sessions: netstat
• Display Local Route: route
• Display Resolved MAC Addresses: arp
• Display Name of Computer Currently on: hostname
• Display DHCP Class Information:ipconfig /showclassid
Notes:
• Some command-line tools require the user to have administrator-level privileges on source and/or target computers.
• You must have the TCP/IP network protocol installed to use the TCP/IP utilities.

Disable Annoying Low Disk Space Warning in Windows Vista

When your computer’s hard disk drive is nearly out of free space, Windows Vista will warn you with a little pop-up box at regular intervals.This low disk space warning can be handy the first time but that’s usually where the usefulness stops.Aside from being annoying, Windows Vista’s constant check for low hard disk drive space uses system resources which can slow Windows down.
By a simple registry tweak you can easily turn off the low disk space checks and warnings in Windows Vista.
• Click on Windows Vista Start, type in regedit in the start menu search box, and then hit the Enter key.
• Navigate to the registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer \
• From the File menu, point to New, and click DWORD Value.
• Type in NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and press Enter.
• Double click the new value and enter the value 1 in the data field and click OK.
• Close Windows Vista Registry Editor and restart your computer to take effect the registry changes.
Windows Vista will no longer warn you about low disk space on any of your hard drives.If you don’t have a lot of free space left on your computer hard disk drive, you might be able to get more free space by running the Windows Disk Cleanup Wizard. You can get Disk Cleanup Wizard in Windows Vista from Start -> Computer -> Right-Click on the hard drive -> Properties. Check all of the boxes except Compress old files option. You may also want to delete some System Restore files and volume shadow copy files to recover a lot of free hard disk drive space. You can accomplish this option in the More Options tab.
Note:
If there is no Explorer subfolder under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies registry subkey,do the following steps:
• Open Windows Vista registry editor and navigate to the registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion.
• Select the Policies key under CurrentVersion.
• From the Windows Registry Editor menu, choose Edit-> New-> Key.
• After the new key is created beneath Policies key, it will initially be named as New Key #1.
• Change the name of the newly created registry key to Explorer and then hitting the Enter key.
• With the newly created registry key, Explorer, still selected, choose Edit -> New-> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• After the new DWORD value is created beneath Explorer, it will initially be named New Value #1.Change the name of the newly created DWORD value to NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and then hitting the Enter key.
• Right-click on the newly created NoLowDiskSpaceChecks DWORD value and choose the option Modify.
• Change the value of DWORD, 0 with the number 1 and click OK
• Close Windows Vista Registry Editor and restart computer to take effect the registry changes.
Tips:
There is an easier way to disable only the balloon tip,which is a part of this low disk space warning message in Windows Vista.This registry tweak involves disabling all balloon tips which can be done in:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced
And create a new DWORD value named NoTrayItemsDisplay and give it the value 1.
The low disk space notification icon will still appear in your system tray but the balloon tip will not show up anymore in Windows Vista.
Alternate Method:
You can also easily disable the annoying low disk space warning in Windows Vista by simply open an elevated command prompt window and run the following command:
REM copy here
regini HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks” = REG_DWORD 1
REM end copy here
(You can cut and paste the above code into open command prompt window)