Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide

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I'll give you the bad news right up front: Windows Vista isn't what you think it is. While Windows Vista is the latest release of the Windows operating system for personal computers, it isn't what it seems. Windows Vista does look a lot like its predecessors, albeit with a cleaner, more inviting interface. If you have a powerful computer, you might also be enjoying Windows Vista's new Aero glass interface—or not. Regardless, you'd be hard-pressed not to notice all the eye candy Windows Vista presents, and this may lead you to believe the operating system is little more than new veneer for the same old software. Nothing could be further from the truth—and in this chapter, I'll show you why. I'll start by helping you get to know Windows Vista and its various editions. After discussing how to start and use Windows Vista, I will introduce some of the new ways you can work with this powerful operating system.

For the sake of this book, I'll assume you are fairly familiar with the Windows operating system and have worked previously with Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. If that description fits you, read this chapter to learn about the key changes in Windows Vista that will affect you the most. If you already have some experience with Windows Vista, some of the material here may be familiar to you, but I recommend that you read the chapter anyway because some of the subtler changes in the operating system have the biggest impact on your computer. Also, keep in mind that because I'm assuming you have prior experience with a Windows operating system, I won't discuss computing basics, such as what a keyboard is or what a mouse is.

From top to bottom, Windows Vista is dramatically different from earlier versions of Windows. Windows Vista is the first version of Windows in which the user experience changes based on your computer hardware. The experience a computer can deliver depends on whether it is Windows Vista Capable or Windows Vista Premium Ready:

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From top to bottom, Windows Vista is dramatically different from earlier versions of Windows. Windows Vista is the first version of Windows in which the user experience changes based on your computer hardware. The experience a computer can deliver depends on whether it is Windows Vista Capable or Windows Vista Premium Ready:

A Windows Vista Capable computer will deliver the core experience. To be Windows Vista Capable, a computer must have an 800 MHz or faster processor, 512 MB of RAM, a graphics processor that is DirectX 9-capable, and a CD-ROM drive. DirectX is a technology for enhancing a computer's multimedia capabilities, allowing more realistic 3D graphics and more immersive sound.
A Windows Vista Premium Ready computer will deliver an enhanced experience. To be Windows Vista Premium Ready, a computer must have a 1 GHz or faster processor, 1 GB of RAM, an enhanced graphics processor with at least 128 MB of RAM that supports DirectX 9 graphics with a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver, at least a 40 GB hard drive with 15 GB of free space, a DVD-ROM drive, a sound card with audio outputs, and either a modem or a network card for connecting to the Internet.

Some computers have graphics processors that share memory with the operating system. With shared memory, no additional graphics memory is required beyond the 1 GB of RAM.

Thanks to Microsoft's like-named logo programs with computer manufacturers, you'll find new computers have the Windows Vista Capable logo, the Windows Vista Premium Ready logo, or both. If your computer doesn't have one of these logos, it doesn't mean Windows Vista won't run on your computer. You can still install Windows Vista as long as your computer meets the Windows Vista Capable hardware requirements.

Other features of Windows Vista may require additional hardware. For example, to watch or record live TV, your computer needs a tuner.

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Continuing the trend started with Windows XP, Windows Vista combines the previously separate home and business products into a single product family. Unlike Windows XP, Windows Vista editions aren't organized by hardware type or processor architecture. Instead, Windows Vista comes in several distinctly different editions, including:

Starter
Home Basic
Home Premium
Business
Enterprise
Ultimate

Each edition has a different set of features. Windows Starter Edition is a budget edition for emerging markets. Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium are the standard editions for home users, and as such, they include various home entertainment features. Windows Vista Business and Enterprise are the standard editions for business users, and as such, they include various business and management features. Windows Vista Ultimate is for those who want the best of both home and business features.

You can quickly determine which version of Windows Vista you are using by clicking Start → Control Panel and then clicking Get Started with Windows under System and Maintenance. As Figure 1-1 shows, this starts the Welcome Center. The Welcome Center also runs at startup automatically, unless you clear the "Run at startup" checkbox.

Figure 1-1: Getting started using the Welcome Center

When working with the various Windows Vista editions, keep the following in mind:

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Whether you are running a Home, Business, or Ultimate edition of Windows Vista, the core features of the operating system are the same. This means that on a home computer, an office workstation, or a mobile computer, you'll have the same standard set of features and you'll work with Windows Vista in the same way.

When you first start using Windows Vista, you should do the following:

Log on and finalize the installation.
Perform essential configuration tasks.
Review your computer's configuration and activate the operating system.

I discuss these tasks in the sections that follow.

When you start Windows Vista, you know it's a different kind of operating system from earlier versions of Windows. During installation, you are prompted to create a local machine account. This account is created as a computer administrator account. When the operating system starts, you can log on using this account and you'll see the Welcome Center, shown previously in Figure 1-1.

If you purchased a new computer with Windows Vista already installed, you'll have to complete a mini-setup the first time you start your computer. As part of the mini-setup, you'll need to finalize the operating installation. The procedure you'll need to perform will be similar to the following:

When prompted, choose your country or region and your keyboard layout. Click Next.
You must next create a local machine account that will be created as a computer administrator account. Enter a username. Type and then confirm a password. Enter an optional password hint and then choose a picture for the account. Click Next.
Type a computer name and select a desktop background. Click Next.

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From startup to shutdown, Windows Vista is different from its predecessors—and these differences go far beyond the gadgets and other gizmos in Windows Vista's highly designed interface that I discuss in Chapter 2. If you want to truly know how Windows Vista works and what makes it tick, you need to dig under the hood.

Windows Vista is the first truly hardware-independent version of Windows. Unlike earlier releases of Windows, Windows Vista doesn't boot from an initialization file. Instead, the operating system uses the Windows Boot Manager to initialize and start the operating system. The Boot Manager is a key component of Windows Vista's extensive boot environment. You'll learn all about the Boot Manager and the boot environment in Chapter 23; here's what you need to know right now:

The boot environment dramatically changes the way the operating system starts. Microsoft created the boot environment to resolve several prickly problems related to boot integrity, operating system integrity, and firmware abstraction.
The boot environment is loaded prior to the operating system, making it a pre-operating system environment. As such, you can use the boot environment to validate the integrity of the startup process and the operating system itself before actually starting the operating system.
The boot environment is created as an extensible abstraction layer that allows the operating system to work with multiple types of firmware interfaces without requiring the operating system to be specifically written to work with these firmware interfaces. Rather than updating the operating system each time a new firmware interface is developed, the firmware interface developers can use the standard programming interfaces of the boot environment to allow the operating system to communicate as necessary through the firmware interfaces.

Currently, Basic Input Output System (BIOS) and Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) are the two prevalent firmware interfaces for computers. Firmware interface abstraction makes it possible for Windows Vista to work with BIOS-based and EFI-based computers in exactly the same way, and this is one of the primary reasons why Windows Vista achieves hardware independence.

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No tour of getting started with Windows Vista would be complete without discussing logging on, switching, locking, logging off, and shutting down. If you're an experienced Windows user, you may be tempted to skip this section, but please don't. Skim this section instead, because some of the changes aren't immediately obvious.

Windows Vista displays the logon screen at startup. The way the startup screen works depends on whether you are at home or at the office:

At home, you'll see that all standard user and administrator accounts you've created on the computer are listed on the startup screen. To log on, you click the account name. If the account is password-protected, you must click the account name, type the account password, and then click the arrow button.
At the office, Windows Vista displays a blank startup screen after startup. You must press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to display the logon screen. By default, the last account to log on to the computer is listed in Computer\username or domain\username format. To log on to this account, you type the account password and then click the arrow button. To log on to a different account, click the Switch User button and then click "Log on as another user." Type the username and password, and then click the arrow button.

When working at the office, you can specify the domain and the account name using the format domain\username, such as enigma\williams. If you want to log on to the local machine, you type .\ username , where username is the name of the local account, such as .\williams.

If multiple people use your computer, you can easily switch users by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then clicking the Switch User button. At home, the logon screen is displayed, as with startup. At the office, a blank startup screen is displayed and you must press Ctrl-Alt-Delete again. Another way to switch users is to click Start, click the Options button to the right of the power and lock buttons, and then click Switch User.

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Everything that connects you—the user—to the computer is collectively referred to as the user interface. The basic elements of the user interface include the desktop, Start menu, taskbar, windows, dialog boxes, and wizards. These basic elements remain in Windows Vista, and you'll be able to work with them in much the same way as you have previously. Many other aspects of the user interface in Windows Vista have been revised, however, making this the most sweeping overhaul of the user interface in the history of Windows. Because of the massive changes, you'll find that you have to learn new ways of performing common tasks, and you'll discover much that is new.

The user interface has two key aspects: appearance settings and user profile settings. Appearance settings determine the color schemes, screen resolution, and sizing for window text, buttons, and icons. User profile settings determine where user files are located and what interface preferences are used.

Like earlier releases of Windows, Windows Vista's default appearance settings work well. With the introduction of automated screen sizing, screen resolution, and window sizing, appearance settings typically are optimized right at the start, making it easier to work with the operating system. Because a one-size-fits-all recipe would be very boring, Windows Vista gives you many choices about the appearance and behavior of your desktop, Start menu, taskbar, and other interface elements.

Your interface customizations are stored in your user profile. Because each user of your computer has a separate user profile, you are able to customize the desktop to meet your unique needs without affecting the interface settings of other users. This means your preferred settings will be remembered and restored each time you log on to your computer, and so will the preferred settings of any other users.

The enhanced user interface in Windows Vista is visually stunning, and a key component in the interface is the desktop. As you'll discover in this section, you can work with the desktop and its related features in many new and exciting ways. If you're familiar with earlier releases of Windows, you may be tempted to skip this section, but don't—there are a lot of new features and new ways you can work with the desktop.

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The enhanced user interface in Windows Vista is visually stunning, and a key component in the interface is the desktop. As you'll discover in this section, you can work with the desktop and its related features in many new and exciting ways. If you're familiar with earlier releases of Windows, you may be tempted to skip this section, but don't—there are a lot of new features and new ways you can work with the desktop.

As Figure 2-1 shows, the desktop has standard features, but you can customize it with additional features as well. Standard desktop features include the Start menu, the taskbar, and the notification area.

Figure 2-1: Windows Vista desktop with Aero glass

Programs or folders you open appear on the desktop in separate windows. You can arrange open program and folder windows on the desktop by right-clicking an empty area of the taskbar and then selecting one of the following viewing options:

Cascade Windows: Arranges the open windows on the screen so that they overlap, with the title bar remaining visible
Show Windows Stacked: Resizes the open windows and arranges them each in a portion of the screen
Show Windows Side by Side: Resizes the open windows and stacks them side by side

If you right-click an empty area of the taskbar and then select Show the Desktop, Windows Vista minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop. If you later right-click an empty area of the taskbar and select Show Open Windows, Windows Vista restores the minimized windows to their previous states.

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Gadgets and sidebars are new features in Windows Vista. A gadget is a small application designed to perform a very specific function, such as providing a desktop calendar or virtual notepad. You can add gadgets directly to the desktop or to a view pane called Windows Sidebar. You can add Windows Sidebar to the left or right side of the desktop; its sole purpose is to make it group your desktop gadgets.

Windows Sidebar and several default gadgets are displayed on the right side of the desktop in most installations. The sidebar has a fixed size, allowing it to display several gadgets in a vertical column. If you add more gadgets to the sidebar than can fit in one column, additional columns are added to the sidebar and you can navigate the columns of gadgets using the small arrow buttons at the top of the sidebar, as shown in Figure 2-13. To the left of the small arrow buttons, you'll find the Add Gadget button. Clicking this button displays the Gadget Gallery dialog box, as also shown in Figure 2-13.

Figure 2-13: Working with your computer's gadgets

The Gadget Gallery shows all the gadgets that are available on your computer. When multiple pages of gadgets are available, you can navigate the pages using the Previous and Next Page buttons provided in the upper-left corner of the window. You can also use the Search box to search for gadgets by name. As you type your search text, the list of gadgets is automatically filtered to include only those gadgets matching the search text you entered.

In the lower-left corner of the Gadget Gallery window, you'll find a Show details/Hide details button used to show or hide a Details Pane. Clicking a gadget with the Show Details Pane expanded displays the gadget details, which include the gadget name, version, and description. Double-clicking a gadget adds it to the uppermost position on the first sidebar column.

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As you've seen, the desktop has many customizable features. You also can customize your computer's menus and Control Panel, and this section shows you how to do it.

When you want to work with programs installed on a computer, you'll use the All Programs menu, as with earlier releases of Windows. When you click the Start button and then click All Programs, you'll see a list of programs installed on the computer, followed by a list of folders.

Depending on the system configuration, the programs you'll see include:

Default Programs: Opens the Default Programs dialog box, which you can use to configure default programs and features, as discussed in Chapter 4
Internet Explorer: Opens Internet Explorer, which you can use to browse the Web, as discussed in Chapter 7
Windows Calendar: Opens Windows Calendar, which you can use to manage appointments and tasks using a calendar, as discussed in Chapter 16
Windows Contacts: Opens Windows Contacts, which you can use to manage personal and business contacts, as discussed in Chapter 16
Windows Defender

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Never before has there been a release of Windows in which appearance and performance were so closely tied together. However, not only is the way Windows Vista looks and behaves integral and inseparable, but also you must often make a careful trade-off between the two to achieve the desired result. Because of this, fine-tuning Windows Vista's appearance and performance is often a balancing act, especially if you want your computer to remain responsive under the widest circumstances possible.

Of the many interlinked appearance and performance features, the ones over which you have the most control are:

Experience scoring
Account controls
Personalization settings
Performance options

In this chapter, you'll learn how to fine-tune these features while maintaining the balance between appearance and performance.

Since Windows Vista has a scalable user experience, there needed to be a way to determine the capabilities of a computer. The solution Microsoft developed was to capture a performance baseline based on specific performance metrics during installation of the operating system.

During installation, Windows Vista assigned your computer a Windows Experience Index. This index is a relative rating of your computer's capabilities with regard to its:

Processor
Physical memory (RAM)
General graphics
Gaming graphics
Primary hard disk

The "general graphics" and "gaming graphics" component titles are misnomers; more appropriate titles would be "general graphics" and "multimedia graphics."

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Since Windows Vista has a scalable user experience, there needed to be a way to determine the capabilities of a computer. The solution Microsoft developed was to capture a performance baseline based on specific performance metrics during installation of the operating system.

During installation, Windows Vista assigned your computer a Windows Experience Index. This index is a relative rating of your computer's capabilities with regard to its:

Processor
Physical memory (RAM)
General graphics
Gaming graphics
Primary hard disk

The "general graphics" and "gaming graphics" component titles are misnomers; more appropriate titles would be "general graphics" and "multimedia graphics." Graphics is meant to reflect overall performance for Windows interfaces. Gaming graphics is meant to reflect performance for graphics-intensive applications, such as 3D business applications and 3D games.

To assign the Windows Experience Index, Windows Vista determines:

The number of processors installed on your computer and the processor type
The number of calculations per second your computer's processor can perform
The total amount of physical memory installed on your computer
The number of memory operations your computer's memory can perform
The total amount of graphics memory installed on your computer

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User Account Control (UAC) is a collection of features designed to improve your computer's security and better protect it from malicious programs. UAC fundamentally changes the way Windows Vista works.

Windows Vista has two general types of user accounts:

Standard user accounts
Administrator user accounts

As we'll discuss in Chapter 18, standard users can perform any general computing tasks, such as starting programs, opening documents, and creating folders, as well as any support tasks that do not affect other users or the security of the computer. Administrators, on the other hand, have complete access to the computer and can make changes that affect other users and the security of the computer.

Unlike earlier releases of Windows, Windows Vista makes it easy to determine which tasks standard users can perform and which tasks administrators can perform. You may have noticed the multicolored shield icon, shown in Figure 3-3, next to certain options in Windows Vista's windows, wizards, and dialog boxes. This is the Permissions icon. It indicates that the related option requires administrator permissions to run.

Figure 3-3: The Permissions icon, which indicates that the related option requires administrator permissions to run

In Windows Vista, regardless of whether you are logged on as a standard user or as an administrator, you see a UAC prompt whenever you attempt to perform a task that requires administrator permissions. The way the prompt works depends on whether you are logged on with a standard user account or with an Administrator account.

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As you've seen, many factors can affect your computer's appearance and performance, including your hardware components and account controls. The way you achieve a balance between appearance and performance, however, is largely through the trade-offs you make when applying personalization settings, and it is personalization settings that largely determine your experience.

In Windows Vista, you can access personalization settings by clicking Start → Control → Appearance and Personalization → Personalization. As Figure 3-6 shows, this displays the Personalization page in the Control Panel. The available personalization settings are:

Windows Color and Appearance: Sets the user experience level and color scheme for your computer.
Desktop Background: Controls the desktop background colors and pictures used.
Screen Saver: Controls the screensaver and when it displays.
Sounds: Controls the system sounds used by Windows Vista.
Mouse Pointers: Controls the mouse pointers used by Windows Vista.
Theme

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From fine-tuning your window colors and experience level to choosing your desktop backgrounds, screensavers, sounds, mouse pointers, themes, and display settings, you can personalize Windows Vista in many different ways. Navigating this maze of options can be tricky, especially when you want to achieve robust performance while maintaining a desired look and feel. Even experienced users often neglect the basics of this essential balancing act, so you may be tempted to skip this section. But don't.

Aero gives the user interface a highly polished, glassy look. When you use Aero, you can set the glass color, intensity, and transparency. Several default colors are available, including graphite, blue, teal, red, orange, pink, and frost. By selecting a color and then using the "Color intensity" slider, you can create softer or bolder colors. By enabling transparency, you make it possible to see through parts of windows, menus, and dialog boxes. You can also create the exact color you want using Hue, Saturation, and Brightness color mixers. The one feature sorely missing is a way to enter numeric color values, which would allow you to use standard colors from color palettes.

Of these many Aero settings, the transparency setting is the biggest resource hog. If your computer has a low to middling score for its processor, physical memory, general graphics, or gaming graphics, you might want to disable this feature to achieve better performance.

Section 3.4.1.1: Optimizing Aero glass

When you are using Windows Aero, you can configure the glass color, transparency, and intensity by completing the following steps:

Click Start and then click Control Panel.
In the Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization and then click Personalization.

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In addition to the previously discussed features, you can fine-tune your computer's performance by setting these performance options:

Visual effects
Application performance
Virtual memory
Memory protection
ReadyBoost

The sections that follow discuss each performance option in turn.

The Windows Vista interface has many graphical enhancements including visual effects for menus, toolbars, windows, and the taskbar. Because displaying these visual effects can require substantial system resources, Windows Vista lets you optimize the way visual effects are used. You can optimize for appearance or for performance. You can also customize the settings or let Windows Vista choose the best configuration.

The visual effects available are:

Animate controls and elements inside windows
Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
Enable desktop composition
Enable transparent glass
Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show preview and filters in folder
Show shadows under menus
Show shadows under mouse pointer

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Most modern software and game programs have automated setup processes, making it easy to install and run your programs. Resolving problems if automated setup fails or if a program does not run as expected is not so easy, however, which is why you need a strong understanding of how software installation works and the techniques you can use to diagnose and resolve any problems you encounter.

Compared to earlier releases of Windows, the processes of installing, configuring, and maintaining software and game programs work differently in Windows Vista. Primarily, this is because of changes to:

The way accounts are used
The way User Account Control (UAC) works
The removal of the Add/Remove Programs utility
The way application access tokens are used
The way applications write to the system locations

Unlike earlier releases of Windows, Windows Vista has only standard user accounts and administrator accounts. When you log on to Windows Vista, you use one type of account or the other, removing the gray area between these two types of accounts that was previously available through the Power Users group. In Windows Vista, the Power Users group is included only for backward compatibility, and you should use it only when you need to resolve compatibility issues.

In Windows Vista, software installation, configuration, and maintenance are processes that require elevated privileges. Because of this, only administrators can install, configure, and maintain software. As discussed in Chapter 3, elevation is a feature of UAC. Because of UAC, Windows Vista is able to detect software installation. When Windows Vista detects a software-installation-related process, it prompts for permission or consent prior to allowing you to install, configure, or maintain software on your computer.

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Compared to earlier releases of Windows, the processes of installing, configuring, and maintaining software and game programs work differently in Windows Vista. Primarily, this is because of changes to:

The way accounts are used
The way User Account Control (UAC) works
The removal of the Add/Remove Programs utility
The way application access tokens are used
The way applications write to the system locations

Unlike earlier releases of Windows, Windows Vista has only standard user accounts and administrator accounts. When you log on to Windows Vista, you use one type of account or the other, removing the gray area between these two types of accounts that was previously available through the Power Users group. In Windows Vista, the Power Users group is included only for backward compatibility, and you should use it only when you need to resolve compatibility issues.

In Windows Vista, software installation, configuration, and maintenance are processes that require elevated privileges. Because of this, only administrators can install, configure, and maintain software. As discussed in Chapter 3, elevation is a feature of UAC. Because of UAC, Windows Vista is able to detect software installation. When Windows Vista detects a software-installation-related process, it prompts for permission or consent prior to allowing you to install, configure, or maintain software on your computer.

Windows Vista does not include an Add/Remove Programs utility. Instead, it relies completely on the software and game programs themselves to provide the necessary installation features through a related Setup or Autorun program.

Most programs created for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP use setup.exe

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The more you understand about software installation, the better prepared you'll be to resolve problems you may encounter. Generally, the installation process starts when you trigger the AutoPlay or Autorun process. AutoPlay or Autorun in turn starts the software application's Setup program. Setup is a program responsible for managing the installation process. Part of the installation process involves validating your credentials and checking the software's compatibility with Windows Vista.

AutoPlay options determine how Windows Vista handles files on CDs, DVDs, and portable devices. You can configure separate AutoPlay options for each type of CD, DVD, and media your computer can handle.

With software and games, you have the following AutoPlay options:

Install or run program: Uses the program's Autorun file to start installing or running the program automatically.
Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer: Opens Windows Explorer so that you can browse the CD or DVD.
Take no action: No action is taken when Windows Vista detects the CD or DVD. You must manually start the installation process.
Ask me every time: Displays the AutoPlay dialog box, which prompts you for an action to take, as shown in Figure 4-1.

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Whether you are using your computer to create Word documents, view photos, or send email, you are running software that handles these tasks for you. Windows Vista's job is to provide a framework for you to install, configure, and run your software.

Unlike earlier releases of Windows, Windows Vista doesn't provide a tool for adding, reconfiguring, or removing software. Instead, it relies on the software itself to provide these features through a Setup program.

Most of the time installing and running your software using its Setup program is easy, and you can install your software from a CD or DVD by following these steps:

Insert the media disk into your computer's CD or DVD drive.
If Windows Vista displays the AutoPlay dialog box, click Run Setup.exe or a similar option under Install or Run Program. When Setup starts, follow the prompts to install the software, and skip the remaining steps.
If Windows Vista doesn't display the AutoPlay dialog box, click Start → Computer. In the Computer window, double-click the CD or DVD drive.
If Windows Vista detected the software's Setup program (using Autorun.inf), you are then prompted for permission or consent to run the Setup program.
If Windows Vista doesn't detect the software's Setup program, the contents of the disc are displayed in Windows Explorer. Double-click Setup.exe.
When Setup starts, follow the prompts to install the software.
Most software applications have a setup program that uses Windows Installer, InstallShield, or Wise Install. If the installation fails and the software has an installer, follow the prompts to allow the installer to restore your computer to its original state. Otherwise, exit Setup and then try rerunning Setup to either complete the installation or uninstall the program.

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Installing software is only one part of software management. Often after you install software, you'll need to make configuration changes to your computer or the software itself. You may want files of a certain type to open in the software when you click or double-click the files in Windows Explorer. You may need to reconfigure, repair, or uninstall the software. Alternatively, you may need to resolve problems with the way the software starts or runs. I discuss all of these tasks in the sections that follow.

When you install productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, the installation process may configure your computer so that certain types of files automatically open in the application when you click or double-click it in Windows Explorer. The installation process may also configure your computer so that when you insert media containing music, video, or pictures, the media is opened and played automatically using a particular application.

Associating an application with particular file types and running an application for certain types of media are separate features. You make files with a specific extension or type open in a specific program by associating the file extension or type with the program. You make media on CDs, DVDs, or portable devices open and play in a particular program by making a program the default for AutoPlay.

You configure file associations and default programs either only for yourself or globally for all users of your computer. Your individual default settings override global default settings. For example, you might want Apple iTunes to be your default audio player, but the global default for all users could be set to use Windows Media Player.

Section 4.4.1.1: Setting your default programs

You can configure your default programs by completing the following steps:

Click Start and then click Default Programs.

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One of the most frustrating aspects of working with computers is that just about every computer has different hardware devices. Even computers from the same manufacturer may have different motherboards, disk controllers, video cards, and network adapters. Like its predecessors, Windows Vista has an extensive list of compatible hardware devices and also supports Plug and Play. Helping you navigate your hardware options, understand how hardware installation works, optimize your hardware, and install new hardware is what this chapter is all about. As you'll learn, hardware has changed considerably in the past few years and there are many important new options.

Hardware installation from Windows XP to Windows Vista hasn't changed much. What has changed significantly since Windows XP was introduced is the array of options when it comes to hardware devices. Whether you are installing new hardware in your existing computer or getting acquainted with the types of hardware available for a computer you've recently purchased, it's important to consider your options carefully. All computers can use two types of hardware:

Internal hardware devices: Internal hardware devices are devices you install inside your computer. Typically, you'll need to power down and unplug your computer, and then remove the computer case before you can install an internal device.
External hardware devices: External hardware devices are devices you connect to your computer. Because you don't have to open your computer's case to connect external devices, you typically don't need to power down or unplug your computer before installing an external device.

The bulk of the message-board posts I see regarding hardware relate to the following:

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Content preview·Buy PDF of this chapter|Buy reprint rights for this chapter

Hardware installation from Windows XP to Windows Vista hasn't changed much. What has changed significantly since Windows XP was introduced is the array of options when it comes to hardware devices. Whether you are installing new hardware in your existing computer or getting acquainted with the types of hardware available for a computer you've recently purchased, it's important to consider your options carefully. All computers can use two types of hardware:

Internal hardware devices: Internal hardware devices are devices you install inside your computer. Typically, you'll need to power down and unplug your computer, and then remove the computer case before you can install an internal device.
External hardware devices: External hardware devices are devices you connect to your computer. Because you don't have to open your computer's case to connect external devices, you typically don't need to power down or unplug your computer before installing an external device.

The bulk of the message-board posts I see regarding hardware relate to the following:

Which type of internal device is the right choice?
Which type of external device is the right choice?

You'll find answers to these questions in the sections that follow.

When it comes to internal devices, the right type of device to use is typically the device your computer is designed to work with. Most current computers use internal devices with one of the following interfaces:

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Table of Contents

Section 3.4.1.1: Optimizing Aero glass

Section 4.4.1.1: Setting your default programs