One of the most irritating things about
Windows Vista is the repetitious messages that appear whenever
you attempt to install a new program. First you see a box with
that asks, “Are you sure you want to run this program?” Once you
get past this point, you see another box which says,
“Unidentified program wants access to your computer”, “Allow” or
“Cancel”. In some cases, once the program is installed, every
time you attempt to run it you see a warning, “A program needs
your permission to continue”.
I suppose this is part of Microsoft's
attempt to improve security and protect users from “malware”.
For a long-time, “experienced”, Windows User, these warnings
seem like overkill. One of the first things I did was to search
the Internet for a way to turn them off. Microsoft will tell you
not to do this (it weakens their security system) but, for the
knowledgeable user, here is the solution. Click Start -->
Control Panel. In the left panel, make sure that you are in the
Classic View. Double-click User Accounts. Click “Turn User
Account Control on or off”. Clear the check box and click OK.
Reboot the computer.
I'm not sure if I like the new Vista Start
menu. You open it by left-clicking on the Start button or
pressing the Windows key. The colors are more brilliant in the
new menu and the order of some things has been changed to place
things that are used more frequently near the top. For those who
prefer something closer to what you see with Windows XP,
Microsoft has provided an alternative. Put your mouse pointer on
the Task Bar at the bottom of the screen and left-click. In the
window that appears click on “Properties”. Click on the Start
Menu tab; then click on the button for a “Classic Start Menu”
and click OK. Notice that at the bottom of this page is a
hyper-link (blue text) “How do I change the way the Start Menu
looks”. Click on it to see the many options.
For those who want to change the right half
of the NEW Start menu, place your mouse pointer on the Task Bar
at the bottom of the screen again and right-click. In the window
that appears click on “Properties” and then Start Menu tab and
click on the “Customize” button. The top half of the screen
shows all of the items that are available and the manner that
they are available (you'll probably have to scroll down to see
everything). Point and click to turn items on and off.
Experiment a little. Turn things on and off. You can reverse the
selections that you made if you don't like them or click on the
“Use Default Settings” button to restore everything to the
original condition. Note that you can do the same thing if you
select the “Classic Start Menu” instead of “Start Menu”.
There was one “last” convenience item that
I wanted to add to my desktop. I like to go directly to
“Computer” (it used to be called “My Computer” in Windows XP)
for fast access to hard drives and file folders without going
through the Start Menu. This is easy to set up in Vista - just
right-click on an empty area of the desktop and click on
“Personalize”. On the left side of the window, under “Tasks”,
click on “Change Desktop Icons”. Under “Desktop Icons”, click on
“Computer” so a check mark appears in the box next to it.
Before you leave this window, notice that
you can also change the icons that are used for each of the
selected items. You can also pick one of the default icons,
click on the “Change Icon” button and select an alternate from a
library of icons. If you change your mind about the icon you
picked you can click the “Restore Default” button. When you are
finished with changes click OK.
Next month we'll look at more things you
can do with the desktop.
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