Brand New to Vista

[mistervista]

Hi all,

I was a long time XP user and finally made the jump to Vista. I'm about 48 hours in and I really love it! With my hardware it is silky smooth.

Anyway, I plan to dig around this forum for little nuggets, but I thought I'd create this post. What kind of recommendations do you have for a first time user? I know the first thing I did was disabled the UAC. What else should I know?

BTW, Vista Home Premium. Thanks!

[Lasker]

You need to disable some services to make it even more smooth the experience:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=513758

[Boeing 787]

http://damnmachine.com/31/dramatically-speed-up-vista.html

Some things that could be disabled.

[soldier1st]

You need to disable some services to make it even more smooth the experience:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=513758

bad idea as you won't gain much if anything and turning off UAC is silly, use Tweak UAC instead if the prompts bother you and the best thing is to let let do it's thing and install what you need and vista will do the rest. also install service pack 1 if you have not done so.also what are your specs?

[DrunkenBeard]

- First thing to do : reEnable UAC :)

[Lee G. Veteran]

Yeah, I would enable UAC. You can put it in quiet mode by using TweakUAC.

You should check out WinBubble too. It's a Vista tweaking application.

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

Best site for information on disabling services and their effects is Black Vipers site

As mentioned above, it is beneficial to keep UAC enabled, I have never understood people who say turn it off, but that is your choice really. But let's not turn this into another UAC debate please.

[mistervista]

Wow, got some quick responses already - great!

Interesting that folks are for UAC. I guess I'll turn it back on and look at the tweak program.

I'm running a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.17ghz; 3gb ram.

Thanks guys.

[Kami-]

Hi,

Also if you want custom themes, check out VistaGlazz.

[Guest xiphi]

Why are people suggesting disabling any services? You get NO benefit from doing so. If anything, you would negatively impact your already smooth experience. Another suggestion is to LEAVE UAC ON, and not mess with its settings. Also, if you let Vista do its thing, you will learn that your system will get better over time. People feel the need to disable things in Vista due to how they used to be in XP. In Vista, that is not the case.

There are a few suggestions that can give an even better experience without doing any harm. What I do first thing on a new install is enable "Launch folder windows in a separate process" under the View tab in Folder Options. (While in the Folder Options, you can also enable "Use check box to select items" which can be quite handy at times.) The second is to disable "Highlight newly installed programs" in your Start Menu options. You'll find that option if you type "Taskbar and Start Menu" in the Start Menu search, then click on the Customize button on the Start Menu tab.

[Scorbing]

What is the point of UAC? What does it do other than annoy you every time U want to do something?

[Spyder Veteran]

uac stops software from making system wide changes without your knowledge. people perceive this as annoying when they're doing things they know they can trust but its great for stopping things from happening that you wouldn't otherwise know about (spyware/malware/virus/etc)

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

What is the point of UAC?

You already know the prescribed answer to this - you have "contributed" in threads where this has been discussed to death. I suggest you are trolling.

However, just in case you missed it all those times before (by missed - I mean "ignored" as it doesn't suit your agenda):

UAC stops applications from making major system alterations without you knowing. As such, it put's the onus on you to allow these changes.

Unless you sit altering your system on a daily basis - it would be hard to argue that UAC was truly annoying.

[Scorbing]

You already know the prescribed answer to this - you have "contributed" in threads where this has been discussed to death. I suggest you are trolling.

However, just in case you missed it all those times before (by missed - I mean "ignored" as it doesn't suit your agenda):

UAC stops applications from making major system alterations without you knowing. As such, it put's the onus on you to allow these changes.

Unless you sit altering your system on a daily basis - it would be hard to argue that UAC was truly annoying.

First of all, if I knew the answer, I would not be asking the question.

Second, I am NOT "trolling".

Third, the next time you are going to answer someone's question, do it without the unnecessary smart comments since they serve no purpose. Just because you think you know everything and all things on Windows Vista doesn't mean everyone else does.

And finally, I do not read every post concerning Vista so yes I probably did missed the UAC arguments.

[XerXis]

re-enable uac or go back to xp ;)

[jjrambo]

Leave anything as it is, if UAC bothers you tweak it a little bit. There was nice guide here how to do it.

[flow``]

re-enable uac or go back to xp ;)

or.. leave it disabled and still run vista. there is no "rule" you have to leave uac enabled. i disable it on first boot personally. anyway, configure your pc as you like and enjoy.

[capr]

i like hte idea of going back to xp.... but since you aren't gonna do that. just be patient with vista. it looks really nice at first and everything is slick. but then you start getting annoyed with little stuff and before you know it you are frustrated to the point of turning back.... that's exactly what you shouldn't do. because with vista once you figure out how to get ride of the things that frustrate you, it's a rather nice experience.

given that you have a nice set of hardware. keep all the services so you avoid any complications... as you get more familiar with the system, you can start making those changes.

[ViperAFK]

UAC does MUCH more than "annoy" you with prompts. even if you use tweak UAC and put it in "silent mode" (uac enabled but no prompts) it is MUCH more secure than xp. There is almost NO point in disabling it when you can put it in silent mode.

With UAC enabled every process runs at the lowest integrity level. It also uses file and registry Virtualization among other things and is one of the best features of vista imo. Every vista exploit I have seen is foiled with uac enabled.

http://www.tweak-uac.com/home/

[Emon]

Here are the things I change/install after a fresh Vista installation:

http://www.mattberther.com/2006/11/19/repl...-windows-vista/

http://shahrier.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-t...sktop-when.html

http://shahrier.blogspot.com/2007/12/windo...p32exe-for.html

http://shahrier.blogspot.com/2007/12/get-v...ba-to-work.html

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003...l/download.mspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc162321.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...s/bb896653.aspx

http://www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.htm

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

http://beeblebrox.org/hashtab/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_daemon_tools/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_avg_antivirus/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_adobe_reader/

http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

[crazlunatic]

Don't mean to be a spam ###### but my site is great for Vista stuff ^_^

http://www.vistarewired.com

check it out =D

[White Cuban]

except emon nobody hardly contributed anything useful, stop the UAC flaming please.

anyway, look into services you need and dont urself, before disabling something, even if its by a guide, think if you'll need it first.

isn't daemon tools bundled with crap?

Edited October 10, 2008 by Matan Mates

[Emon]

except emon nobody hardly contributed anything useful, stop the UAC flaming please.

anyway, look into services you need and dont urself, before disabling something, even if its by a guide, think if you'll need it first.

isn't daemon tools bundled with crap?

Yes, daemon tools wants to install a spyware but just uncheck that option when you are installing it.

[Quillz]

For the best Vista experience, do a clean install on any new computer you get (to get rid of all the OEM crap) and don't disable anything. That includes UAC and indexing services. Leave them alone. They are built into the OS and enabled for a reason.

[mistervista]

I have followed the majority here and re-enabled UAC. After using it a few days I realized that it's only the configuration process that's a pain in the balls (aka fresh install). Once your machine is set, you rarely see it.