Sometimes as a Network Administrator I get on a home users machine and have to pause for a few seconds to get to the Administrator programs that I use to sort out the day to day trouble regular users get themselves into to.
This article will put those administrative tools in Vista at your fingertips through the Start Menu.
I recently had a friend who was messing around with his desktop and accidentally deleted the Show Desktop icon from his quick launch toolbar. This useful little icon minimizes all open windows so you can get to your desktop quickly. It is not really a application but instead a script that causes all that minimizing goodness.
If your like me after a few months of loading problems your system tray can get overloaded with icons. There are several ways to handle this but I am going to show you the tactical nuke option. This registry edit will permanently remove all the system tray icons.
NOTE : This post discusses changing your registry directly. This can cause your computer to become a very expensive paper weight if done incorrectly. Use the instructions cautiously as I take no responsibility for any inability someone might have to not follow simple instructions. You have been warned.
If you want to have a more customized desktop you can change your startmenu picture to something different, either one of the
preinstalled ones or one of your own. This change also will be reflected on the welcome screen after bootup for the account picture.
Microsoft issued a press release today that extended the warranty on the Xbox 360 console. Any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights will now be covered by a three year warranty from date of purchase. All other existing Xbox 360 warranty policies remain in place.
I think this is a great move by Microsoft as the three rings error has garnered quite a bit of negative press from bloggers and console owners. This new policy should help some of the fears. As a 360 owner myself, I always read the stories about powering up one day and getting the red light error with a tinge of loathing that one day I will face the same consequence and the rather hefty amount I invested in my gaming time will be a waste.
You can read the full press release
