Microsoft Windows Vista Unleashed

Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Unleashed, Second Edition   Paul McFedries   Second Edition Includes coverage of Windows Vista Service Pack 1!   Microsoft Windows Vista Unleashed, Second Edition, is a book for people, like you, who don’t consider themselves to be “average users.” It’s a book for anyone who finds that doing things the official way is slower, less efficient, and less powerful because Windows Vista was designed from the ground up to avoid confusing novice users. The result is default settings that restrict flexibility, interminable wizards that turn 2-step tasks into 12-step sagas, and the hiding of powerful and useful programs behind layers of menus and dialog boxes. To unleash the potential of Windows Vista, you need a different approach that blows away Vista’s novice features and scorns the standard way of doing things.   This book goes beyond the standard-issue techniques sanctioned by Microsoft and parroted in other Windows Vista books. Instead, this book offers shortcuts for boosting your productivity, customizations for making Windows Vista work the way you do, workarounds for known Windows Vista problems, and warnings for avoiding Windows Vista pitfalls. Along the way, you’ll learn about all kinds of insider details, undocumented features, powerful tools, and background facts that help put everything into perspective.   Paul McFedries is the president of Logophilia Limited, a technical writing company. He has been working with computers for more than 30 years and has been using Microsoft Windows since version 1. Paul has written more than 50 books that have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.   Learn what’s new in Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Customize Windows Vista startup Troubleshoot software and hardware problems Tune Windows Vista’s performance Automate Windows Vista with powerful and flexible scripts Implement Internet security and privacy features Configure and administer a small network Get the most out of Control Panel, group policies, the Registry, Device Manager, and other powerful tools Set up a complete maintenance program to keep Windows Vista running smoothly Discover a complete list of Windows Vista shortcut keys, a detailed look at the Command Prompt, and a batch file primer Master the new desktop search engine and learn how to group, stack, and filter files Understand and work with Windows Vista’s User Account Control security feature Get the most out of your Tablet PC Take advantage of new Internet features such as RSS feeds, multiple home pages, and tabbed browsing   Category: Microsoft Operating Systems Covers: Microsoft Windows Vista User Level: Intermediate—Advanced  

Table of Contents:
Part I   Unleashing Day-to-Day Windows Vista 1        An Overview of Windows Vista 2        Customizing and Troubleshooting the Windows Vista Startup 3        Exploring Expert File and Folder Techniques 4        Mastering File Types 5        Installing and Running Applications 6        Getting the Most Out of User Accounts 7        Working with Digital Media 8        Vista’s Tools for Business: Contacts, Calendar, and Faxing 9        Mobile Computing in Windows Vista Part II  Unleashing Essential Windows Vista Power Tools 10      Using Control Panel and Group Policies 11      Getting to Know the Windows Vista Registry 12      Programming the Windows Script Host  Part III  Unleashing Windows Vista Customization and Optimization 13      Customizing the Windows Vista Interface   14      Tuning Windows Vista’s Performance  15      Maintaining Your Windows Vista System 1 16      Troubleshooting and Recovering from Problems 17      Getting the Most Out of Device Manager Part IV  Unleashing Windows Vista for the Internet 18      Exploring the Web with Internet Explorer        19      Communicating with Windows Mail      20      Participating in Internet Newsgroups    21      Implementing Windows Vista’s Internet Security and Privacy Features   Part V   Unleashing Windows Vista Networking 22      Setting Up a Small Network       23      Accessing and Using Your Network      24      Making Remote Network Connections Part VI  Appendixes A        Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts     B        Using the Windows Vista Command Prompt  C       Automating Windows Vista with Batch Files    

About the Author :
Paul McFedries is the president of Logophilia Limited, a technical writing company. He has worked with computers in one form or another since 1975 and has used Windows since version 1 was foisted upon an unsuspecting (and underwhelmed) world in the mid-1980s. He is the author of more than 50 computer books that have sold more than three million copies worldwide. His recent titles include the Sams Publishing book Microsoft Windows Home Server Unleashed and the Que Publishing books Networking with Microsoft Windows Vista, Formulas and Functions with Microsoft Excel 2007, Tricks of the Microsoft Office 2007 Gurus, and Microsoft Access 2007 Forms, Reports, and Queries. Paul is also the proprietor of Word Spy (www.wordspy.com), a website devoted to tracking new words and phrases as they enter the English language.