Best Free Vista Tweaks
About this Category
This section is dedicated to software specifically targeting Windows Vista. These are mainly tools and utilities offering ways to make life with Vista easier, more effective or are providing extended possibilities for individual customization. Considering the variety of functionalities I am not trying to compare or rank them here but will offer a selection of what I found useful and valuable.
Productivity Tools
Vista Sidebar Gadgets - With Windows Vista Microsoft introduced the Windows Sidebar. Even though I did not like it at first, after investing some time in configuring it and even develop some of my own Gadgets I wouldn't want to live without it anymore. The Windows Sidebar is a metering and info platform, similar to Sysmetrix or Rainlendar. It displays a wide variety of information through so-called Gadgets. You can add, remove and arrange such Gadgets to your liking. Some basic Gadgets come with the Sidebar but there are hundreds more out there from many different authors. I found it worthwhile to browse through the immense collection that Microsoft is providing to the Sidebar users here: http://vista.gallery.microsoft.com/vista/SideBar.aspx?mkt=en-us. And if you are not too unfamiliar with XML, HTML and some image work you can easily modify each Gadget to your liking or create your own. You will find documenation about that there as well. All Gadgets are free. The downside of the Sidebar, more precisely each Gadget, is its footprint in your memory. If you have enough of the latter you probably don't have to worry about that but it is useful to check when adding a new Gadget how much space it eats up.
Start++ - After accquiring Lookout a few years back Microsoft beefed up the Windows Search functionality quite some bit. Well integrated in Windows Vista I am still amazed how helpful the results are when trying to locate some old e-Mails and other information. Start++ makes the Search experience even better. It hooks into the Start Menu Search module and lets you define your own shortcuts for searching inside and outside of your computer. Some useful predefined shortcuts, e.g. "g" for Google demonstrate very convincingly the power of this little tool. But not only the textual Google results can be displayed in the Search result box, even graphical objects like weather forecasts are quickly displayed by just typing in "weather" (see screenshots here). Besides the command shortcuts you can also define others to launch any gadget or script you like. Start++ is really a useful helper for your productivity.
System Tools
TweakUAC – Quite a few users complained about the annoyance of Windows Vista's User Access Control (UAC). Despite the increased security, it is quite a drag that with UAC switched on you have to confirm a Yes/No prompt on many operations you perform in Windows Vista. You have probably seen the Mac advertisement that specifically picked up this "feature". If you decide that you do not need UAC it can be switched off, however, doing this manually involves a couple of steps and clicks. You will most probably prefer to use TweakUAC. It lets you quickly turn UAC (User Account Control) on or off, or make UAC operate in quiet mode.
Tweak VI – TotalIdea brought out this amazing utility for tweaking and customizing Windows Vista. Lucky for us, the Basic Edition is absolutely free and is already packed with features and settings to play around with. Both, optimization and customization of specifically Windows Vista is the main target of Tweak VI. The free Basic Edition contains hundreds of settings in the areas of CPU, Disk, Memory, Cache, Vista features, Desktop, Internet settings, and many more. Even specific tweaks for Firefox are included. Tweak VI's concept bases on plugins that provide the different tweaking modules. One optional plugin to download during setup comes with the free Basic Edition, the EasyBCD plugin for customizing the Vista boot configuration. Should you purchase the full product you can download and use more addl. plugins. Tweak VI offers to save and restore restore points and module snapshots for each plugin, which is absolutely imperative for a tweaking tool. A nice touch is that you can name your restore points so you can identify them later, should you have to choose from several ones to restore. Tweak VI is a must have for Vista tweakers.
MzVista Force - MzVista Force is a Vista tweaking utility. It allows you to change a good range of features that may improve your system's speed and efficiency. You'll notice that "Backup-Restore" includes a Registry backup option. It is strongly recommended that you use this before tweaking your system, so you can return to the current state if things don't go as expected. Other facilities include Performance tweaks, Windows tweaks, Internet optimization, Registry optimization, Startup Manager, and a Services Manager. If you're not sure about a particular feature, the Help usually provides adequate information. I did not like the design though and I feel that there is a lot of room for improvement. I am using a 1900 resolution, thus, a bigger font, and some of the buttons and captions disapear at the window edge. The colorful background makes it even harder to read. The way all the many settings are organized is another downside affecting the usability. I hope we will see improvements in those areas in the next releases.
VistaBootPRO – The Vista Boot Configuration Data (BCD) controls how Vista boots. Although it's perfectly possible to edit the BCD from the command prompt, VistaBootPRO makes it much easier. Use the built-in backup option first, to make sure your current BCD is preserved. This program makes it dead-easy to install a second Operating System (And I know there are many out there wishing their XP back.). Astonishingly, it also allows you to permanently disable the driver signing requirements of Vista 64 Bit. Apart from making it easy to test unsigned drivers, this feature opens a whole new world of possibilities. (Disabling driver signing feature may not work if you've installed Vista SP1.)
Sysinternals Toolbox – The Sysinternals tools by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell is a collection of very valuable and helpful system utilities targeting a wide variety of Windows information and configuration issues. The tools are in fact that good that Microsoft acquired Sysinternals (incl. Mark and Bryce) in July, 2006. You can find a few of the single tools here at Techsupportalert also in other categories. When I started working and playing around with Vista, quite a few of the Sysinternal tools were very helpful to me, e.g. the Process Explorer or the Autoruns viewer. However, the downside of the Sysinternals tools is that they do not come with an installation routine. You need to unpack each executable file yourself and create a shortcut manually. The Sysinternals Toolbox here is a convenient setup package of the most valuable Sysinternals utilities. You start one setup file and you have all of the tools (you can select packages during setup) conveniently installed and accessible through your Start menu. The toolbox is updated regularly based on updates of the tools themselves. The utilities in the setup packages are untouched, this is just a setup routine for installing them easily.
WinBubble – UnblockForUs is a blogspot space by Lawrence Albert, offering a great collection of Windows Vista tips, tutorials, tricks and software, including this great twaeking tool WinBubble. Its customization and tweaking capabilities are amazing, neatly organized in a great tabbed GUI. Not for nothing did it win several rewards at some of the most popular software sites. Besides of many general, security and optimization settings it also offers a variety of graphical tweaks like shortcut overlay, system icons and screensaver defaults. WinBubble provides a seperate tab for IE tweaks and links to the UnblockForUs blog for more tips and tricks. A nice feature is the Tweaking Toolbox on the Specific tab. Predefined buttons there launch specific Vista system tools but you can also find custom buttons that you can configure to launch your indiviual tweaking tool directly from within WinBubble. Downside to WinBubble is a missing Help file. If you're not knowing what a certain setting does you will probably be reluctant to play with it at all. WinBubble does not need to be installed with a setup routine. Just copy the files to a location and launch the executable from there.
Customization Tools
Vista Boot Logo Generator – I always liked it to change my boot logo and login screen backround to give my Windows design an individual touch. Already under XP there were some tools offering their help in that regards. Vista Boot Logo Generator provides this feature for the Vista boot logo. You can create your own 24-bit BMP's in two sizes (800*600 and 1024*768) and the tool will generate the new logo file.
But actually, that is all the tool does. Quite some manual work is still required to make it work. You have to copy that file into a specific system32 folder (depending on your language). In order to do so you have to change the owner of that file and then again change your permissions to overwrite it. Also, you have to make sure that the NOGUIBOOT option is off, using the Windows MSCONFIG tool. For full details, make sure you read the info during the setup of the utility.
Unfortunately even though I did everything and went through all the hassles as described it did not work for me (Vista Home Premium SP1). A couple of users posted similar problems on the programmer's home page as well. It seems that it does not work with SP1.
In the end it is not a utility to my liking since too many manual interaction and knowledge is necessary to make it work (if it works with your Vista version at all). Hopefully future releases will address these issues.
LogonStudio Vista – Object Desktop's LogonStudio Vista is much more a convenient utility as the Logo Generator. LogonStudio offers you the option to change the background image of the Windows Vista Logon screen. No manual activities are required, it is all done from within the GUI. It comes with several logon screens to choose from, along with thousands that are available online from other skinning Web sites. It also includes an editor for creating your own logon screen. You can build or modify logon screens by tweaking parameters on a list of elements. This allows you to customize everything from background to letterings to buttons. Thanks to Object Desktop for offering this great tool for free.
VistaGlazz - VistaGlazz is a simple yet important application when you love customizing your Vista looks. It enables you to easily modify your Windows Vista installation to use custom styles and modify your Aero style to use the Glass effect on maximized windows. For reasons I cannot fully understand did Microsoft disable the usage of unsigned visual styles in Windows Vista. However, by overwriting a few system files this restriction is gone and you can use any visual style out there. That is exactly what this little program does. And when you take some time browsing the usual skinning sites you will be amazed how excellent those skin designers are. Usually all these skins and visual styles are donwloadable for free. VistaGlazz makes it possible to use them. It works with SP1 as well. My top customization tool for Vista.
Vista Shortcut Manager – The name is a little misleading here since this tool just allows you to manage the shortcut overlay image of your icons. Usually this is a little arrow in the lower left corner of an icon, you have surely seen that on your desktop. The well designed tool offers to either replace the overlay image with a different one (two transparent icon files come with the tool, you can also use your own creation) or to not use an overlay image at all. I personally do not see any sense in disabling it (since it indicates that this icon links to a shortcut and not to the real executable), but customizing the overly image is an interesting idea. After you made your choice you need to logoff and back on to make your changes visible. The Logoff function is offered by the tool after saving your changes. However, I am getting an exception error when I use the built in logoff feature, but the changes were applied. The utility also offers to disable the “ - Shortcut” extension when creating new shortcuts.
You might also want to read the great article "How to make Vista run faster" by Briard.
Product Details
TweakUAC
Website: http://www.tweak-uac.com/what-is-tweak-uac/
Download link: http://www.tweak-uac.com/download/
Author: WinAbility Corporation
Version: 1.0
Date: 19/05/2006
Download file size: 85 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Start++
Website: http://brandontools.com/content/StartPlusPlus.aspx
Download link: http://brandontools.com/files/folders/startplusplus/entry33.aspx
Author: BrandonTools
Version: 0.8.1
Date: 25.Apr.2008
Download file size: 1.3 MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Tweak VI
Website: http://www.totalidea.com/content/tweakvi/tweakvi-index.php
Download link: http://dl1.totalidea.com/files/public/tweakvi-basic-sfx.exe
Author: TOTALidea
Version: 1.0
Date: 16/06/2008
Download file size: 12 MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: Yes, supports 32 bit and 64 bit
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: Dansk, Deutsch, English, Espanol, Francais, Italiano, Nederlands, Russian
Additional software required: No
MzVista Force
Website: http://mztweak.bravehost.com/
Download link: http://mztweak.bravehost.com/MzVista.html
Author: Michael Zacharias
Version: 1.8
Date: Unknown
Download file size: 916 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
VistaBootPRO
Website: http://www.vistabootpro.org/
Download link: http://www.vistabootpro.org/#bodycontent
Author: PROnetworks Betas and Windows Support Teams
Version: 3.3
Date: 04/27/2007
Download file size: 1.59 MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: All flavors of Windows
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: MS .NET 2.0 Framework
Sysinternals Toolbox
Website: http://www.lewe.com/
Download link: http://www.lewe.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=115&Itemid=45
Author: Sysinternals tools by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell (Microsoft), Setup Routine by Lewe.com
Version: 1.9
Date: 01.Jun.2008
Download file size: 3.8 MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: All flavors of Windows
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
WinBubble
Website: http://unlockforus.blogspot.com/2007/11/winbubbles-features-gap.html
Download link: http://winbubble.wikidot.com/local--files/download/WinBubble%201.74.zip
Author: Lawrence Albert
Version: 1.74
Date: n/a
Download file size: ~370 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows Vista
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Vista Boot Logo Generator
Website: http://www.computa.co.uk/staff/dan/?p=18
Download link: http://www.computa.co.uk/staff/dan/?p=18
Author: Dan
Version: 1.1
Date: 01/01/2007
Download file size: 594 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Other relevant information: Read http://www.computa.co.uk/staff/dan/?p=15 for full instructions.
LogonStudio Vista
Website: http://www.stardock.com/products/Logonstudio/
Download link: http://www.stardock.com/products/Logonstudio/downloads.asp
Author: Stardock
Version: Not specified
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista (also XP, separate download)
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
VistaGlazz
Website: http://www.codegazer.com/vistaglazz/
Download link: http://www.codegazer.com/vistaglazz/downloads/
Author: CodeGazer
Version: 1.0
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: Yes, support 32 bit and 64 bit
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover
Website: http://www.frameworkx.com/download.aspx?a=83&m=84
Download link: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,64901-order,1-page,1/download.html
Author: Frameworkx
Version: 1.0
Date: 04/05/2007
Download file size: 545 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Vista
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
This category is maintained by volunteer editor George.
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Can't say I am a big fan of any of the tools listed here. But I am using WinHlp32.exe, which enables Vista to display 32-bit Help files that have the ".hlp" file name extension (mostly XP help files).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6ebcfad9-d3f5-4...
You might also like Switcher, which gives Vista the Exposé (Mac OS) functionality and some other tweaks; personaly, I am perfectly happy with Alt-Tab. It's also portable.
http://insentient.net/
Hello George, I think WinBubble gains the support of all the websites because of it's easy and clear configuration.
Not just for the Geeks But for the Beginners also (As the author says). There is no need for a help documentation because it can be found before opening the program for the first time.
Anyway, here:
http://unlockforus.blogspot.com/2007/12/unlocking-winbubble-part-1.html
The Great New Feature of WinBubble 1.74 is the ability to create a BUTTON for a REGISTRY Tricks or Files.
Even my picture, hahaha... this little program is amazing. As a Tweaker, I love the program.
anyway, thanks for the complete documentation.
TweakVI is not free. The basic is totally useless. sorry.
George you're right. After reading your post, I enabled Multiple Monitor Configuration. There was only a 3 sec. difference on my computer. The first time I used WinBubble I spent quite a long time with it. Maybe I made other changes, or when I opened WinBubble
could it have applied some changes?? Looks like I'll be back tracking to figure out what I did. Sorry about the Overblown claims on just one setting change. Now I Feel like a Bubble head. I'm glad this is Anonymous
haha... I think you are talking about the Anti-Registry Setting Theft. The program has a feature to trick the registry sensing softwares...
Lately I heard that it was awarded by Softpedia 5/5 and many others because of the Anti-Bug Feature. That's what I want to know how it works.
Again, Thanks George! Your article is helpful.
I've had Vista (home premium) for a little over a year. On my xp system
I was able to tweak it and get my boot time down to 45 seconds. On Vista
the best I could do was 1 min 45 seconds. When I say boot time I mean from the time i turn the power on till the computer is ready to go. I disabled some services,(I have 40 running at start up) left aero on,but turned off some features. The only way I could get it to boot a little faster than 1min 45 sec was to turn off things I needed or wanted to run.
Then I found a program called WinBubble 1.73. I only use one feature on the program. You'll find the setting in the Optimize tab. It's Enable/
Disable Multiple Monitor Configuration. I set it to disable. I've been running on this setting for two weeks, no problems on my system from this change. Boot time is now 54 seconds.
No need for this software to disable the Transient Multimon Manager (TMM). A lot of tweaks this software provides are also "easy" to find in the registry. Go to: Task Scheduler Library>Microsoft>Windows>MobilePC. You will see a task called "TMM", select "Disable". My "boot time" is 39 seconds, with aero on.
Hi,
thanks for the note on WinBubbles. I have tested real quick what you are describing. I took a Vista Home Premium Laptop that boots in 75 seconds (from switching it on until ready to go). After disabling Multi Monitor Support with WinBubbles I gained 5 seconds. I tried it several times back and forth and it confirmed these 5 seconds difference. I believe in your case there are several things playing together, maybe other services or startups that intercommunicate with your multi monitor support. Hard to tell. I am not surprised that in your case the gain in speed was that much higher. It is always a combination of many factors.
Anyways, I like WinBubbles for other reasons and will add it to this list here shortly. It is a great little proggy for tweaking.
Thanks again and best regards,
George
Vista UAC is annoying by design. A MS engineer states that ""The reason we put UAC into the platform was to annoy users. I'm serious."
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/blogs/mcallister_on_software/14450...
Hi, George:
"Internet people" seem to thrive on criticism and generally agree only to disagree, at best, so thanks for "putting yourself out there." I wanted to write and express my personal gratitude for the time, energy, and thought quite obviously put into your article.
The widespread experience and description of Vista as "annoying" is well-documented and (in my view) well justified. Do I want help taming those "out of control" aspects? GOD, yes!!
Any reader who does not wish to use any of the "tweaks" you describe, for any reason, is free to refrain from doing so. And ideally, without taking up the space and time to so announce in a public posting.
Keep up the great work--
I don't know how often the author is using Vista post-SP1, but short of installing programs or making system config modifications, I haven't seen UAC more than maybe once a day since RC1.
It's just not that intrusive, and a hell of a lot less prevalent than "almost every mouse-click."
I really don't recommend turning off UAC unless you're using nothing but legacy software that hasn't yet corrected bad administrator rights behavior. THAT is the only time you're going to see UAC pop up often. That being said, you have to be using some pretty old or non-updated software to see that behavior at this point.
UAC is a very small amount of convenience for a pretty big security benefit and I definitely don't recommend getting rid of it unless you absolutely have a reason to do so (i.e. critical app not loading properly).
Personally, I think the point is that, first, Microsoft could have designed UAC to be more user friendly. There are many programs that perform similarly and only have to be told once that an action is OK. By MS's own admission, they did this purposely to prove a point to programmers. I fail to see how inconveiniencing the end user to to adjust the thinking of a programmer is in any way intelligent, let alone decent behavior. Second is that a user should be able to use whatever version of a particular software title they wish. If Microsoft would compete in the market like every other company, by creating better products and services, people might actually like Microsoft. People only use MS products because they feel they have to or they don't know any better. Microsoft does not create BETTER products. They change an existing product and try to figure out how to manipulate people into using it. Again, their actions bear this out. The simple fact is that UAC is not good software and MS is, once again, using their power to force it on users. Just because it is a corporation does not mean that it should not be held to the same standards of behavior as people. If your friend did something similar to you, he wouldn't be your friend anymore.
I agree, a similar product much more user friendly is Altiris SVS, and a better product from MS is the former Softgrid.
I do admit that the emphasis on the annoyance factor of UAC is less neutral than it should be. I will see to a change of that. However, I am an intensive Vista user, pre- and post-SP1, and I am switching on and off UAC often based on what I am currently doing. I don't know how else to put it: it is annoying and it pops up constantly. I honor the purpose of increasing security, I do not honor the mistrust in my doings as an administator on my machine.
Anyways, in fact it is dependent on how you use your computer whether or not you will see the UAC warning appear often or not. The perception of its annoyance or usefulness is up to the user. Thank you for bringing the positive effects of it forward at this point and encouraging second thoughts on whether to switch UAC off or not.
Best regards,
George
Doesn't it effectively depend on which user account you use?
What's included in the Sysinternals Toolbox? Could't find an answer in Lewe.com. Many of the original Sysinternals Tools don't work for Vista, as Pagedefrag...
The Sysinternal Toolbox is just a Setup routine delivering the following selection of original Sysinternal tools. The tools are untouched. They will just be conveniently installed. You can select in the setup which ones you want to install based on your needs and OS (That still remains your responsibility). Info also available at Lewe.com here):
- Access Enumerator
- AD Explorer
- AD Insight
- Auto Logon
- Autoruns
- BGInfo
- Bluescreen Screensaver
- Cache Set
- Debug View
- Disk Monitor
- Disk View
- File Monitor
- PageDefrag
- Process Explorer
- Process Monitor
- Registry Monitor
- Rootkit Revealer
- Share Enumerator
- TCPView
- ZoomIt
Ah, I have just followed the download link. Thx. Do you know this article ? - http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,137214/printable.html
Hi there,
and thanks for the link. Seem to be some promising tools listed there. Will check them out shortly...
Best regards,
George
George, do you know Windows Steadystate? It might be useful for parental control, has a reasonable GUI, etc...
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/products/family/steadystate.mspx
Thanks for the note. It looks pretty useful in its area from what I see on the web page. However, since it is targetted not only for Vista (also XP) I suggest to put this in the Parental Control section: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-parental-Filter.htm. I will post a comment there.
Best regards,
George
An alternative to Sysinternals Toolbox is http://live.sysinternals.com
Great. We get some pictures now!
VistaGlazz seems to support 64 bit now
Thanks. Have updated the product details.
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