Vista virgin - need some help please

Diggsy · 24 Feb 2009 at 12:46

Guys, 1st time I have installed Vista (Home Premium 32bit) even though I have had it sitting on my desk for months!!

Anyway, it's installed and in the process of being updated with SP1 and all the other patches.

I plan on setting the Start Menu etc as I had it in XP (which was the Classic Start Menu

), just because I don't like the whole new arrangement. I have never got comfortable with it at all, and just prefer the familiar setup.

What I want to know is how do I get rid of all these damn annoying 'Do you want to allow this'...etc etc rubbish?

Is there a useful guide out there that's worth taking a look at?

Thanks a lot.

Sin_Chase · 24 Feb 2009 at 12:48

Turn off UAC.

http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

Diggsy · 24 Feb 2009 at 12:57

Sin_Chase said:
Turn off UAC.

http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

Thanks, but should I turn it off completely, or is there a way to tweak it to only ask in certain situations?

Ideally being able to set it on a per-application basis would be perfect.

bledd · 24 Feb 2009 at 12:58

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

set it to 'silent' mode

Diggsy · 24 Feb 2009 at 13:03

bledd. said:
http://www.tweak-uac.com/download/

set it to 'silent' mode

Thank you. That looks like a decent compromise.

Now, is there any particular guide to Vista that is worth reading?

Fire Wizard · 24 Feb 2009 at 13:04

Since it is your first time you have installed Windows Vista, you will get a fair amount of prompts to begin with since you are going through the initial phase of setting up the operating system. However, after this initial stage, the prompts should quieten down and you should rarely come across any. Then you can set yourself up to run from a standard user account. I would highly recommend keeping User Account Control enabled though

However, if you are still experiencing lots of prompts and getting fed up with them, then you can tweak it so all tasks that request elevation will be automatically elevated and you can do this via the registry or TweakUAC - Silent Mode as bledd has pointed out. This obviously isn't as secure as leaving it enabled but it's better than turning it off completely.

Diggsy · 24 Feb 2009 at 13:22

Thanks again. I have one thing really bugging me already. On boot up, uGuru loads and I always get a message saying 'a program needs your permission to continue' or something along those lines.

Is there any way to disable that warning, or make it remember my selection so it stops asking at every boot?

philjohn · 24 Feb 2009 at 13:33

Rather than disable the new start menu, try using it for a week or so - I'd never go back now.

The really nice feature is that if you hit the windows key and then start typing the name of the program you want it brings it up in the search pane - typically you'll only need to enter 3 letters (for instance if I want to load up the Remote Desktop Client I hit [windows][r][e][m][enter]). Much quicker than clicking and scrolling through a list of programs.

Mattus · 24 Feb 2009 at 19:23

Seconded. The new start menu is one of the best features of Vista.

Diggsy · 24 Feb 2009 at 19:32

Thanks guys. Maybe i'll put up with it for a little while then. It is just so unfamiliar. Kind of why I disabled it in XP, but I guess you have to move forward at some point!

mrk · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:13

Yes the Quiet mode in Vista is still crap and it's been reported so when the UAC comparisons have been done between Vista and Win7 - Which is why MS listened and added more control built into 7 for UAC control and notifications for elevation requests.

Ratbag · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:14

Switch the son of a bitch off then. As long as you aren't the sort to randomly click on popups on pr0n sites and such you should be OK. I've had it switched off since Vista day one [about a year ago] with no ill effects.