Windows Vista create system restore point each day or at some major system event such as when you install an application.

Assuming that system restore is already enabled you can restore the file by browsing to the destinated folder , right click on it and select Restore Previous Versions.

As the Folder Properties box has loaded you will see a list of previous saved version of this folder. Select the recquired restore point you wish by click on it.

You have got three options to access the old files-either open, copy or Restore

• Open : This will allow you to browse the archive of the folder from the restore data so that you can drag and drop any number of files out of the archive folder

• Copy: This will ask you to select a destination folder to copy all of the backup.

• Restore: This will overwrite the currently selected folder with all the files from the restore point.

To being, load the Registry Editor from the run box (Press WINDOWS KEY + R to access this) by typing “regedit” and clicking OK:

Once this loads, browse to the following registry key on the left hand side:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurre ntVersionPoliciesExplorer

Then, right click on the white space in the right hand side and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and call it “NoDrives“:

Double click on “NoDrives” to enter a Decimal value. This value depends on the drives you wish to hide, and is created by adding the numbers for each drive you wish to hide from the list below. Click OK once you have entered this number.

For example, to hide drive D you would enter a decimal value of 8. To hide both drives D and E, you would enter a decimal value of 24 (8+16):

A = 1
B = 2
C = 4
D = 8
E = 16
F = 32
G = 64
H = 128
I = 256
J = 512
K = 1024
L = 2048
M = 4096
N = 8192
O = 16384
P = 32768
Q = 65536
R = 131072
S = 262144
T = 524288
U = 1048576
V = 2097152
W = 4194304
X = 8388608
Y =16777216
Z = 33554432
All drives = 67108863

Once you restart your computer, the selected drives should be hidden. If you wish to remove the hidden drives, browse to the NoDrives registry value and delete it.

As with all registry modifications, care should be taken to ensure that these steps are followed exactly. You should make a backup of your system before any major changes should things go wrong.

To begin, load the Run box by pressing WINDOWS KEY + R, then type “cleanmgr” and click OK:

Now, select the drive you wish to clean up. Normally the “C:” is your primary drive where temporary files will be located. Click OK once you have done this:

It may take a few moments while the cleanup software scans your drive for files that are safe to remove:

You can then select all of the temporary file types you wish to remove. It is not normally worth removing Image Thumbnail files as these will just be recreated next time you view a photo directory. Once you have selected the file types you want to remove, click OK:

You will be prompted to confirm you are sure about the deletion. If you are sure, click Delete Files:

The Disk Cleanup Tool will then remove the selected files and close, successfully reclaiming some diskspace:

The usual method of selecting these multiple files is to hold down CTRL and then single click on each file you wish to select.

However, Windows Vista has introduced a much easier and more convenient method of selecting multiple files.

To enable this, load Windows Explorer by pressing WINDOWS KEY + E or going to Start Menu > Computer. Now, click on the Organise button, then Folder and Search Options:

Then click the View tab and tick Use Check Boxes to Select Items, followed by OK:

When you return to the Explorer window, you will be able to select each item by single clicking on it:

If you have a NAS drive or 2nd hard drive, it would be ideal to be able to automatically backup your computer should the worse happen. Thankfully, you can use the command line interface and the “Task Scheduler” to create an automated backup solution without any other software. This will only work with Ultimate, Business or Enterprise editions of Vista in Administrator mode.

To begin, load the Task Scheduler by starting taskschd.msc from the run box (press WINDOWS KEY + R to load this):

Once the Task Scheduler has loaded, click Create Basic Task:

Now, enter a name and an optional description for your automated backup script:

You can now choose the intervals at which you want your backup to run (weekly or monthly would be sensible, depending on how often you need backups). Click Next when you are done:

Select a time of day for the script to start based on your interval selection, then click Next:

Now, select Start a Program and click Next:

For the “Program/Script” box, enter the following command:

wbadmin

Then, the following arguments to the next box:

start backup -allcritical -backuptarget:d: -include:c: -quiet

This example argument assumes you are backing up the entire C: and storing the backup on the D:. You can chance the storage paths by editing the values above. Once you are done, click Next:

This final screen lets you confirm the backup script details. If everything appears correct, click OK:

When the script starts, a command box similar to the one below will load. This will show you the progress of the backup and close automatically once complete. All of the backups will be stored in a “WindowsImageBackup” folder on the backup drive you selected, should you need to restore the computer using the Vista installation disk:

To load this application, run compmgmt.msc from the command line and select Disk Management from the left hand menu.

Not only can you format, delete and resize partitions but you can also change drive letters with a few clicks. If you install a new DVD drive at a later date but want to rename the drive letter, simply right click on the drive and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” and then click change. From this menu you can pick another available drive letter.

If you wish to change your username at some point, go to the control panel by clicking the Start Menu and then Control Panel:

Then click User Accounts and Family Safety:

Then select Change your Windows password:

Then click Change your password:

Now, enter your old password, followed by your new password (twice) and then click Change Password:

Fortunately, disabling it is very straight forward (although I would not recommend doing this unless you are aware of the consequences).

First, load the MS config utility by typing “msconfig” in the run box (Press WINDOWS KEY + R to access this) then click OK:

Once MSConfig is loaded, click on the Tools menu then select Disable UAC in the menu then click OK:

This will then run a script to disable UAC, which requires a restart to complete. If you wish to re-enable UAC, simply repeat the above steps but click Enable UAC instead.

To do this, start lusrmgr.msc from the run box (Press WINDOWS KEY + R to access this):

Once the Local User Manager has loaded, click Users in the left column and then double click your username in the main window:

Now, tick the Password Never Expires box followed by OK:

In future, you password will not expire. Allowing you to log on without needed to change your password again.

First, right click on the desktop and select New then Shortcut:

Now, enter “rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation” into the text box then click Next:

You can then enter a title for the icon and click Finish:

Your icon will now be placed on the desktop, and double clicking it will lock your PC: