Make Windows Animation Go Slo-Mo

Launch the Registry Editor Registry Editor by typing regedit at the Start Search box or a command
prompt (see Chapter 13 for details) and then:
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM.
Select Edit→New DWORD (32-bit) Value, and create a new DWORD called AnimationsShiftKey.
Give it a value of 1.
Close the Registry Editor.
Log off of Windows and then log back in again, or else reboot.
Hold the Shift key and minimize or maximize a window. The animation will be slowed downconsiderably. To make the animation go at normal speed, let go of the shift key.

Speed Up Windows Aero
One problem with Windows Aero is that it may slow down your system. If you want, you can turn it
off:
Right-click the Windows desktop and select Personalize→Window Color and Appearance.
Click “Open classic appearance properties” for more color options.
In the Color scheme drop-down box, choose Windows Vista Basic or Windows Standard, and
click OK. Aero will now be turned off.
But what if there are some things you like about Aero, such as windows animations, but others you
don’t like, such as transparent windows? You can turn off some Aero features to speed up your PC,
but leave others on that you like using. To do it, select Start→Computer→System Properties. Click
Advanced system settings, then in the Performance section, click the Settings button. A screen like the
one shown in Figure appears. Uncheck those features that you want to turn off, then click OK.

Hack Your Way Through Windows Vista’s Aero Interface

Hack Aero’s Glass Borders
The borders around system windows, such as dialog boxes and the Control Panel, are transparent
in Windows Vista’s Aero interface. You’re not stuck with those border sizes, though; you can shrink
them or make them larger:
Right-click the Desktop and select Personalize.
Click Windows Color and Appearance.
Click “Open classic appearance properties” for more color options.
From the dialog box that appears, make sure that Windows Aero is selected as the colorscheme. Click the Advanced button on the right side of the dialog box.
Select “Border Padding” in the Item drop-down box, as shown in Figure 2-1. To change the sizeof the border, type a new size for the border. (The default is 4.) Click OK, then OK again. Thesizes of the borders will now change
Moving the slider to change the amount of transparency in window borders

Hack Windows Vista Multiboot Systems with VistaBootPRO

You don’t need to wrestle with BCDEDIT if you want to change how Windows Vista boots, especially on a multiboot system. Use the free VistaBootPRO instead
The fi rst thing you should do after installing VistaBootPRO is to back up your existing BCD store.Using VistaBootPRO is quite straightforward. To see your BCD store information, click View Settings.
For a basic overview of your BCD store, and how your system is set to boot, select Overview, as
shown in Figure. It describes, in plain English, how your system is set to boot, and shows you
the basic settings in the BCD store
An overview of the BCD store, and how Windows Vista boots
Click “Manage OS Entries” to get to the most important part of VistaBootPRO. Here’s where you
can change the order of the boot menu that appears when your PC starts, set one of the operating
systems to be the default, rename any of your operating system list entries, and change the amount
of time the menu displays before you boot into your default operating system. As you can see in
Figure 1-24, the use of this screen is quite straightforward. Make your changes and click Apply, and
the next time you restart your PC, your new boot settings take effect.
The Advanced Settings button contains mainly esoteric options, but it’s the place to go if you
want to debug the boot process, enable or disable the boot GUI mode, allow or disallow the use of
unsigned drivers in the 64-bit version of Windows Vista, along with similar options.
The fi nal button, Bootloader, will let you uninstall the Windows Vista bootloader, in case you have a
dual-boot system, and want to revert to the boot loader of the previous version of Windows

Confi guring the most important multiboot options

Create a Startup Menu Even If You Have Only One Operating System

Even if you have only one operating system, you can create a boot menu that will let you choose to
load your operating system with different parameters. For example, for menu choices, you might
have your normal operating system, a mode that lets you trace any startup problems, and Safe
Mode. To give yourself the option of operating systems with different parameters, create separate
entries for each new operating system choice. For example, for the version of the operating system
that traces potential startup problems, you could create this entry:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Trace Problems XP Home" /fastdetect /bootlog /sos
This entry creates a startup log and displays information about the drivers and other operating
system information as it loads.
For the version of the operating system that loads in Safe Mode but still allows networking, you
could create this entry:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Safe Start XP Home" /fastdetect /safeboot:network
The boot.ini fi le would look like this, assuming that you want the menu to display for 30 seconds and
you want normal XP startup to be the default:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Trace Problems XP Home" /fastdetect /bootlog /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Safe Start XP Home" /fastdetect /safeboot:network

Editing Files

To edit the fi le, open it with a text editor such as Notepad. Following is a typical boot.ini fi le for a
PC that has two operating systems installed on it—Windows XP Home Edition and Windows 2000
Professional:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
As you can see, there are two sections in the fi le: [bootloader] and [operating systems].

[boot loader]
This section controls how the boot process works; it specifi es the default operating system and
how long a user has to make a selection from a boot menu, if a boot menu has been enabled.If you want a delay of 15 seconds, for example, enter 15 forthe value. Use a value of 0 if you want the default operating system to boot immediately. If you want
the menu to be displayed indefi nitely and stay onscreen until a selection is made, use a value of -1.
To change the default operating system, edit the setting: in the preceding
example, to default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

EX:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]
This section specifi es which operating systems are present on the computer, and detailed options
for each one. XP uses the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) path to specify the location of the boot
partition. In the preceding example, the ARC path is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
The fi rst parameter, which identifi es the disk controller, should be 0. The second parameter, the
disk parameter, should also be 0. The rdisk parameter specifi es the disk number on the controller
that has the boot partition. The numbers start at 0. So, if you have two or more hard disks installed
and the second hard disk has the boot partition, the setting is rdisk(1).

When you’ve fi nished editing the boot.ini fi le, save it. The next time you start your computer, its
settings will go into effect.
In this example, if we want the menu to appear for 45 seconds, the default operating system to be
Windows 2000, and the XP splash screen to be turned off when we choose to load XP, the boot.ini
fi le should look like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=45
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect /noguiboot
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Customize Windows XP Multiboot Startup Options

If you’ve installed another operating system (in addition to XP) on your system, your PC starts up with a multiboot menu, which allows you to choose the operating system you want to run. The menu stays live for 30 seconds, and a screen countdown tells you how long you have to make a choice from the menu. After the 30 seconds elapse, it boots into your default operating system, which is generally the last operating system you installed. You can customize that multiboot menu and how your PC starts by editing the boot.ini fi le, a hidden system fi le,The boot.ini fi le is a plain-text fi le found in your root C:\ folder.launch Windows Explorer, choose View→Tools→Folder Options→View, and select the Show Hidden Files and Folders radio button. To make it a fi le you can edit, right-click it in Windows Explorer, choose Properties, uncheck the Read-Only box, and click OK

Move Partitions Around on Vista Without Destroying It

One of the cool things about Vista is its ability to resize partitions using diskmgmt.msc. This trick
works great for those times when you need to shrink or grow a partition. Unfortunately, if you need
to move things around as I did this weekend, you won’t be able to use the built-in tool.
I needed to delete a partition I wasn’t using and also give more space to my Vista partition. So I
turned to the trusty Gparted (gparted.sourceforge.net), a free alternative to tools like Partition
Magic. (Partition Magic doesn’t work in Vista, by the way.) It performed the partitioning fl awlessly,
but Vista refused to boot after that. I was prepared for that, thanks to the Gparted Vista HOWTO
(gparted.free.fr/screenshots/VISTA/Howto_move_VISTA.html), and had my Vista boot DVD ready
to perform the post-Gparted operation:
Boot up the installation DVD
Choose the repair option
Let the installation DVD repair the disk automatically when prompted to do so.

This process let Vista boot, but there was still a problem . . . one that I remember from messing up
drive letter assignments in previous versions of Windows: Vista booted up and took me to the login
screen, but wouldn’t show my desktop. (In theory, the HOWTO should have worked perfectly, but I
have a dual-boot Vista/XP system, and things got confused.)
So I had to do one more set of tasks:
Log in
Hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to get Task Manager to appear (the desktop will not appear normally when the
drive letter is messed up)
Use Task Manager to run Regedit and make my way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\
MountedDevices and fi x the drive letter assignments.
The drive letter assignments can be tricky, because you probably need to do something like rename
\DosDevices\C: to \DosDevices\D: and vice versa, but you can’t have duplicate names, so you’ll
need to change one of them to something temporary, like:
\DosDevices\C: to \DosDevices\X:
\DosDevices\D: to \DosDevices\C:
\DosDevices\X: to \DosDevices\D:
Once rebooted, and all was right with the world!

HACKING YOUR BIOS

BIOS Hacks for Faster Bootup
Some of the stuff your computer does at boot time is of no
use. Disable those features to boot faster.

Disable Extended Tests
Many systems offer the option of allowing an in-depth test of system memory and components
(an extended test) or zipping through the system and getting to bootup as quickly as possible.
With RAM as reliable and economical as it is (and having so much of it) and having plug-and-play
operating systems like Windows—and, to some extent, current versions of Linux—the Quick Test
mode is more than adequate, and preferred for faster boot times. This parameter is shown in Figure
1-14, and specifi es the depth, and thus the time involved, for testing system RAM and fi nding and
checking the basic components of the system—COM and LPT ports and such
Confi gure Drive Detection
Most BIOSes provide the capability to automatically search for, identify, and confi gure different
types of drives across multiple IDE and Serial ATA connections. This parameter setting usually
shows up as AUTO in the IDE confi guration choices. If you leave the parameter for all four possible
IDE or Serial ATA devices set to AUTO, your BIOS will waste a lot of time searching for nonexistent
devices. For faster boot times set the parameter to NONE, as shown in Figure 1-15, for any unused
interfaces and connections that have nothing attached to them.

Speed Up Startup by Halting Startup Programs and Services

One of the best ways to speed up your PC without having to spend money on extra RAM is to stop
unnecessary programs and services from running whenever you start your PC.
1.Eliminating Programs that Run at Startup
2.Cleaning Out the Startup Folder
clear out the startup items
in Windows XP by going to Start→Programs→Startup and deleting items you want to remove. In
Windows Vista, go to Start→All Programs→Startup
3.Next, clean out any tasks that have been automatically scheduled to run. In Windows XP, you’ll fi nd
them in your Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any
programs that you don’t want to run.

Bypass the Windows Vista Logon Screen on Multiaccount PCs

When you have more than one user account on a Windows Vista PC, every time you restart your PC,
you’ll be presented with a welcome screen listing all the accounts on the machine, forcing you to
click one and type in your logon information.
But what if, like many people, you use one primary account nearly all the time, and use others only
on occasion—and you’d like to bypass the screen listing all the user accounts and be logged in
automatically? You’re apparently out of luck; Windows Vista can’t seem to do it.
Auto Logons for Domain-Connected PCs
If you’re on a company network and part of a domain, the “Users must enter a user name and
password to use this computer” choice won’t appear on the User Accounts screen, because domain
users always have to enter a username and password to log on to their computer. So this hack won’t
work for them.
However, there is a way for even domain users to automatically log on, by using any of several
command-line utilities. Good ones include Autologon for Windows (www.microsoft.com/technet/
sysinternals/utilities/Autologon.mspx), and autologon.exe (shellrevealed.com/fi les/folders/code/
entry4411.aspx).

Over time, your Registry can become bloated with unused entries, slowing down your system startup because your system loads them every time you start

Over time, your Registry can become bloated with unused entries, slowing down your system
startup because your system loads them every time you start up your PC. Get a Registry cleanup
tool to delete unneeded Registry entries and speed up startup times.shown in Figure is an excellent
Registry cleanup tool. It combs your Registry for outdated and useless entries and then lets you
choose which entries to delete and which to keep. It also lets you restore your Registry if you run
into a problem.
Speed Up Shutdown Times
It’s not only startup times that you’d like to speed up; you can also adjust things so that your system
shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here
are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process:

Hack Your BIOS for Faster Startups

When you turn on your PC, it goes through a set of startup procedures in its BIOS before it gets to
starting Windows. So, if you speed up those initial startup procedures, you’ll make your system start
faster.
You can speed up your startup procedures by changing the BIOS with the built-in setup utility. How
you run this utility varies from PC to PC, but you typically get to it by pressing either the Delete, F1,
or F10 key during startup. You’ll come to a menu with a variety of choices. Here are the choices to
make for faster system startups:
Quick Power On Self Test (POST)
When you choose this option, your system runs an abbreviated POST rather than the normal, lengthy
one.
Change Your Boot Order
If you change the boot order so that your BIOS checks the hard disk fi rst for booting, it won’t check
any other devices, and will speed up your startup time.
Boot Up Floppy Seek
Disable this option. When it’s enabled, your system spends a few extra seconds looking for your
fl oppy drive—a relatively pointless procedure, especially considering how infrequently you use your
fl oppy drive.
Boot Delay
Some systems let you delay booting after you turn on your PC so that your hard drive gets a chance
to start spinning before bootup. Most likely, you don’t need to have this boot delay, so turn it off. If
you run into problems, however, you can turn it back on.

Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times

No matter how fast your PC boots, it’s not fast enough. Here are several hacks to get you right to
your desktop as quickly as possible after startup, whether you use Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Confi rm That Boot Defragmentation Is Enabled
There’s a simple way to speed up Windows startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which


puts all the boot fi les next to one another on your hard disk. When boot fi les are in close proximity to
one another, your system will start faster.
On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or
it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled on your
system, launch the Registry Editor by typing regedit at the Start Search box or a command prompt
(see Chapter 13 for details) and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
Edit the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y. Exit the Registry and reboot. The next
time you reboot, your computer will perform a boot defragment.

how Change Your Windows XP Boot Screen?

Windows XP users can change their boot screens with this
free software. Say good-bye to the boring Windows XP logo.
Windows XP users get as tired of their boot screens as Windows Vista users do—so if you’re a
Windows XP user, this hack is for you. It’ll show you how to easily change your boot screen.
Download, install, and run the free program BootSkin (www.stardock.com/products/bootskin).
A screen like the one shown in Figure 1-4 appears. Scroll to any boot screen and click Preview to see
a larger view of it. Once you’ve found one you want to use as your boot screen, click Apply.
The next time you boot, you’ll see your new boot screen. But you’re not limited to the boot
screens in the program. Click Browse boot screen library, and you’ll be brought to a page from the
WinCustomize BootSkins Gallery that has thousands of boot skins.

If you don’t want to
go to the trouble of
building your own
boot screen, but
aren’t happy with
the default one for
Windows Vista, there’s
another solution: turn
on Windows Vista’s
hidden boot screen. It’s
called Aurora, because
it looks like Aurora
Borealis, also known
as the Northern Lights.
To turn it on, run the
MSCONFIG utility,
and on the Boot tab,
select “No GUI boot”
and click OK. From
now on, you’ll use the
hidden Windows Vista
boot screen (if you’ve
previously replaced
the winload.exe.mui
fi le with your own boot
screen, you’ll need to
restore the original to
see the Aurora screen).

What good is software and hardware if you can’t hack it?

Windows-related software and hardware is eminently hackable. As you’ll see, you can hack just
about anything. Want to completely redo Windows Vista’s (or Windows XP’s) interface? I’ll show you
how. How about hacking the dreaded Vista User Account Control prompt, ReadyBoost, or Windows
Aero? It’s in here as well. Want to mod your PC’s case, do some serious Zune hacking, replace
your home router’s firmware to give it enterprise-level features, hack your BIOS, speed up Internet
access for free, take control of your wireless network, and more? That’s all in here as well, and plenty
more, to boot. (And yes, there are plenty of hacks for booting your PC as well, including setting up
multiboot systems and mastering Windows Vista’s bizarre new BCD store for bootup.)