Vista Start Menu
Vista Start Menu is the convenient alternative to the plain Start menu you find in Windows XP and Windows Vista.
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11.9.2008 Vista Start Menu 2.1 PRO
Vista Start Menu has been in development as an attractive and efficient alternative to the Start Menu in Windows XP and Windows Vista for one year.
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28.1.2007 Windows 7 Start Menu
Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista, is set to bring to the table an overhauled graphical user interface.
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26.2.2008 From Windows 95 to Windows Vista SP1 RC1 - the Evolution of the Start Menu Button
From Windows 95 to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate 1 one item of the Windows operating system is a virtual landmark in the platform's graphical user interface landscape: the Start menu button.
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6.1.2008 Remove or Restore New Briefcase At Right Click Menu of Windows 7 and Vista
Briefcase is an ancient feature in Windows operating system, existed since Windows 95. Briefcase works as a special folder that supports two-way file synchronization with another folder on local disk or external USB/FireWire drive and network drive.
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13.6.2009 Start++ 0.3.2 for Windows Vista
Users of WDS on XP may recall the “Deskbar Shortcuts” functionality that allows you to create little aliases between words or characters with commands and searches.
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24.2.2007 Microsoft: Fast start for Vista in businesses
Microsoft is predicting that Windows Vista will be adopted by companies at twice the speed as its predecessor, Windows XP.
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1.10.2006 Update on the Microsoft Windows Vista Start-up Sound
Windows Vista Start-up sound was designed to move beyond the boundaries of a basic audio alert, reflecting the operational status of the system. As an embedded sound, it has a core concept of a trademark segment of media, initializing, personalizing and reflecting the Windows Vista brand and Experience.
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24.9.2006 Microsoft Decries Vista PatchGuard Hack
Microsoft officials say they are unhappy that security software maker Authentium has decided to bypass the controversial PatchGuard kernel protection feature in its next-generation Vista operating system, and said that the tactic could lead to eventual problems for users of the company's software.
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27.10.2006 More information on the Vista SP1 activation hack
My post on the Vista SP1 activation hack has generated a lot of feedback (especially in the form of questions) from both individuals and other media outlets.
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12.2.2008 Microsoft could be teaching police to hack Windows Vista
Microsoft may begin training the police in ways to break the encryption built into its forthcoming client PC operating system Vista.
The news was revealed in a parliamentary committee session, where Professor Ross Anderson of Cambridge University warned MPs that if such a move was being considered then the police should start learning sooner rather than later.
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19.2.2006 Hack claims Vista to ship on December 5th
Veteran Zdnet hack and exiled Evertonian Colin Barker reports that Microsoft has lined up a surprise 5 December "general release date" for the consumer version of Windows Vista.
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14.10.2006 Researcher Reveals 2-Step Vista UAC Hack
A Web application developer has uncovered a two-step process (PDF) for exploiting Windows Vista's User Account Control, essentially by having a Trojan piggyback on what could be a legitimate download.
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17.5.2007 Microsoft Exec Rages Against Vista Upgrade Hack
Sarcasm can be a powerful tool, and a Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) executive recently wielded it against industry sources who claim that a loophole exists in one of the software giant's licensing policies.
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15.4.2008 New Vista OEM Activation Hack - Vista Boot by gkend
Thanks to Steve Jobs for this article on his blog and to our forum members to clecha, Nighthief and fitterphil120 for most of the findings. One again the “Chinese” come up with a new method to trick out the Vista Activation. We have seen Softmode and VistaLoader, however “ Vista Boot by gkend” does promise even more.
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21.5.2007 Hack Available to Download the Official Vista SP1 Straight from Microsoft
That's right! There is a hack available that will permit you to access, download and install the official release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 straight from Microsoft.
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17.10.2007 One More Reason to Upgrade to Vista: 6-Minute XP Hack Is Frightening!
Six minutes... that is all it took to hack Windows XP, and to completely take over the operating system. Nick McGrath, Director of Platform Strategy at Microsoft U.K., witnessing the XP hack first hand, described the effortless attack and compromising of the platform as "enlightening and frightening.
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13.11.2007 Anti-Hack Update For Windows Vista Rev from Microsoft
The release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 not only heralded a long-awaited update of the operating system, it also meant the end of two common Windows Vista anti-activation exploits - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack.
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12.5.2008 Microsoft Serves the Official Version of the Hack Used to Access Windows Vista SP1
Do you remember a time when Windows Vista SP1 was not available as a public download? In the pre-Release Candidate Stages of Vista SP1, Microsoft restricted the access to the service pack only to selected testers.
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12.12.2007 Vista SP1 Beta Build 6001.17036 v.652 Kills Hack to Download the Service Pack
Microsoft is making headway toward the final release of the first service pack for Windows Vista. A new beta build of the first refresh for the operating system is now live following the initial beta release.
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12.11.2007 Start Windows
Something old is new again in Microsoft marketing: Start.
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17.2.2009 Is Microsoft Going to Start a Linux War?
With software, the idea is to create some sort of code that is jammed into Linux and whose sole purpose is to let some proprietary code run under Linux without actually "touching" Linux in any way that would subject the proprietary code to the GPL.
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8.11.2006 Should Microsoft start paying for vulnerabilities?
Hackers are starting to agitate for Microsoft to start paying for information on security flaws found in its software products.
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16.3.2007 A Quick Start with ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a server side technology from Microsoft that allows you to create dynamic websites and web applications that run mainly on Windows web servers.
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29.12.2007 AT&T to start sending copyright warnings
AT&T Inc., the nation's largest Internet service provider, will start sending warnings to its subscribers when music labels and movie studios allege that they are trafficking in pirated material, according to an executive.
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28.3.2009 Security Tab Fixer for Windows XP - Activate Security Tab Under File, Folder Property Menu
Unlike Windows Vista & Windows 7, Window XP do not show Security tab under file or folder properties dialogue box.
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28.6.2009 Xbox 360 Off to Slow Start in Japan
Microsoft may have to try a little harder in marketing the Xbox 360 to Japanese consumers if initial reports coming out of the country Saturday are correct. According to several press outlets, reaction to the new console from Japanese customers appeared to be somewhat apathetic.
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11.12.2005 Hack Windows Xp All in One
Include:
CIA Commander
WPa kill
Activate
Enable Updates
Windows genuine validation bypass
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31.1.2006 Microsoft to Start Charging for Office 2007 Beta 2
The tester count for Office 2007 Beta 2 is now at more than three million. Given "how dramatically the beta 2 downloads have exceeded (Microsoft's) goals.
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30.7.2006 HP and Acer Start Netbook Price War
Hewlett-Packard and Acer have lowered prices of their netbooks as the back-to-school sales season kicks into gear in the U.S., offering bargains for users.
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26.8.2008Death to the Start Menu “ Part I
Viral Tarpara: So I have been playing around with Vista SP1 RC and so far it has been a much more enjoyable experience from a usability perspective.
The number UAC prompts are down, network performance regarding file sharing is now what it should have been at release time and stability is much
better. I always thought the UI in Vista was better than its predecessor though it did take a few weeks getting used to especially with the initially
annoying Network and Sharing Center. Since switching to my Mac for personal use a few years ago prior to joining Microsoft, Ive had to go through the
pain of using the Start Menu again *learned a lot about usability in the process*.
śStart Menu, pain? Surely you jest,ť you might
be thinking. Actually, it is my opinion that the Start Menu is one of the most outmoded concepts that makes Windows, well um¦Windows...
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27.12.2007Microsoft feedback survey: śWindows 7 start menu (concept). Here, let me show you it.ť
Long Zheng: Ah, product feedback surveys, what will we ever do without you? You share your most intimate secrets and future product ideas with
complete strangers all in the name of marketing research. Thankfully Microsoft surveys are no exception.
Windows 7 Start menu
searchAn anonymous tipster pointed out to me in a recent (private) Windows feedback survey sent out by Microsoft, asked how often users use the Start
menu search functionality, was a screenshot highlighting the aforementioned feature but not of Windows Vista and certainly not anything weve ever seen
before.
The most logical explanation would be of course, this is a mockup of Windows 7...
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26.02.2008Vista Desktop Search Annoyance
I thought people might find this fix interesting because it annoyed the hell out of me when I first started using Vista. In the XP days, I was a huge
Windows Desktop Search (WDS) fan, and like many WDS fans Vista search wasn't that exciting because of new features but rather, it gave visibility to
mainstream windows users that desktop search would change the way they computer.
When I used WDS I typically indexed my whole
C: and I carried that practice over to Vista's indexing service. That's when I started having issues. I wanted to to search all my content on
the machine, but when I would search for any files in the Start Menu, I would never get any results returned on a search unless they were
applications. For example, if I was to search for an excel file, it would not return in the Start Menu even though it was located in "Documents" --
it was very frustrating.
As it turns outs, the quick fix was to change the start menu settings so that the search bar is set to
"search entire index" instead of the default "search this user's files." The problem arises due to the user changing the "indexed locations"
to include all of the "C:" when the Start Menu is set to "search this user's files." This is a known bug and will be fixed in Vista SP1.
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05.09.2007Three Really Cool Vista Visual Tweaks
Andreas Verhoeven has released three really great Windows Vista tweaking
applications, designed to improve some of the visual decisions Microsoft made in Vista without much effort on your part. Download them and load
shortcuts to them into your startup folder (only one of them will do it for you) and you should really enjoy the results.
Glass
Toasts replaces the balloons that come out of your system tray with something a bit more ostentatious, a glass balloon that is too flashy for most
users. Then again, that is probably the point.
3D User Picture takes the picture that appears atop the Start Menu, makes it 3D,
and has it rotate. This means that your user picture, plus all the icons in the Start Menu that go up there when you select them, all get this cool
effect, and the effect only uses system resources when the Start Menu is open (so theres little cost to actual use of the computer.
Thumbnail Sizer lets you dramatically increase the size of the taskbar preview thumbnails, increasing seperately the height or the width (so if
you want wider, but not necessarily taller, thats easy). You can even slow down the fade in/out animation so you can enjoy that more.
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04.09.2007Review: Vista SP1 Release Candidate targets performance, reliability, security
The just-released Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate (RC), like the previous beta, does more to improve the internal plumbing of Windows Vista than
it does to make any major changes to the interface. SP1 RC targets performance, reliability, and security, leaving the operating system's features
and functionality largely intact, with the exception of allowing users to substitute an alternate search tool for the one built into Vista, and
removing the Search link from the Start menu.
When the final version of SP1 (currently slated for next year) is released, the big
news will be the death of the so-called Kill Switch, which Microsoft prefers to call "reduced functionality mode." Whatever you call it, though, the
elimination of the switch will be good news. Currently, if you don't activate your retail copy of Windows Vista after 30 days, your desktop turns
black, and your icons and the Start menu vanish. You can't open your files (although you can copy them). You're able to use a Web browser for only
an hour before you get logged off.
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07.12.20073 Really Cool Tweaks for Windows Vista
Andreas Verhoeven has released three really great Windows Vista tweaking
applications, designed to improve some of the visual decisions Microsoft made in Vista without much effort on your part. Download them and load
shortcuts to them into your startup folder (only one of them will do it for you) and you should really enjoy the results.
Glass Toasts
replaces the balloons that come out of your system tray with something a bit more ostentatious, a glass balloon that is too flashy for most users.
Then again, that is probably the point.
3D User Picture takes the picture that appears atop the Start Menu, makes it 3D, and has it rotate.
This means that your user picture, plus all the icons in the Start Menu that go up there when you select them, all get this cool effect, and the
effect only uses system resources when the Start Menu is open (so there's little cost to actual use of the computer.
Thumbnail Sizer lets
you dramatically increase the size of the taskbar preview thumbnails, increasing seperately the height or the width (so if you want wider, but not
necessarily taller, that's easy). You can even slow down the fade in/out animation so you can enjoy that more.
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05.09.2007Command Line Tips for Non-Geeks
Sarah Perez: The command line doesn't have to be the sole domain of uber-geeks. With a little know-how, anyone can use the command line to perform
simple tasks on their computer. Below is a short list of command line tips that I've found useful in the past. These steps are easy to follow and you
don't have to be a computer nerd to use them. The commands I've listed work on Windows XP or Windows Vista. To use the command line, just go to
Start --> Run, and the type in "cmd" (without the quotes) and hit "Enter" on your keyboard. On Vista, you can just type "cmd" (again, without
the quotes) and "Enter" from the Search box on the Start Menu. Vista will know what you mean.
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15.12.2007One year after Mac hack contest, Linux and Vista may be tested
One year after launching a controversial Macintosh hacking contest, the promoters of the
CanSecWest security research conference are thinking about giving hackers another shot at cracking the Mac. Only this time,
they're looking to broaden the field.
Last year, show organizers invited attendees to hack into a Macintosh laptop with the
successful hacker winning the computer and a cash prize. But this year, they're talking about giving attendees three targets to choose from. "We're
thinking of having a contest where we have Vista and OS X and Linux ... and see which one goes first," said Dragos Ruiu, the principal organizer of
CanSecWest.
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06.02.2008Microsoft Silently Rolls Out Anti-Hack Update For Vista
The release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 not only heralded a long-awaited update of the operating system, it also meant the end of two common
Windows Vista anti-activation exploits - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack. But those who think they can escape by not
updating to Service Pack 1 would be sadly mistaken.
That's because Microsoft has surreptitiously released an anti-hack detection update
via Windows Update. Those who chose to have Windows Vista install updates automatically would have this update installed and running by now. If you
chose to manually select updates to be installed, you should find this update listed.
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12.05.2008PowerPlaylist for Windows Vista Media Center released on CodePlex
As
announced last
night on the Media Center Sandbox blog, a new application for Windows Vista Media Center has been released. The application, named PowerPlaylist,
adds a custom strip to the Windows Vista Media Center start menu with up to five tiles. Each tile represents an audio, slideshow and/or visualization
combination which will start when the tile is selected. PowerPlaylist is configured via an XML data file, and the application includes an editor to
customize the information in the data file, including the title of the custom Start Menu strip and the name, image, audio source, slideshow folder and
visualization for each tile.
PowerPlaylist has been released on CodePlex, and you can download x86 and/or x64 MSI-based
installers if you want to try out the application. You can also download source code (licensed with the Microsoft Permissive License) if you want to
see how the application works behind the scenes, modify it to add features, fix bugs, etc.
Here are some links for more
information about PowerPlaylist:
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03.10.2007Those who can't hack (much), write
Since there have been computer intrusions, it seems, there have been crackers (that is, black-hat "hackers") wanting to write books detailing
What They Did. But often, the better the hack, the less the urge to write a book about it...
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14.10.2008Get Vista's Best Features in XP
Despite the fact that most of you
prefer XP to Vista and would rather
Microsoft extended XP's shelf-life, several new and improved features
available in Vista would be great to have in XP. This new functionality may not be enough to get you to switch to Vista, but that doesn't mean
you're out of luck. Let's take a look at a few ways you can incorporate Windows Vista's best features into your current XP PC for free.
We're going to focus on Vista's small and large features that are missing from XP, separated into three categories: applications,
functional, and aesthetic (e.g., transparency is aesthetic, the new start menu search is functional). This list is not exhaustive, but it does cover
the features readers feel make Vista worth it.
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14.05.2008Microsoft integrates Windows
Live into Vista
Microsoft-Watch reports that
newer Windows Vista builds,
5506 and up, include
references to Windows Live
software by default in various
locations throughout the OS.
It is unknown yet if the
concerned products are
installed with Vista or if it
only contains download links
to it.
The
Welcome Center in Vista is the
place where most references
are found. In build 5506, it
contains icons for Windows
Live Messenger, Windows Live
OneCare, Windows Live Toolbar
and Windows Live Desktop Mail.
Additionnally, the Start Menu
apparently contains a Windows
Live Messenger icon.
Though this is only
speculation, this may mean
that Microsoft is finally
removing Windows Messenger
from its Windows products,
using instead Windows Live
Messenger.
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17.08.2006TiVo Owners Uncover Storage Hack
Owners of Series3
high-definition TiVos will
soon be able to expand the
amount of programming they can
store on the digital video
recorder using an external
Serial ATA hard drive. While
the SATA ports have been on
the TiVo since the beginning,
a hack to activate them only
surfaced over the weekend...
betanews.com -
08.05.2007Engineer Demonstrates iPhone Hack After Acknowledging Apple's Patch
Though security consultant
Charlie Miller went through
with a scheduled demonstration
late yesterday afternoon of
how he and his colleagues
discovered how to hack the
Apple iPhone to obtain
personally identifiable
information from it, he and
his company's Web site both
acknowledged that Apple had
patched the vulnerability...
betanews.com -
03.08.2007Microsoft outlines Vista desktop search changes
Microsoft on Wednesday outlined the changes it plans to make to the desktop search feature in Windows Vista to satisfy antitrust concerns.
The software maker agreed in June to make the alterations to the way desktop search operates in response to concerns from rivals,
particularly Google.
The changes are coming with the first service pack to Windows Vista. Microsoft is launching a beta version
of the update in the next couple of weeks, with a final version expected early next year.
The search changes mean that, "in
addition to the numerous ways a user could access a third-party search solution in Windows Vista, they can now get to their preferred search results
from additional entry points in the Start Menu and Explorer Windows in Windows Vista with SP1," a Microsoft representative said in an e-mail to CNET
News.com.
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12.09.2007Hack into a Windows PC; with Winlockpwn.
A security consultant, Adam Boileau, based in New Zealand has released a tool that can unlock Windows computers in seconds, via a Firewire port,
without the need for a password.
With this tool, called Winlockpwn, one could "unlock locked Windows machines or login without a password
... merely by plugging in your Firewire cable and running a command".
The hack, which affects Windows XP computers but has not yet been
tested with Windows Vista, was first demonstrated, at a security conference in Sydney in 2006, but Microsoft has yet to develop a fix. But now that a
couple of years have passed and the issue has not resolved, Boileau, decided to release the tool on his website.
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08.03.2008Microsoft Submits Test Version of Vista SP1 to DOJ
Microsoft Corp. has submitted a test version of its Windows Vista operating system with features that make it easier to use non-Microsoft programs to
search PC hard drives, according to a report issued by the Justice Department Friday.
The report, a regular update on
Microsoft's compliance with a 2002 antitrust settlement, said the Redmond, Wash.-based company was on schedule in other areas, including the massive
task of rewriting documentation it provides to licensees of its technology.
Microsoft agreed to make changes to Vista in response
to antitrust complaints from Google Inc., which in June said Microsoft's hard-drive search program was interfering with Google's own tool.
The Justice Department said preliminary testing shows the new version, which will let Vista users set a competing search program as their
default and see it in the Windows Start menu, works as expected. The changes will be available in Service Pack 1, a package of upgrades and fixes
expected in the first quarter of 2008, the department said...
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01.09.2007Modifying the All Users profile in Vista or Windows Server 2008
Peter Fitzsimon: Ok, so I just spend a few whistful hours trying to work out how to modify the "All Users" profile on a Windows Server 2008 system.
I wanted to add a program to run at login (e.g. in the Start Menu|Programs|Startup directory) for all users that login, but things are now a bit
different with Vista and Windows Server 2008.
I have found quite a few people asking similar questions on the Internet but no one
seems to have offered a solution that works so I thought I'd post my findings.
Firstly, for those who haven't hit this before,
the "C:Documents and Settings" directory where user profiles are stored in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems has changed to "C:Users"
in Vista and Windows Server 2008. (I regularly encounter XP users who have upgraded to Vista getting confused by this one)
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24.02.2008What does the Sarah Palin e-mail hack say about Yahoo?
There's an underlying issue in the debate raging about the reported hack into the Yahoo e-mail account of VP nominee Sarah Palin, and it actually has
very little to do with the governor: Is there an e-mail vulnerability we should know about?..
betanews.com -
18.09.2008
