Save energy with a good power plan for a Vista notebook

In this edition of the Windows Vista & Windows 7 Report, I’ll show you the proprietary power plan settings on my ASUS laptop and explain how they work. While these power plan settings are designed for this ASUS laptop, they are representative of the types of power plans that other manufacturers create for their laptops.

Is Microsoft shooting its other foot with Windows 7 on netbooks?

In this week’s Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, let’s consider whether Microsoft’s OS plans for the next generation of netbooks makes any sense.

Rein in the unbound storage appetite of Vista System Restore

I recently noticed that the hard disk on one of the Microsoft Windows Vista test systems that I use quite regularly began to fill up. This seemed odd to me because while I have a lot of data on the disk, the majority of it just test data (i.e. data that I copy over from my real system just so I have something to work with). I don’t really generate much, if any, data on that system. As such, I was a bit confused as to where all the disk space was going.

After a bit more investigation, I discovered that the problem was being caused by a configuration problem with Vista’s System Restore feature.

In this edition of the Microsoft Windows Vista & Windows 7 Report, I’ll show you what I discovered and how you can fix it. As I do, I’ll also explain how to use the Volume Shadow Copy Service Administration command-line tool, VSSAdmin.

Take a closer look at Windows 7's Jump List feature

Jump Lists are a new feature in Microsoft Windows 7 that are designed to make it easier to find what you want and perform common operations associated with an application. Jump Lists appear on the Start menu as well as on the Taskbar when you right-click on an icon. As I’ve been working with Windows 7, I’ve learned to take advantage of Jump Lists and really love the boost in computing efficiency.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll introduce you to Windows 7’s Jump List feature. As I do, I’ll show you the Jump Lists for several applications and describe the features in more detail.

Tweak Windows Vista's Logon screen to meet your needs

While testing some options that affect the start up and shut down speed on a Microsoft Windows Vista system recently, I spent a lot of time staring at the Logon screen. During that time, I began to wonder about the possibility of making some changes to that screen.

For example, I wondered if I could change the Logon screen wallpaper. I wondered about removing the shutdown button from the Logon screen. I also wondered if I could add a legal notice to Vista’s Logon screen. While pursuing these quests, I also discovered that I could display logon statistics on the Logon screen.

Most of these Logon screen configuration screen changes could easily be made with a few registry tweaks. Changing the Logon screen wallpaper, however, requires a separate but free program. In this edition of the Windows Vista & Windows 7 Report, I’ll show you how to tweak Vista’s Logon screen.