Answers to some common questions about symbolic links

In last week’s blog, “Be More Efficient and Better Organized with the MKLink Symbolic Link Tool,” I provided a brief introduction to the concept of symbolic links and then jumped right into how to use the MKLink command in Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 to create them. After the blog post was published, many folks sent me e-mail or posted questions in the discussion thread asking for a deeper understanding of how symbolic links work within the Windows Vista and 7 operating systems. Read more.

Be more efficient and better organized with the MKLink symbolic link tool

If you are like most folks who have been using Microsoft Windows for quite some time, chances are good that you create and use shortcuts quite regularly. As you know, shortcuts can save you time and effort when it comes to quickly accessing applications or folders. While creating and using these types of standard shortcuts is quite simple, Windows 7 and Vista come with a tool called MKLink for creating a more advanced type of shortcut called a symbolic link. Read more.

Install the Aero Snap feature in almost any version of Windows

As you probably know, Snap is a new windows management feature in Microsoft Windows 7 that allows you to arrange open windows, including maximizing and resizing, just by dragging and dropping a window to different edges of the screen. When a window is dragged to the correct position, a ripple effect will emanate from the cursor and you’ll see an animated outline of the window instantly appear in its new position. As soon as you release the mouse button, the window will snap to that position.

Well, fortunately for all of us (XP, Vista and 7 users) the folks at Nurgo Software have developed a very cool piece of software called AquaSnap that brings the new Aero Snap and Shake features from Windows 7 to Windows XP and Windows Vista for free. You can even use it in Windows 2000. Read more.

The TaskList Gadget makes it easier to troubleshoot running processes

When you’re troubleshooting problems in Windows, one of the tools you’re likely to use is the Task Manager. It’s designed to provide you with detailed information about the programs and processes that are running on a system. However, Task Manager doesn’t really give you the full picture when it comes to the running processes. For instance, what if you suspect that a DLL is at the root of a problem and want to find out what DLL modules a particular process is using?

To get the information you need, you can shell out to a Command Prompt window and use the TaskList command-line utility, along with a couple of special parameters. But working from a Command Prompt can get fairly tedious. So I created the TaskList Gadget, which automates the TaskList command. Read more.

How do I make Windows 7 HomeGroup content accessible to Vista and XP?

As I explained in “How Do I Create and Configure a Network with Windows 7 HomeGroup?” the HomeGroup feature in Microsoft Windows 7 is an enhanced version of a peer-to-peer workgroup designed to make sharing files and folder easier on a home or small business network. I then showed you how to create and join a HomeGroup with Windows 7.

In “Extend Default Folder Sharing Capabilities in Windows 7 HomeGroup,” I explained how Libraries are used to share folders and files and also described other built-in features that you can use to extend folder sharing capabilities in a Windows 7 HomeGroup. Read more.

Simplify file management with the XCopy Tool

If you needed to copy hundreds of files from one local hard disk to another or from one system to another across a network, would you perform the operation from Windows Explorer? Possibly. However, if you wanted to do something fancy, such as copy only those files that have changed on or after a certain date or maybe copy only those files that have the archive bit set, performing the operation in Windows Explorer would be time consuming and difficult. So you’d probably shell out to a Command Prompt window and use the good old DOS-based XCopy command, along with its detailed set of switches.

Since XCopy is still a viable file management tool, I updated the XCopy Tool, an HTML application I created back in 2002. This updated version, which you can download for free, works in Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Read more.

Add the ARP Gadget to your troubleshooting toolbox

The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a key TCP/IP protocol that is used to determine the physical address of the network card that corresponds to an IP address. When you’re troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems on a Windows network, you may need to investigate or modify the ARP cache as you look for problems.

Windows comes with a command-line utility called ARP, which you can use to display or adjust the contents of the ARP cache of either a local or remote system. To make the tool easier to use, I created the ARP Gadget, which automates the ARP command.

Get quick access to troubleshooting info with the Netstat Gadget

The difficulty in troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems on a Windows network stems from the sheer number of connections and services on a particular system. Identifying the status of the connections and determining which services are running can help you narrow down the search, but doing so takes time. However, an underused Windows command-line utility, Netstat, can shorten the time it takes to hunt down rogue connections by quickly providing information about client services and TCP/IP communications.

Unfortunately, because Netstat is a command-line tool, admins often avoid it. So to make the Netstat tool a bit easier to use, I created the Netstat Gadget, which automates the Netstat command.

Put the Route command to work with the help of this Windows gadget

When you’re troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems on a Windows network, you may need to investigate the current IP routing table and add or delete specific IP routes. Windows comes with a command-line tool called Route that you can use to reveal and edit this type of information. Unfortunately, the Route tool is stuck in the DOS-based world of the command line, so it’s often avoided when it’s time to troubleshoot TCP/IP connectivity problems that may be rooted in the routing table.

To make the Route tool easier to use, I’ve moved it out of the command line and created the Route Gadget. Let’s take a closer look at this tool.

Expedite TCP/IP troubleshooting with our PathPing Gadget

When you’re troubleshooting TCP/IP problems on your network, chances are the first tool you head for is the Ping utility. By default, the Ping utility sends four ICMP (Internet control message protocol) echo packets to a remote computer and listens for the replies. You can then use the information generated by the utility to move on to the next troubleshooting step. In some cases, you may find that this second step involves using the Tracert utility, which traces a packet to a remote computer, showing how many hops the packet requires to reach the host and how long each hop takes. As it does so, it displays the FQDN (fully qualified domain name) and IP address of each gateway along the route to the remote computer.

While the results generated by these two utilities provide a good view of the problem, you can get all this information, and more, by using the PathPing command. As you can surmise from its name, PathPing is basically a hybrid of the Tracert and Ping utilities bundled into one utility. However, PathPing is a more powerful troubleshooting tool than either of its predecessors. It generates a detailed statistical report that can more precisely indicate the cause of the network problem.

As a follow-up to the popular IPConfig Gadget, I decided to create a gadget to automate the PathPing command. Let’s take a closer look at the PathPing Gadget.

Windows 7 Professional feature to feature comparison chart

Wondering how Windows 7 Professional stacks up to its predecssors, Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Business? If so, then you need to check out the Windows Professional Feature Comparison Chart.

Use System Restore to overcome a lost Administrator password

Even though I wear the tech guru pants in our household, my wife insists on maintaining her own Vista system — she’s my toughest customer. Fortunately, she does take my advice when she is unsure of the necessary steps and I was able to get her to use a Standard User account and then to provide the Administrator credentials at the UAC prompts, as a security precaution.

Because I’m always talking about security and passwords, she recently changed the Administrator password in order to keep her system safe. Unfortunately, a few weeks later when she needed to make a change to her system, she realized that she completely forgot the new password. Of course, this snafu was now my problem to fix.

Now, being a very customer oriented tech, I calmly assured her that everything was going to be just fine. While she does have a password reset disk for her user account, we never created one for the Administrator account.

Fortunately, I remembered seeing a Microsoft Help and Support article about being able to use System Restore to gain access to a system on which the Administrator account password was forgotten.

To my surprise, the procedure worked without a hitch and I won the best tech of the year award. Seriously now, since this is a great technique to have in your tech support toolbox and because it will work in both Windows Vista and Windows 7, I thought that I would share it with TechRepublic readers.

In this edition of the Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll show you how to use System Restore and a Windows DVD to revive a lost Administrator password.

Taking a closer look at UAC prompts

As you know, Windows Vista has a built-in security feature called User Account Control (UAC for short) that is designed to reduce the potential for security breaches. UAC forces all users, even administrators, to request permission via the UAC prompt in order to perform tasks that require administrative privileges. Standard users must be able to provide an Administrator user name and password and Administrators must simply consent to the operation.

While this is all pretty familiar territory to Vista users, that fact that there are actually four types of UAC prompts each with a different color scheme isn't. Sure we've all encountered UAC prompts, but most of us think of them in generic terms. Seriously, who among us has actually taken the time to look at the color scheme of a UAC? We usually just click a button as fast as we can to move past the prompt. However, like the Homeland Security color levels, each of the successive UAC color coding schemes is designed to convey a greater sense of warning.

In this gallery, I'll take a closer look at each type of UAC prompt and point out the different color schemes.

Download the IPConfig Gadget to simplify troubleshooting in Vista

The IPConfig command can be invaluable when troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems. Unfortunately, this handy command is a command-line tool, which means that using it can be a painstaking operation that requires you to type the IPConfig command over and over again with a different switch for each operation.

To alleviate some of that tedious labor, I created the Windows XP IP Configuration Tool several years ago. Recently, I created the Windows Vista IP Configuration Tool for Vista, whose IPConfig command offers five more options than XP and requires working through a UAC prompt.

In the discussion thread for the Vista version, TechRepublic member jvdgijp suggested that I convert the tool, which is an HTML application, into a Vista gadget. Several other members echoed that request, so I got to work and created the IPConfig Gadget.

Temporarily disable User Account Control prompts in Vista

I’ve been receiving a lot of email lately from Microsoft Windows XP users who are buying discounted Windows Vista computers now in order to get the free Windows 7 upgrade. Most of the questions revolve around how best to deal with Windows Vista’s User Account Control (UAC). As you know, going from XP to Vista and encountering UAC prompts for the first time can be very frustrating — especially if you consider yourself an experienced computer user who isn’t likely to fall into the kind of traps that UAC is designed to protect computer users from. As such, many of these users have permanently disabled UAC in order to avoid what they perceive to be a regular onslaught of “Are you sure?” type of prompts.

However, I recently discovered a technique that will allow you to temporarily disable UAC during those times when you know that you will be performing operations that generate a lot of UAC prompts and then re-enable UAC when you are done. That way you will be able to avoid UAC prompts when they are most likely to occur, yet leave the UAC protection in place when it will most likely save you from disaster.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll explain this technique and show you how to use it to your advantage.

Save time and keystrokes with the Windows Vista IP Configuration Tool

When you’re troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems, chances are good that you shell out to the command line and use the IPConfig command. While this is indeed a powerful tool, using it can be a painstaking operation that requires you to type the IPConfig command over and over again with a different switch for each operation.

To alleviate some of that tedious labor, I created the Windows Vista IP Configuration Tool, which presents each of the IPConfig command-line tool’s switches in one dialog box.

Change the registration information in Windows Vista with this handy tool

When you install Windows Vista, a part of the installation procedure prompts you to enter your name and you company’s name. This information can then be displayed in the About dialog box, which you can access by pulling down the Help menu and selecting the About command in any native Vista application. You can also display the About Windows dialog box by typing Winver in the Start Search box or in the Run dialog box

This registration information is stored in the registry and can be changed by carefully editing the data with the Registry Editor. However, not everyone is comfortable with firing up the Registry Editor and delving into the registry.

That’s why I created the Vista Registration Changer utility, an HTML Application (HTA) that combines HTML, Windows Script Host, and VBScript to create nice little GUI application for easily changing the registration information. Read more.

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.

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.

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.