Microsoft has included some tricks for using in Windows Vista that should make your computing experience more enjoyable. Or at least make some of the task easier to use.

If you would like to check your PC’s health:

Open up Control Panel and click on the Performance Information and Tools icon. Than open Advanced tools from the list on the left hand side of the screen. Click on the Generate a system health report option at the bottom of the list. This will provide you with a list of any problems the system may be experiencing and some suggestions on how to correct them.

Where are my old menus?

One of the first things I noticed in using Vista, was that the old menus with File, Edit, View and more, were gone. It’s difficult not having these old standbys available. You know the old saying, old dogs-new tricks. But all you have to do if press the Alt key, and voila, they are back.

Change your security settings, but be careful.

Every time you access a system feature, you are prompted if you wish to allow the action. In some of the first beta’s, this was really overkill, since you sometimes needed to click through 2,3, or more alerts. The purpose of this system is to provide the user with security features to keep the bad guys away. BUT, if you think you want to do away with the feature you can turn it off. Just go to your user icon located on the top of the Start menu and click on the icon. From the next menu select Turn User Account On or Off. Be careful.

Zoom, zoom, zoom - not the car commercial - Windows Explorer

To Get Zooming - Go to any Windows Explorer windows and select a icon. Then hold down the CTRL key and scroll with your mouse. On my mouse I had to click the scroll button first prior to scrolling to get the zoom effect working correctly. It makes things easier to read.

Vista quick feature for your laptop

By just holding down the Windows key [that’s the key with the Microsoft logo] you can then press X. This will to open up the Mobility Center. You will than have access to controls for the battery, wireless signal and external displays.Note: I haven’t used this feature since I don’t have Vista on a lappy

[ tags]microsoft, windows, vista, tips, tricks [/tags]