Windows Vista Windows Vista February CTP (Build 5308) Tips and Tricks

Windows Vista February CTP Tips and Tricks

Author: Kristan M. Kenney
Publication Date: February 23rd, 2006

Co-author: Chris Holmes (Chris123NT).

Logging on as Local Administrator
If you are having trouble logging on as the built-in Administrator account under 5308, you will need to make some registry modifications to display the Administrator account.

1. Log in using the account you created during the Windows Vista setup process.
2. From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
3. Right click on “Command Prompt” and click “Run as Administrator”.
4. Click on “Allow” from the Windows Security dialog.
5. In the Command Prompt window, type “regedit” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
6. In the Registry Editor, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
7. Add a new key called “SpecialAccounts” (without the quotes).
8. In the “SpecialAccounts” key you just made, create a sub-key called “UserList” (without the quotes)
9. Make sure you are navigated to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
10. In the “UserList” key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) item and name it Administrator.
11. Double click on the new DWORD item and set its value to 1.
12. Close Registry Editor and the Command Prompt.

Forcing Glass on Non-WDDM Compatible Cards
WARNING: This tweak may cause a blue screen loop depending on your video card. Use with extreme caution.

1. From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
2. Right click on “Command Prompt” and click “Run as Administrator”.
3. Click on “Allow” from the Windows Security dialog.
4. In the Command Prompt window, type “regedit” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
5. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM (if this key doesn’t exist, create it)
6. Create a new DWORD (32-bit value) of UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.

Disable User Account Protection (UAP)
Once you have installed the February CTP and set up an every day user account, one of the first things you will notice is that you have almost no rights to do anything administrator related on your system. Disabling this is purely up to you but if you find UAP is getting in your way, or some applications refuse to run because of it, you may want to take a look at this. Here are the instructions:
NOTE: You should be logged in as Administrator to do this, or you could run the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) elevated.

1. Press WinKey (the flag key on your keyboard) + R and type “secpol.msc”. (Without the quotes). If asked to permit Microsoft Management Console to run, allow it.
2. In the Local Security Settings window, in the left hand pane, navigate to “Security Settings, Local Policies, Security Options”.
3. In the pane to the right, scroll all the way to the bottom.
4. Set the first two User Account Protection items to “No Prompt”, and “Disabled” on the remaining three items.
5. Close the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), and if you are asked to save the settings for “Console1”, press “No”.
6. Reboot or log off and log back in to enforce the new settings; or alternatively open an elevated Command Prompt and type “gpupdate /force” (without the quotes), and then press Enter.

Internet Explorer 7 User Agent String
Copy and paste the following code into Notepad, and save it to your desktop as IE7UserAgent.REG.




Double-click the file to merge it into the Windows Registry, and then restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.







You can easily undo this change by copying and pasting the following code into Notepad, and then saving it as IE7Undo.reg and merge it into the Windows Registry. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.






You can test these changes using a simple page that checks the User Agent. We recommend: Internet Explorer - User-Agent test and override registry scripts.

Increase Performance
The February CTP is quick right from installation, however there is one bug that causes a slow down with the user interface. This bug involves the sliding buttons on the taskbar; by disabling this, performance increases a bit. It’s really up to you, but the bug can be very annoying at times. To disable it, just carry out the following actions:

1. Press WinKey+R and type in “sysdm.cpl” (without the quotes).
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then under “Performance” click “Settings”.
3. In the Visual Effects tab, uncheck “Slide taskbar buttons”.
4. Press OK and close the Performance Options dialog.

I have also compiled a registry file that changes a few key settings involving the timings for menus, hover events, etc, which makes the Windows interface more responsive. You can download that Link Removed - Invalid URL. This was tested and is fully working without any issues, and have also been scanned for viruses.