205 Big Book of Windows Hacks
Preston Gralla BIG BOOK OF Windows Hacks
Tips & Tools for unlocking the power of your Windows PC .' 9@> 9FFB F= N@E;FNJ ?8:BJ .( Jg\\[ Lg N`e[fnj =c`g *; N`e[fnj =c`g *; `j fe\ f] N`e[fnj M`jkXËj Zffc\jk e\n ]\Xkli\j# Ylk `] pfli _Xi[nXi\ `jeËk lg kf jel]]# `kj fg\iXk`fe ZXe Y\ aX^^\[ Xe[ jcl^^`j_% Pfl ZXe jg\\[ `k lg Xe[ jdffk_ `kj Xe`dXk`fej Yp c`d`k`e^ k_\ eldY\i f] n`e[fnj `k [`jgcXpj `e *;% CXleZ_ k_\ I\^`jkip <[`kfi Yp kpg`e^ i\^\[`k Xk k_\ JkXik J\XiZ_ Yfo fi X ZfddXe[ gifdgk j\\ :_Xgk\i (* ]fi [\kX`cj % >f kf % :i\Xk\ X e\n ;NFI; Xe[ eXd\ `k % J\k k_\ mXcl\ kf k_\ dXo`dld eldY\i f] n`e[fnj pfl nXek [`jgcXp\[% @] pfl _Xm\ j\m\i\ g\i]fidXeZ\ gifYc\dj# j\k `k Xk +2 pfl ZXe XcnXpj `eZi\Xj\ k_\ eldY\i cXk\i% <o`k k_\ I\^`jkip <[`kfi% PflËcc e\\[ kf i\jkXik M`jkXËj ;\jbkfg N`e[fnj DXeX^\i ;ND ]fi k_\ Z_Xe^\ kf kXb\ \]]\Zk% CXleZ_ Xe \c\mXk\[ ZfddXe[ gifdgk Yp kpg`e^ Zd[ `e k_\ j\XiZ_ Yfo Xe[ gi\jj`e^ :kic$J_`]k$<ek\i% Kpg\ e\k jkfg lojdj Xe[ gi\jj <ek\i% K_\e kpg\ e\k jkXik lojdj Xe[ gi\jj <ek\i% Pfl ZXe Xcjf `ejk\X[ i\jkXik pfli G:% N`k_ k_\ e\n j\kk`e^j `e \]]\Zk# N`e[fnj =c`g *; n`cc [`jgcXpj fecp k_\ eldY\i f] n`e[fnj pflËm\ kfc[ `k kf% @] pfl _Xm\ dfi\ n`e[fnj fg\e k_Xe k_\ dXo`dld# Xj pfl jZifcc k_ifl^_ pfli n`e[fnj# e\n n`cc i\gcXZ\ k_\ fc[% =fi \oXdgc\# `] pfl _Xm\ j`o n`e[fnj fg\e# fecp ]fli n`cc Y\ [`jgcXp\[% 8j pfl jZifcc k_ifl^_ k_\d# e\n fe\j i\gcXZ\ k_\ fe\j k_Xk jZifcc f]]% J\\ 8cjf È?XZb Pfli NXp K_ifl^_ N`e[fnj M`jkXËj 8\if @ek\i]XZ\É R?XZb (,T 702: &) Klie N`e[fnj `ekf X *; M`iklXc ;\jbkfg K_`eb N`e[fnj =c`g *; `j Zffc6 Pfl X`eËk j\\e efk_`e^ p\k% K_`j ]i\\Y`\ c\kj pfl klie N`e[fnj M`jkX Xe[ N`e[fnj OG `ekf m`iklXc *; [\jbkfgj% M`iklXc [\jbkfgj R?XZb )/T Xi\ X ^i\Xk nXp kf dXb\ pfli c`]\ Xk k_\ b\pYfXi[ ]Xi dfi\ gif[lZk`m\% 9lk Y\`e^ gif[lZk`m\ `jeËk XcnXpj n_Xk c`]\ `j Xcc XYflkÇjfd\k`d\j `kËj XYflk ]le Xj n\cc% K_\ gif^iXd ;\jbJgXZ\ gi\m`fljcp eXd\[# f[[cp# Pf[Ëd *; ^`m\j pfl k_\ Y\jk f] Yfk_ nfic[j% @k c\kj pfl Zi\Xk\ ]fli m`iklXc [\jbkfgj# Xe[ gcXZ\j \XZ_ [\jbkfg fe X m`iklXc *; ZlY\ k_Xk pfl ZXe ifkXk\ k_ifl^_ jgXZ\ kf jn`kZ_ Xdfe^ k_\d# Xj pfl ZXe j\\ `e =`^li\ )$((% Pfl ZXe qffd `e Xe[ flk f] k_\ ZlY\# Xe[ \m\e dfm\ n`e[fnj Y\kn\\e [\jbkfgj% 8e[ pfl ZXe \m\e dfm\ n`e[fnj Y\kn\\e pfli m`iklXc [\jbkfgj% ;fnecfX[ X Y\kX f] k_`j gif^iXd ]ifd nnn%fkXbljf]knXi\%Zfd&[\jbjgXZ\& `e[\o%_kdc % @kËj X %q`g Ôc\# Xe[ k_\ gif^iXd i\hl`i\j `ejkXccXk`fe% Leq`g `k kf X ]fc[\i# Xe[ k_\e [flYc\$ Zc`Zb k_\ \o\ZlkXYc\ Ôc\# Xe[ k_\ gif^iXd ilej% K_\ Ôijk jZi\\e pflËcc j\\ `j X ZfeÔ^liXk`fe jZi\\e# j_fne `e =`^li\ )$()% PflËcc Y\ j\ek kf k_\ 8Zk`mXk`fe b\p kXY# n_`Z_ c\kj pfl jg\Z`]p k_\ _fk b\p pflËcc lj\ kf XZk`mXk\ k_\ gif^iXd# Xe[ j\k fk_\i fgk`fej# jlZ_ Xj n_\k_\i kf jkXik k_\ gif^iXd n`k_ N`e[fnj% K_\ fgk`fej _\i\ Xi\ j\c]$\ogcXeXkfip# Xe[ k_\ [\]Xlck _fkb\p ZfdY`eXk`fe `j J_`]k$:kic% K_\ fk_\i kXYj Xi\ j\c]$\ogcXeXkfip Xj n\cc% ;\jbJgXZ\ c\kj pfl qffd `e Xe[ flk fe k_\ m`iklXc ZlY\2 k_\ Qffd kXY c\kj pfl j\k fgk`fej jlZ_ Xj k_\ `eZi\d\ekj ]fi qffd`e^ `e Xe[ flk# Xe[ j`d`cXi fgk`fej% K_\ ;`jgcXp kXY c\kj pfl j\k X mXi`\kp f] fgk`fej i\cXk\[ kf k_\ [`jgcXp# `eZcl[`e^ n_\k_\i kf lj\ X n`[\jZi\\e fi jkXe[Xi[ YXZb^ifle[# Xe[ j\kk`e^j i\cXk\[ kf Xek`$Xc`Xj`e^# n_\k_\i kf lj\ _Xi[nXi\ XZZ\c\iXk`fe# Xe[ j`d`cXi fgk`fej% Kf lj\ k_\ gif^iXd# gi\jj Xe[ _fc[ k_\ _fkb\p Yp [\]Xlck `kËj :kic$J_`]k % Pfli jZi\\e n`cc j_i`eb m\ip jc`^_kcp% Kf j_i`eb k_\ jZi\\e \m\e ]lik_\i# gi\jj k_\ lg Xiifn2 kf dXb\ `k cXi^\i X]k\i pflËm\ j_ileb `k# gi\jj k_\ [fne Xiifn% Kf jn`kZ_ [`i\Zkcp kf Xefk_\i m`iklXc [\jbkfg# gi\jj k_\ i`^_k Xiifn b\p kf dfm\ kf k_\ m`iklXc [\jbkfg kf k_\ i`^_k f] pfl# Xe[ k_\ c\]k Xiifn b\p kf dfm\ kf k_\ m`iklXc [\jbkfg kf k_\ c\]k f] pfl# n_`c\ pflËi\ jk`cc _fc[`e^ [fne k_\ _fkb\p% 702: & =`^li\ )$((% ;\jbJgXZ\ c\kj pfl Zi\Xk\ m`iklXc [\jbkfgj fe X *; ZlY\# Xe[ hl`Zbcp jn`kZ_ Xdfe^ k_\d K<CC N@E;FNJ KF N8IE PFL N?<E PFL ?@K :8GJ CF:B Fe\ f] k_\ dfi\ Xeefp`e^ \og\i`\eZ\j `e N`e[fnj `j XZZ`[\ekXccp _`kk`e^ k_\ :Xgj CfZb b\p# Xe[ XZZ`[\ekXccp kpg`e^ Xcc ZXg`kXc c\kk\ij% K_\i\Ëj X j`dgc\ nXp k_Xk pfl ZXe _Xm\ N`e[fnj Y\\g Xk pfl n_\e pflËm\ XZZ`[\ekXccp _`k `k% @e N`e[fnj OG# j\c\Zk :fekifc GXe\c m8ZZ\jj`Y`c`kp Fgk`fej m8ZZ\jj`Y`c`kp Fgk`fej# Xe[ Xk k_\ Yfkkfd f] k_\ jZi\\e# Z_\Zb k_\ Yfo e\ok kf Lj\ Kf^^c\ B\pj Xe[ Zc`Zb FB% @e N`e[fnj M`jkX# j\c\Zk :fekifc GXe\c m<Xj\ f] 8ZZ\jj m:_Xe^\ _fn pfli b\pYfXi[ nfibj% K_\e Z_\Zb k_\ Yfo e\ok kf Lj\ Kf^^c\ B\pj Xe[ Zc`Zb JXm\% @D82: 702: =`^li\ )$()% ;\jbJgXZ\ ZfeÔ^liXk`fe HL@:BCP I<J@Q< N@E;FNJ M@JK8 @:FEJ Efk _Xggp n`k_ k_\ j`q\ f] k_\ `Zfej fe k_\ N`e[fnj M`jkX [\jbkfg# fi `e N`e[fnj <ogcfi\i6 @kËj X jeXg kf Z_Xe^\ k_\`i j`q\% Gi\jj k_\ :kic b\p Xe[ jZifcc pfli dflj\ n_\\c fi kiXZbgX[ \hl`mXc\ek ]finXi[ kf \ecXi^\ k_\ `Zfej# fi kfnXi[ pfl kf j_i`eb k_\d% PflËcc _Xm\ j`q\j kf Z_ffj\ ]ifd% @D82: 702: :?8GK<I ') $ KLIE N@E;FNJ @EKF 8 *; M@IKL8C ;<JBKFG
BIG BOOK OF
BEIJING • CAMBRIDGE • FARNHAM • KÖLN • PARIS • SEBASTOPOL • TAIPEI • TOKYO
Windows Hacks Preston Gralla First Edition
BIG BOOK OF WINDOWS HACKS
by Preston Gralla Copyright © 2007 Preston Gralla. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
Published by Make:Books, an imprint of Maker Media, a division of O’Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
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Big Book of Windows Hacks, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of the trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors
assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.The technologies discussed in this publication, the limitations on these technologies that technol-
ogy and content owners seek to impose, and the laws actually limiting the use of these technolo-
gies are constantly changing. Thus, some of the hacks described in this publication may notwork, may cause unintended harm to systems on which they are used, or may not be consistent
with applicable user agreements. Your use of these hacks is at your own risk, and O’Reilly Media,
Inc. disclaims responsibility for any damage or expense resulting from their use. In any event,you should take care that your use of these hacks does not violate any applicable laws, including
copyright laws.ISBN-10: 0-596-52835-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-596-52835-5
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii How This Book is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv Conventions Used in This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi Using Code Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi We’d Like to Hear from You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
CHAPTER 01: STARTUP AND SHUTDOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 HACK 01: Change Your Windows Vista Boot Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21 HACK 03: Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
66 HACK 17: Turn Windows Into a 3D Virtual Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
v
94 CONTENTS
92 HACK 25: Carry Your Gadgets with You on a USB Flash Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
88 HACK 24: Play YouTube Videos in the Feed Headlines Gadget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84 HACK 23: Force the Slide Show Gadget to Play Videos as Well as Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
82 HACK 22: Hacking Gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78 HACK 21: Hack the Start Menu and Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75 HACK 20: Control the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72 HACK 19: Customize the Windows XP GUI with Tweak UI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70 HACK 18: Hack Your Way Through the Interface with the Registry Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
62 HACK 16: A Grab Bag of Great Vista Interface Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22 HACK 04: Run Windows Vista Without Activation for 120 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54 CHAPTER 02: HACKING THE INTERFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 HACK 15: Hack Your Way Through Windows Vista’s Aero Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18 HACK 02: Change your Windows XP Boot Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50 HACK 13: Move Partitions Around on Vista Without Destroying It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
45 HACK 12: Hack Windows Vista Multiboot Systems with VistaBootPRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42 HACK 11: Customize Windows XP Multiboot Startup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38 HACK 10: The Secrets of Windows Vista’s BCDEDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36 HACK 09: Upgrade Your Flash BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34 HACK 08: Hack an Unhackable BIOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29 HACK 07: BIOS Hacks for Faster Bootup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27 HACK 06: Speed Up Startup by Halting Startup Programs and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25 HACK 05: Bypass the Windows Vista and XP Logon Screen on Multi-Account PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53 HACK 14: Transforming Your Windows XP Laptop into a Dual-Boot XP/Ubuntu Linux System . . . . . . . . HACK 26: Automatically Build Any Vista Gadget from the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96 HACK 27: Yes, You Can Hack Windows Vista’s Screensavers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99 HACK 28: Extend Your Screen Real Estate with Virtual Desktops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 HACK 29: Force Older Programs to Use XP Common Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 HACK 30: Run Linux Inside Windows Without Dual Booting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 HACK 31: Run Mac OS X on Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 HACK 32: Go Retro: Run Windows 3.11 in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 HACK 33: Instant Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
CHAPTER 03: WINDOWS EXPLORER, MANAGING FILES, AND SEARCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 HACK 34: A Power User’s Hidden Weapon: Improve the Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 HACK 35: More Hacks for Improving Windows Vista’s Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 HACK 36: Open an Administrator Command Prompt Anywhere in Windows Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 HACK 37: Generate Folder and File Listings for Printing or Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 HACK 38: Only the Shadow Knows: Using Windows Shadow Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 HACK 39: Control Windows Explorer with Command-Line Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 HACK 40: Move User Directories to a Separate Partition or Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 HACK 41: Hack Your Partitions in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 HACK 42: Get More Hard-Disk Space by Using NTFS Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 HACK 43: Power Up Search in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 HACK 44: Quick Way To Speed Up Windows Vista Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 HACK 45: Use Start ++ To Juice Up Windows Vista Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 HACK 46: Find Files Faster in Windows XP by Mastering the Indexing Service’s Query Language . . . . . 167 HACK 47: Secrets of Windows Vista’s Sync Center and Offl ine Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 CHAPTER 04: INTERNET EXPLORER, THE WEB AND THE INTERNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 HACK 48: Clear Up Router Congestion and Increase Your Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 HACK 49: Surf Anonymously, Without a Trace — For Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 HACK 50: Use OpenDNS for Faster, Safer Web Browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 HACK 51: Tweak DNS Settings for Faster Internet Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 HACK 52: Kill Viruses, Spyware, and Web Bugs — For Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 HACK 53: Keep Your Google Search History Private . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 HACK 54: Fix Internet Explorer 7 Add-In Woes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 HACK 55: Kill Badly Behaving Items on the Internet Explorer Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 HACK 56: Hack Printouts in Internet Explorer 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 HACK 57: Hack Internet Explorer with the Group Policy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 HACK 58: Hack Firefox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 HACK 59: Stop Firefox Memory Leaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 HACK 60: Build Your Own Firefox Search Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 HACK 61: Build Your Own Internet Explorer Search Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 HACK 62: Make Java-based Apps Play Nice with Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 HACK 63: Where Did HyperTerminal Go? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 HACK 64: Mash Up Google Calendar and Other Online Calendars with Windows Vista’s Calendar . . . . . 231
vi
HACK 65: Import Internet Calendars into Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 HACK 66: Create Custom RSS Feeds from Newsgroups and Online Forums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
CHAPTER 05: NETWORKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 HACK 67: Quick Fix for a Sluggish Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 HACK 68: Give the World Access to a Server or PC Behind Your Home Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 HACK 69: Give Your Home Server a Hostname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 HACK 70: Get Quick Access to Network Connections in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 HACK 71: Teach XP to Play Nice on Networks with Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 HACK 72: Teach All Your Networks to Get Along . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 HACK 73: Control Another Windows XP PC with Remote Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 HACK 74: Control Another Windows Vista PC with Remote Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 HACK 75: Reboot Your Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 HACK 76: Troubleshoot Network Connections with ping, tracert, and pathping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 HACK 77: Troubleshoot Network Connections with netsh, netstat, and ipconfi g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 HACK 78: Prioritize Packets to Improve Voice Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 HACK 79: Sound Like Darth Vader While You VoIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 HACK 80: Record VoIP Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 HACK 81: Make Skype Work with Personal Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 HACK 82: Improve Skype Service Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 HACK 83: Automatically Forward Skype Voicemail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 CHAPTER 06: EMAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 HACK 84: Instantly Compress Files You Send via Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 HACK 85: Put Your Bloated Outlook Mailbox On a Diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 HACK 86: Stay Off Spam Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 HACK 87: Prevent Your Newsletter from Being Blocked as Spam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 HACK 88: Block International Spam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 HACK 89: Open Blocked File Attachments in Outlook and Outlook Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 HACK 90: Remove Exchange messaging From Outlook 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 HACK 91: Publish Your Outlook Calendar to the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 HACK 92: Turn Gmail into a Universal Inbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 HACK 93: Use Gmail as a POP3 Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 HACK 94: Use Gmail as a Virtual Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 HACK 95: Import Your Contacts into Gmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 HACK 96: Import Mail into Gmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 CHAPTER 07: WEB AND THE INTERNET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 HACK 97: Turn Your Home Router into an Enterprise-Level Powerhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 HACK 98: Troubleshoot Wireless Interference Woes, and Extend Your Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 HACK 99: Impersonate Another Computer on the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 HACK 100: Protect Yourself Against “Free Wi-Fi” Scammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 HACK 101: Protect Your Home Wi-Fi Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 HACK 102: Turn On Wi-Fi Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
vii HACK 103: Go Wardriving for Wi-Fi Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 HACK 104: Solve Hotspot Email Woes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 HACK 105: Protect Yourself at Hotspots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 HACK 106: Hacking Wi-Fi Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 HACK 107: Using a Bluetooth Headset in Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
CHAPTER 08: SECURITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374 HACK 108: Hack Windows Vista’s User Account Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374 HACK 109: Unlock the Super-Secret Administrator Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 HACK 110: Root Out Rootkits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 HACK 111: Kill Spyware and Pests With Your Bare Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 HACK 112: Hacking Windows Vista’s Outbound Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 HACK 113: Punch an Escape Hole Through Your Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 HACK 114: Track Firewall Activity with a Windows Firewall Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 HACK 115: Protect Your Privacy by Removing Windows Vista Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 HACK 116: Kill Annoying Software Registration Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 HACK 117: Use Vista’s BitLocker with a USB Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 HACK 118: Hide Folders and Files with the Encrypting File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 HACK 119: Set Up a Virtual Private Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 CHAPTER 09: APPLICATIONS, HOME SERVER, AND BACKUP. . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 HACK 120: Fast Hacks for Word 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 HACK 121: Blog Using Word 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418 HACK 122: Create Reusable “Building Blocks” in Word 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 HACK 123: Say Hello to Your New Word 2007 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423 HACK 124: Shrink Supersized Pictures in Offi ce Docs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 HACK 125: Grab Real-Time Stock Quotes in Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 HACK 126: Open and Create Offi ce Docs Without Word or Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433 HACK 127: Roll Your Own PDFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 HACK 128: Customize Windows Home Server Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438 HACK 129: Make a Remote Connection to Windows Home Server Over the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 HACK 130: Take Remote Command of a PC Using Window Home Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 HACK 131: Hacking Windows Vista Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448 HACK 132: Use Windows XP’s Ntbackup in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450 HACK 133: Best Backup Plans for Your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453 HACK 134: Control How Much Disk Space Windows Vista Uses for System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458 HACK 135: Run 16-Bit DOS and Windows Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 HACK 136: Emulate the Nintendo Entertainment System on a PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463 HACK 137: Emulate the Game Boy on Your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
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CHAPTER 10: GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472 HACK 138: Set Up Your PC To Record TV Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472 HACK 139: Remove Commercials from Recorded TV Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 HACK 140: Make Your Own TV Show Mashup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483 HACK 141: Burn Recorded TV Shows Directly from Windows Media Center to DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 HACK 142: Rip DVDs into Media Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492 HACK 143: Quick Fix for Video and Animation Woes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498 HACK 144: Choose the Right Settings for Publishing Your Movie in Windows Movie Maker . . . . . . . . . . . 498 HACK 145: Upload Your Video to YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501 HACK 146: Turn VHS Tapes into DVD Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 HACK 147: Store Any Type of File on Your Zune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509 HACK 148: Watch Any DVD on Your Zune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510 HACK 149: Delete Music from Your PC without Deleting It from Your Zune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511 HACK 150: Play YouTube Videos on your Zune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512 HACK 151: Copy Recorded TV Shows To Your Zune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 HACK 152: Organize Your Photos with Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 HACK 153: Use RAW Photos in Windows Photo Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 HACK 154: Play It Loud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 HACK 155: Convert Vinyl and Tapes to MP3s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522 CHAPTER 11: SYSTEM PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524 HACK 156: Strip the Crud Out of Your Windows Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524 HACK 157: Hack Multicore Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 HACK 158: Speed Up Your PC with ReadyBoost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 HACK 159: Force Windows Vista to Use Any Flash Drive for ReadyBoost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532 HACK 160: Get the Most Out of Your RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 HACK 161: Improve Defragging in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539 HACK 162: Look, Ma, No Hands! How To Automate Defrag in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541 HACK 163: Schedule Defragging in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544 HACK 164: Defragment a Single File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 HACK 165: Track Down Vista System Woes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547 HACK 166: Track System Performance with the XP Performance Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550 HACK 167: Track Performance and Reliability with the Vista Reliability Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 HACK 168: Speed Up System Performance with the Task Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556 HACK 169: Manage the Paging File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562 HACK 170: Speed It Up with RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565 CHAPTER 12: HARDWARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568 HACK 171: Mod Your PC’s Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568 HACK 172: Use Your Zune as a USB Hard Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573 HACK 173: Install a Larger Disk in Your Zune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573 HACK 174: Troubleshoot Hardware with Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578 HACK 175: Uncover Hidden Hardware with the Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583 HACK 176: Get a Comprehensive List of all Your Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
ix HACK 177: Turn off Hybrid Sleep Mode in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588 HACK 178: A Quick Way to Overclock your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590 HACK 179: Keep It Cool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591 HACK 180: Overclock Any Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 HACK 181: Install a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 HACK 182: Top Hardware Troubleshooting Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
CHAPTER 13: THE REGISTRY AND GROUP POLICY EDITOR . . 610 HACK 183: Don’t Fear the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 HACK 184: Hack Away at the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 HACK 185: Safely Edit the Registry Using .reg Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619 HACK 186: Better Registry Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622 HACK 187: Track and Restore Registry Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623 HACK 188: Hack Away at Windows with the Group Policy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624 CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
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PREFACE What good is software and hardware if you can’t hack it? In my book (literally), it’s no good at all.
Windows-related software and hardware is eminently hackable. As you’ll see, you can hack just about anything. Want to completely redo Windows Vista’s (or Windows XP’s) interface? I’ll show you how. How about hacking the dreaded Vista User Account Control prompt, ReadyBoost, or Windows Aero? It’s in here as well. Want to mod your PC’s case, do some serious Zune hacking, replace your home router’s fi rmware to give it enterprise-level features, hack your BIOS, speed up Internet access for free, take control of your wireless network, and more? That’s all in here as well, and plenty more, to boot. (And yes, there are plenty of hacks for booting your PC as well, including setting up multiboot systems and mastering Windows Vista’s bizarre new BCD store for bootup.) You’ll fi nd hundreds of hacks in this book. Some are simple enough so that you can do them in a few minutes. Some take some serious time and thought, such as how to build your own Windows Vista gadgets. But all of them are useful or entertaining. You’ll learn how to get far more out of Windows- related software and hardware, and have fun in the process.
The hundreds of hacks you’ll fi nd inside are useful, frequently entertaining, and will save you countless hours at the keyboard. Whether you want to speed up your PC, customize the Windows interface, hack your wired and wireless network, get more out of the Web, make better use of email, use the Registry to bend the operating system to your will, record TV shows and burn DVDS, or use Windows for countless other useful tasks, you’ll fi nd what you’re looking for here. And each hack doesn’t just show you how to do something; it also teaches why it works. Each hack is a starting point, rather than an ending point, so that you can apply the knowledge you’ve gained to create new hacks of your own. Try it out: who knows, in the next edition of this book, you might get a hack of your own published. The book covers Windows Vista and Windows XP, as well as hardware that works with both, including laptops, desktops, the Zune, and more. It also covers other Microsoft software, including Microsoft Offi ce and Windows Home Server.
How to Use This Book
You can read this book from cover to cover if you like, but each hack stands on its own, so feel free to browse and jump to the different sections that interest you most. If there’s a prerequisite you need to know about, a cross-reference will guide you to the right hack. If you’re not familiar with the Registry yet, or you want a refresher, you might want to spend some time in Chapter 13 to get a good grounding.
How This Book Is Organized
This book is not a mere tips-and-tricks compendium that tells you where to click, where to drag, and what commands to type. It takes advantage of Windows’ fl exibility and new features, recognizes that there are specifi c tasks you want to accomplish with the operating system and related hardware and software, and offers bite-size pieces of functionality you can put to use in a few minutes. It also shows how you can expand on their usefulness yourself. To give you this kind of help, the book is organized into 13 chapters:
Chapter 1, Startup and Shutdown Want to change the picture that appears on your bootscreen, create a multiboot system for multiple Windows versions as well as Linux, speed up startup and shutdowns, or hack your BIOS? You’ll fi nd
all that in this chapter, as well as the Registry, to enable you to control many different aspects of startup and shutdown, customize multiboot options, and learn the deep, dark secrets of Vista’s BCD store—and how to get around it.
Chapter 2, Hacking the Interface Want to bend Windows Vista’s Aero interface to your will? You’ll fi nd that in this chapter, along with
ways to hack XP’s interface as well. You’ll also learn how to create 3D virtual desktops and control the Control Panel, Start menu and Taskbar. And for gadget freaks—that’s Vista gadgets—you’ll fi nd plenty of hacks, including how to have a gadget play YouTube videos. You’ll also discover how to easily build a gadget from any gadget or widget on the Web. Mac lovers will fi nd out how to run Mac OS X on Windows, and those who want to go retro can fi nd out how to run Windows 3.11.
Chapter 3, Windows Explorer, Managing Files, and Search If you haven’t given much thought to Windows Explorer or searching in Windows, so much the worse
for you. As you’ll see in this chapter, there are plenty of ways you can hack both. You’ll be able to power up the context menu, hack your partitions and redirect your user folders in Visa, use Windows Shadow Copy to restore fi les, and more. As for search, you’ll fi nd out how to speed it up, and add amazing new features via a simple add-in. The chapter also demystifi es the confusing and rarely used Sync Center, and shows how to get more disk space using NTFS compression.
Chapter 4, Internet Explorer, the Web, and the Internet Face it: you live on the Web and Internet, so why not make the most of it? In this chapter, you’ll fi nd
plenty of ways to improve your life online, including how to increase your bandwidth for free by clearing up router congestion, hacking DNS for lightning-fast Web access; how to build your own Internet; and Firefox Explorer search applets, protect yourself by surfi ng anonymously without a trace; and plenty more. You’ll also fi nd out how to keep your Google searches private, fi x a variety of Internet Explorer woes, stop Firefox memory leaks, and even build a Google screensaver.
Chapter 5, Networking If you’ve got a small network, you need this chapter. The fi rst hack alone will make it worth your
while; you’ll be able to fi x a sluggish router in a few simple steps. The chapter also tells you how to make XP and Vista get along on a network, give the world access to a server behind your router, use remote access to control distant computers, and use command-line tools for trouble-free network operations. You’ll also fi nd plenty of hacks for using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to make inexpensive phone calls, including plenty of Skype hacks.
Chapter 6, Email Email—can’t live with it, can’t live without it . . . and in this chapter, you’ll learn many ways to get
more out of it. Here’s where you’ll fi nd out how hack Gmail, including using it as a universal inbox; put your bloated Outlook folders on a diet; slam spam; instantly compress fi les for faster sending; open blocked fi le attachments in Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail; and much more.
Chapter 7, Wireless It’s an unwired world, and Windows is at the center of it. This chapter offers plenty of great
wireless hacks, including one that shows you how to turn your $50 router into an enterprise-level powerhouse by replacing its fi rmware. You’ll also fi nd out how to build your own antenna, extend the range of your wireless network, spoof your MAC address, and protect yourself against “free WiFi” scammers as well as protect your home wireless network. And if you have trouble sending email from hot spots, there’s a hack for you. There’s plenty more here as well, including setting up a Bluetooth headset in Windows Vista.
Chapter 8, Security It’s a nasty world out here. There are snoopers, intruders, and malware writers looking to turn your PC into a spam-spewing zombie. But this chapter helps you fi ght them off and also shows how to
customize how you use security. Don’t like the way that User Account Control (UAC) works in Vista? No problem—I’ll show you how to hack it. Want to go mano a mano against spyware and kill it with your bare hands? I’ll show you how to do that as well. You’ll also fi nd out how to unlock Windows Vista’s super-secret Administrator account, root out rootkits, hack the Windows Vista (and XP) fi rewall, and use Vista’s BitLocker encryption technology with a USB key. There are also hacks on encrypting your PC, setting up your own virtual private network (VPN), and more.
Chapter 9, Applications, Home Server, and Backup An operating system by itself is a poor thing. What makes it go are applications, and you’ll fi nd out how to hack them in this chapter. Want to hack Microsoft’s Home Server? You’ll fi nd ways to do that. Want to blog with Word 2007 and use Excel to grab live data from the internet? You’ll learn to do that
as well, along with fi nding out how to create reusable building blocks in Word 2007. You’ll also see how to shrink supersized pictures in Offi ce, hack Windows backups, use Windows XP’s Ntbackup in Windows Vista, and more
Chapter 10, Graphics and Multimedia While you weren’t watching, Windows and related technologies became a multimedia powerhouse,
ripe for the hacking. This chapter probably has the highest coolness factor of the entire book. You’ll fi nd out how to record TV shows, edit out commercials, and even “mash up” several TV shows—what happens when you combine Lost with House? You’ll be able to do it. You’ll also discover plenty of Zune hacks, including how to record TV shows to watch on the Zune, how to exchange any fi le using Zune’s built-in Wi-Fi, and how to watch any DVD on your Zune. You’ll also discover how to copy DVDs to your hard disk, save YouTube videos to your PC (and your iPod and Zune), and transfer movies from old tapes to DVDs. There are plenty more hacks as well.
Chapter 11, System Performance When it comes to PCs, there are only three important speeds—fast, faster, and fastest. This chapter