Advanced Screen Captures with the Snipping Tool
Leave the Prt
Scrn key in the 1980s where it belongs. In the Accessories folder on
the Start menu, you'll find Vista's Snipping Tool, which lets you
capture just the part of the screen you want. Start it up, click and
drag the mouse to outline the area you want to preserve, and release the
mouse button. After you've snipped, you can draw on the image with a
pen tool, highlight or erase certain portions, or save it to a file.
Display Multiple Clocks
If
you're a frequent traveler or have friends or family in another time
zone, you can set up Vista to display multiple clocks at once. Click on
the clock in the Start bar, then click "Change date and time
settings"¦," and then the Additional Clocks tab. Check the box next to
"Show this clock" for each additional clock you want to add, then
specify the time zone and display name for each clock. After you apply
your changes by clicking OK, clicking on the clock in the Start bar will
show you the clocks for every time zone you've selected.
Improve Program Access with Quick Launch
The
Quick Launch toolbar doesn't get a lot of respect, but it's a great
way to launch your regular apps faster. If the toolbar isn't visible,
right-click on the Start bar, select Toolbars, click on Quick Launch to
add it, and then drag programs or shortcuts to it. You can start
programs instantly just by clicking or, better yet, use the Windows key.
Windows key+1 will open the leftmost program, Windows key+2 the next
one, and so on, up to 10 (the 10th opens with Windows key+0).
Windows Mobility Center
Sorry,
desktop users, this one's just for the notebook folks. The Windows
Mobility Center, which you access by pressing Windows key+X, gives you
the opportunity to tweak all sorts of settings on your laptop, all in
one convenient place. You can change your display brightness, adjust the
volume, check your battery status, turn off wireless connectivity,
switch your screen orientation, set up an external display, and more.
Find things now with Instant Search
You don't have to open up a
special window to find the files or programs you're looking for. Just
hit the Windows key or click the Start button and start typing—Vista
will present you organized lists of the top files and programs that
match the text you've entered. (If you want to see Vista's full
findings, click on the "See all results" link at the bottom of the
Instant Search window.)
Change Preinstalled Vista Features
If you don't think you'll
ever use preset features like Remote Differential Compression, the
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 XPS Viewer, or Windows Meeting Space—or if
you really need a simple telnet client—it's easy to remove or add
them. Go to the Control Panel, click on "Uninstall a program," and
select "Turn Windows features on our off." Then just click on the
checkboxes to add elements you need—and lose those you don't.
Maximize Performance
Not sure if your computer is operating at
maximum efficiency? Vista can let you know for sure. Just check out
the Reliability and Performance Monitor, which you'll find at Control
Panel > System and Maintenance > Performance Information and
Tools > Advanced Tools > Generate a system health report. Windows
will check your disk drives, drivers, services, software and hardware
configuration, and more to give you a full accounting of what might be
causing you trouble. If it finds a problem, it will explain it to you
in detail and suggest how to resolve it.
