Vista tweaks

I got a new laptop a couple months ago (Acer Aspire 5515), and it has Vista installed. Although a number of people have reported 'downgrading' to XP, I decided to give it a try.

(Acer has a download sight for drivers, Vista and XP. Don't know if it's complete, but looks like it. Is ATI South Bridge included?)

(Aspire 5515 might be tricky with SATA AHCI drivers -- see here.

The slipstreaming method: Integrate Driver into Windows Installation CD using nLite - Step by step Tutorial looks intriguing.)

Vista's not so bad; some days it doesn't even bother me. My computer would probably run faster with XP; if I get enough frustration and time I might try it...

Some things I have to change in windows:

• CapsLock is control.. this is where the control key should be, and how it was before IBM decided to make a 'PC'.
  (set in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout)
  
  
• focus follows mouse -- I don't need the window to be on top to type in it.
  "correct entry should be 9F for the first hexidecimal number. That should activate the x-mouse without bringing them to the forefront"
  (does this explain the registry flag bits ?)
  You have to open registry Editor then Navigate to following location [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] For full X-Mouse, add +1h to the first number stored in binary key "UserPreferencesMask".
  For me, this was 9E, changed it to 9F.

This page has a big collection of Vista tweaks.

another BartPE boot CD will work? (DVD?)

Ubuntu seems to work okay, haven't tried much..

What is the equivalent of BartPE for Vista? I did some research on this and found something that looks promising, but can't recall the name. I have it bookmark'd somewhere...

Still looking for problems with cygwin "file name too long" (using find/updatedb), stupid permissions problems (like from an external HD after copying files from another machine).

Maybe here: UTF-8 Cygwin

A cygwin package tool (like urpmi on mandriva--I like to just say "download and install the package that has curl" or netcat or gcc or whatever...).

random vista stuff: powercfg, scripting with jscript.. would like to be able to control e.g. windows media player with a javascript. What's the debugger/interpreter for playing with jscript on windows?

I should get a MacBook, then just install Linux here....

"Windows can't stop your Generic volume device because it is in use..."

You've closed everything that could have it open, and you still get this message when trying to remove it.

Easiest solution:

From task manager (or process explorer), kill explorer.exe.

Your systray and start menu will go away..

From task manager (or process explorer), run explorer.exe.

It should come back, plus all the little widgets in the systray.

Or most of them.. most of the important ones.

Now selecting the 'safely remove device' should work.

If it doesn't... more solutions after I encounter this next.

update September 2010:
This is one of my most popular posts. Since I am now using a Mac, I haven't had this problem. (Sure, a Mac costs more, but consider how much time you spend annoyed, or dealing with windows popups, virus, malware, and trojan removal... windows really costs more of your time and is less productive.)

Did the above 'kill explorer' trick work for you?
Is Windows 7 better about this?
If so (or not), leave a comment... thx.

Capslock to control

Back before IBM had a PC, most computer keyboards had the CTRL key to the left of the 'A', in the home row.

ADM3a keyboard, Hazeltine.. my TRS-80 didn't have it (I modded the keyboard, and wrote my own keyboard driver in assembly)

the way a keyboard was meant to be:

See wikipedia: Control key for more info and some history.. anyway, one of the first things I do on a computer to make it usable is fix it so the key to the left of 'A' functions as control.

For windows xp and since (maybe going back to win95 ?), a registry entry can fix this.

The following in a .reg is sufficient:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]

"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,1d,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00

A collection of .reg files for quick setting and resetting is here: howto geek windows key mappings.

And after you set it, you have to reboot for it to take effect, because this is windows. (I discovered going to the 'switch user' screen and coming back works.)

For X11, a small file for input to xmodmap(1) can do this; specific settings are included in the man page.