Disable Windows Sidebar in Vista

To disable this, right click on the sidebar or sidebar icon, and choose properties.Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” checkbox.Then right-click on the icon, and choose Exit to close the sidebar.

Customize the Manufacturer Support Info in Windows Vista

If you have a computer with pre-installed Windows Vista, most likely you’ll notice the manufacturer’s support information when you look in the system properties window. If you’d like to customize this information or use a picture of your own in this space, you can do so easily.

Right-click on Computer and choose Properties or use the Win+Break key combination to bring up the System properties screen.

To edit the information in this screen, you’ll need to open up your registry editor and navigate down to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OEMInformation

You can modify the following fields and put any values you’d like into them, with the exception of the Logo key, which you probably shouldn’t change.

• Manufacturer
• SupportHours
• SupportPhone
• SupportURL
• Logo

The last important step is to either create or modify a bitmap file stored at the location specified in the Logo key, usually set to:

C:\Windows\System32\oemlogo.bmp

For best results, you’ll want to use a small logo file, preferably somewhere around 100×100 height/width. Also note that copying the file to that folder will require administrative permissions.

Change Start Menu to Use Small Icons in Windows Vista

Windows Vista uses large icons by default in the start menu.Right click on the start button, and select Properties.Then click the Customize button.Now scroll down all the way to the bottom. You should see a checkbox for Use large icons, which you’ll want to uncheck.