CoNetrix

Blog: Windows Vista

Windows Steady State has been around for some time. It used to be called Shared Computer Toolkit for XP.  It saves changes to the system disk in a cached area and then when a user logs off, the system is right back like it was before they logged in.  Microsoft calls this Windows Disk Protection.  An admin can log in and make changes that are retained.  User documents can be redirected to another drive letter and those changes will be retained.  This software will work on XP, Vista, standalone, workgroup, domains – with group policies.  Windows Steady State could be very helpful with computers that are shared by multiple people such as those in a training classroom setting.

Networking, Windows Vista, Windows XP,
 

You can use the Vista Task Scheduler to launch applications with admin privilege without the User Account Control (UAC) confirmation dialog.  To do this: [more]

  • Open Task Scheduler
  • Create a new folder for the application you want to launch, or use an existing folder (if it seems to fit)
  • Create a new task
    • General
      • Name: <something simple, this is how you will refer to the task when launching it>
      • Description: <where you can give a lot more detail about what you’re doing>
      • Run only when user is logged on
      • Run with highest privileges
    • Actions
      • Start a program <path to your program, arguments, etc.>
    • Conditions
      • <Adjust as needed>
    • Settings
      • Allow task to be run on demand
      • <Adjust other settings as needed>
  • Once the new task is created, you can update your shortcut to the application with the following command (or just run it from the command line):
    C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn "\<folder where task is located in task scheduler>\<name of task, see above>"

One of the nice side benefits in doing things this way is you get to use the Task Scheduler’s built-in logging capabilities.

Networking, Windows Vista,
 

Windows Vista includes a new technology called ReadyBoost, which is designed to speed-up your system by caching disk reads into flash memory.  Originally, I read this feature was intended for the upcoming hybrid drive technology (more info here), but I recently learned ReadyBoost will also work with other types of flash memory like a USB drive.  Here are some interesting facts about ReadyBoost: [more]

  • Caches only disk reads, so the flash device can be removed at any time
  • Cache is encrypted using AES-128
  • Minimum requirements is 256mb of space, with the device capable of 2.5MB/sec for 4k random access reads and 1.5MB/sec for 512k random writes
  • Microsoft recommends matching the capacity of the flash device to the amount of system memory
More information is available at http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2017844,00.asp or http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/06/02/615199.aspx.

When you insert a flash drive, Vista will test the device and give you the option of using it for ReadyBoost.  Properties on the drive shows a ReadyBoost tab with an option of controlling the amount of space to be used.

Networking, Windows Vista,