Fix Windows Vista Errors

You can easily restore lost or missing files in Windows Vista using the backup and restore center. To restore a lost or missing file just follow this;

• Open control panel
• Click system and maintenance
• Click backup and restore center
• Go down to restore files on your entire computer
  • Click restore files
• Now select files from either the latest or an earlier backup
• Now select the file/s you want to restore
• Select the location where the files are to go
• Click start restore

You will probably notice that the default blinking cursor in Vista is really small, so small that people have dificulty actually seeing it.

You can perform a quick and easy tweak that will ‘beef’ up the blinking cursor and make it much easier to see, just follow these points;

• Open control panel
• Click ease of access
• Click optimize visual display
• Scroll down to ‘Make things on the screen easier to see’
• Now find the section that says ‘Set the thickness of your blinking cursor’
• Select a number from the drop down menu, there is a preview section for you to review
• Apply and done

Do you need to access a list of what services are running on your Windows Vista PC, well here is a run through of how you can get that list;

• Click start
• Right click on computer and select manage
• Click Services and Applications
• Click Services
• Anything on the list that is marked with started is running

If you need to configure any of the services you can do it easily by right clicking on the service and selecting properties. You can also stop and restart services in this section.

Do you need to resize your Windows Vista partition size? Here is a quick tip for you so that you can extend or shrink the partition size of a drive, just do the following;

• Click start
• Right click on computer
• Click manage
• Select disk management
• Right click on the drive you want to change
• Select extend or shrink
• Enter the size you want to change it
• Click shrink or extend
• Done

Do you need to check to make sure your version of Windows Vista is authentic and has been activated? Well here is a quick link to where you can check the activation status of your Vista;

• Open control panel
• Click on systems and maintenance
• Click on system
• At the bottom of this page will be your windows activation information

Memory problems on your PC just like many other problems can create errors on your computer and will lead to the loss of memory or even shutdown. Vista has a tool you can use that will check for any memory issues and inform you of them, to run the Windows memory diagnostic tool just do this;

• Click start
• Type memory in the search box
• You now have 2 options to run the scan
  • Restart your PC immediately and run the scan
  • Run the scan the next time you start your PC
• Done

This is a very useful tool you can use in Windows Vista that lets you run a quick scan of your computer and checks its overall health. The scan checks the operating system, all hardware and security settings within your PC and offers solutions to any problems found.

The results are shown in an easy to read format with solutions beside each problem, these include;

• Errors
• Informational
• Basic system checks
• Resource overview
• Software configuration
• Hardware configuration
• CPU
• Network
• Disk Memory, and
• Report statistics

These results can essentially solve many problems you have with your PC, the report also takes the guess work and trial and error out of identifying problems. eg: Maybe you think RAM is a problem, but it could just be your CPU consumed by a background process. Run this report before trying any drastic tweaks.

To run a system health report just follow these steps;

• Open control panel
• Click system and maintenance
• Click performance information and tools
• Click advanced tools

• Click generate a system health report
• It will take a moment to scan and then give you the results

I found this cool Vista tool over the weekend that allows you to make screenshots much easier than the old ways. This application is called the Snipping Tool and it is only available on Windows Vista.

To access the Snipping Tools follow these points;

• Click Start
• All Programs
• Accessories
• Now click Snipping Tools

When you get in a box like this will pop up;

From here all you need to do is to drag the cursor (red line) around the area you want to capture. When you have done that it will bring up the Snipping Tool editor with your screenshot on it.

From this editor you can now save your screenshot in various formats (jpg, gif etc), saved as a HTML page or emailed out.

Here is a quick little tweak you can do that will take off or add the file extension from any folder you open. That is, you can make the file extension visable/hidden so you can see (or not) what extention the file has (eg. jpg, zip, wmv). Just follow these points and you will be able to do it easy;

• Open a folder up to whatever one you want
• Click tools (you may need to press alt first)
• Open folder options
• Go to the view tab
• Either check or uncheck ‘hide extensions for known file types’
• Click apply and OK
• You will now either see the extension shown or hidden

There is a cool little feature in Windows Vista that allows you to send an email based on a certain event. This can be handy for monitoring certain things and if you need notification. Also receiving an email is easier than checking log files etc.

To do this, open up the Event Viewer.

• Right click on “Computer”, select “Manage”
• Click on “System Tools” -> “Event Viewer”
• Under “log summary” click on “Application”
• Click “view events in this log”
• You can now select an event, and in the right you can “Attach Task to This Event”
• Click “Next” and in the “Action” step you can set the “Send an email” option
• You will now receive emails for this action

To turn it off, just follow the same process.