Applying Themes To Your Windows Vista Sidebar

The look of the Windows Vista Sidebar is a little drab, and there's no way to customize it with the default tools in Vista. Thankfully third party developers have stepped up to the plate and created an application that will let you re-theme the sidebar.

Note: After installing and launching this application you will need to restart the Vista sidebar.

When you launch the Windows Sidebar Styler application, it will give you this dialog that gives you a list of all the elements in the theme. You can select the items and see a preview on the right.

The big Play button will apply the style, but first you'll need to load it by clicking the button to the right for "Load a Windows Sidebar Style", which will open up a file selection dialog so you can choose from the different themes.

There's a bunch of themes that come with the application, or you can find more themes at the WinCustomize gallery.

If you click the More button on the dialog, you can even select an option to make the sidebar resizable.

Once you select that option, you can resize the sidebar like any other window. You'll notice a new option to "Lock" the sidebar, which will prevent resizing once you've chosen the size that you want.

Another benefit to this tool is that you can load more powerful gadgets utilizing WPF (Windows Presentation Framework).

Download Windows Sidebar Styler from stoyanoff.info

Why Did Windows Vista's Music Folder Icon Turn Yellow?

I've been getting emails left and right from readers complaining that their Music folder icon has turned from the default shiny icon into the generic yellow folder icon. After doing some research I finally have a workaround for this issue.

In Windows, all folders can be customized with whatever icon you want. All you need to do is put a hidden file named desktop.ini into the root of that folder, which tells Windows extra information for the folder including what icon to use.

The problem that people are experiencing is due to the contents of that file being modified somehow and pointing to the wrong icon, as you can see here:

You can normally fix this problem by right-clicking on the folder and choosing properties, and then on the Customize tab you'll see this:

If that section does not exist, however, we'll need to open up that desktop.ini file by pasting the following command into the start menu search or run box:

notepad %USERPROFILE%\music\desktop.ini

You'll see a file that should look exactly like this, but probably does not.

You can usually just replace the contents of that file with the following text:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21790
InfoTip=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12689
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-108
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-237

Save the file and log off from Windows, and then login again. Your Music folder icon should now look like this:

Hopefully this solves the problem for you!

Update: If you are looking for a folder besides the Music folder, I've created a list of the default settings for every user profile folder.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista (IPA: /ˈvɪs.tə/) is a line of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. Prior to its announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename "Longhorn".^[1] Development was completed on November 8, 2006; over the following three months it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers, and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released worldwide to the general public,^[2] and was made available for purchase and downloading from Microsoft's web site.^[3] The release of Windows Vista comes more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, making it the longest time span between two releases of Microsoft Windows.

Windows Vista contains hundreds of new and reworked features; some of the most significant include an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows Aero, improved searching features, new multimedia creation tools such as Windows DVD Maker, and completely redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. Vista also aims to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network using peer-to-peer technology, making it easier to share files and digital media between computers and devices. For developers, Vista includes version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, which aims to make it significantly easier for developers to write applications than with the traditional Windows API.

Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista, however, has been to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system.^[4] One common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors has been their commonly exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware, viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in early 2002 a company-wide 'Trustworthy Computing initiative' which aims to incorporate security work into every aspect of software development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.^[5]

Windows Vista is the target of a number of negative assessments by various groups. Criticisms of Windows Vista include protracted development time, more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of new Digital Rights Management technologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, lack of device drivers for some hardware, and the usability of other new features such as User Account Control।

Windows Vista
(Part of the Microsoft Windows family)
Screenshot
Screenshot of Windows Vista Ultimate
Developer
Microsoft
Web site: Windows Vista: Homepage
Release information
Release date:	November 8, 2006 info
Current version:	6.0 (Build 6000), Retail: January 30, 2007, RTM: November 8, 2006, Vol. Lic.: November 30, 2006 info
Source model:	Closed source / Shared source
License:	MS-EULA
Kernel type:	Hybrid kernel
Support status
Current
Further reading
Development of Windows Vista Features new to Windows Vista Management features new to Windows Vista Security and safety features new to Windows Vista Technical features new to Windows Vista Windows Vista I/O technologies Windows Vista networking technologies Features removed from Windows Vista Windows Vista editions and pricing Criticism of Windows Vista

Microsoft Outlook

32

Quick e-mails Send out a quick e-mail without launching Outlook. Right-click an empty area on your desktop and select New > Shortcut. Type mailto: in the Shortcut wizard. Then name your shortcut. Now you can just double-click the shortcut to open a blank e-mail message.

33	Create archives Avoid reaching your mailbox's memory capacity by archiving your messages. Go to Tools > Options and select the Other tab. Click the AutoArchive button, and make your selections.

34

Reduce or eliminate spam To decrease your daily dose of spam, select Tools > Options > Junk E-mail and click the High radio button. To eliminate spam completely, select the Safe Lists Only radio button to receive e-mails only from the people you allow. If you're concerned about missing any e-mails, check your Junk E-mail box regularly.

35	Save multiple attachments... To save multiple file attachments in an e-mail message all at once, click File > Save Attachments, then select Save All Attachments.

36	...but get rid of the large ones Free up your in-box by deleting messages with large attachments. Go to the View menu, click the Arrange By drop-down list and select Size. Now you can delete e-mails with the largest attachments first and work your way down.

37	Create multiple signatures You can specify a different signature based on whether you're sending a new message, a reply or a forward. Go to Tools > Options > Mail Format. Under Signatures, select the signature you want to use from the "Signature for new messages:" drop-down menu.

38	Make your boss blue Colour-code incoming messages based on who they're from by highlighting a message from that individual, clicking Tools > Organize > Using Colors, and selecting a colour from the drop-down list.

39	Schedule appointments To turn an e-mail message into an appointment, drag it over to your Calendar bar until it turns orange. This automatically opens an appointment window, in which you can set up the time and the place and set a reminder.

40	Speedier searches Speed up your Outlook searches by installing Lookout. This plug-in installs its own search box into the Outlook user interface and indexes all your e-mails for instantaneous search results.

Microsoft PowerPoint

27

E-mail slides PowerPoint lets you resize, crop and e-mail individual slides. To begin, open the slide, and click View > Notes Page. The file will appear on the notes page as an image. Next, right-click the slide image and click Copy. The image is now on your clipboard and you can paste it into your program of choice for e-mailing or resizing.

28	You're out of order While viewing a slide show, you can call up any slide out of order. Just type the number of the slide and hit Enter.

29

PowerPoint albums You can use PowerPoint to create an impromptu photo album. Select Insert > Picture > New Photo Album. Under the "Insert picture from:" heading, click File/Disk, select the pictures you want to include and hit Insert. Next, you can specify the look of the album you want under Album Layout. Finally, click Create.

30	Secure your presentations Prevent others from modifying your PowerPoint file (or any Office file, for that matter) by enabling password protection. Select Tools > Options > Security, enter a password in the "Password to modify" box and hit OK.

31	Scribble some notes To make annotations on a presentation, open the file in Slide Show view. Right-click in the window, point to Pointer Options and select a writing implement. When you're done, press Esc.

Microsoft Excel

19

Insert date and time To insert the current date in a cell, hold Ctrl, then press the colon/semicolon key. To insert the time, hold Ctrl and Shift, and hit the same key.

20	Colour coordination You can colour-code the tabs on your Excel spreadsheets for easier navigation. Click the tab you'd like to colour, then select Format > Sheet > Tab Color. Select the colour you want and click OK.

21	Hide your sheet You can hide Excel worksheets to reduce the number of sheets on your screen. Just select the sheets you'd like to hide and select Format > Sheet > Hide. To restore them, click Unhide.

22	Clear formatting To clear the formatting in an Excel spreadsheet, highlight the cells you want changed and select Edit > Clear > Formats.

23	Keep a close watch The Watch Window lets you monitor cells on other workbooks. To add a cell to the Watch Window, right-click it, then select Add Watch. You can then position the Watch Window above or below Excel's standard toolbar.

24

Instant quotes Excel can recognise stock symbols and fetch stock quotes using MSN MoneyCentral Investor. First, enable Smart Tags by selecting Tools > AutoCorrect Options > Smart Tags. Make sure "Label data with smart tags" is checked and hit OK. Log on to the Internet and enter a stock symbol (in all caps) into a cell. A small green triangle appears in the lower right corner of the cell. Hover your cursor over the cell, click the icon that pops up and choose "Insert refreshable stock price." Select "On a new sheet" to display the quote on another worksheet or "Starting at cell" to display the stock price in the current cell.

25	All together now To change the typeface or point size of all cells in a spreadsheet at once, click the box in the top left corner to select the entire spreadsheet, then make your changes.

26	Sort things out You can rearrange the data in a spreadsheet any way you like by clicking the box in the top left corner and selecting Data > Sort. In the Sort window, select the column you'd like to sort by and whether you want the data in ascending or descending order.

Microsoft Word

11

Use bookmarks Word's Bookmark feature lets you navigate quickly through lengthy documents. Simply go to a page you'd like to bookmark and, from the Insert menu, click Bookmark. Name your Bookmark and click Add. To find your bookmark, hit Control+F, then click on the Go To tab. Select Bookmark from the menu on the left and enter the bookmark name to jump straight to it.

12	Seal of approval Give your documents a professional look by adding a watermark to the background. To add one to your document, select Format > Background > Printed Watermark. Select "Picture watermark" or "Text watermark," then click OK.

13	Keep the right format Want to paste formatted text into Word without losing the original format? After copying the selected text, select Edit > Paste Special. You can choose among Formatted Text (RTF), Unformatted Text, HTML Format or Unformatted Unicode Text.

14	Lose the wrong format To quickly remove the formatting from your document, highlight the relevant text, then press Control+Shift+N.

15	Stop correcting me Speed up spell-check by preventing Word from grammar-proofing your documents. To disable grammar check, go to Tools > Options, and click the Spelling & Grammar tab. Clear the checkbox labeled "Check grammar as you type" and hit OK.

16

Count on Word To use Word's built-in calculator, select Tools > Customize > Commands. In the Categories column, highlight All Commands and, in the Commands column, scroll down to ToolsCalculate. Drag this command to the Tools menu, then rename it "Calculate" by right-clicking it and choosing Name. Calculate is available only when you've selected text with numbers in it. It ignores any text that isn't a number and is useful for adding numbers in tables or paragraphs.

17	Word-o-meter You can count the words in a document with a single click by adding a word counter to your toolbar. Go to View > Toolbars and check Word Count. Drag onto your toolbar the small bar that pops up. Now you can just click Recount whenever you want to know your word count.

18	Selective highlighting If you don't want Word grabbing an entire word when you make a selection, go to Tools > Options > Edit, and uncheck the box that reads "When selecting, automatically select entire word."