Numerous tech-savvy people have been in the process of boosting the performance of Windows Vista. The number of tweaking software aimed at fine tuning the working of Vista has been on the rise for a long time now. Apart from tweaking software there are many other built-in methods to make your Vista OS faster, cooler and more efficient. Let's have a look at a few such tweaks that would help you know Vista better and handle it more effectively.
Firstly, one can speed up the instant search option present in Vista's start menu. This can be done in two methods, but only one of them is much easier to perform:

1. Select 'Properties' after right clicking on the Start menu.
2. Click the 'Customize' button in the dialog box that opens.
3. Uncheck 'Search communications'; set 'Search files' to 'Don't search for files' and then click 'Ok'.
Some people find applications that auto-start when logging into Vista to be highly annoying. This too can be gotten rid of following this very easy method:



1. Click on the Start Button, enter 'msconfig' and hit Enter.
2. Click on the Startup tab.
3. Uncheck the items that you do want to auto-start and click OK.
Enabling ReadyBoost in Vista lets you convert your external storage device into primary storage. For example, you can plug in a 2GB pen drive into your computer and convert it into a 2GB RAM enabling the machine work faster. This would surely be of great use to all. In order to enable ReadyBoost in Vista, one has to follow the forthcoming steps:

1. Plug in the USB storage device.
2. Go to Computer, right-click on the removable storage device option in the menu and select Properties.
3. Click on the ReadyBoost tab.
4. Select 'Use This Device' and set the amount of space to be used for the system file.
5. Click OK and you are done!!
Now your computer has become a super fast, mean machine.
The Aero style that is unique to Vista is eye-catching for sure, but in addition to spicing up the OS's appearance it also slows it down. This can be taken care of by just implementing the following steps:

a.) To disable transparent glass effect:

1. Click on the Desktop and select Personalize.
2. Select Windows Color And Appearance.
3. Uncheck the 'Enable Transparency' option.

b.) To disable Windows Minimize/Maximize animation:

1. Click on the Start Menu, enter 'SystemPropertiesPerformance' and hit Enter.
2. On the Visual Effects tab, uncheck the 'Animate Windows When Minimizing/Maximizing' option.
3. Click OK.
Following the aforementioned instructions, one can retain the Aero style of Vista and also speed up the performance of the OS.
The performance of your SATA hard disk can also be beefed up by employing just this simple Vista registry tweak:

1. Click on the Start Button, enter 'Device Manager' and hit Enter.
2. Expand Disk Drives.
3. Right-click on your hard disk drive and select Properties.
4. On the Policies tab, check Enable Advanced Performance.
5. Click OK and close Device Manager.
But one has to keep in mind that he would have to face data loss or corruption in case of a power failure. Those who make use of a UPS or any other backup power supply and those who use laptops will not have to face this problem.
Parents can now restrict access to certain programs, websites and other stuff to their children by turning on the 'Parental control' feature of Windows Vista. But before doing this make sure to create a separate User Account for your child.
Creating a user account is a very simple task and can be done by going to the control panel and setting up a new account for the person. To enable Parental Control:

1. Click on the Start Button and select Control Panel.
2. Under the User Accounts and Family Safety option, click the 'Set Up Parental Controls' option.
3. Select your child's user account to set up the controls.
4. Clicking the 'On' radio button would enable parental controls.
Many Vista users find the frequent prompts let out by the UAC (User Account Control) to be highly annoying. The prompts generated by UAC can be controlled or totally prevented using the following procedure:

1.) Press Win Key + R to open Run Dialog Box and type 'msconfig' and hit enter. The System Configuration Dialog Box would be opened.
2.) Click on the Tools tab and select 'Disable UAC'.
But one has to reboot the computer in order to let the changes take effect.
Windows Vista by default does not provide space for the 'Run' option in the Start menu. But this option comes handy in many instances to users. You can add the 'Run' option to your Start menu with the following tweak:

1.) Right click the Taskbar.
2.) Click on the 'Properties' option in the context menu that appears.
3.) Click the 'Customize' button and check the Run command checkbox in the menu that appears.
4.) Click OK and that will let you have your good ol' Run command in your Taskbar.
While most of Vista users find the Sidebar to be interesting and cool, some have the thought that it is a hindrance. To such users the following procedure will be very helpful as it disables the Sidebar from appearing on their desktop:

1.) Right click the Windows side bar in the system tray and go to 'Properties'.
2.) Uncheck the checkbox near the 'Start Sidebar when Windows starts' option.
3.) Click OK and the job is done.
By default, all icons in Vista are large in size. It is the user's wish to go on with the default size and to reduce the same. This can be changed using the forthcoming tweak procedure:

1.) Right click the Taskbar and go to Properties.
2.) Click the Start menu tab and then the customize button that appears in the dialog box.
3.) Uncheck the 'Use large icons' checkbox which can be found at the bottom of the list.
4.) Click OK.
Thus, the size of the icons can be altered easily.
The main purpose of these tweaks is to make your Vista-run computer more efficient. Implement these tweaks in your system running with Vista and feel the change. Your computer would surely be fast and you would feel happy to be working on a Vista run computer.