Disable USB storage device write (make them read-only)

In the corporate world, a lot of time is spent on locking down computers to minimize the risk of confidential information leaving the company.  With the popularity of USB storage devices in recent years the problem for large corporations has exploded. Almost all users want to use USB storage devices to move data around.  With the size of USB storage devices increasing so much in recent years, the risk is increasing as more and more data could possibly be stolen or lost accidentally. In companies, USB storage devices have been banned completely and disabled from use on company computers.

In Windows Vista there is an alternative that will allow your corporate users to be able to read from USB storage devices but not write any data to them. Effectively turning on USB storage devices for all users but making them read-only.  This way users can still read information off of USB  storage devices that a third-party vendor may provide data on while preventing the employee from writing any data back to the storage device.

To setup read only USB storage device operation, follow these steps below:

1. Click on the Start Button and type in Regedit and hit Enter.
2. Navigate through HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control.
3. Right click on Control and select New and then Key.  Call the new key StorageDevicePolicies.
4. Right click on StorageDevicePolicies and select New and then Dword. Call the new dword WriteProtect.
5. Right click on WriteProtect and select Properties. Set the value to 1 and hit OK.

The computer is now configured to disable writing to USB storage devices.

Vista - Run as administrator start menu keyboard trick

f you are like me and use the search box in the new Start Menu in Windows Vista as a run box, you can run any command you type in as an administrator by holding down CTRL + Shift and then pressing Enter.

Say you want to start command prompt as administrator:

1. Click start button
2. Key in cmd
3. Press and hold down CTRL and Shift and then hit Enter
4. Command prompt now be run as administrator

5 Essential Performance Monitoring Gadgets for windows vista

The new sidebar in Windows Vista provides many opportunities to present the user with information. For those of you that like to monitor your system performance, the sidebar is the perfect place to run various performance monitoring gadgets. Windows Vista ships with a simple CPU and Memory usage gadget, however, there are many more gadgets out there that are much more useful and help you monitor almost every aspect of Windows.

1. Wireless Signal and IP Address Gadget

This gadget displays your wireless network information such as it's status, signal strength and security. This gadget also displays your internal IP and gives you a direct link to your router's / wireless gateway's web based control panel.

2. Battery Meter Gadget

Monitor the battery level of your laptop with this gadget. This gadget provides a much more accurate level reading than the tiny system tray icon.

3. Multi-Meter Gadget

Info shown: - Cpu usage % ( 2 cores ) - Ram Usage % - Ram info ( Total, used, left size) - Status bars animated above 90% - 100 Skins + background selection

4. Uptime Gadget

This gadget allows you to see how much time has passed since you last restarted your computer.

5. Free Space Gadget

This gadget monitors your PC's drives and shows you the available space for those you've selected