This is one of those little Vista secrets everyone likes to know about, but should be cautious about using. It lets you bypass the login screen and start up Windows Vista in a specific user account automatically. Though it does save you one click at startup, it means anyone who sits at your computer can just turn on the power switch and have full access to everything in your user account. So don’t do this if you want to keep other people out of your user account. Doing this trick requires administrative privileges. So know the password or log in to an administrative account first. Here are the steps:

1. Click the Start button, type netplwiz, and then click netplwiz in the Start menu.

2. Grant permission or enter an administrative password if prompted.

3. Clear the checkbox for Users must enter a username and password to use this computer.

4. Click Apply.

5. In the dialog box that opens, type the name of the user account to which you want to log in automatically.

6. If that user account requires a password, type the password once in the Password box, then again in the second box for confirmation. If the user account isn’t password-protected, leave both boxes empty.

7. Click OK in each open dialog box. That’s it. The next time you restart your computer there will be no logon page. You’ll be taken straight into your user account. If there are other user accounts on the computer, and you want to let another use log in, log out of your account (click the Start button, the arrow next to the lock symbol, and choose Log Off). You’re taken to the login page, which works normally. For example, if you want to get into a passwordprotected administrative account, you’ll still click that account’s icon and have to enter the correct password. If you ever change your mind about doing this, just repeat steps 1 and 2 in the preceding list. But this time check the Users must enter a username and password to use this computer checkbox and click OK.

Getting rid of disabled devices

If your computer contains a hardware device that Windows Vista can’t use, you should still be able to get to the desktop. But each time you do, you’ll see a notification message about a device being disabled. That can get tiresome. If you manually disable the device through Device Manager, you won’t see that message anymore. And, it should take a little less time for Vista to start. Don’t take wild guesses here. If you disable a hardware device you really need, you might not be able to start Vista at all! If in doubt, better to take the computer into a repair shop and let the pros figure it out. To make this happen, you need to first log in to a user account that has administrative privileges.

Then Tap the Windows key, type dev, and click Device Manager on the Start menu. Expand the category to which the device belongs. If you’re not sure which category to look in, try the Other Devices category. You’ll be looking for a device whose icon shows an exclamation point in a tiny yellow circle. After you find the device, right-click its name and choose Disable. When you’ve disabled the device, the yellow icon changes to a white down-arrow. That means the device is disabled and Windows Vista won’t try to reinstall it on future bootups, which should mean a slightly quicker boot-up time and no irritating message about the disabled device.

When Windows won’t start at all

If Windows won’t start at all, try to start Vista in Safe Mode. This is a special mode in which Vista loads only the minimum services, drivers, and programs it needs to get going. Getting to Safe Mode isn’t always easy. You have to restart the computer and then press the F8 key after the POST (Power on Self Test), but before Windows starts to load. If your keyboard has a Function Lock (F Lock) key, you have to make sure that it’s on before you press F8. In a pinch, you can restart the computer, and press F8 repeatedly for the first few seconds. But again, keep an eye on the Function Lock key because it might go off once or twice during the restart. When you’ve hit the F8 key at just the right time, you’ll come to a screen that shows several options for starting Windows as summarized here:

- Safe mode: Starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services so you can use other tools like System Restore, Device Manager, Installed Programs, and such to try to fix the problems. For example, you could uninstall known faulty programs and devices. Then return to an earlier restore point.

- Safe mode with networking: Same as previous, but provides access to the Internet and a private network.

- Safe mode with command prompt: Starts windows without the GUI (graphical user interface).

- Enable boot logging: Creates a log file named ntbtlog.txt that lists all drivers that were loaded during startup.

- Enable VGA mode: Starts with low resolution and refresh rates to reset display settings.

- Last known good configuration: Starts Windows with the last successful configuration (an easy fix for many problems!).

- Directory services restore mode: Starts a domain control running Active Directory so directory services can be restored.

- Debugging mode: Starts in an advanced troubleshooting mode for professionals.

- Disable automatic restart on system failure: Prevents Windows from automatically restarting during a failed startup. This gets you out of the endless loop of crashing and restarting.

-Start Windows normally: Starts normally with all drivers and services.

- Disable Driver Signature Enforcement: Allows improperly signed drivers to be loaded at startup.

- View system recovery options: Available only if Startup Repair is installed on the computer. If not available from the hard disk, you may be able to get to it by booting from a Vista CD or DVD.