Disable Shortcut Icon Arrow Overlay in Windows Vista

The shortcut icons in Windows Vista have Huge arrows on them. If you are worried about the look of your desktop, you may not want to see the ugly arrows. Here's some before and after pictures so you'll know what to expect:

Note: Because so many people have written in about problems with the registry tweaks, I'm going to suggest that you use the FrameworkX application first, and I'm removing the registry tweaks from this page.



Preferred Method: Using Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover utility
You can download a small, free utility from Frameworkx.com that will easily let you remove the shortcut arrows without having to do any registry patches. See how easy it is:

Download Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover from frameworkx.com

Fix Problems With Copying Large Files in Windows Vista

If you've been having problems copying large files over mapped drives, network disconnects, or having to reboot your router a lot more often than normal, then you can try out this fix to solve the problem.

The problem stems from the new auto-tuning network, which changes the receive window on the fly. Thankfully we can easily turn it off from an administrative mode command prompt.

Open Administrative Mode Command Prompt

Either type cmd into the start menu and use Ctrl+Shift+Enter or right-click the Command Prompt shortcut and choose Run as Administrator.

Turn Off Auto-Tuning

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

You'll have to reboot your system, but once you do, the problems should be resolved. If they are not you can always turn auto-tuning back on.


Turn On Auto-Tuning

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

Enable/Disable Windows Firewall for a Specific Network Connection

You can control which connections on your computer have Windows Firewall enabled.

To do this:

1. Go to the Control Panel.
2. Select Network And Internet Connections.
3. Select Windows Firewall.
4. Select the Advanced tab.
5. Check/Uncheck the boxes next to the connections to enable/disable Windows Firewall.
6. Click OK. To enable/disable Windows Firewall for all connections, go to the General tab in the Windows Firewall dialog box and click On or Off.

You Can Move the Run Button

Many of us old dos command-line kinda guys still use the Run command frequently. Taking the extra step to find the Run command in the Start menu just slows you down.

Some people save time by using Win-R to bring up the Run window as described in the Common Windows Shortcuts recipe.

Also, most people do not know that you can actually drag and drop the run button from the start menu onto the desktop or quick launch bar. Clicking on the shortcut that is created will open the run command box. Now your run command box is only one click (or keystroke) away.