Windows Vista in a Nutshell

Preston Gralla is the editor of WindowsDevCenter.com and OnDotNet. He is the author of Internet Annoyances, PC Pest Control, Windows XP Power Hound, and Windows XP Hacks, Second Edition, and co-author of Windows XP Cookbook. He has also written more than 30 other books. He has written for major national newspapers and magazines, including PC Magazine, Computerworld, the Los Angeles Times, the Dallas Morning News (where he was the technology columnist), USA Today, and several others. A well-known technology expert, Preston has also appeared on many TV and radio programs and networks, including CNN, MSNBC, and NPR. In addition, he's won a number of awards for his writing, including Best Feature in a Computer Magazine from the Computer Press Association. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• Preface I. The Big Picture 1. The Lay of the Land The Big Picture What's New in Windows Vista Windows Vista Editions Hardware Requirements Upgrading from Earlier Versions of Windows 2. Using Windows Vista The Desktop Point-and-Click Operations Starting Up Applications Windows and Menus Keyboard Accelerators Common Controls Files, Folders, and Disks The Command Line Online Help Shutting Down II. Nutshell Reference 3. The User Interface Controlling the Interface 4. Working with the Filesystem, Drives, Data, and Search 5. Internet Explorer Security 6. Windows Mail 7. Networking, Wireless, and Mobility Networking 101 Planning Your Network Setting Up a Network Wired and Wireless Connections, Management, and Configuration Sharing Resources and Files Network Applications Mobile Computing Networking and Internet Command-Line Tools 8. Security General Security Internet Security Encryption 9. Working with Hardware 10. Managing Programs, Users, and Your Computer User Accounts and Computer Management Applications and Utilities Games 11. Performance and Troubleshooting Performance, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting Startup 12. Graphics and Multimedia 13. The Registry What's in the Registry Adding and Deleting Registry Keys and Values Registry Protection in Windows Vista Organization of the Registry Hives Backing Up the Registry Exporting and Importing Registry Data with Patches Five Cool Things You Can Do in Your Registry 14. The Command Prompt Using the Command Line Command Prompt Choices Wildcards, Pipes, and Redirection Batch Files III. Appendixes A. Installing Windows Vista B. Keyboard Shortcuts C. Keyboard Equivalents for Symbols and International Characters D. Common Filename Extensions E. Services Index