Tweak It

?Become addicted to constant and never-ending self improvement.?(Anthony J. D'Angelo) Everything we do in our life should be an improvement of the day before. Or at least this is what everybody expects from you. When you are a child you have to be more obedient, while going to school you must learn more and get better grades, while being a grown-up you must work harder in order to earn more money, in family life you have to love your wife/husband more and pay more attention to her/his needs, while being a parent you'd better buy your kid more toys and when you are old and tired of all this struggle you are expected to be wiser and more patient with your nephews.

But as we experience some or all these steps in life we realize that this desire for improvement does not always lead to success. And this is because several factors prevent us to become better and achieve improved results day by day. The first one is our human nature that has a destructive side and it appears as stubbornness, laziness, routine, temperament and most of all selfishness. The second factor is about the tactlessness of granting everybody's wishes or commands. It's just impossible to please all the persons around you especially when it involves a job that you dislike.

With all these difficulties you somehow have to manage to be above the line for this is the only way to win the day. In the case of softwares, things are almost the same. It is always expected for new, improved versions of an application, if the software is better it will be bought by more and more PC users, and if it fails to keep up it will be replaced with another one that can handle the users requests. But in the case of softwares that have little competitors, such as operating systems, it is difficult to replace them both because its competitors are different when it comes to features and use, and because all your other programs are strictly related to that OS. This is why in order to solve some of the important problems of an OS some developers bring us applications for improving (tweaking) such complex softwares.

In the case of the latest OS made by Microsoft called Vista, some users found issues (security, privacy, visual, ease of use) that need to be fixed. TweakVI Basic is an application that tries to solve some of these problems that you may encounter while running Microsoft Vista. The application has a lot of exciting features but unfortunately this freeware version is limited somehow to visual tweaks only. If you want to benefit form more plug-ins and additional features you have to subscribe. But as limited as it is you will find this tweaking tool to be efficient and fun to ?play? with. The Home tab opens a window in which you are presented some information about the application, number of plug-ins currently installed and links to New Plug-ins and Subscription website in case you are not registered.

System Information and tweaks

This tab links to a series of features designed to inform about and optimize your system. The first feature is about System information, CPU info, memory statistics and access the Windows and Office CD keys. Here you can find data related to your CPU, a Device Manager like window but with plenty of details about each of your hardwares, and information concerning Memory and Paging file, Operating System and the CD keys for your OS and office suites installed on your machine. The second feature is about your Hard Drive and here you can find information about your Drives (name, total/free space, file system) and Folders, you can tweak it (Hide Disk Drives from Explorer, Clear pagefile on shutdown, Disable Windows File Protection, Enable boot defrag for faster booting and Disable autorun (RAM, CD/DVD, Net Drives, Hard Drives, Removable Disks) and you can modify the features of Windows Prefetcher.

CPU, CD/DVD, system cache and other hardware related tweaks allow you to optimize cache settings according to your CPU type (Intel, AMD), optimize CPU and memory usage for applications, background tasks and system cache, force the core Windows Vista system to be kept in memory and not paged to disk, optimize system cache settings according to available RAM and tweak your CD/DVD drive's cache size, speed, disable autorun, disable Windows Vista CD burning tool, turn off compatibility assistant, increase IRQ (interrupt request) priority of the CMOS (Complementary Metal?Oxide?Semiconductor) real-time clock or automatically close non-responsive applications.

The EasyBCD ? Vista Boot Configuration Manager opens the EasyBCD software which allows you to boot right into Linux, Mac OS X directly from the Windows Vista bootloader. This application is useful if you want to add an entry to your old XP partition or to create a duplicate for testing purposes. Other features such as Memory Optimizer, Pagefile Settings, Windows Vista Service Manager or Folder Statistics/Icons are available only with the registered application.

Miscellaneous Tweaks

This section concerns System folder Settings (change location of the system folders, enable/disable system folder protection) and Control Panel Restrictions (hide applets, disable Control Panel, tweak Add/Remove programs panel, Windows Vista Performance Center, Regional and Language options and Display panel). Here you can also change settings related to your mouse, Windows error reporting, Cool-Switch, OEM information, Windows User information, Time Synchronization and disable ?nice but useless? settings such as Cursor Shadow, Menu Fading, Tooltip Animation or Gradient Taskbar Captions.

The application has several tweaks for Media Player because you can Hide or Disable features such as Privacy, Security, Auto Update, CD and DVD media data retrieval, Radio station preset retrieval or disable Codec download. As it is known that the Backup and Restore feature is slowing down your computer and can be a virus source this program gives you the possibility to disable some of its features or even the whole process. Windows Update, Movie Maker, Sidebar, Welcome Center, Windows Messenger are also subject to tweaking.

You are able to modify some restrictions for Windows Defender (disable, stop logging known good detections, don't display Real Time Protection prompts for unknown activities), Security Center (turn off), Don't allow addition/deletion of Printers, Device installation ( don't set a restore point, deny installation) and Windows Explorer (display the menu bar, display thumbnails in Network Folders/Explorer). The registered version will grant you access to another tweak window where you can customize the Autostart Settings , Windows Vista Auto ? Log On and Windows Vista Auto ? Shut Down (a countdown timer).

Visual Tweaks

In this section there are included all the tweaks required to customize Windows Vista's looks. For example you can change the Start Menu appearance (hide My Pictures, My Computer, Run, Favorites), remove Shut Down or Log Off commands or disable Drag-and-Drop and Context Menus. You can also choose which start menu items to hide/show. When using the CTRL+ALT+DEL shortcut, Windows Vista, unlike Windows XP, shows you a screen in which you can select different tasks (Switch User, Lock Computer, Change Password, Log Off or Start Task Manager). You can control which of these tasks to be removed from that screen. If you want to set some restrictions for the Start Menu Search box you can choose from Communications, Files, Favorites, Internet History and Programs. It would have been better if the application had a tweak to disable or hide that Search box.

As it concerns appearance TweakVI is able to change some features of your taskbar. For example you can choose to remove Quick Launch, automatically hide inactive tray icons, group similar taskbar application buttons, remove tray items from taskbar, prevent users from adding/removing/rearranging taskbars or turn off taskbar thumbnails. If System Notifications Area seems kind of annoying, you can always set it to Turn Off Balloon Notifications, remove networking/volume control icon or in case you have a laptop remove the battery meter.

If you want to easily change the contrast setting of the ClearType (font enhancement for LCD displays) on Windows Vista, than here you can choose which of the writings you are most comfortable with. You can also have access to all the true-type system fonts and be able to disable or enable the ones you use most.

When it comes to desktop management this application has dedicated an entire section. Among the Miscellaneous tweaks you can deactivate desktop shortcuts right click menu, change window 3D effects, enable automatic window refresh, disable Desktop Cleanup Wizard, enable animated windows or display Windows Version info on desktop (works with Vista RTM (Released To Manufacturing) only). Desktop items are also being taken care of for here you can choose to display or not My Network Places, Internet explorer, My Computer, Recycle Bin, My Documents or no icon at all. If you don't like those arrows from the shortcut icons this application will remove them for you.

You might say that you don't need an application to perform some of these ?tweaks? and I will agree with you. But the advantage of such a program is that you can change all these settings from a single place. And of course beside the features that you have access to in Windows Vista there are several others that you cannot ?tweak? that easily. This is meant to be an all-in-one application and not just a shortcut to some features. For example you can disable the Properties option in My Computer, Recycle Bin and My documents icon. This and hiding the System icon in the Control Panel will prevent other people to see private data such as Product ID. That is if the person is not acquainted with Windows Vista hot keys because the Properties option can be opened by ALT+double click on the desktop icon.

If you find it easier to access important Windows functions directly from the desktop, TweakVI can create shortcuts for Shutdown, Restart, Log off, Standby, Search, Help and Support, Run dialog, System properties and Lock the workstation. This application has an unique way of presenting several styles in which the icons on your desktop could be displayed. It shows you a window that is a capture of your entire screen and while switching between the styles the application shows in that window how does your desktop looks. This is a quite great idea but unfortunately it would have been better if one could see only his desktop and not all the opened windows. You can choose between four different styles (Icon mode, Small icon mode, Report mode and List mode).

Another great feature is that you can enable Random Desktop Wallpaper every time Windows starts. Here you have to add image files to the background image list and the application will change the wallpaper itself. The bad thing about this feature is that you cannot add a batch selection and the drag and drop feature is not available. But for the great feature it is worth the trouble.

Desktop Window Manager (DWM) is a compositing manager that in Windows Vista enables the Windows Aero user interface and as you got used to already, TweakVI has features for this too. You can Enable DWM on startup, enable DWM effects on unsupported graphic cards, enable blurring of background behind window borders or enable DPI auto-scaling. In case you are not familiarized with Windows Aero there is a nice way of seeing your opened windows (Flip 3D) by using the Win+Tab shortcut. The application can limit the number of windows displayed in this mode. If you find it easier you can use this application to place a Flip 3D shortcut on the desktop. Another Aero feature is the Glass like elements of the windows. You can easily change the colors of these elements and their transparency by using this program.

Internet tweaks

TweakVI can also customize your Internet related settings. For example if you are still using Microsoft Outlook you should know that with Office XP it included new restrictions concerning file extensions, in order to prevent malicious e-mail attachments. Now you can select which of these file types you want to be marked as safe. You can also disable the Today page and minimize Outlook (XP/2003/2007) to the system tray. For Windows Mail you can choose to use HTTP mail, disable account-changes or to cancel the Windows Mail splash screen. If you want you can also use this application to backup the Office activation files but you must carefully read the procedure because to be able to restore them you must obey some rules.

Internet Explorer can also be tweaked by renaming the IE window, change the default download folder, change the way IE reacts when opening a new window, disable Script debugger or change the toolbar background image. When it comes to restrictions, you have a wide palette of features such as hiding address bar, remove Mail and News menu item, remove Tip Of The Day from Help menu, disable right-click menu, disable ability to Save As, disable full screen mode or disallow resetting Internet Explorer to default settings. You can also customize the Phishing (malicious acquiring of private information) Filter and the Internet control panel by disabling changes to Advanced settings, Temporary files, Connection settings, Language, Messaging, Personal Certificate, Privacy or Security Levels for the Internet Zone.

If you are running Firefox, this application has a ?tuning? option for it can improve the browser according to your computer performance and connection speed. If you register your product you will be able to optimize your Internet connection taking into account your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and the hardware you are using to surf the Internet. You will also have access to Internet Explorer privacy options and to attachment settings tweaks.

Utilities

By using the freeware version you only have access to Windows Vista utilities, such as Device Manager, Performance Manager, Registry Editor, System Restore, Security and Firewall Manager, Disk Manager and Defragmentation, File Sharing or Task Scheduler. You will also be able to view and edit system configuration files such as boot.ini, system.ini, win.ini, autoexec.nt and config.nt. But as the developer warns, changing one of these files can inflict to serious problems to your operating system. Another available feature is to create a BCD (Boot Configuration Data) backup but here it is also required knowledge about such ?delicate? tasks.

The purchased version of TweakVI unlocks the most important features of the Utilities section. You will be able to use all this application's tweaks such as File Renamer/Shredder, Password generator, manage installed software, Registry maintenance, restrict applications, folder access, User Account Control and DiscDoctor which is a tool that scans your hard disks for logical problems.

Auto Optimize System

This option is also available only after you have purchased the software and it offers a one-click optimization of preselected system features. You can choose from Cosmetical, Internet and network, Performance and DirectX settings. You will also be able to use the Service Tweaking feature which, according to four different strengths, will disable and stop Windows services that are most commonly not used.

Restore Settings

To further help us improve our system TweakVI allows you to create restore points before any major tweak so if the results are not satisfactory you can always return to your initial settings. You can also create snapshots of a whole section with the ability of restoring them back.

The Good

It is a very complex and high end application and the developer's products are known to be extremely efficient when it comes to tweaking. It has a lot of useful features, as limited as they are, and because of its ?Vista? looks it is a pleasure to work with.

The Bad

The program is highly limited and most of the real useful applications when it comes to optimization are locked.

The Truth

This software will help you customize and enhance the looks and feels of your Windows Vista, providing you lots of interesting features and tweaking tips. Most of all it is easy to use and it is really designed to optimize your system.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: