How to Fix or Repair “COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working Error” in Windows Vista

Why this COM Surrogate Error Occur ?

This problem is basically caused due to incompatible codecs and other COM components installed by various softwares that aren’t fully comtable with Windows Vista, like some versions of DivX or Nero.

Possible Solution to Fix COM Surrogate ?

• If you are using DivX, you should be upgraded to the very latest version (6.5+)
• If you are using Nero, you can try upgrading to the latest version (7.7.5.1+)
• You can also disable thumbnail views in windows vista.
• One another type of possible solution illustrated below of turning off DEP fordllhost, which might not work for everybody.

How To Turn DEP(Data Execution Protection for dllhost.exe) ?

Step By step Procedure:

1. Right click on My computer>Properties.
2. Now Click on Advanced System Settings, and then under Advanced, click Settings.
3. Click the “Data Execution Protection” tab, and then click “Turn on DEP fo all programs.
4. With Add button, click dd then browse to C:\Windows\System32\dllhost.exe

Thats it..Done

Now you will not encounter the com surrogate again but if you still encounter this problem leave us your feedback as comments

Increase your Windows Experience Index or system rating in windows vista artificially

Well it is very easy to artificially raise your WEI(windows experience index) score by modifying the configuration file.

How to Rate Your system in windows vista:

First check your current score. In order to check your WEI score, go to Start >> Computer >> System Properties >> Performance.

• Click Rate this computer.Your baseline WEI score will now be set.
• In order to raise this score, navigate to the following directory:C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore

Note: You will need to have your UAC temporarily disabled i.e "disable UAC in vista"

• You will get one or more XML files. Open the most recent file in wordpad. Lines 14 – 21 have a simple score on each line with XML tags.Change the score you want to be displayed.
• Save that file after editing the value if windows doesn’t allow you to save that file check whether UAC is turn off if not turn UAC off.
• Check your WEI score again, you will notice the change you made in that value.

Following the above procedure you can simply change your system WEI index score but just for the sake of viewing actually it remains the same.

Make file copy faster with Robocopy in windows vista Read

What is Robocopy ?

It is an advanced copy utility with has the feature to automatically resume file transfer on error or network disruption, or recover from terminated file copying, with selective copying based on new or updated criteria.Beside,It can preserve all of the file properties and information, including date and time stamps, security access control lists (ACLs) and more while replicating the file.

By default Robocopy came built-in with windows vista as a command line but as a command line interface only but microsoft has also released a GUI (graphical user interface) application comprising robocopy command completely.

See the snapshot below for more details.

all of these features comes with with traditional Robocopy command line functionality, but for most of us , having these options integrated in a graphical interface really make it more useful.

Download Robocopy for Windows Vista

Remove or hide the arrow on the shortcuts in windows vista

There is very simple registry trick behind removing the arrow from the shortcuts in windows vista.

By following the procedure below you will be able to hide or remove the arrow displayed with the shortcuts in windows vista.

Step By Step Procedure :

• Type “regedit.exe” in the search box without double quotes.
• Browse to key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
• Open the Key LNKFILE
• Rename the value assigned with this key “IsShortcut” something other than.
• Log out and back in again.
• You will notice the change.

Revert the procedure to get the arrow again on the shortcuts.If you have any problems in implementing it leave a comment here.

How to install windows vista from orignal vista dvd with No Product Key

Yes you can Install Windows Vista with no product key and still have 30 days to evaluate it before buying it.

Step by step procedure:

Boot from your vista dvd and start the installation.

Select the Language, Time and Currency, and Keyboard

Click on Next

Click on Install Now

Don’t enter a Product Key

Uncheck Automatically activate Windows when I’m online

Click on Next

Click on No to confirm you do not want to enter a product key

Highlight the version of Vista you want to install

Check that it is the same edition you have purchased.

Click on Next

Check accept the license and terms

Click on Next

Install a clean copy and continue as with a regular install.

How to Change the Action for the Start Menu Power Button in windows vista

In case of windows vista we can change the action of the power button in the start menu to any of the actions like (Hibernate, Sleep, Power Off).

How To Change The Default action with the power button in windows vista:

To change the action (Sleep, Hibernate or Power Off)

1. Go to the Control Panel
2. Select System Maintenance and then Power Options if it is the Default View or
3. Select Power Options if it is the Classic View
4. Under your current plan, click on Change plans settings
5. Click on Change advanced power settings
6. Click on the + by Power buttons and lid
7. Click on the + by Start menu power button
8. For the Setting, select Sleep, Hibernate or Shutdown
9. Click on Apply and OK
10. Now when you hover over icon, you can see the action it will take.

Turn off Some Visual effects to make vista more faster and quick inoperations

Windows vista can be made more faster in general user operations by simply turning off some unessential visual effects.

Turn off these visual effects to speed up the graphics performance in vista.

1. Show preview and filters in folder.
2. Show shadows under mouse pointer.
3. Show thumbnails instead of icons.
4. Show window contents while dragging.
5. Smooth edges of screen fonts.
6. Use drop shadows for icon labels.
7. Use visual styles on windows and buttons.

Procedure:

• Open the Start menu
• Right click on My Computer
• Select Properties
• Click on Advanced System Settings
• In the Performance section, click on the Settings button
• Click on Custom
• Uncheck the unneeded effects.

Repair the error “access denied on files and folders” in windows vista or xp

I have been getting some problems in windows vista these days by some users who are unable to open a file or folder in windows vista.

As whenever they want to open a file they get a error message prompt saying… “Access Denied”

Why this type of Problem Occur ?

This type of problem generally occur when a particular user rights in the NTFS partition are altered by some one or some program.

How To Open Files and Folders which are Access Denied:

Follow the step by step procedure given below….

For Example:

If you are getting Access Denied errors when trying to open folders like Documents and Settings, Application Data, Local settings:

1. Right click on the Folder
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Security tab
4. Click on the Advanced button
5. Click on the Owner tab
6. Click on the Edit button
7. In the Change owner to box, highlight your account
8. Check Replace owner on subcontainers and objects
9. Click on Apply
10. Click on Yes to replace all permissions
11. Continue to click on OK until you

This general step by step procedure is applied to all the files and folders which are access denied on a NTFS partition

Speed Up Windows Vista to make it run as faster as Windows Xp

Windows vista has lot more to offer when it comes to new features with enhanced user friendliness and other accessibility features being talked about in comparison with other previous versions of windows like windows 2000 and windows xp.Unlike previous Microsoft operating systems, Windows Vista is streamlined specifically according the needs of various types of users.

But when we talk about the resource consumption and their utilization it always need a lot of cpu and other memory to carry out even the simple operations like copying a file ,playing a video as compared to windows xp( Which according to me is the most stable and fast operating system by microsoft ever).

Today I going to share some crucial tips required to make windows vista as faster as windows Xp…

Follow the steps below to make your windows vista faster…

1. Disable the Aero Theme

Aero theme which is wonderful but a slow theme as the graphic effects consume a lot of memory which in turn makes other applications to run slower in vista.

How To disable Aero Theme:

1. Right click on the desktop > Personalize
2. Select one of the available theme i prefer windows vista classic but if you find it worse go for windows vista basic.

2. Increase the File Copy Speed in windows vista

One of the solutions to make file copying operations faster is to disable and remove the Remote Differential Compression feature in Vista.

How To disable Remote Differential Compression:

1. Open Control Panel and in the Programs node
2. In the Uninstall or Change a Program window, click on the Turn Windows Features On or Off link.

3. Disable TCP Autotuning Feature in windows vista

1. Click Start and type CMD.
2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to open the command Prompt with Administrative rights.
3. At the prompt in the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following command,(with out double quotes).
4. “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled”
5. and then press ENTER:

4. Disable Indexing in windows Vista
Disable unnecessary indexing of files or folders

1. Open Indexing Options from the Control Panel.
2. Next, in the Indexing Options window, click Modify.
3. Now uncheck all the checkboxes you see, and leave just the start menu.

5. Turn Windows Features on or off

Some programs and features that are included with Windows, such as Internet Information Services, must be turned on before you can use them. Certain other features are turned on by default, but you can turn them off if you don’t use them. Disable Unneeded Features :

1. Open the Control Panel, click Programs,
2. click Turn Windows features on or off in the Programs and Features section.

Tweak and make vista faster as windows xp continued…

1. Open Run Prompt, type OptionalFeatures and press Enter.

Disable Features Like..

XPS Viewer (under .NET Framework 3.0)

Remote Differential Compression (a network optimizer)

Windows Ultimate Extras

n some other features according to you.

6.Some NonEssentials Services You Can Disable

There are several services you can disable to help improve performance.

Desktop Window Manager Session Manager – Provides Desktop Window Manager startup and maintenance services.
If you don’t plan on using Aero Glass, you can disable this service.

Diagnostic Policy Service – Enables problem detection, troubleshooting and resolution for Windows components
Set to Disabled

Diagnostic System Host - Same as above

Offline Files - The Offline Files service performs maintenance activities on the Offline Files cache, responds to user logon and logoff events.

Terminal Services - Allows users to connect interactively to a remote computer. Remote Desktop and Terminal Server depend on this service. If you don’t use either of these, then you can disable the service.

Windows Error Reporting Service - Allows errors to be reported when programs stop working or responding and allows existing solutions to be delivered.

Windows Search - Formerly this was the Indexing Service. Provides content indexing.

How To Disable These Services:

1. Click the Start button or open run prompt(window key+r) and type “services.msc” without double quotes and hit Enter.
2. Select the service to disable right click on it and go to Properties.
3. Now Select the disabled action from the dropdown listbox menu.

7. Disable the unwanted applications to load at start up.

1. Click the Start button, type “msconfig” without double quotes and hit Enter.
2. click the start up tab uncheck the unwanted applications.
3. click apply and restart.

8. Use ReadyBoost

ReadyBoost is a Vista feature that uses a compatible USB flash device to enhance performance. Note that the oft-misunderstood feature isn’t a replacement for a memory upgrade, and it doesn’t affect game performance—you won’t see higher frame rates by adding a keychain drive to your system.ReadyBoost caches disk reads on the fly and can often speed up data access. Reads from a USB key or other ReadyBoost device are much faster than random reads from a platter on the hard drive. ReadyBoost data is encrypted, so if someone swipes the flash device he or she can’t tell what you’ve been up to. It’s secure, and it really does speed up access in certain instances.

9. Adjust the Visual interface for optimium performance

• Lose the transparency.

1. Right-click the desktop go to personalise.
2. click Personalize, and click Windows Color and Appearance.
3. Uncheck Enable Transparency. Click OK.

• Get rid of the Sidebar.

1. Right-click the Sidebar, click Properties.
2. Uncheck Start Sidebar When Windows Starts. Click OK.

• Get rid of some of the visual effects.

1. Open Control Panel, click Performance and System Tools.
2. click Adjust Visual Effects. In the resulting window
3. click Adjust For Best Performance.

Easily Change File Extension With File Extension Changer .NET In Vista and Windows 7

File Extension Changer .NET is a freeware utlity which can change the process of changing the file extension in vista and windows 7 very easy, it will integrate the Change File Extension in the right click context menu. [ as shown in the image below ]

Changer .NET is a freeware utlity which can change the process of changing the file extension in vista and windows 7 very easy, it will integrate the Change File Extension in the right click context menu. [ as shown in the image below ]

Read more: http://www.technixupdate.com/easily-change-file-extension-with-file-extension-changer-net-in-vista-and-windows-7/#ixzz0Smu7qiQq

Changer .NET is a freeware utlity which can change the process of changing the file extension in vista and windows 7 very easy, it will integrate the Change File Extension in the right click context menu. [ as shown in the image below ]

Read more: http://www.technixupdate.com/easily-change-file-extension-with-file-extension-changer-net-in-vista-and-windows-7/#ixzz0Smu7qiQq

File Extension Changer .NET is a freeware utlity which can change the process of changing the file extension in vista and windows 7 very easy, it will integrate the Change File Extension in the right click context menu. [ as shown in the image below ]

After selecting the Change File Extension in windows, a new window will appear where you will need to enter the new file extension and click Change and Exit button after then. [ as shown in the image below ]

After selecting the Change File Extension in windows, a new window will appear where you will need to enter the new file extension and click Change and Exit button after then

Read more: http://www.technixupdate.com/easily-change-file-extension-with-file-extension-changer-net-in-vista-and-windows-7/#ixzz0SmuIVlS2

File Extension Changer .NETFile Extension Changer .NET is a freeware utlity which can change the process of changing the file extension in vista and windows 7 very easy, it will integrate the Change File Extension in the right click context menu. [ as shown in the image below ]

After selecting the Change File Extension in windows, a new window will appear where you will need to enter the new file extension and click Change and Exit button after then. [ as shown in the image below ]

Read more: http://www.technixupdate.com/easily-change-file-extension-with-file-extension-changer-net-in-vista-and-windows-7/#ixzz0SmteXQPE is a freeware utlity which can change the process of changing the file extension in vista and windows 7 very easy, it will integrate the Change File Extension in the right click context menu. [ as shown in the image below ]

After selecting the Change File Extension in windows, a new window will appear where you will need to enter the new file extension and click Change and Exit button after then. [ as shown in the image below ]

Read more: http://www.technixupdate.com/easily-change-file-extension-with-file-extension-changer-net-in-vista-and-windows-7/#ixzz0SmteXQPE

Customize or Change Windows Vista Boot Logo With Vista Boot Logo Generator

Are you bored of seeing the vista boot screen every time it boots then this post is for you as after reading this post you will come to know how you can easily customize or change the boot screen logo with a small utility called “Vista Boot Logo Generator v1.1” with which you can convert any image into a vista boot logo.

How to do it

1. Download the software from here
2. Choose the image you want to convert to as the boot logo.
3. You can save it according to two resolutions 800×600 at 24 bit color, and the other 1024×768 at the same color depth.
4. Now you need to take the ownership of the windows file
5. Press “windows+r“and type cmd.
6. now press “ctrl+shift+enter“.
7. type the following commands..
8. “takeown /f C:\Windows\System32\en-US\winload.exe.mui“
9. “cacls C:\Windows\System32\en-US\winload.exe.mui /G username:F“
10. copy the file to the directory path C:\windows\system32\en-US\ directory make sure you replace the file.

If you have any problem in implementing the above procedure leave a comment here…

Run Vista Sidebar Gadgets Without The Vista Sidebar Itself

Windows vista sidebar sometimes consumes a lot of memory usage and slow down the overall system performance eating a lot of cpu usage with other processes striving for getting the cpu.

So today i am going to tell you how can you run vista sidebar gadgets with out windows vista sidebar.

Follow the steps listed below..

1. Run windows vista sidebar first with the corresponding gadgets.
2. Now drag the gadgets out of the vista sidebar to the desktop area which you want to run with out sidebar.
3. Right click on the empty area on the sidebar and choose “close sidebar“.

You will notice that sidebar gadgets will continue to run you can also bring them to front using the key “window+key“.

Disable file delete confirmation dialog in vista

When ever you delete a file in windows vista you will get a dialog box it is better as it offers a safety issue when you may accidentally delete the file.But sometimes in cases this “delete confirmation box” becomes so irritating.

So i order to avoid any confirmations when ever you delete a fle in windows vista you need to follow the steps listed below…

1. Right Click on the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop go to properties.
2. Uncheck the check box “Display delete comfiration dialog”.
3. Click ok.

If you have any problem in implementing the above defined procedure…

Useful Websites - Astro Uncle

Please Visit the Astro Uncle Blog at http://astrouncle.blogspot.com/ for more stuff. You can visit the http://astrouncle-tips.blogspot.com/ & http://coolfuncity.blogspot.com for most useful articles in hindi. http://creative-mehndi.blogspot.com/ http://taxplanning-in.blogspot.com/ http://astrouncle-tech.blogspot.com/ You will find it very useful. Astro Uncle Blog