Custom Startups with the Advanced Options Menu
When the Windows Boot Manager menu appears at startup, you see the following message when you highlight a Windows Vista install:
To specify an advanced option for this choice, press F8.
If you press F8, you get to the Advanced Boot Options menu, which looks like this:
Tip
If your
system doesn’t automatically display the Windows Boot Manager menu at
startup, you can display it manually. After you start your computer,
wait until the POST is complete, and then press F8 to display the
Windows Boot Manager menu. If your computer is set up to “fast boot,” it
might not be obvious when the POST ends. In that case, just turn on
your computer and press F8 repeatedly until you see the Windows Boot
Manager menu. Note, however, that if your system picks up two separate
F8 presses, you might end up directly in the Advanced Boot Options menu.
Advanced Boot Options
Choose Advanced Options for: Microsoft Windows Vista
(use the arrow keys to highlight your choice.)
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Enable Boot Logging
Enable low-resolution video (640×480)
Last Known Good Configuration (advanced)
Directory Services Restore Mode
Debugging Mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Disable Driver Signature Enforcement
Start Windows Normally
The Start Windows Normally option loads Windows Vista in the usual fashion. You can use the other options to control the rest of the startup procedure:
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Safe Mode | If
you’re having trouble with Windows Vista—for example, if a corrupt or
incorrect video driver is mangling your display, or if Windows Vista
won’t start—you can use the Safe Mode option to run a stripped-down
version of Windows Vista that includes only the minimal set of device
drivers that Vista requires to load. You could reinstall or roll back
the offending device driver and then load Vista normally. Starting in
Safe mode displays the Administrator account in the Welcome screen,
which is the account to use when troubleshooting problems. When Windows
Vista finally loads, the desktop reminds you that you’re in Safe mode by
displaying Safe Mode in each corner. (Also, Windows Help and Support appears with Safe mode-related information and links.) |
Note
If you’re curious to know which drivers are loaded during a Safe mode boot, see the subkeys in the following Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\
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Safe Mode with Networking | This
option is identical to plain Safe mode, except that Windows Vista’s
networking drivers are also loaded at startup. This enables you to log
on to your network, which is handy if you need to access the network to
load a device driver, run a troubleshooting utility, or send a tech
support request. This option also gives you Internet access if you
connect via a gateway on your network. This is useful if you need to
download drivers or contact online tech support. |
Safe Mode with Command Prompt | This option is the same as plain Safe mode, except that it doesn’t load the Windows Vista GUI. Instead, it runs CMD.EXE to load a command prompt session. |
Enable Boot Logging | This option is the same as the Boot Normally option, except that Windows Vista logs the boot process in a text file named ntbtlog.txt that resides in the system root. |
Enable Low-Resolution Video (640×480) | This
option loads Windows Vista with the video display set to 640×480 and
256 colors. This is useful if your video output is garbled when you
start Vista. For example, if your display settings are configured at a
resolution that your video card can’t handle, boot in the low-resolution
mode and then switch to a setting supported by your video card. |
Last Known Good Configuration | This option boots Windows Vista using the last hardware configuration that produced a successful boot.
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Directory Services Restore Mode | Boots
Windows Vista in Safe mode and restores a backup of the Active
Directory service (this option applies only to domain controllers). |
Debugging Mode | Enables remote debugging of the Windows Vista kernel. |
Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure | Prevents
Windows Vista from restarting automatically when the system crashes.
Choose this option if you want to prevent your system from restarting so
that you can read an error message or deduce other information that can
help you troubleshoot the problem. |
Disable Driver Signature Enforcement | Prevents
Windows Vista from checking whether devices drivers have digital
signatures. Choose this option to ensure that Windows Vista loads an
unsigned driver, if failing to load that driver is causing system
problems. |
Useful Windows Vista Logon Strategies
When you install Windows
Vista, the setup program asks you to supply a username and optional
password for one or more people who will be accessing the computer. How
you initially log on to Windows Vista depends on what you did at that
point of the install:
If you didn’t
specify a password with the new username and your computer is not part
of a network domain, Windows Vista logs on that username automatically.
If
you specified a password, if your computer is part of a domain, or if
you have subsequently created multiple usernames, Windows Vista displays
the Welcome screen, which lists the users (Figure 1
shows an example). Click the username you want to use, type the
password (if the account has one), and press the Enter key to log on.
The default logon is fine
for most users, but there are many ways to change Windows Vista’s logon
behavior. The rest of this section looks at a few tips and techniques
for altering the way you log on to Windows Vista.
Requiring Ctrl+Alt+Delete at Startup
Protecting your Windows Vista user account with a password ,
though an excellent idea, is not foolproof. Hackers are an endlessly
resourceful bunch, and some of the smarter ones figured out a way to
defeat the user account password system. The trick is that they install a
virus or Trojan horse program — usually via an infected email message
or malicious Web site — that loads itself when you start your computer.
This program then displays a fake
version of the Windows Vista Welcome screen. When you type your user
name and password into this dialog box, the program records it and your
system security is compromised.
To thwart this clever ruse,
Windows Vista enables you to configure your system so that you must
press Ctrl+Alt+Delete before you can log on. This key combination
ensures that the authentic Welcome screen appears.
To require that users must press Ctrl+Alt+Delete before they can log on, follow these steps:
1. | Press Windows Logo+R to display the Run dialog box.
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2. | Type control userpasswords2 and then click OK.
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3. | If
you see the User Account Control dialog box, either click Continue or
type an administrator password and click Submit. The User Accounts
dialog box appears.
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4. | Display the Advanced tab.
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5. | Activate the Require Users to Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete check box.
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6. | Click OK.
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Logging On to a Domain
In previous versions of
Windows, when you logged on to a domain you always used the Classic
Windows logon, which consisted of pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then
typing your username and password in the Log On to Windows dialog box.
(You also had the option of specifying a different domain.) However, the
Classic Windows logon is gone from Windows Vista. You saw in the
previous section how to require Ctrl+Alt+Delete before logging on. To
log on to a domain in Windows Vista, you must specify the domain as part
of the username. You have two choices:
NetBIOSName\UserName— Here, replace NetBIOSName with the NetBIOS name of the domain, and replace UserName with your network username (for example, logophilia\paulm).
UserName@Domain— Here, replace Domain with the domain name, and replace UserName with your network username (for example, [email protected]).
Accessing the Administrator Account
One of the confusing
aspects about Windows Vista is that the Administrator account seems to
disappear after the setup is complete. That’s because, for security
reasons, Windows Vista doesn’t give you access to the all-powerful
Administrator account. I should say it doesn’t give you easy
access to this account. The Welcome screen doesn’t include an option to
choose the Administrator, and there is no option anywhere in the main
Vista interface to enable this account to log on.
That’s probably just
as well because it keeps most users much safer, but it’s annoying for
those of us who might occasionally require the Administrator account.
For example, tools such as the Windows Automated Installation Kit
require the Administrator account. Fortunately, there are a couple of
workarounds, both of which involve editing the Registry , so begin by opening the Registry Editor (click Start, type regedit in the Search box, and then click the regedit program that appears) and then navigating to the following key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
You now have two choices:
Set Up an Automatic Logon for the Administrator— See the next section for the details.
Include Administrator in the Welcome screen— Create a new subkey under Winlogon named SpecialAccounts, and then create a new subkey under SpecialAccounts named UserList. In the UserList key, create a DWORD value named Administrator and set its value to 1.
Setting Up an Automatic Logon
If you’re using a
standalone computer that no one else has access to (or that will be used
by people you trust), you can save some time at startup by not having
to type a username and password. In this scenario, the easiest way to do
this is to set up Windows Vista with just a single user account without
a password, which means Windows Vista logs on that user automatically
at startup. If you have multiple user accounts (for testing purposes,
for example) or if you want the Administrator account to be logged on
automatically, you need to set up Windows Vista for automatic logons.
Caution
Setting up an
automatic logon is generally not a good idea for notebook computers
because they’re easily lost or stolen. By leaving the logon prompt in
place, the person who finds or steals your notebook will at least be
unlikely to get past the logon, so your data won’t be compromised.
Open the Registry Editor and head for the following Registry key:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
You need to do three things:
1. | Double-click the AutoAdminLogon setting and change its value to 1.
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2. | Double-click the DefaultUseName setting and change its value to the username you want to log on automatically.
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3. | Create a String setting named DefaultPassword
and change its value to the password of the user you specified in step
2. Note that your password appears as plain text, so anyone can read it
or even change it.
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Tip
You can temporarily suspend the automatic logon by holding down the Shift key while Windows Vista starts up.
Disabling Automatic Logon Override
As
you saw in the Tip sidebar in the previous section, you can hold down
the Shift key to override an automatic logon. There are situations where
this is not preferable. For example, you might have a computer set up
for a particular user and you want only that user to log on. In that
case, you don’t want the user overriding the automatic logon.
To prevent the
override of an automatic logon using the Shift key, open the Registry
Editor once again and navigate to the following key:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Create a new String value named IgnoreShiftOverride and set its value to 1.