Walter Glenn

Windows Vista includes Complete PC Backup, an image-based backup program that works similarly to Norton Ghost or Acronis TrueImage. Complete PC Backup creates an image of one or more entire hard disk partitions. In the event of a hard drive failure, you can replace the disk, restore from that image, and have your computer right back at the state it was in when you last backed it up.

Unfortunately, Complete PC Backup does not have a scheduling function built in so that you can automate backups. Fortunately, the command-line equivalent wbadmin.exe supports a rich command structure and with a little help from Task Scheduler, you can schedule automatic image backups.

wbadmin.exe supports the following commands:

Start Backup. Runs a backup.
Stop Job. Stops a running backup.
Get Items. Lists backed up items.
Get Status. Lists status of currently running backup.

The Start Backup command is the one we’re concerned with here. To create a full command, you can use the following parameters:

-backuptarget. Indicates the location to save the backup image. This can be a drive letter or a UNC path.
-include. List of drive letters, volume mount points, or volume names to include in the backup.
-noverify. Tells wbadmin not to verify backups written to removable media such as DVD.
-quiet. Runs the command with no user prompts.

So, let’s look at a simple backup command:

wbadmin start backup -backuptarget:e:\backups -include:C: -quiet

This command starts a backup of the C drive and saves the image to the Backups folder on the E drive, and does it with no user prompts. This would be a useful command for backing up the typical computer with one hard drive to a folder on an external hard drive.

To make this work as a scheduled backup, all you need to do is open Task Scheduler and create a new task using this command on the appropriate schedule.

While the new .docx format in Word 2007 promises great things, for now most of the people you’ll be working with are still using Word 2003 or (gasp) an even earlier version. The .doc format remained virtually unchanged in Word 97-2003 and is still supported in Word 2007. But Word 2007 by default saves files as .docx documents, meaning that when you need to share with someone using a previous version you have to open the .docx file you created and save it as a .doc file.

If you work with folks that use previous versions of Word, you can change the default format Word 2007 uses to save a file. To do this, use the following steps:

1. In Word 2007, click the Office button (the big round button at the top left of the Window) and then click Word Options.
2. In the Word Options dialog box, choose the Save category from the list on the left.
3. Use the Save files in this format drop-down menu to choose the format you want Word 2007 to use by default. I use Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc).
4. Click OK.

When you save a new file, if you really want to save it as a .docx file, you can always choose that format from the list in the Save As dialog box.

Microsoft also has an Office Compatibility Pack available for users of Office XP and Office 2003 for opening documents created in Office 2007 (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

Sometimes, navigating the Start menu for the shortcut to a particular program or folder takes too long. Creating a shortcut toolbar on the Windows XP taskbar is simple. The first step is to create a folder and fill it with shortcuts. You could create a folder named Shortcuts, Games, or whatever you need quick access to. Store the folder wherever you like. I keep mine in the My Documents folder. After you create the folder and some shortcuts inside, use these steps to add the toolbar:

1. Right-click any open space on the Windows Taskbar.
2. On the shortcut menu, point to Toolbars, and then click New Toolbar.
3. In the New Toolbar dialog box, locate your shortcut folder, select it, and then click OK.

That’s it. The new toolbar appears and looks something like this:

To remove the toolbar, right-click the Taskbar, point to Toolbars on the shortcut menu, and click the shortcut toolbar to disable it. When you disable the Toolbar, you will have to recreate it if you want it to appear again.

Honestly, error reporting is kind of a drag. After a program or system crash, the last thing you want is to sit through is Windows having to grind out an error report. To disable Error Reporting:

1. Click Start, then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, if the window is not already in Classic View, click the Switch to Classic View link on the left.
3. Double-click Administrative Tools.
4. In the Administrative Tools folder, double-click Services.
5. In the Services window, scroll until you find the Error Reporting Service entry and double-click it to open its properties.
6. In the properties dialog that opens, in the Startup Type box, select Disabled. Also click Stop to go ahead and stop the service.
7. Click OK and then close the Administrative Tools folder.

Error Reporting will no longer bother you.

If you didn’t build your computer yourself and the name of your video card isn’t printed on a nice little sticker on the case, it’s not always easy to find out what you’ve got inside without cracking the case open. Fortunately, there is a way:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.
2. In the System Information window, in the list on the left side, open the Components category, and then click Display.
3. In the right side of the window, the Name and Adapter Description labels describe your video card model.

By default, Windows XP displays the Language Toolbar on the right side of the Taskbar in a new Windows installation. For most people, it just gets in the way and takes up Taskbar room that could be put to better use. Here’s how to turn it off:

1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, if you haven’t done it already, click Switch to Classic View in the Tasks pane.
3. Double-click Regional and Language Options.
4. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, switch to the Languages tab, and then click Details.
5. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, click Language Bar.
6. Clear the Show the Language bar on the desktop check box.
7. Click OK until the dialog boxes are gone and then close the Control Panel window.