How to keep Windows Update from rebooting your computer (Vista)

Have you ever gotten up in the morning and sat down at your computer, only to discover that it had rebooted itself during the night because of Windows Update - and all those documents and web sites you had spread across the desktop and were working on are now gone? Grrr. Well, there is a way to prevent this from happening, at least with some versions of Vista (we've heard that it doesn't work with Home, but haven't had a chance to test that). It does work with Ultimate and Business editions. The fix involves editing the registry, so be careful and back it up first. Here are the steps:

1. In your registry editor, navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WindowsUpdate \ AU
2. Right click an empty space in the right pane and click New, then select DWORD value.
   Name the new value NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
3. Set the value data field to 1.
4. Close the registry editor.

Now you don't have to worry about the OS shutting down when you least expect (and least want) it to.

How to Repair the Vista Bootloader

If the bootloader in Vista is damaged, you can repair it by using the installation DVD. But what if your hardware vendor didn't include a Windows DVD with your computer? One of our readers sent a solution. You can find the link to an ISO image (which you can burn to CD or DVD), along with explicit instructions for using it to repair the bootloader, here:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+from+the+DVD

Troubleshooting Windows Vista Aero

The new Aero interface in Vista is very cool, but sometimes things go wrong. If you're not getting the "eye candy" you deserve, check out this article from the Microsoft Help site to help you diagnose and fix what's wrong:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/c33fe91a-9e6f-41f4-ae82-3ed2d5fa2fbf1033.mspx#EYHAC

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile

If your old profile is corrupted you can move the files and settings from the corrupt profile to a new profile. Find out how to get your old desktop environment back by reading KB article 811151 at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151

Keyboard Shortcut Key Combinations for RDP & ICA Sessions

If you are working in an RDP or ICA Session, the following are keyboard shortcut key combinations that map to the native Windows shortcut keystrokes:
http://www.sessioncomputing.com/keyboard.htm

Vista wi-fi security tool

Xirrus, a wireless hardware maker, is providing a free wi-fi monitoring gadget that will keep you aware of wireless networks around you and whether/to what your Vista computer is connecting. Read more about it here:
http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?newsID=10786&pagtype=all