Short cuts and other tips Vista Tips Discuss Short cuts and other tips in the Windows Vista forums; Now I was ready to burn a CD. I inserted a blank CD-R, click Start and selected Windows Media Player. On the Taskbar, I selected the Burn menu, easy ...

[felix8406]

Now I was ready to burn a CD. I inserted a blank CD-R, click Start and selected Windows Media Player. On the Taskbar, I selected the Burn menu, easy enough, and the burn window shows up. The albums I previously ripped to my HD appeared, along with a list of songs for each album. On the right hand side WMP shows a CD-R available in CD Drive (J). There’s a bar just below the CDR icon that shows how many minutes remain on the CD…this is an improvement from previous Windows Media Player versions. Just below the bar, there’s space to drag the music to create a burn list. So it was just a matter of dragging the music files to this location and hit the Start Burn located at the bottom right hand side.
However, I wanted to see what options I had before proceeding. I clicked Burn and a menu came up with the following choices: Audio CD, Data CD or DVD, Eject Disc After Burning, Apply Volume Leveling Across Tracks on audio CDs, More Options…, Help with Burning.
I chose More Options…
For Burn speed, I selected Fastest. This was my first burn with WMP, so I figured if the CD does not work, then I’ll try recording at a lower speed. There are four choices; Fastest, Fast, Medium and Slow.
I also selected, “Automatically eject the disc after burning”. One note, if you push the CD back in after it has been ejected and you have chosen the “Rip music automatically when CD is inserted”, WMP will start ripping the CD you just created. My advice, deselect the “Rip music automatically when a CD is inserted”. Use this option only to rip CDs, and then turn it off when you are done.
I selected “Apply volume leveling across tracks on the CD…I wouldn’t do it any other way. For Data Discs you get your choice of files list; WPL (Windows Media) or M3U (Windows Media Player). I chose WPL for my CD. I also placed a check mark for “Use media information to arrange files in folders on the disc”.
There’s a choice to convert music to a lower bit rate. By converting to a lower bit rate, you can get more songs in a CD. I chose not to convert the music because I want my music to be as crisp and near to perfect as possible. I then clicked OK and started to drag my selections to the right pane. As I dragged the music to create the list, the “remaining” bar kept me inform of how much room I had left on the CD. Once it got to the 2-minute warning, I knew it was time to hit the Start Burn button.
So here are the results. I managed to get 16 songs in the CD. It took about 3:30 minutes to burn and the CD ejected automatically when the burn was completed. I then pushed it back in and WMP started to play the songs. Then I removed the CD and placed it on my CD player…it sounded just great.
One option available in most CD burning software, but not on WMP, is the option to reduce the amount of time it takes to move from one track on to the next. When I listen to music, I don’t like pauses, or at least long pauses, so I kind of miss that feature. Other than that I feel Windows Media Player has the basics to record your CDs. The interface is quite simple and it’s free…as long as you buy Vista that is.
I do have a trivia question: When you have a choice to OK or Apply, should you select Apply or OK and why?) Happy computing!

[crabby]

Both OK and Apply have the same function of completing the changes/command you have selected. However, OK will progress the window (ie; close it or move it to the next page) whereas apply will just apply the settings with no window progression.

At least that's what I think.

crabby

[dazzlin]

I love this thread!

[JoshW02@hotmail.co.uk]

Here Here!

[felix8406]

A while back properties and settings dialog boxes in Windows were straight forward; you could OK or Cancel the changes or you could press Help. However, through the years, as Windows evolved, it began to change. For starter, the Help button is now a small question mark located in the top right hand corner, that is, if it’s available at all. Then a new button was added, the so called the Apply button.
Like Crabby mentioned, the Apply button was intended to effect the changes while maintaining the dialog box open. When you applied the changes, you could see those changes applied to the document behind the dialog box. If you didn’t like the changes, you could hit Cancel to cancel the changes, or you could hit OK to accept those changes and close the dialog box.
The confusing part is that there appear to be no rules for software developers when designing software using these features. Some applications will disabled the Cancel button once the Apply button is selected. While others, using the Apply command will effect the changes for one time only, re-inverting back to the previous settings when the application is re-opened. While even on a few older applications, it’s the opposite, pressing OK effect the changes for one time only.
So as you can see, although the Apply button was intended to effect the changes while keeping the dialog box open, sometimes it can get more complicated than that. Should you Okay or Apply...That was and still is the question! Happy computing!

[JoshW02@hotmail.co.uk]

Should you Okay or Apply? That is the question I would say Apply lol!

[felix8406]

You can easily change your computer sound, e.g. new email, to make it more personal. To do this simply click Start and type Sound on search box, then click Sound. Go to the Sounds tab, in the Program sound list; select the event you want to change the sound to, e.g. Device Disconnected, Exit Windows, Low Battery Alarm, etc. Under Sounds, click the sound that you want to associate with the event. Use the test button to preview the sound. If the sound you want to use is not on the list, click Browse to find it.
Once you made the changes, you may want to save the scheme for future use. Select the scheme, if not already selected, click Save As and type a name. If you don’t want to keep it, just press Delete. Happy computing!

[felix8406]

Can you use a Vista upgrade CD to do a clean install? For starters, if you are running Win 2000 Professional or Win XP Professional x64, you have no choice but to do a clean install, even if you purchase an upgrade copy.

Also, according to MS, if you purchase an upgrade copy of Vista, you have two options: In-place upgrade, meaning you install Vista over your old operating system; or a Clean install. With a clean install, you’ll use Windows Easy Transfer to copy your files and settings to an extra hard drive or other storage device, and then install Windows Vista. After the installation is complete, Windows Easy Transfer will reload your files and settings on your upgraded PC.

However, in those two previous options, Vista should be able to detect your old operating system product key before proceeding with the upgrade. But, how about if you have a Win XP CD, purchase a Vista upgrade CD and are using a new hard drive or the hard drive is cleaned formatted, would you have to install and register Win XP first?

If I remember correctly, a clean install from Win 98 to Win XP was feasible, using an upgrade copy of Win XP, by inserting a valid copy of Win 98 when prompted during the upgrade process. The problem was that many people purchased the Win XP upgrade CD and then borrowed a Win 98 CD to validate the upgrade. However, times have change and I am sure Microsoft is not going to make that same mistake twice.

So, will you be able to install an upgraded copy of Vista on a clean hard drive? Any thoughts?

[crabby]

It's worth note that they will HAVE to allow upgrade via CD validation else the product is liable to become invalid if, for example, your hard drive busts. You are correct felix that this was a huge secuirty loophole for XP, however, will be rectified by validation of BOTH CDs during installation of Vista (note you cant upgrade from any version older than windows 2000). I realise that Windows 2000 can be installed without validation, but to obtain sp4 it required it and it is easy enough for vista to query servers regarding the validity of an old CD key.

My two cents.

crabby

[felix8406]

Although a great number of Win XP programs will run with Vista, there are a few that will run , but with some issues or won’t run at all no matter what you do. What would you do is this situation? Here are some suggestions:
First, don’t go out to purchase an updated version of the program, at least not yet. Remember that we are still dealing with a Beta version of Vista; there’s always a chance that your program will work once the final version rolls around. Another reason not to purchase an updated version is that by the time Vista rolls around, software developers may have already a Vista compatible update. However, do check for updates before proceeding, as there’s a chance you can download a free update.

If you cannot find and update, the next step is to change the compatibility for the program. There are two ways to change the compatibility settings: Manually or using the Program Compatibility Wizard.

To run the wizard, click Start, Help and Support, the type Compatibility Wizard and select Run the Program Compatibility Wizard. Then just follow the instructions in the wizard.

To change compatibility settings manually, simply right-click the program’s icon, click on Properties, then click the Compatibility tab. You can change the compatibility mode by first placing a check mark to the left of “Run this program in compatibility mode for:”, then selecting the compatible Windows operating system for the program.

You can also check mark the following settings:
Run in 256 colors: Uses a limited set of colors in the program. Some older programs are designed to use fewer colors.
Run in 640 × 480 screen resolution: Runs the program in a smaller-sized window. Try this setting if the graphical user interface appears jagged or is rendered improperly.
Disable visual themes: Disables themes on the program. Try this setting if you notice problems with the menus or buttons on the title bar of the program.
Disable desktop composition: Turns off transparency and other advanced display features. Choose this setting if window movement appears erratic or you notice other display problems.
Disable display scaling on high DPI settings: Turns off automatic resizing of programs if large-scale font size is in use. Try this setting if large-scale fonts are interfering with the appearance of the program.
Privilege level: Runs the program as an administrator. Some programs require administrator privileges to run properly. If you are not currently logged on as an administrator, this option is not available.
Show settings for all users: Lets you choose settings that will apply to all users on this computer.

One more thing; Do not ignore the following WARNING that appears when you start the wizard: Do not use the Program Compatibility Wizard on older antivirus programs, disk utilities, or other system programs because it might cause data loss or create a security risk.
Although you might get the program to work, the antivirus program might not protect your PC against viruses for example, or the Register repair program might cause more harm than good, and so forth. There are many antivirus and a few utility programs compatible with Vista, so don’t take a chance. Happy computing!