If you thought default XP was dumb, you're in for a world of hurt in Vista. Let's see what we can do.

All steps in this guide are optional and make Vista act like 2k/XP as much as possible. Pick and choose the changes that suit you.

In case you were wondering, Tiny Personal Firewall 2 does not work on Vista.

OH MY GOD WELCOME TO VISTA HERE ARE 500 USELESS BUTTONS NOBODY WANTS

• Uncheck "Run at startup" at the bottom
• Close

• Right click sidebar, close
• Right click the sidebar icon in system tray (which should have a "help" bubble now), Exit
• In dialog, uncheck "Start sidebar when Windows starts"; "Exit sidebar"

• Start | Control panel
• "Classic view" on left
• Press Alt to bring up the ever-elusive menu bar
• View | Details
• View | Status bar
• Tools | Folder options
  • "Use Windows classic folders"
  • View tab
    • "Always show menus" → On (THANK GOD)
    • "Display simple folder view in Navigation pane" → Off
    • "Display the full path in the title bar" → On
    • "Show hidden files and folers" → On
    • "Hide extensions of known file types" → Off
    • "Hide protected operating system files" → Off; Yes to dumb dialog box
    • "Remember each folder's view settings" → Off

This, like all steps in this document, is optional; you can leave UAC on if you like the added security.

• Start | Control panel | User Accounts
• "Turn User Account Control on or off"
• Uncheck, OK, Reboot

• Start | Control panel | Security Center (or click one of the complaints)
• "Change the way Security Center alerts me" on the left
• "Don't notify me and don't display the icon"

• Right click taskbar, properties
• "Taskbar" tab
  • "Group similar taskbar buttons" → Off
• "Start Menu" tab
  • "Classic Start menu" → On, "Customize"
    • At bottom of "Advanced Start menu options", "Use personalized menus" → Off
• "Notification Area" tab
  • "Hide inactive icons" → Off
• OK

• Press Win+Pause or right click "My Computer" and choose "Properties"
• Giant "fake" system properties appears. Click "System protection" on the left to bring up real system properties.
• "Advanced" tab
  • Performance "Settings"
    • "Adjust for best performance", then enable what you want
      • Disabling "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" gives classic Windows 2000 look
      • Move swap file via "Advanced" dialog if desired
  • Startup and Recovery "Settings"
    • "Automatically restart" → Off
  • Environment variables if needed

• Right click the desktop, "Personalize"
• "Window Color and Appearance"
  • "Effects" button
    • Set font smoothing: "ClearType" for LCDs, "Standard" for CRTs
    • "Show window contents while dragging" → On
• "Desktop background"; whatever
• "Sound"
  • Find "Start Navigation" and set it to "(None)" to turn off that clicking sound
• "Mouse", "Pointers" tab, → "3D-Bronze" (or whatever)
• "Display Settings"; whatever
• "Easy of Access" (in the lower-left corner)
  • "Make the keyboard easier to use"
  • Scroll down, "Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys" → On

• Right click the recycle bin, "Properties"
• "Do not move files to the Recycle Bin" → On

• Tools button| Menu Bar
• Tools | Internet Options
• Homepage → Anything but MSN (google?)

1. Start | Run | "control userpasswords2".
2. "Users must enter a username and password to use this computer" → Off.
3. OK
4. Enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and then click OK.
5. Click OK again and you're all done.

(from http://8help.osu.edu/2063.html)

• Control Panel (classic) | Administrative Tools | Services
• Stop and change startup type to "Disabled" or "Stopped" for the following services:
  • "Themes" - turns off any remaining pretty nonsense.

• Control Panel (classic) | Problem Reports and Solutions
• "Change Settings" on left
• "Advanced settings"
• Click the "Change setting" button undeer "For all users and programs, problem reporting is set to"
• "Off", OK, OK, OK

• Control Panel (classic) | AutoPlay
• "Use AutoPlay for all media and devices" → Off

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

• Tools | Options, "Always ask me where to save files" → On