Create a Shortcut to Enable/Disable Aero Transparency in Vista

Manually Enable/Disable Aero Transparency

You can achieve the same result by right-clicking on the Desktop and choosing Personalize and then "Window Color and Appearance"

You should see the "Enable transparency" checkbox in this screen, which works immediately.

Create Aero Transparency Shortcut

Right-click anywhere and choose New \ Shortcut, and then enter in one of the following into the Location box to create the new shortcut.

Turn Aero Transparency Off

rundll32.exe dwmApi #104

Turn Aero Transparency On

rundll32.exe dwmApi #102

For purposes of illustration, I've got the same screenshot with Aero transparency turned on and off… but I really am just trying to show off the fun Mario wallpaper.

Add "My Computer" to Your Vista Taskbar

To add a folder to the taskbar, just right-click on the taskbar and choose the Toolbars menu, and then click on New Toolbar.
Just find the folder that you want… in this instance we'll select the Computer icon and then click on Select Folder.
Now you can see the Computer folder right there on the taskbar. If you click the little arrows it will pop up and let you browse through all your drives.

Task Manager Disabled?

VISTA::There is a registry key that will disable Task Manager, although it's not always clear how or why it was set to disable. In many cases the problem is related to spyware, so you should also scan your computer.

Manual Registry Hack

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then navigate down to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

On the right-hand side is a 32-bit REG_DWORD value named DisableTaskMgr with one of two values:

• 1 - Disable task manager
• 0 - Enable task manager

Just double-click and change the value, or even delete the key. The change should take place immediately.