Ping from the start menu
February 19th, 2008I accidentally stumbled upon a Vista feature today. It seems that "ping" is a keyword in the Vista start menu, like "control". So if you type "ping 192.168.1.1" it will open up the command prompt ping that computer three times. 
the only trouble is that the window closes right after the third ping, but you get at least enough information to tell if the remote computer is responding.
You can also type in the Windows Network name of the computer.
And, of course, you can still find "the ping pong song": 
Windows Auto-Login
January 17th, 2008I’m conscious of security, but still I don’t have any need for Windows to ask me for my password when I turn on my desktop computer. Luckily, having Vista automatically log me in is simple, and doesn’t require any extra software. (XP Users can skip this tutorial and download Tweak UI, a free PowerToy provided from Microsoft.)
First, go to the start menu and type "netplwiz" into the search box. Press enter, or click on the item that shows up. 
If you have User Account Control enabled (which you should), a User Account Control will window pop up. Click continue.
Uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.", and click "OK". 
A window will pop up, asking your for the username and password that you want to be automatically logged in. It should fill in your username automatically, so just type in your password in the two text boxes and click OK. 
You’re done! The next time you restart your computer you will be brought to the Desktop without entering in any information.