Vista terms

[piyush gupta]

With the introduction of Vista came a whole new set of unfamiliar features and terms. This thread will be a set of some of vista terms and their meaning:
What is UAC?
It’s an abbreviation for User Account Control, and it’s one of Microsoft’s newest ways to improve security and safety on your computer. At times, as some of you have probably experienced, it can be annoying. However, it’s there for a good reason.
How does it improve security and safety on your computer? The job of the UAC is to prevent unauthorized software from making changes to your computer. It’s a little over-protective it at times, but generally it’s a good thing to keep enabled.

If you find yourself frustrated with this new feature while you’re installing a lot of software at once (e.g., when you’re setting-up your computer for the first time), a good way to resolve this issue is to temporarily disable Vista’s UAC. You can do this without needing to restart your PC with a program called TweakUAC.
What is ReadyBoost?
ReadyBoost is a new way to add memory (RAM) to your system. Adding additional RAM to your computer is often a great way to increase the performance of your PC, however, some of you may have run into the problem of not having enough room to do so.
ReadyBoost allows a user to add additional memory to your system using “non-volatile flash memory” like what you would find on a USB flash drive or memory card. To use ReadyBoost, just insert your removable memory device like the USB flash drives as mentioned, and Windows will check to ensure that it’s fast enough to work with Ready Boost. If it is, you’ll be given the option to use all of the memory, or part of it.
I tried it with my 2 GB USB drive and it displayed a message saying “this device does not have the required performance characteristics for use in speeding up your system.” Should you receive that message, there is a work-around for it so that you’ll be able to use any USB Drive or Memory Card.

[piyush gupta]

BitLocker Drive Encryption

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature available in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate and in Windows Server "Longhorn". BitLocker is Microsoft's response to a frequent customer request: address these very real threats of data theft or disclosure from lost, stolen or inappropriately decommissioned PC hardware with a tightly integrated solution in the Windows Operating System.

BitLocker prevents a thief who boots another operating system or runs a software hacking tool from breaking Windows Vista file and system protections or performing offline viewing of the files stored on the protected drive.

The feature ideally uses a Trusted Platform Module (TPM 1.2) to protect user data and to ensure that a PC running Windows Vista has not been tampered with while the system was offline. BitLocker provides users with enhanced data protection should their systems be lost or stolen and secure data deletion when it comes time to decommission those assets.

BitLocker enhances data protection by bringing together two major sub-functions: drive encryption and the integrity checking of early boot components.

1. Drive encryption protects data by preventing unauthorized users from breaking Windows file and system protection on lost, stolen or inappropriately decommissioned computers. This protection is achieved by encrypting the entire Windows volume; with BitLocker all user and system files are encrypted including the swap and hibernation files.

2. Integrity checking the early boot components helps to ensure that data decryption is performed only if those components appear unmolested and that the encrypted drive is located in the original computer.

BitLocker is tightly integrated into Windows Vista and provides a seamless, secure, and easily manageable data protection solution for the enterprise.