Windows only: Free Explorer add-on QTAddressBar clones the functionality of Vista's new address bar in Windows XP. For folks unfamiliar with the new Vista address bar, it provides a clickable breadcrumb trail of every folder leading to your current location. Clicking one of your folders will take you directly to it, and clicking the down arrow provides a drop-down for moving to any folder within that one. Brought to you by the same folks who made previously mentioned QTTabBar, this freeware Explorer add-on looks like another nice stopgap between Vista and XP. While you're at it, check out more ways you can power up Windows Explorer with free add-ons.

The Digital Inspiration blog points out a simple, handy way to change the size of your desktop icons beyond the three default sizes offered by right-clicking or by burrowing into your settings. Hold down the control key, left-click on the desktop, and then move your mouse's scroll wheel to change the icon size. The trick definitely works in Vista. As Amit notes, you can un-check "Auto Arrange" for even more control.

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USB drives are an essential backup tool for road warriors, but occasionally Windows Vista tricks you by not assigning them their usual customary drive letter. I regularly use SyncBack, a perennial Lifehacker reader favourite for backup and file syncing, and it doesn't work if drive E: suddenly shows up as drive F:.
Fortunately, you can remap drive assignments in Vista, though it's a well-hidden option. Right-click on the Computer icon on your desktop or start menu, then click Manage (and go through all the User Account Control confirmation malarkey if you have it switched on). Expand Storage at the right, and select Disk Management. Right click and select Change Drive Letter and Paths, then select Change. Choose the letter you want and click OK. You may get an additional warning or two saying the drive letter is unavailable until you reboot, but press on regardless -- I've found it nearly always works. If you do have multiple drives or devices plugged in, you might also need to reshuffle the existing mappings to make the one you need available. For a more permanent method of assigning a letter to your USB drive, check out this method for creating shortcuts.

The Life Rocks! blog rounds up seven gorgeous Windows Vista themes which are free to download. (At first glance I'm smitten by Maxclear, pictured. You?)

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If your Vista PC isn't as speedy as you'd like, straight from the horse's mouth comes a 14-page PDF document on Vista Performance and Tuning. Microsoft's suggestions include customising Vista's power plan, sleeping the machine instead of shutting down, turning off search indexing in folders you don't need it, disabling visual effects, using ReadyBoost to add extra memory with a thumb drive, and disabling unneeded startup programs and services. All of these tips are old hat to seasoned Windows tweakers, but this PDF is a nicely-laid out and detailed package you can easily email to your brother-in-law.

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Windows Vista's Aero looks and effects are generally nice to look at, but when you're trying to squeeze the last bit of power and life out of a battery, or just running some memory-hungry stuff, you don't always need them. Windows Vista Magazine details a registry hack you can make to add "Aero On" and "Aero Off" shortcuts to your desktop right-click menu, making it simple and quick to toggle the fancier stuff (it's the second major tip, about 1/3 down the page). We've already shown how to disable Aero for particular programs, but this trick might work better for working on the go, gaming, or other situations where you need to cut out the whiz-bang stuff.

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Microsoft will begun pushing out version 4.0 of Windows Search, the OS-wide indexing system for Vista and XP users, via Windows Update in late July. If you're keen to get the new version before it hits Windows Update, which claims improved performance (especially on indexing of open email inboxes), you can grab a copy here. However, there's two potential challenges: it'll need to rebuild your whole index, which might cause system problems (though Microsoft claims any foreground activity will pause the indexing); and it won't happen until you reboot. If you've been there, done that and found Windows Search 4.0 a boon or a bore, let us know in the comments.
Reminder - Windows Search 4 coming to WU soon... [Microsoft Product Update Team Blog]

If you regularly have to reinstall Vista on machines, you'll appreciate that the arrival of Service Pack 1 is, despite its performance benefits, a nuisance in terms of how much time is needed to build a fresh system. James Bannan at APC offers a walk-through on how to simplify the process using freeware tool Vista Update Integrator to build an install DVD that integrates SP1 (and other routine drivers if you need to add them). This isn't a procedure for the faint of heart, and it's undoubtedly overkill for people who only rebuild their machine once a year, but if you're a regular reinstaller, it could be a real boon.
HOW TO: slipstream Vista SP1 into your Vista install DVD [APC]

The go-to Vista fix-it guy, The How-To Geek, offers a much-needed tutorial and walk-through on installing print-to-PDF functionality in Windows Vista. To start saving paper and creating PDFs, you'll need to install a copy of previously mentioned PDFCreator, but with the trick of turning off User Account Control while you install to enable its direct PDF-creating capabilities. For a simpler but much more restricted and feature-lacking solution, you could also try installing doPDF. Hit the link for some how-to wisdom. (Original doPDF post).

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When you've got your Windows XP or Vista setup running perfectly, you don't want to lose all your painstaking customisations to a reckless tot, an experiment-minded friend or spouse, or a rogue system-lousing program. Windows SteadyState, as we mentioned earlier this week, helps you to create a kind of virtual rubber room those types can play around in and not really harm anything. SteadyState can also restrict web site access for innocent eyes, set timer limits on user access, and get better control of those other folks who use your computer—in other words, SteadyState makes you the Grand Master Sysadmin of your single-unit empire. Let's take a look at setting up SteadyState and get familiar with a few of its key features.

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