20 Vista Downloads to Tweak & Improve Your System

Startup, Log-On, and Boot Tweakers

Don't like your Vista startup or log-on logo? Want to change the way your system boots? Then try out the following four programs.

Vista Boot Logo Generator

Tired of seeing the same old boot screen every time you start up Windows Vista? Become ennui-free with this nifty free program. It lets you replace your boot screen with one that you create yourself from scratch, or with a graphic that you find online. You'll have to create or find the image in two sizes: 1024 by 768 pixels, and 800 by 600 pixels. Both must be in .bmp format, at 24-bit color depth. Once you have them, though--and plenty available via a search on Google--this program very deftly replaces you boot screen with them.
Download Vista Boot Logo Generator.

LogonStudio Vista

Facing the same boot logo screen every day isn't the only repetitve experience that can render your visits to Vista mundane and joyless. Having to see the same log-on screen every time may have the same deleterious effect on a sensitive psyche as overexposure to French Symbolist poetry. But Stardock's LogonStudio Vista gives you the power to triumph over your tedious log-on screen. It's exceptionally easy to use: Pick a graphic already stored on your PC, create a new one, or download a prefabricated log-on screen from the Web site associated with this program. Then tell Windows Vista to use the new log-on screen--and prepare to bask in the new.
Download LogonStudio Vista.

EasyBCD

Longtime Windows XP users may remember that changing the way XP booted in multiboot systems required them merely to do a little digging and then edit a boot.ini file. With Windows Vista, unfortunately, that approach is no longer possible, because a well-nigh incomprehensible command line program called BCDEdit rules the roost. But EasyBCD from NeoSmart Technologies serves as a front-end to BCDEdit, enabling you to change all of the important settings on your multiboot PC. This free program comes with a diagnostics and troubleshooting tool as well, to help you recover from a multiboot system gone bad. A word of advice: You should be familiar with multiboot menus before using this program, so you don't do your system any damage.
Download EasyBCD.

VistaBootPro

Here's an even stronger tool for hacking multiboot menus, with more options than EasyBCD. One especially nice feature of ProNetwork's VistaBootPro is that it lets you back up all of your boot information--to a locale called the BCD store--before you begin making any changes. That way, you'll be able to restore your system more easily if things go wrong. With VistaBootPro, you can change the order of the boot menu that appears when your PC starts, set any operating system to be the default, rename any OS list entries, and change how long the menu displays before your default operating system kicks in. Among the more esoteric features are options to debug the boot process, to enable or disable the boot GUI mode, and to allow or disallow the use of unsigned drivers in the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.
Download VistaBootPro.