Hi. I am new to Vista. I just got a new computer. I think Vista is a beautiful OS. But I am having some problems. But most of it is nothing that cannot be fixed. I will try to be rather orderly about this so I will number them:

1. I have this "User Access Control"(?) thing that keeps asking me for permission everytime I want to do almost anything. How can I deactivate this thing? I think I seen a disable feature, but I can't remember where it was. I am utterly lost with Vista.

2. Some McAffee security software came preinstalled on this computer. I have been trying to ascertain whether or not it is a trial copy or a full version. I have not been able to do that.(can't find an "about" option). Should I just uninstall it and let the Vista firewall do its job, and then just install AVG antivirus?

3. How good is Vista's firewall? how does it compare to mcaffee, or zone alarm, or outpost?

4. The computer takes forever and a day to boot up and to shut down. What can I do about this?

5. Are there any memory management features that I want to tweak or modify, is there anything else I should be doing to increase performance. Especially for games.

system specs:
emachines T5230
AMD Athlon X2 4400 @ 2.3Ghz
1024MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 6150
250GB HD SATA II
Windows Vista Home Premium
(I've got to make this into my signature so I won't have to keep typing it)

Thanks for reading!

1. Go to your "Run" box and type MSCONFIG > enter ... from there click the tools tab and scroll down to "Disable UAC" and highlight and click luanch.
2.YES
3.Descent no frills firewall without the bells and whistles.
4.Again MSCONFIG at the run box ... startup tab... uncheck the items that doesnt have to be running at startup.
5. Adjust performance to best performance under properties of my oomputer and then advanced settings > Advanced tab > settings button under performance. Raise your virtual memory also. Good tweak tool out called Vista manger that will automatically walk you threw alot of tweaks also.

and upgrade your system memory ... 1024 MB is about the bare minimum requirement. just as ridiculous as the first XP machines that shipped with 128 MB RAM :)

Thank you very much domain:

3. Should I use Zone Alarm(free version) as opposed to the Vista firewall?

4. Unnecessary programs were easier to recognize under earlier versions of windows. What is the minimum I need to have running for Vista?

Oracle,
Man, I don't really have the extra cash right now to sink into some more ram. How much do you think I need, 2 gigs? I'll need to research my mobo to see how much I can install when I can afford it.

did some reading:
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1024MB DDR2 dual-channel memory
(2 × 512MB), 667MHz, (PC2-5300)
Expandable to 2GB
2 DDR2 slots (Total) | 0 DDR2 slot (Available)

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i didn't find out what mobo I had, but this is from emachines website about my system ram:
apparently 2gigs is the highest this mobo can go. The current gig that it has is achieved by 2 sticks of 512, which basically means that both sticks will be useless if I want to upgrade to 2 gigs. I'll need to be a 1 gig stick for each slot. That's just great. Do they make 1.5 gig sticks? That would hopefully save me some money?
but anyway:

1. About how much *should* I spend for 2, 1-gig sticks?

2. Are 1.5 gig sticks available(probably a stupid question)? If so, how much should I spend for that?

Thanks again everyone

PS: If any of you could tell me what mobo I have, I would appreciate it. But only bother if its something that you could quickly ascertain.

2 x 1GB DDR2 PC2-6400 memory can be had for around $50 AR (After rebate) if you shop online retailers. You could even get them for less than that on fleabay.

As far as what motherboard is in your eMachine -- download CPU-Z or another hardware ID utility & you'll get that information.

P.S. Forget looking for a 1.5GB stick & more power to you finding one. Anyhow, 2GB of memory is plenty enough for your machine at this time.

I would not buy more RAM yet until you determine what else is causing your computer to have issues with Vista. I'm running Vista with 1 GB of RAM and my computer does not take a long time to boot up or to shut down. That does not mean that adding more RAM wouldn't improve the performance, particularly with games. However, I would try some of the other things suggested first. Also, is the BIOS set to SATA or IDE mode ?

just use windows firewall enable it 2 way and avg

disable windows search service in msconfig and also test turning of super fetch service

and get ram even if its only 1 gig upping you up to 1500mb is a big improvement.

and disabling UAC is also in Control Panel User Accounts

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vista home premium user

"is there anything else I should be doing to increase performance. Especially for games."

face it: you have a low end vista machine with a less than mediocre graphics card by today's standards. there won't much of a satisfying gaming experience.

you say you don't want to cough up money for extra RAM. well, you can always dump Vista and install XP where you have system resources in abundance on this machine. your graphics card is not DX10 compatible anyway, so you might as well play your games in Windows XP with no worries about being low on memory.

or think dual booting.

Thank you all for your help. I will definitely try the things suggested.

Sabretooth, thank you for the price estimate, and for recommending the motherboard utility.
Do you believe that 2gigs will run Vista fine? I would think so, because it runs pretty good with just one gig. My only complaints being startup and shutdown times,
and when I run the MS Word(trial version that came preinstalled) it can be a little bit slow at times.(so I may not buy MS office, which was something I was originally considering saving up for).

kx,
very good point. I too doubt that my ram is the primary cause of the boot up shut down delays I am experiencing. That does not mean I would not like to upgrade, however.

markin,
I will definitely look into implementing your recommendations. And I have already disabled that UAC nonsense, which makes me a lot happier.

Oracle,
I am well aware that I have purchased a low end system. I spent less than $500, so I knew what I was getting into. Thankfully, gaming is not a high priority for me. This is a workstation, first and foremost. And over all, I am quite satisfied with it. And most of the time, it runs Vista just fine. Gaming is just a bonus for me. I am positive there are plenty of decent games that are a year or several years old, that will run just great on this system(Zoo Tycoon 2 runs perfectly). Furthermore, all of my "classic" favorites will run flawlessly on it. You would probably agree with that too. And it is not that I am simply being "cheap" and not wanting to fork over the money for RAM or a video card. It is just that, I do not *have* the money right now.
Some questions for you:

1. Is there a graphics card which you would recommend?
-Apparently I have a PCI Express slot x16 slot open(as you noticed my video adapter right now, is integrated).

2. Would it be a waste to bother upgrading the graphics card?

-There is one relatively "new" game I would like to run, Age Of Empires 3, and that is about it. It will "run"(if you want to call it that) on this computer(I have tried the demo) but it looks awful and it runs slowly.

As for RAM:
3. would upgrading to 2gigs of ram greatly increase my vista performance?

-Again, these questions are presuming that I have the money, which at this time, I do not have. Hopefully relatively soon I will be able to do it.
And thanks for the recommendation about a dual-boot system.

4, Is there any pertinent information that you could point me to regarding an XP/Vista dual-boot setup?
-I would rather just upgrade to 2 gigs of RAM as opposed to going with a dual-boot system.

5. Would a dual-boot setup then be superfluous, if in fact I had 2 gigs to run Vista?

Thank you all again for helping me learn.

About point 4: I use Vista Boot Pro to do a dual boot with XP. I already had XP installed and the installed Vista Boot Pro in XP along with Vista on a separate partition. However, since you already have Vista installed, you would have to follow a somewhat different procedure. Post back here if and when you decide to do a dual boot.
About point 5: A dual-boot setup would not be superfluous, even if you do add RAM. Certain programs, hardware, etc. don't work well (or at all) with Vista right now, though that is becoming increasingly less the case as the software and hardware folks upgrade their stuff. Having said that, I find that I can run most of what I want with Vista.

hi kx,
thanks man. you mind if I pm you some of my questions some time? I have several about game recommendations(don't know if you are into gaming), and I want to know if these games will work. Like I said, I am not huge into gaming. But the reason I ask is, is because I think my computer would be okay doing about everything else I want it to do, and that gaming is an issue that may need special consideration.

As for XP vs Vista. I really like the aesthetics of vista. I know it sounds stupid, but I like all of the special graphical touches, and my computer runs it fine. But what I am wondering is, if I may be better off running games under XP. Is that what you and oracle are trying to tell me is the purpose of the dual boot system? To run the games off of XP?

(I would presume the reason for that is of course, xp takes up less ram and would therefore be less of a resource hog in the background while I am trying to run a game-or other resource heavy applications. and yes, I do have a penchant for stating the obvious, but I am not very bright and I like clarification and unambiguity in communication :) )

but anyway, I just want to reiterate that gaming really is not a huge priority for me. This is system is primarily intended to be a workstation and for internet surfing/communication, and pictures, stuff like that.

First, running a dual boot would not necessarily be just for games. Second, I'm glad I have been of some help, but gaming is definitely not my area. You would be much better off continuing to post questions about gaming here and possibly other forums. I have learned a lot from reading the advice given in this forum to other people.

"Is there a graphics card which you would recommend?"

if you ask a question like that, you'll get the same answer everywhere at the moment:

sure ... get a GeForce 8800 ultra :p

however, there's more to gaming or general performance than just more memory or a graphics monster, like cpu-, bus- and memory speed ... and to be honest, a 8800 gtx or ultra would be a terrible waste of money in your system. a dx10 compatible 8600gt costs little over a 100 dollar at the moment and will give your system a nice boost. definitely good enough to run AoE 3 :)