Book excerpt: Windows Vista can be extremely frustrating at times. Often, it will simply refuse to do simple tasks, or do things that it wasn't asked to do. Windows Vista Tips and Tricks in Easy Steps takes all the most common problems that users experience and addresses them in one easy-to-understand reference source. Want to get rid of those irritating Balloon Tips? Go back to 640 x 480 resolution, even though Microsoft officially eliminated that option? Speed up the Start menu? Shut down in one click instead of several? It's all here, as well as how to hide web-browsing tracks, turn off that cool AutoComplete feature (that remembers credit card numbers and will spit them out to whoever requests them), and keep passwords safe. The book also shows how to optimize the performance of a PC.