Indexing Options

In Windows XP, users can already index their hard drives so that searches are faster as Windows will use the indexed database when performing a search request rather than search in individual files.

The problem was that the query had to be done from within “Computer Management” in “Administrative Tools“. For most users, this was a tedious way of searching for information.

In Vista, Microsoft took indexing one step further. “Indexing Options” is now clearly visible in the Control Panel. You can select which folder you wish to have indexed. The tool will then update its index database.

Indexing your entire drive or folders with lots of data may take quite a while but you only have to do it once. Once the index database is up to date, you can search files based on the file name, file content or file properties from within the Start Menu or even in Windows Explorer.

We suggest that you index only locations or folders that you frequently access to so that you keep the index database at a manageable size and also make searches even faster.

Programs

Another interesting change Microsoft implemented in Vista was to the “Add or Remove Programs” tool found in Windows XP.

In Vista, all you get is “Programs”. In here, you would be able to locate five links to install or remove programs or windows features as well as to track your running and startup programs.

Windows Features

The most interesting part is in “Windows Features”.

In Windows XP, users could easily add or remove Windows programs through “Add or Remove Programs”. Removing a Windows program would delete the files associated with the program and thus saves space. In Vista, that’s all changed.

You don’t remove Windows features or software. You turn it “on” or “off“. Turning a feature off does not remove the software from Vista. It is still there and will be readily available when you decide to turn the software or feature back on.

One reason people uninstall software is to recover hard disk space. This can’t be done in Vista because turning a feature off doesn’t remove it, and thus, doesn’t free up the hard disk space.

We think this is a pretty silly move.

Maybe Microsoft was banking on the fact that hard disk space is a cheap commodity these days and therefore decided to favor user experience over hard disk space.

We can understand where Microsoft is coming from. With this feature, users don’t have to worry about losing their installation DVD or not having one when they desperately need a Windows feature not installed yet.

With Vista, everything is installed regardless of whether you need it or not. For typical users, this is a nice touch. However, for users with hard disk space constraints (or for hardcore minimalists,) this is definitely a huge setback.

We like our Windows installations lean. We dislike knowing that software we will never use are actually taking up space on our hard disk, and there's not a thing we can do about it. Microsoft should have made this an optional feature.

“Currently Running Programs” and “Startup Programs” are actually components of Windows Defender. Activating either link will open up Windows Defender. From here, you can track Processes / Programs currently running in your system. You could also easily disable and remove programs that start up when Windows starts.