Newbie Vista User, Have a couple questions.

Hello guys,



I'm a new Vista user. I've been having some issues with it thought, besides just needing more ram I set at 80% usage just typing this message.



1) I use a program called BeyondTV as my DVR app. When I start it windows will switch from Aero to Basic. Is there any way to force it not to?



I do not understand the love affair with Aero glass, so I disabled that. The only two things I like about the Aero interface are the pop up thumbnails of the program and flip 3d. That's all I want. Well, I do like the different look to the X, max, and min buttons to, but would happily live without them.



I also would like to install Vista on my Tablet, which does not have a graphics card good enough to support Aero. Can I trick it in to getting these features? It wouldn't bother me if it took some time to load.



I've read this article on Kam VedBrat's blog.

(http://blogs.msdn.com/kamvedbrat/archive/2006/04/02/566788.aspx)

I'm not familiar enough with video card hardware to understand the front buffer, and what it means to lock it. Any good reading tips? Articles online?



2) If I do have disable Aero, I would like to find a nice black theme that would have a close color to Aero graphite on full color intensity.



3) I cant make the quick launch appear for the life of me. I like one button to click to get the process switcher and show desktop. Perhaps I deleted the contents of the quick launch folder on accident, where is it on Vista?



4) Every time a download finishes in Firefox, or a pop up in the taskbar, it steals focus from this window and I can't keep typing



Any suggestions? I plan to poke around on here a little bit.

 

You dont seem too clear about things, you want to know how to stop Aero changing to basic with your DVD app (which you can't) but then you say you have disabled it anyway.

To get the quicklaunch taskbar, right click the taskbar and select toolbars, the arrowhead opens out a menu with all the preconfigured taskbars including quicklaunch, just make sure you also 'unlock' the taskbar first.