I’ve been testing software using 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate Edition running in VMWare 6 on a Dell 64-bit server. I connect to the server using Remote Desktop, logon to my account, run VMWare, and start the Vista virtual machine. My problem is that with this setup the mouse in Vista is very draggy and quite annoying to use. This is the behavior that you would expect when running a remote access application over a low-bandwidth, high-latency network connection. But I’m running on a gigabit LAN and connecting to a server in the next room! What gives?

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After you installed your first copy of Windows Vista, how long did it take you to realize that you didn’t know the administrator’s password? With me it was about a week before I needed to make some changes in the file system. It suddenly occurred to me that being logged in as administrator might make the User Account Control dialog box go away, but I didn’t know the administrator’s password! What the heck is the Vista administrator’s default password?

Unlike the previous releases of Windows, Windows Vista does not automatically create an Administrator account during installation. The theory is that the typical Windows user does not need to run with administrator privileges. Using a non-administrator account will prevent a Windows user from accidentally deleting operating system folder, files, and registry information, and prevent any Malware infecting the computer from doing the same. However, if you really need to run as an Administrator, you can easily activate the built-in Administrator account yourself.

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