Vista Secret Folder

This is not a registry hack. We are merely using the registry to discover CLSIDs (Class Identifiers).
The idea behind this tip is to create a folder which is invisible to the Vista indexer. Please be aware that the files are neither encrypted, nor hidden from anyone looking with Windows Explorer. To my mind this limitation confines the usefulness of this tip to special situations. However, from a learning point of view this tip is most instructive.
Topics for Vista's Secret Folder

Instructions to Create a Secret Folder
For your files to remain hidden, this secret folder needs a special extension .{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}.
Create a normal folder, for example stuff. Now rename it with this special CLSID (Class ID) extension. For this trick to work, remember both the dot and the curly brackets.
stuff.{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}

Testing your hidden files
Create a file inside your folder with the .{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683} extension. For example 'Guy Stuff.doc'. Now search for Guy Stuff.doc. You should get a negative result, Vista's search will ignore files in this folder.
Just in case you believe this negative result is due to slow indexing, create another document in a regular folder, search for that document. This time you should have a positive result.
There is a fancy variation of my tip using a different clsid extension. I say fancy, because it creates a Recycle Bin folder
.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Speed Start menu Search

Speed-Up Windows Vista's Start Menu SearchWhen you perform a search using the search box in the start panel, Windows Vista automatically searches the file index as well. The file index can be quite large because it includes all the files on your hard drive. One way to speed-up searching in your Start Menu applications is to narrow the scope of the search so that it does not include files on the hard drive:

Method 1: Registry Hack1.
Open registry editor using regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer and select Advanced.
3. Find and right-click on Start_SearchFiles and select Modify.
4. Set the Value to 0.
5. Restart the Explorer.exe process or reboot the computer.

Method 2: Start Button1. Right-click on the Start Button and select Properties.
2. Click on the Customize button.
3. Uncheck Search Communications.
4. Set Search Files to Don't Search for files.
5. Click OK.

Increase SATA Disk Drive Performance

You can squeeze a more performance out of your SATA hard disk drive by enabling write caching. The price though, is an increased risk for data loss/corruption should you experienced a power loss - this risk is less in a laptop because of its battery:
1. Click on the Start Button, enter Device Manager and hit Enter.
2. Expand Disk Drives.
3. Right-click on your hard disk drive and select Properties.
4. On the Policies tab, check Enable Advanced Performance.
5. Click OK and close Device Manager.