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Key decision – decide if you need a password for the administrator’s account that you are going to activate. My point is that the local policy may insist on a complex password, thus you will not be able to activate the administrator with a blank password. This technique also works on Windows Server 2008, however on that operating system it is more likely you will set /active:no.

Overview

• Logon to Vista using your usual account.
• Launch the cmd prompt – Make sure you select, ‘Run as administrator’
• Net user administrator 
• Net user administrator /active:yes
• Switch User, or logoff
• Logon as Administrator Password

Detailed Instructions to activate the Administrator

• Logon to Vista using your normal username and password.
• Click on the Start button
• Click on Start Search.
• Type, cmd.
• Right-click cmd, select ‘Run as administrator’ from the shortcut menu.
• In the black ‘DOS box’, type the following at the command line:
• Net help user
• The idea of the last command is just to observe the options for Net User. In particular, examine the syntax to set the password.
• The next instruction is the crucial command. I have chosen password = p£ssworD, you may want to choose different characters.
• Net user administrator p£ssw0rd
• Net user administrator /active:yes
• Check the message : The command completed successfully
• Switch User, or logoff
• Logon as Administrator Password p£ssw0rD (Your password may be different!)

Trap1: There should be no space between the word ‘active’ and the colon.

/active :yes is wrong.
/active:yes is correct.

Trap2: You need a forward slash before /active

Net user administrator active:yes is wrong
Net user administrator /active:yes is correct

Trapx: Pay close attention to the command, it should be active, not activate.

Local Security Method to Enable the Administrator Account

If you prefer a simpler method, visit the Local Security policy, incidentally, this MMC is worth exploring in its own right.

This is how you navigate to the Local Security Policy.

Firstly click on Vista’s Start orb, then in the Start Search dialog box type: secpol.msc. Note: you must include the .msc extension.

Secondly drill down to Local Policy, Security Options

Thirdly double click Accounts: Administrator account status, and select enable.

Adding system memory (typically referred to as RAM) is often the best way to improve a PC’s performance, since more memory means more applications are ready to run without accessing the hard drive. However, upgrading memory can be difficult and costly, and some machines have limited memory expansion capabilities, making it impossible to add RAM.

Windows Vista introduces Windows ReadyBoost, a new concept in adding memory to a system. You can use non-volatile flash memory, such as that on a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to improve performance without having to add additional memory “under the hood.”

The flash memory device serves as an additional memory cache—that is, memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. Windows ReadyBoost relies on the intelligent memory management of Windows SuperFetch and can significantly improve system responsiveness.

It’s easy to use Windows ReadyBoost. When a removable memory device such as a USB flash drive or a secure digital (SD) memory card is first inserted into a port, Windows Vista checks to see if its performance is fast enough to work with Windows ReadyBoost. If so, you are asked if you want to use this device to speed up system performance. You can choose to allocate part of a USB drive’s memory to speed up performance and use the remainder to store files.

By default, if you try to modify your hosts file in Vista, it will not let you save it.  It tells you that you don’t have permission.  To successfully modify the hosts file, run notepad.exe as an administrator and open the file.

1)  Browse to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories
2)  Right click “Notepad” and select “Run as administrator”
3)  Click “Continue” on the UAC prompt
4)  Click File -> Open
5)  Browse to “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc”
6)  Change the file filter drop down box from “Text Documents (*.txt)” to “All Files (*.*)”
7)  Select “hosts” and click “Open”
8)  Make the needed changes and close Notepad.  Save when prompted.