Well, if you don't want to use Aero, go into the Display page of the Control Panel - go to themes and select to use Windows Classic. Not using dreamscenes (video desktops) is easy - just don't use them! It only comes with Vista Ultimate, which defaults to a static wallpaper anyway. User Account Control is a pain in the arse, gets in the way when you're trying to do...well...pretty much anything. The option for it is under Control Panel > User Accounts, although the easiest way of getting to it is to type UAC into the search box in the main Control Panel window. I do actually like Windows Search Indexing, but it is a system hog, so here's how to disable it. Note that you'll still be able to search, but it will be slower. Type in 'services' into the start menu search box (this is a seperate search system from file indexing) and click on the Services[.msc] that comes up as a result. Scroll down to Windows Search and you will see that it says that it has 'started' - that means it's running right now. Right click on Windows Search and select 'Stop'. Then right-click on it again and select Properties. In the General tab, set the Startup Properties to Disabled. And that's Windows Search Indexing disabled!