Couple Questions Regarding Vista, For Those In The Know...

I've Googled this to no avail, so maybe someone here can help me out? ^^

I finally got the final part of my new build yesterday (had to RMA my PSU, was DOA >.<) and so far everything's working great. I'm still learning where they moved crap around in Vista 64-bit compared to my trusty old XP, but it's not as bad as I thought it was gonna be, and it's a lot more responsive and speedy then I expected tbh. I've looked through the knowledge base somewhat, but it might as well be written in Klingon for all the help it's giving me lol. Anyways, questions:

First off, Windows Defender shows up in my tray with a "blocked startup program", the "RTWLan" application. As it's description shows it to be from ASUS I can only assume that it's some LAN application with my motherboard...I'm connected via wireless and don't even use the ethernet ports, so I don't think I even need this running, so that's not the issue...but how do I remove it from the startup entirely? I don't see the option when I right-click, and it doesn't seem to have any way to tell it "fine, don't run it, I don't care, stop telling me, and get outta my tray". So yeah, any ideas on how to do this?

On that note, what the hell is Windows Defender? I have AVG antivirus, do I need to have this running? Is it a bad idea to turn it off? Would the memory I get back be worth closing it down or should I just let it run? Is it as crap as most other Windows related programs are when compared to free third party substitutes (like Spybot, etc)?

Next question, my neighbor has an unsecured network. Comes in handy when my ***goes down (unsecured network=fair game imho) but the issue is that I have Vista set up to connect to my own network (obviously), works well most of the the time, but it seems like if my network has the slightest hiccup in transmission, it wants to jump on the neighbors network. My connection wizard thingy only shows MY network listed as a trusted network, but Vista connects to the neighbor anyway. How do I force Vista to ignore that network? I've been through all the wireless options and can't seem to find anything that lets me do this...

Anyways, any help or advice on these issues, or any advice at all concerning being a new Vista user is appreciated, as well as any tips and tricks... ^^

BTW, FFXI looks *** fantastic on my new machine, and runs like a champ. I'm so happy! *tear* lol

Windows Defender is microsoft version of an mediocre Anti-virus/Tune-up application.

To better remove things from startup go to Run and type

MSCONFIG

it will open system configuration tab, where you can select which program loads at startup. Windows Defender is on the Startup tab.

You might also want to go to the tools section in msconfig and disable UAC, if you haven't already. That's the "you must confirm everything, feature" that so many people have come to love about vista. Defender is kinda like your security center in XP, makes sure your AV and such are up to date, but unlike its older counterpart, it will actually do things as well as notify you.

Anything you can positively identify as useless in startup IMO is fair game to be removed. If you're unsure, leaving it alone is probably safer.

I can't think of an easy way to fix your wireless annoyances, so leaving that alone.

Hope this helped.

open network and sharing center. If youre already connected to a network click "connect to a network" on upper left and it will show you the list of wireless networks your comp has sniffed out. Find your neighbors, right-click it, go to properties, click connection tab if not selected, uncheck the check box that says to connect when in range automatically. viola