XP Tips & Tweaks

XP Tips & TweaksPage 1 of 26

XP Tips & TweaksContentsImportant

Backing up your registry3System Performance Tweaks

Increase the icon cache4Start Menu Delay4Speed up Diskcache4IOPageLockLimit5Clear pagefile on shutdown6Speed up Nero in XP6Services Shutdown Time6Prefetcher Tweak7Large System Cache7Disable Paging The Executive Files8Paging File8Disable Hibernation to save space9Internet & IE Related Tweaks

Clear temp files on close11Speeding up browsing of Microsoft networks11Easily Disable Messenger11Allow more than 2 simultaneous downloads in IE 611Disable Schedule Task in IE12Get rid of Internet Browsing history12Change Web Page Font Size on the Fly12Adding .com easily - Quick URL's12Browsing speed tweak12Uninstall MS Messenger13Bandwith Limit13WebBrowsing Tweak14Useful Tricks

Add cool & useful icons to your desktop16Add Folders to Save As choice16Open Explorer in...17Users LogOn18Remove Shared Doc's from My Computer18Show hidden files18Create your own popup menu in the taskbar18Enable Hibernation19Create a shortcut to lock computer19Use the group policy tool to restrict access19Shortcut to send e-mail19Regedit stays expanded19Add command to open Control Panel by right-clicking Recycle Bin19Add other cool stuff to your right-click20Some Of Windows Annoyances Solved

Disable or Adjust Taskbar Grouping24Disable balloon tips24Turn off autoplay for CDs24Disable error reporting24Display message on startup25Turn off system beeps25Other

Credits22

Backing Up Your RegistryBefore making any changes to your registry, it is a good idea to back it up. This way, if your system appears to be malfunctionning afterwards you can always go back to its state before you applied the changes.

Heres How You Can Do It

1. (Open the registry): Click Start, and click Run. The Run dialog box appears.Type regedit and then click OK. The Registry Editor opens.

2. Scroll to the top if necessary, and select My Computer at the top of the left pane.3. Click File, and then click Export.

4. Click the Desktop icon (or wherever youd like to save the backup).

5. In the File name box, enter a name that you will remember, such as registrybackup.

6. Click Save. The file is saved to your Windows desktop.

In order to restore, simply double-click the backup file.

System Performance TweaksIncrease The Icon CacheProvided by Perris, A.K.A dealerOn XP the Max Cached Icons is set too low.

To change this, open the registry editor as explained in Backing Up Your Registry,

Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\currentversion\ExplorerIn the right window, double click "Max Cached Icons", type the value 8192, then reboot you should see a big speed boost icon load, and opening folders.

NOTE: If the value is not there, you can simply create it:

Go to the above specified location, right-click an empty space in the right window and select New -> String Value. For the name, type Max Cached Icons then double-click it and enter the specified value (8192).Start Menu Delay

The start menu has a delay between different tiers of the menu hierarchy. To speed this, you can change the value to zero. This will allow the different tiers to appear instantly.

Start Regedit. Navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Select MenuShowDelay from the list on the right. Right click on it and select Modify. Change the value to 0. Reboot your computer (NOTE: If you have other accounts you might also go to HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop and do the same thing.)Speed Up Disk CacheOpen Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\IoPageLockLimit

Modify the value in Hex depending on the size of your amount of RAM

RAM (Mb)Modified Value (in hexadecimal mode)

64100012840002561000051240000Reboot.NOTE: As I have 320 Mb of RAM myself; I puzzled at what value to enter. Heres the solution I found. I give it to you to consider but I cannot take any responsibility. How one does obtain 1000 from 64, 4000 from 128, 10000 from 256 and 40000 from 512? I figured that, if I could solve this puzzle, I could then calculate the amount in hex to enter for 320M. Somehow it dawned on me: if you take your calculator in scientific mode and squared 64 (in decimal), then change the result to hexadecimal, you get 1000. The same goes for all the others.

Example: 128 X 128 = 16384 (decimal) = 4000 (hex), And so forth.So I multiplied 320 X 320 = 102400. I transformed that in hex, and got: 19000.

And thats the value I entered (Later, I checked that registry entry to realize it had changed itself to 20000. So I figure I couldnt have been so wrong).IOPageLockLimit

(Warning: It appears this tweak could be of no value at all in XP. But there is some debate over this, as I understand it. Ill update this document if I can hit a definite answer)

This tweak is of questionable value to people that arent running some kind of server off of their computer, but we will include it anyway. This tweak boosts the Input/Output performance of your computer when it is doing a large amount of file transfers and other similar operations. This tweak won't do much of anything for a system without a significant amount of RAM (if you don't have more than 128 Mb, don't even bother), but systems with more than 128 Mb of RAM will generally find a performance boost by setting this to between 8 and 16 Mb. The default is 0.5 MB (512 Kb). This setting requires a value in bytes, so multiply the desired number of megabytes * 1024 * 1024. That's X * 1048576 (where X is the number, in megabytes). Test out several settings and keep the one which seems to work best for your system.

Clear Pagefile On Shutdown

For increased security you should always clear the page file when shutting down your computer. Windows uses this file as extra ram. Lets say that you are working on a highly confidential document. When you load this document it is loaded into ram. To save ram windows places certain items in the page file, which residents on your local harddrive(s). The page file can then be opened and the document can be extracted as well as any other open program or files. However Microsoft has implemented a feature that will clear the page file when shutting down, but they do not have it enabled by default. Please note, this will slightly increase the amount of time it takes to shut down your computer but it is well worth it if youre paranoid (.Start Regedit. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory ManagementSelect ClearPageFileAtShutdown from the list on the right. Right on it and select Modify. Change the value to 1 to enable. Reboot your computer

Speed up Nero In XP

Go to administrative tools in the control panel, and in the services list, disable the IMAPI CD-Burning COM service (NOTE: manual setting is not enough it must be set to disabled) This is the built-in CD-burning capability for windowsXP (incidentally, written by Roxio). Services Shutdown Time

Windows XP has the service shutdown time set to 20000 ms, which equals 20 seconds. This means that Windows tells a running application to exit itself, and auto-closes it (if it hsant closed itself) after 20 seconds.

To change this go to regedit and change this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\

WaitToKillServiceTimeoutSetting it to 5-10 seconds should do the trick (that would be 5000-10000).NOTE: Some applications may need to save data to function properly the next time, therefore its recommended to not set this key to a value lower thatn 5000 (5 seconds).

Prefetcher Tweak

Provided by CrapitoThis is a unique technique for XP, which could improve the performance significantly by tweaking the prefetcher. It will decrease the boot time but double and increase the performance of your XP. Try it!NOTE: Recommended hardware is PIII 800 Mhz or higher, 512 Mb RAM or more.

1. Run the registry editor.

2. Go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\ EnablePrefetcher3. Set the value to anything below:

a. 0 (disabled)

b. 1 (app launch prefetch)

c. 2 (boot prefetch)

d. 3 (both 1 & 2, this is the recommended value)

4. Reboot.Large System Cache

When enabled, this setting tells the OS to devote all but 4 MB of system memory (which is left for disk caching) to the file system cache. The main effect of this is allowing the computer to cache the OS Kernel to memory, making the OS more responsive. The setting is dynamic and if more than 4 MB is needed from the disk cache for some reason, the space will be released to it. By default, 8MB is earmarked for this purpose. This tweak usually makes the OS more responsive. It is a dynamic setting, and the kernel will give up any space deemed necessary for another application (at a performance hit when such changes are needed). As with the previous key, set the value from 0 to 1 to enable. Note that in doing this, you are consuming more of your system RAM than normal. While LargeSystemCache will cut back usage when other apps need more RAM, this process can impede performance in certain intensive situations. According to Microsoft, the 0 setting is recommended for servers running applications that do their own memory caching, such as Microsoft SQL Server, and for applications that perform best with ample memory, such as Internet Information Services.Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\LargeSystemCache

Use value 1 for enabled, or value 0 for disabled.Disable Paging The Executive FilesWhen enabled, this setting will prevent the paging of the Windows XP executive files to the hard drive, causing the OS and most programs to be more responsive. However, it is advised that people should only perform this tweak if they have a significant amount of RAM on their system (more than 128 Mb), because this setting does use a substantial portion of your system resources. Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive

By default, the value of this key is 0. To enable it, set it to 1.

Paging FileProvided by Allan, at TweakXP.comThe Paging File, or Swap File as it used to be known, is virtual memory. It's where the system will go when ram needs to be accessed but there is just no more room in your random access memory. It is a portion of the Hard Disk that is set aside as "virtual memory" (not really memory, but the computer is tricked into treating it as such). It's called a swap file because programs or files or .dll's or drivers will be swapped in and out as necessary by the Operating System. If you do not have a Paging File and you do run low on memory, everything will run much more slowly.

To get to the Paging File Settings: Control Panel -> System -> Advanced Tab -> Performance (Settings button) -> Advanced Tab -> Change Button (pretty well hidden, isn't it?).

Where should you put the Paging File? If you have more than one hard drive, put it on the fastest one. If you have only one hard drive with multiple partitions, put it on the largest partition.

How many Paging Files (commonly called "page files") should there be? XP sets one on each partition by default, but you only need one. Follow the above instructions on where to put it, and then disable the others.

How large should the Paging File Be? This is among the most common questions. The size of the Paging File should be approximately 1.5x (one and one-half times) your installed ram. That is, if you have 512 meg of ram, then the page file should be approximately 768 meg. Should you let Windows manage the paging file or manage it yourself? You should manage it yourself. If Windows manages it, it is "dynamic". That means it will expand and contract as windows sees fit. This will cause fragmentation of the page file and ultimately it will be less efficient than it should be. To optimize the efficiency of the page file, set both the Minimum AND Maximum settings to the appropriate size (in the above example, both would be set for 768). This "static" setting will minimize fragmentation of the page file.

NOTE: The more ram you have, the less likely it is that the Paging File will be needed, so you can actually cut back a little. If you have between 512 Mb and 1 Gb ram, the 768 setting is more than enough (you can even try 512 if you like). If you have 1 Gb or more, 384 should suffice. The exceptions would be if you are running CAD or a large database program, you might then want to go back to the 1.5 rule of thumb regardless of how much ram you have.Disable Hibernation To Save Space

Unless you use it, you can disable hibernation in:

Control panel -> Power Options -> HibernateIf left on, the hibernation reserves disk space equal to your RAM

REMEMBER TO BACK UP THE

REGISTRY!Internet & IE related Tweaks

Clear temp Files On Close

The latest versions of internet explorer include some great new security improvements. For this tweak I will talk about the feature that clears the temporary internet files each time you close internet explorer. 1. Launch Internet Explorer.

2. Select the Tools from the menu bar.

3. Then select Internet Options from the drop down menu.

4. Once the internet options has loaded click on the advanced tab.

5. Under security find where it says Empty Temporary internet files folder when browser is closed and check it.

6. Click OK Speeding Up Browsing Of Microsoft Networks

Provided by Perris, A.K.A dealer1. Go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace2. Find a key named {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}.

3. Right click on it and delete it.

4. Restart

Easily Disable Messenger

Go into C:\Program Files\Messenger (where C is your drive with the folder Program Files.). Rename the Messenger folder to something like "MessengerOFF". This does not slow down Outlook or hinder system performance.

Allow More Than 2 Simultaneous Downloads In IE 6

This tweak will increase the number of max downloads to 10.

1. Locate the following key in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings2. On the Edit menu, click Add Value , and then add the following Dword values: MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server = Dword:0000000a MaxConnectionsPerServer = Dword:0000000a 3. Quit Registry Editor.

4. RebootDisable Schedule Task In IE

IE 6.0 wants to run a scheduled task every time it connects to a server. This results in slower browsing. To disable this follow steps:1. Go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace2. Find a key named {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}.

3. Right click on it and delete it.

4. Restart.Get rid of Internet Browsing history

Launch Internet Explorer. Select the Tools from the menu bar. Then select Internet Options from the drop down menu. Once the internet options has loaded, click on the General tab. Under the history section, change the days to keep in history to 0. I would also click the clear history button to get rid of everything else. Click OK

Change Web Page Font Size On The Fly

If your mouse contains a wheel for scrolling, you can change font size on the fly when viewing a Web page. To do so: Press and hold Ctrl. Scroll down (towards yourself) to enlarge the font size. Scroll up (away from yourself) to reduce the font size.

You might find it useful to reduce font size when printing a Web page, so that you can fit more content on the page.

Adding .Com Easily - Quick URL's

Just type xp-erience in the address bar in IE and press Ctrl + Enter. This adds the http:// and the .com to xp-erience, making it http://www.xp-erience.com!

Browsing Speed Tweak

Provided by Dirk DigglerWhen you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth. Although Windows XP and Windows 2000 have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size. You can do this with the registry entries below: 1. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters2. Change the following keys to their respective value:CacheHashTableBucketSize = dword:00000001CacheHashTableSize = dword:00000180MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit = dword:0000fa00MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit = dword:0000012d3. RestartUninstall MSN Messenger

Provided by Allan at TweakXP.com1. Click Start -> Run Then type the following: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

2. Press ENTER, and restart Windows

Bandwidth Limit

WARNING: Its been suggested by more knowledgeable people than me that this tweak does nothing, and is in fact but a myth. In any case, applying it doesnt appear to harm the system1. Make sure youre logged on as actually "Administrator". Do not log on with any account that just has administrator privileges. To log in as an administrator: Click on Start -> Logoff -> Logoff. In the logon screen hold Ctrl + Alt + Del, this brings up the old Windows 2000 login dialog. In the user field type 'Administrator' (case sensitive). In the password field type the password for the administrator (if you don't have one leave blank). Press OK.

2. Start -> run -> type gpedit.msc and press OK.

3. Expand the Computer configuration branch

4. Expand the Administrative templates" branch

5. Expand the "Network" branch

6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window

7. In right window double click the "limit reservable bandwidth" setting

8. On setting tab check the "enabled" item

9. Where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0. Click apply, OK, exit gpedit.msc.10. Go to your Network connections (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Network Connections -> View Network Connections). Right click on your connection, choose properties then under the General or the Networking tab (where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler is enabled.

11. Reboot and youre done!Web Browsing Tweak

These tweaks often speed up browsing, but remember to back up your registry before changing anything!

Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProviderOn the right change these entries:NameNew Value (hex)Default Value (hex)DnsPriority7

7d0HostsPriority6

1f4LocalPriority5

1f3NetbtPriority8

7d1REMEMBER TO BACK UP THE

REGISTRY!Useful Tricks

Add Cool & Useful Icons To Your Desktop

Provided by Perris, A.K.A dealerA. Restart Button On your Desktop

1. Create a shortcut (Right-click on desktop, select New > Shortcut).

2. For location, type the following: shutdown -r -t 03. Click Next, enter a name for the shortcut ("Restart" is appropriate), and click FinishB. System restore On Desktop

The target of the shortcut is instead:

%SystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe

C. Device manager On Desktop

The target of the shortcut is instead:

%windir%\system32\mmc.exe c:\windows\system32\ devmgmt.msc

D. Registry On Desktop

The target of the shortcut is instead:

C:\WINDOWS\regedit.exe

E. Task Manager On Desktop

The target of the shortcut is instead:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\taskmgr.exeF. Lock Computer On DesktopThe target of the shortcut is instead:

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

G. Search On Desktop

Perform a search as you would normally, without entering any query word (as soon as it starts you can stop it). In the search window then go to File -> Save Search. Save it to the desktop.Add Folders To Save As Choice

In Windows XP Professional, just open the Group Policy Editor (type gpedit.msc in the Run command), and go to:User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer -> Common Open File Dialog and Enable the Items Displayed in the Places Bar option. You can set any location, and it also offers you the most commons places by only typing i.e. MyMusic, instead of the full path.Open Explorer In...

Provided by Dirk Diggler

This tweak will allow Explorer to open already expanded in the folder of your choice. Right-click on your Windows Explorer icon, and write one of the following in the target field: 1. "My Computer" highlighted in left side with all drives visible but not expanded and C: highlighted in right side:%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,/select,c:

2. Desktop highlighted and nothing expanded:%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,/n,/select,/root,c:

3. All drives visible and the system drive highlighted and expanded in full screen: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,/select

4. All drives visible and the system drive expanded in small screen: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,/select,%systemroot% 5. Only Windows Directory visible highlighted and expanded: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,/root,%systemroot%

6. All drives visible but only C: highlighted and expanded: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e, c: 7. Nothing expanded and My Computer highlighted in right side: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n,/e,/select, 8. Opens the Windows folder as a folder:%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe %systemroot% 9. Opens as "My Computer":%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe %systemroot%,10. This opens the Desktop folder with "My Computer" highlighted: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe %systemroot%,/select,

11. "Desktop" highlighted in the left side and no drives visible: %systemroot%\explorer.exe /e,/root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D},/select

12. "My Computer" highlighted in left side and all drives visible but none expanded:%systemroot%\explorer.exe /e,/root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}(Many thanks to XP Guru for the next one!)

13. "Desktop" in left side highlighted and "My Computer" highlighted in right side and no drives visible:%systemroot%\explorer.exe /e,/select,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}Users Log On

If you don't like it:

1. Click on Start - then click on Run - and type:control userpasswords22. Click OK.3. On the Users tab, clear the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer check box and click Apply.

4. A dialog will appear that asks you what user name and password should be used to logon automatically, just click OK.

Then go to Control Panel -> User Accounts, and click Change the way users log on or off, and untick both Use the Welcome Screen and Use Fast User Switching.Remove Shared Doc's From My Computer

1. Start regedit and navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\ DelegateFolders2. Locate the key {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}

3. Right click on it and select delete.

4. Reboot.

Show Hidden Files

This tweak lets you view hidden files in any folder that contains such files. Click on the tools menu and select folder options. Then click on the view tab. Locate where it lists Hidden files and folders and select Show hidden files and folders. Click OK. Create Your Own Popup Menu In The Taskbar

You can create your own popup window other than Start Menu in the taskbar. Put all the shortcuts to the applications that you want to popup in a folder. Then you right click on Taskbar -> Toolbars -> New Toolbar -> and select the folder. This can be done several times. Enable Hibernation

Click Start and select Turn off computer. Then hold down the shift key and the hibernate button will be shown. Click it and your computer will enter into hibernation.

Use The Group Policy Tool To Restrict Access

If you would like to play Computer-God and limit or control just about every aspect of your computer you can use a great tool called the group policy editor. Click Start and select Run, then type gpedit.msc in the text box and click on OK. The group policy editor will load. Navigate through the folders and you will discover hundreds of items that you can limit access to and control.

Shortcut To Send E-Mail

Provided by Perris, A.K.A dealerHere's how you create a shortcut that lets you automatically begin a new message, addressed to that person, with just one mouse click! Right-click on any empty space on the desktop, and choose New, Shortcut from the menu. In the Command Line box, type mailto: and then enter the intended recipient's email address. To create a shortcut to me, for instance, you would enter mailto:dealer@blahblahblah.com. Save the shortcut on the desktop, or in the start menu, or quick launch.

Regedit Stays Expanded

Open Regedit and navigat to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit

Look for the value LastKey. Double-click it and clear the string. Then right-click the Regedit key (in the left-hand pane) and select Permissions. Set Permissions to Deny for any/all users/groups.

Add Command To Open Control Panel By Right-Clicking Recycle Bin

Provided by Dirk DigglerOpen up your registry and make your way here:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell

Right-click shell and make a New Key and call it Control Panel. Right-click Control Panel and make a new key and call it command. Then in the right side, Double-click (Default) and put this in the box:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

You can now right-click the bin and click Control Panel

You can also get rid of the "My Computer" icon thats on the Desktop and put it on the Bin's right-click. Just Copy and Paste the registry entries below into Notepad and call it anything you like but with a .reg extension. Then save it anywhere you like, then just double-click it.Copy and Paste between the lines

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\My Computer\command]

@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25, 00,5c,00,65,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00, 65,00,20,00,25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,74, 00,25,00,2c,00,00,00

End Copy and Paste

Add Other Cool Stuff To Your Right-Click

Provided by Dirk DigglerJust Copy and Paste each and any of the registry entries below into Notepad and call it/them anything you like but with a .reg extension. Then save it/them anywhere you like, then just double-click it/them.This will add "Computer Management" to the right-click of "My Computer":Copy and Paste between the linesWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Manage] @=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79, 00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,79,00,63,00,6f,00,6d,00, 70,00,75,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,30,00,30,00,00, 00 "SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Manage\command] @=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73, 00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00, 65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25, 00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,63,00,6f,00, 6d,00,70,00,6d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00, End Copy and Paste

This will add "Group Policy Editor" to the right-click of any folder:Copy and Paste between the linesWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\gpedit] @=hex(2):67,00,70,00,65,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,00,00 "SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\gpedit\command] @=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73, 00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00, 65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25, 00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,67,00,70,00, 65,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00

End Copy and Paste

This will add "Disk Defragmenter" to the right-click of any folder:

Copy and Paste between the linesWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\Defrag] @=hex(2):44,00,65,00,66,00,72,00,61,00,67,00,00,00 "SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\Defrag\command] @=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73, 00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00, 65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25, 00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,66,00, 72,00,67,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00

End Copy and Paste

This will add "Services" to the right-click of "My Computer":Copy and Paste between the linesWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\services] @=hex(2):53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,00,00 "SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\services\command] @=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73, 00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00, 65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52, 00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00, 32,00,5c,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,6d,00,73, 00,63,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,00,00

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REMEMBER TO BACK UP THE

REGISTRY!Some of Windows Annoyances SolvedDisable Or Adjust Taskbar Grouping

Right Click on the Taskbar. Choose Properties. Untick Group similar taskbar buttons.Disable Balloon Tips

Provided by Perris, A.K.A dealer

1. Go toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced2. Then set the value of EnableBalloonTips to 0.

3. Restart

(Or if you have TweakUI, in that program disable tips has the same effect)

Turn Off Autoplay For CDs

Locate and click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom

To disable automatically running CD-ROMs, change the Autorun value to 0. To enable automatically running CD-ROMs, change the Autorun value to 1. Restart your computer.

NOTE: This method disables automatically running CD-ROMs. If you want to disable automatically running CD-ROMs depending on the CD-ROM that you insert in the CD-ROM drive, you can press and hold down one of the SHIFT key while you insert the CD-ROM.

Disable Error Reporting

One feature that I can do without is error reporting. Every time a program crashes I do not want to send a report to Microsoft. Read below to find out how to disable this stupid feature.

1. Open Control Panel.2. Click on Preformance and Maintenance.

3. Click on System.

4. Then click on the Advanced tab.

5. Click on the Error Reporting button on the bottom of the panel.

6. Select Disable error reporting.

7. Click OK.

Display Message On Startup

If you would like to display a legal message or any other message in a pop-up window when windows starts:

1. Navigate toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon2. Modify the key legalnoticecaption with what you want to name the window.

3. Modify the key legalnoticetext with what you want the window to say.

4. Reboot. Turn Off System Beeps

If those beeps annoy you there is a way to turn them off. Start Regedit and navigate to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\SoundOnce there, locate Beep on the list on the right. Right click on it and select Modify. Change the value equal to no. Reboot your computer and the beeps will be gone!OtherCreditsCredits goes to:

First of all, thanks goes to everybody whose names are unknown or forgotten.

Thanks goes to Perris (A.K.A dealer), Dirk Diggler, Crapito, Allan, at TweakXP.com, XP Guru, and all the guys at the xp-erience.com forum, foremost the guys at the thread My Favorite Tweaks!I, who made the file, am Adam Lindberg (A.K.A Eproxus).

Please remember to back up your registry(.05-04-2002 - 8:57 PMhttp://www.xp-erience.org