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Tips & Tricks for Windows Operating Systems.
Make the background of desktop icons transparent (XP)
Control Panel > System > Advanced > {Performance}
Settings.
On the Visual Effects tab, check Use drop
shadows for icon labels on the desktop.
Restore My Documents folder if deleted (98)
To restore My Documents to the Desktop, click Start, then Run, and type:rundll32 mydocs.dll, RestoreMyDocsFolder
Remove shortcut icon arrows
Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LNKFILE], and delete
IsShortcut
Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PIFFILE], and
delete IsShortcut
Change My Computer's Icon
Windows 98: Control Panel > Display > Appearance
Windows XP: Control Panel > Display > Desktop >
Customize Desktop
Hide Icon
Hide all Desktop icons
(9x/XP)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer
NoDesktop (DWORD value):
Set to 1 to hide all icons.
Delete NoDesktop to undo.
Hit F5 to refresh the
desktop.
Hide Network Neighborhood, My Network Places
(9x)
Run Poledit.exe (You may have to install it: It
is on your Windows CD in\tools\reskit\netadmin\poledit).
File > Open Registry > (double click) Local User > Shell
> Restrictions
Check Hide Network Neighborhood or/and
My Network Places
OK > File > Save
Reboot.
Hide My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, Internet Explorer (XP)
Right-click on the desktop, then click Properties > Desktop > Customize Desktop
Hide My Computer (9x/XP)
Create a transparent icon or create a bmp file that
consists of a single pixel.
In Display properties
effects, change the My Computer icon to point at your
new icon.
Rename My Computer to one space.
Add and remove item types from the New
Menu
Add Item Types
When you right-click on your desktop, there is a New
submenu that contains a list of templates. A template is
visible if the related entry in the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT]
hive associated with a file extension has a sub-key
called ShellNew.
For example, on the New submenu
there is an entry for Text Document. This entry is
visible because of the key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew]. Create a blank
document of the corresponding application, and put it
into the Windows\ShellNew Folder. Go to that file type
under [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT], create a subkey named
ShellNew and create the string-value File Name in it.
Change this string's value to the blank document's
filename.
Ex:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\
.wav\ShellNew\FileName],
and FileName's
value = "sndrec.wav".
Remove Item Types
Read Add Item Types, and delete or rename the subkey named ShellNew. Hit F5 to update the items in the New submenu.
Save color scheme
Export [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\ Control Panel\Appearance\ Schemes\{Name of Scheme}]
Create tool tips for desktop icons.
Search the registry for keys with the name Info Tip. You may replace the descriptions and you may add Info Tip keys for other Class-IDs.
Create a button to Reboot Windows XP
To create a reboot icon on your desktop: Right click
on an open area of the desktop Select New/Shortcut Enter
in "shutdown -r -t 00" - no quotes Press Next For the
name, enter Reboot or anything you like.
Click
Finish.
Remove Shortcut arrow from Desktop icons
Here's how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop icons in Windows XP. Start regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile Delete the IsShortcut registry value. You may need to restart Windows XP.
Performance Increase through My Computer
Start > Right Click on My Computer and select
properties.
Click on the "Advanced" tab
See the
"Performance" section? Click "Settings" Disable
all or some of the following:
Fade or slide menus
into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade
out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under
menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Use
common tasks in folders
Change Briefcase icon on NT/W2K/XP
You can change the Briefcase icon and replace it with
an icon of a metal attach?case using the following
Windows
NT/W2K/XP registry hack:
Hive:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Key:
CLSID\{85BBD0920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Name:
DefaultIcon
Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Value:
%SystemRoot%\system32\syncui.dll,1 (shiny metal
attach?icon)
Value:
%SystemRoot%\system32\syncui.dll,0 (default
leather Briefcase icon)
Download these registry files
already made:
Leather.reg
MetalAttache.reg
After changing to the icon, you may have to log
off then log back on or restart your computer for the
change to take effect.
Create a Lock Computer Shortcut Icon
1. Right click on the desktop, select New > Shortcut.
2. Enter rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation as the
shortcut.
3. Name it Lock Computer.
4. Right click
and choose Properties.
5. Click on "Change Icon"
6. Search through shell32.dll in the System32 directory
and find an appropriate lock icon.
NOTE: This
effectively dumps you back to the "Welcome" log on
screen. Of course this will only work if you have
entered a password for your profile.
ADDENDUM: If you want
added security, go to the Control Panel and click on
"User Accounts". Click "Change the way users log on or
off", and deselect the "Use the Welcome Screen"
option.This will switch Windows back to the classic log
in box.