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 Some Useful Windows Tips

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Webz
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Number of posts : 127
Registration date : 2008-08-06

Some Useful Windows Tips Empty
PostSubject: Some Useful Windows Tips   Some Useful Windows Tips EmptyThu Aug 07, 2008 7:10 pm

Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu

Open up the Explorer
Go to \WINDOWS\Start Menu
Right click in the right-hand panel
Add a new folder
Name it Control Panel.{21ec2020-3aea-1069-a2dd-08002b30309d}
This makes getting to the Control Panel items a little easier


Making Desktop Changes Permanent

To make changes to the Desktop like window size, positon after rebooting:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer
Create a New Binary Value
Name it NoSaveSettings
Give it a value of 01 00 00 00


Easy Shortcuts on the Desktop

Here is an easy way to put shortcuts on the Desktop where they can easily be moved to other group icons.

Using the Explorer, create a SHORTCUT to the \Windows\Desktop directory in your \Windows\SEND TO directory.
Now whenever you want to make a shortcut and move it to the desktop:
Just make the shortcut you want using Explorer
Right click on that shortcut
In the pop up menu select the Send To and Desktop shortcut.


Changing a Folder's Icon

To change the icon of a Folder on desktop:

Using the Explorer, move the folder from the Desktop directory to another directory on the hard drive
Right click on the new folder and select "Create Shortcut"
Move the shortcut to the Desktop
Right click and select a new icon


Full Window Drag ( Without Plus! )

Start Regedit
Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER /ControlPanel /Desktop /DragFullWindows
On "DragFullWindows" properties change 0 to 1


Fixing Corrupted Desktop Icons

Easier way to reset icons then deleting SHELLICONCACHE.

There's no need to exit Win95 and delete the SHELLICONCACHE file in order to reset icons that you may have changed (like Network Neighborhood).

Go to Control Panel, Display, Appearance Tab.
Select Icon from the Item drop down list.
Change the Size up or down one and apply.
Change the Size back to your original and apply.


Getting Screen Shots

If you need to get a screen shot, and you do not have a screen capture program, try this:

Hit the Print Screen key. This copies a bitmap of the full screen into the Windows clipboard. Start up a graphics editor and paste it in.
Alt + Print Screen will capture only the active window.



Removing the Recycle Bin

To remove Recycle Bin from the desktop:

Run REGEDIT.
Find NAMESPACE key in left pane (HKEY_Local_Macine \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Explorer \ Desktop \ Namespace)
Expand NAMESPACE (click '+' box)
Delete the value RECYCLE BIN in right pane



Adding Send To the Recycle Bin

Add a SHORTCUT TO THE RECYCLE BIN in your SEND TO folder.

That way you can just right click on a file you want to delete, and send it to the recycle bin without having to confirm each time.



Having Icons with No Name

Normally you have to have a name for an icon, just spaces are not allowed.
To create an icon with no name attached:

Make sure NumLock is on
Highlight the Icon you want to change
Right-Mouse click and select Rename
While holding down the Alt key, type 0160
Now the icon will have no name below it.

To Create Multiple Icons with No Name

Follow directions detailed above
With the second icon simply add one space-bar character AFTER the 0160 number.
Each successive icon gets an additional space-bar character at the end (to prevent a duplicate naming error).



Moving the Start Button

How to move or close the start button!

Click on the Start button
Press the Esc key
Press the Alt and the - keys together
This will give you a menu, you can move or close
But if you move it you need to use the arrow keys and not the mouse.



Aligning Drop-Down Menus to the Right

All dropdown menus can be aligned to the right.
This features becomes useful when trying to access
menus with submenus that appear directly to the right.

Open the Registory editor (e.g. regedit.exe)
Goto \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Create a string entry called "MenuDropAlignment"
Set its value to 1
Reboot



Changing Drive Icons

To change a drive's icon when you open My Computer

Create a file called AUTORUN.INF on the root of your hard drive
Enter the lines
[autorun]
ICON=Name of the ICON file

For the name of the icon file you can either specify the path and name (e.g. ICON=C:\WINDOWS\ICONS\MY_ICON.ICO) or
a specific icon in a library (e.g. ICON=ICONFILE.DLL,2)



Adding Shortcuts to Desktop Without "Shortcut To" text

Start Regedit
Go to:HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer
Add binary value to Explorer:link="00,00,00,00"
Now You can make Shortcuts to desktop without Shortcut To" text.



Easier User Interface

Add a menu item named "Open THIS folder!" to each of your cascading menus off of the Start menu.
This makes it easier to put items wherever you want them!

Go to Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs \ (etc.) in the Explorer
Start right click/dragging folders to the desktop, one by one.
Rename them and left click/drag them back to the same folder.
It takes a little while, but when you are finished you have a much easier interface to work with.




Adding a Protected Briefcase

You can make your briefcase a shortcut on the on desktop so if you have multiple users on your PC and you don't want to have a password for your briefcase, you can at least protect it from inadvertent deletion by just making the briefcase a hidden file or in a different location other than \Windows\Desktop\My Briefcase, then send a copy or shortcut to the desktop.



Customizing the Start Button's Name and Icon

To change the name of the Start button:

Copy EXPLORER.EXE in your Windows directory to another directory
Start a hex editor (I've been using Diskedit from Norton)
Edit EXPLORER.EXE
Search for the string 53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74
This is the word Start with the letters separated by a null character
The section you are in should also have the words "There was an internal error..." also separated with the null character immediately following
Now just replace the Start letters with any of your choice (up to 5 characters only)
Exit Windows
Boot to DOS
Copy your new Explorer file over the original
To change the Start button icon:

Copy USER.EXE in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory to another directory
Use an icon editor that can replace icons in executable files
Edit USER.EXE and replace the flag icons with the icon of your choice
Boot to DOS
Copy the new USER.EXE
The same can be done with NT 4.0, just the offset will be different but the location to just before "There was an internal error..." is the same.




Adding the Device Manager to your Desktop

This allows you to quickly see all the devices attached to your computer.
I use it a lot to select Refresh when I add new external SCSI devices that were not
powered up at startup. This way you do not need to restart the computer. To add the Device Manager Icon:

Right click on an open area of your desktop
Select New / Shortcut
Type in C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL SYSDM.CPL, SYSTEM, 1
Replace C:\WINDOWS with whatever directory you installed Windows95
Click on the Next box
At the next dialog box type in Device Manager
Click on the Finish when you are done
Note: Replacing the 1 with a 3 will bring up the Performance Status




Adding Options to the Right-Click of the Start Menu

To add an option to the Right-Click of the Start button:

Go to Control Panel, View, Options
Click on the File Types Tab
Scroll down until you see File Folder
Click on Edit
Click on New
Type in the Name you want to in the Action box
Type in the Application you want to use
A good option to add is an MS-DOS Prompt:

Try this c:\command.com /k cd %1
It also puts the shortcut on a regular folder.
This command will open a DOS window with that folder as the current directory.




How to make the task bar autohide

Click the right button on a blank area of the task bar
Select Properties
Select Autohide
Click OK
This will make the task bar slide off the screen when the cursor moves away from it,
and it will slide back on when the cursor is moved near it again.

The same can be done for the MS Office task bar. The "sliding" effect is nice, and can free up some desktop space.




Closing Nested Folders

If you have several nested folders (folders within folders) and want to close them all,
simply, hold the Shift key while closing the last folder
This will close all previous ones as well.



Adding the Desktop to your Start Menu

Create a shortcut to the Explorer on your Desktop

Right click on the Start button
Choose Open
Go into the Programs Folder
Drag the Windows Explorer Icon on your Desktop using the RIGHT Mouse button
Choose copy here
Change the command line switch

Right click on the Shortcut you created
Choose Properties
Choose Shortcut
Type in following command line as target:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /root,
The last "," is vital!
If you want the two pane Explorer view ad the switch ,/e
Then rename the Shortcut to "Desktop" or whatever you choose and drag the icon onto the start button.



Getting rid of Click Here to Continue

Start the Registry Editor
Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer
Create a binary value and call it NoStartBanner
Double-click on it and give it a value of 01 00 00 00
You will need to repeat the same steps for HKEY_USERS / .Default / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer



Create a Control Panel menu directly below the Start Button

Click the Start Button once with your right mouse button. You should see a right-button menu (called a context menu because it offers different choices in different contexts).
You should see the items Open, Explore, and Find on the context menu. Click Explore with your left mouse button.
An Explorer file management window should open. A directory tree should appear in the left pane, with the right pane displaying the contents of the Start Menu folder.
Right-click any empty space within the right pane. A context menu should appear. Click New and then Folder.
The Explorer will create a highlighted icon called New Folder. Type in the following string, all on one line, replacing the words New Folder with this new line. You must type the period, the curly braces, all four hyphens, and the hexadecimal numbers exactly as shown. After the closing curly brace, press Enter.
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Other Folders can be added following the same instructions.

Dial-Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Inbox.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Desktop.{00021400-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Briefcase.{85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}



Turning on AutoArrange for Folders

To make all folders keep AutoArrange turned on:

Open up an existing folder
Select View / Arrange
Arrange the Icons the way you would like, (e.g. Name, Size,etc.)
Select View / Arrange again
Select AutoArrange
Press the Ctrl-key while you close the window.
This folder should now have AutoArrange always selected.
This should allow you to create new folders that have AutoArrange selected by default.
You only need to specify by Name, Size, etc. if you want to change it from the default you set above.
Note: I have only tested this on a few computers. Please give me feedback regarding any problems.



Turn Off Window Animation

You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows.
This tip makes navigating Windows 95 a lot faster especially for those that don't have
super fast video cards.

Open Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Control panel
Desktop
WindowMetrics
Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane.
Select new/string value.
Name the new value MinAnimate.
Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify"
Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit
Close Regedit and all programs then reboot.



To speed up the Start Menu

Start the REGEDIT program
Search for the word desktop
This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400...
Right Click on the right panel
Pick NEW / String Value.
Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word.
Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest.
Exit REGEDIT
Restart Windows



Remove the tildes in short filenames

Open Regedit
Go to Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem
Right Click on the Right pane
Select New / Hex
Add the value NameNumericTail= 0



To remove the Network Neighborhood Icon

Start POLEDIT. It is on the CD in \Admin\Apptools\Poledit
Open Registry
Select LocalUser
Select Shell
Select Restrictions
Select Hide Network Neighborhood



To change the Startup and Logoff screens

Startup Screen
Create a 320x400 bitmap in the root directory and name it LOGO.SYS
You can use LOGOW.SYS file in the Windows directory as a starter
Logoff Screens
There are several files called LOGOX.SYS
They are actually bitmaps 320x400 that just have a different extension
The hidden one in the root directory LOGO.SYS is the startup logo.
There are two files in the Windows directory.
LOGOW.SYS is the Wait while Shutting down ... screen
LOGOS.SYS is the You may now shut-off or Reboot screen
To edit them, rename them with a BMP extension and use your favorite graphic editor
You can edit these files or create you own
They just need to be the same size




Restoring a Lost Desktop

If you ever lose the Desktop but Explorer is still running with the Start Button,
you can do this to bring back your Desktop in a Windows box.

Click Start
Click Run
Type a period " . "
Then press Enter



Creating 3D Window Effect

You can create a nice 3D effect for your windows

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Colors
Make sure the following setting are there:
ButtonHilight=128 128 128
ButtonShadow=255 255 255



Increasing the Icon Cache

Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\explorer
Create a new string called Max Cached Icons
Give it a value of 10000
This will increase response time in windows and give the Shellicon cache file more elbow room.
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