Page 3 - Useful Windows Information

RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0

Sub MySub()
     Call Shell("C:\WINNT\system32\RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0", AppWinStyle.NormalFocus)
End Sub

If you have some album art that you would like to apply to a folder, just save the image as folder.jpg and place it in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and will use that image in Media Player. Windows Media Player will automatically do this for you if you choose to Find Album Info when in Windows Media Player.

Create a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf (or click here to Download it) in Notepad (be sure to save it with the Save as type set to All Files and not Text Documents) and place the following text inside:

; context_defrag.INF

; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows XP

[version]
signature="$"

[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe

[AddMe]

HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"

Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context menu to XP that allows you to automatically defrag drives using the command line version of the built-in defragmentation utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer, right-click, and choose Defrag. A command line window will appear, and that drive will be defragged. When it's copmlete, the windows just disappears.

To remove this functionality, Open regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\

Then delete the Defrag folder and close Regedit.

To expand ths list of applications you can remove from Windows XP, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your vesion of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. The lines that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, perform a search and replace ,hide with , (a comma). Now there will be more Applications that you can remove from Windows XP.

Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer
Open the Registry Editor (Start, Run, regedit) and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders

You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer") will be gone.

You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.

To make the system display the advanced sharing tab, simply open up Folder Options (My Computer, Tools, Folder Options) and navigate to the View tab. In the Advanced settings section, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended). Now you will have Advanced Sharing Options when you go to a file/folder's properties.

Use the ultimate configuration tool (Professional Edition only)
To open this tool, select Start and then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
Then Press Enter. Now you will see GPEDIT which allows you to edit certain features of Windows XP.

To Speed up the Start Menu, open up the Registry Editor (Start, Run, regedit) and navigate to the following Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\MenuShowDelay

By Default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 1, to speed it up.

If this doesn't work, then try the following:
Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get a much better overall performance.
Note: Do not set the value to 0 or your start menu will not function properly.

To Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen, open the Registry Editor (Start, Run, regedit) and look for the following keys:

HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop\FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop\FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)

Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome Screen and on each new user by default.

If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger, you can simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS
After doing so, Windows Messenger will no longer start when you logon. However, if you run any program that requests the use of Windows Messenger (such as Outlook Express), the registry key will be re-created, and Windows Messenger will load on Startup again. For this reason, I recommend you look at How to Completely Remove Windows Messenger

On some Computers, Hibernate is not displayed on the Shutdown Dialog Box. To display it, hold SHIFT when the Shutdown dialog box is open and hibernate will be displayed. After doing this a few times, Hibernate will be displayed by default.

As many of you would have noticed - every time a Microsoft program crashes in Windows XP - an Error Report dialog appears, asking you if you would like to send the information to Microsoft. If you would like to disable it then do the following:

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Click on Performance and Maintenance
  3. Click on System
  4. Then click on the Advanced tab
  5. Click on the error reporting button at the bottom of the window.
  6. Select Disable error reporting.

If you would like to to customize your Internet Explorer error messages, write an error message that you want to see (as HTML) and store it somewhere on you harddisk, open Registry Editor (Start, Run, regedit) and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs

Edit the appropriate keys to link to the relevant file that you have created.

The Encrypting File System (EFS) in Windows XP lets you encrypt files in an NTFS volume. If you add the option to encrypt or decrypt file to this menu, when a user right-clicks a file or folder on an NTFS volume, the option to Encrypt or Decrypt appears in the list of options. Note that the EFS feature isn't included in Windows XP Home Edition.

To add EFS options to the shortcut menu

   1. In the Run dialog box, type regedit.
   2. Navigate to the subkey
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
   3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
   4. Enter EncryptionContextMenu for the value name, and 1 for the Value Data.

You may need to have Administrative Rights to edit the Registry.

To change when a user can logon, do the following:

1) Open Help and Support and type logon hours in the search box.
2) Go to Full text matches and click on Net user. See the examples for settings a user's logon hours.
Some examples would be:

   net user johnsw /time:M-F,08:00-17:00
   net user johnsw /time:M-F,8am-5pm
   net user marysl /time:M,4am-5pm;T,1pm-3pm;W-F,8:00-17:00
   net user johnsw /time:all (This means that the user can always log on)

3) Open a Command Prompt window.
4) Enter the appropriate net user command for the user(s) you wish to restrict access for.

To Lock a computer you must first be using the "Domain Style" logon type. To do this go to Control Panel and select User Accounts.
Click Change the way a user logs on or off and deselect Use the Welcome Screen. Note: All other users must be logged off to do this.
Now, whenever a user is logged on you can simply press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and Select Lock Computer.

To create an even quicker means of securing your computer, you can place a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:

   1. Right-Click and open area of your desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
   2. In the location box, type

   %windir%\System32 undll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

   3. Click Next, in the Name box type a name for the shortcut such as Lock Computer, and then click Finish.

NOTE: You must be using the "Domain Style" Logon type to be able to lock your computer.
See Lock a Computer to find out how to do this.

You can create a message that will appear when you log on to your computer.

   1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit and the click OK.
   2. In the Registry Editor, drill down to the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
   3. Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type something like My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
   4. Right-Click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your logon message.
   5. Close the editor and your new message will appear at every logon.

This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain or that use the "Domain Style" logon type. For Standalone, peer-to-peer networks or Workgroups the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.