|
Creating a
New E-Mail
Shortcut |
|
To create a
shortcut
that will
open your
default
e-mail
program
starting a
new e-mail,
Right click
on an open
area of the
desktop
Select New /
Shortcut
For the
Command
Line, enter
mailto:
For the
title enter
something
like New
E-Mail
When you
click on
this your
default
e-mail
program
should start
with a new
e-mail form. |
|
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 |
|
Creating
Shutdown,
Restart and
Logoff Icons |
|
To create
the icons,
create a
shortcut on
the desktop.
For
Shutdown,
the command
is
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE
user.exe,exitwindows
For Restart,
the command
is
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE
user.exe,exitwindowsexec
For Logoff,
the command
is
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE
shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx
0 |
|
Having
your
Favorites
and Start
Menus Sort
Alphabetically |
|
If your
Start Menu
Program or
Favorites
are not
sorting
alphabetically,
it is easy
to fix this:
Start
Regedit
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/MenuOrder
Under here
is are
Favorites
and Start
Menu folders
In each
there is a
value called
Order
Simply
delete (or
rename this)
and restart
Winodws
Your
Favorites or
Start Menus
should now
sort
alphabetically
|
|
Increasing
the Icon
Cache |
Run Regedit
Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\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 |
|
Make Icons
256 Color
16-Bit |
Open the
Registry
Hit Ctrl+F
Type Shell
Icon BPP
When found,
right click
the Shell
Icon BPP
icon
Click Modify
Change the
value from 4
to 16
Click Ok
Close the
registry
Restart your
computer |
|
Removing
Shortcut
Arrows |
|
An easy way
to remove
those
irritating
arrows from
your desktop
shortcut
icons and
not change
their
properties
Right click
the Desktop
/ Properties
/ Appearance
tab
Select Item
Scroll for
Icon
The default
size is 32
Change this
to 30
Clicking
Apply
|
|
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\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Create a New
Binary Value
Name it
NoSaveSettings
Give it a
value of 01
00 00 00 |
|
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
|
|
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. |
|
Increasing
the Size of
the Scroll
Bar |
How to
adjust the
width of the
scroll bar:
Select
Properties
Select the
Appearance
tab
Go to the
item list
and find
scrollbar.
Increasing
the value in
the Size
field will
increase the
scrollbar
width. |
|
Customizing
Individual
Folder Icons |
|
To change a
folder's
icon:
Open Notepad
and enter
two lines,
[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=file
name,number
(e.g.
IconFile=C:\Icon\CustomFolder.ico,0)
Save the
file as
DESKTOP.INI
in the
folder you
wish to
change.
Click Start
-> Run, type
in the
command
line,
ATTRIB +S
"folder
name"
(e.g. ATTRIB
+S
"C:\Custom
Folder")
Open
Explorer or
My Computer
and refresh
(press F5
key).
This tip
only work
Windows
95/NT 4.0 +
IE 4.0 with
shell
integration,
or Windows
98/NT 5.0. |
|
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 -
From John R.
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
Note: Will
not work
under NT
4.0. |
|
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. |
|
Changing the
clock to
24-Hour Time |
To change
the display
of the clock
on the
taskbar to
24-hour
format:
Open the
Control
Panel
Double-click
on the
Regional
Settings
icon
Click on the
Time tab
In the Time
style
section
select
H:mm:ss |
|
Changing or
Removing the
Start Menu
Icons |
Download
Microangelo
and install
it.
Create a
blank.ico
file.
Put it in a
directory
(C:\Windows.
Then double
click on the
Microangelo
Engineer to
run it.
When you get
it up on the
screen click
on the
"start" tab.
You will see
a list of
all the
icons in the
start menu.
Highlight
the first
one
(programs)
and select
"Change". It
will bring
up a dialog
box - select
"browse".
Go to the
directory
that
contains the
blank icon
and select
it. Hit OK
until you
get back to
the main
Engineer
window and
do all the
rest exactly
the same
way.
When you
have
finished
changing
them all to
the blank
icon, Hit
"Apply".
Hit your
start button
and look to
see if all
the icons
are
invisible.
(They should
be.)
Close out
Micro
Engineer and
you're
finished. |
|
Adding Drive
to the
SendTo List |
I have
recently
found that
if you want
to send
something
from A:
drive or
from any
where to any
drive, you
can just
make a short
cut of that
drive in
subdirectory
SENDTO.
For example
I have two
hard drives,
a Floppy
Drive, and a
CDROM
After I have
make a copy
of each of
my drive I
will be able
to send a
whole
directory of
E:\XXX from
the CDROM
drive to A:
drive or any
other drive
that i have
had made the
short c t in
the SENDTO
subdir of
WINDOWS. |
|
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. |
|
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}
|
|
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
|
|
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 |
