Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way

Normally it takes a hell lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you

have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it

again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option

and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again

(you guessed it) click.

This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop

which will shut down Windows at the click of a button.

Start by creating a new shortcut( right click

and select New> Shortcut).

Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)

'C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec'

To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the

following in the Command Line box:

'c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows'

This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately

without any Warning.

Ban Shutdowns : A trick to Play on Lamers

This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego,

in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in

the Shut Down Dialog Box.

This trick involves editing the registry,

so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there

then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New >

String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the

NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify.

Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.

Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option

in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value

of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down

button displays the following error message:

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on

this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of

NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting

NoCloseKey.

Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process,

simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it's

contents to the registry by double clicking on it.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio

n\Policies\Explorer]

"NoClose"="1"

Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer

This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To

disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My

Computer go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\Policies\Explorer

Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it

NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal)

Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives

will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply

delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio

n\Policies\Explorer]

"NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff

Take Over the Screen Saver

To activate and deactivate the screen saver whenever you want,

goto the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\ScreenSavers

Now add a new string value and name it Mouse Corners. Edit this

new value to -Y-N. Press F5 to refresh the registry.

Voila! Now you can activate your screensaver by simply placing the mouse

Cursor at the top right corner of the screen and if you take the mouse to

the bottom left corner of the screen, the screensaver will

deactivate.

Pop a banner each time Windows Boots

To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to

display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVers

ion\WinLogon

Now create a new string Value in the right pane named

LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the

Menu Bar.

Now create yet another new string value and name it:

LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to

display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to

display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to

his NT box. It's .reg file would be:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVer

sion\Winlogon]

"LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."

Delete the Tips of the Day to save 5KB

Windows 95 had these tips of the day which appeared on a system

running a newly installed Windows OS. These tips of the day are

stored in the Windows Registry and consume 5K of space. For those

of you who are really concerned about how much free space your

hard disk has, I have the perfect trick.

To save 5K go to the following key in Regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio

n\Explorer\Tips

Now simply delete these tricks by selecting and pressing the DEL

key.

Change the Default Locations

To change the default drive or path where Windows will look for it's

installation files, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio

n\Setup\SourcePath

Now you can edit as you wish.

Secure your Desktop Icons and Settings

You can save your desktop settings and secure it from your nerdy

friend by playing with the registry. Simply launch the Registry

Editor go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane create a new DWORD Value named

NoSaveSettings and modify it's value to 1.

Refresh and restart for the settings to get saved.

CLSID Folders Explained

Don't you just hate those stubborn stupid icons that refuse to leave

the desktop, like the Network Neighborhood icon. I am sure you

want to know how you can delete them. You may say, that is really

simple, simply right click on the concerned icon and select Delete.

Well not exactly, you see when you right click on these special

folders( see entire list below)neither the rename nor the delete

option does not appear. To delete these folders, there are two

methods, the first one is using the System Policy Editor(Poledit in

the Windows installation CD)and the second is using the Registry.

Before we go on, you need to understand what CLSID values are.

These folders, like the Control Panel, Inbox, The Microsoft Network,

Dial Up Networking etc are system folders. Each system folder has a

unique CLSID key or the Class ID which is a 16-byte value which

identifies an individual object that points to a corresponding key in

the registry.

To delete these system Folders from the desktop simply go to the following registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace

{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx}

To delete an icon simply delete the 16 byte CLSID value within

"NameSpace". The following are the CLSID values of the most

commonly used icons:

My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}

Desktop: {00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}

Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}

Fonts: {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}

Inbox :{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

My Computer :{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-

O8002B30309D}

Printers:{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}

Recycle Bin :{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-

000000000046}

History: {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}

Winzip:{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}

For example, to delete the Recycle Bin, first note down it's CLSID

value, which is: 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E.

Now go to the Namespace key in the registry and delete the

corresponding key.

For Example :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVers

ion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-

00AA003E56F8}

Sometimes, you may need to play a trick on your brother or friend,

well this one teaches you how to hide all icons from the Desktop. Go

to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane create a new DWORD value by the name:

NoDesktop and set its value to: 1. Reboot and you will find no icons

on the desktop.

Till now you simply learnt how to delete the special system folders

by deleting a registry key, but the hack would have been better if

there was a way of adding the DELETE and RENAME option to the

right click context menus of these special folders. You can actually

change the right click context menu of any system folder and add

any of the following options: RENAME, DELETE, CUT, COPY, PASTE

and lots more.

This hack too requires you to know the CLSID value of the system

folder whose menu you want to customize. In this section, I have

taken up Recycle Bin as the folder whose context menu I am going

to edit.

Firstly launch the registry editor and open the following registry

key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-

00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder.

In Case you want to edit some other folder like say the FONTS

folder, then you will open the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CLSID VALUE HERE}\ShellFolder.

In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes.

Now consider the following options:

To add the Rename option to the menu, change the value of

Attributes to

50 01 00 20

To add the Delete option to the menu, change the value of

Attributes to

60 01 00 20

3. To add both the Rename & Delete options to the menu, change

the value of Attributes to 70,01,00,20

4. Add Copy to the menu, change Attributes to 41 01 00 20

5. Add Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 42 01 00 20

6. Add Copy & Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 43 01 00 20

7. Add Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 44 01 00 20

8. Add Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 45 01 00 20

9. Add Cut & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 46 01 00 20

10.Add all Cut, Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 47

01 00 20

We want to add only the Rename option to the right click context

menu of the Recycle Bin, so change the value of attributes to: 50 01

00 20. Press F5 to refresh and then after rebooting you will find that

when you right click on the Recycle Bin a RENAME option pops up

too.

To reset the default Windows options change the value of Attributes

back to

40 01 00 20

The Registry File which one can create for the above process would

be something like the below:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-

00AA002F954E}\Shell-Folder]

"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20

To access say the Modem Properties in the Control Panel Folder, the

normal procedure is: Click on Start, Click on Settings> Control

Panel and then wait for the Control Panel window to pop up and

then ultimately click on the Modems icon.

Wouldn't it be lovely if you could shorten the process to: Click on

Start> Control Panel>Modems. Yes you can add the Control Panel

and also all other Special System Folders directly to the first level

Start Menu. Firstly collect the CLSID value of the folder you want to

add to the start menu. I want to add Control Panel hence the CLSID

value is: 21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D

Now right click on the Start Button and select Open. Now create a

new folder and name it: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-

A2DD-08002B30309D}

NOTE: Do not forget the period after the 'l' in Panel. Similarly all

system folders can be added to the Start Menu.(accept My

Briefcase, I think)

Deleting System Options from the Start menu

You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start

menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always

Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name

it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click

the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value.

This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also

disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.)

To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the

DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.

Fed Up of the boring Old Yellow Folder Icons?[Drive Icons Included]

NOTE: This trick hasn't been tried on Win98.

You can easily change the boring yellow folder icons to your own

personalized icons. Simply create a text file and copy the following

lines into it:

[.ShellClassInfo]

ICONFILE=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension

Save this text file by the name, desktop.ini in the folder, whose icon

you want to change. Now to prevent this file from getting deleted

change it's attributes to Hidden and Read Only by using the ATTRIB

command.

To change the icon of a drive, create a text file containing the

following lines:

[Autorun]

ICON=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension

Save this file in the root of the drive whose icon you want to change

and name it autorun.inf For Example, if you want to change the icon

of a floppy, SAVE THE icon in a:\icon_name.ico One can also create

a kewl icon for the Hard Disk and create a text file [autorun.inf] and

store it in "c:\".