Registry Tweaks

[doGold]

re. ShowDriveLettersFirst

I've tried this on my XP2 PC but it doesn't change the order of the display for me. I googled and came up with a recent MS Hotfix KB 330193

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330193
 Key: ShowDriveLettersFirst
Type: DWORD
Value: 1,2, or 4
If the value is 1, the drive letter is displayed first for remote drives.
If the value is 2, drive letters are not displayed.
If the value is 4, the drive letter is displayed first for all drives.
This registry entry can be applied in a Per-Machine policy or in a Per-User policy, by using one of the following subkeys:
• For a Per-Machine policy, click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer 
• For a Per-User policy, click the following registry subkey: 
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer 
If the Per-Machine registry key exists, it takes precedence over the Per-User setting. For the changes to take effect, the current user must log off from the computer and then log on to the computer.

Anyway I'm posting this to further a discussion on it FWIW. Perhaps I need to set the policy also?

Me, I'll keep tweaking 'til it (doesn't) hurt.

[Jogy]

i remember something similar, i used to add my nickname near the clock with a simple regtweak but i'm not sure about the date...

Yeah, there must be a way, cause on another site, I saw:

Displaying date on desktop

You can right click on the tool bar, then unlock it. Then you can drag the

top of the tool bar up. The day and date will then be displayed, as well as

the time.

I tried it and yes, it does work.... This being the case, its only a matter of displaying just the "DD" and when the Taskbar is standard and not doubled.

Sure hope someone can help!

Cheers

[SiMoNsAyS]

ok found the key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International]
"sLongDate"="dddd, dd' de 'MMMM' de 'yyyy"
"sShortDate"="dd/MM/yyyy"
"sTimeFormat"="H:mm:ss"

what i did time ago is to change the value to "H:mm:ss[siMoNsAyS]" and worked but don't know if you can use for example "H:mm:ss[dd/MM/yyyy]". hope it helps

[war59312]

I perfer TClock2.

Since I cant get secs to show up even though its enabled in Regional and Language Options in control panel.

BTW thats where you can set the dates too.

[Jogy]

ok found the key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International]
"sLongDate"="dddd, dd' de 'MMMM' de 'yyyy"
"sShortDate"="dd/MM/yyyy"
"sTimeFormat"="H:mm:ss"

what i did time ago is to change the value to "H:mm:ss[siMoNsAyS]" and worked but don't know if you can use for example "H:mm:ss[dd/MM/yyyy]". hope it helps

Didn't help!

I tried dd/MM - H:mm:ss and got some funny dd/24 - 9:24Am and then I realized that "M" is used for both Minute and Month!

So, because of the clash, its either not possible or there should be a way of putting

"sShortDate - H:mm:ss" .... Incidentally, I tried that and it did not work!

Cheers

[cybpsych]

uppercase 'MM' is only for Date ...

lowercase 'mm' is only for Time ...

that way, it wont conflict between both

[XtremeMaC]

ok haven't seen this posted b4.

here's how u can remove the divx logo from the players..

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DivXNetworks\DivX4Windows]"Disable logo"=dword:00000001

[Astalavista]

here is a regtweak i found for flashgot.

FLASHGET.reg

[XtremeMaC]

that's not really a tweak. and what does it do,

it looks like defaults settings

except u've the registration info in there!

[a06lp]

anyone know how to get rid of the bubble over the start menu that says "click here to begin" (or something like that)?

[jokulhaups]

In the current version of the file, square brackets are missing around the 'Remove "Shotcut to" in new shorcuts' tip's regkey. Should, of course, be:

;-----
 ;-----  Remove "Shotcut to" in new shorcuts
 ;-----
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"Link"=hex:00,00,00,00

Thanks for the hard work, everyone.. your efforts are incredible!

[jokulhaups]

Here are a bunch of other options I typically use that did not appear in the current file. Note that some may be redundant, but I tried to avoid it. Apologies if others have already state these, i'm in a bit of a rush to read through the whole thread. I attempted to document these, but have little time to do so. A few are rather difficult to find and confirm, such as closing TCP/IP ports that might be security risks (for those w/o firewalls and no desire to tinker with TCP/IP filtering in windows, or its firewall). Others are for people with simliar personal taste to mine. I hope they all still have meaning, I have not tested a couple since Windows 98 Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this list.

;  disable divX 4 or higher's logo, and set a few other options for high-quality videos
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DivXNetworks\DivX4Windows]
"Disable logo"=dword:00000001
"Double Buffering"=dword:00000001
"Smooth Playback"="dword:00000001
"Check for Updates="dword:00000000

; cmd prompt enhancements:  tab key completes path+filenames, UNC checks off
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]
"CompletionChar"=dword:00000008
"PathCompletionChar"=dword:00000008
"DisableUNCCheck"=dword:00000001

; disable themes (switch to classic visual modes)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"NoVisualStyleChoice"=dword:00000000
"NoColorChoice"=dword:00000000
"NoSizeChoice"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"SetVisualStyle"=-
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager]
"ThemeActive"="0"
"DllName"="%SystemRoot%\Resources\themes\Windows Classic.theme"
"ColorName"="NormalColor"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"ClassicShell"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"ClassicShell"=dword:00000000

; speed up networking and harden against DoS attacks
; only use this with a LAN connection, such as through a router, or direct to cablemodem
; i have not tested this on DSL/dialup, and advise learning these options well before trying them
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"DisableTaskOffload"=dword:00000000
"TcpRecvSegmentSize"=dword:000005b0
"KeepAliveTime"=dword:0015f900
"KeepAliveInternal"=dword:000003e8
"BcastQueryTimeout"=dword:000002ee
"BcastNameQueryCount"=dword:00000001
"CacheTimeout"=dword:0000ea60
"Size/Small/Medium/Large"=dword:00000003
"LargeBufferSize"=dword:00001000
"SackOpts"=dword:00000001
"TcpMaxDupAcks"=dword:00000002
"TcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0
"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000001
"DefaultTTL"=dword:00000080
"EnablePMTUBHDetect"=dword:00000000
"EnablePMTUDiscovery"=dword:00000000
"GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0
"MaxHashTableSize"=dword:0000ffff
"MaxFreeTwTcbs"=dword:00004000
"MaxFreeTcbs"=dword:00004000
"NumTcbTablePartitions"=dword:00000020
"TcpTimedWaitDelay"=dword:0000001E
"DisableIPSourceRouting"=dword:00000002
"PerformRouterDiscovery"=dword:00000000
"EnableICMPRedirect"=dword:00000000
"EnableDeadGWDetect"=dword:00000000
"NoNameReleaseOnDemand"=dword:00000001
"SynAttackProtect"=dword:00000002
"TcpMaxHalfOpen"=dword:00000064
"TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried"=dword:00000050
"TcpMaxConnectRetransmissions"=dword:00000003
"TcpMaxDataRetransmissions"=dword:00000006
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters]
"SizReqBuf"=dword:00014596
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters]
"MaxThreads"=dword:000000ff
"MaxCmds"=dword:000000ff
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}]

; make windows optimize memory for programs, not file caching (servers want that, value is 1)
; setting to 1 may TOTALLY SCREW UP ATI-based systems with 1gb+ memory, maybe AGP aperture of 32mb- in BIOS will help, though I have not confirmed
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000000

; small icons in start menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_LargeMFUIcons"=dword:00000000
"Start_MinMFU"=dword:0000000a

; customize the common file dialogs (i turn off the places bar and recent file lists)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Comdlg32]
;"NoBackButton"=dword:00000001
"NoFileMRU"=dword:00000001
"NoPlacesBar"=dword:00000001

; display image previews
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\ShellImagePreview]
@=""

; disable remote assistance and shut off terminal server
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server]
"AllowTSConnections"=dword:00000000
"fDenyTSConnections"=dword:00000001
"fAllowToGetHelp"=dword:00000000

; disable print job complete notification
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers]
"NetPopup"=dword:00000000
; disable print job logging
"EventLog"="0"

; disable POSIX and OS/2 subsystems
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems]
"Optional"=-

; remove useless items from the start menu
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoNetworkConnections"=dword:00000001

; don't log print jobs in event viewer
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers]
"EventLog"=dword:00000000

; special option in start->run
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"MemCheckBoxInRunDlg"=dword:00000001

; driver signing = ignore
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Driver Signing]
"BehaviorOnFailedVerify"=dword:00000000

; all items have an "edit.." on right-click sending to notepad
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\open]
@="Edit.."
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\open\command]
@="notepad.exe %1"

; hide start->documents and stop tracking recent documents
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartMenu\Documents]
"Text"="Recent Documents Menu"
"Type"="group"
"Bitmap"="C:\\windows\\system\\shell32.dll,21"
"HelpID"="iexplore.hlp#50041"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartMenu\Documents\Documents]
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer"
"Text"="Hide Documents Menu"
"Type"="checkbox"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001
"UncheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000
"ValueName"="NoRecentDocsMenu"
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
;"HelpID"="iexplore.hlp#50107"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartMenu\Documents\DontAdd]
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer"
"Text"="Don't Add to Documents Menu"
"Type"="checkbox"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001
"UncheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000
"ValueName"="NoRecentDocsHistory"
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
;"HelpID"="iexplore.hlp#50107"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartMenu\Documents\ClearDocs]
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer"
"Text"="Clear Documents Menu on Exit"
"Type"="checkbox"
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001
"UncheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000
"ValueName"="ClearRecentDocsOnExit"
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
;"HelpID"="iexplore.hlp#50107"

; apps don't steal the focus with popups
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop]
"ForegroundLockTimeout"=dword:00030d40

; programs in task bar are smaller horizontally (acquired taste, not for the faint of heart!)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"MinWidth"="-285"

; show "super hidden" file extensions.. these can get annoying though!
;[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\NeverShowExt]
;"NeverShowExt"=-
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DocShortcut]
"NeverShowExt"=-
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\InternetShortcut]
"NeverShowExt"=-
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile]
"NeverShowExt"=-
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SHCmdFile]
"NeverShowExt"=-
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ShellScrap]
"NeverShowExt"=-

; show dll file information and extensions
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile]
@="Application Extension"
"AlwaysShowExt"=""
"EditFlags"=hex:01,00,00,00
"TileInfo"="prop:FileVersion;FileDescription"
"InfoTip"="prop:FileDescription;Company;FileVersion;Create;Size"
"NoOpen"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\DefaultIcon]
@="%1"


; add "open in new window" to right-clicks
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\opennew]
@="New &Window"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\opennew\command]
@="explorer.exe /e, %1"

; auto refresh
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update]
"UpdateMode"=dword:00000000


; better performance for heavy file access
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"ConfigFileAllocSize"=dword:00000200
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"IoPageLockLimit"=dword:000F0000

; notepad saves page setup and window positions
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Notepad]
"fSavePageSettings"=dword:00000001
"fSaveWindowPositions"=dword:00000001

; no tooltips for min/max/close on windows
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"MinMaxClose"="0"

; disable simply filesharing
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa]
"ForceGuest"=dword:00000000

; various policies to cut down on extra crap in control panel, disable autorun, etc
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"CDRAutoRun"=dword:00000000
"NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=dword:000000b5
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000001
"NoStartBanner"=dword:00000001
"NoInstrumentation"=dword:00000001
"ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000001
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=dword:00000001
"NoNetworkConnections"=dword:00000001
"NoRecentDocsMenu"=dword:00000001
"NoNetHood"=dword:00000001
"NoSMHelp"=dword:00000001
"NoSMMyDocs"=dword:00000001
; restrict control panel to show only the entries i want
"RestrictCpl"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\RestrictCpl]
"1"="Add Hardware"
"2"="Add or Remove Programs"
"3"="Administrative Tools"
"4"="System"

; num lock is on when xp boots up
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard]
"InitialKeyboardIndicators"="2"

; no need for DHCP media sense, don't do this unless you know what it does!  laptops probably wouldn't like this.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"DisableDHCPMediaSense"=dword:00000000

; lmhosts turned off, port 445 closed (CIFS won't work, not good for "my network places"/"network neighbourhood"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters]
"EnableLMHOSTS"=dword:00000000
"TransportBindName"=""
"SMBDeviceEnabled"=dword:00000000

; Disable DCOM, close port 135
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OLE]
"EnableDCOM"="N"
"EnableRemoteConnections"="Y"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc]
"DCOM Protocols"=hex(7):00,00

; turn off WBEM event logging (not always a good idea)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WBEM\CIMOM]
"EnableEvents"="0"
"Logging"="0"

; installer doesn't log
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer]
"Logging"="voicewarmup"

; desktop icons are 32-bit color (xp only)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"Shell Icon BPP"="32"

; reduce animations
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"MinAnimate"="0"

@XtremeMaC: you beat me to the punch on the DivX stuff!

@a06lp: you're too tired to search too? well, here's the answer you wanted, tho there are other balloon and tooltips you can disable as well:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"StartButtonBalloonTip"=dword:00000000

[Jogy]

Would there be one to have "Open With ... " for every file on right click?

Thanks

[XtremeMaC]

yes there is, i had posted it i think if not i have seen it, and i use it

well okay here it is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\open]@="Open With Notepad"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\open\command]

@="Notepad.exe \"%1\""

[jokulhaups]

@Jogy: If you meant having the actual "Open With.." option appear on each file, instead of just those that Windows normally chooses, then this is the registry tweak I found on other MSFN forum somewhere:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\openas]
@="Open With..."

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\openas\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
 00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,72,00,75,00,\
 6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,25,00,53,\
 00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,\
 79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,\
 00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,4f,00,70,00,65,00,6e,00,41,00,\
 73,00,5f,00,52,00,75,00,6e,00,44,00,4c,00,4c,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,00

Also, be sure to put this in as well so that it doesn't appear twice for files that normally have it already:

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell]