What changes do YOU make to every Windows?

[BenoitRen]

plz don't start one of these "which browser is the best"-threads.

I'm not. Any browser but IE-powered ones.

[Fredledingue]

Reading what Drugwash is doing to his OS, I can say that there are poeple doing wierd things on their computer.

Why disabling the dustbin? Never have to restore any item?

[Drugwash]

People got used to doing things - sometimes very stupid things - just because they are aware of the "safety net" offered by the Recycle Bin function and they just don't care that much. "No problem, it's in the garbage; I can bring it back".

Well, I think I became much more responsible since giving up the "safety net", as it forces me to think twice and also mind my clicks, before doing anything dangerous. Maybe that's why my Win98SE system has been in place for more than 2 years without any major revision, while most people I know reinstall their OS every 6 months if not more often. It's been only 2 years because old HDD crashed at that time. And that machine has been used mostly for testing alpha software - crashes, instant reboots, freezes requiring RESET have been the daily menu for all this time.

[os2fan2]

Put registry into the control panel, along with tweak ui. This is c_regedit.cpl

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{819C8FC5-3D36-4d9a-B626-5CE2AD811463}]
@="Registry"
"InfoTip"="Registry Editor"
"{305CA226-D286-468e-B848-2B2E8E697B74} 2"=dword:00000005
; fiddle with the end -05 to change the location in the control categories.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{819C8FC5-3D36-4d9a-B626-5CE2AD811463}\DefaultIcon]
@="regedit.exe,0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{819C8FC5-3D36-4d9a-B626-5CE2AD811463}\Shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{819C8FC5-3D36-4d9a-B626-5CE2AD811463}\Shell\Open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{819C8FC5-3D36-4d9a-B626-5CE2AD811463}\Shell\Open\command]
@="regedit.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace\{819C8FC5-3D36-4d9a-B626-5CE2AD811463}]
@="Add Registry to Control Panel"

[Fredledingue]

People got used to doing things - sometimes very stupid things - just because they are aware of the "safety net" offered by the Recycle Bin function and they just don't care that much. "No problem, it's in the garbage; I can bring it back".

Well, I think I became much more responsible since giving up the "safety net", as it forces me to think twice and also mind my clicks, before doing anything dangerous. Maybe that's why my Win98SE system has been in place for more than 2 years without any major revision, while most people I know reinstall their OS every 6 months if not more often. It's been only 2 years because old HDD crashed at that time. And that machine has been used mostly for testing alpha software - crashes, instant reboots, freezes requiring RESET have been the daily menu for all this time.

Then I guess you have an "Undelete" software icon on your desktop instead.

Because I can't imagine someone deciding to throw a system file in the dustbin...

[Drugwash]

There is no "undelete" software installed on my machine whatsoever. That'd be just a different kind of safety net, which is unacceptable (for me).

[Fredledingue]

drugWash, I was kidding...

I'm just wondering how you do without recycle bin... do still press Shift+Del when you are 100% sure you want to delete the file? How psychologicaly this affected your computer life... Is it like a yoga or something?

Do you consider yourself an "uber geek" or a "high tech masochist"?

You realy NEVER need to undelete anything or do think "my fault anyway, should have known before"?

[nosepicker]

I use XP now but i used to do the following in ME and 98:

MSDOS.SYS:

BootDelay=0

Logo=0

DblSpace=0

DrvSpace=0

Disable all Win Sounds and also SwapFile if RAM is +512 MB.

Disable unneeded things in BIOS like COM and LPT ports.

th

[Drugwash]

I like to have a logo, it gives the machine some personality.

Monsieur Fred, I see you're still in the mood for jokes. I'm not trying to prove anything and certainly do not want to drive this thread off-topic.

Regarding permanent file deletion, I got used to it by using Total Commander which has the option to always delete files permanently. I like to have control of my system and not the other way around. Used to run Win95 on a 486 with max 528MB HDD, so hunting for free space was in the daily menu. I needed to know exactly how much free space I got after deleting unneeded files, but I always hated using keys with Windows. TotCmd allows me to do 99.8% of the operations only with mouse clicks, permanently deleting files included.

So I guess old habits die hard. That's all.

P.S. Please try not to mock my (nick)name, as it has absolutely nothing to do with what you're trying to imply. Thank you.