Start Menu, icons, folders, printer, file sharing

[NOTS3W]

Anyone? (4 through 8 below)

5/22: Some successes. I've added a few additional requests for help below.

I've been searching for weeks for the final few tweaks for my unattended XP Home compilation. Some I've found but they don't work (could be my Virtual PC test environment). Others I simply cannot find. Does anyone have any that work to accomplish these tasks?

I'd like to do this through registry tweaks just because I know how to set them up.

I've tried using regshot, but that either tells me that nothing's changed, unrelated items have changed, or hundreds of things have changed. It's never pointed me to a key I could just change and see the desired result.

1. I setup Administrator with a blank password, myself as an Admin-group user to autologon with no password, and made Guest inactive. Windows logs me on automatically but when I log off, I only have myself on the Welcome screen. No Administrator, I cannot switch users. I tried setting this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Show Administrator on the Welcome Screen 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList]
"Administrator"=dword:00000001

but I still don't get Administrator on the Welcome screen when I log off or switch users. -- Sort of success. Based on responses below and my own testing, I gave up on this one.

2. -- SUCCESS (see below) -- I cannot get small icons on the Classic Start Menu, after setting it in nLite AND trying this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Use small icons on Start Menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_LargeMFUIcons"=dword:00000000

but I CAN get them if I right-click the Start button and set it manually, so I know it's possible.

3. -- SUCCESS (see below) -- Same for QuickLaunch. I can turn it on manually, but I cannot do so through the unattended process.

4. -- Still need some help here. -- This one is very frustrating. I want to turn off the recent docs list but not remove the Documents entry on the Start Menu. This sounded good:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; No Recent Docs menu removes the recent documents from the start menu.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsMenu"=dword:00000001

but leaves me without a Documents option altogether. What I REALLY want is this:

My Files.....My Documents
             My Music
             My Pictures
             My Videos

each as a link to a folder of my choice. I've seen ways to change the locations of those items, but I cannot find a tweak that works to actually set them as links, include them on the Documents menu, and/or let me change "Documents" to "Files" or "My Files". Maybe I'm asking for the impossible. In the past, I've just created shortcuts to the folders and put the shortcuts on the MFU list (Classic Start Menu) but it would be much better as described above.

If anyone knows of obvious tweaks I've missed, I truly apologize for taking up bandwidth. I've scoured lists, threads, sites and even tried a few of my own ideas that I thought might work. It's possible I've overlooked something, but I don't think so. I'm still stuck on ten things (there are six more I haven't even mentioned) that I just can't get right. I think I've made about 80 or 90 modifications from what I've learned, though.

Can someone PLEASE help me so I can finally get a good night's sleep?

Thanks, guys.

Ray

5/22: Some more things I need help with:

5. I'd like to sort the desktop icons by type so that the recycle bin ends up on the left side of the screen where it belongs, IMHO. I've tried this:

;Sort desktop icons by Type
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\Desktop]
"Sort"=dword:00000002

and it inserts the value into the registry fine, but doesn't do anything. Is there a way to arrange the desktop icons from a command line?

6. I have all of my folders set to Details view but I want to change one (Control Panel) to Icons view. I've discovered that if I set the Fonts folder to Details, each time I re-open it, it's back to Icons view. I'd like to have the Control Panel act the same way or let me set that one folder individually through a registry tweak.

7. I have an HP 722C printer attached to my PC. I need a way to force Windows to look for and install the drivers without stopping at the New Hardware Found Wizard. HP says there are no drivers needed to download because XP has all of the required drivers. Indeed, if I go through the wizard, Windows finds two drivers, one for HP 720C and one for HP 722C. How can I install the driver through the unattended process and persuade Windows to think the printer is no longer NEW hardware?

8. How do I automatically turn on file sharing for all of my drives? (This is XP Home, BTW) I have two computers on a home network and I share all drives on both computers. (There's a firewall between that network and the Internet.) I can turn it on manually and I've used NET USE to map the other computer's drives, but NET SHARE doesn't work to create a shared resource. Or I don't know how to make it work.

Again, thanks for any help or advice you can offer. I'm learning a lot.

Ray

Edited May 26, 2007 by NOTS3W

[dll32]

Here's the start menu tweaks I use:

; Start Menu
; ---------------------------------------------------

; Start menu Items: Hide/Show/Cascade.
; dword: 00000000= Don't display 
; dword: 00000001= Display as a link (Default)
; dword: 00000002= Display as a menu (Cascade)

; Show My Documents

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_ShowMyDocs"=dword:00000001

; Show My Music

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_ShowMyMusic"=dword:00000001

; Show My Pictures

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_ShowMyPics"=dword:00000001

; removes the recent documents from the start menu.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsMenu"=dword:00000001

; Set icon size for start menu , 1 = Large / 0 = Small Icons
; Note: Value set to 0 (Small Icons)

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

and for QuickLaunch:

; Enable "Quick Launch Bar" right at first logon

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop]
"TaskbarWinXP"=hex:0c,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,b0,e2,2b,\
d8,64,57,d0,11,a9,6e,00,c0,4f,d7,05,a2,22,00,1c,00,0a,01,00,00,1a,00,00,00,\
01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,01,14,02,00,00,\
00,00,00,c0,00,00,00,00,00,00,46,83,00,00,00,10,00,00,00,a0,b0,48,5e,89,8d,\
bd,01,00,d8,9e,e4,2a,8d,bd,01,00,45,fe,5e,89,8d,bd,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,13,01,14,00,1f,0f,e0,4f,\
d0,20,ea,3a,69,10,a2,d8,08,00,2b,30,30,9d,19,00,23,44,3a,5c,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,cd,97,15,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,af,24,5c,\
b9,10,80,57,69,6e,6e,74,00,00,20,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,af,24,a3,b9,10,00,50,\
72,6f,66,69,6c,65,73,00,50,52,4f,46,49,4c,45,53,00,19,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,\
c1,24,08,92,10,00,69,65,35,30,30,2e,30,30,30,00,00,28,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,\
c1,24,08,92,10,00,41,70,70,6c,69,63,61,74,69,6f,6e,20,44,61,74,61,00,41,50,\
50,4c,49,43,7e,31,00,21,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,c5,22,9d,91,10,00,4d,69,63,72,\
6f,73,6f,66,74,00,4d,49,43,52,4f,53,7e,31,00,29,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,d3,22,\
32,a6,10,00,49,6e,74,65,72,6e,65,74,20,45,78,70,6c,6f,72,65,72,00,49,4e,54,\
45,52,4e,7e,31,00,24,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,db,22,76,ba,10,00,51,75,69,63,6b,\
20,4c,61,75,6e,63,68,00,51,55,49,43,4b,4c,7e,31,00,00,00,8d,00,00,00,1c,00,\
00,00,01,00,00,00,1c,00,00,00,36,00,00,00,0d,f0,ad,ba,8c,00,00,00,1a,00,00,\
00,03,00,00,00,e7,18,2d,23,10,00,00,00,49,45,35,30,30,5f,58,31,43,00,43,3a,\
5c,57,49,4e,4e,54,5c,50,72,6f,66,69,6c,65,73,5c,49,45,35,30,30,2e,30,30,30,\
5c,41,70,70,6c,69,63,61,74,69,6f,6e,20,44,61,74,61,5c,4d,69,63,72,6f,73,6f,\
66,74,5c,49,6e,74,65,72,6e,65,74,20,45,78,70,6c,6f,72,65,72,5c,51,75,69,63,\
6b,20,4c,61,75,6e,63,68,00,00,10,00,00,00,05,00,00,a0,1a,00,00,00,a3,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,cc,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,\
4a,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,40,00,32,00,e6,01,00,00,c4,24,15,9f,20,00,4c,61,75,\
6e,63,68,20,49,6e,74,65,72,6e,65,74,20,45,78,70,6c,6f,72,65,72,20,42,72,6f,\
77,73,65,72,2e,6c,6e,6b,00,4c,41,55,4e,43,48,7e,32,2e,4c,4e,4b,00,00,00,40,\
00,00,00,02,00,00,00,36,00,32,00,48,02,00,00,c4,24,15,9f,20,00,4c,61,75,6e,\
63,68,20,4f,75,74,6c,6f,6f,6b,20,45,78,70,72,65,73,73,2e,6c,6e,6b,00,4c,41,\
55,4e,43,48,7e,31,2e,4c,4e,4b,00,00,00,36,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,2c,00,32,00,\
51,00,00,00,ec,22,46,39,20,00,53,68,6f,77,20,44,65,73,6b,74,6f,70,2e,73,63,\
66,00,53,48,4f,57,44,45,7e,31,2e,53,43,46,00,00,00,52,00,00,00,e0,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,16,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,16,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,00,aa,4f,28,68,48,6a,d0,11,8c,78,00,c0,4f,d9,18,b4,37,02,\
00,00,e0,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,16,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,16,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00

for 1, i use the same one as you, and it works for me on my virtual environment

if that might help, i use virtualbox, www.virtualbox.org

[amocanu]

On Windows XP Home, the Administrator account is aviable only in safe mode. So tweak no. 1 is not usefull on xp home

Edited May 19, 2007 by amocanu

[NOTS3W]

@dll32,

That worked for the Quick Launch bar. Thank you. Actually, I'd tried that same tweak from within the VPC session previously and nothing happened so I never added it to my unattended install until today. I tried it on blind faith and it worked! One down.

The other tweaks weren't so successful. Everything is there in the registry, but I don't have any Documents entry on the Start Menu. And I still have the big icons on the Classic Start Menu.

Are you using XP Home? Do you have a password set for Administrator? See below.

I tried VirtualBox about six weeks ago when I started learning about unattended installs and had some trouble with it so I switched to Virtual PC. I don't recall what the problem was and may try it again.

@amocanu,

You may be correct and maybe that's why I'm seeing what I'm seeing. In nLite, I set Administrator as Active with no password. I also set the registry as I said in my first post. After startup (it signs me on automatically without going to the welcome screen), if I switch users, I can see Administrator on the Welcome screen but it won't let me switch to Administrator without entering a password (which I didn't set). It just keeps asking if I've forgotten my password. If I log myself off, I see Administrator, too. Then if I try to sign on as Administrator (blank password), I get a GINA logon window and a Logon message window with "Unable to log you on because of an account restriction." I suppose the account restriction may be that Administrator can't log on unless in safe mode.

Thank you both for your responses. I appreciate the help.

Ray

[dll32]

I use WinXp Pro, that might be the reason the admin tweak doesn't work for you

I've missed that you wanted tweaks for the classic start menu, so here you have the tweak for small icons:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2]

for big

"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,02,00,00,00,03,00,...

for small

"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,06,00,00,00,03,00,...

about the documents i don't know

Edited May 21, 2007 by dll32

[NOTS3W]

I use WinXp Pro, that might be the reason the admin tweak doesn't work for you

I've missed that you wanted tweaks for the classic start menu, so here you have the tweak for small icons:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2]

for big

"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,02,00,00,00,03,00,...

for small

"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,06,00,00,00,03,00,...

about the documents i don't know

That didn't work either, for me. Nothing changes when I change that byte, even after a reboot. If I change to small icons manually, the change takes effect immediately but that registry key doesn't reflect the change until I reboot. It looks like something gets changed somewhere else and on rebooting the system, that key gets loaded with the current setting.

Another observation about the Administrator appearance on the Welcome screen: It eventually just goes away but comes back when I reboot. I left the system up and untouched for about 12 hours. When I came back, there was no Administrator on the Welcome screen. After I rebooted, it's back. Doesn't work any better, but it's back. LOL. Evidently, amocanu is right and I need to just give up on this one.

Thanks for your efforts. I do appreciate it.

Ray

[uid0]

StuckRects2 gets written when you click shutdown - so cancel the shutdown, and then copy out the registry key.

[NOTS3W]

Well, more success. I tried

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2]

for big
"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,02,00,00,00,03,00,...

for small
"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,06,00,00,00,03,00,...

from the desktop and it did nothing. So I added it to my ISO (what the heck, Quick Launch wouldn't work either until I tried it in my last installation) and IT WORKED! I now have small icons on my classic start menu on a virtual pc session.

I wish I'd have known that a few weeks ago. I guess some of these things you gotta learn by trial and error.

Note to anyone who cares: Even if a tweak doesn't look like it works when tested on a running system, it might work when it's included in the installation.

Many thanks.

Ray

[NOTS3W]

Any other ideas?