Monday, February 8, 2010

Quick Registry Tweaks

I'm sure, if you're reading this blog you're probably the resident IT geek around your friends and family.  That means you've probably done your fair share of system rebuilds for one reason or another.  I had my very own mother "punch the monkey" not long ago and spent a fair amount of time cleaning her system until she noted, "you could just erase everything.  There's nothing on there I need."  *sigh*  Well, that repair could have taken me 1 hour instead of 4 hours + 1 hour ;)  C'est la vie.

One of the things I hate about system builds is getting all the settings back the way I like them.  That started a quest for me a few years ago to compile all those tweaks into 1 registry file that I can apply to any system and have all my preferences set the way I like them.  Since I build all the systems for my immediate friends and family I'll just assume they like them too because they've never known anything different!

Here are the things that the registry file does:

  1. Adds an "Open with Notepad" option to the explorer context menu
  2. Adds a "CMD Prompt from HERE" option to the explorer context menu
  3. Adds "Copy To" and "Move To" options to the explorer context menu
  4. Turns OFF XP's search assistant making it operate like Windows 9x/2k
  5. It increases the maximum number of IE connections to 8.  Default is 2 or 3.
  6. It unhides all hidden, system, very hidden files and shows all file extensions
  7. It shows the full path in the window title and address bars
  8. Turns on the "Status Bar" in explorer
  9. It removes all the Windows XP visual affects (making the system faster)
  10. Turns on Tree View by default in Explorer
  11. Turns off the unused Desktop Icon notification
This is offered WITHOUT WARRANTY.  I have used it on every PC that I own.  I have used it on every PC at work.  It has worked perfectly for me.  Your mileage might vary.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
# General Security Tweak(s)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentcontrolSet\Control\Lsa]
"RestrictAnonymous"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentcontrolSet\Control\SecurePipeServers\win reg]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

# Add Copy To and Move To to the Explorer Context Menu
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To]
@="{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Move To]
@="{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"

# Open Explorer in Folder List View
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder]
"EditFlags"=dword:000003d2
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell]
@="explore"

# Add Open with Notepad to the Explorer Context Menu
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\opennotepad]
@="Open with Notepad"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\opennotepad\command]
@="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\NOTEPAD.EXE %1"

# Increase IE connections to 8
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000008

# Show the Status Bar
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"StatusBarOther"=dword:00000001

# Show Hidden, Very Hidden & Protected Operating System Files
# Show File Extensions
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Hidden"=dword:00000001
"HideFileExt"=dword:00000000
"SuperHidden"=dword:00000000
"DisableThumbnailCache"=dword:00000001
"ShowSuperHidden"=dword:00000001
"WebViewBarricade"=dword:00000001

# Show the full path in the address and title bar
# Turn of Clippy the Search Assistant
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState]
"Settings"=hex:0c,00,02,00,1b,01,e7,77,60,00,00,00
"FullPath"=dword:00000001
"FullPathAddress"=dword:00000001
"Use Search Asst"="no"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState]
"Use Search Asst"="no"

# Turn off the unused icons on your desktop notification
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz]
"NoRun"=dword:00000001

# Add CMD prompt from here to the Explorer context men

# Not friendly with Windows 7 -- will replace with update
# do not uncomment the following 2 key insertions
#[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\Command Prompt]
@="CMD prompt from here"

#[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\Command Prompt\command]
@="Cmd.exe /k pushd %L"

# Enable Quick Edit in CMD windows
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console]
"QuickEdit"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Console]
"QuickEdit"=dword:00000001

# Turn off visual effects to improve performance
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects]
"VisualFXSetting"=dword:00000002

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\AnimateMinMax]
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\ComboBoxAnimation]
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\CursorShadow]
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\DragFullWindows]
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\DropShadow]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\FontSmoothing]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\ListBoxSmoothScrolling]
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\ListviewAlphaSelect]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\ListviewShadow]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\ListviewWatermark]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\MenuAnimation]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\SelectionFade]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\TaskbarAnimations]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\Themes]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\TooltipAnimation]
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\WebView]
"DefaultApplied"=dword:00000001



Cut and paste the code above into a file with a .REG extension.  Then you can double-click the file to apply the changes.

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