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Software are the easiest way to tweak Windows, this guide will tell you to apply different fast customizations to Windows with buying any software at all. Although the tweaking software are easy to use, but they have their limitations. For example if some malicious code (virus) changes your registry keys, then you have to manually fix them. All of these tips are tested on Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2 (Version 5.1.2600), these tips should theoretically work for other Microsoft Operating Systems as well. Before applying any changes in the registry don't forget to backup it first.

Here are some of the most wanted customizations:

• Where Did My Folder Options Go?
• Get Rid of Low Disk Space Messages
• Quick Access to Your Favorite Folder
• Add Administrator Account to Log In Screen
• Speed up the Menu
• Remove Shutdown Icon From Start Menu
• Shortcut to Shutdown
• Modify Shutdown Time For Services To Close
• Remove Context Menu
• Frequently Asked Questions

Where Did My Folder Options Go?

Some viruses/worms remove the folder options available at Tools>Folder Options in the Windows Explorer, in this case if your files are already hidden you are unable to view them, big trouble. Here is the solution:

• Go to Start>Run and type "regedit" (without quotations), the Registry Editor window will open
• Now keep on expanding each level:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
• When you expand Explorer option, you will find a key named "NoFolderOptions"
• Double click on the key to open it  and assign it a Hexadecimal value "0" (zero, without quotations)

NOTE: If you were unable to find "NoFolderOptions" key in the specified path than look in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies

Get Rid of Low Disk Space Messages

This is one of the most annoying messages faced by Window's users.

• Start>Run>regedit
• Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
• If there is no DWORD value, then create a new DWORD value called “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks” (Right Click>new>DWORD Value).
• Double click on it to assign a decimal value 1.
• Tada……Re-login or Restart to see the effect of changes you just applied.

Quick Access to Your Favorite Folder

If you had to access a folder several times and you don’t want to put short cut on the desktop, then you can make your own Run command. All you have to do is:

• Fist copy your favorite folder
• Now go to your Windows/System32 directory, by default it is C:/windows/system32. Paste the copied folder as a short cut.
• You can rename it for quick access e.g. songs
• Now go to Start>Run and type name that you gave to the folder in previous step. You see that the folder is now open on your screen

Add Administrator Account to Log In Screen

By default, in Windows XP, Administrator account is not visible at the welcome screen. You have to explicitly press Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the welcome screen to switch to classic view, to login as admin. Alternately there is also a registry fix for this.

• Open Registry Editor (Start>Run>regedit)
• Go to:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
• Right click and create a new DWORD entry "Administrator" (without quotations)
• Assign it a Hexadecimal value 1.
• Now an Administrator option will appear at the login screen. If you want to disable it at any time assign 0 to the newly created "Administrator" key

Speed up the Menu

Sometimes start menu responds too slow, to increase its speed follow these steps:

• Open the Windows Registry Editor
• Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
• Look for a key named "MenuShowDelay", if it is not there than create a new key of string value type
• Now right click and modify it, by default it is 400 set it to any suitable value, but not less than 0. For low values you will have to wait less.

Remove Shutdown Icon From Start Menu

You can remove shutdown icon from start and also prevent its access through Alt+F4 keys. All you have to do is:

• Open the registry editor (Start>Run>regedit)
• Now go to the location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\windows\current version\policies\Explorer
• When you will click on the explorer there will be two files on the right side. Here right click on empty space new=>DWORD VALUE, name it "noclose"
• After naming it, again right click and modify. When you click on modify, a new window will open, give a Hexadecimal value "1".
• Click on ok and close the window. Now restart the system. After restarting when you look in the start menu, you see that the shutdown icon has disappeared.

Shortcut to Shutdown

First of all right click on the desktop. Create a new shortcut. Now type the following line:
Shutdown –s –t 05 –c "type your own custom message here"
You can display a message while shutting down. You can also set the number of seconds the message will display on screen.

Modify Shutdown Time for Services to Close

Windows waits for a certain time to let running processes terminate, you can decrease this time:

• Open registry editor (Start>Run>regedit)
• Go to:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
• On the right hand side, look for a key named "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
• Right click and modify it. By default it is set to 20,000 (milliseconds). You can set it to a lower or higher value depending on your requirement

Remove Context Menu

You can remove the right click option just like removing shut down option.

• First of all go to the registry editor (regedit).
• Now go to the following location:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\windows\current version\policies\Explorer
• When you will click on the explorer there will be two files on the right side. Right click on empty space and select new=>DWORD VALUE, name it "noviewcontextmenu"
• Now again right click and select modify. Give a Hexadecimal value "1".
• Close the window and restart the system. After restarting when you again came on the desktop you saw that the right click option is disabled. You can disable the right click option on you friend’s PC just for a joke and he thought that there is a problem in mouse he he he lol. :-)

FAQ

Registry Editing Has Been Disabled by Administrator

While opening the Windows Registry Editor (Start>Run>regedit) sometimes you get this error message. This can mean only two things ether you do not have sufficient privileges to perform the operation. In that case contact you system administrator. The other reason could be a virus. To fix this perform the following steps:

• Open command prompt, type type cmd in Start>Run
• Issue the following command:
  REG DELETE HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\System /v DisableRegistryTools
  if not found over there, then:
  REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Pol icies\System /v DisableRegistryTools
  You will get a message about deleting a registry value. Delete it.
• Next time regedit should be assessable

Unable to Open Task Manager

Apart from your privileges sometimes even the task manager gets disabled by certain viruses, along with the Windows Registry Editor. Stuck :-( ,  not exactly. All you have to do is issue the following command on Start>Run:
REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

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