10 Cool Windows Registry Tips and Tweaks






1. Default Mail Client

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell\open\command.
Under command, enter the full path to the email client then %1
c:\internet\Netscape\program\netscape.exe %1
c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe %1

2. Generate Program Fault Log

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FaultLogFile
Value should be the path and filename of the log file

3. Remove "Click here to begin"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoStartBanner
Set this hex value to 01,00,00,00

4. Disable Windows Animation

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Control Panel \Desktop \WindowMetrics\MinAnimate
Set this to 1

5. Full-Color Icons

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop\WindowMetrics\Shell Icon BPP
Give it a value of 16

6. Preview BMP images in Windows Explorer

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PAINT.PICTURE\DefaultIcon
Set value to "%1"

7. Windows Refresh Rate

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update\UpdateMode
Setting value to 00 will force an instant update to Windows Explorer.

8. Remove Hidden Shares

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\AutoShareServer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\AutoShareWks

Both of these REG_DWORD values set to 0 will prevent hidden shares from working (c$, etc.)

9. Outlook 2000/XP Restricted Filetypes

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security\Level1Remove

It is possible to add Filetypes back into the OK zone. This will allow you to open these attachments from Outlook (they won’t be blocked).
This key lists all of the file extensions that will be blocked by Outlook. You can edit this key to either remove extensions that you want access to or add extensions that you want to block.

10. Display the Number of Network Errors for a Network Connection

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\Connections\StatMon\ShowLanErrors
(Windows 2000)
You can display a LAN connection-error count on the General tab of the connection's Status dialog box in Win2K This REG_DWORD when set to 1 will display the errors that have occurred over a network connection. The default value is 0 will not display the errors. Note that the Errors field looks a little odd, because of a bug in how the Status dialog box accommodates the error information.


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