Windows XP Customize Interface Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Remove "Help and Support" link from XP Start Menu

If you would like to remove the help and support link from the Start Menu, here's how:

Right click the Taskbar
Choose Properties
In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window, select the Start Menu tab
Click the Customize button
In the Customize Start Menu window, choose the Advanced tab
Uncheck the Help and Support option (see image below)
Click OK, then OK again to exit the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window

If you would like to add an additional item to your Send To menu, you need to add a shortcut to the SendTo folder. Here's how:

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: sendto [Enter]
Right click a blank space within the SendTo folder.
Click New>> Shortcut.
Follow the Create Short Cut wizards onscreen instructions to create a new shortcut.
Close the SendTo folder window.

This newly created shortcut will now appear in your Send To menu.

To delete a shortcut from the Send To menu:

Go to Start>> Run: Type in: sendto [Enter]
Find the item that you would like to delete.
Right click the item and select Delete.

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Clear unwanted items from the "Open With" list

When you right click a file, you may see an option called 'Open With', which lists a number of programs on your computer to open that file with. If you would like to remove some of these options from this list, here's how:

Warning: The following tip involves editing the Windows Registry. Please make sure that you make a backup copy of the registry prior to making any changes.

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: REGEDIT [Enter] or Click OK.
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ FileExts
Click once on the 'FileExts' entry to empty its contents into the right pane.
Find the extension you wish to edit and click on the "+" sign to expand OpenWithList (see Figure #1)
Right click on the one that you would like to delete, then select Delete.

Figure #1

Note: Deleting the item from the above registry key may not remove it from the Open With list. Some items may still reside in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry key which is common for all user profiles.

Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ .xxx \ OpenWithList (Where .xxx is a file extension)
When you find the desired entry, right click and select Delete.

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Adding a special character

If you ever find the need to use a special character such as; ® or ©. Instead of opening up your character map each time you need to insert one of these symbols, there are shortcuts available that can be a great time saver. Here's how:

Go to Start>> All Programs>> Accessories>> System Tools>> Character Map.
Click the © symbol
At the bottom right corner, you will notice the keyboard shortcut used to insert this character. Be sure to write it down for future use.

To insert the character using the keyboard shortcut:

Position the cursor where you would like to insert the special character.
With NUM LOCK key on, hold down the ALT key and use the number pad keys to type the character value.

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Move The Cursor Without A Mouse

If you would like to try out using your mouse with only your keyboard, Windows makes this option available to you. The utility is called MouseKeys. MouseKeys uses your numeric keypad to control the mouse cursor. This can be a handy feature if you are needing better accuracy while designing graphics. MouseKeys allows you to move the cursor pixel by pixel across the screen. Here is how to activate the MouseKeys feature:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Accessibility Options
Click the Mouse tab
Place a checkmark in the box titled: Use MouseKeys
Click the settings button to adjust the pointer speed
Click OK

Now you can use your numeric keypad to control your mouse cursor.

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Unhide Components in Add/Remove Programs

You can uninstall many Windows components using the Add or Remove Programs.

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Add/Remove Programs

While searching for old programs to delete from your system, you'll probably notice that some components are not there. Well, they really are there, Windows just has them hidden. The most common Windows program that is hidden and marked for removal by many PC users is MSN Messenger. Here's how you can tell Windows not to hide these components.

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: notepad.exe C:\windows\inf\sysoc.inf
In notepad, select Edit from the toolbar.
Click the Replace button.
In the "Find What" text area type HIDE
Leave the "Replace With" text area blank.
Click Replace All.
Exit the Replace window.
In notepad again, select File from the toolbar and click Save.

All of the hidden Windows components will now be visible in Add/Remove programs.

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Brand XP

My new HP came loaded with an OEM version of XP on it. I noticed that they had their own icon under Run in the start menu. If you would like to brand your PC with your own clickable icon that will take you wherever you would like to go (eg: website, program), just follow the simple instructions below:

Note: This involves a registry tweak, please take all precautions by backing up your registry prior to making any changes to it.

Start up Notepad and insert the following information via copy and paste:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="YOUR TITLE HERE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="YOUR ICON HERE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{3f454f0e-42ae-4d7c-8ea3-328250d6e272}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="YOUR TITLE HERE"
"Param1"="YOUR FUNCTION HERE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:00000000
Edit where it says YOUR ICON HERE to a path to an icon (ex. c:\\5staricon.ico), it must be 24x24 pixels and in *.ico format. Use double back slash for path names.
Edit both places where it says YOUR TITLE HERE to what you want it to say in the Start Menu (eg: 5 Star Support).
Edit where it says YOUR FUNCTION here to what you want it to do when you click it, it can be anything... your website, a local HTML document, a program, a Windows function, whatever your imagination can provide (eg: http://www.5starsupport.com).
Save this file as brand.reg, double-click it to enter in your information into the registry then refresh Explorer (log off/on) to see it in the Start Menu! This will work in both Home and Professional editions.

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Turn Off IE Clicking Noise

Microsoft has added an audible clicking sound when activating a link. If you become annoyed by this clicking sound after awhile, you can turn it off. Here's how:

Start>> Control Panel>> Sounds and Audio Devices.
Select the Sound tab.
Scroll down to the section for Windows Explorer.
Click the event called "Start Navigation," and change the setting to "none" from the dropdown box.
Click OK to apply the change.

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No To All Option

We all have seen the "Yes To All" option when saving files. Have you ever needed a "No To All" option? This is an undocumented feature, but it does exist. All you need to do is hold down the SHIFT key and click the No button. This will tell Windows Explorer "No To All".

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New Programs Highlight in Start Menu

By default, a new program that is loaded to your system, Windows XP highlights it in the Start Menu so that it can be easily found. If you find this annoying and would like to stop the new program from automatically being highlighted, here's how:

Right click the Start button
Select Properties
Choose the Start Menu tab and then click the Customize button
In the Customize Start Menu window, click the Advanced tab
Under 'Start Menu Settings' uncheck the "Highlight newly installed programs" entry

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Turn Off Autoeject

When burning a CD and the data-writing is complete, Windows will automatically eject your CD. If this is an annoying feature to you, it can easily be disabled. Here's how:

Go to Start>> My Computer
Right click the appropriate CD/DVD drive, then select Properties
Select the Recording tab, then uncheck "Automatically Eject The CD After Writing"
Click OK (it may be necessary for you to reboot your system for this to take effect)

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Enable CD burning service

Windows XP gives you the ability to burn CDs without adding additional software. However, this feature isn't enabled by default. Here's how to start the service:

Go to Start>> Administrative Tools>> Services.
Right-click IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service, then choose Properties.
Change the Startup Type to Automatic.
Select Start>> click OK.
Reboot your system

To burn files to a CD-R or CD-RW, individually select the desired files and/or folders and drag them to the CD burner device. Right-click the device, and choose Write These Files To CD. To empty the burn queue, simply right click the device and choose Delete temporary Files. IMAPI: Image Mastering Applications Programming Interface

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Switch Users without the Welcome Screen

If you would like to switch users quickly without going through the welcome screen to do it, here's an alternate method:

Press CTRL + ALT + Delete on your keyboard to access the Task Manager
Click the User tab
Right click the user you would like to switch to and then select Connect from the resulting menu.

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Disable password when returning from Standby

When resuming from hibernation or Standby mode, you can bypass the password prompt by going to:

Start>> Control Panel>> Power Options>> Advanced tab>> Uncheck the entry "Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby".

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Arrange two windows side-by-side

If you would like to arrange two windows side-by-side, just click the taskbar button of one of the windows, then right click on the taskbar button of the second windows and select "Tile Vertically" from the resulting menu.

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Remove shortcut arrow from desktop icons

If you would like to remove the shortcut arrows from your desktop icons, here's how:

Warning: The following tip requires a registry edit. Mistakes made in the Windows registry can cause serious problems with your operating system. Be sure to make a backup copy of your registry prior to making any changes.

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
Drill down to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile

Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

Note: This may require a system restart.

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Do Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs

If you would like to turn off the popup that alerts you to newly installed software, here's how:

Right click the Start button>> Properties>> Start Menu tab>> Customize button.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under the "Start menu settings" category, uncheck the entry titled "Highlight newly installed programs".
Click OK, then OK once again.

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Local Group Policy Editor

(Professional Edition only)
Hidden within your hard drive is a very powerful tool that will allow you to modify virtually every feature in Windows XP. It's called Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit). To invoke this tool:

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: gpedit.msc [Enter] or click OK.

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Keep Favorites At The Top Of Start Menu

If you have a certain program that you use frequently and would like to be able to find it quickly and easily. Just pin it to your Start Menu where it can be found in one click. Here's how:

Locate the program that you would like to pin to the start menu.
Right click the program and select "Pin to Start Menu" from the resulting menu.

It will now permanently reside in the top left pane of your Start Menu. To remove this item from the Start Menu, just right click it and select Delete.

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Change the Registered Owner information

When you install Windows XP, you are requested to enter your name and organization (optional) information. This registration information can be viewed here:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> System>> General tab.

If you need to change this information after Windows has been set up, it will be necessary to change it in the Windows registry.

Caution: Prior to making changes in the Windows registry, be sure to make a backup copy. Making errors while following this information can create serious problems in your Windows installation. Continue at your own risk.

Change the Registered Owner information in Windows XP:

Click Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter]
Drill down to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
Single click the "CurrentVersion" entry to empty its contents into the right pane.
In the right pane, locate and double click the entry "RegisteredOrganization".
Under the "Value data" type the new name that you would like to use. Click OK.
Go to File at the top and click Exit.

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Launch a program minimized or maximized

Windows XP lets you choose how you would like to display a program when launched. The choices you have are:

Minimized
Maximized
Normal

Here is how you can apply this setting:

Go to Start
Right click the program that you would like to launch
Select Properties from the resulting window
Select the Shortcut tab
Open the pull down menu in the "Run:" text box
Select the window launch option, then click OK

Your program will now launch the way that you have pre-selected.

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Create a customized default user profile

When you logon to Windows XP for the first time, Windows uses a template to store the information you have inputted to customize your Windows XP experience. However, if multiple users would like to have their own customized profile on the same machine, you would need to modify the default user profile to accommodate these new users.

Warning: Be careful when editing the default user profile. The change is permanent, so it is a good idea to make a backup copy of it so that it can easily be returned to its original configuration in the event something goes wrong.

How to create the customized default user profile:

Logon as Administrator, then create a local user account.

Note: Many of the files in the profile are hidden by default, you may need to turn on the option for showing hidden files and folders, here's how:

Go to Start>> My Computer>> Tools>> Folder Options.

Click the View tab

Under Advanced settings, click the Show Hidden files and folders option.

Click OK.

Logoff of the Administrator account, then log back on using the local account information that you've just created.

Note: Step #2 is important because if you change the default user profile while logged on as Administrator, you will cause permission issues.

Go to Start>> My Computer>> Local Drive (usually C:/) >> Documents and Settings>> Default User.
Modify the Template settings as you wish. This will make all new users share the same default settings.
Logoff the system, then log back on as Administrator.
You will now need to replace the current default user profile with the one that you have just created, here's how:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> System>> Advanced tab

Under User Profiles, click the Settings button.

Under Profiles stored on this computer, click the profile that you've just created. Then, click the "Copy To" button.

In the "Copy To" window and under the "Copy profile to" option, click the Browse button.

In the "Browse doe Folder window, find your default user folder (C:\Documents and Settings\Default User folder)

Click OK.

Back in the "Copy To" window and under the "Permitted to use" option, click the Change button.

In the resulting window, click Everyone and then click OK.

Note: If the "Everyone" option is not listed, choose the Advanced option, then click "Find Now". You should now see the Everyone option. Click OK.

Now, when a new user logs on to the computer, Windows XP will use the customized default user profile.

Note: This template folder can be copied to any Windows XP based machine.

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Disable New Programs Installed message

Right click the Start button
Select Properties
Choose Customize
Click the Advanced tab
In the Start menu settings category, uncheck the entry titled: Highlight newly installed programs
Click OK

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Enable ClearType

Microsoft states, "With Windows XP, ClearType delivers improved font display resolution over traditional anti-aliasing. It improves readability on color LCD monitors with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat desktop displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved."

Here is a are the steps to enable ClearType for Windows XP:

Right click on the desktop and select Properties
Click on the Appearance tab.
Click on the Effects button.
Put a check on the Use the following methods to smooth edges of screen fonts.
Change the value from standard to ClearType.
Open up IE and you will see a difference.

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Disable Caps Lock

To disable the caps lock, follow the instructions below:

Open Notepad and insert the following information:

====Begin cut-and-paste (omit this line)
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]

"ScanCode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00
====End cut-and-paste (omit this line)

Save the file to your desktop and name it; DisableCapsLock.reg
To insert the information contained in this file, right-click and select "merge" or simply double-click the file. You must either restart your system or log off and back on again before the system will recognize the new mapping data.

You can delete the file from your desktop is you wish by simply right clicking and select Delete.

Note: Do not use if you've already remapped other keys, because you'll lose those remappings!

Works in Windows XP and 2000 only.

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Assign a Keyboard Shortcut

This tip provides instruction on how to create a keyboard shortcut for a program in Windows XP. This feature works only with program shortcuts on the desktop or the Start menu. This feature does not work if the desktop shortcut is a shortcut to another shortcut.

Right-click the desktop or start menu shortcut, and then click Properties.
On the Shortcut tab, click in the Shortcut Key box.
Press the keyboard combination that you want to use to start the program. The shortcut combination must consist of one character (a letter, number, or symbol) plus at least two of the following three keys: CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT.
Click Apply then OK.

Note: The default combination is CTRL+ALT; if you press only a character key, Windows XP automatically adds CTRL+ALT. To use other combinations of the three required keys, press those keys before you press the character key. A keyboard shortcut does not work if it conflicts with a keyboard combination that is used in the program that is currently active.

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Customize the Windows XP Start Menu

Windows XP makes it possible to keep your favorite programs within easy to find within the Start Menu. For those programs that you use a lot, you will not have to search through your favorites to find them, just simply Pin them to your Start Menu.

A handy tool to have pinned to the Start Menu is the Windows XP Calculator. So, let's use that as our example for today's tip.

To pin Calculator to the Start menu:

1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.

2. Click Accessories and point to Calculator.

3. Right-click Calculator and click Pin to Start menu.

4. Click anywhere on the desktop to quit the Start menu.

That's it! This method will work for any program on your computer.

To remove the Calculator from your Start Menu:

1. Go to Start

2. Right-click Calculator and select Unpin from Start menu.

3. Click anywhere on the desktop to quit the Start menu.

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Use your own picture for your User Account

If there are multiple user accounts on your computer. Windows makes it easy for your to use your own picture to be associated with your user account. Here's how:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> User Accounts
Select your account from the User Accounts window
You should be at the User Accounts windows that asks the question; "What do you want to change about your account? Select the "Change my picture" link.
At the "Pick a new picture for your account" window, Select "Browse for more pictures"
Navigate to the picture that you would like to use, then select "Open"

The selected graphic will now appear on the Welcome Screen and Start Menu.

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Alphabetize Your All Programs Menu

Have you ever searched your programs menu and found it difficult to find what you're looking for? That's pretty common. We all enjoy finding new programs and using them on our computers. The problem is that when you load lots of them, it can be very difficult finding them in the All Programs menu. It may help if you alphabetize the All Programs menu, here's how:

Go to Start>> All Programs
Right click any of the listed programs
From the resulting right click menu, select "Sort By Names"

All of your programs will now be alphabetically sorted.

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Remap Your Keyboard

If you would like to make a certain key function like a different key, you can use this simple little utility (below) to drag and drop your keyboard function changes. For example; you would like to make the Page Down key function as a Tab key. Not a problem, drag and drop the Tab key from the upper base keyboard layout down to the Page Down key in the remapped layout. Press the Save and Exit icon in the toolbar. You will then be prompted to make the change in your Windows registry and then reboot.

Note: As always, prior to making changes to your registry, be sure to back it up.

NT/XP/2000
340KB

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Customize the Start menu

The start menu is much more customizable than previous versions of Windows. To make the Start menu display only the applications you want, rather than the default determined by Microsoft:

Right-click in an empty section of the Start menu's left column
Select Properties >> Start Menu >> Customize.
Here you'll find a list of your most frequently used programs. (XP keeps track of what you use and what you don't, then updates this list dynamically.)

Note: Don't want your anyone to know that Pinball, Solitaire, and Quake all make your list? Go to the General tab, click Clear List, and set the counter to zero.

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Alphabetize your Start Menu

Windows by default, adds new programs to the end of the start menu. If you would rather view these in alphabetical order, just simply right click the menu and chose "sort by name".

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Change Mouse Pointer Scheme

If you would like to see your mouse pointer as something other than an arrow or hourglass, then you will appreciate to know that XP offers a number of alternative pointer schemes, such as Dinosaur, Ocean and Sports.
Open the Control Panel, double-click Mouse, and select the Pointers tab. (If you start in Category view, select Appearance and Themes, then click Mouse Pointers under "See Also.") Next to Schemes, click the down arrow and select a scheme to preview its pointers. Click OK to apply the scheme to your desktop.

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Quick Date & Time Insert

This is a very handy method of inserting the date and time (according to the Windows calendar) into a text document. I believe this only works in Notepad, not in MS Word or WordPad.

Steps to insert date and time into a Notepad .txt file:

Click Start>> Run
Type: notepad
Push F5 on your keyboard

This simple shortcut can be very useful, especially when making logs or recording any kind of time-sensitive observations.

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Pin Items to Start Menu

In the Start Menu, programs will rotate in and out depending on their frequency of use. If you would like to keep a program in the Start Menu:

Right-click the link to your favorite program on the Start Menu and select Pin to Start Menu. Your program will be moved permanently to the top part of the list, just below your browser and e-mail programs.

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Change Default Sounds

Are you getting tired of hearing the same sounds that came with your Windows installation? You don't have to settle for the default sounds. You can change the sounds that are associated with certain events such as; logging in, logging out, mail notification and much more. Here's how:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Sound and Audio Device>> Sound tab. Scroll the list of events for one that you would like to change, then browse for a sound that you would like to apply to that event. It's as simple as that!

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Turn ToggleKeys On

When the ToggleKey feature is activated, you will be given a beep sound to let you know that either the Numlock, Capslock or ScrollLock keys have been pressed. Turn this feature on by pressing and holding the NumLock button on your keyboard for 5 seconds. You will hear a beep to let you know that it is on. Turn it off the same way.

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Expand Control Panel in the Start Menu

Windows XP makes it possible to view your Control Panel in a separate window (default) or your can view in in a sub-menu or choose not to have it listed in the Control Panel at all. Here's how:

Right-click the Start menu button, then choose Properties. From the Taskbar & Start Menu Properties window, click the Customize button, then click the Advanced tab. You should see three options for Control Panel:

Display as Link: (default)
Display as Menu: When you click it, or hold the mouse over it, the Control Panel items will open as a sub-menu.
Do not display this item: This will remove it from the Start Menu completely.

Or, if you want to view the Control Panel in a separate window, just right-click Control Panel and select Open. The Control Panel will now open in a new window and the behavior of your Start Menu will be unchanged.

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Change The Text In The XP Start Button

I have made these instructions available due to the many requests I have received. Note: Use the information below at your own risk, please see the "Terms of use" section (link below). This modification is not recommended for the beginner.

Changing the text in the XP start button is done by modifying the Explorer.exe file. In order to modify this file you will need a special editor equipped to handle binary files. A commonly referred editor is Resource Hacker. Resource Hacker is a freeware utility that has the ability to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files. It works with Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000 and WinXP Operating Systems. Click the button below to download Resource Hacker.

First, make a backup copy of Explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. You can place it in a special folder or save it to a disk. An alternate plan is to rename the file to "explorerB.exe" (the B is for backup), then just simply edit Explorer.exe.

Next, open Resource Hacker. The category you will be using is String Table. You will need to expand it by clicking on the plus sign, then navigate down and expand string 37 followed by 1033, (For Classic Layout use number 38). On the right hand pane look for item 578, it will show the word "start". Now, let's modify the file.
Double click on "Start" so that it is highlighted. This should highlight ONLY the word Start and NOT the quotation marks. It is important to leave the quotation marks in tact. The new text will go in-between the quotation marks. As an example:

Current name= "Start"
Deleted name= ""
Modification= "5Star"

Note: Using 5 digits or less in the Start button is best, however, many people have had success using more than that. I don't recommend using more that ten digits for your modified Start button text.

After changing the "Start" text, you will need to click on the Compile Script button. Go to the File menu and choose the "Save as" command. Give the file a name such as "explorerN.exe" (the N is for new). Save this file to C:\Windows.
Next, you will need to make a Windows registry change so that your newly modified explorer.exe file will be recognized when you logon to your system. Here's how:

Go to the Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter]
Drill to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Click once on the "Winlogon" entry to empty its contents into the right pane. In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In the "Value data" line, type in your Start Menu button's modified name (in this example we used "5Star"). Click OK.

Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows. If you have followed the instructions (above) carefully, your Start button should have its new name.

Warning: Shell modifications may be identified as spyware by Ad-aware. Deleting this file in Ad-aware could cause Windows not to start. Also, running the update to SP2 with the modified Shell has been reported to render your computer unusable. If you run in to any trouble using this modification, revert back to your original version of your explorer.exe file.

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Windows XP ClickLock Feature

If you are doing a lot of drag and drop of files and folders, you may want to consider using the ClickLock feature available in Windows XP. With this feature activated, you can left click and hold the click for a determined amount of time until the item that was clicked is locked. Then just release the left click and move your mouse to the location where you would like to drop the item, left click again and it will be dropped in to this new location. Here is how to activate the ClickLock feature:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Mouse Icon. You will then see the illustration shown below. In the Mouse Properties window, click the "Buttons" tab. Then, place a check mark in the little check box titled "Turn on ClickLock". Once this is checked it will activate the "Settings" button. By clicking the settings button, you will be able to control the speed in which it takes Windows to lock on to the selected item. It defaults in the center position and in most cases, this is fine.

Windows XP ClickLock Feature

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Access your favorite programs fast

Windows makes it possible to access your favorite programs with a keyboard command. This is very helpful when you have a window open and you need to access a certain program quickly and you don't want to go to your desktop to access it. Here's how to set this up:

Right click any program, either in All Programs or on your Desktop.
Select Properties from the resulting menu.
Click the Shortcut tab.
In your programs Properties window, you will find the word "None" list in the Shortcut key text box.
Click once inside this text box and choose a letter on your keyboard that you would like to associate with your program (see Figure #1). In my case I chose the letter "F". Windows will automatically insert Ctrl + Alt + F into the text box making this your new keyboard shortcut command.
Click Apply and exit the Properties window.

Now whenever I use Ctrl + Alt + F on my keyboard, the chosen program will automatically launch.

Figure #1

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Save Custom Colors & Patterns

If you enjoy creating custom colors and patterns for your Windows installation, you know that creating this takes a great deal of time. If you would like to save these settings to keep as a backup copy or transferring these settings to a second computer here's how:

Open up the Registry Editor, Start>> Run, type in: regedit [Enter]
Drill to the following two registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Custom Colors
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Patterns

Right click Custom Colors and select Export from the resulting menu. Choose a location to save it to and click Save. Do the same for the "Patterns" entry.

Once you copy the file to the second computer, just double click the file to import.

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Rename IE's Title Bar

If you would like to see a new name for Internet Explorer in its title bar, here's how:

Go to: Start >> Run
Type in: REGEDIT
Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
Single click on "Main" to view its contents in the right pane. Scroll down and check to see if an entry "Window Title" exists. If it does not exist, then go up to Edit >> New>> String Value.
Right click on your new String Value entry and select "Modify" in the resulting menu.
In the "Value data" text box, type in whatever you would like the title bar to read, select OK when done. I have mine named "5 Star Support Explorer".

If you have done this correctly, the next time you open up Internet Explorer, you should see your new name at the title bar.

Note: Be sure to back up your registry prior to making any changes.

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Installing Fonts

Windows comes with a great deal of different fonts selections, but there are those of you that need more. Windows makes it easy to add new fonts to your system.

Once you have downloaded your font of choice:

Go to Start>> Control Panel.
Double-click the Fonts icon. If the Fonts icon is not visible, you may need to click Appearance and Themes first. Then go to "See Also" in the upper left of your screen.
Once you get to your Fonts window, you can either drag and drop your new font from its downloaded location into the Font window or, you can click on the File menu in the upper left of the Fonts window and select "Install New Font...". From here, you can browse to the new font location, click the font file and click OK. The font will automatically be copied into your Fonts folder.

Your new font will now be available for all Windows applications to use.

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Launch the On-Screen Keyboard

Microsoft's on-screen keyboard utility is a virtual keyboard that allows people with mobility impairments to use the on-screen keyboard via a mouse or joystick.

To access the on-screen keyboard:

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: OSK [Enter] or click OK.

The on-screen keyboard will now be displayed at the bottom of your screen. You can move it anywhere you would like just as you can with any other window.

Once you have the on-screen keyboard displayed, you can click the "Keyboard" button and select the type of keyboard to be displayed (see figure #1).

Then, click the "Settings" button to select the mode you would like it to operate in (see figure #2).

Figure #1
On-Screen Keyboard figure #1

Figure #2
On-Screen Keyboard figure #2

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Quickly Close All Windows

If you have several windows open and you would like to close them quickly, you can hold down the CTRL button while clicking each taskbar button. With all of the buttons selected, right click the last button clicked and select "Close Group" (see illustration below).

Close All Taskbar Windows Illustration

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Change Your Pointer Scheme

The default scheme for the Windows busy pointer is the hourglass. If you would like to change the default scheme to any of the available alternatives, such as:

Dinosaur
Ocean
Sports

...plus many more

Here's how:

Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Mouse>> Pointers tab
Next to Schemes, click the drop-down arrow and select a scheme to preview its pointers.
Click OK to apply the scheme of choice to your desktop.

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Create a Shortcut to Lock Your System

In the event you should need to leave your computer system in a hurry and do not want others to be able to access your information. You can create a shortcut to sit on your desktop so that all you would have to do is double click this shortcut and your computer will automatically lock your display. This will not log-off your system. In order to unlock your computer, simply click your "User Name", enter your password and your back in business. Here's how to set this up:

Right click an empty area of your Desktop.
Select New>> Shortcut.
The Shortcut wizard will activate. Type the following exactly as is in to the "Type the location of the item:" text box:

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Note: It may be best to copy and paste the command (above) for accuracy sake.

Click Next
Enter a name for your new shortcut (eg: Lock System).
Click Finish

Alternately, you can always just press the Windows key + "L" on your keyboard which will do the very same thing. Some people just like having the shortcut to click.

Now that you have the Shortcut residing on your Desktop. You can change the actual icon to something other than the default icon. Here's how:

Right click the new shortcut on your Desktop.
Select Properties.
Select the Shortcut tab
Click the Change Icon button.
In the textbox titled: "Look for icons in this file", type in: shell32.dll
Click OK
Click any of the available icons from the list.
Click OK

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Classic Start Menu

If you prefer to have your system Icons on the Desktop rather than having many of them in your Start Menu, then here's how to get the Classic Start Menu on your XP system.

Right-click the Start Menu and choose Properties. The "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" window should appear.
In the bottom half of the window, select "Classic Start Menu" and then click OK or Apply, and you should see the old familiar Start Menu.

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Full Screen feature

The Windows Full Screen Feature is very helpful when you are in search of a file within a very large folder. For instance, when you open your My Documents folder, press the F11 key on your keyboard to activate the Full Screen Feature. This will make the whole folder viewable within the screen instead of having to scroll down in search of your file. To revert back to your regular screen, just press the F11 key again.

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