Tips and Tricks

[tuluvaguy]

AutoReboot whenever Windows XP experiences BSOD (Blue Screen of Death!)

Since Windows XP is touted as most reliable Windows XP ever, you do not need this trick!. Well I am somewhat kidding. There is nothing in this world that is foolproof. I have faced this twice so far. To make windows reboot instead of producing the cryptic dump, open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\CrashControl] . In this look for value of "AutoReboot". Setting its value to 1 will activate Autoreboot. By default this is the value on my system but just in case if you have a 0,set it to 1.

[tuluvaguy]

Laptop/portable computer users ! Undock without logon

I read about this over the Internet. This would allow you to undock without logging on to Window XP.To do this, open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Policies\System] . In this look for value of "UndockWithoutLogon". Setting its value to 1 to enable it or 0 to disable it.

[tuluvaguy]

Selectively clean the history of START-RUN list


If you have not cleaned the RUN entries for a while or you choose not to, you would have a list of them.If you want to selectively delete the entries do this.Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\RunMRU] . In this look for various entries on right pane. You can choose what you want to delete and simply delete it. Or you can clear all command lines as well.

[tuluvaguy]

Customize task bar grouping

This is a customizing tip. If you want to change the default number of grouping in task bar do this.Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Advanced] . In this look for value of "TaskbarGroupSize". You can set it to any value you want. Default is 3.

[tuluvaguy]

Activate Automatic Boot Disk Optimization

To activate automatic boot disk optimization, do this.Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction] . In this look for value of "Enable". You can set its value to "Y" to enable it.

[tuluvaguy]

Restrict certain users from running an application

You can selectively restrict access to few apps and file names. To do this, open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion \Policies\Explorer] and a sub-key by the name "DisallowRun". Within this key, add many string keys you like each mapped to an application or file that you want to be restricted.

[tuluvaguy]

Do not let Regedit remember last changed key

You'll need to be in the admin account, or yours must have admin privileges.

In regedit, navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Applets\Regedit] and look for the value LastKey. Double-click it and clear the string. Then right-click the Regedit key (in the left-hand pane) and select Permissions. Set Permissions to Deny for any/all users/group. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Before doing anything with registry, It is very important that you take a backup of registry by exporting it. Remember even a minor mistake in registry could render your system unusable or will cause it to stop or crash. XPTOOLS is not responsible for any such damage that may occur directly or indirectly as a result of your applying these changes. Don't try it if you are not sure. Use at your own risk

[tuluvaguy]

How to use program aliases ?


You can use program aliases to run actual program. Well there are ways to hide actual program name. Not sure what's the good use for this tip but here it is anyway

In regedit, navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths]. To create a new alias, create a sub-key, and call it the name of the alias you wish to create. Then modify the Default value of the sub-key to equal the fully qualified path and filename of the application you want to be launched.

[tuluvaguy]

Change alignment of Start Menu panel.

This is a customizing tip. If you have noticed, START MENU PANEL has all the entries aligned to left. Well that's not a cause of concern but may be you are one of those who want it to be the other way, say you want it to align to right. This can be done by a quick registry tweak. In regedit, navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] and look for key "MenuDropAlignment". Set its value to 1 to align the menu entry to right or if you did not like the idea of entries aligned to right, set it back to 0 for align back to left which is the Default XP behavior.

[tuluvaguy]

Stop a user from changing Start Menu

This can be considered a security tip. If you want to restrict modifications to Start menu, do the following:
In regedit, navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer] and look for key "NoChangeStartMenu". Set its value to 1 to enable it to stop users from changing the Start Menu.