Removing the InBox and Recycle Bin Icons from the Desktop
To remove the InBox from your desktop, without needing to run the Policy Editor:
- Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Desktop \ NameSpace Below that should be a few keys Rename the key {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}. I usually put another character before or after the curly braces. Restart Windows and the InBox icon should be gone
- You can do the same for any other items you don't to show such as the Recycle Bin or The Internet icons
Changing or Removing the Start Menu Icons
- Download Microangelo and install it. Create a blank.ico file. Put it in a directory (C:\Windows. Then double click on the Microangelo Engineer to run it. When you get it up on the screen click on the "start" tab. You will see a list of all the icons in the start menu. Highlight the first one (programs) and select "Change". It will bring up a dialog box - select "browse". Go to the directory that contains the blank icon and select it. Hit OK until you get back to the main Engineer window and do all the rest exactly the same way. When you have finished changing them all to the blank icon, Hit "Apply". Hit your start button and look to see if all the icons are invisible. (They should be.)
- Close out Micro Engineer and you're finished.
Adding Drive to the SendTo List
- I have recently found that if you want to send something from A: drive or from any where to any drive, you can just make a short cut of that drive in subdirectory SENDTO. For example I have two hard drives, a Floppy Drive, and a CDROM
- After I have make a copy of each of my drive I will be able to send a whole directory of E:\XXX from the CDROM drive to A: drive or any other drive that i have had made the short c t in the SENDTO subdir of WINDOWS.
Adding a Protected Briefcase
You can make your briefcase a shortcut on the on desktop so if you have multiple users on your PC and you don't want to have a password for your briefcase, you can at least protect it from inadvertent deletion by just making the briefcase a hidden file or in a different location other than \Windows\Desktop\My Briefcase, then send a copy or shortcut to the desktop.
Customizing the Start Button's Name and Icon
To change the name of the Start button:
- Copy EXPLORER.EXE in your Windows directory to another directory Start a hex editor (I've been using Diskedit from Norton) Edit EXPLORER.EXE Search for the string 53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74 This is the word Start with the letters separated by a null character The section you are in should also have the words "There was an internal error..." also separated with the null character immediately following Now just replace the Start letters with any of your choice (up to 5 characters only) Exit Windows Boot to DOS
- Copy your new Explorer file over the original
To change the Start button icon:
- Copy USER.EXE in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory to another directory Use an icon editor that can replace icons in executable files Edit USER.EXE and replace the flag icons with the icon of your choice Boot to DOS
- Copy the new USER.EXE
The same can be done with NT 4.0, just the offset will be different but the location to just before "There was an internal error..." is the same.
Adding the Device Manager to your Desktop
This allows you to quickly see all the devices attached to your computer.
I use it a lot to select Refresh when I add new external SCSI devices that were not
powered up at startup. This way you do not need to restart the computer. To add the Device Manager Icon:
- Right click on an open area of your desktop Select New / Shortcut Type in C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL SYSDM.CPL, SYSTEM, 1 Replace C:\WINDOWS with whatever directory you installed Windows95 Click on the Next box At the next dialog box type in Device Manager
- Click on the Finish when you are done
Note: Replacing the 1 with a 3 will bring up the Performance Status
Adding Options to the Right-Click of the Start Menu
To add an option to the Right-Click of the Start button:
- Go to Control Panel, View, Options Click on the File Types Tab Scroll down until you see File Folder Click on Edit Click on New Type in the Name you want to in the Action box
- Type in the Application you want to use
A good option to add is an MS-DOS Prompt:Try this c:\command.com /k cd %1
It also puts the shortcut on a regular folder.
This command will open a DOS window with that folder as the current directory.
How to make the task bar Auto Hide
- Click the right button on a blank area of the task bar Select Properties Select Autohide
- Click OK
This will make the task bar slide off the screen when the cursor moves away from it,
and it will slide back on when the cursor is moved near it again.The same can be done for the MS Office task bar. The "sliding" effect is nice, and can free up some desktop space.
More Removing Shortcut Arrows
'lnkfile', 'piffle' and 'internetshortcut' are the three places
that I have seen the isshortcut arrow.
The best way to deal with this is to rename the 'isshortcut' to
'isshortcutbak' by right clicking on the 'isshortcut' then
select rename and add 'bak' to the end.
Closing Nested Folders
If you have several nested folders (folders within folders) and want to close them all,
simply, hold the Shift key while closing the last folder
This will close all previous ones as well.
Changing Application Icons
To have a wider choice of application icons:
- Right click on the icon shortcut Chose Properties Click on the Program tab Chose Change icon Click on Browse Select Files of type All Files Browse to the directory where your icon files are kept
- You can even use some bitmap files for you icons
Moving and Resizing the Taskbar
You can move the taskbar by pointing on a corner panel and dragging it
It is easier to move if you close all your windows firstYou can also resize it by moving the mouse to the edge and dragging it larger or smaller.
Correcting Corrupted Fonts
If you have a problem with your non-true type fonts, here's what you do:
- Open the Control Panel Double click on Fonts Search for the "Monotype Sorts" font
- Delete this Font
Changing Desktop Folders - With No Registry Changes
- From the Explorer, create a folder somewhere OTHER than the desktop, and call it something like "Desktop Folders." Move all your desktop folders into that folder. Create shortcuts to all of those folders on your desktop.
- Now, you are free to change the icons of each shortcut individually, to anything you like!
Updating the Desktop
If you want to update the desktop, for example after you've been changing the registry.
- Right-Click anywhere on the desktop
- Press F5
Adding the Desktop to your Start Menu
Create a shortcut to the Explorer on your Desktop
- Right click on the Start button Choose Open Go into the Programs Folder Drag the Windows Explorer Icon on your Desktop using the RIGHT Mouse button
- Choose copy here
Change the command line switch
- Right click on the Shortcut you created Choose Properties Choose Shortcut Type in following command line as target:
- C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /root,
- The last "," is vital!
If you want the two pane Explorer view ad the switch ,/e
- Then rename the Shortcut to "Desktop" or whatever you choose and drag the icon onto the start button.
Removing shortcut arrows
One problem when removing shortcut arrows is that
if you delete a desktop item, it will remove it.
If it is a shortcut it will just remove the icon.
If it is not a shortcut, then it will remove the program.
Having the little icon arrow is one way to tell the difference
Getting rid of Click Here to Continue
- Start the Registry Editor Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer Create a binary value and call it NoStartBanner Double-click on it and give it a value of 01 00 00 00
- You will need to repeat the same steps for HKEY_USERS / .Default / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer
Changing the Desktop and Explorer Folder Icons
The following steps will change the icon that is displayed as the default Folder icon.
- Start the Registry Editor. Search for "Shell Icons". This will bring you to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / explorer / Shell Icons. Double-click on the one has the value name of "3" in the right pane. Type in the new icon you want to use. If you have a DLL file specified, you need to count for the location of the particular icon you want to use, starting at 0.
- To reset the icon cache, use a program such as Tweak with comes with the PowerToys from Microsoft.
Note: I haven't experimented with too many of the other icon changes possible.
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