The physical files that make up the registry are stored differently depending on your version of Windows; under Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT, for Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while under Windows NT/2000 the files are contained seperately in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory. You can not edit these files directly, you must use a tool commonly known as a "Registry Editor" to make any changes.

Hard Disk Free Space Warning (Windows NT/2000/XP)                                            Go to Top

By default Windows sends an administrative alert when the amount of free space remaining on a hard disk drive falls below 10 percent. This percentage can be configured using this setting.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD value called "DiskSpaceThreshold" and set it to the percentage of free disk space remaining before an alert is sent.

Restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\
Parameters]
Name: DiskSpaceThreshold
Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value: 0 - 99 percent (Default is 10)

If you entered the wrong registration information when you installed Windows you can change it and other miscellaneous settings such as ProductID and ProductName.

Open your registry and find the key below for your operating system.

Windows 95, 98 and Me:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]

Windows NT, 2000 and XP:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

Modify the strings values of 'RegisteredOwner' and 'RegisteredOrganization' to equal the required owner and company names.

Settings:
Name: RegisteredOwner, RegisteredOrganization
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)

This tip lets you include company and support information on the System Properties page in Control Panel. This is especially useful if you run a computer store and want your customers to be reminded where they bought their PC and where to get technical support.

To add the manufacturer and support information you need to create two new files in the Windows system directly, normally "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" for Windows 95, 98 and Me and "C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32" for Windows NT and 2000.

The first file is a text file called "OEMINFO.INI". To create the file open notepad and copy the template below, make any changes and save the file in the System directory.

OEMINFO.INI Template

[General]
Manufacturer=Your Company, Inc.
Model=Your Computer Model
SupportURL=http://your.support.site/
LocalFile=c:\your\local\support\file.htm

[Support Information]
Line1=first line of support information
Line2=second line
Line3=third line
Line4=fourth line
...
LineN=nth line
; Create as many lines as you need by incrementing the Line number

The other file you need to create is a logo file. This is a standard Windows bitmap file (172 x 172 pixels), saved as "OEMLOGO.BMP" in the Windows System directory.

Once you have created both these files open System Properties from Control Panel and your company information and logo will be displayed. The details you entered in the [Support Information] section will show up when you click on the Support Information button.

Note: To display a logo you must create a 172x172 (pixel) bitmap image and save it as OEMLOGO.BMP in the Windows system directory.

This option allows you to stop users from being able to shutdown the computer by disabling the shut down command.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value called 'NoClose' using the settings below.

Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
Name: NoClose
Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value: (0 = shutdown enabled, 1 = shutdown disabled)

This restriction removes My Computer from the desktop and Start menu.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value called '{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}' using the settings below.

Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
NonEnum]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
NonEnum]
Name: {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value: (0 = show, 1 = remove)

Windows normally delays menus before they are displayed. For regular users this delay can become annoying, with this setting you to change the delay time or remove it altogether.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new string value, or modify the existing value, named 'MenuShowDelay' and set it to equal the delay you would like before the menus are shown as a time in milliseconds.

Log off or restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
Name: MenuShowDelay
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Value: 0-999 (milliseconds)

Are your icons too small? Or too big? This setting will let you resize them to suit your desktop preference.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new value named 'Shell Icon Size' and set the value, or modify the existing value, to equal the size of your icons in pixels. Smaller values = smaller icons!

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
Name: Shell Icon Size
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Value: Size in Pixels (Default = 32)

This tweak removes the context menu that would normally appear when the user right clicks on the desktop or in the Explorer right results pane.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value called 'NoViewContextMenu' using the settings below.

Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
Name: NoViewContextMenu
Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value: (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled)

Early versions of Windows showed the version number on the desktop, this feature was removed in the released version. This tweak can be used to enable the feature and allow you to quickly locate which version of Windows is running.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD (or String on Windows 98 and Me) value, or modify the existing value called 'PaintDesktopVersion' set the value to equal '1' to display the version.

Exit the registry, you may need to restart for the change to take effect.

Note: The Windows version may be hidden behind the taskbar when you have Active Desktop enabled. If this is the case disable Active Desktop to view the label.

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
Name: PaintDesktopVersion
Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value: (0 = disable, 1 = enable)

This tweak can be used to create a shortcut directly to your Hotmail e-mail account on your desktop.

Right-click on your desktop and create a new shortcut. For Windows NT/2000 set the target to:

%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe
"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\hmmapi.dll",OpenInboxHandler
for Windows 9x/Me set it to:

rundll32 "C:\Program
Files\Internet Explorer\hmmapi.dll",OpenInboxHandler
Click "Finish" and click the icon to launch Hotmail.

This setting is used to disable the use of the recycle bin and permanently remove all deleted items instead. This enables the same functionality as holding the Shift key while deleting items.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value called 'NukeOnDelete' using the settings below.

Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
BitBucket]
Name: NukeOnDelete
Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value: (0 = use recycle bin, 1 = permanently delete)