Delete the Files Stored on This Computer category in the My Computer window

In Windows XP, the My Computer window?s listing is broken down by categories: Hard Disk Drives, Devices with Removable Storage, and so on. One of these categories is Files Stored on This Computer, which appears at the top of the My Computer window. If a user doesn?t need it , you can get rid of it. To do so, go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\
NameSpace\Delegate Folders

Delete the {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c55595fe6b30ee} subkey to remove the category.

34. Change the desktop cleanup frequency

Through Display Properties (Desktop tab, Customize Desktop button, General tab), you can turn on and off a feature that runs the Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days. You don?t have an option to set a different interval there, but you can change the interval in the Registry. To do so, go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz

Change the Days Between Clean Up Value to some other number of days (in decimal format).

35. Sort menus alphabetically

When you install a new program for a user, it doesn?t find its place in the alphabetical Start menu hierarchy right away; it hangs out at the bottom for a little while. If your users employ the Classic Start menu, they can re-alphabetize it manually by right-clicking the taskbar and choosing Properties, clicking the Customize button next to the Classic Start Menu, and clicking the Sort button. With the Windows XP style of Start menu, however, you don?t have an equivalent button. To make Windows always alphabetize the list, remove the permissions from the Registry key that controls the sort order for the Start menu. To do so, go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder

Choose Edit | Permissions and click the Advanced button. Deselect the Inherit From Parent The Permission Entries That Apply To Child Objects check box and then click Copy when the Security dialog box pops up. Click OK and clear the Full Control entry for your account and all security groups you are a member of. Leave only Read permission.

36. Prevent programs from loading at startup

Remember back in the good old days of Windows 3.1 when you could open up the Win.ini file in a text editor and remove an item from the RUN= line to disable it from running at startup? With Windows 9x and above, the Win.ini file became less useful because 32-bit programs were set to run at startup from within the Registry instead.

One way to selectively disable programs from loading at startup is to use MSCONFIG (from the Run command) to deselect certain items. Another way to remove them is to edit the Registry directly. Consider the following locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

for applications that start up for all users

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

for applications that start up when the current user logs on

Remove the entry for a program by right-clicking it and selecting Delete to prevent it from loading.

37. Change categories in the Control Panel

Windows XP?s Control Panel is broken down by category in the default Category view, but the group to which an item belongs is not always obvious. If you disagree with Microsoft?s assignments, you can switch them around. To assign a different category to an item, go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\
{305CA226-D286-468e-B848-2B2E8E697B74} 2

Find the item you want to change and double-click it to bring up a dialog box. Change the item?s DWORD value to your preference. Use the Table given below as a guide (shown with decimal numbers, which is the way you should enter them).

DWORD value to set

Other Control Panel Options 0

Appearance and Themes 1

Printers and Other Hardware 2

Network and Internet Connections 3

Sounds, Speed, and Audio Devices 4

Performance and Maintenance 5

Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options 6

Accessibility Options 7

Add or Remove Programs 8

User Accounts 9

38. Grouping multiple open windows

Windows XP will group multiple open windows (IE windows for example) into one group on the task bar to keep the taskbar clear. This can be annoying at times - especially when comparing different web pages because you have to go back to the task bar, click on the group and then click on the page you want and then you only get one page because you have to click on each one separately. I think the default for this is 8 windows - any combination of apps or utilities open.

You can modify this behavior by adding this registry key at:

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\

add a Dword value of type REG_DWORD named [TaskbarGroupSize]

modify "TaskbarGroupSize" entry to be the number of windows you want open before XP starts to group them on the task bar.

A value of 2 will cause the Taskbar buttons to always group

Another tweak is to disable or enable recent documents history. This can be done at:

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\

this key should already be present - if it isn't you'll need to add it:

Add a Binary value of type REG_BINARY named [NoRecentDocsHistory]

modify it so that value reads 01 00 00 00

39. Disable Tips

To disable Ballon tips in Windows XP do this registry tweak

Go to : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Create a new DWORD value, name it EnableBalloonTips, and set it equal to 0. If EnableBalloonTips is already there and equal to 1, set it equal to 0. Quit the registry editor, log off, and log back on. Voila! Your computer will stop talking down to you.

40. Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP

To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf and open the sysoc.inf file. {Opps , if you didn?t find the inf directory, you are right.