The Registry Editor is probably one of the most useful
tools for customizing Windows 95. The only problem is that Windows
doesn't put it where you can find it easily during Setup.
Open the Windows folder (subdirectory) and locate the file
Regedit.exe. Drag it to your desktop to create a shortcut. Rename
the shortcut Registry Editor. You can now leave it on your desktop
for easy access or move/copy it to the Start menu (or anywhere
else that you like, for that matter).
!!! Warning !!!
Be warned... The Registry Editor is a very powerful tool.
Therefore it is also very dangerous. You can easily create
irrepairable damage to Windows with misuse that is not easily
remidied if you don't remember what you did. So, before making
changes to your Registry...make sure you have a Backup of it.
The Files SYSTEM.DAT & USER.DAT in WINDOWS Directory are the
main files of registry to be copied as a Backup.
There are actually two files that make up what Windows 95 calls the
Registry. The first, SYSTEM.DAT, stores information about your
system's hardware configuration. This includes the type of add-in
boards installed and the resources they require, such as interrupts,
I/O ports or memory addresses. The second file, USER.DAT, holds
settings that relate to your own preferences. These include items
such as your desktop preferences for colors, wallpaper and
screen savers.
Data in the Registry is organized into a group of top-level keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT holds associations for file extensions; HKEY_
CURRENT_USER has user preferences; HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE contains
hardware configuration data; HKEY_USERS has settings for different
users configured to use this system; HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG includes the
current configuration settings of some hardware; and HKEY_DYN_DATA
contains performance information.
Adding Sounds To Application Events
1. Open registry editor
2. Go to folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps
3. There are two folders, .Default and Explorer
4. Click on Apps with the right mouse button. Choose NEW - KEY.
Key name: name of the .EXE file you want sounds for.
For better reading change the key Default from "none" to the
name of the application.
5. Click on the key you created in 4 with the right mouse
button. Choose NEW - KEY.
key name: Open
6. Do the same with
key name: Close
7. Go to control panel \ sound events. There is a new item and
two subitems, Open program and Close program, for the program
you just added to the registry.
8. Add sound (.WAV) files to them.
9. The next time you start/close the EXE file the sound will
play.
Because there is no limitation in the registry database you can
add all programs and events you like.
Eliminating Exploding Windows Animation
You can shut off the exploding windows displayed when you minimize
and maximize windows. This tip makes navigating Windows 95 a lot
faster especially for those that don't have super fast video
cards.
1. Open Regedit
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER
3. Control panel
4. Desktop
5. WindowMetrics
6. Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane.
7. Select new/string value.
8. Name the new value MinAnimate.
9. Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on
"Modify"
10. Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit OK.
11. Close Regedit and all programs then reboot.
Long Filenames not equal to LONG~1
Microsoft's way of converting long names to the short version is
by adding a tilde and numeric character to the end of a file name
(e.g. "Johns tips for Windows.doc" will be converted to
Johns~1.doc). You can get around this problem by changing the
registry in the following way:
1. Open the Registry Editor
2. Click on the + to the left of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
3. Click on System.
4. Click on CurrentControlSet.
5. Click on Control.
6. Highlight File System.
7. Right click the right-hand side of the registry window.
8. On the pop-up menu click New, then Binary Value.
9. Type in NameNumericTail and press enter.
10. Double-click NameNumericTail then type 0 (zero) as the
complete binary value.
11. Click OK and restart Windows.
You have just created a whole new, undocumented entry in the
registry. This will cause the shortname versions of the files to
be as close as possible to that of the long name. (i.e.
Thiscomputer.doc will be Thiscomp.doc and not Thisco~1.doc). It
will only start adding numbers if you have more than one shortname
with the same result.
Lightning fast START menu
Regain valuable half-seconds of your work life
When you click the Start button and choose Programs, there's about a
half-second delay before you see Programs submenu folder. This also
applies to selecting any Start menu item that displays a submenu. You
can change this delay to anything you want, right down to no delay at
all. All it takes is a quick trip to the Registry Editor. (As always,
back the Registry up first.) Open the Registry Editor (click
Start|Run, enter Regedit and click OK) and navigate your way to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Right-mouse click anywhere in
the right pane, choose New, and select String Value in the popup menu.
Name the new value MenuShowDelay. Right-mouse click this new value,
choose Modify, and in the Edit String dialog box, enter a number as
close to zero as you dare (to indicate the delay in milliseconds).
Enter any number you want, even 0. (The default is 400, which accounts
for the almost half-second delay.) Click OK and close the Registry
Editor. Restart Windows 95, then click Start and select some folders
to see your change. (If things are moving too fast or too slow, go
back to the Registry Editor and change the setting to a higher or
lower number. If it's too low, you'll find that unwanted menus pop out
and block what's under them.)
Special Folders
You can put the contents of Control Panel or other special folders on
your Start menu (or in any folder). Create a folder by clicking New on
the File menu, and then clicking Folder. Then, paste in the
appropriate name as shown below:-
Control Panel -> Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Dial Up Network -> Dial Up Net.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
Printers -> Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Use the following steps to change folder icons:
1. From a folder's View menu, click Options, and then click the File
Types tab.
2. Click Folder from the list, and then click Edit.
3. Click Change Icon, and then select a new icon.
4. Restart
To Change The Word Start
Copy the file EXPLORER.EXE from your Windows directory to a temporary
working directory. Using A Hex Editor (like UltraEdit-32), open the
copy of Expolorer.EXE, at the hex address 02DF0E, you will see
53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74, which are the letters in the word "Start,"
seperated by null characters (#00). It is a good idea to search an
replace all occurnces of Start in the file, as just editing this one
dosen't seem to do it. You can replace any of the five characters, but
DO NOT change the null characters. Although you can't use a word
longer than five characters, you can have shorter words by including
spaces (#32) for the remaining places. Save the changes, and exit to
DOS. Backup The oringal file, and then replace it with your moddified
version. When You Restart Windows, the change should take effect.
Get rid of shortcut arrows
To get rid of the little arrows that are on your icon when you make a
shortcut. Open regedit (regedit.exe) Find HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT expand it
and look for \inkfile and \piffile. In each of these you will find a
string named IsShortcut. Remove it from both and restart your computer.
Give Yourself a Tip
You can add to the tips that are displayed in the dialog that pops
up each time you boot Windows 95. Start Regedit and find the key,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\
Tips. (The easiest way to do this is use the Edit/Find menu and look
for the text "you can look it up.") In the right-hand pane you can
select an existing tip, and edit its text by double-clicking on its
value name and editing its value data. Or you can create a new tip by
adding a new Registry string value (Edit/New/String Value). If you
turned off the automatic tip display and would like to turn it back
on, edit the key. You'll find it in KEY_CURRENT_USER\
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips. Change the
value of the key Show to 00 00 00 01. It's a binary key so be sure
it's entered exactly as shown here.
Change Double-Click Sensitivity
To change the amount of movement beween the two clicks of a
double-click, find the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control
Panel\Desktop and add the two new string values (Edit/New/String
Value) DoubleClickHeight and DoubleClickWidth. The values you set in
the value data box should be the amount of movement, in pixels, that
you want to allow between the two clicks. (Note that the value names
are strings, but their value data are numbers.)
Change that Recycle Bin
Are you tired of looking at the name Recycle Bin on your desktop when
you'd much prefer Dumpster, Garbage or just plain Trash? You can
change the name using the Registry. Start Regedit, select Find from
the Edit menu, and search for Recycle Bin. For each string key you
find with this name, double-click the value and change the name to
your preferred label. Press the F3 key to search for the next
occurrence, and make sure you change them all. Exit Regedit and press
F5 to refresh your desktop and see the new name.
"Click on Start to begin" Annoyance
Want to turn off that little arrow that points at your Start button
whenever you start Windows 95? (Who actually needs a reminder to
"Click on Start to begin," anyway?) This technique involves going into
the Registry. (We know, we say it all the time, but let's be careful
in there! In fact, we suggest you read through the entire tip before
you even open the Registry editor. Open the Registry Editor (click Run
in the Start Menu, type 'regedit,' and click OK), and navigate your
way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer. Now, pull down the Edit menu, choose New, and in
the pop-out menu, select Binary Value. Name the new item (in the Name
column) NoStartBanner; then click it with the right mouse button, choose
Modify, and in the Edit Binary Value dialog box, type '01 00 00 00' in
the Value data box, ignoring the four zeros to the left of where you
can type. (Note: There's no need to enter any spaces after each group
of two numbers--Windows does that for you.) When you're done, click
OK. Close the Registry Editor, restart Windows, and take a look at the
Taskbar. No annoying arrow or message!
Indecent exposure
Want to turn the icons that represent bitmaps into the actual bitmaps?
Not in their purest form, of course (the quality will vary depending
on your color palette setting---stay tuned for future tips with more
details), but they sure make it easy to find what you're looking for
at a glance. The bitmap's icon becomes a minipreview of the bitmap, or
a "thumbnail." This tip involves going into the registry, and here two
pieces of advice bear repeating: Read through the entire tip first,
and proceed very carefully while in the registry. First, open the
Registry: Click the Start button, choose Run, type "regedit," and
click OK. Now navigate your way to
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Paint.Picture\DefaultIcon and take a look at the
right pane. Assuming you haven't changed anything already, the setting
under Data tells Windows 95 to use the standard icon for all.BMP
files, "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\cool.dll,41." To make each icon look like
its own bitmap, all you have to do is change this Data value to "%1."
Using the right mouse button, click on Default in the Name column and
choose Modify. Now, with everything selected under Value data, type %1.
(There's no need to include quotes---Windows 95 will do that for
you.) Click OK, and you're done. To see all your hard work, get out of
the Registry and go open a window that includes lots of.BMP files. Wow.
Remove the unremovable
When you double-click Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, you
get a list of all the programs that Windows 95 can automatically
remove. Want to remove an item from this Install/Uninstall list--an
item that Windows 95 won't remove, or that you've already taken off
yourself? Open the Registry Editor (choose Run in the Start menu, type
'regedit,' and click OK) and navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL
MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. In the
left pane, with the right mouse button, click the folder (under
Uninstall) that represents the item you want to get rid of and choose
Delete. Close the Registry Editor, reopen that Add/Remove Programs
Properties dialog box, and that item is nowhere to be found!