Sample Chapter from Microsoft® Windows XP® Registry Guide by Jerry Honeycutt

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Microsoft® Windows® XP Registry Guide

		Author		Jerry Honeycutt
		Pages		528
		Disk		N/A
		Level		Advanced
		Published		09/11/2002
		ISBN		9780735617889
		ISBN-10		0-7356-1788-0
		Price(USD)		~~$39.99~~ To see this book's discounted price, select a reseller below.



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	About the Book Table of Contents Sample Chapter Index Related Series Related Books About the Author Support: Book & CD Rate this book

Chapter 5: Mapping Tweak UI

General

Focus

Mouse

Explorer

Common Dialog Boxes
Taskbar

Desktop

First Icon

My Computer

Command Prompt
Logon

Autologon

5 Mapping Tweak UI

Microsoft Tweak UI is a must-have tool for anyone customizing Microsoft Windows XP. It prevents users from opening the registry and customizing settings that aren't available in the operating system's user interface. Tweak UI started as a grassroots utility built by a handful of rebellious programmers and ended up one of the most popular downloads on the Internet. Microsoft has released versions of this tool for every version of Windows since Microsoft Windows 95. The company even included it on the Microsoft Windows 98 CD. And now, it's available for Windows XP, and it includes even more customizations.

You can download Tweak UI from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads (Microsoft split the original Microsoft Power- Toys programs apart). You can also download it from http://downloads-zdnet.com.com, one of my favorite download Web sites. The file you download is called TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe. Run this program to install Tweak UI on your computer. To run Tweak UI, click Start, All Programs, Powertoys for Windows XP, and Tweak UI for Windows XP. In the left pane, click a category, and then in the right pane, edit the settings you want to change. The program is mostly self-explanatory; you see a description of each setting at the bottom of the window. Pay attention to the bottom part of the windows. It tells you whether the settings in that category are per-user or per-machine. Per-user settings sometimes require you to log off and back on to Windows XP in order for them to take affect. Per-machine settings affect every user who logs on to the computer.

This chapter isn't about using Tweak UI—that's too easy. Instead, I'll tell you where in the registry Tweak UI changes each setting. Information like this is powerful. You can script Tweak UI customizations. For example, power users can write a script to apply their favorite Tweak UI settings, and then apply all those settings to every computer they use simply by running the script. The process is streamlined—compare one double-click to dozens of clicks and edits—and the consistency doesn't hurt, either. IT professionals can write a script to deploy useful settings to users or include those settings in default user profiles for new users (see Chapter 10, "Deploying User Profiles"). Scripting these settings is amazingly easy, and you learn how to do that in Chapter 9, "Scripting Registry Changes."

The sections in this chapter correspond to the major categories in Tweak UI. (I skipped the About and Repair categories because they have little to do with the registry. You should look at both, though. The About category contains useful tips for using Windows XP. The Repair category can fix a variety of small problems, including messed up icons, fonts, and folders.) Each section contains a brief description of the settings in that category and how to change them in the registry. In most cases, each section contains a table that describes each setting's value name, value type, and value data. Each table contains subheadings that show the key for the values following it.

General

The items in the Settings list in the General category are effects that you can enable or disable. In fact, the Settings list, shown in Figure 5-1, used to be called the Effects list in earlier versions of Tweak UI. Settings range from list box and window animations to menu fading. Disable these settings only on slower computers when you think you can improve the user interface's crispness; otherwise, these settings make Windows XP look great.

Click to view graphic

Figure 5-1 Many of these settings are in the Performance Options dialog box. Right-click My Computer, click Properties, and in the Performance area of the Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box, click Settings.

You see all the settings in the General category in Table 5-1. One value needs a bit of explaining, though: UserPreferencesMask. The bits in this REG_BINARY value are various settings, which Chapter 4, "Hacking the Registry," and Appendix B, "Per-User Settings," describe in detail. To turn on a setting, set the appropriate bit to 1 in UserPreferencesMask. To turn off a setting, clear the corresponding bit. The number in the Data column tells you which bit to toggle. The easiest way to toggle the bit is to use Calculator in scientific mode. Bitwise math is beyond most simple scripting techniques, including REG files. If you want to create a script to change the settings in UserPreferencesMask, use INF files or look to Windows Scripting Host (see Chapter 9, "Scripting Registry Changes").

TIP

UserPreferencesMask is an example of a REG_DWORD value disguised as a REG_BINARY value. When you see a 32-bit binary value, chances are, it's really a double-word value. In that case, you can safely replace the value with a REG_DWORD. Don't forget that Windows XP uses the little-endian architecture, though, so it stores double-word values in reverse-byte order. In other words, you replace the REG_BINARY value 0x04 0x03 0x02 0x01 with the REG_DWORD 0x01020304. See Chapter 1, "Learning the Basics," for a refresher on little-endian architecture and bitwise math.

Table 5-1 Values in General

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Sound

Beep on errors Beep REG_SZ Yes | No

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Enable combo box animation UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0004

Enable cursor shadow UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x2000

Enable list box animation UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0008

Enable menu animation UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0002

Enable menu fading UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0200

Enable menu selection fading UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0400

Enable mouse hot tracking effects UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0080

Enable tooltip animation UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0800

Enable tooltip fade UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x1000

Show Windows version on desktop PaintDesktopVersion REG_DWORD 0X00 | 0X01

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

Enable Window Animation MinAnimate REG_SZ 0 | 1

Tracking Down Tweak UI Settings

Are you curious about how I tracked down all the Tweak UI program's settings? I used the techniques you learn about in Chapter 8, "Finding Registry Settings." The first technique is a program from Winternals Software called Registry Monitor that monitors access to the registry. It reports every setting that Windows XP or other programs read or write.

The second technique, and the one that I used most, is to compare snapshots of the registry before and after making the change. Here's how that process worked for me while writing this chapter:

Export the branch of the registry that you suspect contains the setting to a REG file. If in doubt, export the entire registry. Name the file Before.reg.

Change the setting. In this case, change a setting in Tweak UI.

Export the same branch of the registry that you exported in step 1. Name the file After.reg.

Compare both files; the differences between them represent the changes in the registry.

The primary tool that I use to compare REG files is Windiff, which comes with the Windows XP Support Tools and the Windows 2000 Resource Kit. If you don't have Windiff, you can use Microsoft Word 2002 just as effectively: Open the first REG file in Word, and then click Tools, Compare And Merge Documents to compare it to the second file.

Focus

When an application needs your attention—or when it simply wants to annoy you—it steals the focus from the application in which you're currently working. This leads to frustration as you flip back and forth between windows. The settings in the Focus category prevent that scenario by causing applications to flash their taskbar buttons to get your attention rather than stealing focus from the application in the foreground.

Table 5-2 describes the settings in the Focus category. The default value for ForegroundLockTimeout is 0x00030D40, or 200000. This value is the time in milliseconds before Windows XP allows an application to steal the focus from the foreground application. To convert 200000 to seconds, divide it by 1000 (200 seconds). You see the value ForegroundFlashCount in the table twice, because setting it to 0 causes the taskbar button to flash until you click it; otherwise, the taskbar button flashes the number of times you set in ForegroundFlashCount.

Table 5-2 Values in Focus

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Prevent applications from stealing focus ForegroundLockTimeout REG_DWORD N

Flash taskbar button until I click on it ForegroundFlashCount REG_DWORD 0x00

Flash taskbar button N times ForegroundFlashCount REG_DWORD N

Mouse

The settings in the Mouse category control the rodent's sensitivity. Before adjusting these values manually, use Tweak UI to figure out what the best settings are for you. You can use the test icon, shown in Figure 5-2, to try different values. After you've settled on a value, you're good to go.

Click to view graphic

Figure 5-2 Use Tweak UI to find suitable values before trying to set mouse sensitivity values manually.

The first value in Table 5-3 (on the next page), MenuShowDelay, is the time in milliseconds that Windows XP waits before opening a menu to which you point. The default is 400, or .4 seconds, but you can cut that number in half if you want menus to open faster. The values DragHeight and DragWith are the settings that specify the distance (in number of pixels) that you must move the mouse with a button held down before Windows XP recognizes that you're dragging something. The default value is 4 pixels, and you should keep the height and width the same as each other. The last two values, DoubleClickHeight and DoubleClickWidth, are the settings that specify the maximum distance (in pixels) allowed between two mouse clicks before Windows XP recognizes that you're double-clicking something. The default value is 2. These are REG_SZ values; Windows XP expects decimal rather than hexadecimal numbers.

Table 5-3 Values in Mouse

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Menu speed MenuShowDelay REG_SZ 0 to 65534

Drag DragHeight DragWidth REG_SZ 0 to N

HKCU\Control Panel\Mouse

Double-click DoubleClickHeight DoubleClickWidth REG_SZ 0 to N

Hover

The settings in the Hover category are similar to the settings in the Mouse category. They control the size of the area in pixels and the time in milliseconds that the mouse pointer must remain in one spot before Windows XP recognizes that the mouse is hovering over something. Table 5-4 describes the values for this category. The default sensitivity is 2, and you should keep the height and width equal to each other. The default hover time is 400. Cut that number in half to select objects quicker when you point to them. If you don't see these values in the registry, create them.

Table 5-4 Values in Hover

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Mouse

Hover sensitivity MouseHoverWidth MouseHoverHeight REG_SZ 0 to N

Hover time (ms) MouseHoverTime REG_SZ 0 to N

Wheel

The setting in the Wheel category controls the mouse wheel. The value WheelScrollLines is the only value in Table 5-5. That's because the three different options in this category relate to the different data you can assign to this value. The default is 3, which enables the mouse wheel to scroll 3 lines at a time.

Table 5-5 Values in Wheel

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Use mouse wheel for scrolling WheelScrollLines REG_SZ 0

Scroll a page at a time WheelScrollLines REG_SZ -1

Scroll N lines at a time WheelScrollLines REG_SZ 0 to N

X-Mouse

The settings in the X-Mouse category, as described in Table 5-6, used to be one of my favorite customizations. I liked the idea of windows popping to the foreground when I pointed at them. It gets annoying after a while, but it's a novelty you should try because you might like it. Here's more on each of these settings:

Activation follows mouse (X-Mouse). Gives focus to any window to which you point but doesn't raise the window to the foreground unless you check the next option in this list.

Autoraise when activating. Brings the window that has focus to the foreground.

Activation delay (ms). Specifies the delay (in milliseconds) before Windows XP brings the window to which you pointed to the foreground.

These settings in the value UserPreferencesMask are bits, which you learned about earlier in this chapter. The default value for ActiveWndTrkTimeout is 0, but 400 is a more reasonable delay. A higher timeout prevents windows from flipping between the foreground and background, making this feature much less annoying and more useful.

Table 5-6 Values in X-Mouse

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Activation follows mouse (X-Mouse) UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0001

Autoraise when activating UserPreferencesMask REG_BINARY Bit 0x0040

Activation delay (ms) ActiveWndTrkTimeout REG_DWORD 0 to N

Explorer

The settings in the Explorer category are all over the map: You can customize the Start menu, enable smooth scrolling, and automatically clear the document history. Table 5-7 on the next page maps the settings in this category to their registry values. Create any keys and values that you don't see in the registry.

You'll notice that the setting Show Links On Favorites Menu is missing from Table 5-7. This is because that setting isn't in the registry. When you disable the Links menu, Tweak UI simply sets the Links folder's hidden attribute. Enable the folder, and Tweak UI clears the Links folder's hidden attribute. This is the only way to prevent Internet Explorer from displaying the Links folder on the Favorites menu.

NOTE

Most of the settings in this category are policies, and you must pay attention to how the settings are phrased. For example, the Tweak UI setting Allow Help On Start Menu is positive. The corresponding value NoSMHelp is negative, which is true of most policies, as you will learn in Chapter 6, "Managing Registry Policies." Thus, to enable Help on Start Menu, you must disable NoSMHelp. To disable Help on Start Menu, you must enable NoSMHelp.

Table 5-7 Values in Explorer

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Enable smooth scrolling SmoothScroll REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Use Classic Search in Internet Explorer Use Search Asst REG_SZ Yes | No

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Manipulate connected files as a unit NoFileFolderConnection REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Prefix "Shortcut to" on new shortcuts Link REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Detect accidental double-clicks UseDoubleClickTimer REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState

Use Classic Search in Explorer Use Search Asst REG_SZ Yes | No

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Allow Help on Start Menu NoSMHelp REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Allow Logoff on Start Menu NoLogoff REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Allow Recent Documents on Start Menu NoRecentDocsMenu REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Allow Web content to be added to the desktop NoActiveDesktop REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Clear document history on exit ClearRecentDocsOnExit REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Enable Windows+X hotkeys NoWinKeys REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Lock Web content NoActiveDesktopChanges REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Maintain document history NoRecentDocsHistory REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Maintain network history NoRecentDocsNetHood REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Show My Documents on classic Start Menu NoSMMyDocs REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Show My Pictures on classic Start Menu NoSMMyPictures REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Show Network Connections on classic Start Menu NoNetworkConnections REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Shortcut

When you create a shortcut, Windows XP adds an overlay to the original document's icon so you can easily identify it as a shortcut. The Shortcut category enables you to customize that overlay. You can choose not to add an overlay, to add a light arrow, to use the normal arrow, or to use a custom icon as the overlay. Table 5-8 shows the value and data that Tweak UI uses for shortcuts.

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIcons is the key where you customize the shortcut overlay. Create this key if you don't see it in the registry. You add the REG_SZ value 29, and set it to filename,index, where filename is the name of the file containing the icon, and index is the index of that icon. For more information about using icons, see Chapter 4, "Hacking the Registry." Tweak UI removes 29 from ShellIcons if you choose the default arrow. It sets 29 to C:\WINDOWS\system32\tweakui.exe,2 for a light arrow or C:\WINDOWS\system32\tweakui.exe,3 for no arrow.

Table 5-8 Values in Shortcut

Setting Name Type Data

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIcons

Arrow 29 REG_SZ null

Light Arrow 29 REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\system32\tweakui.exe,2

None 29 REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\system32\tweakui.exe,3

Custom 29 REG_SZ filename,index

Colors

Table 5-9, on the next page, describes the values in the Colors category. Create any values that you don't see in the registry. HotTrackingColor is a string value, and Windows XP expects an RGB value in decimal notation. For example, white is 255 255 255. The operating system expects binary RGB values in hexadecimal for the remaining values. Windows XP uses each color as follows:

Hot-tracking. Windows XP displays file names in this color when you point to them and if you've enabled the single-click user interface.

Compressed files. Windows XP displays compressed files in this color.

Encrypted files. Windows XP displays encrypted files in this color.

Table 5-9 Values in Colors

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Control Panel\Colors

Hot-tracking HotTrackingColor REG_SZ RRR GGG BBB

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Compressed files AltColor REG_BINARY 0xRR 0xGG 0xBB 0x00

Encrypted files AltEncryptionColor REG_BINARY 0xRR 0xGG 0xBB 0x00

Thumbnails

The Thumbnails category controls the quality of thumbnails in Windows Explorer. Table 5-10 describes the values for Image Quality and Size. Create values that you don't see in the registry. The default value for ThumbnailQuality is 0x5A. The default value for ThumbnailSize is 0x60. Keep in mind that higher quality and larger thumbnails require more disk space, which is not usually a problem, but they also take longer to display. Changing the quality does not affect thumbnails that already exist on the file system.

Table 5-10 Values in Thumbnails

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Image Quality ThumbnailQuality REG_DWORD 0x32 - 0x64

Size (pixels) ThumbnailSize REG_DWORD 0x20 - 0xFF

Command Keys

If you have a keyboard with navigation keys, such as the Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro (I use this keyboard; learn more about it at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware), you can customize them. For example, you can reassign the Calculator key to open your favorite calculator, instead of the program that comes with Windows XP.

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AppKey is the key where you customize the navigation keys. If you don't see this key, create it. Look up the keyboard key you want to customize in Table 5-11, and then add the corresponding subkey to AppKey. Within that subkey, create the REG_SZ value ShellExecute, and set it to the path and file name of the program you want to execute by pressing that key. If you want to disable the navigation key, set it to an empty string. You can restore the original behavior by removing the subkey you added to AppKey. For example, to run PowerToy Calculator by pressing the Calculator key, add 18 to AppKey. Then create the REG_SZ value ShellExecute in 18, and set it to PowerCalc.exe.

Table 5-11 Subkeys for Command Keys

Key Subkey Key Subkey

Back (Internet browser) 1 New 29

Calculator 18 Open 30

Close 31 Paste 38

Copy 36 Print 33

Corrections 45 Raise microphone volume 26

Cut 37 Redo 35

Favorites 6 Refresh (Internet browser) 3

Find 28 Reply 39

Forward (Internet browser) 2 Save 32

Forward (mail) 40 Search 5

Help 27 Send 41

Lower microphone volume 25 Spelling checker 42

Mail 15 Stop (Internet browser) 4

Media 16 Toggle dictation and command/control 43

Mute microphone 24 Toggle microphone 44

Mute volume 8 Undo 34

My Computer 17 WebHome 7

Common Dialog Boxes

The common dialog boxes, such as the Save As dialog box, display the places bar on the left side. These are shortcuts to common folders, which make getting around much easier. By default, you see the History, Documents, Desktop, Favorites, and My Network Places folders there. You can customize the folders that appear in the places bar by using the Common Dialogs category in Tweak UI (see Figure 5-3 on the next page).

Click to view graphic

Figure 5-3 Make network document folders easily accessible by adding them to the places bar.

First things first: Table 5-12 describes the settings that enable you to remove the Back button and history from common dialog boxes. You can also hide the places bar altogether by setting the value NoPlacesBar to 0x01. Create this value if it doesn't exist.

Table 5-12 Values in Common Dialog Boxes

Setting Name Type Data

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32

Show Back button on File Open/Save dialog box NoBackButton REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Remember previously-used file names NoFileMru REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Hide places bar NoPlacesBar REG_DWORD 0x00 | 0x01

Customizing the places bar is a bit more complicated. First you add to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\ the PlacesBar subkey. In PlacesBar, create the REG_DWORD values Place0, Place1, Place2, Place3, and Place4. These correspond to the five available buttons from top to bottom. The common dialog boxes will display only the buttons specified by these values; if there is a PlacesBar subkey with no values, an empty places bar will be displayed. Then set PlacesN to one of the settings in shown in Table 5-13. For example, to set the second button to My Music, create the REG_DWORD value Places1 in PlacesBar, and set it to 0x0D. You're not limited to the folders you see in Table 5-13, by the way. You can create the PlacesN value as a REG_SZ and then add the path of any folder. To restore the default places bar, remove the PlacesBar subkey and remove the NoPlacesBar value.

Table 5-13 Folders for the Places Bar

Folder Value Folder Value

Desktop 0x00 Network Neighborhood 0x12

Favorites 0x06 History 0x22

My Documents 0x05 My Pictures 0x27

My Music 0x0D Recent Documents 0x08

My Computer 0x11

Last Updated: September 11, 2002

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