Best 10 Registry Tips for Windows XP

Tip 1: Changing the caching location for internet browsing

Solution:

1,Go to:
Regedit | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User ShellFolders
2.And in the right pane search for the entry 'Cache'. Modify its value to the location of the folder of your choice. Now restart the machine.

Tip 2: Deleting the history of the RUN command

Solution:

1.Go to the following key:
Regedit | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
2.Now delete the entries from the right pane and restart to get the history deleted.

Tip 3: Opening programs using the RUN command and changing the comments for certain file types made by Windows

Solution:

1.Run command by default searches in the system folders (like c:\WINDOWS\ and C:\WINDOWS\system32\), plus all the files located in the installation directories. SO if you know the main executable file name of your favorite program then just type the name in the "RUN" window and 'Windows' will open it for you.
Some of the useful and commons are:
Defrag : Disk Defragmenter
winhlp32 : help file viewer for windows XP (can open any compiled help file)
Taskmgr : Task Manager (the same opens up by pressing ALT + CONTROL + DELETE keys)
sndvol32: Volume Control
Notepad : Notepad
Mspaint : Paint
Mmc : Microsoft management Console
Control : Control Panel
Regedit : Registry Editor
Cmd : Command Prompt
WordPad : WordPad
Wmplayer: Windows Media Player
mplayer2: Windows Media Player (old edition)
WinWord : Microsoft Word
EXCEL : Microsoft Excel
%systemroot%: your windows installation directory.
%windir% : same as %systemroot%
%userprofile%: your user directory

2.For a complete list go to:

Regedit | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache

3.And in the right pane look for the program name in the 'data' column. Please do not consider the text of those whose 'Name' corresponds to a .dll file or the one whose 'Name' starts with '@'.
4.Those starting with a '@' stand for the comments on the 'file types'. For example if your default audio player program is 'iTunes' and you have MP3 files on your disk, then on the right hand side you will find a comment like "MPEG Layer 3 Audio" related to iTunes. Change its value to "MP3" and restart the computer. Now wherever there is a MP3 file, instead of the comment "MPEG Layer 3 Audio", you will find that windows now will tell it to be an "MP3" file.
5.In the same branch, you may also find comments for certain files and conditions. Those may also be customized to your own custom messages and suggestions.

Tip 4: Where does Yahoo! Messenger the login information

Solution:

Go to the following key:

Regedit | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\profiles

And expand the key.
There will be a number of keys in this key.
Each key will be denoting a Yahoo ID who tried to login.
You can also find much information under their sub-keys like:

1: Was the login successful?
2: Was the 'save username and password enabled'?
3: which profiles are related to the login ID.
4: In which chat room did the user last chat?
5: Is the 'achieving' option activated for this user?

And a lot more can be found by looking on these keys.

Tip 5: Customize the tips shown by Windows

Solution:

1.Go to:

Regedit | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips

2.And in the right pane search the tip you want to customize. Just modify the data and you are done

Tip 6: To change the default location of your wallpapers which appear in the 'desktop' tab of 'display properties'

Solution:

1.Go to:

Regedit | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

2.Change the value of the entry "WallPaperDir" to the location you want.

Tip 7: To change the default location of Installation of softwares

Solution:

1.Go to:

Regedit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

2. And change the key name "ProgramFilesDir" to the location you want.
e.g. if you want it to be "E:\Programs\" then change the value of the "E:\Programs\" in the 'Data' field.

Tip 8: To get a "Legal Notice Caption" when the computer starts

Solution:

Regedit |
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system
And change the key name:

"legalnoticecaption" to the title of the text box that will appear and
"legalnoticetext" to the text that you want to appear in the box.

You cannot insert carrier returns. Instead you will need to insert proper amount of blank spaces. One line in the legal notice caption has an average of 116 characters space.

Tip 9: To change the default locations of various user folders

Solution:

1.Go to:
Regedit |
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

2.And change the related key to the location you want.
3.Remember that the location typed by you must exist. Also, the location that you provide in the registry must be containing appropriate shortcuts. Only Shortcuts will work. Original folders will not work.
4.You need to logoff/logon to get the settings in effect.

Tip 10: How to add a new entry in the right-click context menu of Recycle Bin

Solution:
This trick can be used by people who use a small number of applications regularly but do not want to clutter their desktop with Icons. Here we show you how to open a particular folder using the trick.
1.Go to:

Regedit | HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

2.Now expand this key and see if a key named "shell" is present.
3.If it is not then right-click the above key and select New | Key and type "shell".
4.Now under this key, create a new key named as "My Favorite Folder" (REPLACE THIS TEXT WITH YOUR CHOICE OR THE ACTUAL FOLDER NAME ).
5.Now under this new "My Favorite Folder" key, create a key named as "command".
6.Select the "command" key and double click the "Default" value and in the 'data' field type down (without quotes) "explorer.exe c:\Path_name\".
7.This will add a new entry into the right-click context menu of the recycle bin on desktop with the name "My Favorite folder" and clicking this option will open the "My Favorite folder".

This trick can be played on other system folders too like "My computer", "My Documents", "Control Panel" and "My Network Places" etc. if you know their CLSID values. You can add as many entries in the right-click context menu as much as you like but don't make a long one as it will look very bad.