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Windows Registry Tweaks

The hacks into the Windows Registry presented below should only be done by people who are comfortable using the "RegEdit" utility.

The hacks into the Windows Registry presented below should only be done by people who are comfortable using the "RegEdit" utility. Please remember that modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. There is no way to guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Please use the information provided at your own risk.

1. Windows Installation Files Path

This allows you to change where Windows thinks your original installation path of Windows is. This can be very useful when re-installing Windows drivers and they keep asking you for where to find the drivers.

• Running RegEdit, open the registry key: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup"

• Change the Value named "SourcePath" which is of type REG_SZ (string) to the path that you want. An example could be: "C:\WinCabs"

• You may need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect. Simply logging off and back on will work on some version of Windows.

2. Windows System and Special Folders

You can change the locations of the "My Documents", "Desktop", "Favorites", and even the "Start Menu" folders. Be careful if you do this, since you could completely confuse Windows.

• Running RegEdit, open the registry key: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders"

• Listed will be all the values of the Windows special folders. Before changing the registry entry, you should use Windows Explorer and move the special folder to the new location you have chosen. Then simply change the entry in the registry to the new location.

• You may need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect. Simply logging off and back on will work on some versions of Windows.

3. Windows CoolSwitch Setting

The Windows CoolSwitch is better known as the Alt-Tab keystroke sequence. With this tweak you can change it's pop-up window width or height, or even disable (or re-enable) it altogether.

• Running RegEdit, open the registry key: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop"

• To change the pop-up window width, change the value of "CoolSwitchColumns", or for height, change the value of "CoolSwitchRows". To disable the CoolSwitch altogether, set the value of "CoolSwitch" to zero (0). To re-enable it, set the value of "CoolSwitch" to one (1).

• You may need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect. Simply logging off and back on will work on some version of Windows.

4. Windows Program Aliases

This is a cool hidden feature that works on all version of Windows allowing you to "alias" programs. For example, if you want to run "C:\WINDOWS\WORDPAD.EXE" whenever your computer wants to run "WRITE.EXE" here is how to do it.

• Running RegEdit, open the registry key: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths"

• When you open this key, you should see a list of sub-keys. To create a new program alias, you will need to create a new sub-key with the name being the same as the program you want to run (e.g. "WRITE.EXE"). Now, inside the sub-key will be a value named "(Default)". Change it's REG_SZ string value to the path of the aliased software (e.g. "C:\WINDOWS\WORDPAD.EXE").

• These changes take effect immediately, and don't require you to log off or restart Windows.

If you have any other Windows Registry tweaks or hacks let us know, and we'll publish them for everybody to enjoy!

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