For Older builds or not using setupreg.hiv file
========================================================
Remove the Desktop version text
During the Windows XP beta, you will see text in the lower right corner of the screen that says Windows XP Professional, Evaluation Copy.
Build 2462 or similar. A lot of people would like to remove this text for some reason, and while it's possible to do so, the cure is more
damaging than the problem, in my opinion. So the following step will remove this text, but you'll lose a lot of the nice graphical effects that
come in Windows XP, such as the see-through icon text.
To remove the desktop version text, open Display Properties (right-click the desktop, then choose Properties) and navigate to the Desktop page.
Click Customize Desktop and then choose the Web page in the resulting dialog. On this page, check the option titled Lock desktop items. Click
OK to close the dialog, and then OK to close Display Properties. The text disappears. But now the rest of your system is really ugly. You can
reverse the process by unchecking Lock desktop items.
There's also a shortcut for this process: Just right-click the desktop and choose Arrange by then Lock Web Icons on the Desktop.
Enable clear type on the Welcome Screen!
========================================================
As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for
readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only
appears after you logon.
But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:
(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)
Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.
Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
========================================================
If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger simply delete the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS
Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
========================================================
For some reason, Hibernate may not be available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down
the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!
Add album art to any music folder
========================================================
One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art
on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to
the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new
Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder
properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.
When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder.
Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media
Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic,
so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!
Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!
========================================================
Remove the Desktop version text
During the Windows XP beta, you will see text in the lower right corner of the screen that says Windows XP Professional, Evaluation Copy.
Build 2462 or similar. A lot of people would like to remove this text for some reason, and while it's possible to do so, the cure is more
damaging than the problem, in my opinion. So the following step will remove this text, but you'll lose a lot of the nice graphical effects that
come in Windows XP, such as the see-through icon text.
To remove the desktop version text, open Display Properties (right-click the desktop, then choose Properties) and navigate to the Desktop page.
Click Customize Desktop and then choose the Web page in the resulting dialog. On this page, check the option titled Lock desktop items. Click
OK to close the dialog, and then OK to close Display Properties. The text disappears. But now the rest of your system is really ugly. You can
reverse the process by unchecking Lock desktop items.
There's also a shortcut for this process: Just right-click the desktop and choose Arrange by then Lock Web Icons on the Desktop.
Enable clear type on the Welcome Screen!
========================================================
As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for
readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only
appears after you logon.
But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:
(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)
Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.
Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
========================================================
If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger simply delete the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS
Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
========================================================
For some reason, Hibernate may not be available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down
the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!
Add album art to any music folder
========================================================
One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art
on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to
the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new
Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder
properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.
When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder.
Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media
Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic,
so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!
Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!
