Use these cool registry tweaks to customize your computer, enjoy Windows more and get stuff done faster.

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There are a couple of interesting registry tweaks that already gained a lot of popularity in a lot of user communities. Such as:

Prevent the computer from rebooting after Windows Updates
– Works in Windows XP and Vista. –
If you have your computer configured to “download and install recommended updates”, your computer will automatically reboot after the installation of certain updates. This can result in strange, unexpected scenarios.
Navigate to the registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU]
and create or modify the dword value called “NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers”. The value 0 will result in the default behaviour (i.e. reboot after certain updates), whereas the value 1 prevents your computer from automatically rebooting.

Kill the Windows “balloon tips”
From time to time Windows tries to get your attention by displaying so-called informational balloon tips in the system notification area. The “information” ranges from invitations to “Take a tour of Windows XP” to notifications that you have unused icons on your desktop and a lot of people simply find them annoying or at least distracting. Here’s how to disable them: go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced then add the DWORD value ‘EnableBalloonTips’ and give it a value of ‘0’.

More stuff in “My Computer”
The “My Computer” icon is one of the most heavily used icons on any desktop. Having access to printers, administrative tasks, network connections and other useful components right there will make your life easier. In the registry, Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
ExplorerMyComputerNameSpace. For each of the items listed below, you can add a key with the name that is mentioned
Administrative Tools: {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153}
Printers and Faxes: {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Scheduled Tasks: {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Network Connections: {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Recycle Bin: {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
My Network Place: {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

Skip the unknown file type prompt
– Works in Windows XP. –
Normally, when you try to open a file that Windows doesn’t recognize, a dialog will appear asking you which program you want to use to open the file. This registry key will change that behaviour: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer]. Create or modify dword value, called “InternetOpenWith” and enter the value 0 to hide the dialog.

Double-pane Explorer for network drives
– Works in Windows XP. –
Normally, when you click a network drive in Windows Explorer, a new Explorer window comes up that doesn’t have the folders section on the left. Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTFoldershellopenddeexec], create or modify the dword value called “(Default)” (with the brackets) with a value of “[ExploreFolder(“%l”, %I, %S)]”

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