Change Windows Desktop Appearance with Registry

Want to make your Windows desktop look different from the rest. Here’s the Windows registry to do just that.

Hide Printer & Faxes Icon from Start Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Find the value named Start_ShowPrinters and assign 0 to the Value Data.

Hide Control Panel From Start Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Find the value named Start_ShowControlPanel and double-click on it.

Enter 0 in Value Data.

Hide My Pictures Menu From Start Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on Start_ShowMyPics and enter 0 in the Value Data section.

Bring up the Administrative Tools Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on StartMenuAdminTools and assign the number 1 to Value Data.

Shrink the Start Menu Icon

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on Start_LargeMFUIcons and enter 1 in Value Data.

Removing Username from Start Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer

Choose Edit > New > DWORD Value and name it NoUserNameInStartMenu.

Double-click NoUserNameInStartMenu and enter the number 1 in Value Data.

Prevent Start Menu Changes

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoChangeStartMenu.

Double-click NoChangeStartMenu and enter the number 1 in Value Data.

Hide My Recent Documents

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on Start_ShowRecentDocs and enter 0 in Value Data.

Rename Important Default Shortcuts on Desktop

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/CLSID

Double-click on the default value in each subkey below:

My Network Places:

{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

My Computer:

{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

My Documents:

{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}

Recycle Bin:

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Default IE Icon:

{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}

enter unique names instead of their default names.

Hide Icons on the Desktop

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on HideIcons and enter the number 1 in Value Data.

Clearing All Icons on the Desktop

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoDesktop.

Double-click on NoDesktop and enter the number 1 in Value Data.

Make Desktop More Stable

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it DesktopProcess.

Double-click DesktopProcess and enter 1 in Value Data.

Clearing the Program List in the Run Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RunMRU

In the right window, you will see a row of software (marked alphabetically a, b, c, d, and so on).

To delete it, simply select any (or all) of the program names and press the Del key.

If a confirmation window for data deletion appears, press Yes.

Cleaning Recent Documents

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoRecentDocsHistory.

Double-click on NoRecentDocsHistory and enter 1 in the Value Data section.

Remove Tip Info on Folders Icon on Desktop

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on FolderContentsInfoTip with the number 0.

Locking the Taskbar

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Double-click on TaskBarSizeMove and enter 0 in Value Data.

Delete Past Items Icons on the Taskbar

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify

Delete IconStreams and PastIconsStream, then open Task Manager, on the Processes Tab right-click on explorer.exe and select End Process.

Click File > New Task (Run) menu and retype explorer and press OK.

Hiding the System Tray

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Policies\Explorer

If the Explorer key does not already exist create a new DWORD Value and name it NoTrayItemsDisplay.

Double-click NoTrayItemsDisplay and enter the number 1 in Value Data.

To restore the System Tray enter 0 in Value Data.

Disabling Right-Click on the Desktop

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoViewContextMenu.

Double-click on the NoViewContextMenu and enter the number 1 in Value Data.

Changing the Delay Time When Opening the Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop

Double-click on MenuShowDelay and change the number of milliseconds from 400 to another number. The smaller the faster.

Resize Icons on Desktop and Start Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/WindowMetrics

Double-click on Shell Icon Size and change the number 32 to another number, such as 10.

Changing Color Windows

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Colors

Double-click Window and enter an RGB color combination (use Adobe PhotoShop to find a suitable color combination).

Replacing ColorText In Windows

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Colors

Double-click WindowText and enter an RGB color combination.

Menghilangkan Tab Screen Saver

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/System

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/System

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoDispScrSavPage.

Click doubleNoDispScrSavPage and enter 1 in Value Data.

Replacing Screen Saver via Registry

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop

Double-click SCRNSAVE.EXE and enter the path to the desired Screen Saver file.

Example: C:\WINDOWS\ScreenSaver.scr

Disable Default Screen Saver

HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop

Double-click ScreenSaveActive and enter 0 in Value Data.

To return it, enter 1 in the Value Data.

Remove Arrows from Shortcut Icons

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Inkfile

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/piffile

Rename IsShortcut to IsShortcuts.

Mengubah Style Wallpaper

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop

Double-click on WallpaperStyle and enter the following numbers in Value Data:

1 > Center

2 > Stretch

3 > Tile

Disable Low Disk Space Warning

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies\Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.

Double-click NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and enter 1 in the Value Data.

Disable My Computer Properties Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value and name it NoPropertiesMyComputer.

Double-click NoPropertiesMyComputer and enter 1 in Value Data.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer