Customizing the Taskbar

Customizing the Taskbar
The Windows XP taskbar has many new features, such as the ability to group programs and the new system tray that automatically hides icons that are not active. On top of these new features, there were enhancements such as new animations and graphical refinements that make the taskbar look so much better. The taskbar normally is used to switch between active programs and provides some system information, such as the current time and other system events in the system try. Now it can beused for so much more, as you will see in the next few sections.

Using and adjusting program grouping
The program grouping feature can be very useful, or it can be an annoyance. When you have more than just a few programs open, the taskbar can become cluttered. To fight this, as the taskbar fills up, programs that have more than one window open are grouped together. If you have a bunch of Internet Explorer windows open, they will all be grouped together into one entry on the taskbar. Then, if you want to switch between them or close one, you have to select the entry on the taskbar and a new menu will pop up showing you all of the different windows open for the specific application.

One great feature of grouping is it gives you the ability to close several windows at once. When all of the Internet Explorer windows are grouped together, you can just right-click the entry on the taskbar and select Close Group. Doing so will automatically close all of the browser win- dows at once.

The downside to this is it takes an extra step to navigate through the grouped program items. Some people do not like this option very much and would rather have a taskbar that is more cluttered, because they will be able to switch between programs faster. You can do a number of different things to customize this feature. Using a program called Tweak UI, which is a PowerToy released by Microsoft for Windows XP, you can easily change the behavior of how programs are grouped. But first, I am going to show you how to enable program grouping, if it is not set up on your computer. You’ll also find out how to disable it, if you do not like it. Follow these steps to enable/disable program grouping:

1. Right-click a blank part of the taskbar and select Properties. 2. This will bring up the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window that you used previ- ously. This time, you are going to be concerned with what is on the Taskbar tab. Locate the Group Similar Taskbar Buttons item in the taskbar appearance section. 3. Check the box to enable this feature and uncheck to disable. 4. Click OK to save your changes. Now that you have the feature turned on, you are ready to use Tweak UI to customize the way it behaves. First, download a copy of Tweak UI from Microsoft’s PowerToys Web site, located at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp. Make sure that you download the normal version of Tweak UI and not the version for Itanium-based sys- tems unless you have a 64-bit system.

When you have Tweak UI installed, follow these steps: 1. Launch Tweak UI by clicking the Start button, selecting All Programs, and then PowerToys for Windows XP. 2. When Tweak UI is started, expand Taskbar and Start Menu and select Grouping. 3. You will be shown three different options that determine the behavior of the grouping feature. Group Least Used Applications First will group the applications that are the oldest on the taskbar and have more than one window open. Group Applications With The Most Windows First will just group programs that have the most windows open when the taskbar starts to become cluttered. Group Any Application With At Least X Windows is the setting that gives you the most control over grouping. Select this behav- ior and then enter the number of windows an application must have open before they are grouped. I personally prefer this feature and set it to a value of 4 so that when I have a lot of Internet Explorer windows open, I can still switch between them quickly when I have a few open, but it groups them when I have a lot open so my taskbar is not all cluttered. 4. Once you have selected the behavior you prefer, click the OK button on the bottom of the window to save your changes. Once you log off and back on or reboot, your changes will be active.

Read more...

Hiding programs from appearing in the Start panel

Hiding programs from appearing in the Start panel
So you have a top-secret program that you do not want anyone else to know you have. Every
time you run a program on your computer, Windows XP keeps track of it and will place it on
your frequently run programs list as a convenience to you. Sometimes, this feature is not always
a convenience and is, instead, like a chronic medical problem that will not go away.
For example, let’s use the situation of a guy named Larry. Larry plays Solitaire all the time on
his computer when he is at work. It is not the best game, but it will help him pass time and it’s
a great alternative to actually doing work. Every time Larry plays Solitaire, Windows XP auto-
matically puts the game into the frequently run programs list. This tracking is a problem for
Larry because he is concerned that one of his fellow employees might see the program on the
list and report him. What should he do? First, Larry should buy a copy of Hacking Windows
XP and then he should follow these steps:

1. Click the Start Menu and select Run. Type in regedit and click OK to start up the Registry Editor. 2. Next, expand the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder. 3. Search through the list of folders until he finds the folder called Applications and expand that as well. 4. Now he will see a list of every executable file for the programs installed on his computer. To hide a program from the frequently run programs list, he will want to expand the folder that is the executable for the program. To hide Solitaire, he will want to expand the sol.exe folder.

If you do not know the name of the executable file that a program shortcut points to, you can easily look this up by right-clicking the shortcut and selecting Properties. In the Properties box, you will see a full path to where the file is located as well as the name of the file. When you right-click the shortcut in the Start Menu for Solitaire, you will discover that the name of the executable for the game is sol.exe.


5. Can’t find a folder called sol.exe? That’s because some Windows applications are not listed. If his application was listed, he needs to skip this step. Otherwise, he will need to create a folder. To do so, he selects the Applications folder with the mouse. Then he right-clicks and selects New and then Select Key. Then he types in the name of the exe- cutable for the name of the key. For Solitaire, he will want to name the key sol.exe. 6. Now that he has found the folder for the application or has created one, he expands it so that he can see all of its values. Then, he right-clicks the executable’s folder that he just created or found in the registry. Select New and then select String. Next, he types in NoStartPage as the name of the string variable. 7. He closes the Registry Editor and logs off and then back in. He will never see Solitaire in his frequently run programs list again. Now Larry can play as much Solitaire at work as he wants without having to worry about it showing up in his frequently run programs list. Don’t get too confident after completing this hack. Remember, people can still look over your shoulder and see your computer screen. To solve that problem, I recommend using a cardboard box to build a shelter over your cubicle to block spying eyes. This will also limit the number of people that can ask you questions, which will allow you to better concentrate on your game of Solitaire.

Read more...

Adding and removing navigation icons

Adding and removing navigation icons
Many icons on the new Start panel will help you navigate through Windows in a way you
have never done before. All of the icons that are displayed can be customized to fit your
needs so that you can have one-click access to several different parts of your computer. Icons
such as My Computer, My Music, Network Connections, and many more are now placed
right on the Start panel. Windows XP gives you the capability to add even more.
Additionally, these icons can be transformed into pop-up menus that expand and show the
details. For example, instead of just displaying the My Computer icon, when you move your
mouse over the icon, it can pop up a menu that will display shortcuts to each of the separate
drives on your computer.

These new features allow you to be much more efficient when working with your computer.
You can save yourself a lot of time by enabling the auto-expanding pop-up menu feature on
many of the utility icons such as Control Panel. This way, you can have access to all of your
Control Panel applets with just one click on the Start Menu.
Windows XP makes it possible to edit most of the navigation icons right from within the user
interface so you don’t have to worry about hacking the registry in this section. To get started,
follow these steps:

. Right-click the Start button and select Properties, as shown in Figure 2-4.
2. You should now see the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window. Next, click the top
Customize button, and the Start Menu settings will load.
3. The Customize Start Menu is where you can change many aspects of the Start panel; for
now, click the Advanced tab. You will learn about some of the items on the General tab
in the next few sections.
4. Once you have the Advanced tab displayed, you will see the Start Menu items scroll box.
In this box you will see a list of all of the different features for the icons that can be dis-
played on the Start panel. Table 2-2 lists in detail all of the different features and their
separate options. For demonstration purposes, let’s make the My Computer icon expand
automatically to show all of the drives. Scroll down in the box until you see the My
Computer title.
5. Then select the Display as a Menu option, as shown in Figure 2-5, to enable the Auto
Expand feature.
6. Click OK twice, and your change is now complete.

As you can see, making changes to the items on the Start panel is quite simple. Take a look at
Table 2-2 for more information on all of the navigation icons that you can customize with the
method just described.

Read more...

customize startup

The Start panel is what I call the new replacement for the traditional Start Menu that we are all familiar with from using previous versions of Windows. I call this the Start panel because it is not just a menu anymore. It is now a collection of various links and features all thrown onto one panel that pops up. It offers many new features, such as a dynamic list that places your most frequently run programs on the panel so that you can easily access them without having to navigate throughout the entire program listings. Additionally, the Start panel has replaced all of the icons on the desktop except for the Recycle Bin so that your desktop will look much cleaner and uncluttered. Different tools and hacks are available that will allow you to customize the Start panel. Almost everything on it is customizable. You can add and remove items that are displayed, and you can even change the way it looks.

Customizing Your System
the many different options available, you can customize the way that different parts of the panel works. For example, you can change the number of frequently run programs that are displayed. When you have finished reading these next few sections, you will have transformed your Start panel into something that is even more useful for your everyday tasks.

Read more...

The problems of changing the boot screen

The problems of changing the boot screen
If you download a hacked system file with a new boot screen and replace the old file on your
computer, after you restart, you may find that your computer will not start and will give you a
nice error message. “C:\Windows\System32\ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt.” Missing or
corrupt? Uh-oh. This is the most common problem that users experience when trying to
change their boot screen using the file swap technique.

User that get this message, or any similar error message, are receiving it because they replaced their system file with a file that is not compatible with their version of Windows XP. Windows XP was released in many different languages for different parts of the world. Each language version of XP has a slightly different version of code. Additionally, Microsoft continuously releases software update patches to update the code of the system files such as the monthly security updates and almost yearly service packs. All of these factors result in several different versions of the boot screen system file floating around on the Web.

You could find a boot screen file that was made from a hacked system file from the German version of Windows XP. Or more commonly, you could find a boot screen that was made from a hacked file from the original version of Windows XP. When you try to install that boot screen on a computer that, for example, has Service Pack 2 installed on the English version of XP, you will have problems. Windows XP will only work with a specific version of the system file that contains the boot screen. This arrangement complicates the change of the boot screen with the common file swap technique. It will do so because users will have difficulty telling on what version of Windows XP a particular boot screen that is distributed on the Web will work. Users have to be aware of more than just the version problem. Because you are downloading a hacked version of a critical system file that is executed during the boot sequence, you could possibly download a version that someone modified and in which he or she put some variation of malicious code that could harm your computer. Read the next section to find out how to change your boot screen safely.

How to safely change your boot screen
Check out the following ways to change your boot screen by using special tools that will allow you to do it safely.


Several different boot-screen-changing programs are available on the Web. Some of these pro- grams are shareware and others are freeware. I have used them all. Not all of them have been user-friendly, and some of them have been an out-and-out pain. The one I prefer to use is BootSkin by Stardock, which also happens to be free. This program is by far the easiest and safest one to use to change the boot screen. Instead of replacing the system file, it just installs a special driver that skins the boot. This arrangement does not impact system performance and is a nice alternative to having to deal with system files. You can get a copy of this cool app from the companion CD in the Chapter 1 folder or on the Web at www.bootskin.com.

The BootSkin app is a great piece of software, but it does not do everything. Currently, it does not allow you to use the thousands of boot screens already made that are posted all over the Web. It will only allow you to run boot screens that were made especially for the program. True, hundreds of boot screens are available for this application, but thousands of hacked system files are out there. Because of this limitation, I have decided to show you all how to convert these hacked system file boot screens into safe BootSkin files. But first, let’s get started using the app.

Read more...

Customizing the Look of the Startup

Windows XP has a great new look, but after a while, the new look can get old. With the help of some cool tools and tricks, you can change many parts of Windows XP.This chapter will guide you through customizing two parts of your computer, the boot screen and the Welcome/logon screen. You will learn how to replace the boring boot screen with premade screens and even how to make some of your own.

Then, this chapter will move on to customizing the second part of your computer startup, the Welcome/logon screen. This screen can be customized in several ways, such as selecting to use the new Welcome screen or the old Windows 2000 style logon screen. Also, there are a handful of different hacks that will help you customize each screen and make it look even better. Would you like to replace the Welcome screen with a screen you made yourself? You will also learn how to replace the Welcome screen and how to make one of your own.
in this chapter
Changing the Boot Screen
Making Your Own Boot Screen
Changing the Welcome Screen
Making Your Own Welcome Screen
Customizing the Logon Screen
Customizing the Windows XP Boot Screen

Every time I turn on my computer, I am forced to stare at the boringWindows XP boot screen. Although, I must admit, I found the moving blue bars very amusing at first, after a few months, I became bored and wanted something different. Although changing the boot screen is not a
feature that the Windows XP team at Microsoft has built into Windows, doing so is still possible.

Changing the boot screen
The image that is displayed during the boot is hidden away in a system file called ntoskrnl.exe. This system file is loaded during the system boot and is what displays the boot image and animation.

Customizing Your System
When users first started to make their own boot screens, they would use resource hacking tools to hack into the file and replace the old Windows XP bitmap image file with one that they
made. Then, they would swap the old system file with the hacked version of the system file so
that the new boot screen would be displayed.
The majority of users do not start off by making their own boot screen. Instead, they download
one that someone else made from the Web. Unfortunately, the only way to distribute a boot
screen is to share the system file that the author has hacked from his or her system. This
method of distributing boot screens works for some people, but it may cause serious problems
for the majority of users.

Read more...