Explorer

Explorer

The settings in the Explorer category affect many different actions: you can customize the Start menu, enable smooth scrolling, and automatically clear the document history. Table 5-7 maps the settings in this category to their registry values. Create any keys and values that you don't see in the registry.

You'll notice that the setting Show Links On Favorites Menu is missing from Table 5-7. This is because that setting isn't in the registry. When you disable the Links menu, Tweak UI simply sets the Links folder's hidden attribute. Enable the folder, and Tweak UI clears the Links folder's hidden attribute. This is the only way to prevent Internet Explorer from displaying the Links folder on the Favorites menu.

NOTE
Most of the settings in this category are policies, and you must pay attention to how the settings are phrased. For example, the Tweak UI setting Allow Help on Start Menu is positive. The corresponding value NoSMHelp is negative, which is true of most policies, as you will learn in Chapter 7, “Using Registry-Based Policy.” Thus, to enable Help on the Start Menu, you must disable NoSMHelp. To disable Help on the Start Menu, you must enable NoSMHelp.

Table 5-7 Values in the Explorer Category

Setting	Name	Type	Data
HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop
Enable smooth scrolling	SmoothScroll	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
Use Classic Search in Internet Explorer	Use Search Asst	REG_SZ	Yes | No
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Manipulate connected files as a unit	NoFileFolderConnection	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Prefix “Shortcut to” on new shortcuts	Link	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Detect accidental double-clicks	UseDoubleClickTimer	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Show “Encrypt” on context menu	EncryptionContextMenu	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoComplete
Use Tab to navigate AutoComplete	Always Use Tab	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState
Use Classic Search in Explorer	Use Search Asst	REG_SZ	Yes | No
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Allow Help on Start Menu	NoSMHelp	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Allow Logoff on Start Menu	NoLogoff	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Allow Recent Documents on Start Menu	NoRecentDocsMenu	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Allow Web content to be added to the desktop	NoActiveDesktop	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Clear document history on exit	ClearRecentDocsOnExit	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Enable Windows+X hotkeys	NoWinKeys	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Lock Web content	NoActiveDesktopChanges	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Maintain document history	NoRecentDocsHistory	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Maintain network history	NoRecentDocsNetHood	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Show My Documents on classic Start Menu	NoSMMyDocs	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Show My Pictures on classic Start Menu	NoSMMyPictures	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Show Network Connections on classic Start Menu	NoNetworkConnections	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01
Use intuitive filename sorting	NoStrCmpLogical	REG_DWORD	0x00 | 0x01

Shortcut

When you create a shortcut, Windows adds an overlay to the original document's icon so you can easily identify it as a shortcut. The Shortcut category enables you to customize that overlay. You can choose not to add an overlay, to add a light arrow, to use the normal arrow, or to use a custom icon as the overlay. Table 5-8 shows the value and data that Tweak UI uses for shortcuts.

Table 5-8 Values in the Shortcut Category

Setting	Name	Type	Data
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIcons
Arrow	29	REG_SZ	null
Light Arrow	29	REG_SZ	C:\WINDOWS\system32\TweakUI.exe,2
None	29	REG_SZ	C:\WINDOWS\system32\TweakUI.exe,3
Custom	29	REG_SZ	filename,index

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIcons is the key where you customize the shortcut overlay. Create this key if you don't see it in the registry. You add the REG_SZ value 29 and set it to filename,index, where filename is the name of the file containing the icon, and index is the index of that icon. For more information about using icons, see Chapter 4, “Hacking the Registry.” Tweak UI removes 29 from ShellIcons if you choose the default arrow. It sets 29 to C:\WINDOWS\system32\TweakUI.exe,2 for a light arrow or to C:\WINDOWS\system32\TweakUI.exe,3 for no arrow.

Colors

Table 5-9 describes the values in the Colors category. Create any values that you don't see in the registry. HotTrackingColor is a string value, and Windows expects a Red Green Blue (an RGB) value in decimal notation. For example, white is 255 255 255. The operating system expects binary RGB values in hexadecimal for the remaining values. Windows uses each color as follows:

• Hot-tracking.

  Windows displays file names in this color when you point to them and if you've enabled the single-click user interface.

• Compressed files.

  Windows displays compressed files in this color.

• Encrypted files.

  Windows displays encrypted files in this color.

Table 5-9 Values in the Colors Category

Setting	Name	Type	Data
HKCU\Control Panel\Colors
Hot-tracking	HotTrackingColor	REG_SZ	RRR GGG BBB
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Compressed files	AltColor	REG_BINARY	0xRR 0xGG 0xBB 0x00
Encrypted files	AltEncryptionColor	REG_BINARY	0xRR 0xGG 0xBB 0x00

Thumbnails

The Thumbnails category controls the quality of thumbnails in Windows Explorer. Table 5-10 describes the values for Image Quality and Size. Create values that you don't see in the registry. The default value for ThumbnailQuality is 0x5A. The default value for ThumbnailSize is 0x60. Keep in mind that higher quality and larger thumbnails require more disk space, which is not usually a problem, but they also take longer to display. Changing the quality does not affect thumbnails that already exist on the file system.

Table 5-10 Values in the Thumbnails Category

Setting	Name	Type	Data
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Image Quality	ThumbnailQuality	REG_DWORD	0x32 0x64
Size (pixels)	ThumbnailSize	REG_DWORD	0x20 0xFF

Command Keys

If you have a keyboard with navigation keys, such as the Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro (learn more about this keyboard at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware), you can customize them. For example, you can reassign the Calculator key to open your favorite calculator instead of the program that comes with Windows.

The key where you customize the keyboard navigation keys is HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AppKey. If you don't see this key, create it. Look up the keyboard key that you want to customize in Table 5-11, and then add the corresponding subkey to AppKey. Within that subkey, create the REG_SZ value ShellExecute, and set it to the path and file name of the program you want to execute by pressing that key. If you want to disable the keyboard navigation key, set it to an empty string. You can restore the original behavior by removing the subkey you added to AppKey. For example, to run PowerToy Calculator by pressing the Calculator key, add 18 to AppKey. Then create the REG_SZ value ShellExecute in 18, and set it to PowerCalc.exe.

Table 5-11 Subkeys for the Command Keys Category

Key	Subkey	Key	Subkey
Back (Internet browser)	1	New	29
Calculator	18	Open	30
Close	31	Paste	38
Copy	36	Print	33
Corrections	45	Raise microphone volume	26
Cut	37	Redo	35
Favorites	6	Refresh (Internet browser)	3
Find	28	Reply	39
Forward (Internet browser)	2	Save	32
Forward (mail)	40	Search	5
Help	27	Send	41
Lower microphone volume	25	Spelling checker	42
Mail	15	Stop (Internet browser)	4
Media	16	Toggle dictation and command/control	43
Mute microphone	24	Toggle microphone	44
Mute volume	8	Undo	34
My Computer	17	WebHome	7

Customizations

Windows Explorer remembers how you customize it. For example, you can customize the view for a particular folder, and Windows Explorer will remember and use that setting the next time that you open that folder. By default, Windows Explorer only remembers 400 customizations. You can reduce or increase that number, however. The Folders to Remember setting is the REG_DWORD setting Bag MRU Size in the keys HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell and HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam.

Slide Show

The REG_DWORD value Timeout in the key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellImageView controls the amount of time that Windows Explorer displays each picture during a slide show. This is a per-user setting that requires you to log off and on to Windows for it to take effect.