COM Class Keys

The key HKCR\CLSID contains COM class registrations. HKCR\CLSID\ clsid is an individual class registration, where clsid is the class's class ID, which is a GUID. See Chapter 1, "Learning the Basics," to learn more about GUIDs. The default value of each class registration contains the class's name, but it's not all that friendly. There's not a lot to customize in HKCR\CLSID. Programs register these classes when you install them so they can create objects from these classes.

Class registrations sometimes contain the same subkeys as program classes in HKCR. For example, class registrations support the DefaultIcon and InfoTip values. They also contain many more subkeys and values that program classes don't support. Listing them here is senseless because they are in the programmer's domain and not useful for a power user or IT professional customizing Windows XP. However, knowing the class ID of certain COM classes is useful when customizing other parts of the registry. For example, adding some classes to the desktop's namespace enables you to customize the objects you see on it. You can use this same information to hide icons that you see in My Network Places. Chapter 4, "Hacking the Registry," describes how to show and hide desktop icons using these class IDs. Thus, Table A-2 lists the most interesting COM classes that are in HKCR\CLSID.

Table A-2: Special Classes in HKCR\CLSID

Object	Class identifier
Shell folders
ActiveX Cache	{88C6C381-2E85-11D0-94DE-444553540000}
Computer Search Results	{1F4DE370-D627-11D1-BA4F-00A0C91EEDBA}
History	{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Internet Explorer	{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
My Computer	{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
My Documents	{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
My Network Places	{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Offline Files	{AFDB1F70-2A4C-11D2-9039-00C04F8EEB3E}
Programs	{7BE9D83C-A729-4D97-B5A7-1B7313C39E0A}
Recycle Bin	{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Search Results	{E17D4FC0-5564-11D1-83F2-00A0C90DC849}
Shared Documents	{59031A47-3F72-44A7-89C5-5595FE6B30EE}
Start Menu	{48E7CAAB-B918-4E58-A94D-505519C795DC}
Temporary Internet Files	{7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
Web	{BDEADF00-C265-11D0-BCED-00A0C90AB50F}
Control Panel folders
Administrative Tools	{D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153}
Fonts	{D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524152}
Network Connections	{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Printers And Faxes	{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Scanners And Cameras	{E211B736-43FD-11D1-9EFB-0000F8757FCD}
Scheduled Tasks	{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Control Panel icons
Folder Options	{6DFD7C5C-2451-11D3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF}
Taskbar And Start Menu	{0DF44EAA-FF21-4412-828E-260A8728E7F1}
User Accounts	{7A9D77BD-5403-11D2-8785-2E0420524153}
Other
Add Network Places	{D4480A50-BA28-11D1-8E75-00C04FA31A86}
Briefcase	{85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
E-mail	{2559A1F5-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Help And Support	{2559A1F1-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Internet	{2559A1F4-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Network Setup Wizard	{2728520D-1EC8-4C68-A551-316B684C4EA7}
Run	{2559A1F3-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Search	{2559A1F0-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Windows Security	{2559A1F2-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}