Other Registry Tools

I've said that, although most Windows functions are controlled by Registry entries, most of these settings are made using Control Panel applets, Computer Management tools, and application preferences menus. There are some settings, however, that can't be made using any standard Windows program.

Making these changes used to require you to directly edit the Registry. Now, however, you'll find a raft of third-party add-on tools to make these changes more safely via a nice graphical user interface. Let's go through a couple of the more popular utilities.

TweakUI

Microsoft produced a tool called TweakUI. If you don't geek-speak, its name means "adjust the user interface in cool and arcane ways." You can download TweakUI from Microsoft's Web site at www.microsoft.com; search for "Windows XP powertoys."

Using TweakUI, you can adjust mouse sensitivity, window movement, animation effects, the appearance of icons in the Explorer views, the visibility of desktop icons such as Internet Explorer, the visibility of local and network drives in the Explorer, and some security features such as hiding the name of the last-logged-on user. Tweak UI is covered in more detail in Chapter 23, "Tweaking the GUI."

X-Setup Pro

X-Setup Pro, by Xteq, is like TweakUI on steroids. This shareware program offers nearly 1,700 settings and tweaks using a slick graphical Explorer-like interface. It includes wizards for some of the more complex tasks like mapping file types to Explorer icons. One of its niftiest features is its ability to record a series of changes to a log file that it can then play back on other computers. Its pricing structure was undergoing change at press time, but the cost should be somewhere between free and US $7. You can download it from www.x-setup.net.

Registry Toolkit

Registry Toolkit is a shareware Registry Editor made by Funduc software with a nifty search-and-replace system. You can scan the Registry, changing all occurrences of one string to another, which is great for some nasty jobs. It also keeps a log of changes made so that edits can be undone. Its user interface isn't very comfortable or slick, but if you need to manage a lot of identical changes in the Registry, this is one tool to check out. It's free to try; $25 to register, at www.funduc.com.

Resplendent Registrar

Resplendent Registrar is a powerful Registry editing tool produced by Resplendence Software Projects (www.resplendence.com) with a drag and drop interface. Other features include a Registry defragmentation tool, a Registry compare tool, support for volatile Registry keys, and the option to edit Registry hive files on disk, allowing power users and administrators to edit Registry images of broken Windows installations. It's also shareware ($44.95), and there's a free "lite" version.

Tweak-XP Pro

Tweak-XP Pro, available from www.totalidea.com combines tweaking tools with additional enhancements and optimizing tools such as a RAM-disk, pop-up ad blocker, RAM reorganizer, file shredder, and so on. The cost is $39.95 for one computer, with multiple-license discounts available.

Registry-Hacker Web Sites

Not surprisingly, whole Web sites have sprung up to share Windows Registry tips and tricks. If you're interested, you might check out these two sites that I've found to be occasionally useful:

www.winguides.com/registry

www.jsiinc.com/reghack.htm

But to be honest, I don't find all of the listed tips to be helpful, and the TweakUI program I discussed earlier provides an easier way to many of the more useful things.

Google

As for so many things, when it comes to demystifying the Registry, Google is your best friend. If you're looking for the purpose and valid settings of a particular registry key, search Google for the full key name. It's easy: Right-click the key name in the Registry Editor, select Copy Key Name, and paste the name into the Google search field. If you don't get an answer, pare the name down section by section, starting at the left side:

 name1\name2\name3\name4 

then

 name2\name3\name4 

then

 name3\name4 

finally

 name4 

You can also try searching the microsoft.com Web site using Microsoft's search function, but frankly, Google does a much better job of indexing Microsoft's site than Microsoft does.