Microsoft Windows Registry Guide, Second Edition

Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

This branch of HKCU is one of the most interesting because this is where you find most of the Windows per-user settings. The following list describes some of the more interesting subkeys, and the sections following this one go into more detail:

• Applets.

  This subkey contains subkeys for many of the different programs that come with Windows. For example, it contains the subkeys Regedit, SysTray, Tour, and Volume Control. If you don't want to see the tour when you create a new user profile, set the REG_DWORD value RunCount in the subkey Tour to 0x00, for example.

• Internet Settings.

  This subkey contains Internet Explorer settings. A large number of these settings are security settings, such as security zones.

• NetCache.

  This subkey contains settings for the Windows Offline Files feature. It contains the subkey AssignedOfflineFolders, which is a list of the offline folders assigned to that user through Group Policy.

• Policies.

  This subkey is the per-user policy branch that Windows inherits from earlier versions of Windows. You learn about policies in Chapter 7, “Using Registry-Based Policy.”

• Run.

  This subkey contains programs that run after the user logs on to the computer. The name of each \CONSOLE value is arbitrary. The value's data contains the command to execute after the user logs on to the computer.

• RunOnce.

  This subkey contains programs that run after the user logs on to the computer. The name of each \CONSOLE value is arbitrary, and the value's data contains the command to execute after the user logs on to the computer. The difference between this key and Run is that Windows removes commands from this key after they've run, so they only run one time.

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer is one of the most interesting branches in the registry. For that reason, the remaining sections in this appendix discuss this branch, beginning with the Advanced subkey.

Explorer\Advanced

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced contains settings for Windows Explorer and the Start menu. You configure these settings in two places. The first is the Folder Options dialog box. The second is the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box. Table C-6 describes these settings.

Windows defines templates, similar to the policy templates that define how to collect and store policies, for these settings. You find these templates in the following places:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartMenu contains templates for the settings in the Advanced Start Menu Options area of the Customize Classic Start Menu dialog box. To open this dialog box, in Control Panel launch Taskbar And Start Menu. Then on the Start Menu tab, select the Classic Start Menu option, and click Customize.

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel contains templates for the settings on the Advanced tab of the Customize Start Menu dialog box. To open this dialog box, in Control Panel launch Taskbar And Start Menu. Then on the Start Menu tab, select the Start Menu option, and click Customize.

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder contains templates for the settings in the Folder Options dialog box, most of which are on the View tab. To open this dialog box, in Control Panel launch Folder Options.

Explorer\AutoComplete

The subkey AutoComplete contains a single value that controls the AutoComplete feature in Windows Explorer. If the \CONSOLE value AutoComplete is Yes, Windows Explorer uses AutoComplete; otherwise, it doesn't.

Explorer\ComDlg32

The subkey ComDlg32 contains two subkeys. Both are history lists. To clear the history list that the common dialog boxes use, delete both subkeys. The first is LastVisitedMRU, which contains a list of folders that you've opened.

The second is OpenSaveMRU, which is a little more complicated. Within the key OpenSaveMRU are subkeys for different types of files. For example, you see the subkey doc in OpenSaveMRU that lists all the files with the .doc extension that you've opened. The subkey * contains all the files you've opened in the common dialog boxes, regardless of their extensions. Thus, the common dialog boxes can display a history list by type or display all the files in the history.

Explorer\HideDesktopIcons

In HideDesktopIcons, you see two subkeys: ClassicStartMenu and NewStartPanel. The first subkey determines which icons to hide when Windows is using the classic Start menu. The second determines which icons to hide when Windows is using the new Start menu. Add a REG_DWORD value named for the icon's class ID to either subkey to hide it in that view. Set the value to 0x01. Hide the Recycle Bin icon by creating a REG_DWORD value called {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08- 00AA002F954E} in the subkey HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel, for example, and then set it to 0x01. Click the desktop and then press F5 to refresh. Appendix A, “File Associations,” lists the class IDs you might want to hide.

Explorer\HideMyComputerIcons

The key HideMyComputerIcons enables you to hide icons in My Computer. To hide icons in My Computer, add a REG_DWORD value to HideMyComputerIcons—the name is the class ID of the icon you want to hide—and set it to 0x01. See Appendix A, “File Associations,” for a list of class IDs. Refresh Windows Explorer to see your changes.

Explorer\MenuOrder

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder contains the sort order of the Favorites menu and Start menu. The subkey Favorites contains the sort order of the Favorites menu. The subkey Start Menu contains the sort order of the classic Start menu, and the subkey Start Menu2 contains the sort order of the new Start menu. Deciphering the contents of these three keys is next to ridiculous, but you can remove any of them to re-sort the corresponding menu in alphabetical order. For example, to restore the All Programs menu to alphabetical order, remove the subkey Start Menu2. To restore the Favorites menu in both Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer, remove the subkey Favorites.

Explorer\RecentDocs

The subkey RecentDocs is the list of recent documents that you see on the Start menu. Within this key are subkeys for different types of files and folders. For example, you see the subkey txt that lists all the files with the .txt extension that you've opened. To clear your list of recent documents, remove this subkey. Along with this subkey, you must remove the documents shortcuts that Windows creates in your profile folder, %UserProfile%\Recent.

Explorer\RunMRU

The subkey RunMRU contains a list of programs that you've run using the Run dialog box. You can remove individual programs from this list or delete the RunMRU subkey to clear the list of programs.

Explorer\User Shell Folders

Special folders include the My Documents, My Pictures, and Favorites folders, among many others. Table C-7 shows the special folders that Windows creates after a fresh installation and their default paths. The first column contains each folder's internal name as Windows and other programs know it. The second column contains each folder's default path, which almost always starts with %UserProfile%, making these folders part of each user's profile folder. Chapter 12, “Deploying User Profiles,” describes these user profile folders in depth.

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders is the key where Windows stores the location of per-user special folders. Each value in this key is a special folder, as shown in Table C-7. These are REG_EXPAND_SZ values, so you can use environment variables in them. Use %UserProfile% in a path to direct the folder somewhere inside users' profile folders or %UserName% in a path to include users' names. To redirect users' Favorites folders to the network, set the value Favorites, which you can look up in Table C-7, to \\Server\ Share\%USERNAME% \Favorites, where \\Server\Share is the server and share containing the folders. Windows updates a second key, HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders, with the paths from User Shell Folders the next time the user logs on to the operating system, so you don't have to update it. In fact, Microsoft's documentation says Windows doesn't use Shell Folders.