Microsoft Windows Registry Guide, Second Edition

Taskbar and Start Menu

Table 5-14 describes the settings in the Taskbar category. Most notably, you can disable balloon tips by setting the REG_DWORD value EnableBalloonTips to 0x00. Create this value if it doesn't already exist.

Grouping

The settings in the Grouping category, as described in Table 5-15, enable you to control how buttons are grouped on the taskbar. Using the TaskbarGroupSize value, which you should create if it doesn't already exist, you determine the applications that Windows collapses into groups first:

• Group least used applications first.

  Windows groups least frequently used applications first, and groups more frequently used applications as necessary.

• Group applications with the most windows first.

  Windows groups applications that have the most open windows first, and groups applications with fewer open windows only as necessary.

• Group any application with at least N windows.

  Windows groups applications that have N windows open on the desktop.

Windows uses the same REG_DWORD value for all three cases. If you set TaskbarGroupSize to 0x00, Windows uses least-used grouping. If you set it to 0x01, Windows uses most-windows grouping. If you set it to any other value, Windows groups any application that has that number of open windows.

Start Menu

Windows displays the most frequently used programs on the bottom of the Start menu. This handy feature prevents you from having to hunt for applications that you use often. Some applications don't belong on this list, however. I tire of seeing Notepad on the Start menu just because I happened to use it to view a text file. I also don't like seeing Command Prompt on the Start menu every time I type cmd in the Run dialog box. The solution is to tell Windows which applications you don't want it to add to the Start menu. Do that in the key HKCU\Software\Classes\Applications.

In Table 5-16, look up the application that you want to keep off the Start menu's list of frequently used programs. If you don't find the program in Table 5-16, find the program's file name by looking in the Program Files folder or at the program's shortcut on the Start menu. Then add to Applications a subkey with the same name as the program's file name (but omit the path). Add the REG_SZ value NoStartPage to the program's subkey, and leave it blank. For example, to keep Notepad off the Start menu, create the subkey Notepad.exe in HKCU\Software\Classes\Applications, and add the value NoStartPage.