Pain-Free Windows Tweaks

Lock That Taskbar

XP is the first version of Windows that lets you lock the taskbar so you can't move it inadvertently. (Right-click the taskbar and choose Lock the Taskbar to activate the feature.) To add this capability to Windows Me, position and size the taskbar to your liking, then open the Registry Editor, navigate the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, and look for an icon in the right pane named TaskbarSizeMove. If it's not there, right-click in the right pane, choose New, DWORD Value, type TaskbarSizeMove, and press Enter. Double-click the icon and set 'Value data' to 0 to immobilize the taskbar.

The next time you log on, you won't be able to move or resize the taskbar, but you can add and remove toolbars by right-clicking the taskbar and choosing options from the Toolbars submenu. You can also resize and rearrange individual toolbars. If you want to resize the taskbar or drag it from one screen edge to another, you can change the TaskbarSizeMove Registry setting: Return to the Registry branch above, double-click TaskbarSizeMove, and change the 'Value data' setting to 1. Click OK, log off, and log back on to make your taskbar movable once again.

Lock Those Toolbars

Windows 2000 and XP let you freeze the position of your toolbars in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer (right-click a toolbar and choose Lock the Toolbars to activate this feature). You can still add or remove individual toolbars and customize the Standard Buttons toolbar, but there's a way to increase your toolbar options in any version of Windows simply by adding a couple of settings to your Registry.

In the Registry Editor, navigate in the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer, and select this key. If the right pane doesn't contain an icon labeled NoBandCustomize, right-click in the right pane, choose New, DWORD Value, type NoBandCustomize, and press Enter. Double-click NoBandCustomize, type 1 in the 'Value data' box, and press Enter. You may need to log off and then log back on again before the setting will take effect. Now the toolbars in Explorer, IE, and your folder windows will be locked, and you can activate or deactivate them only by editing the Registry. This also removes the 'Lock the Toolbars' command in Windows 2000 and XP.

If you want to prevent anyone from customizing the Standard Buttons toolbar, right-click in the right pane of the same Registry entry, choose New, DWORD Value, and enter NoToolbarCustomize. Set this key's 'Value data' to 1. The next time you log on--and thereafter--the Customize command won't appear when you right-click or choose View, Toolbars in Windows versions that support this feature (see FIGURE 4). Some changes will still be possible, however. For example, anyone will still be able to toggle text labels for the Standard Buttons toolbar (right-click and choose Text Labels), or (more unfortunately) to drag icons on, off, or around your Links toolbar.

CAP Your File Names

When you name a folder with eight characters or fewer, Windows 98 changes any all-caps typing to initial capital only. If you want some folder names to have all capital letters for emphasis, open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. With the Advanced key selected in the left pane, double-click the DontPrettyPath icon in the right pane. Change the 'Value data' setting from 0 to 1 and press Enter. Folder names entered with all capital letters will thenceforth appear as you typed them, as will eight-character file names (and old DOS files) created with all caps.

Put Outlook in Your Tray

If your PC runs Microsoft Office XP and you like to keep Outlook open but minimized most of the time, you may not want the program to take up space on the taskbar when you aren't actually using it. A reader who signed his e-mail only as David points out that a simple Registry edit lets you make Microsoft Outlook appear as an icon in the taskbar tray (the area near the clock), instead of as a taskbar button, when minimized.

Begin by opening the Registry Editor and navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Preferences. With Preferences selected in the left pane, right-click anywhere in the right pane and choose New, DWORD Value. Type MinToTray and press Enter to give your new icon a name. Now double-click the MinToTray icon, enter 1 in the 'Value data' field, and press Enter. If Outlook is running, exit and then restart it. The next time you minimize Outlook, it will disappear from the taskbar and appear as a tray icon. Simply double-click the tray icon to restore it. The Outlook icon appears in both the taskbar and the tray when the application window is open (not minimized), but when you minimize the program, the icon vanishes from the taskbar.