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Everybody's got their own Windows pet peeve, whether it's the operating system's habit of shifting your desktop icons around or its proclivity for putting all the wrong files in your Recent Documents folder. While you can fix many Windows woes by changing a single setting, every now and then you encounter a problem or limitation that you can alleviate only by journeying into Windows' brain--the Registry--to adjust the resident gray matter.

Our 15 Registry tweaks and tools let you hide drive letters in Windows Explorer, lock Internet Explorer toolbars, and make other changes, some with the OS's tools, and some with a free Registry helper. And for a more nimble Windows, try our five downloadable batch files.

Proceed With Caution

The Windows Registry is an arcane repository of an immense number of system and application settings. Make the wrong change, and you might not be able to start Windows again. The Registry is not a playground for creative experimentation. Begin by taking some precautions (back up!), and remember that any system change has the potential to be calamitous.

Go to "Care and Feeding of the Windows Registry" for Stan Miastkowski's step-by-step instructions for backing up the Registry. If you make a boo-boo, visit "How Do I Restore My Windows Registry?" for Lincoln Spector's advice on restoring the Registry to an earlier state.

In addition to adopting Stan's global approach, back up the portion of the Registry you plan to change, just before you make the alteration: Choose Start, Run (or press Windows-R), type regedit, and press Enter. Once you're in the Registry Editor, navigate down the tree diagram of keys (Registry-speak for folders) on the left until you reach the section you plan to edit. It's usually best to dig all the way down to the deepest level you intend to alter. That way, you back up the minimum amount of data necessary, which keeps the backup file small and--if you later decide to undo your change--prevents you from overwriting unrelated settings that may have changed.

With the desired icon selected on the left side, choose Registry, Export Registry File (File, Export in Windows XP). In Windows XP, you can back up the file by right-clicking its icon in the left pane and choosing Export (see FIGURE 1). Make sure Selected branch is checked at the bottom of the Export Registry File dialog box. Navigate to a folder where you can safely store the settings; type a name and click Save. Now you're ready to edit the settings. If you need to restore them to their prior state, locate the Registry (.reg) file that you just exported, right-click it, and choose Merge. Click Yes to confirm that you want to restore the data. Although merging a .reg file will restore any changed or deleted settings on the exported branch, beware: It will not remove new settings added after you exported the branch.

Freeze Your Explorer View

Every time you log off, Windows saves the size and position of the taskbar, as well as the size and location of your Explorer windows (for the next time you open them). But you might want to set up your taskbar and folder window arrangement once and have Windows open that way in the future, regardless of how you futz with them during your current session. To do that, arrange your windows and taskbar the way you like them. Then launch the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. With Explorer selected in the left pane, look for the icon labeled NoSaveSettings on the right. (Not there? No problem. Just right-click in the right pane and choose New, DWORD Value. Type NoSaveSettings to name it, and press Enter.) When you're done, double-click your NoSaveSettings icon to edit its setting. In the 'Value data' box, type 1 and press Enter. You may have to log off and log back on again before the setting will take effect. Thereafter, each time you log on and open Explorer or any folder window, it and the taskbar will return to the size and position you froze them in, even if you rearranged or resized them during your previous Windows session.

Hide a Drive

If you want to discourage others who log in to your Windows profile from using a particular drive, you can shroud it in a cloak of invisibility so that it won't show up in Explorer. The drive will remain accessible, however: Global searches will continue to examine its contents, some third-party file managers may still see it, and Microsoft Office apps will find it with no problem. But hiding the drive's letter in Windows Explorer may keep other users from hosing the drive by mistake.

To cloak a drive, open the Registry Editor and navigate down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Look for an icon labeled NoDrives in the right pane. If you don't see such an icon, right-click anywhere in the right pane, choose the New, DWORD Value option, type NoDrives, and press Enter to name it. Double-click the NoDrives icon, and in the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, select Decimal. In the 'Value data' box, type a value that corresponds to the drive you want to hide--for A: 1; B: 2; C: 4; D: 8; E: 16; F: 32; G: 64; H: 128; I: 256; J: 512; and so on. To hide multiple drives, add up the relevant numbers and type that sum in the 'Value data' box. For example, if you want to hide drives E: and F:, you would determine 16 + 32 and type the sum, 48, in the 'Value data' box. To hide all drives, type 67108863. When you're done, click OK. You'll have to log off and then log back on to see the effect.

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