whenever you right-click an item in File Explorer to bring up the
classic context menu, you can disable this new, dumbed-down
menu using the Registry.
>> First, navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
Software\Classes\CLSID. Now right-click the CLSID subkey and
choose New > Key from the pop-up context menu. Now comes
the tricky bit, you need to rename this key to the following:
{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
>> Once done, select this newly created subkey, right-click it and
choose New > Key again. Name this new subkey InprocServer32
[Image C] and then with InprocServer32 selected, double-click
the solitary (Default) value in the right-hand pane. Simply click
OK and its data will change from (value not set) to blank, which is
enough to trigger the tweak.
>> Our previous Registry tweak was applied instantly, but
others only come into effect when you restart Windows Explorer
or, in some cases, your entire PC. The context menu tweak
requires you to restart Windows Explorer, which is done via Task
Manager: select Windows Explorer on the Processes tab (if it’s
not under Apps, you’ll find it under Windows processes) and click
the Restart button.
>> Once done, open a File Explorer window and right-click an
item, you should now see the classic menu pops up immediately.
To undo this tweak, simply delete the {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-
a509-50c905bae2a2} key you created, then restart Explorer
again.5
GO DIRECT TO A SPECIFIC KEY
Navigating the Registry can be a time-consuming process
as you move between keys, subkeys, and values. A recent
addition to Registry Editor is the Address Bar, which works in a
similar way to the folder path bar in File Explorer or the URL bar
in your web browser. This allows you to jump directly to a specific
subkey by typing in the address manually – for example: HKEY_
LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows.>> Don’t worry about including the ’Computer\’ bit,
Registry Editor knows to add this. It’s still quite a
complex process, but thankfully you can use shortcuts
in place of the lengthy HKEY_ part of the address: for
example, use HKCU for HKEY_CURRENT_USER and
HKLM for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
>> Even better, the Registry’s Address bar supports
copy and paste from other sources, so you can paste in
full Registry addresses from text documents, websites,
or wherever you happen to find them.6
MAKE USE OF FAVORITES
Another way to speed up access to frequently
accessed sub-keys is to use Regedit’s Favorites
feature. Select the key you want to access and choose
Favorites > Add to Favorites. By default, the sub-key
name is given as its entry, you can tweak this to make it
easier to identify and click OK. In future, jump back to the
key by selecting it from the Favorites menu [Image D].
>> There are more useful shortcuts when navigating
Registry Editor. Open a key containing dozens of sub-
keys and you can quickly jump to one of these by typing
the first two or three letters of its name. You can also use
the cursor keys to navigate around the Registry, using
the left arrow to collapse previously opened sub-keys.7
TIME-SAVING TWEAKS
Other tweaks involve adding features to make
options more accessible or removing unwanted
steps in processes to speed things up. Let’s start by
speeding up application switching using the taskbar.
>> If an app has more than two windows open, you’ll
be forced to select your chosen window after clicking
the app’s taskbar icon, but you can save a click and
simply restore the last active window, by navigating to
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\Advanced.
>> Make sure Advanced is selected and choose
Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this
LastActiveClick, then double-click it and change its value
to 1. After restarting the Windows Explorer process, you
should find clicking the program’s taskbar icon always
takes you back to the last window you’d opened.
>> Adding custom entries to the File Explorer context
menu allows you to copy or move selected files to a specific
folder from a single dialog. First, navigate to HKCR\
AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers.
Create a subkey inside this called Copy to Folder, then
double-click its (Default) value and set it to {C2FBB630-
2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13} before clicking OK.
>> Next, create a second subkey inside
ContextMenuHandlers but this time, name it Move toDREGISTRY 101
The Registry consists of a series of files known as ‘hives’,
stored in two separate locations: Windows > System32 >
Config for system-wide settings, and your personal User
folder for settings associated with your user account.
Each hive consists of a different set of preferences and
configuration data—for example, system-wide software
settings are stored in a file called SOFTWARE. This
information is organized into sub-folders or ‘keys’. Each
key contains one or more ‘values’ with associated ‘value
data’, which are the configuration settings for your PC.
There are numerous types of value, depending on
the data they contain. The most common include REG_
DWORD values, which contain binary or hexadecimal
numbers in 32- bit format (the 64-bit equivalent is REG_
QWORD), and REG_SZ, which contains text such as drive
labels, context-menu options, or the path to a particular
folder or file on your hard drive.
Whenever Windows, a program, or hardware device
needs certain settings or information, it consults the
Registry for the specific values it needs, enabling it to
function correctly. These keys, subkeys, and values are
usually added when the software or hardware is first
installed, and organized in a logical, accessible manner—
for example, the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE
subkey contains many Windows and application settings.60 MAXIMU MPC JUN 2022
R&D
©MICROSOFT