Windows XP PowerToys

Ever since the release of Windows 95, Microsoft has supplied a set of PowerToys for each of the major Windows operating-system.
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Windows XP PowerToysWindows XP PowerToysEver since the release of Windows 95, Microsoft has supplied a set of PowerToys foreach of the major Windows operating-system. PowerToys are small applications thatenhance the operating systems functions in a number of ways, enabling users to boostproductivity, configure the system UI in various ways and, generally, to expand theoperating systems capabilities. Since the initial release, PowerToys has become afavorite of most users, and the popularity is understandable. It is easy to understand whyusers began asking whether PowerToys would be included in Windows XP when theoperating system was still under development. Microsoft didnt disappoint. You candownload PowerToys for Windows XP from either http://www.microsoft.com/downloadsor http://downloads-zdnet.com.com.Note Windows XP PowerToys are mainly intended for Windows XP workstations. However, most of them also run on Windows Server 2003. Further, while they were not intended for network servers, there are some PowerToys that are useful even when installed on computers running Windows Server 2003. Particularly worth mentioning are Open Command Window Here, and Tweak UI.Open Command Window HereOpen Command Window Here is one of the most valuable PowerToys, allowing youeasily to drop to the command prompt from any Windows Explorer folder. This is aPowerToy that should be installed even on network servers. After it is installed, the OpenCommand Window Here menu item will be available in the right-click menu in anyWindows Explorer folder. Just right-click on a folder, choose Open Command WindowHere, and a command prompt session (with the selected folder as the default directory)will open. Additionally, if you right-click on a folder icon in a Windows Explorerwindow, will also have the Open Command Window Here command available in theresulting menu.If you like to work at a command prompt, this toy is a must-have.Tweak UI for Windows XPThe Windows XP version of Tweak UI is the most valuable of all PowerToys included inthe current release. It provides a safe and convenient way of customizing various systemsettings, which are not available in the default Windows XP/Windows Server 2003 userinterface. To achieve the same result without Tweak UI, you would need to edit thesystem registry. As was mentioned in Chapter 1, this tool provides alternative methodsfor editing the Registry, which are usually safer than those using Regedit.exe.In contrast to all of the previous releases of Tweak UI, which were included as ControlPanel applets, Tweak UI for Windows XP is a standalone executable file. You can placethis EXE file in any folder and start it from there, since it doesnt have to be installedprior to use. Tweak UI for Windows XP displays a hierarchical tree of available optionsin the left pane. After you select an option in the left pane, the right pane will display theavailable configuration settings (Fig. 14.1).Figure 14.1: Tweak UI for Windows XPNote Before you install Windows XP PowerToys and start playing with this version of TweakUl, make sure that you have deleted any older copies of TweakUl.The new Tweak UI enables you to do carry out practically any kind of customization,including a number of difficult tasks, such as configuring various UI visual effects, errorbeeps, cursor shadow, etc.; and configuring the taskbar, shell folders, etc. As was alreadymentioned in this chapter, to produce the same result without Tweak UI, would have toedit the system registry. For example, the Colors category provides you with an easy wayof customizing the colors used by Windows Explorer to display compressed andencrypted files (Fig. 14.2). As you may recall, the method for achieving the same effectthrough editing the system registry was covered in Chapter 4. In addition to changing thecolor for compressed and encrypted objects, TweakUI provides the Hot-tracking option,which enables Windows to display names in a different color when you point to themwith the mouse (provided that you have enabled the single-click user interface). Incontrast to customization of the colors used to display compressed and encrypted objects,which, as you should remember, modify the AltColor and AltEncryptionColorREG_BINARY values under theHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerregistry key, the Hot-tracking option modifies the HotTrackingColor string value underHKCUControl PanelColors registry key.Figure 14.2: The Colors subcategory of the Explorer category in TweakUIIn concluding our discussion of PowerToys for Windows XP, you should understand thatinstalling these tools is your choice. Furthermore, we didnt cover all of the Toys includedin this collection in this chapter. Instead, we paid particular attention to the tools thatseem to be the most useful and convenient. If you like the new W ...