When we say HACK, the first thing that comes to your mind is that it is something illegal. But here, Windows Registry Hacks are not any illegal hacks, these are infact Windows Registry tricks which would let you make your Windows machine more useful.
These tricks wont do any thing extra ordinary. But the fact that it lets you tweak your copy of Windows in such a way that it you find all your “wished” features on your machine that Windows did not offer by default.
Let me go ahead with the first installment of Windows Registry Hacks.
4 Must Know Windows Registry Hacks – Part 1
Add Any Application To Windows Desktop Right Click Menu
- Launch Registry Editor by hitting regedit.exe in Run window
- Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell
- Right click on Shell and click on New and then on Key and name it anything you wish. I am adding Notepad to the right click menu, so I am naming the Key as Notepad
- Now right click on Notepad and navigate as New > Key and name the new key as command
- Navigate to the location where you can find the notepad.exe file, right click on it, and click on Copy as path
- Go back to the Registry Editor, double click on command key and paste the path over there in double quotes and that is it
- Now right click on the desktop and you will find the Notepad there
You can do the same for any application you want. All you need is the path of its exe file and you are good to do it.
Disable Balloon Notifications
I am not really sure why exactly you want to do this, but check it out if you really want to do it.
- Launch Registry Editor by hitting regedit.exe in Run window
- Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
- Right click on the right hand side panel and create a 32 word DWORD and give it a name and set its value to 0 (zero)
Pop The Blue Screen Up
Its a pretty handy feature. If you wish to bluff your friends that you can cheat the Blue Screen or if you wish to lie someone that your computer is broken, you can make use of this trick:
- Launch Registry Editor by hitting regedit.exe in Run window
- If its a USB Keyboard, navigate to the below path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\kbdhid\Parameters
- And if its a PS/2 Keyboard, navigate to the below path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
- On the right hand side panel, create a new DWORD and name it as CrashOnCtrlScroll and give its value as 1
- And reboot your machine
- To get the blue screen, hold Right Ctrl button and hit Scroll Lock twice
Remove Shortcut From Newly Created Shortcuts
Whenever you create a Shortcut on windows, you will always find the word SHORTCUT attached to the name of that icon. There is a trick, which will not attach that word by itself. Below is the trick:
- Launch Registry Editor by hitting regedit.exe in Run window
- Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
- Now you will find a key named as Link on the right hand side. Change its value from 1e 00 00 00 to 00 00 00 00
That is it!