XP 'Tricks'

[HenriK]

Someone once told me about or I read somewhere that there are simple
ways to get XP to:

1) Get rid of the little arrow in Desktop shortcuts; and

2) Get the real, but normally hidden, 'Administrator' log-on button to
show up on the Welcome screen.

I had thought they might be in TweakUI but I didn't find them there.
Does anybody out there remember where this information can be found?

Thanks, in advance, for any pointers or information.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

Someone once told me about or I read somewhere that there are simple
ways to get XP to:

1) Get rid of the little arrow in Desktop shortcuts; and

2) Get the real, but normally hidden, 'Administrator' log-on button to
show up on the Welcome screen.

I had thought they might be in TweakUI but I didn't find them there.
Does anybody out there remember where this information can be found?

Thanks, in advance, for any pointers or information.

#1: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/arrow.htm

 

[John E. Carty]

#2 <http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm>

Line 5 on the right-hand side of the screen

 

[Tim Meddick]

1). To get rid of the shortcut arrows :

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to :

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile

....and delete the value named : "IsShortcut"

You will need to logoff / logon to see the changes.


To undo this and return the shortcut arrows - reverse the procedure creating a new
value : "IsShortcut"



2). To get the real, but normally hidden, 'Administrator' log-on button to
show up on the Welcome screen :

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to :

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList"

...and (if not already there) create a new DWORD value named : Administrator

Then assign this DWORD value "Administrator" to "1" to "show" or "0" to "hide"

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Olórin]

Someone once told me about or I read somewhere that there are simple ways
to get XP to:

1) Get rid of the little arrow in Desktop shortcuts; and

2) Get the real, but normally hidden, 'Administrator' log-on button to
show up on the Welcome screen.

I had thought they might be in TweakUI but I didn't find them there. Does
anybody out there remember where this information can be found?

Thanks, in advance, for any pointers or information.

re (1), I've got it in TweakUI under Explorer > Shortcut > Shortcut overlay

None.

In case it's a matter of a different TweakUI version, mine's v2.10.0.0

 

[Tim Meddick]

I don't believe that it's a matter of version number [re: TweakUI] but something
about XP!

Quite often the "shortcut overlay" setting (present in all versions of TweakUI) just
doesn't seem to "take" sometimes... why? - who knows?

So, that is why I said in my previous post (if you just want the shortcut arrow to
disappear) to delete the reg value called "IsShortcut" present under the keys :

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\linkfile]
"IsShortcut"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile]
"IsShortcut"=""

...and under any other key representative of file types that also display the
shortcut arrow.

After deleting the "IsShortcut" value, logoff / logon to see the changes (i.e. the
arrows disappear).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Olórin]

It's always good to know the registry values to change, but the OP
specifically said that they couldn't find where in TweakUI to make the
changes. No-one had answered that, so I did.

Unless you mean that an XP installation that's "broken" regarding the
shortcut overlay won't even *have* this area in TweakUI?

I don't believe that it's a matter of version number [re: TweakUI] but
something about XP!

Quite often the "shortcut overlay" setting (present in all versions of
TweakUI) just doesn't seem to "take" sometimes... why? - who knows?

So, that is why I said in my previous post (if you just want the shortcut
arrow to disappear) to delete the reg value called "IsShortcut" present
under the keys :

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\linkfile]
"IsShortcut"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile]
"IsShortcut"=""

...and under any other key representative of file types that also display
the shortcut arrow.

After deleting the "IsShortcut" value, logoff / logon to see the changes
(i.e. the arrows disappear).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

re (1), I've got it in TweakUI under Explorer > Shortcut > Shortcut
overlay

In case it's a matter of a different TweakUI version, mine's v2.10.0.0

 

[Tim Meddick]

Yes, you are right, the Shortcut Overlay (arrows) setting *IS* present in TweakUI (in
all versions but, under "Explorer" > "Shortcut" in TweakUI.exe for XP).

What I was trying to say though was I have often mentioned that, despite various
settings in "Tweak" type programs, Windows XP just seems to have a mind of it's own.

XP just seems to ignore what you tell it to do (e.g. attempting to define a
replacement shortcut overlay icon in TweakUI) or reverting back to an earlier setting
when it feels like it!

This behaviour of XP to be "disobedient" where, mainly the aesthetic configurations
apply, seems to be common to allot of other people's experiences this OS.

I know that I have experienced this sort of thing many times with XP.

It has no effect on what TweakUI shows can be set in it's user interface.

But, as testified to by the OP, just "ignores" a configuration that should have seen
the shortcut overlay arrows disappear but these arrows just remain anyway!!

Even though TweakUI usually reports that the setting *has* changed, by still showing
the radio button set to "No overlay" even though the arrows remain.

I thank God that this behaviour in XP seems to limit itself to visual effects rather
than system and hardware configuration settings...

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

It's always good to know the registry values to change, but the OP specifically
said that they couldn't find where in TweakUI to make the changes. No-one had
answered that, so I did.

Unless you mean that an XP installation that's "broken" regarding the shortcut
overlay won't even *have* this area in TweakUI?

I don't believe that it's a matter of version number [re: TweakUI] but something
about XP!

Quite often the "shortcut overlay" setting (present in all versions of TweakUI)
just doesn't seem to "take" sometimes... why? - who knows?

So, that is why I said in my previous post (if you just want the shortcut arrow to
disappear) to delete the reg value called "IsShortcut" present under the keys :

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\linkfile]
"IsShortcut"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile]
"IsShortcut"=""

...and under any other key representative of file types that also display the
shortcut arrow.

After deleting the "IsShortcut" value, logoff / logon to see the changes (i.e. the
arrows disappear).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

Someone once told me about or I read somewhere that there are simple ways to get
XP to:

1) Get rid of the little arrow in Desktop shortcuts; and

2) Get the real, but normally hidden, 'Administrator' log-on button to show up
on the Welcome screen.

I had thought they might be in TweakUI but I didn't find them there. Does
anybody out there remember where this information can be found?

Thanks, in advance, for any pointers or information.

re (1), I've got it in TweakUI under Explorer > Shortcut > Shortcut overlay
None.

In case it's a matter of a different TweakUI version, mine's v2.10.0.0