The Active Desktop accessible via Start/Settings can be disabled. This Windows NT registry hack
disables access via Explorer but does not disable the same functionality
accessible by right-clicking the desktop. Cut and paste the following script
into noactive.reg file and run it.
REGEDIT4
BLANK
LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
“NoSetActiveDesktop”=dword:40
BLANK LINE GOES
HERE
See .REG files for background information on
.REG files.
The following tweak prevents disabling via desktop properties:
REGEDIT4
BLANK
LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
“ForceActiveDesktopOn”=dword:1
BLANK LINE GOES
HERE
Other active desktop values installed via IE, include :
- NoFavoritesMenu : Removes the Favorites folder from
the Start menu
- NoFolderOptions : Removes the Folder Options menu
item from the Settings menu
- NoRecentDocsHistory : Removes Documents History
- NoRecentDocsMenu : Removes the Documents command
from the Start menu
See How to Add or Remove Windows Desktop Update for more
information including the Active Desktop component.