Microsoft has released Tweak
UI 1.33 . The Microsoft Windows Shell Development Team has put together a
set of productivity tools called PowerToys. If you’re a Windows power-user, go
ahead and try them out, but realize these are unsupported tools. Microsoft
Technical Support is unable to answer questions about PowerToys. Supports Win9x,
Windows ME, Windows NT and Windows 2000. TweakUI for XP is now available as part
of the PowerToys for XP.
When you used Tweak UI to setup automatic logon in Windows 2000, the password
appears in plaintext in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. However, when you use the latest version
of Tweak UI, the password no longer appears at this location. Instead, it is
encrypted in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets\DefaultPassword.
I like TweakUI. But consider the more powerful freeware X-Setup which
currently includes 500+ tweaks. For administrators, the following feature is
compelling.
With Record Mode activated, nearly all changes from a plug-in or wizard
are recorded to a REG file. This file can then be easily applied to thousands of
machines without needing to install X-Setup on them .
X-Setup works for Windows 95, Windows 98 (SE), Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000
and Windows ME
Another alternative is WinHacker. Many of the settings that change the way Windows
works and feels are hidden in the overwhelming registry, or in configuration
files. WinHacker
features:
- Ability to rename or change the icon of any shell folder (such as My
Computer, Recycle Bin).
- Add / Remove specific shell folders from My Computer or the Desktop.
- Ability to move your desktop directory, and other folders such as Favorites,
etc
- Show Windows Bitmaps as thumbnails in Explorer.
- Scripting language to create ‘plugins’ that can modify the registry, INI
files, etc.
- Full context-sensitive help (What’s This? help).
- Windows 95/98/2000 and Windows NT 4.0 specific features.
TweakUI and such tools can cause confusion. I see messages about the Most Recently Used List being unavailable. This is caused by
running TweakUI and clearing the Add new documents to
Documents on Start Menu check box on the IE tab of Tweak UI. The group
policy setting that governs the display of MRUs indicates that MRUs are not to
be displayed. If you get called about some strange behavior on a workstation, as
in this kind of component missing, check to see if the user has been
experimenting with TweakUI. It can result in Help Desk calls.
