Change the size and quality of thumbnails in Windows XP

While navigating through different folders in Windows Explorer, sometimes it feels that the default thumbnail size of images should be a bit bigger. Or some may insist on having the thumbnail  smaller than its preset size, especially if it is taxing on their system. Here is a registry tweak you can do to change the thumbnail size as well as its image quality in Windows Explorer. Here is how to do it:

1. Click Start > Run and type regedit

2. In the registry window, go to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer

Create a new DWORD value called ThumbnailSize, and set the value between 32 and 256.

And/or create another DWORD value called ThumbnailQuality, and set the value between 50 and 100.

You can do the same thing using TweakUI utility also. 

Click on Explorer and then click Thumbnials. Move the slider to change the image quality of thumbnail and put any value between 32 to 256 in the thumnail size option. Click Apply and check for changes. You may need to go back to the previous folder and then return to the folder containing thumbails to see the change. 

Show adminstrator account at Windows XP logon screen

When you install Windows XP on your PC, a default administrator account named ‘Administrator’ is created. This account is visible on the login screen when you boot Windows XP. But when you create any other account having administrator rights, the default ‘Administrator’ account is not shown on the login screen. If you want it to show on the login screen, follow these steps:

Open the registry editor by clicking on Start menu >Run, and typing ‘regedit’
The registry editor opens up. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList. Double click the Administrator and change its value data to ‘1’. If Administrator is not there, right click in the right pane and select New>DWORD. Name it Administrator and put its value data as 1. That’s it. The next time you boot your PC, you will find the administrator account along with your personal account in the logon screen.

Enable dropshadow behind icons

In Windows xp and its successive operating systems, the icon labels blend with the wallpaper on the desktop i.e.you don’t see any background color behind the icon text but a drop shadow behind the text. This blending effect or drop shadow effect gives a pleasant visual appearance. But sometimes, after changing the background color of desktop, your icon labels show a background color behind them as if your background is all patched up at different places. To get rid of this,

Right click on My Computer and select Properties.

Click settings under the performance tab and click on visual effects tab. Here you can play with all the available appearance effects. All you have to do is check the ‘use drop shadows for icon labels on desktop’. Click OK to finish the job.

If this does not solve the problem, you can right click on desktop select ‘arrange icons by’ option and check if ‘lock web items on desktop’ option is checked. If it is checked, uncheck it. This should solve the issue.

Make taskbar display day and date

By default, the clock residing in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen in windows shows only time. But if you want it to show date and day as well, follow these steps:

1. Right click on the taskbar and uncheck the ‘lock the taskbar’ option. This will enable you to extend the taskbar vertically.

2. Keep the cursor at the upper edge of the taskbar and drag it vertically upwards so that it extends in the same direction.

3. You will find day and date being shown below the time.

This extended taskbar consumes a bit of screen size but it is good for those who keep asking “what day/date is it?”!

Disable Scandisk when Windows starts

When Windows xp does not shut down correctly due to sudden power failure or forceful shutdown by the user, it performs a check to make sure your hard disk is alright. This can be a bit annoying at times. Fortunately, there is a way to disable this autocheck.

1.Go to start and click run. Type 'regedit' and hit enter.

2.Go to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Control>SessionManager'

3.Create a new DWORD value or modify the existing value, called 'AutoChkTimeOut' and set it according to the value data as follows:

Value Name : AutoChkTimeOut

Data Type : REG_DWORD(DWORD value)

Value Data : Time in seconds(put 0 to disable)

Why Doesn't Windows Remember My Folder View Settings?

Does Windows forget the view settings of certain folders specified by you? Do your folders reset to some other view setting after you close  and reopen them?  this is a very annoying problem which can eat up a lot of time. This is caused  because Windows can remember the view settings of 200 local folders and network folders by default. If you increase this value, you can get rid of the problem. To do this, you need to do some adjustments in the registry editor:

Follow these steps, and then quit Registry Editor:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type BagMRU Size, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Type 5000, and then click OK.

and,

1. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam
2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
3. Type BagMRU Size, and then press ENTER.
4. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
5. Type 5000, and then click OK.

Disable annoying balloon tips

Windows xp balloon tips can be very annoying at times. There is a way to turn them off. 
Go to Start > Run.
Type Regedit and hit enter.
Navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrrentVersion/Explorer’

In the right pane, right click and click new click DWORD. Name the new entry as ‘EnableBalloonTips’ and assign it a value of ‘0’. 

There you go, no more annoying balloon tips.

Enable ClearType in xp

ClearType is a method used by xp to smooth the onscreen fonts. This feature is quite beneficial for flat screen or TFT monitors. 

To turn on ClearType, right click on the desktop and click on properties.
Select the appearance tab and click on effects button at the bottom of the menu.

Select the ClearType option from the dropdown of the ‘use this method to smooth the edges of onscreen fonts.’

Click ok and again click ok.
You can immediately notice the difference.