Adding Context Menu to Desktop – Control Panel, Softwares and System Tools

Context Menu are right click options or popup menus that offers choices of action needed by the user. Here’s how to get into tweaking and installation of those options through RegDevelop and Windows Registry.

Created program using Regdevelop (Complete)

Regdevelop let’s you create a graphical user interface for these tweaks, Click here to download the complete version of the tool for easy installation of Right-Click Menus.

Update(s): with uninstall options

1/25/2012: Click here to download the latest version (with Switch to Integrated Development Environment)

New! 9/1/2012: (Click here) Added Computer Icon Right-Click Menus

For People who already knows Windows Registry
You can learn and see how it is being done through highlighted words and folder key location and registry values.

Open your notepad, copy and paste the text below, save it as [filename].reg, and make sure you select All Files (*.*)

Double-Click the file to install in Windows Registry.

Method #1 – Control Panel Menu (3 SubMenu only)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Control] "MUIVerb"="Control Panel" "icon"="control.exe,0" "SubCommands"="EaseOfAccessCenter;SystemProperties;Calculator" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\EaseOfAccessCenter] @="Ease of Access Center" "icon"="c:\\windows\\system32\\utilman.exe,0" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\EaseOfAccessCenter\command] @="control access.cpl" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\SystemProperties] @="System Properties" "icon"="sysdm.cpl,0" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\SystemProperties\command] @="control sysdm.cpl" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Calculator] @="Calculator" "icon"="calc.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Calculator\command] @="calc.exe"

Method #2 – Softwares and System Tools Menu (3 Sub-Menu only)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\System] "MUIVerb"="System Tools" "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\wucltux.dll" "ExtendedSubCommandsKey"="DesktopBackground\\ContextMenus\\system" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell\cmd1] "icon"="%windir%\\system32\\charmap.exe,0" "MUIVerb"="Character Map" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell\cmd1\command] @="charmap.exe" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell\cmd2] "icon"="control.exe,0" "MUIVerb"="Control Panel" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell\cmd2\command] @="control.exe" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell\cmd3] "icon"="%windir%\\system32\\cleanmgr.exe,0" "MUIVerb"="Disk Cleanup" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\system\shell\cmd3\command] @="cleanmgr.exe" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Softo] "MUIVerb"="Softwares" "ExtendedSubCommandsKey"="DesktopBackground\\ContextMenus\\tools" "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\wucltux.dll,7" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell\cmd1] "MUIVerb"="Bluetooth File Transfer" "icon"="%SystemRoot%\\system32\\fsquirt.exe,0" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell\cmd1\command] @="fsquirt.exe" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell\cmd2] "MUIVerb"="Calculator" "icon"="calc.exe,0" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell\cmd2\command] @="calc.exe" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell\cmd3] "MUIVerb"="Command Prompt" "icon"="%windir%\\system32\\cmd.exe,0" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\ContextMenus\tools\Shell\cmd3\command] @="cmd.exe"

Method #3 – Computer Icon right-click Menu entries

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel] "{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"="0" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Hibernate] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\imageres.dll,27" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Hibernate\command] @="rundll32.exe Powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Lock] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\imageres.dll,54" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Lock\command] @="Rundll32.exe user32.dll LockWorkStation" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Restart] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\imageres.dll,95" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Restart\command] @="Shutdown.exe -r -t 00" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Shutdown] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\shell32.dll,137" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Shutdown\command] @="Shutdown.exe -s -t 00" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Sleep] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\imageres.dll,192" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Sleep\command] @="Rundll32.exe Powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Sleep" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Switch user] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\imageres.dll,83" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Switch user\command] @="tsdiscon.exe"

For more advanced option… you can dig more by going to regdevelop folders and see the complete commands and registry values.

Works with Windows 7 and above…

Enjoy!

References

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb761870(v=VS.85).aspx
http://io-repo.blogspot.com/2011/05/cascading-context-menus-via-static.html
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh127431(v=vs.85).aspx
http://www.askvg.com/add-cascading-menus-for-your-favorite-programs-in-windows-7-desktop-context-menu/

Read more...

Have Fun studying various information related to Computers

This is an update for the website http://windowsforus.com

Cool!? Its not an OS, just a menu for articles, sign up options and many other things.

Actually, the project started several months ago between April and May. It was exciting because I started from nothing, only studying few portions.

This is the initial work from April to May 2011

- cope up with detection features

Initial Ideas (many features)

Great! This project keeps me on going, this project for me, is the start of being a professional web developer and blogger since 2007.

During August, I updated youtube file hack because its already not working for several months or maybe almost a year. Try the tool!

Why I can’t post the latest work?

There are still many work to be done, and its very difficult to finish everything. I work faster and faster during May and I end up working too slow starting from June to October.

Try now! http://windowsforus.com

Read more...

Using RegDevelop to Create your own Hardware and System Information Program

Gathering of computer hardware and system information about the central processing unit (CPU), Memory Card (RAM), BIOS, motherboard, and other hardware peripherals are usually needed in many cases for hardware verification, driver installation and driver update.

Here’s a guide to create your own program using Regdevelop. All you need are commands use to get the hardware information.

How-to-do

Open the program and drag the button control and start configuring the settings.

Sample Settings

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

CPU Current Voltage and Caption

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic cpu get caption,currentvoltage

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

System Information Tool

StartProcess

msinfo32

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

Current Clock Speed

StartProcess

wmic cpu get CurrentClockSpeed,MaxClockSpeed /every:3

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

Memory Card Information

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic memorychip get FormFactor,serialnumber,partnumber,speed,capacity,name

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

BIOS Information

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic bios get name,version,serialnumber

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

BaseBoard Information

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic baseboard get manufacturer,serialnumber

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

Get Network Card MacAddress

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic nic get macaddress,description,speed

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

CDROM Drive Information

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic cdrom get drive,id,volumeserialnumber,manufacturer

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

Disk Drive Information

StartProcess

cmd /k wmic diskdrive get model,serialnumber,size

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caption

DirectX Diagnostic Tool

StartProcess

dxdiag.exe

----------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, Click the Build Now Button. Enjoy!

Read more...

How to get the Current CPU Clock Speed, Computer Service Tag Number, Bios Name and Version using WMI

Computer stickers holds your computer service tag number or serial number information and if the technical support person needs to get the number as soon as possible. How will you solve the problem using only the command prompt?

Got an overheating problem and you need to check the current clock speed of your computer? Here’s a quick tip for windows built-in utility using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) called wmic.

Open the command prompt (Start Search –> cmd) and type the following command for BIOS Name, Service Tag Number and Version

wmic bios get name,serialnumber,version

Computer System Product information Name, Identifying Number and UUID

wmic csproduct get name,identifyingnumber,uuid

CPU Name, Current Clock Speed and Maximum Clock Speed

wmic cpu get name,CurrentClockSpeed,MaxClockSpeed

You can monitor the changes in CPU clock speed every Seconds

e.g. 3 seconds

wmic cpu get name,CurrentClockSpeed,MaxClockSpeed /every:3

 

Thanks for reading the article!

Read more...

Using Subst command to create virtual drives

Subst is being use to associate or substitutes folders as virtual drives. The command lets you access data easily and By functionality, its almost the same as creating folders to computer window.

Lets try using the command by creating drive S: using the folder c:\files.

type “cmd” at Start search, and follow the command below

s: – virtual drive letter

files – folder that you want to associate (c:\files)

Afterwards, you’ll see the virtual drive instantly. Anyway, the problem with the command, when the computer restarts, all created virtual drives will be deleted automatically.

So, Let’s solve and try loading the commands before logging into windows.

Open your Notepad and write the command

subst s: c:\myfiles\videos subst x: c:\backup

Use File > Save As and go to the following folder location

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Make sure that you Click ALL Files (*.*) and write the filename

Great?!

To delete any virtual drive use the command SUBST Drive /d

e.g. Subst s: /d

Usage

C:\Users\mstouch>subst /? Associates a path with a drive letter. SUBST [drive1: [drive2:]path] SUBST drive1: /D drive1: Specifies a virtual drive to which you want to assign a path. [drive2:]path  Specifies a physical drive and path you want to assign to a virtual drive.   /D             Deletes a substituted (virtual) drive. Type SUBST with no parameters to display a list of current virtual drives. C:\Users\mstouch>

Thanks for reading the article!

Read more...

How to Remove items at most recently used lists for Run Window

If your computer are shared by your family, privacy sometimes are very important - editing history list from your run window is a very cool topic.

Here’s how…

Open your registry editor, press Win + R and type “regedit”

and go to the folder below

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

Look for the item that you want to remove from the list and delete

Most of the data in the registry are now secured for the newer version of windows, so, editing and adding data are safe as long as any changes came from the source you trust.

Thanks for reading the article!

Read more...

How to increase USB storage performance

This is a new update for Windows 7 and Windows Server to boost the speed of USB storage devices by increasing the maximum transfer size. After installing the update, you can change the maximum transfer size from 64 kilobytes (KB) up to 2 megabytes (MB) using your windows registry editor.

The hotfix is only available to the following operating systems:

• Windows 7 and above
• Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and above
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and above

After installing the update here’s the Registry Hack to increase the maximum transfer length:

1. Click the Start Menu > type “regedit” in the Start Search

2. Once the registry editor is open, go to the following registry folder

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\usbstor\VVVVPPPP

3. Right-click any vacant space > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value

4. Type MaximumTransferLength and double-click to modify the value data

5. Select Decimal and type a value between 65535 and 2097120 (64k to 2M) e.g. 2000000

Using Regdevelop to create registry application to increase the maximum transfer size of USB devices

Drag the Checkbox control and start configuring the program using the settings below

Caption

Maximize the USB Transfer size

RegKeyPath1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\usbstor\VVVVPPPP

Value_Name1

MaximumTransferLength

ValueData1

2000000

ValueType1

DWORD

Thanks for reading the tip!

Read more...

Save more space by Removing Windows Service Pack Folders

After installing service pack, Windows automatically creates a backup of the files and settings that service pack installer changes, some are very important if system files is corrupted or damaged, you can use the contents of the folder to return your computer to its previous state.

C:\windows\$NtServicePackUninstall$ Folder – This folder is safe to delete unless you want to restore windows without service pack in the future.

C:\windows\SevicePackfiles Folder – This folder contains files that are required to replace damaged or changed protected system files, this is not recommended to delete unless you installed softwares that automatically restore to original state after reboot e.g. DeepFreeze

Windows Vista SP1 and SP2 File Cleanup Tool

compcln.exe helps to recover permanent hard disk space by removing previous version of RTM and SP1 files.

For Vista SP1 Files, use vsp1cln.exe to save more space.

Windows 7 Disk Cleanup Tool

Installing Windows 7 SP1 will require a bit more hard drive space, simply by using Windows 7’s built-in Disk Cleanup Tool will do the job easily or use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) Tool.

DISM.exe /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

Read more...

Quick Tip: Easily Play .Webm formats

Webm is an audio video format use in Youtube design to provide royalty free and open video compression design for HTML5. Youtube offers WebM videos in 480p and 720p format so, if you encountered some files with .webm extension, here’s a quick tip.

Simply drag and drop the file to your Google Chrome browser

 

Easy?!

If your using http://windowsforus.com/youtube to browse and save videos at youtube, parsing those links many times, for sure, you’ll encoutered this type of video.

Read more...

How to Add “Register File” to your Right-Click Menu

Your old computer doesn’t work anymore, you re-installed the OS but  most of the setup to run your important programs is already gone so, you’ve just copied the files and when you run the software you get this message: “Component ‘----------‘ or one of its dependencies are not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid

The only thing that you can do with this is to use your search engine for this files and after downloading them, move them to the folder location of the software or c:\windows\system32 and register the files needed one by one.

Adding “Register File” would be great!

Using the universal script template that WinBubbles have, you’ll be able launch any application with UAC enabled. Same with its examples e.g. How to Add “Hide This File” or “Unhide this File” Context Menu and Hide my Computer to your Network Icon

Download the tool, go to its folder location and Copy “lawrence.vbs'”

Rename the file to any e.g. regsvr32.vbs

open the file with notepad and replace the string

For Each strArg in objArg

‘Replace the string here

Next

To this code (register files):

objApp.shellExecute "cmd.exe", " /c regsvr32 " & chr(34) & strArg & chr(34), , "runas", 1

Save the file, copy the Path, open WinBubble and go to Tools Menu

 

Click “Windows Explorer (All Files)” Button and add this values

Name    Any e.g. Register this File

Command   wscript "[Path]" "%1"    for example

wscript "C:\Program Files\WinBubble\WinBubble 2\Tools\regsvr32.vbs" “%1”

Click Add afterwards… and start registering DLLs and ActiveX Controls..

To Unregister file (you need to repeat all steps and use this code) Context Menu:

objApp.shellExecute "cmd.exe", " /c regsvr32 /u " & chr(34) & strArg & chr(34), , "runas", 1

That’s it!

Read more...

How to change Windows Library Icons

Changing all library icons is easy! All you need to do is to follow these steps to start changing the icons.

Guide

Make sure the all hidden files and folders are shown – Press Alt + t + o + View tab and click to choose the option “Show hidden files, folders, and drives”

and go to the path

"C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries"

Make sure that what you see is the same as the picture above

Now open the folders by dragging the folders to notepad or just use the Open with Notepad feature of Winbubbles located at the general tab.

and click the Apply Button

Its easy! Just right-click and use the feature to locate the XML data

<iconReference>imageres.dll,-1003</iconReference>

Simply change imageres.dll,-1003 to the path of the icon e.g. C:\Windows\System32\SensorsCpl.dll,14 or [filename] only

If it is difficult to find icons, it is recommended to use all the built-in icons that you can find in windows using winbubbles to prevent mistakes. just go to Icon Tab and click browse to launch the icon browser window.

 

and use the right side portion to get the path and file by pressing down arrow ↓

Sample

Library Icon	Original Icon	Change to
Documents	imageres.dll,-1002	C:\Windows\branding\shellbrd\shellbrd.dll,2
Music	imageres.dll,-1004	C:\Windows\system32\NetworkMap.dll,7
Pictures	imageres.dll,-1003	C:\Windows\System32\SensorsCpl.dll,14
Video	imageres.dll,-1005	same

Results

Cool Right?! Enjoy!

Read more...

Adding Quick Navigation Explorer feature to your Taskbar

Some people are always in a hurry, easily annoyed, and always want all things as simple as possible e.g. navigating through folders and files.

Probably, that’s why Start Search was invented.

Look at the picture above.

Here I’m going to show the feature that I called “Quick Navigation Explorer” where it is possible to browse your files and folders located at the right side portion of the taskbar.

How to the Add Quick Navigation Feature to your Taskbar

Right-Click any portion of the taskbar and choose “new toolbar…”

Choose any folder such as Computer, Libraries and Favorites, and click the Select Folder Button.

 

Easy and nice tip?! Thanks for reading the article!

Read more...

Quick tip: Launching the Hidden Command Prompt while installing Windows

During the installation of Windows, it is possible to launch the command prompt after entering the username and password.

Just press Shift + F10 and the command prompt will appear.

By this you can enable the hidden administrator (inactive) account and others, tweak anything while installing, and verify the settings through command prompt.

Cool right?!

Tested the installation using Virtual PC running 512mb, enabled virtualization and 2 Ghz Core2duo processor while using the classic theme of windows... Its fast.. Thanks for reading the article!

Read more...

Windows 8 integrates new design concepts

Windows 8 shall became one of the most important changes that Microsoft done into its operating system for more than a decade since Windows 95…

Let’s take a look first at the aging Start Menu from Windows 95 to Windows 7…

looks the same and feels older now - right?

A new Beginning Design UI for Windows 8

Seeing the new version having a new platform that supports ARM and several technologies at CES 2011, we've been excited for the upcoming Windows 8 for a long long time, downloading those fake leaks, and thankfully, Windows 8 was shown to the public for the first time with new UI that looks like Windows Phone and was designed to be really fast and fluid for Windows Tablets and PCs.

Platform support for new design

News designs by Intel, ARM Snapdragon processor, AMD, Texas Instruments Omap and Nvidia.

User Interface Features

Start Screen Tiles

Swipe Apps feature

 

- Sliding from left to right

Snap to dock feature

you can drag to resize the width

  

HTML 5 and Javascript Programming

The new platform is based on new web technologies so, it will maximize the touch features using HTML 5 and Javascript that will allow million of developers to create a new kind of app with Windows 8 – really cool… right?

Apps are fullscreen and beautiful designed for touch technologies…

Internet Explorer 10 – Touch First UI and Switching Tabs

Touch Keyboard

with thumbs layout for easy typing

Windows 8 Apps

Anyway, you can always go back to the good old look of windows afterwards…

Let’s also wait for the “business and techie” features in the coming weeks.

Can’t wait!!!

Thanks for reading the quick view of “a more and beautiful” Windows 8…

Read more...