My Favorite RegEdit tweaks
These RegEdit tweaks are my favorites from the
Windows Registry Guide.
Be sure to check them out for more great Windows enhancements.
Caveat emptor: Modifying the system registry may
cause your operating system to croak and force you to spend a lot
of time reinstalling it. Please use these tips at your own risk.
Tab completion for DOS Shells
This registry modification for Windows NT 4.0 is my all time favorite
productivity enhancement. It turns on tab completion in the DOS
shell. Simply type the first few characters of a file name or
directory, then hit TAB, and Windows will automatically supply
the rest of the file name for you. If more than one file name
matches, hitting TAB multiple times will cycle through the
matching files.
Keep it quiet please!
A lot of older PCs have an internal speaker that produces
an annoying beep whenever Windows wants your attention.
This is a relic from the days in which PCs had no multimedia
capabilities or sound cards.
Unfortunately, if your PC has such an internal speaker, it will
always make noise, even if you use the Sound control panel
to change the "Default Beep" setting. If you are
as unlucky as I was, your internal speaker will be
unbearably loud and will sound often enough to drive
you to certain insanity (Microsoft Visual C++, for instance,
likes to beep after each compile).
While you could always open your computer's case and
disconnect the speaker, there is a simpler way. The
following registry file will correct the
problem:
XWindows-style mouse tracking
Under Microsoft Windows, you must normally click on a window to
change the keyboard focus and begin typing in it. This registry
tweak makes it so you can type into a window simply by sliding
the mouse pointer to it.
NT4_TabCompletion.reg