WinDOwS Tricks - Part 19

Go to ALL WinDOwS ©Tricks + Secrets Contents

Normally, when you open:
• Windows Explorer -> click View (Win98/ME/IE5/IE6) or Tool (Win95/IE4) -> Folder Options... -> click the View tab -> Advanced menu and/or...
• Internet Explorer 5/6 -> click Tools (Win98/ME/IE5/IE6) or Options (Win95/OSR1/OSR2/IE4) -> Internet Options... -> Advanced tab,
you'll see there some system settings you can modify to your heart content by clicking away those check boxes. But if you have never added anything else to the Advanced menu, there's not much you can do.

To add a huge list of advanced options to the ones above, and delve (way) deeper into your system settings, just open Windows Explorer (%windir%\EXPLORE.EXE) or File Manager (FM = %windir%\WINFILE.EXE) [%windir% = usually C:\WINDOWS], (double-)click on ADVANCED.REG (Windows Explorer advanced options) and/or ADV_IE.REG (Internet Explorer advanced options), and then answer Yes/OK to all nagging prompts to merge these settings into your Registry.

Now reopen Windows Explorer and/or Internet Explorer, and access the Advanced menus again (see above).
You'll see a long list of new hidden/undocumented options you can "play" with from now on.

IF using Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2 you MUST have MS IE 4/5 already installed!
X-Mouse settings are properly enabled ONLY IF using Windows 98/98 SP1/98 SE(U)/ME!

CREDITS:

• Internet Explorer options created by soporific.
• "Hidden files", "Show all files", "Do not show hidden files" and "Do not show hidden or system files" options created by John Woram, Windows expert.

FYI: See this "Options for Explorer, Desktop and Start Menu" page for similar Advanced Options.

Have fun.

1. Courtesy of Tim:

   "For those who have a mouse with a Scrolling Wheel and like to use their mice for most browsing functions: perform the Back and Forward functions rapidly in your web browser without moving the mouse, by holding down the Shift key, and rolling the wheel back or forward, one wheel click at a time.
   This works with my Microsoft IntelliMouse and MS IE 5.5."

2. Courtesy of Rudolph:

   "Hold down the Ctrl key while rolling the scroll mouse wheel to change the web page font size:
   Ctrl + move wheel down (Forward) -> font size decreases.
   Ctrl + move wheel up (Back) -> font size increases.
   This works with my Logitech Trackman Marble+."

WARNING: This Registry hack may disable/impair your connection(s) IF using the NetBIOS protocol over LAN/WAN/Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network(s)/internet!

ADVANTAGES: Better security and eventually increased transfer speed.

If you meet ALL conditions above, start by BACKING UP these 2 Registry keys as REG (plain text) files to a safe location, and call them let's say VNETBIOS.REG + VNETSUP.REG, respectively:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETBIOS

and:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETSUP

To do this, fire up Regedit: highlight each key name above in the left hand pane -> click "Registry" from the menu -> select "Export Registry File..." -> type a file name in the "File name" field -> browse to the destination of your choice -> click the Save button.
Now you're ready to delete these 2 keys from your Registry: highlight the key name -> hit Del -> click OK or press Enter.
Then move to the same backup folder these 2 files from %windir%\SYSTEM (usually C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM): VNETBIOS.VXD + VNETSUP.VXD.
Finally, restart Windows to allow these changes to take effect.

FYI:

• Install ALL CURRENT Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2/98/98 SE/ME Microsoft DUN + TCP/IP Updates + Patches for optimal performance + security!
• See this Internet Connection Security guide.
• See these Internet security links for more info.

Whenever you add a new connection/network protocol or make changes to your network/DUN (Dial-Up Networking) settings, you may need to delete these Registry keys and files all over again. To save time, run this REG file which deletes automatically the Registry keys above, every time after such changes are made to your system:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETBIOS]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETSUP]

------End cut & paste here------

To verify if this workaround makes any difference, perform these free Internet security checkups (port scans):

• Shields Up!
• INTERNET SECURITY + TRAFFIC RESOURCES,

A MUST: Get a FREE(ware) firewall from this "FREE WINDOWS 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista INTERNET MONITORS, FIREWALLS + ANTI-SPYWARE" list!

UPDATES:

• "I use a much simpler way of turning NetBIOS off and on. Just rename the file %windir%\SYSTEM\VNBT.386 to something else. After the next boot NetBIOS will be disabled, and its ports: nbname (UDP port 137), nbsession (TCP port 139) etc will be closed. If I need LAN access, I rename it again to VNBT.386 and reboot."
  [Thank you Gregor!]

• "Remove NetBIOS from TCP/IP without touching the Registry:
  1. Open Network Properties.
  2. If you have a peer-to-peer network and wish to share files, install Microsoft NetBeui, and set it as the default protocol.
  3. Change the Logon type to Windows Logon.
  4. Reboot.
  5. Open Network Properties.
  6. For EVERY TCP/IP occurrence: select Properties -> Bindings -> uncheck Microsoft Network and File/Print Sharing EVEN for TCP/IP Dial-Up Adapter.
     Windows will complain that you have not bound TCP/IP to anything, but when it asks if you want to bind it to something, click No.
  7. Reboot when prompted.
  8. Open Network Properties.
  9. Check to make sure that NetBIOS is unchecked in ALL TCP/IP properties, if it is checked, uncheck it, and then reboot if necessary.
  You have now disabled NetBIOS support for TCP/IP, and ALL your File/Print Sharing is done by NetBeui, which is inaccessible from the internet.
  Happy (safer) surfing!"
  [Thank you Gary!]

1. Necessary steps:
   1. The DEBUG.EXE file must be present somewhere in your path, specified by the CONFIG.SYS "SET PATH=", or by the AUTOEXEC.BAT "PATH" statement. Typical examples:
      • MS Win9x + MS-DOS 7.xx:

        SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\;C:\STUFF;etc...

      • MS-DOS 6.xx:

        SET PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\STUFF;etc...

      Default DEBUG.EXE locations:

      • MS Win9x + MS-DOS 7.xx: in the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND folder.

      • MS-DOS 6.xx: in the C:\DOS or C:\MSDOS directory.

      Change drive letters and/or directory names if different on your PC.

      Now create a DOS style BATch file (using Notepad in Windows or EDIT.COM in DOS) to contain these lines (the DEBUG script is responsible for rebooting):

      @ECHO OFF
      MEM /C | FIND /I "vmm32">NUL
      IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO W3
      IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO NO
      :W3
      MEM /C | FIND /I "win386">NUL
      IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO NO
      ECHO G=FFFF:0000 | DEBUG.EXE
      :NO
      EXIT

      Call it for example REBOOT.BAT, and place it in a directory in your path (see above).
      The other lines are necessary to have REBOOT.BAT detect whether you're in a Windows DOS box/session (in which case the BATch will abort and return to Windows GUI), or in native/real/true/pure MS-DOS (in which case the BATch will proceed to reboot your PC).

      Alternatively you can use DEBUG.EXE to create a small (6 Bytes) COM(mand) file I named BOOT.COM designed to perform a "cold" reboot.
      For convenience you can paste the contents of this BATch file into Notepad, and save it as BOOTCOM.BAT into C:\ root (example):

      -----Begin cut & paste here-----
      @ECHO OFF
      C:
      CD\
      ECHO N BOOT.COM >> BOOT.!
      ECHO E 0100 48 50 53 CB 0D 0A >> BOOT.!
      ECHO RCX >> BOOT.!
      ECHO 0006 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO W >> BOOT.!
      ECHO Q >> BOOT.!
      DEBUG < BOOT.!
      IF EXIST BOOT.! DEL BOOT.!
      EXIT
      ------End cut & paste here------

      This other BOOTCOM.BAT example creates a slightly larger BOOT.COM because adds SMARTDRV cache buffer "flush" from memory back to the hard disk, EMM386.EXE reboot code (if EMM386 was loaded in memory at bootup time) and then performs a "warm" reboot:

      -----Begin cut & paste here-----
      @ECHO OFF
      C:
      CD\
      ECHO A 100 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO MOV AH,0D >> BOOT.!
      ECHO INT 21h >> BOOT.!
      ECHO MOV AX, 40 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO MOV DS, AX >> BOOT.!
      ECHO DS: >> BOOT.!
      ECHO OR BYTE PTR [17],0C >> BOOT.!
      ECHO MOV AX,4F53 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO INT 15h >> BOOT.!
      ECHO DS: >> BOOT.!
      ECHO MOV WORD PTR [72],1234 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO JMP F000:FFF0 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO. >> BOOT.!
      ECHO R CX >> BOOT.!
      ECHO 20 >> BOOT.!
      ECHO N BOOT.COM >> BOOT.!
      ECHO W >> BOOT.!
      ECHO Q >> BOOT.!
      DEBUG < BOOT.!
      IF EXIST BOOT.! DEL BOOT.!
      ------End cut & paste here------

      Then just run BOOT (created in these examples in C:\ root) from the native/real/true/pure MS-DOS mode to have your PC reboot.
      See also this RESET.COM alternative.

      No matter which of these rebooting methods you are going to use, if using a disk caching tool like MS SMARTDRV.EXE, it is VERY IMPORTANT to "flush" (dump) the memory cache buffer contents to the hard disk before rebooting, otherwise you may experience data loss! This is the necessary command line:

      SMARTDRV/C

      Of course, both these commands can be placed into a batch file you can call for example REBOOT.BAT:

      @ECHO OFF
      SMARTDRV/C
      BOOT.COM

      Place REBOOT.BAT into a directory listed in your PATH. To display your PATH line, just run this command from any DOS prompt:

      PATH

      NOTE: Certain motherboard/chipset/BIOS configurations may NOT allow using these DEBUG scripts. In such cases use the rebooting method described at paragraph B (see further below), ONLY IF running Windows 95 or 98.

   2. The ANSI.SYS driver (found by default in the same directory as DEBUG.EXE) or similar (like NANSI.SYS or ANSI.COM = see "MS-DOS 5.00 - 8.00 ESSENTIALS") MUST be loaded from CONFIG.SYS. These examples use the default Microsoft extended/upper/expanded memory managers to load the ANSI device "high":
      • MS Win9x + MS-DOS 7.xx:

        DOS=HIGH,UMB
        DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
        DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE I=B000-B7FF NOEMS D=256 AUTO
        DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS /X

      • MS-DOS 6.xx:

        DOS=HIGH,UMB
        DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
        DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE I=B000-B7FF RAM D=256 AUTO
        DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS /X

      To save extra conventional RAM (up to 629 KB!), and speed up your system's overall performance, you can use UMBPCI.SYS, the best freeware upper memory extender, compatible with most Pentium, Pentium Pro/II/III/IV/Celeron/Xeon, AMD/Cyrix CPUs and motherboard chipsets. See my "Complete UMBPCI.SYS Guide" for details.
      Note that UMBPCI.SYS does NOT provide expanded memory (EMS).
      Examples using UMBPCI.SYS in combination with MS HIMEM.SYS to load the ANSI device in the Upper Memory Area (UMA):

      • MS Win9x + MS-DOS 7.xx:

        DOS=HIGH,UMB
        DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
        DEVICE=C:\UMBPCI\UMBPCI.SYS
        DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS /X

      • MS-DOS 6.xx:

        DOS=HIGH,UMB
        DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
        DEVICE=C:\UMBPCI\UMBPCI.SYS
        DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS /X

      The "/X" ANSI.SYS command line parameter enables independent key remapping.

   3. Create a plain text file with Notepad in Windows or EDIT.COM in DOS, to include the ANSI escape sequences (also called ASCII codes) for key remapping. In this example the F12 key is remapped to reboot the computer by running REBOOT.BAT:

      Esc[0;134;"REBOOT";13p

      Name this file let's say REBOOT.TXT, or whatever you want, but keep the TXT extension.

   4. Add this line (example) to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, before the WIN command (which starts the Windows GUI), if any:

      TYPE C:\REBOOT.TXT

   5. From now on, all you need to do is hit F12, to instantly reboot your machine from the native MS-DOS prompt.

   6. Done. :)

   FYI: See "F1-F12 Remapping = MS-DOS Mode + ANSI Driver" in DOSTIPS.TXT, part of both W95-11D.EXE and W31-11D.ZIP, for more details.

2. Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2 and 98/98 SE users (this does NOT work with the Windows ME WIN.COM release!) can use the undocumented "/WX" WIN.COM switch for the same purpose. In this case, REBOOT.BAT would look like this:

   @ECHO OFF
   MEM /C | FIND /I "vmm32">NUL
   IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO NO
   IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO OK
   :OK
   WIN.COM /WX
   :NO
   EXIT

   All other steps are identical (see paragraph A above).

   FYI: See "WIN.COM HIDDEN PARAMETERS", also in SECRETS.TXT, part of both W95-11D.EXE and W31-11D.ZIP, for more details.

"Microsoft Windows Media Player2 v7.x (WMP7) for Win98/2000/ME [9 MB, free] and MS WMP v6.4 (WMP6) for Win9x/NT4 [3.5 MB, free], both keep a list of recent video/audio files you have played, as well as any streaming media you have viewed/listened to over the internet.
Anyone with access to your computer can open Media Player and review the last 10 media files you have played. If you share your system with others, you may not like to have this option enabled. WMP does not offer any way to turn it off, or even clear it, and I have not found any "history washing" utilities able to do this either.
So how can we clear the history list? Never fear, I have come up with a working solution. :) The list of most recent files (maximum 10) played by WMP is stored under these Registry keys:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentFileList]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentFileList]

------End cut & paste here------

Paste the text between these lines in Notepad, and save it as NOPLAY.REG.
Replace the ".Default" string above with your Windows OS user's name (if any).
From now on run it from: Start button -> Settings -> Taskbar -> Advanced -> Add -> type/paste this command line (to import the REG file in "silent" mode):

REGEDIT.EXE /S C:\REGFILES\NOPLAY.REG

then click Next -> scroll down to Startup -> highlight Startup -> click Next -> click Finish, to empty your recent WMP history every time Windows GUI loads.
Just make sure you exit WMP first. If WMP is open, it will rewrite the current history list (kept in memory) into the Registry upon closing.
You can also create a DOS batch file (i.e. NOPLAY.BAT) with these lines:

@%windir%\REGEDIT.EXE /S C:\REGFILES\NOPLAY.REG
@C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\WMPLAYER.EXE
@EXIT

if using WMP7, or with these lines:

@%windir%\REGEDIT.EXE /S C:\REGFILES\NOPLAY.REG
@C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\MPLAYER2.EXE
@EXIT

if using WMP6, place it in C:\REGFILES (example) and then make a shortcut to it. Change the paths if different on your PC."

"MS Internet Explorer 5.5 Advanced Security Privacy Beta manages cookies and maintains a higher degree of security and privacy never attained before.
Now you can configure your browser settings to differentiate between cookies that originate from a web server you're intentionally visiting, and cookies that originate from other web sites which provide advertising or services. A new Help menu item provides an overview section and important links to information about Internet Explorer's security and privacy features.

It is gracious of Microsoft to improve cookie control, but another process (used in the past on Microsoft's own Web sites) can track visitors even better than cookies. The feature called "User Data Persistence" (UDP) appeared in MS IE 5.0 and is not as well known or as easily managed as cookies, but unfortunately can accomplish the same thing.
There is no warning flag that can be toggled to tell you when Data Persistence is being used on a web site to store information from your system, but it can be turned off: open IE -> from the File menu click Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Custom Level -> Miscellaneous -> disable "User Data persistence".
The purpose Data Persistence was developed for was to offer the ability to "persist" information, which also lets you retain style and state beyond a single web page. Preserving style and state helps make it easy to produce web applications that use DHTML, such as an expensive report that automatically configures itself based on a user's personalized settings.
A few lines of client-side script can accomplish what once required server-side programming and complicated scripts. The user data persistence behavior makes it easy to save information entered into a text field. Rather than query a server-side CGI script, the persisted information is saved to the CLIENT using two JScript-based functions and the persistent object, the data need never go to the server."

More info:

• MS TechNet: Internet Explorer 5.0: Persistence....
• IE 5.0: User Data Persistence.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0: The Inside Story.
• MSN Cookie & GUID tracking techniques.
  [This link courtesy of Ojatex!]

"This tip allows you to change what Explorer shows as File Type when the file extension doesn't match any entry in the Registry.
Under normal circumstances, if there is no corresponding entry in the Registry, Explorer will call unknown files "LOG file" (example), and this changes depending on what extension each file has (for example "DAT file", "BIN file" etc). But you change it to something more consistent.
Fire up Regedit, and go to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown

Here change the "(Default)" String value to whatever name you want. I recommend something like "Unknown File" (without the quotes).
For ease of use you can create a REG file (in Notepad) called UNKNOWN.REG:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown]
@="Unknown File"

------End cut & paste here------

To revert back to the default behavior, delete the "(Default)" value.
Although the value itself won't disappear [because it is a default value :)], its contents is cleared this way, to resurrect the default behavior.
Restart Windows for the changes to take effect."

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.aim]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\aimfiles]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\America Online\AOL Instant Messenger (TM)]

[-HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\America Online\AOL Instant Messenger (TM)]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\aim.exe]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.blt]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AOL Instant Messenger.ConfigFile]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"AOL Instant Messenger"=-

------End cut & paste here------

and ran (merged) it from File Manager (FM = C:\WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE), but you can also use Windows Explorer for this purpose.
Finally I have restarted Windows.
Done. :)

FYI:

• You can also do this by using TakeAIM [53 KB, freeware].
• See this Netscape Help Knowledge Base page for more info.

DELTREE/Y %TEMP%
MD %TEMP%

If this folder contains any protected (read-only, hidden, system) files/subfolders, you may need to delete them manually: start Explorer or File Manager (FM = C:\WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE) -> browse to C:\Windows\Temp -> delete all subfolders and files found there.
Now run the Communicator Setup executable and stop at the first screen.
Hit Alt + Tab to switch to Explorer or File Manager. Go to C:\Windows\Temp and find the AIM.INI (installs AIM) and AOD.INI (installs AIM on Desktop) text files, usually located in the C:\Windows\Temp\~~~~~~~~.ns folder. Open all these 4 files in Notepad, and change the line:

Invisible=YES

to read:

Invisible=NO

Deleting this line entirely has the same effect.
Save your work, create a new folder (i.e. C:\NCSetup), and then copy there all files from C:\Windows\Temp and all its subfolders.
Cancel the current installation, and then run Setup.exe from the new directory containing the modified files. By selecting Custom you'll notice that both "AIM" and "AOD" check boxes are now "alive". Uncheck them and proceed with the installation. Done. :)

"To get rid of annoying advertisements in your Netscape Communicator/Navigator 4.xx/5.xx/6.xx e-mail window do this: click Start -> Find -> type prefs.js. This file usually resides in the C:\Program Files\Netscape\Communicator\Users\UserName folder (default installation).
Close all Netscape windows, open Prefs.js with Notepad, and paste this as a new line:

user_pref("mailnews.start_page.enabled",false);

Save it, and restart Netscape. Voila!"

"To remove the "Dial-Up Networking" (DUN), "Scheduled Tasks" and "Web Folders" folders from My Computer (a.k.a. Windows Explorer), follow these directions:

1. Open Regedit.

2. Browse to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

3. Delete all these subkeys:

   {992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} = Dial-Up Networking
   {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} = Scheduled Tasks
   {BDEADF00-C265-11d0-BCED-00A0C90AB50F} = Web Folders

Some of them may not be listed on your particular system because they are Windows 98/98 SE and MS IE 5/6 specific.
NOTE: It is recommended to NOT remove the DUN folder, because if you ever want to (re)configure your current DUN connection, or create a new connectoid, you won't be able to!"

FYI: See "DELETE DESKTOP ICONS", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more system folders.

"By default, Windows 9x/2000 only allows for 32-bit color, which translates into approximately 32 bits per pixel. This may be OK if you have a standard PCI/AGP video card, but if you have a more powerful (and expensive) one, you may not be taking full advantage of its capabilities.
To increase your color depth to a higher value in Windows 9x/ME (usually 64 or 96-bit for high-end controllers at the time of this writing), open Regedit and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\Display\Settings

There you'll see the "BitsPerPixel" String Value. It probably has a default of 32. Change it to the maximum available for your video card (RTFM = Read The Freakin' Manual *FIRST* to avoid damaging your video card!) and you're all set.
There you'll see another String Value named "Resolution". As long as the width/hight ratio is kept proportional, you can set a screen resolution HIGHER than the maximum of 1280x1024 allowed by the Display applet (your mileage may vary depending on your vid card model/features)! Perfect for your 40 inch flat screen. ;-)
There are other values under this Registry key, which control screen position etc.

The Registry keys for Windows 2000 are somewhat more complicated, as they are different for each video card (sustitute "CARDNAME" below with your actual Win2K vid controller name). Open Regedit or Regedt32 and go to:

1. This key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\000x\System\CurrentControlSet\SERVICES\CARDNAME\DEVICE0

   and change Default.Settings.BitsPerPixel to the highest for your card.

2. Then to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\000x\System\CurrentControlSet\SERVICES\CARDNAME\DEVICE0\Mon80000000   

   and change the same value to your card's highest value.

3. And finally to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\000x\System\CurrentControlSet\SERVICES\CARDNAME\VGASAVE\DEVICE0

   and change the number from the default of 4 to something like 16.

This is very dangerous, as drivers are being run in "real-mode" at startup!

Changing these settings gives you more control over your display, but if you don't know EXACTLY what you are doing, you can easily screw things up. :(
Reboot Windows to enjoy the changes."

UPDATE: "Regarding the way human vision perceives colors rendered on a digital raster display, 96-bit color depth is a complete non-sequitur. The (average?) human eye is not capable of distinguishing 96 bits of color depth. This hack only substantially slows down video performance."
[Thank you Mark!]

BACK 2 CONTENTS

"I prefer to work most of the time with no file extensions displayed in Windows Explorer, because this makes renaming files much easier.
But there are occasions when you want to change the extension itself.
I was tired of having to get through the Folder Options settings (too many clicks), so I have written a VBS script that does all with (nearly) a single click. Moreover it also affects the visibility of Hidden and System files, so basically it allows toggling between "Normal" and "Advanced" (full) file visibility.
Here is how: first create a text file using Notepad by copying & pasting these lines:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
' Simple VBS file to allow toggling between two Windows Explorer states:
' [1] Full visibility of Hidden and System files, as well as file extensions,
'     obtained by setting in the Registry: HideFileExt=1 and Hidden=0.
' [0] No visibility of Hidden and System files, neither file extensions,
'     obtained by setting in the Registry: HideFileExt=0 and Hidden=1.
' You will get this message: "File Visibility becoming... 1 or 0".
Dim WSHShell
Set WSHShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim oldhide, newhide, msg
Const hk1="HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\HideFileExt"
Const hk2="HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Hidden"
oldhide=WSHShell.RegRead(hk1)
newhide=1- oldhide
msg="File Visibility becoming " & oldhide
WSHShell.Popup msg
WSHShell.RegWrite hk1, newhide, "REG_DWORD"
WSHShell.RegWrite hk2, oldhide, "REG_DWORD"
------End cut & paste here------