Windows Explorer - Script for Basic Registry Modifications

Every time I try to work on a new machine, there are several registry modifications that I make. I have finally gotten tired of making these changes manually and created these scripts.

Warning: I do NOT suggest that you simply download Basic_Changes_XP.reg and run it. You should first read and understand it (it is fairly simple to understand). These scripts were written to run on a Windows XP machine and a Windows 2000 machine. The only difference is where cmd.exe is located

c:\windows\cmd.exe   or   c:\winnt\cmd.exe

Overview

In Windows Explorer, when you right click a file or folder, a popup menu is displayed. The options provided can be modified by modifying the Windows Registry.

There are 3 basic right-click menu capabilities that I add to all systems

The ability to open any file in notepad
The ability to copy any path to the clipboard
The ability to open a command prompt associated with the target directory

In addition to modifying the registry, you will need to download CopyToClipboard.exe (14 kb) - a program that I wrote to copy any command line string to the clipboard, to

C:\Downloads\CopyToClipboard.exe

If you use a different path, then you must manually modify the scripts. Notice that, within the scripts, a backslash if entered as two backslashes.

Entries that affect the menu for all file types

These registry entries modify the popup menu presented when you right click a file.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\clipboard]
@="* Copy Path to Clipboard "

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\clipboard\command]
@="C:\\downloads\\CopyToClipboard.exe \"%L\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\notepad]
@="* Notepad"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\notepad\command]
@="notepad.exe \"%l\""

Notice that 2 of the entries start with asterisks, this is just my way of marking the entries as being placed in the "all files" registry key when they are displayed in the popup menu.

Entries that affect the Folders menu

These registry entries modify the popup menu presented when you right click a folder.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\clipboard]
@="Copy Path to Clipboard"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\clipboard\command]
@="C:\\downloads\\CopyToClipboard.exe \"%L\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\DOS_Shell]
@="DOS Shell"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\DOS_Shell\command]
@="c:\\windows\\system32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%l\""

Notice that Basic_Changes_XP.reg uses

c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe and that Basic_Changes_2000.reg uses

c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe This should be the only difference in the files.

Issues

These registry modifications are not without some negative consequences

Microsoft Office provides a quick launch toolbar - the changes made to the asterisk key break the toolbar functionality in windows 95. I have not tested this in latter operating systems since I consider the toolbar to be basically worthless anyway.
If you run the wrong *.reg file there will not be any permanent damage - just use the other one.
If these files get hacked, they could be used to install very bad viruses. That is why I want YOU to read and understand the changes. (Unfortunately, if they are hacked, then this message will probably also be hacked.)

Author: Robert Clemenzi - clemenzi@cpcug.org