Make "Command Prompt Here" Always Display for Folders in Windows Vista!

Make "Command Prompt Here" Always Display for Folders in Windows Vista

We’ve previously explained how you can open a command prompt by holding down the Shift key and right-clicking on a folder or the desktop… but how do you make that item show up without having to hold down the shift key?
There’s a simple registry hack you can do that will enable “Open Command Window Here” item without holding down the shift key:

You can either manually edit the registry, or use the downloadable registry hack files to do it.
Manual Registry Hack
Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key to add the right-click menu to drive icons:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmd

Rename the “Extended” key on the right to something else, like “Extended-Orig”. (Note that you could simply delete the value, but renaming it ensures that you can quickly rename it back to reverse the change)
To add the item to the folder context menu, browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd

And rename the same “Extended” key here. The changes should be immediate.
Downloadable Registry Hack
Simply download, extract, and double-click on the EnableCommandPromptHereAlways.reg file to enter the information into the registry. There’s also an included file to reverse the change.

Download EnableCommandPromptHereAlways Registry Hack

Add "Open with Notepad" to the Context Menu for All Files!!!

Add "Open with Notepad" to the Context Menu for All Files

The default method of opening unknown files forces you to go through a list of known applications and is generally a pain to deal with. That’s why I like to have a context menu option for “Open with Notepad” so that I can quickly open up files without having to go through a lot of trouble.
This registry hack is nothing new, it’s been around forever… think of this as a refresher course. Also note that you can use this same technique to substitute any other application that you’d like by adjusting the path in the registry to point to the different editor.

Manual Registry Hack
Open regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell

Right-click on “shell” and choose to create a new key, calling it “Open with Notepad”. Create a new key below that one called “command”. Double-click on the (Default) value in the right-hand pane and enter in the following:

notepad.exe %1

The change should take effect immediately… just right-click on any file and you’ll see the next menu entry.
Download Registry Hack
Just download, extract and double-click on the OpenWithNotepad.reg file to enter the information into the registry. There’s also an uninstall script included.
Download OpenWithNotepad registry hack

How To Add Recycle Bin to “My Computer” in Windows 7 or Vista!

How To Add Recycle Bin to “My Computer” in Windows 7 or Vista

Have you ever wanted to add the Recycle Bin to your My Computer screen? Yeah, it’s probably not the most common request, but here’s how to do it anyway with a simple registry hack.
Here’s what we’re talking about… if you wanted to do something more useful, you can also add Control Panel to My Computer as well.

To make this tweak, we’ll be doing a quick registry hack, but there’s a downloadable version provided as well.
Manual Registry Tweak to Add Recycle Bin
Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

Now that you’re there, you’ll need to right-click and create a new key…

Name the key with the following text:

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Once you are done, it should look like this:

Now you should be able to hit F5 on your My Computer screen, or close it and re-open.

Downloadable Registry Hack
Rather than deal with manual registry editing, you can simply download the file, extract it, and then either double-click on the AddRecycleBinToMyComputer.reg to add Recycle Bin or RemoveRecycleBinToMyComputer.reg to remove it.

Download Add Recycle Bin Registry Hack