BOOT CAMP 406 (10/01/06)

Tweak UI for XP, part 1

As you probably know by now the heart of the Windows operating system is a collection of System files called the Registry. This contains all of the configuration settings for Windows and the programs stored on your PC.

Normally the Registry is strictly off limits, fiddling with it can drastically affect the way Windows behaves, or stop it working altogether but in order for you to be able to make changes to Windows settings some parts of the Registry are made available through simple and safe to use tools and utilities in dialogue boxes and places like the Control Panel.

For most Windows users the built-in controls are quite adequate but soon after the launch of Windows 95 Microsoft programmers quietly released a suite of tools applications and enhancements called ‘PowerToys’. They were originally meant for advanced users and were not officially supported. Nevertheless they proved very popular and later versions of PowerToys were included on the Windows 98 installation CD (see Top Tip) but were not installed by default so they remained fairly obscure.

Over the last ten years we’ve recommended PowerToys countless times for extending Windows functionality or removing or modifying annoying features and the most consistently useful PowerToy has been an eclectic collection of tools called Tweak UI  -- the UI stands for User Interface.

When Windows XP was launched in 2001 major changes to the operating system meant that most of the old PowerToys no longer worked but within a few months a new collection of PowerToys for XP was released, including a radically redesigned Tweak UI. Microsoft still won’t provide technical support for PowerToys, despite them being very safe, but don’t let that put you off and Tweak UI in particular is an invaluable addition to any Windows XP computer.

This week we’ll begin with a brief introduction to the current PowerToys suite and some simple instructions for downloading and installing Tweak UI. Next week a more detailed look at what it can do for you.

Tweak UI is the latest reincarnation of the powerful Registry access tool for Windows XP that lets you make detailed changes to the Windows user interface as well as Windows and Internet Explorer, dialogue boxes, user logon, the Taskbar, mouse and much more besides.

Virtual Desktop Manager is a brilliant little utility that creates up to four desktops so you can switch quickly between applications or a desktop view.

Color Control Panel Applet is a new addition that should be of interest to serious photographers. It is used to manage Windows colour settings to ensure consistent and accurate results from digital cameras and colour printers. 

RAW Image Thumbnail Viewer is another digital photography tool for displaying RAW images and data from high-end digital cameras.

Synch Toy is designed to manage file synchronisation between your PC and a host of devices including digital cameras and camcorders, portable media players, laptops, PDA and so on.

ClearType Tuner configures ClearType fonts, which provide improved legibility on LCD screens.

HTML Slide Show Wizard is a tool designed to help you create a slideshow of your digital images for viewing on a website.

Open Command Window Here adds a right-click menu option to Windows Explorer and file system dialogue boxes to open a DOS type window on the selected folder or file

Alt-Tab Replacement adds functionality to the application-switching shortcut, providing a thumbnail preview of the page, image or application being selected.

Power Calculator provides a range of graph, evaluate and conversion functions

Image Resizer creates a resizing function when you right-click on an image file

CD Slideshow Generator lets you view pictures on a CD as a slideshow  

Taskbar Manager puts a screen magnifier onto the taskbar

Webcam Timershot sets up an event timer for a webcam, taking snapshots at preset intervals and saving the images to a file location of your choice.

We’ll finish off this week by downloading and installing Tweak UI on your computer so start by visiting the PowerToys for XP home page, if you are still using an earlier version of Windows see this week’s Top Tip.

Heed the warning about uninstalling any previous PowerToys installed prior to April 2003 as the newer versions might cause conflicts and some, but not all, will only work if you have installed Service Pack 2.

Whilst I have never experienced any serious problems with Tweak UI or any of the PowerToys for that matter it is prudent to set a new System Restore Point (see Boot Camp 334) before you install a new program on your PC.

To download Tweak UI or any of the PowerToys you must go through Windows XP Validation, which checks that you have a legitimate copy of XP on your PC. This involves downloading a small utility that verifies your product key and activation codes. Once that is done simply click on the Tweak UI download link. It’s a tiny file (147kb) so it only takes a few seconds to load, even on a dial-up connection. When it has finished open the file and follow the prompts. The Tweak UI icon should appear on your Programs list under PowerToys.  

NEXT WEEK - Tweak UI for XP, part 2

JARGON FILTER

APPLET

Small application or utility with limited functionality

CLEAR TYPE

Fonts optimised for display on LCD screens

HTTP

HyperText Transfer Protocol -- the hidden codes and commands used to create web pages and move around and between documents using highlighted and underlined Hyperlinks

TOP TIP

Tweak UI for earlier versions of Window is still available from Microsoft. The Windows 95 Power Toys Set in an all-in-one package that includes Tweak UI 1.1. Installation is not especially intuitive. After you have downloaded the files into a folder to install Tweak UI or any of the other PowerToys you need to right-click on the relevant ‘*.inf’ file then click Install.  

Tweak UI 1.33 is a stand-alone version that will work on Windows 95 but it’s the only one to use if you have Windows 98, SE, ME, NT or 2000. The installation procedure is the same as version 1.1. There’s also a full set of PowerToys on the Windows 98 installation CD, it’s very well hidden though in: D:\Tools\Reskit\Powertoy (where D: is your CD/DVD drive).

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© R. Maybury 2006, 0401

Part 2, 3