Explorer


Changing drive icons
Here's how to change the icon displayed for each hard disk. This won't work for a network drive or CD-ROM drive, just for local hard disk partitions.

Create a file called AUTORUN.INF in the root directory of each hard disk or partition you want to customize and enter the following:

[autorun]
ICON=(name of icon file)


For example to use the first icon in SHELL32.DLL the second line would be

ICON=SHELL32.DLL,0

To use the third icon in MYFILE.EXE the second line is

ICON=MYFILE.EXE,2

To use DRIVE_C.ICO in the \ICONS directory on drive D: use

ICON=D:\ICONS\DRIVE_C.ICO


New menu


Adding items to the New submenu
Removing items from the New submenu

The New menu entry on the context menu (in an Explorer window, Folder or the Desktop) lists many choices for creating new files of a selected type, as well as a new Folder or Shortcut.


Adding items to the New submenu
To add an item to the New submenu, you need to determine the default extension for the item. Now run Regedit and expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Highlight the extension for the item and select Edit | New | Key. Type 'ShellNew' and press enter. Now add Value entries for Command, NullFile and/or FileName as needed.

For more information see the topic
ShellNew subkey.


Removing items from the New submenu
The New menu entry on the context menu (in an Explorer window, Folder or the Desktop) lists many choices for creating new files of a selected type. But after you've installed a number of new applications, that submenu can become quite cluttered with file types you may not need.

To remove the ones you don't need, run Regedit and navigate to MyComputer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Expand this branch, then expand the branch showing the extension of the file type you want to remove from the New submenu. Highlight the ShellNew entry underneath, and press Del to remove it. When you are done, close Regedit.

HINT: If you don't know the file extension, use the New menu to create a file of the desired type, right-click on it and select Properties to see the extension. Now you can delete the item.