Hide or Display Administrative Tools Menu (Windows 2000/XP)

Registry Guide for Windows
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Registry tweaks, tricks & hacks to optimize, enhance and secure Microsoft Windows.

Hide or Display Administrative Tools Menu (Windows 2000/XP)
Category: Home > Security > Start Menu and Taskbar

This tweak can be easily applied using WinGuides Tweak Manager.
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As with Windows NT, Windows 2000 has an 'Administrative Tools' folder on the Start Menu. This folder contains powerful administration utilities and therefore can be hidden to avoid accidental use.

Open your registry and find the key mentioned below.

Create a new string value, or modify the existing value, named 'StartMenuAdminTools'. Modify the value to equal 'YES' to show the administrative tools folder or 'NO' to hide it.

Exit your registry and log off for the changes to take effect.

Note: Hiding the item will not stop the use of the tools, it only make it more difficult to locate them.


(Default)	REG_SZ	(value not set)
StartMenuAdminTools	REG_SZ	"Yes"


	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Adv...

Settings:

User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
Name: StartMenuAdminTools
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Value: Yes or No

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.

Last Modified: November 14, 2002

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