Customize a new Windows XP installation

When installing a brand new Windows XP Pro computer (read my Install Windows XP Pro page) I end up making many changes to its interface and some of its interior settings.

Some of these changes are for made for performance reasons while others are purely visual and made only for my convenience.

Some of these tips can be easily modified without the need to go into registry changes. For example, in order to disable the “Windows XP Tour” you can simply click on “Cancel” when it first pops up. However, if you want to disable this “feature” for all users on the workstation, or would like to disable if for many computers, you will need to programmatically do it.

Either way, here are some of the steps I take to customize my own XP machine. I did not list ALL available tweaks or changes, I just wrote about the ones that I use the most and that help me get a better working experience with my own XP machine.

BTW, some settings will also work on W2K and Windows 2003.

You might also want to read Free Tweaking Tools for more info.