Hello again Pendleton!
The Windows Registry is a file where many settings are stored for the
Windows Operating System. Making changes in it can affect the way
things appear or work on the computer. The setting you're asking
about, NoRecentDocsHistory, will change the following:
If it is set to 1, it will not add any recent documents to the
documents menu.
(Clicking on Start then Documents will show no files).
If it is set to 0, it will add recent documents to the documents menu.
(This means, when you click on new files like text documents or
powerpoint presentations etc., that file gets added to a hidden folder
called C:\windows\recent. Documents in there show up when you click on
Start then Documents.)
(Additional information: Note that documents are added to that folder
when you click a file that is a saved document that launches its
parent/associated program. "Associated" program just means when you
click on a certain type of file (a certain "File Type") it will launch
that same "associated" program each time (unless you change it.)
Documents in the recent folder are just shortcuts to the file they are
referencing; they are not actual copies to that file and as such are
safe to delete those shortcuts. When you delete the shortcut it will
not appear in the documents menu.)
So you have to ask yourself, "Do I want new documents to show up in
the documents menu or not?"
If you do then you'll use the value 0 (actually 00 00 00 00).
If you do not then you'll use the value 1 (actually 01 00 00 00).
Now that you know what value you want to use for this option you can
change it by doing this:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type: regedit
4. Press Enter (or click OK)
That will run the registry editor as you have done before.
Now Click HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then Software, then Microsoft, then
Windows, then, Policies then, Explorer.
In the right hand pane find NoRecentDocsHistory. Since you have
already created this value then it will be there. Since this is a
binary value (1 byte or 8 bits or 2 nibbles or 8 zeros/ones long) you
won't be able to enter , (commas) in. They are not needed and when you
were told to enter them, they were just to separate the sets of zeros.
Right click on the name and choose Modify.
Press delete to delete the current entry. Now type exactly as follows:
01000000
Don't type spaces or commas. The editor will separate the zeros for
you and it should be a 01 if you DON'T want documents to be in the
start menu or a 00 at the beginning if you DO.
The NoRecentDocsMenu value will not show the Documents menu on the
start menu if you don't want it.
Change its value just as above to 00 00 00 00 if you want it show on
the start menu and 01 00 00 00 if you don't want it to show.
>>but it did not work for long.<<
It may be that you have to log in as administrator for the changes to
stay in effect. You should also restart the computer to enforce this
change.
You can learn more about the registry here:
[ http://www.winguides.com/registry/ ]
This site:
[ http://www.createwindow.com/wininfo/regclean.htm ]
has information about RegClean which is a utility made my Microsoft
used to clean up and fix the registry from errors. That page has step
by step instructions about it and also about backing up the registry.
It is a good idea to back up the registry (among other things) because
the registry is a vital part of the Windows Operating System.
Now to the TweakUI part. TweakUI is a registry and settings
customization "tweaker" (meaning changer) program. It allows you to
change things in the registry easily with a standard windows interface
instead of editing text values in the registry editor. Also, it might
make this part easier.
You can get tweakui from here:
[ http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95PwrToysSet/Default.asp
]
You can get an "unzipper" program from here:
[ http://www.winzip.com/ ]
A zipped file or zip file is a compressed or squished file. That means
it has been encoded so that it takes up less space. It will download
faster this way. So it is sort of like a container or folder in that
it can hold many files but to get to those file you need to "unzip"
them. You can use an unzipper program to do this. WinZip is one such
unzipper program. You may also consider using WinRAR for zips or other
types of compressed files.
WinRar
[ http://www.rarlab.com/ ]
Once you've unzipped a zip file, it will be a standard windows folder
with the files inside no longer compressed.
Once you can get to tweakui's file (once you've unzipped it), you can
right click on the .inf file and choose "install" to install it if it
does not have an installer program with it. If it had an installer
program with it (like setup or install) it would be as easy to install
as a click (or double click :)
Once you get tweakui running, (by clicking on start, settings, control
panel, tweakui) you can try doing what we did above with the registry
in an easier way.
Click on the IE4 Tab in tweakui and check or uncheck the options "Add
new documents to start menu" and "Show documents on start menu" to
suit your preference.
Then click OK to save the changes and exit tweakui. Then you may have
to restart the computer for the changes to stay.
If all of the above does not help it stay then it may be that a
program is changing the setting itself in which case I can offer a
more advanced solution to this problem, but I doubt it will come to
that.
Hopefully all of this information is useful to you and you can fix
this problem (and get a little experience changing some obscure
registry settings). If you need additional assistance please request
answer clarification before you rate this answer and I will help you
further. Also, please excuse me if I've been a bit too technical. I
will gladly clarify any part you might want explained better.
-arcadesdude-ga
Sources/Links:
WinRar
http://www.rarlab.com/
How to Install and Run RegClean
http://www.createwindow.com/wininfo/regclean.htm
Windows 95 Power Toys Set : [Microsoft, Windows 95, downloads,
download, updates, update, PowerToys power toys, power toys set]
http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95PwrToysSet/Default.asp
WinZip Home Page
http://www.winzip.com/
The Windows Registry Guide
http://www.winguides.com/registry/
Search Strategy:
winzip
://www.google.com/search?q=winzip&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
regclean
://www.google.com/search?q=regclean&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
windows registry
://www.google.com/search?q=windows+registry&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
tweakui download
://www.google.com/search?q=tweakui+download&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 |
Request for Answer Clarification by
pendleton-ga
on
26 Oct 2002 16:23 PDT
Man, I got lost. Sorry, I am not a PC wiz. I got the Win95 special
download onto my desktop, double clicked it and all these other icons
loaded my desktop.
I don't know who is what.
From here on I am zero: You wrote the below, I am lost. Please, step
by
step for this kid. thanks.JMP
Once you've unzipped a zip file, it will be a standard windows folder
with the files inside no longer compressed.
Once you can get to tweakui's file (once you've unzipped it), you can
right click on the .inf file and choose "install" to install it if it
does not have an installer program with it. If it had an installer
program with it (like setup or install) it would be as easy to install
as a click (or double click :)
Once you get tweakui running, (by clicking on start, settings, control
panel, tweakui) you can try doing what we did above with the registry
in an easier way.
|
Clarification of Answer by
arcadesdude-ga
on
21 Nov 2002 19:06 PST
Low batteries, power outages, and not shutting down properly would
cause problems but probably not this one.
Lets figure out what certain things are in your computer.
First, please run Microsoft RegClean and reboot the computer.
Now, lets see if the setting in the registry was changed or not.
1. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Policies\Explorer
again.
Please tell me the value of the setting named NoRecentDocsHistory.
That was the setting we changed. If it is changed to a 1 then we have
some program changing it periodically. If it is a zero as it should be
(meaning we WANT documents in the start menu) then there is another
problem.
If it is changed to a 1 please to the following which will force the
registry setting to 0 every time you reboot the computer. If it is
still a zero then there is no need to do the following. If it has
changed, however, the following step by step walkthrough should re-fix
the problem each time it arrises (but since it gets fixed each time,
you won't notice it anymore if that is the true problem).
1. Run notepad. (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad)
2. Copy and Past the following into notepad: (copy only what is
between the lines and not the dashed lines themselves.)
--------------------------------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=hex:00,00,00,00
--------------------------------------
3. Save that file as c:\docs.reg (a registry file)
4. Type sysedit at the run prompt and hit enter. (Start -> Run ->
"sysedit")
5. Make sure you the window you are on when sysedit comes up is
C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
(it is on that window by default.)
6. ADD the line:
--------------------------
@regedit.exe "c:\docs.reg"
--------------------------
to the autoexec.bat file AFTER the line that reads "@echo off" or
"echo off" (if it is there, if not it doesn't really matter where you
put the line).
(Again, copy and paste only what is between the lines and not the
dashed lines themselves.)
7. Close sysedit and Save it. If it asks you to restart the computer
(save any other work you have running) then do it.
8. That will force the setting to save documents to the documents menu
every time your computer starts. Hopefully that will fix the errant
problem if it is getting reset to no recent docs on the start menu. If
you choose to do that you will notice a line that says "Importing
file..." on the screen when your computer starts up. That is the
registry editor taking the setting we told it to but each time on
start up. It takes virtually no time to import the setting so it won't
slow down your computer (unless your on an old, old computer).
Please tell me the results of 1) The registry's value of the
norecentdocs menu and 2) If it was changed and you followed the above
then did that work?
Computers are sometimes like this they need to be told what to do and
sometimes you have to be strick with them :)
|
