TweakUi Powertoys for Windows XP
TweakUi is a useful program that many users like to install after they have installed Microsoft Windows XP on a PC. It offers a wide range of features, also known as tweaks, that override Windows XPs default settings. After installing the freeware you can access it in your start menu in the folder Powertoys for Windows XP.
The program offered a huge number of tweaks that you could make; it improved the way these tweaks are applied to the operating system. Administrators had to make changes to the Registry directly or use Group Policies to make them previously.
Initial versions of TweakUi displayed tabs on the left side and tweaks from the selected tab on the right. Tabs include Explorer, Mouse, Logon and Templates for instance, all offering to make changes to the operating system.
The most recent version of TweakUI changed the layout. Tabs were displayed at the top and the actual settings below them.
I will give a rough overview of the most prominent features. You can disable those nasty balloon tips and the warn on low disk space message the taskbar tab. The same tab has a list of all start menu entries which are currently displayed and you can disable the ones that you do not need. The desktop tab lists five icons that are placed on the desktop like the trashbin or Internet Explorer which can be disabled from that tab.
The My Computer tab lets you disable drives and autoplay from Windows XP. You may remember that Sony's rootkit infested music CD installed itself using the autostart feature, definitely recommended to disable that feature. Templates shows all New File dialogue options that appear when you right click and select New on your desktop. Remove the unnecessary ones and create new ones.
The logon tab finally gives you the ability to autologon into windows which means that you do not have to enter a password or choose a user from the user selection menu before you can do so.
Update:
TweakUI furthermore has not been made available for Windows Vista or newer Microsoft operating systems. Windows users on those systems can install an alternative like the Ultimate Windows Tweaker.