Changing windows shell

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gareth Tuckwell
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Gareth Tuckwell

Is it possible to change the 'shell' on Windows XP. I'm sure I did this once
as a memory management experiment on Win 3.1 or Win95, but I don't see
anything much of any use in the win.ini or system.ini for XP. Are these two
files actually used any more?

How do I assign a program other than Explorer to act as the shell for XP??
 
Gareth Tuckwell said:
Is it possible to change the 'shell' on Windows XP.
Click to expand...

Yes. Edit the Registry at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
 
Thanks - perfect. Now my next question - is it advisable???

I used to know my way around Win98 pretty well, but I am not so deeply
involved in support anymore, so whilst I know my way around XP, I am not as
confident - will services etc still load? I presume everything in the RUN
area of the registry will still initialise, but what about programs in the
startup menu + services - do I need to load them specifically? I am thinking
of my firewall, wireless monitor and Norton which are in the system tray.
 
Gareth Tuckwell said:
Thanks - perfect. Now my next question - is it advisable???

I used to know my way around Win98 pretty well, but I am not so deeply
involved in support anymore, so whilst I know my way around XP, I am not as
confident - will services etc still load? I presume everything in the RUN
area of the registry will still initialise, but what about programs in the
startup menu + services - do I need to load them specifically? I am thinking
of my firewall, wireless monitor and Norton which are in the system tray.
Click to expand...

Services will still load, auto-starting software that loads via the
Start Menu won't.
You should decide on your own whether you want to replace the Windows
shell. The new shell should of course fit your needs.
 
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