Hacking “Screen Resolution”, “Gadgets” and “Personalize” Options in Windows 7 Desktop Context Menu

Windows 7 Desktop context menu contains 2 extra options which were not present in Windows Vista:

Screen resolution
Gadgets

Windows 7 stores all these 3 options "Screen resolution", "Gadgets" and "Personalize" under following Registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell

This key is new in Windows 7 and none of previous Windows versions including Vista used it.

Here in this tutorial, we'll learn:

How to remove "Screen resolution", "Gadgets" and "Personalize" options
How to change position of these options
How to change icons of these options
How to change names of these options
How to enable "Personalize" option in Safe Mode

1. How to Remove "Screen resolution", "Gadgets" and "Personalize" Options

Although Windows 7 provides these 2 extra options but it makes the whole context menu a bit larger and some people might not like it. If you are also among those people who prefer minimal things, here are the steps to remove all or any of these 3 context menu items:

1. Type regedit in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell

3. This key contains a sub-key for each option, i.e., You'll find 3 sub-keys under "Shell" key representing each context menu option:

Display (for Screen resolution)
Gadgets (for Gadgets)
Personalize (for Personalize)

4. To remove these options, you'll need to simply delete the associated key. But all these keys are system protected and Windows will not allow you to delete any of these keys. So how will you delete them?

You'll need to take permission of the key to be able to delete it. To take permission, you just need to follow this simple procedure:

Right-click on the key and select "Permissions...".
It'll open a dialog box, Click on "Advanced" button.
It'll open another dialog box, Go to "Owner" tab.
Select your Username from the list and click on "Apply" button and then OK.
Again click on OK button in the first dialog box.
Now again right-click on the same key and select "Permissions...".
Select your Username in the list and check the "Allow" option for "Full Control".
Click on Apply button and then OK.

You'll need to follow the above steps for each key including the "command" sub-key.

5. That's it. Now you'll be able to delete the key. As soon as you delete the key, the option will be removed from Desktop context menu.

2. How to Change Position of "Screen resolution", "Gadgets" and "Personalize" Options

By default all these 3 options are shown at bottom just below the "New" menu. But you can change their position and can move any or all of them above the "New" menu or at the top of menu:

How to do that? Here is the step-by-step guide:

1. First follow the same steps 1-3 mentioned above.

2. Now to move any of these 3 options, select its associated key and look at the right-side pane. You'll see a String value "Position".

3. As you can see, its value is set to "Bottom". That's why its shown at bottom. You can change its value to "Top" to show the option at top or to "Middle" to show the option in the middle.

You can also delete the "Position" key and it'll move the option above "New" menu.

3. How to Change Icons of "Screen resolution", "Gadgets" and "Personalize" Options

You can also change icons of these 3 options.

To change the icons, follow these simple steps:

1. First follow the same 1-3 steps as mentioned above.

2. Now select any desired key and look at the right-side pane. You'll see a String value "Icon".

3. That's the key which contains the icon which you see in the context menu. You can simply change its value to change the icon.

4. How to Change Names of "Screen resolution", "Gadgets" and "Personalize" Options

You can also customize names of these options.

To change names, follow these simple steps:

1. First follow the same 1-3 steps as mentioned above.

2. Now select any desired key and look at the right-side pane. You'll see a String value "Default".

This key defines the display name of these options. Simply change its value to any desired string:

As you can see, we have changed it to "Settings" and that's why Desktop context menu is showing the option name as "Settings" instead of "Screen resolution".

5. How to Enable "Personalize" Option in Safe Mode

Windows 7 doesn't show "Personalize" option in Safe Mode. But you can enable it by using following steps:

1. As usual follow steps 1-3 mentioned above.

2. Now select "Personalize" key and in right-side pane, delete "HideInSafeMode" value.

PS: If you want to hide other options in Safe Mode, simply create a new String value "HideInSafeMode" for them.

NOTE: Here is a backup of all Desktop context menu default settings. Extract the ZIP file and run the extracted .REG file to restore default settings in case you mess up with them.

Download Registry Script to Restore Default Settings

This article was posted in Windows 7.

Subscribe to RSS Feed | Email Newsletter | More Articles

15 Comments

VG

^^ It might be a bug or some corrupt system files issue.
MAGNUMHEART

is that same for open containing folder issues??

""hi vishal i found a bug in my windows 7.

everytime i use "open containing folder" in such app as firefox and utorrent

i got nothing opened. i just do nothing.""
Michael Higham

In Windows 7 Beta 1, the option "HideInSafeMode" doesn't work. Any ideas?
VG

^^ Windows 7 Beta has been expired and its not advisable to use it any more. Also the code has been changed a lot from Beta to RTM so lots of tweaks will not work in earlier Beta versions.
Isha

I dont have the personalize option, how i can get it???