Windows System Configuration Notes
A personal summary of Windows system software configuration and solutions to common errors, to avoid searching every time.
System Configuration
1. Context Menu
Clean up desktop right-click menu
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell
Clean up folder right-click menu
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
Configure file right-click menu
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
2. Remote Desktop
When using a Microsoft account as credentials to log in to Remote Desktop, you may always be prompted for an incorrect password. This may be because the computer did not update the Microsoft account password in time after it was changed. You can use your account privileges to run winver once to refresh the Microsoft account password.
runas /u:MicrosoftAccount\wenjie.xu.cn@outlook.com winver
3. Feature Interface
Allow virtual memory to be set on a non-system drive (fixes the error “Due to a page file configuration problem at computer startup, Windows created a temporary page file on your computer”)
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v PagefileOnOsVolume /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Make each File Explorer window run as a separate process to improve stability
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v SeparateProcess /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Do not page drivers and kernel-mode system code to virtual memory (may solve some strange driver stability issues)
reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v DisablePagingExecutive /t REG_D
If desktop, Explorer, etc. font scaling is abnormal and cannot be restored in settings, modify the registry to reset scaling
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"IconTitleWrap"="1"
"Shell Icon Size"="32"
"BorderWidth"="-15"
"CaptionFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,53,00,65,00,67,00,6f,00,65,00,20,00,55,00,49,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"CaptionHeight"="-330"
"CaptionWidth"="-330"
"IconFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\
00,00,01,00,00,05,00,53,00,65,00,67,00,6f,00,65,00,20,00,55,00,49,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"MenuFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\
00,00,01,00,00,05,00,53,00,65,00,67,00,6f,00,65,00,20,00,55,00,49,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"MenuHeight"="-285"
"MenuWidth"="-285"
"MessageFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,53,00,65,00,67,00,6f,00,65,00,20,00,55,00,49,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"ScrollHeight"="-255"
"ScrollWidth"="-255"
"SmCaptionFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,\
00,00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,53,00,65,00,67,00,6f,00,65,00,20,00,55,00,49,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"SmCaptionHeight"="-330"
"SmCaptionWidth"="-330"
"StatusFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,53,00,65,00,67,00,6f,00,65,00,20,00,55,00,49,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"AppliedDPI"=dword:00000060
"PaddedBorderWidth"="-60"
"IconSpacing"="-1125"
"IconVerticalSpacing"="-1125"
"MinAnimate"="0"
Development Configuration
1. Scoop Package Manager
Scoop is the most convenient software (package) manager for me on Windows. It allows easy installation of software from the command line. Its features include:
- No UAC popups
- Prevents PATH pollution from installing many programs
- Avoids unexpected side effects during installation and uninstallation
- Automatically finds and installs dependencies
- Automatically performs all extra setup steps for a runnable program
Note: When using Scoop, it keeps multiple versions of installed apps in their own folders for easy switching and rollback. For example, you can check the C:\Users\Xu\scoop\apps\oh-my-posh folder in File Explorer, where there should be several subfolders named by version. The currently active version is shown in the current directory, which is a symlink to the active version.
You can manually delete old version subfolders you no longer need. For example, if you see folders 7.68.0 and 7.69.1 but only want to keep the latest 7.69, go to C:\Users\Xu\scoop\apps\oh-my-posh and delete the old version folder (e.g., 7.68.0). Or use the command to automatically clean up unused old versions:
scoop cleanup oh-my-posh
# Clean up old versions for all apps
scoop cleanup *
# Clear package cache
scoop cache rm *
List of software installed with scoop:
Name Version Source Updated Info
---- ------- ------ ------- ----
7zip 24.09 main 2024-12-02 16:34:26
aria2 1.37.0-1 main 2024-11-11 21:58:04
btop 1.0.4 main 2024-07-17 21:29:16
btop-lhm 1.0.4 main 2024-07-17 21:29:25
draw.io 25.0.2 extras 2024-12-05 15:24:34
everything 1.4.1.1026 extras 2024-12-04 14:25:38
fastfetch 2.33.0 main 2024-12-28 23:17:29
fd 10.2.0 main 2024-12-22 12:47:35
ffmpeg 7.1 main 2024-10-20 18:21:52
fzf 0.57.0 main 2024-12-22 12:47:39
geekuninstaller 1.5.2.165 extras 2024-12-03 16:21:50
gh 2.64.0 main 2024-12-22 12:57:21
ghostscript 10.04.0 main 2024-12-22 12:49:34
git 2.47.1 main 2024-12-02 16:46:01
imagemagick 7.1.1-43 main 2024-12-25 22:26:47
innounp 1.76 main 2024-11-14 10:58:02
jid 0.7.6 main 2024-12-22 12:49:50
jq 1.7.1 main 2024-12-22 12:47:28
mingw 14.2.0-rt_v12-rev0 main 2024-12-05 15:37:08
mongodb 8.0.4 main 2024-12-08 12:22:01
mongodb-compass 1.45.0 extras 2024-12-05 15:24:52
mongodb-database-tools 100.10.0 main 2024-12-02 17:10:50
mongosh 2.3.7 extras 2024-12-22 12:57:28
motrix 1.8.19 extras 2024-12-02 17:45:13
nodejs-lts 22.12.0 main 2024-12-05 15:25:03
notepad3 6.24.1221.1 extras 2024-12-22 12:59:44
office-tool-plus 10.19.8.0 extras 2024-12-22 12:59:49
oh-my-posh 24.17.1 main 2024-12-25 22:26:58
openjdk21 21.0.2-13 java 2024-12-05 15:46:33
pandoc 3.6.1 main 2024-12-25 22:27:12
picgo 2.3.1 extras 2024-12-02 17:32:48
pipx 1.7.1 main 2024-12-13 20:38:34
pnpm 9.15.2 main 2024-12-28 23:17:37
poppler 24.08.0-0 main 2024-12-22 12:47:32
r 4.4.2 main 2024-12-02 16:39:04
registry-finder 2.59.0.0 extras 2024-12-04 14:15:35
ripgrep 14.1.1 main 2024-12-22 12:47:37
rstudio 2024.12.0-467 extras 2024-12-22 13:00:34
rtools 4.4.6335.6327 main 2024-12-02 14:16:57
sudo 0.2020.01.26 main 2024-09-30 13:16:29
switchhosts 4.2.0.6119 extras 2024-12-02 17:38:16
texstudio 4.8.5 extras 2024-12-14 16:06:48
thorium 128.0.6613.189 extras 2024-12-02 17:36:29
typst 0.12.0 main 2024-12-05 15:34:13
vcredist2022 14.42.34433.0 extras 2024-12-02 16:56:57
wixtoolset 5.0.2 main 2024-11-14 10:57:52
zoxide 0.9.6 main 2024-12-22 12:47:42
2. System Fonts
- Powershell: ‘CaskaydiaMonoNerdFontMono’
- VS Code: ‘CaskaydiaMonoNerdFontMono’ (English), ‘LXGW WenKai Mono’ (Chinese)
- Office Word: ‘latinmodern-math’ (math formulas）。
3. Node.js
Mirror Source Manager nrm
- nrm is an npm registry manager that helps users manage different registry sources more conveniently. Basic usage:
# Install nrm
npm install nrm -g
# List all configured registries
nrm ls
# Add a new registry
nrm add <registry-name> <registry-url>
# Remove a registry
nrm del <registry-name>
# Switch the current registry
nrm use <registry-name>
# Test the speed of all registries
nrm test
4. MongoDB
Installation
Use scoop to automatically install mongodb and related tools:
scoop bucket add main
scoop install main/mongodb
scoop install main/mongodb-database-tools
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/mongosh
scoop install extras/mongodb-compass
Configuration
MongoDB installed via Scoop is not configured as a Windows service by default, but you can manually set MongoDB as a Windows service for auto-start on boot.
Check MongoDB installation path with Scoop:
scoop prefix mongodb
The mongod shim uses $dir\bin\mongod.cfg as the default config file. To use another config file, run $dir\bin\mongod.exe --config NEW_CONFIG_FILE, where NEW_CONFIG_FILE can be a modified copy of mongod.cfg stored elsewhere.
To start MongoDB manually, if data\db and data\log folders are not created (paths can be set in mongod.cfg), create them first:
<path>\bin\mongod.exe --dbpath "<path>\data\db" --logpath "<path>\data\log\mongo.log" --logappend
Open a new terminal to verify MongoDB is running:
mongosh
Register MongoDB as a Windows service:
sc.exe create MongoDB binPath= "<path>\bin\mongod.exe --service --config <path>\mongod.cfg" DisplayName= "MongoDB" start= "auto"
-
<path>: MongoDB installation path by Scoop. -
--service: Run in service mode. -
--config: Specify the MongoDB config file path (optional).
Start the MongoDB service. If successful, MongoDB will run automatically at system startup:
net start MongoDB
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