Getting a better view of My Computer Windows XP

In the ‘My Computer’ folder, Windows shows references to ‘Shared Documents’ and fifi les of the set up user among other things. Since you use your computer alone these references are superfluous.

With an entry in the registry, you can get rid of the folder references. For that,

1. open ‘Start | Run’, enter the command ‘regedit’ in the following ‘Open’ dialog and confifirm with ‘OK’.
2. In the editor, navigate through the tree-structure on the left side to the key ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\ DelegateFolders’.
3. The key contains several sub-keys with cryptic names, which all begin and end in curved brackets. Select the key {59031a47- 3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe 6b30ee} and remove it. Answer the security query by the operating system, whether you really wish to delete the key with all its subkeys, with ‘Yes’.
4. By doing so, the symbols for ‘Shared Documents’ and the fifi les of the diffff erent users will disappear from ‘My Computer’.
5. Note: In case you need these symbols again later, you create the key ‘{59031a47-3f72-44a7- 89c5-5595fe6b30ee}’ under ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\ explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\ DelegateFolders’ from ‘Edit | New | Key’.
6. The fastest way of doing it is to select it before deleting it and save it in a REG-fifile through ‘File | Export’.
7. Then all you need is to double-click on the relevant REG-fifi le to restore the sub-key.