Adding this to the menu couldn’t be simpler – there’s only a single registry key to add.

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search box, and then find the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

In the right-hand pane, create a new 32-bit DWORD value called EncryptionContextMenu and give it a value of 1.

Now when you right-click on a file, you’ll see a new option called Encrypt.

When you choose this option, you’ll receive the following dialog, asking if you want to encrypt just the file, or also the parent folder. You can also choose just the file as the default.

Once the files are encrypted, you’ll notice that the title of the file is now green, indicating that it’s been encrypted. The right-click option will also now change to Decrypt. 

Definitely much simpler… makes me wonder why this wasn’t a built-in option.

Download AddEncryptionMenu.zip Registry Hack

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Once you select that item, obviously it will immediately open up Control Panel:

Of course you could use the same technique to add any item into the context menu, or you could even use the same location in the registry to remove things like the NVIDIA Control Panel or ATI Control Center from the menu.

Manual Registry Hack

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell

Once you are there, you’ll want to right-click on “shell” and create a new key called Control Panel.

Under that one, you’ll want to right-click and create a new key called “command”.

Select the “command” key on the left-hand side, and then set the (Default) value on the right-hand side to the following:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

You should immediately see the new item in your context menu, and it should be working. To remove, simply delete the Control Panel key.

Downloadable Registry Hack

Simply download, extract, and double-click on the AddControlPanelToDesktopMenu.reg file to enter the information into the registry. You should immediately see the new item. To remove, use the included remove script.

Download AddControlPanelToDesktopMenu Registry

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If you don’t know what we’re talking about, I mean the menu that shows up when you right-click on the desktop:

For today’s lesson we’ll show you how to add Notepad to the menu, but you could add any applications you want instead.

Step 1: Browse to the Registry Key

The first thing you’ll want to do is open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell

The screen should look similar to this one if you are in the right place.

Step 2: Create the Menu Item Key Name

To complete this step we’ll need to create a new key, the name of which is exactly what is going to show up on the desktop menu.

Right-click on the “shell” key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu.

Give the new key the name that you want to show up on the desktop context menu. For this example we’ll be using Notepad.

Optional Step: If you want to assign an “Alt” key to this menu entry for quicker access, you can change the (Default) value on the right and put an & character in front of the key you want to use. For instance, if you wanted to be able to just use the N key to launch Notepad once the desktop context menu pops up, you can do this:

Personally I don’t find this terribly useful since you have to use the mouse to right-click on the desktop… may as well just use the mouse to click the item. Still, for completeness I’ve included it.

Step 3: Create the Command Key

Next you’ll need to create the command key that will actually hold the command used to launch the application. Right-click on the new Notepad key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu.

Give this key the name “command” in lowercase.

Step 4: Add in the Full Application Executable Path

To complete this step you’ll need the full path to the application that you want to launch. You can use Shift + Right-Click to get the Copy as Path menu item to find this more quickly.

Now click on “command” on the left side, and then double-click on the (Default) key in the right side to edit the string value.

Paste in the full path to the executable that you got from the “Copy as Path” step above, or you can put in the full path yourself if you’d like.

Once it’s done, it should look like this:

And right-clicking on the desktop will produce the new menu item… naturally, using this menu item should launch Notepad.

You can add as many applications to the desktop context menu as you’d like

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The non-security updates planned for release through Windows Update this week include:
•An update on system compatibility, reliability and stability: extends the battery life for mobile devices, improves stability of wireless network services, and shortens recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity, among other fixes.
•An update to USB core components: mainly affects systems returning from sleep or hibernation, fixing problems causing 1-2% of all crashes reported.
•An update to Windows Media Center: among other things, affects interaction issues occurring between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender.
The links in the above list will lead you to the KB article related to each update in case you want more information on them. And, when theyre made available via Windows Update (expected to occur Tuesday 13th), you can also right-click each entry in Windows Update to get its 400-word summary description.

These and similar updates will be wrapped into SP1 for those of you considering installing them in one fell swoop. We’ll let you know here on the blog when we have more news in this vein.

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