The Windows registry is one of the most important parts of Microsoft's operating system. It's how your system knows where, when, and how long basically anything occurs. Everything from power settings to taskbar alignment can be changed through registry values.

The Registry Editor is one of the most complex applications that you have access to as a Windows user, and it's really easy to screw things up if you don't know what you're doing. With that being said, there's a ton of extremely useful tweaks that you can make in your registry, and here are five that I still apply with every fresh install, even today.

Before applying any of the tweaks mentioned in this article, it's important to back up any important files and create a Restore Point. While we've verified at the time of writing that these tweaks are safe to apply on the latest version of Windows 11, navigating the Registry Editor should be done with extreme caution, as one incorrect value can completely brick your OS.

5 Take ownership of files with the context menu

Squash one of the most annoying parts of Windows easily

Windows gives you, the user, full control of most of the files on your PC. If you wish to make any changes to some of the OS-level files, however, you'll need to take ownership of those files before you can make changes. I've always found it odd that they'll allow us to edit the registry as we wish with normal administrator powers, but also some files are locked by default.

There's a relatively simple way to add a "Take ownership" option to the right-click context menu using a registry tweak. To do so, open Notepad and create a new file. Inside, paste the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00



[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\TakeOwnership]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\TakeOwnership]

@="Take Ownership"

"Extended"=-

"HasLUAShield"=""

"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

"NeverDefault"=""



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\TakeOwnership\command]

@="powershell -windowstyle hidden -command \"Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/c takeown /f \\\"%1\\\" && icacls \\\"%1\\\" /grant *S-1-3-4:F /t /c /l' -Verb runAs\""

"IsolatedCommand"= "powershell -windowstyle hidden -command \"Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/c takeown /f \\\"%1\\\" && icacls \\\"%1\\\" /grant *S-1-3-4:F /t /c /l' -Verb runAs\""





[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\TakeOwnership]

@="Take Ownership"

"AppliesTo"="NOT (System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\Users\" OR System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\ProgramData\" OR System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\Windows\" OR System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\Windows\\System32\" OR System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\Program Files\" OR System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\")"

"Extended"=-

"HasLUAShield"=""

"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

"Position"="middle"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\TakeOwnership\command]

@="powershell -windowstyle hidden -command \"$Y = ($null | choice).Substring(1,1); Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList ('/c takeown /f \\\"%1\\\" /r /d ' + $Y + ' && icacls \\\"%1\\\" /grant *S-1-3-4:F /t /c /l /q') -Verb runAs\""

"IsolatedCommand"="powershell -windowstyle hidden -command \"$Y = ($null | choice).Substring(1,1); Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList ('/c takeown /f \\\"%1\\\" /r /d ' + $Y + ' && icacls \\\"%1\\\" /grant *S-1-3-4:F /t /c /l /q') -Verb runAs\""







[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\runas]

@="Take Ownership"

"Extended"=-

"HasLUAShield"=""

"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

"Position"="middle"

"AppliesTo"="NOT (System.ItemPathDisplay:=\"C:\\\")"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\runas\command]

@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\\\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\\\" /grant *S-1-3-4:F /t /c"

"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\\\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\\\" /grant *S-1-3-4:F /t /c"

Save the file with the .reg extension, being sure to select All Files as the "Save as type". Navigate to where you saved the file and open it. Click Yes, then OK on the ensuing prompts.

This code will add a "Take Ownership" option to the context menu, allowing you to quickly and easily take ownership of files and folders, as long as the file system they're on is NTFS or ReFS.

4 Restore the old Windows 10 context menu

The context menu should've never changed

Speaking of the context menu, with Windows 11, Microsoft decided it was a good idea to further bifurcate Windows settings by including two different kinds of context menus. If you right-click a file or folder in Windows 11, a stylized context menu comes up that includes many of the options you expect, but removes some useful ones we've all come to enjoy as Windows users. Microsoft simply moved the old context menu to the "Show more options" button.

If you want the original context menu to be the only context menu, saving you an extra click, there's a permenant solution through the Registry Editor.

Open the editor and navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID.

Right-click on the CLSID directory and create a new key with the name {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}.

Right-click this newly created key, and name it InprocServer32.

Open its (Default) variable, and then without making any modifcations, click OK. Once you reboot, you will be reunited the old context menu.

3 Disable power throttling

Full throttle!

Power throttling is a feature in Windows that affects CPU power consumption. With it on, your system will use less power, and if you're on a laptop or other portable device, this means better battery life. For those of us using desktop systems though, this setting can actually reduce performance in certain situations.

To turn power throttling off, navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power in the Registry Editor and create a new key called PowerThrottling.

Inside, create a new DWORD Value called PowerThrottlingOff, and assign a value of 1 to it. This will disable any kind of CPU power throttling. If you find that it doesn't make a difference, or your system is sucking back too much battery life, you can simply remove the key to re-enable it.

2 Disable Copilot

Flying solo

The AI craze has taken hold inside fresh installs of Windows 11. While Copilot does have its uses, many users would prefer to use web-based solutions in a browser, over having something built-in to their operating systems. To remove it, you can do so by making a couple of changes to the Registry.

Start by opening the Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ directory in the Registry Editor.

Right-click on Windows and create a new key called WindowsCopilot

Inside WindowsCopilot create a DWORD Value called TurnOffWindowsCopilot and set its value to 1.

1 Disable Telemetry

Keep your usage data to yourself

Out of the box, Windows 11 doesn't do privacy-minded users justice, and a lot of the data collection happening can't be disabled through conventional means. Telemetry data is one of those things, and to disable it, you'll need to poke around in the registry a bit.

Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection in the Registry Editor

Right-click on DataCollection and create a new DWORD Value called AllowTelemetry and set its value to 0.

This will stop your OS from sending most usage data to Microsoft. This information is said to be anonymous anyway, but for anyone concerned with privacy, it's a worthwhile tweak to make.

The Windows registry is extremely fickle, but useful to tweak

Chances are, if there's an OS level tweak you want to make that can't be found within the conventional settings, you can do it through a registry tweak. Any tweaks you make should be done with extreme caution. It's worth testing any particularly dicey ones on a virtual machine or a spare computer with a fresh installation before you perform them on your main rig.