So, since Tweak UI was made for XP, and doesn't natively work in Vista, what's a TweakUI user to do? Well, there is a way to get the Tweak UI for XP to work in Vista. I don’t know how wise it is to force it to work this way, because you’re effectively changing the Vista registry with an XP registry editing program, but it does work. Here’s how:
FIRST
RECOGNIZE THAT YOU’RE FOLLOWING THESE INSTRUCTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
SECOND
Get the tweakui.exe file.
a. You might already have it if you upgraded from XP and used Tweak UI in the good old days. If so, just move the file to anywhere but the C:\Windows\System32 directory … Vista really doesn’t like tweakui there. I put it in C:\Program Files\Microsoft.
b. If you don’t have the tweakui.exe file already, you have two options:
i. Get it from a computer that has it. Simply copy the file (i.e. to a thumb drive or over a network) and slap it anywhere on your Vista machine (except the C:\Windows\System32 directory).
ii. There’s a rumor that you can extract tweakui.exe from the installation file available at the XP PowerToys site using WinRAR or some other such archiving program. I haven’t tried this, though, but it might be worth trying?
THIRD
Set the tweakui.exe file to run with XP compatability.
a. Right-click the file -> Properties -> Compatability tab -> check the CheckBox next to “Run this program in compatability mode for:” [Windows XP (Service Pack 2)] -> Click OK.
FOURTH
Run tweakui.exe as an Administrator.
a. Right-click the file -> Run as administrator -> Continue -> Run programb. TweakUI might popup behind other windows (it always does for me!)
b. If you don’t run as administrator, UAC will thwart your every change!
c. If you have UAC turned off, you don’t need to run as administrator. You also won’t have to click “Continue” in step (a) above.
FIFTH
Don’t break your computer! I created AutoPlay handlers, I changed the places bar, and I changed the Templates successfully using this method. However, I can’t guarantee the safety of these or any other changes you make with TweakUI!
