If you have a Windows XP notebook, and love to use the Run menu item, chances are you’ve occasionally hit “E” instead of “R” when you bring up your start menu. The result? Windows ejects the PC from it’s dock and forces you to re-dock it before you can carry on with your work. It’s only about a 90-second process, but it’s annoying as hell and will completely take you ‘out of the zone’ when you’re in the middle of your project.
- Open the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit)
- Open one of the applicable keys:
- Current User: [HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
- All Users: [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
- Right-click the Explorer folder -> New -> DWORD Value and call it NoStartMenuEjectPC (case-sensitive!)
- Right-click NoStartMenuEjectPC -> Modify
- Choose one of the following values to set the behaviour you want:
- type 1 to hide the undock button
- type 0 to show the undock button
Now you can safely use your keyboard shortcuts without worrying about accidentally undocking your computer.
Tags: button · hide · registry · tips · tricks · tutorials · tweak · undock · Windows · windows-xp · xp6 Comments
or you could just type better
I’m just a poor boy who’s never owned a docked laptop. Does Win+E eject the laptop? Usually that shortcut starts Windows Explorer. Or do you have to do Win,E (let go of the Win key first, then hit E).
(You forgot to insert the picture you gave mag3737 credit for)
@Jan Undock is indeed Win,E translating to Start->Undock.
I had some weird CSS issues with that image and had to remove it.
that was my problem before and I solved it with the solution you posted. Now, I never undock my notebook unintentionally.
Thanks for the tip, this was a major irritation.
THANK YOU. Something about the way I type (and I’m a pretty good typist, matt) causes me to do this ALL of the time and my company’s tech support department couldn’t help. Apparently a google search for “undock” was something they didn’t think of. I am SO excited to be able to hide this shortcut.