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.

1. Open the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit)
2. Open one of the applicable keys:
   • Current User: [HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
   • All Users: [HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
3. Right-click the Explorer folder -> New -> DWORD Value and call it NoStartMenuEjectPC (case-sensitive!)
4. Right-click NoStartMenuEjectPC -> Modify
5. 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.