> Every time I log onto a new machine, it takes me about 20 minutes to
> turn off all the annoying Explorer shell stuff I don't want. (The hiding
> of files and file extensions, the retarded Start menu, the tray
> auto-hide, etc.) The dream was that I could track down the actual
> registry changes that underlie each of these configurations, and write
> an automated script that would instantly turn off all the stupid
> settings and give me a usable desktop on any machine.
>
> To some extent, I was able to do this. But theming never, ever worked.
> There are *far* too many registry keys involved. When you change theme,
> there are DLLs literally setting the number of pixels for the thickness
> of a window title bar, the number of pixels to allocate for button
> corners, and so forth. Way, way too much stuff to script, or even
> comprehend. Separating the significant registry changes from the
> insignificant ones proved just too hard.

Directly hitting the registry for that is probably not the best way, did 
you investigate using control.exe from the command line to do it? 
Something like "control.exe desk.cpl desk,@Themes" should get you 
started, but you'll need to google a few more parameters to set what you 
want.

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