Active Desktop is a nice Windows feature that allows you to have web content on your desktop. Indeed a nice feature, but unfortunately not something that benefits computer stability. It requires that the web page that you configure as content for the active desktop is available. This means your internet connection needs to be active. There are also several known problems with Active Desktop that relate to the mshtml.dll file. Further, problems with anti spyware, and inconsistent behavior have been reported as a result of Active Desktop.

If all this (or other factors) make you decide you want to turn off Windows Active Desktop, follow these steps:

• From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel.

• In the Control Panel, select Appearance and Themes.

• Next, click Display.

• In the Display Properties windows, select the Desktop tab.

• Click the Customize Desktop button.

• In the Desktop Items window, select the Web tab.

• Make sure that all entries in the Web pages list are unchecked. Another option is to select the entries and delete them by clicking the Delete button.

• Click OK to close the Desktop Items window and then close the Display Properties window.

These steps should help you restore or ensure PC stability and probably help you speed up your computer a little more.

Aliter using Registry Editor

• From the Windows Start menu, select Run. In the Run box, type regedit and click OK.

• In the Registry Editor, locate the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

• Create a new DWORD Value with the name ClassicShell, and assign a value of 1 to it.

• Close the Registry Editor. Select Exit from the File menu.

These registry tweaks will have the same effect, increasing your PC’s stability by disabling the active desktop in Windows XP and preventing a web site as desktop contents.

This article was posted in "How To, Windows XP'' section by Kapil Arya.
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