Last Updated on September 30, 2010 by Dave Farquhar
Wednesday, 10/4/00
Turn off that bloody throbber! Here’s a tip that would have made it into Optimizing Windows, had I known about it at the time. You know that annoying Windows-logo throbber that shows up in Explorer windows that blinks during disk access, bugging you and stealing precious CPU cycles? You can turn it off or on with a Registry hack. It’s too messy to describe here, but you can download a pair of regfiles from http://www.pla-netx.com/linebackn/evil/ThrobOff.zip if you want it.
The throbber is useful in IE to let you know that Web page is indeed loading, but when you’re hunting through your own hard drive, what’s the point?
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.