The color that [PuTTY](http://www.putty.org/) uses for blue is simply too dark. The scrollback buffer, by default, is 200 lines. That's ridiculous, I have several gigabytes of RAM going to waste here. In case you have a lot of stored sessions, it's quite tiresome to use PuTTY to go through all of them and fix whatever settings you would like to change. You can edit them directly in the registry, though - or use this Python <b>3</b> script!
```python
from winreg import OpenKey, EnumKey, QueryValueEx, SetValueEx, \
KEY_WRITE, KEY_READ, HKEY_CURRENT_USER as HKCU
class callrange:
def __init__(self, call_function):
self.call = call_function
def __getitem__(self,index):
try: return self.call(index)
except OSError: raise IndexError
with OpenKey(HKCU,"SOFTWARE\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions") as sessions:
for s in callrange(lambda i: EnumKey(sessions,i)):
with OpenKey(sessions,s,access=KEY_WRITE|KEY_READ) as key:
for name,value in [
('Colour14','100,100,250'),
('Colour15','120,120,250'),
('TerminalType','xterm'),
('ScrollbackLines',6000)
]:
type = QueryValueEx(key,name)[1]
SetValueEx(key,name,0,type,value)
```
By the way, searching the tubes reveals [some useful suggestions to improve PuTTY's default settings](http://dag.wiee.rs/blog/content/improving-putty-settings-on-windows).
In the recent weeks, we have acquired the phony habit of customizing our Windows desktop PC's. The following is my checklist for making a Windows PC more pretty.
## Making Windows Themable
You go and download the universal theme patcher:
* <a href="http://deepxw.blogspot.de/2009/01/download-latest-version.html#UniversalThemePatcher" target="_blank">Universal Theme Patcher Homepage</a> (<a href="http://deepxw.blogspot.de/" target="_blank">Author's Blog</a>)
* <a href="/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/UniversalThemePatcher_20090409.zip" target="_blank">Universal Theme Patcher on nullteilerfrei</a>
Then, you click it. You can find a ton of themes on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com" target="_blank">deviant art</a>, but I'd strongly advise against overly dark themes, it really does not make for a healthy working environment.
## The Logon and Boot Screen
To customize the windows login screen to look really nice, we have to do several things.
* To change the <b>background image</b>, you simply use the Tweaks Logon Changer:
* <a href="http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon/" target="_blank">Tweaks Logon Changer Homepage</a>
* <a href="/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tweakslogon.zip" target="_Blank">Tweaks Logon Changer on nullteilerfrei</a>
* To remove the little <b>branding logo</b> on the bottom of the login screen, you open the file
```text
%SystemRoot%\Branding\Basebrd\basebrd.dll
```
in a resource editor of your choice ((We recommend either <a href="http://anolis.codeplex.com/releases/view/32286" target="_blank">resourcer</a> or <a href="http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/" target="_blank">resource hacker</a>.)) and simply delete the corresponding resource bitmaps. Note that some of the bitmap resources are not used for the logon screen but for other dialogs, such as the shut down menu that appears when pressing ALT+F4 on the desktop.
* If you have a <b>fingerprint reader</b> and you are annoyed by the blue Fingerprint icon, you can change these icons by replacing the bitmaps in the file
```text
%SystemRoot%\System32\BioCredProv.dll
```
## The Boot Screen
To change the Windows boot screen, best use the Windows 7 Boot Updater:
* <a href="http://www.coderforlife.com/projects/win7boot/" target="_blank">Windows 7 Boot Updater Homepage</a>
* <a href="/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Win7BootUpdater.exe" target="_blank">Windows 7 Boot Updater on nullteilerfrei</a>
## The Start Orb
For changing the start Orb in Windows, I strongly recommend using the Start Orbz Studio;
* <a href="http://blizo.deviantart.com/art/StartOrbz-v3-1-a-155061270" target="_blank">StartOrbz Studio on deviant art</a>
* <a href="/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/startorbz_v3_1_a_by_blizo-d2kbi1i.rar" target="_blank">StartOrbz Studio on nullteilerfrei</a>
## The Wallpaper
Seriously? I really like <a href="http://alpha.wallhaven.cc/" target="_blank">wallhaven</a>, but there are most literally a million wallpaper archive sites out there.
Why would anyone want to use Windows 2008 R2 Server as a workstation? The main arguments in <i>my</i> case are the superior <b>firewall</b> and <b>user account control</b>. Now, if you want to do the same, you can go to <a href="http://win2008r2workstation.com/" target="_blank">win2008r2workstation.com</a> and get a really detailed howto with screenshots - or you can read this post for a really short checklist, something I prefer to have for future installs of the same variety. <a href="https://blag.nullteilerfrei.de/2012/03/22/turning-windows-2008-r2-into-a-workstation/#more-495" class="more-link">Do you want to know more?</a>