To disable balloon tips in the notification area completely:
To disable "Show popup description for folder and desktop items" (Folder Options):[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \Advanced]
EnableBalloonTips = 0
More Info MS KB279771
More Info MS KB307729
To disable tooltip for folders:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \Advanced]
ShowInfoTip = 0
To disable tooltips for the start button:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \Advanced]
FolderContentsInfoTip = 0
To disable the balloon tip "To see the hidden icons, click this button":[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \Advanced]
StartButtonBalloonTip = 0
To disable tooltips for the start menu:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \TrayNotify]
BalloonTip = 1
To disable the welcome screen presented after login:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Policies \Explorer]
NoSMBalloonTip = 1
To disable the New Hardware Found balloon tooltips:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Policies \Explorer]
NoWelcomeScreen = 1
To disable the Highlighting of newly installed applications:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software \Policies \Microsoft \Windows \DeviceInstall \Settings]
DisableBalloonTips = 1
- Press the Start-button and right-click at the top of the Start-Menu where your name is displayed and select Properties
- This will open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties-dialog
- Select the Start-Menu-tab and press Customize
- Select the Advanced-tab and clear the Highlight newly installed programs-checkbox
- The above steps should be reflected in this registry key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \Advanced]
Start_NotifyNewApps = 0
To disable the printer spooler notification balloon tips:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Applets \Tour]
RunCount = 0 (Default = 3)
More Info MS KB311489
To disable the Security Center notification balloon tips:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Printers \Settings]
EnableBalloonNotificationsLocal = 0
EnableBalloonNotificationsRemote = 0
More Info MS KB831582
To disable the "This device could perform faster if it was plugged in to a high speed port":[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Security Center]
FirewallDisableNotify = 1 (0 = Firewall notifications)
UpdatesDisableNotify = 1 (0 = Automatic updates notifications)
AntiVirusDisableNotify = 1 (0 = Antivirus notifications)
UACDisableNotify = 1 (0 = Vista UAP notifications)
- Open the Device Manager and expand "USB Controller"
- Right-click the USB Controller(s) and select Properties
- Select the Advanced-tab and tick "Don't show USB errors (or similar)"
To disable the "There are unused icons on your desktop":[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Services \PlugPlay \Parameters]
SuppressUI = 1 (Windows 2003/XP64 only)
SuppressNewHWUI = (Windows XP)
More Info MS KB311489 (Requires XP SP3 to recognize registry keys)
- Open the Control Panel and go to Display Properties
- Select the Desktop-tab and press the "Customize Desktop"-button
- Untick "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
Thx a lot for the tip on how to disable the security center balloon notification.....its so annoying and I've been searching for ages as to how to do it.....THX AGAIN! :D
Thanks for a clear and concise article that I failed to find on MS Technet...
Thank you for having all in one place. Much appreciated!
May God bless you and yours
PLEASE tell me how to disable taskbar tooltips in windows 7 (the annoying yellow rectangles of text over each open application). They are so annoying that I have decided to install a different operating system until a fix is made for this.
John, did you ever find a way to disable the taskbar button balloons? I have the same problem in XP and it drives me nuts.
The information about BalloonTip is inaccurate. That registry value does not control "how long to show tooltips". That registry value, which was last available in Windows XP, controls how many times the tray will prompt you with, "To see the hidden icons, click this button".
To control the balloon tip duration, upgrade to Windows Vista or newer and use the SPI_SETMESSAGEDURATION system parameter.
Hello!
I am using Windows 8 and it seems it's always trying to install a usb device (which I think is the webcam that is with malfunctioning) and notification area keeps showing a ballon (usb not recognized).
I know I can disable all notifications in regedit but is there a way to block only this message? I disable it in control panel but when I restart the pc I have to do it again.