n Windows you can change desktop wallpaper, screen saver, themes and other appearance settings by right-click on Desktop and select "Properties".

When you enter Windows XP desktop properties, it looks as following:

And Windows Vista desktop properties looks as following:

Sometimes you might want to disable all or a few options in Desktop Properties to restrict users or you might want to enable those options in case they are disabled by your system administrator or a virus infection.

Following tutorial will help you in enabling or disabling all or a particular option in Desktop Properties:

NOTE: This tutorial will work for almost all Windows versions.

A. Disable Themes Tab in Desktop Properties:

Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer

If "Explorer" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoThemesTab and set its value to 1 to disable it.

B. Disable Desktop Tab in Desktop Properties:

Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispBackgroundPage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

C. Disable Screen Saver Tab in Desktop Properties:

Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispScrSavPage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

D. Disable both Themes and Appearance Tabs in Desktop Properties:

Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispAppearancePage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

E. Disable Settings Tab in Desktop Properties:

Open regedit and goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispSettingsPage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

NOTE: When you'll disable all above mentioned tabs in Desktop Properties. You'll get a similar Desktop Properties window as shown in following screenshots:

Windows XP Desktop Properties Window with all Restrictions Enabled:

Windows Vista Desktop Properties Window with all Restrictions Enabled:

BONUS TIP: In case you want to enable a restricted tab in Desktop Properties, just delete the required DWORD value as mentioned above or change its value to 0 instead of 1.