Are you tired of those pesky balloon tips that keep showing up near the clock in Windows XP?  This guide shows you how to turn them off for good.

Warning:

I’m about to show you how to change a setting by editing the registry.  Editing the registry is only supposed to be done by a professional.  A wrong change to a setting can cause your computer to crash.  Use this guide at your own risk.

Editing the Registry

Click start, click run, type regedit and press enter on your keyboard.

You should see the registry editor like the one shown below.

^[1]

Click the + sign to the left of HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

Click the + sign to the left of Software.

Click the + sign to the left of Microsoft.

Click the + sign to the left of Windows.

Click the + sign to the left of CurrentVersion.

Click the + sign to the left of Explorer.

Click the advanced folder.

Your regedit window should look like the one shown below.

^[2]

Right-click anywhere in the white space in the right side of the regedit window and select create a new DWORD.

Name the new DWORD EnableBalloonTips by typing the new name right after you create the new DWORD or right-click the new DWORD and select rename.

Once you renamed the new DWORD double-click it and make sure hexadecimal value is set to 0.

^[3]

Click OK and close the regedit window.

Restart your computer for the changes to take affect.

If you want to undo these settings simply delete the EnableBalloonTips DWORD or set the hexadecimal value to 1.