My Properties

Installing Windows from scratch usually deploys a set of configurations which applies well to almost any domain of activity. However, it’s packed with a lot more options to change the way it looks and behaves. Moreover, there are dedicated applications like My Properties which place most important settings in an intuitive pane for quick management.

One of the application’s main advantages is portability. This allows you to easily carry it around on a USB flash drive in case you want to use it on other computers besides your own. By default, registry entries are not modified, but it is a good idea to create a backup in case you need to edit them later on and things don’t really go as expected.

A compact main window shows up on launch, structured in different tabs for general system info, icons, startup items, URLs and a bunch of miscellaneous settings. The info tab only displays OS info like make and model, with the possibility to write Windows install path, and change registered owner and organization.

For some visual tweaks, you can head over to the Icons tab. These are organized in different categories based on type, such as desktop, Start Menu, folders, drives, and miscellaneous. However, there are no new icons provided by the application, so you either need to select from system or a custom location.

Startup program configuration can leave more to be desired. On the one hand, not all of them are correctly detected. You can, however add custom entries by specifying executable and additional parameters. On the other hand, the poor detection method prevents you from removing unwanted items.

As far as the URL section is concerned, it’s of little to no use if you’re not using Internet Explorer as your default way of going online. It only shows recently accessed pages, with the possibility to have them removed from history.

In conclusion, My Properties comes with good intentions, but it covers a pretty poor variety of Windows features. Some of them might not even be accessible or useful because of the lack of recent updates. The startup manager fails to detect all items, which only leaves the visual tweaker a reliable option.