I really get tired of going to the Control Panel everytime I need to use the Add/Remove Programs applet. Here's how to add it to the context menu of 'My Computer':

Open up Notepad and copy the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Add/Remove Programs\command]
@="control appwiz.cpl"

Save the text file and rename it to for example "XP_AddRemovePrograms_MyComputer_Context". Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it.

Method 1: Use Group Policy Editor

1. Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
2. Expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand System, and then click System Restore.
3. Double-click Turn off System Restore, and then on the Setting tab, select Enable.
4. Double-click Turn off Configuration, and then on the Setting tab, select Enable.

For more information about what these settings do, click the Explain tab on the Properties dialog box.
5. Click Apply, and then click OK.
If users try to access System Restore Configuration, the System Properties dialog box is present, but the System Restore tab is not present.
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Method 2: Create a Customized Microsoft Management Console
1. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
2. In Microsoft Management Console (MMC), on the Console menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
3. On the Standalone tab, click Add, click Group Policy under Available Standalone Snap-ins, and then click Add.
4. Accept the default of Local Computer in the Group Policy Object box, and then click Finish.
5. Close the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, and then click OK on the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box.
6. Under Console Root, expand Local Computer Policy, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand System, and then click System Restore.
7. Double-click Turn off System Restore, and then on the Setting tab, select Enable.
8. Double-click Turn off Configuration, and then on the Setting tab, select Enable.
9. Click Apply, and then click OK.
10. On the Console menu, click Save as, type the name of the new console, and accept the Administrative Tools folder as the default location in which to save this file.

To access the new console, click Start, click More Programs, and then click Administrative Tools.
If users try to access System Restore Configuration, the System Properties dialog box is present, but the System Restore tab is not present.
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Method 3: Use Registry Editor to Disable System Restore

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT
3. Under Windows NT, create a new key:a.  On the Edit menu, click New, and then click Key.
b.  For the name of the new key, type SystemRestore.

4. Create a new DWORD value:a.  On the Edit menu, click New, and then click DWORD Value.
b.  Double-click the new key to open the Edit DWORD Value dialog box.
c.  Under Value name, type DisableConfig, under Value data, type 1, and then click OK.

Normally when you want to access the Disk Cleanup tool, you usually have to either find it through the start menu, or open up the drive properties window. Instead of going through all that, we can use a simple registry hack to add a menu item to the drive right-click menu.

Using the Hack

Open up regedit through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell

Create a new key called “diskcleanup” and set the default value to “Disk Cleanup”. Then create another key underneath it called “command” and set the value to the following:

cleanmgr.exe /d %1

The change should be immediate, just right-click on the drive and you should see the new menu item.