Is Update (Refresh) in your terms means the same as pressing 'Apply' button in property window (e.g., Taskbar Properties)? I'm looking for a way to 'update' Windows Explorer after I maid some tweaks in registry (eventually google brought me here). Example: If I make a registry change in [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced] and set TaskbarSmallIcons = 1 I want to see changes right away (as if I pressed Apply button in properties window after ticking 'Use Small Icons' checkbox). Is the purpose of your Update function the same? Should it update Explorer after registry changes as well? If so, it doesn't seem to work on my Win7 machine - the code is running with no errors, but nothing happens after registry is changed.