To remove text box from screen, I believe you can grab the corner of it with the mouse, and slide it completely, or near completely off the screen, down.
As for the rest of your post, excellent suggestions!
I do the following everytime I log in (and wish it was tasked automatically too!):
Cntl-C (turn terrain off)
Cntl-A (Highlite squaddies)
Cntl-I (turn off FR counter)
Shift F1 (max resolution)