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This document assumes working
knowledge of the Windows Registry.
It is possible to render your computer useless by incorrectly modifying the
Registry.
Caution is advised…
Settings pertaining to Windows NT will
say Win NT. All others refer to Win9x
1. Remove unwanted
items from Control Panel | Add/Remove programs
2. Changing Icons for
Desktop Items
3. Stopping
a programming from loading when Windows Starts
4. Removing Items
from the Start | Run List
5. Where to find DUN
information
6. Removing Documents from the Start menu
7. Removing Favorites
from the Start Menu
8. Finding your CD
Key for Microsoft Software
9. Where
to find your Windows Operating System CD key and Product ID in Win9x
10. Location of
Windows Logon information in the Registry
11. Win NT and Win9x -
Internet Explorer is
intercepting FTP commands typed into Start / Run
12. Win NT
- To restrict Anonymous logons
13. Changing your Registered
Name and Company
14. Dialog box
displaying a Win9x login to Windows NT
15. Win
NT - Clearing the Pagefile on Shutdown
16. Preventing
the Quick Launch icons from changing to incorrect icons
17. Tell
Win9.x where to find the Windows install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive
18. Tell
WinNT 4.x where to find the NT install files, or changing
from CD to your Hard Drive
19. Win NT - Creating a Registry File to Logon to NT
Automatically
20. How to obtain BIOS
information from the registry
21. Change the URL for
Windows 98 Update web site
22. Delete Desktop Icons
placed by applications
23. Delete Entire Network icon from Network Neighborhood
24. Retoring the MS animated logo in MSIE 4.x and 5.x
25. Adding a Customized Windows Title to Internet Explorer - MSIE 3.x
and up
26. Removing
a Customized MSIE 3.x and up Title Bar
27. Restoring
the Recycle Bin Icon to the Desktop
28. Restoring My
Documents Icon to the Desktop
29. Win NT - Instant Reboot
30. Win
NT - Auto Completing Directory Path Names
31. Win
NT
-
Preventing Changes to Drive Mappings
1. Remove
unwanted items from Control Panel | Add/Remove programs:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Delete any program names you no longer need.
Note:
Use the same registry
key in Windows NT
2. Changing Icons for Desktop Items:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID; then, depending on the icon you want to change, select:
For My Computer:
{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
For Inbox:
{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
For the Recycle Bin icons (full or empty):
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
For The Internet:
{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}
Expand this key, and inside, select the DefaultIcon key. In the right pane,
right-mouse-click
(Default) and select Modify. (Note: If you're changing the Recycle Bin icons,
right-mouse-click Empty or
Full, depending on the icon you want to change, then select Modify.)
On the Value data line,
type the path and number of the desired icon in the
following format: path, ##
Click OK, close the Registry Editor, click the desktop, and press F5.
So how do you locate the icon you want to use? And how do you then determine its number
(to use in the format above)?
Each of you has different icon files on your system depending on the applications you have
installed.
However, all Windows 95 users have one icon file in common--Shell32.dll. To view this
file's contents
(icons), right-mouse- lick any folder shortcut, select Properties, click the Shortcut tab,
and click the
Change Icon button. Inside the Change Icon dialog box, you'll see all the icons in
Shell32.dll. The
numbering starts at 0 (zero) and moves from left to right. (If you have IE 4.0 installed,
the numbering
starts in the top-left corner, moves down the first row, then to the top of the second
row, and so on.)
To view the contents of another icon file--such as Pifmgr.dll, located in the
Windows/System
folder--click the Change Icon dialog box's Browse button, navigate your way to the file you
have in
mind, and
double-click it.
(Note: If you don't see any DLL files inside the Change Icon dialog box,
open any
Windows 95 window, select View under Options, and on the View tab, select Show all files.)
Finding other icon files on your system can be a hit-or-miss operation. (The only sure
bets are
that all
EXE files contain their own icon and that a select few DLL files contain icons). Click
Browse and start your search. If you select a file with icons in it, they'll appear. If not,
you'll get a
message saying it doesn't contain any icons. Click the Browse button and try again.
3. Stopping a
programming from loading when Windows Starts:
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
The program file name can be under any (more than one) of these 3 locations. Look in all
three and
delete whatever Program it is you don't want to load during startup.
In Win98 you can also click Start | Run and type msconfig <enter>. Click
the Startup tab in the
resulting dialog box, scroll through the list until you find the program you don't want to
load at startup.
Uncheck the box next to the Program.
Note:
There are seven Run keys in the registry that cause programs to be run automatically.
Some of these are run once only:
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
7. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ RunOnce\Setup
Keys 1-4 are run each time a new user logs in.
Keys 5-6 are run in the background when the logon dialog box first appears, or at
this
stage of the boot process if there is no logon. These keys are for background services
such as remote
registry service and
are run only once per boot.
Key 7 is run as part of Setup's first-boot activities, or after you use the Add/Remove
Programs Wizard.
4. Removing Items from the Start | Run
List:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Run(MRU)
In the right pane, right-mouse click on the letter (in the Name column) next to any item
you'd like to remove from the list, and select Delete.
5. Where to find DUN information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\RemoteAccess
6. Removing Documents from the Start menu:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane, right-mouse-click a blank area, select New, then select Binary Value.
Type NoRecentDocsHistory (to name the new value), then press Enter. Right-mouse-click
the
new value and select Modify. In the Value data box, type exactly
01 00 00 00
(You'll see four zeros there already. Just type the above eight numbers, and the spaces
will be inserted automatically.) Click OK.
Now repeat these steps to add a NoRecentDocsMenu value:
Right-mouse-click a blank area in the right pane; select New, Binary Value; name the value
NoRecentDocsMenu
right-mouse-click the new value and select Modify; in the Value data box, type the
above
numbers; then click OK.
Close the Registry Editor, restart Windows 98, click Start, and that Documents list is
nowhere in sight (and neither is the Windows\Recent folder that used to hold
the contents of the Documents
menu)!
Note: If you change your mind and want your Documents list back, you have two options.
You can
delete the NoRecentDocsHistory and NoRecentDocsMenu values you just created, or change the
data
in each to 00 00 00 00
7. Removing Favorites from the
Start Menu:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
In the right pane, right-click a blank area and select New, Binary Value. Type the name
NoFavoritesMenu
and press Enter. Right-click the new value, select Modify, and in the Value Data box, type
exactly
01 00 00 00
(Don't worry about the four zeros that are there already. Just type the above eight
numbers in sequence, without the spaces.) Click OK.
Close the Registry Editor, restart Windows, and check out your Start menu.
That Favorites
list is gone!
Note: If you change your mind and want your Favorites folder back, you have two
options.
You can delete the NoFavoritesMenu value you just created, or change its data to 00 00 00
00.
8. Finding
your CD Key for Microsoft Software:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft
Look for the directory containing the program you want the CD Key for, open the
ProductID key, and look at the middle two number strings. This should be your CD Key.
Note: In Windows NT your CD Key can be found by right Clicking on My Computer, and on
the
General Tab under Registered to: you will find your Registered Name, Company and CD Key.
9. Where
to find your Windows Operating System CD key and Product ID in Win9x:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion.
You'll see ProductID and ProductKey string values (among others) in the right pane.
ProductID will match the ID in My Computer's properties. The ProductKey is the
product
key entered during installation.
10. Location of Windows
Logon information in the Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Winlogon
AutoAdminLogin - "1" or "0" in quotes | 1 means Yes, 0 means No
DefaultPassword - "in quotes"
DefaultUserName - "in quotes"
All the entries are String Values
11. Win
NT
and Win9x - Internet Explorer is intercepting
FTP commands
typed into
Start / Run:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\URL\Prefixes
and delete the ftp and ftp. values.
12. Win NT - To
restrict Anonymous logons:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\LSA
On the edit menu, Add Value name RestrictAnonymous and set this REG_DWORD
to 1.
You must reboot.
13. Changing your Registered
Name and Company:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion
Select the CurrentVersion key, and you'll see RegisteredOrganization and RegisteredOwner
string values (among many others) in the right pane.
To change either of these values, right-click it and select Modify. Type the new
information
on the Value data line and then click OK. Repeat these steps for the other value, if necessary,
then
close the Registry Editor.
14. Dialog box displaying a
Win9x login to Windows NT:
Use Registry Editor to add a DWORD value named DomainLogonMessage to the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon
Set the data value for DomainLogonMessage to 1 if you want a message displayed
after login. Set the data value for DomainLogonMessage to 0 if you don't want a message
displayed after login or just delete the value.
15. Win NT - Clearing the Pagefile on
Shutdown:
To clear the pagefile at shutdown, add the REG_DWORD value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory
Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown and set it to 1.
16. Preventing
the Quick Launch icons from changing to incorrect icons:
Create the following String Value and set it equal to 2048:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
Max Cached Icons
17. Tell
Win9.x where to find the Windows install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive.
You first need to copy the Win9x folder from the CD to your hard
drive then:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
Double-click on the value "SourcePath" in the right pane and edit it from
d:\win98 or whatever it is, and point it to the folder on your hard drive where the Win9x
cabfiles are
located.
18. Tell
WinNT 4.x where to find the NT install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive.
You first need to copy the i386 folder from the CD to your hard
drive then:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion.
In the right pane, you'll see that SourcePath is set to d:\i386\. Change the value to
c:\i386 (or where ever you copied the i386 directory) and then choose Registry, Exit.
When you restart the
computer, the new path takes effect.
19. Win NT -
Creating a Registry File to Logon to NT Automatically:
see Tip # 10 to do this in Win9x
The username Public and Password public are used as examples, you can use
whatever you want
as long as the user name is a valid NT name.
To create the REG file, run Notepad and enter the file as shown. Where you see
BLANK LINE
GOES HERE, press Enter.
REGEDIT4
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
"DefaultUserName"="Public"
"AutoAdminLogon"="1"
"DefaultPassword"="public"
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
Choose File, Save As, and name the file AutoLog.reg. Locate a folder for the new file and
click Save. To use the file, locate it and double-click its icon. You'll get a dialog box
saying the
file has been merged and so forth. Click OK in this dialog box to continue.
Now restart the computer. You may get an error message telling you that the password
or
name is incorrect. If so, the log-on dialog box appears. Enter the name and
password--for example:
Public
and
public
and click OK. Now you're in Public.
If you restart the computer, the system automatically logs on to Public with no input
from
the users.
When you need to log on as an administrator, click Start, Shut Down.
When the Shut Down Windows dialog box appears, select the 'Close all programs and log on
as
a different user?' radio button. Click Yes and hold down Shift while the system starts.
This time,
you'll get the startup dialog box, where you can enter Administrator and your password.
When
you're ready to go back to Public, use the same method to restart and change
the log-on to the following:
Public
and
public
20. How to obtain BIOS
information from the registry:
Using Registry Editor, view the BIOSDate, BIOSName, and BIOSVersion string values in
the
following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\*PNP0C01\0000
This information is accurate only if you do not update or change the BIOS since you
last ran
Windows 95/98 Setup. If you update or change the BIOS, you must install Windows 95/98
again to
update the registry.
21. Change the URL for Windows 98
Update web site:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Update]
"Remote URL"=http://www.windowsupdate.com
22. Delete Desktop Icons placed by
applications:
Ocassionally, an application will place an icon on the desktop that you cannot delete
by
right clicking and choosing delete. To delete the icon do the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace.
Select a key under NameSpace and watch the name that appears in the right pane under Data.
Once you find it, right-click its key (again, under NameSpace in the left pane), select
Delete,
then click Yes to confirm. Close the Registry Editor, click the desktop to place the focus there,
then press F5 (for refresh). Bye-bye icon!
23. Delete Entire Network icon from Network Neighborhood:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
Create a dword key called "NoEntireNetwork" (without quotes) and give it the
value of 00000001
To bring back the icon, delete the above key, or change the number 1 in the value to 0.
24. Restoring the MS
animated logo in MSIE 4.x and 5.x:
To restore the animated Internet Explorer logo, delete the BrandBitmap and SmBrandBitmap
string
values under the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar
After you make this change, quit Registry Editor and restart your computer.
25. Adding
a Customized Windows Title to Internet Explorer
MSIE 3.x and up:
Using Registry Editor, add the String value "Window Title" (without quotation
marks) to
the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
The data value is the title you want to appear on the Internet Explorer window.
NOTE: In Windows NT, the value should be type REG_SZ instead of String.
26. Removing a Customized MSIE 3.x and up Title Bar:
Using Registry Editor, delete the Window Title value in the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
When you delete this value, "Microsoft Internet Explorer" becomes the default window title.
27. Restoring the Recycle Bin Icon to the Desktop:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace.
In the left pane, right-click the NameSpace key and select New, Key.
Type exactly
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
and press Enter.
Then, in the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. In the resulting
Edit String dialog box,
on the Value data line, type:
Recycle Bin
and click OK. Close the Registry Editor,
click the desktop once, press F5 (for refresh)
28. Restoring the My Documents Icon to the Desktop:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\
In the left pane, right-click the NameSpace key and select New, Key.
Type exactly
{450d8fba-ad25-11d0-98a8-0800361b1103}
and press Enter.
Then, in the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. In the resulting
Edit String
dialog box, on the Value data line, type:
My Documents
and click OK. Close the Registry Editor,
click the desktop once, press F5 (for refresh).
29. Win NT - Instant Reboot:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Create a new string value: "EnableQuickReboot"="1"
Once this is done and you reboot NT,
you can use SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+DEL to
Immediately reboot NT 4.0.
Note: You must have sp4 installed for this to work, and this bypasses the normal
shutdown process.
30. Win NT- Auto Completing Directory Path Names
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Prompt.
In the pane on the right, double-click on the CompletionChar value. By changing
CompletionChar from 0 to 9, you configure Windows NT to automatically complete paths
for you in a Command Prompt window.
To try out your change, open a Command Prompt window. Type cd p, then press the TAB key.
You should see that Windows NT automatically fills in the path for you with the first directory
on your hard drive that begins with the letter "p."
31. Win NT - Preventing Changes to Drive Mappings
You can prevent Windows NT users from mapping new drives or disconnecting their existing
drives by modifying the Registry.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Add the value NoNetConnectDisconnect with a data type of REG_DWORD and a value of 1.
This value removes the Map Network Drive and Disconnect Network Drive from the menu in
Windows NT Explorer and from the shortcut menu displayed when users right-click on the
Network Neighborhood icon.
Note: You must be using Windows NT with Service Pack 2 or later to support this setting.
bobjohnson:09/01/99
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