There are certain times where you need to protect your files, pictures, documents etc. from nosy users. In these cases, most of the times, the only solution you have got is to buy expensive applications to lock and protect your stuff. But, did you know that Windows has got a special command which turn a folder in a lock, a safe, a stronghold? And all this in right one click! Guaranteed!

1. Right click on any blank space on your desktop.2. Click New.3. Click Folder.4. Name the folder safe.5. Open your Notepad, copy and paste this code into it:

ren safe safe.{2559a1f2-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0} and save it with .bat extension. Ex. key.bat Save such a file on the desktop.

6. Double click the key.bat and the folder and its content will be permanently locked!7. To unlock the folder, delete the content of the key.bat file and paste this other code:

ren safe.{2559a1f2-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0} safe and click it.8. Done!

13Feb2009

How to change the registered owner in all Windows version

While installing  a new operating system it may happen that you mistype your name or surname as registered owner. This is quite annoying because usually, when you get aware of this, it’s too late cause you have already finished the installation procedure for good. At this point the only way to change or correct the name is to make a new clean installation. Useless to say, most people having this issue forget about it, since the procedure is quite long and boring. Here is a little hack to change the registered owner in all Windows editions when it looks like everything is lost.

1. Click Start.2. Click Run.3. Type regedit.4. Locate the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\

Windows NT\ Current Version5. On the right pane double click on RegisteredOwner and change the name to whatever

you like.6. Turn off and back on your computer for the changes to take effect.7. 078. Jan

9. 2010

10. How to Hide and Conceal Pictures and Images Using DOS

How many times have you wished to hide, conceal or even mask your pictures and images from nosy people? Of course, there are a lot of software in the Internet able to protect your stuff but the issue is that they are not for free or are tricky to use. If you are looking for a quick solution, here is a simple trick which, in a couple of seconds, is able to hide and mask your files on-the-fly!

1. Click Start.2. In the Search box field type CMD and press Enter.3. In the command prompt, type cd.. This will show you the C:\ Partition.4. Assuming that the picture you want to hide is under C:\  and that its name and extension

is image.jpg  type: ren image.jpg image.txt (This is the syntax ren:(your file name and extension)(space)(your file name and the file extension you want to turn it to)

5. The command above (ren image.jpg image.txt) will turn your image to a txt file. People trying to open such a  file will see unintelligible characters.

6. Of course to get the picture back, simply type: ren image.txt image.jpg7. This trick works for every kind of file

How to force Windows to show hidden files and folders

Sometimes, Windows might disable the option to show you  hidden files and folders located in your computer. This is due to a glitch or some viruses which are able to disable such a feature in order to hide better in your operating system. The option I am talking about is called: “Show all hidden files and folders” located under “Folder Options”. If your antivirus is not able to eliminate a virus or spyware and  you need to look inside these hidden folders to spot it, here is a quick hack to solve this issue.

1. Click Start.2. In the Search box, type: regedit and press Enter.3. In Windows XP, Click Run and press Enter.4. Locate this key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows

CurrentVersion Explorer AdvancedFolderHidden SHOWALL.5. In the right pane, check that the subkey CheckedValue data is REG_DWORD. If it is

not, delete it.6. If  you have deleted CheckedValue, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it 

CheckedValue and give it value 1.7. If the subkey CheckedValue is already in your registry,Double-click it and check that it

has got value 1 (if it has got another value change it to 1).8. Now, check that CheckedValue is  REG_SZ type, and has got the value data radio.9. Restart your computer for the change to take effect.10. Set your operating system to show  hidden files and folders.\11. 13

12. May13. 2010

14. How to Create and Delete an Undeletable Folder in Windows Operating Systems

Among my favorite hacks, there is this one, I am going to show you in this tutorial, which lets you create (and delete) special undeletable  folders. This is very useful above all if you plan to have a private, secure place on your computer where to store your private file. In fact, this little trick, if associated to another article I wrote on how to turn a folder to a safe, will let you have an “impenetrable place” without buying any software! 

1. Click Start.2. In the Search field, type cmd and press Enter.3. The familiar Command Prompt black window should appear on your screen.4. At this point you should go to the directory you want to turn ot a  undeletable folder. To

do this, type cd (name of the directory)5. Now, type mkdir .\CON\\6. Rename the folder using one of these names: CON, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5,

LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, LPT9, AUX7. The hack behind this tutorial is very simple to tell you the truth. In fact, Windows

reserves certain name for the creation of special system foders. Once you manage to create such folders nobody will ever manage to delete it…uless it knows the right trick!

8. To delete the folder, type rd .\CON\\9.10.11. 0212. Jan13. 2010

14. Become a Windows God! How to Enable GodMode on Windows 7

 Buzz 

This is the original article talking about the famous God Mode. It has been read more than 200.000 times! Read the comments below and learn what other people have found out about this trick! SUBSCRIBE to my feed and be the first to know more about exciting tricks and hacks!

Windows 7 interface (and desktop) is rather clean and minimalist. Of course, you can find everything you need in the famous and well-known Control Panel. However this solution won’t allow you to see and easily use all those nested settings included in the main options. Did you know that you can become a God? Well, at least on Windows 7!

One of the less known options on Windows 7 is the God Mode feature. Basically, it lets you have every setting and option right in front of you, ready to be used without having to browse among different settings before getting what you are looking for. Here is how to enable it:

1. Right click on any bank space on your desktop.2. Click new from the menu and create a New Folder.3. Rename the folder as follow: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-

99712043E01C}4. DO NOT use this trick on Vista 64X  and Windows 7 64X. It will cause your

Windows to crash! (read comments below)

This simple command will create a special shortcut to the God Mode option letting you access all Windows 7 functions via a handy GUI!

EDIT: GodMode also works on Windows Vista!

07Jul2010

Another Way to make Windows 7 Faster and More Responsive

 Buzz 

There are really tons of ways to make your Windows 7 faster. However, this simple trick will really make a difference in your Windows 7 operating system. As you know, Windows 7 is the fastest Microsoft system ever. Despite it requires a lot of RAM (at least 2 GB), most of it is not used at all. This tutorial will teach how to dedicate the unused RAM to certain programs which in this way won’t reside in the hard disk anymore. This  will let you make your Windows 7 faster, more responsive and better optimized.

1. Click Start.

2. In the Search field, type CMD.3. Right-click the Command Prompt icon and click the Run as Administrator option.4. Type the following command: fsutil behavior set memoryusage 25. Reboot the system.6. To check if the command was carried out successfully, go to the Command Prompt again

and type: fsutil behavior query memoryusage 7.8. 149. Jun10. 2009

11. Windows Virtual PC BIOS utility

 Buzz 

As you know, the most thrilling feature in Windows 7 is its  Windows Virtual PC, letting you run  Windows XP operating system on your computer under a virtual environment, just in case you own a lot of old software you can not get rid of. This virtual machine acts like a real physical  PC, so you are supposed to get all the nice utilities, applications and options a real computer has got, including its BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)  utility.

First of all let me tell you that Windows Virtual PC is equipped with AMIBIOS. In order to gain access to the BIOS utility configuration screen in the Windows Virtual PC in Windows 7, all you have to do is to turn off  the integration features, temporarily. Here is the brief step-by-step procedure:

Start the virtual machine where you want to gain access to the BIOS utility from. On the window, in the menu bar, click Tool. Now, click  Disable Integration Features. In the menu bar, click Action. Now, Select Restart to reboot your virtual machine. During the bootup,  the virtual machine, acting like a real computer, will perform a

power-on self-test, a diagnostic check to see if everything is allright. During such a check, press Del key in order to access BIOS Setup Utility.

SafeGuard On

The Definitive Windows 7 Commands Guide

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This definitive, mammoth guide contains a complete list of  Windows 7 commands you need to gain access to all Windows 7 features. These commands are divided into two different categories :Shell commands and Run commands. Thanks to them you will be only one click away from all Windows 7 tools, utility, folders and features. Dont you remember the path to gain access to that neat Windows 7? Do you wish to clean Internet Explorer cache without rummaging among tricky options? Here is the guide you have always been looking for!

Shell Commands

These commands are especially useful to users, power users and administrators who need to gain access or create shortcuts to difficult-to-reach Windows 7 utilities or locations (such as folder for example).  There are two ways you can use these Shell Commands: To create a shortcuts or through Run…

How to Create a Shortcut using a Shell Command.

1. Right-click any empty space on your desktop.2. Click New.3. Click Shortcut.4. Now, if you want to create a shortcut, you will need to add “explorer.exe” , whiteout

quotes,  right in front of each Shell command. Here is an example: explorer.exe shell:PicturesLibrary.

5. So, right after clicking the shortcut link a new window will appear. In the blank field, write: shell:(your Command).

6. Click Next.7. Click OK.

At this point you should see a shortcut icon on your desktop pointing to the the Picture Library.

How to access folders using a Shell Command.

1. Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard.2. In the blank field, type Shell:(your command). This will let you access every folder in

your Windows 7, including hidden folders.3. Click OK.

List

1. shell:AddNewProgramsFolder2. shell:Administrative Tools (hidden folder)

3. shell:AppData (hidden to users)4. shell:AppUpdatesFolder (installed updates)5. shell:Cache (hidden folder) (Temporary Internet Files)6. shell:CD Burning (hidden folder)7. shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder8. shell:Common Administrative Tools (hidden folder)9. shell:Common AppData (hidden folder)10. shell:Common Desktop11. shell:Common Documents12. shell:Common Programs (hidden folder)13. shell:Common Start Menu (hidden folder)14. shell:Common Startup (hidden folder)15. shell:Common Templates (hidden folder)16. shell:CommonDownloads17. shell:CommonMusic18. shell:CommonPictures19. shell:CommonRingtones (hidden folder)20. shell:CommonVideo21. shell:ConflictFolder22. shell:ConnectionsFolder23. shell:Contacts24. shell:ControlPanelFolder25. shell:Cookies26. shell:Cookies\Low (hidden folder)27. shell:CredentialManager (hidden folder)28. shell:CryptoKeys (hidden folder)29. shell:CSCFolder30. shell:Default Gadgets31. shell:Desktop32. shell:Device Metadata Store (hidden folder)33. shell:DocumentsLibrary34. shell:Downloads35. shell:DpapiKeys (hidden folder)36. shell:Favorites37. shell:Fonts38. shell:Gadgets (hidden folder)39. shell:Games40. shell:GameTasks (hidden folder)41. shell:History (hidden folder)42. shell:ImplicitAppShortcuts43. shell:InternetFolder (Internet Explorer)44. shell:Libraries45. shell:Links46. shell:Local AppData (hidden folder)47. shell:LocalAppDataLow (hidden folder)48. shell:LocalizedResourcesDir

49. shell:MAPIFolder50. shell:MusicLibrary51. shell:My Music52. shell:My Pictures53. shell:My Video54. shell:MyComputerFolder55. shell:NetHood (hidden folder)56. shell:NetworkPlacesFolder57. shell:OEM Links58. shell:Original Images59. shell:OtherUsersFolder60. shell:Personal61. shell:PhotoAlbums62. shell:PicturesLibrary63. shell:Playlists64. shell:PrintersFolder65. shell:PrintHood (hidden folder)66. shell:Profile67. shell:ProgramFiles68. shell:ProgramFilesCommon69. shell:ProgramFilesCommonX8670. shell:ProgramFilesX8671. shell:Programs72. shell:Public73. shell:PublicGameTasks (hidden folder)74. shell:PublicSuggestedLocations75. shell:Quick Launch (hidden folder)76. shell:Recent (hidden folder)77. shell:RecycleBinFolder78. shell:ResourceDir79. shell:Ringtones (hidden folder)80. shell:SampleMusic81. shell:SamplePictures82. shell:SamplePlaylists83. shell:SampleVideos84. shell:SavedGames85. shell:Searches86. shell:SearchHomeFolder87. shell:SendTo (hidden folder)88. shell:Start Menu (hidden folder)89. shell:Startup90. shell:SyncCenterFolder91. shell:SyncResultsFolder92. shell:SyncSetupFolder93. shell:System94. shell:SystemCertificates (hidden folder)

95. shell:SystemX8696. shell:Templates97. shell:TreePropertiesFolder98. shell:User Pinned99. shell:UserProfiles100. shell:UsersFilesFolder101. shell:UsersLibrariesFolder102. shell:VideosLibrary103. shell:Windows

Run Commands

Run Commands are quite useful if you want to reach, use, open anything in your Windows 7. What follows are the easy steps to use these commands.

How to use Run Commands

1. Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard.2. Type the command in the blank field.3. Click OK.

List

1. Add/Remove Programs = appwiz.cpl2. Administrative Tools = control admintools3. Authorization Manager= azman.msc4. Calculator = calc5. Certificate Manager = certmgr.msc6. Character Map = charmap7. Check Disk Utility = chkdsk8. Command Prompt = cmd.exe9. Component Services = dcomcnfg10. Computer Management = compmgmt.msc11. Control Panel = control12. Date and Time Properties = timedate.cpl13. Defragment User Interface = dfrgui14. Device Manager = devmgmt.msc15. Direct X Troubleshooter = dxdiag16. Disk Cleanup Utility = cleanmgr17. Disk Management = diskmgmt.msc18. Disk Parmelonion Manager = diskpart19. Display Properties = control desktop or, alternatively desk.cpl20. Ditilizer Calibration Tool = tabcal21. Downloads = Downloads22. DPI Scaling = dpiscaling23. Driver Package Installer = dpinst

24. Driver Verifier Utility = verifier or, alternatively reset25. DVD Player = dvdplay26. Encryption File System = rekeywiz27. Event Viewer = eventvwr.msc28. Fax Cover Sheet Editor = fxscover29. File Signature Verification Tool = sigverif30. Folders Properties = control folders31. Fonts = control fonts32. Free Cell Card Game = freecell33. Group Policy Editor = gpedit.msc34. Iexpress Wizard = iexpress35. Internet Explorer = iexplore36. Internet Properties = inetcpl.cpl37. IP Configuration = ipconfig.exe38. iSCSI Initiator = iscsicpl39. Keyboard Properties = control keyboard40. Libraries = explorer or, alternatively Windows key + E41. Local Security Settings = secpol.msc42. Local Users and Groups = lusrmgr.msc43. Logs You Out Of Windows = logoff44. Microsoft Paint = mspaint.exe45. Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool = msdt46. Mobility Center (mobile) = mblctr or, alternatively Windows key + X47. Mouse Properties = control mouse48. Mouse Properties = main.cpl49. Network Connections = control netconnections50. Network Connections = ncpa.cpl51. Notepad = notepad52. ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad3253. On Screen Keyboard = osk or, alternatively Windows key + U54. Optional Features Manager = optionalfeatures55. Performance Monitor = perfmon.msc56. Phone and Modem Options = telephon.cpl57. Power Configuration = powercfg.cpl58. Printer Migration = PrintBrmUi59. Printers and Faxes = control printers60. Private Character Editor = eudcedit61. Regional Settings = intl.cpl62. Registry Editor = regedit.exe63. Remote Assistance = msra64. Remote Desktop = mstsc65. Resultant Set of Policy = rsop.msc66. Scheduled Tasks = control schedtasks67. Security Center = wscui.cpl68. Services = services.msc69. Shared Folders/MMC = fsmgmt.msc

70. Shuts Down Windows = shutdown71. Snipping Tool = snippingtool72. Sound Recorder = soundrecorder73. Sound Volume = sndvol74. Sounds and Audio = mmsys.cpl75. Spider Solitare Card Game = spider76. SQL Client Configuration = cliconfg77. Sticky Note = StikyNot78. Stored User Names and Passwords = credwiz79. System Configuration Editor = sysedit80. System Configuration Utility = msconfig81. System File Checker Utility = sfc82. System Information = msinfo3283. System Properties = sysdm.cpl or, alternatively Windows key + Pause84. Task Manager = taskmgr85. Trusted Platform Module = TpmInit86. User Accounts = netplwiz or, alternatively control userpasswords287. Utility Manager = utilman88. Windows Activation = slui89. Windows Backup Utility = sdclt90. Windows Fax and Scan = wfs91. Windows Firewall = firewall.cpl92. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security = wf.msc93. Windows Image Acquisition = wiaacmgr94. Windows Magnifier = magnify95. Windows Management Infrastructure = wmimgmt.msc96. Windows Media Player = wmplayer97. Windows Share Creation Wizard = shrpubw98. Windows Standalong Update Manager = wusa99. Windows System Security Tool = syskey100. Windows Update App Manager = wuapp101. Wordpad = write

Different shortcuts

These shortcuts let you access specific features and tools in Windows 7. Simply, copy and paste them to the blank field Run.. window and that’s it!

1. Action Center = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL wscui.cpl2. Add Network Location = rundll32.exe shwebsvc.dll,AddNetPlaceRunDll3. Add/Remove Programs = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl4. Add/Remove Programs = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,05. Add/Remove Windows Components = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

appwiz.cpl,,26. Advanced Restore = sdclt.exe /restorewizardadmin7. Aero (Transparency feature) Off = Rundll32.exe DwmApi #104

8. Aero (Transparency feature) On = Rundll32.exe DwmApi #1029. Backup Location and Settings = sdclt.exe /configure10. Content Advisor = RunDll32.exe msrating.dll,RatingSetupUI11. Control Panel = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL12. Date and Time = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL timedate.cpl13. Date and Time (Additional Clocks) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

timedate.cpl,,114. Date and Time (Properties) = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL timedate.cpl15. Device Manager = RunDll32.exe devmgr.dll DeviceManager_Execute16. Device Manager = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hdwwiz.cpl17. Display Settings = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,318. Folder Options = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 019. Folder Options (File Types) = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_Options 220. Folder Options (Search) = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 221. Folder Options (View) = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 722. Forgotten Password Wizard = RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,PRShowSaveWizardExW23. Hibernate = RunDll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState24. Indexing Options = control.exe srchadmin.dll25. Keyboard Properties = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @126. Lock Screen = RunDll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation27. Manage Wireless Networks = explorer.exe shell:::{1fa9085f-25a2-489b-85d4-

86326eedcd87}28. Map Network Drive = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL Connect29. Mouse Properties = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @030. Network Connections = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL ncpa.cpl31. Notification Cache = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 532. Open Control Panel (All Items) = explorer.exe shell:::{21ec2020-3aea-1069-a2dd-

08002b30309d}33. Pen and Touch Tablet PC (Settings) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

tabletpc.cpl34. Pen and Touch Tablet PC (Settings Flicks Tab) = rundll32.exe

shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL tabletpc.cpl,,135. Pen and Touch Tablet PC (Settings Handwriting Tab) = rundll32.exe

shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL tabletpc.cpl,,236. People Near Me = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL collab.cpl37. People Near Me (Sign Up Tab) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL collab.cpl,,138. Personalization = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,239. Phone and Modem (Options) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL telephon.cpl40. Phone and Modem (Options Modems Tab) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

telephon.cpl,,141. Phone and Modems (Options Advanced Tab) = rundll32.exe

shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL telephon.cpl,,242. Power Options = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL powercfg.cpl43. Power Options Modify Plan Settings = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

powercfg.cpl,,144. Regional Settings = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL intl.cpl,,3

45. Restore Files = sdclt.exe /restorewizard46. Screen Resolution = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl47. ScreenSaver = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,148. Set Program Access and Computer Defaults = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

appwiz.cpl,,349. Sound Control Playback Tab = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLLmmsys.cpl50. Sound Control Recording Tab = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLLmmsys.cpl,,151. Sound Control Sounds Tab = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLLmmsys.cpl,,252. Stored Usernames /Passwords = RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr53. System Properties = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl54. System Properties (Advanced Tab) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

sysdm.cpl,,355. System Properties (Hardware Tab) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

sysdm.cpl,,256. System Properties (Remote Tab) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

sysdm.cpl,,557. System Properties (System Protection Tab) = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

sysdm.cpl,,458. System Properties (Advanced) RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl,,459. System Properties (Automatic Updates) = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

sysdm.cpl,,560. Taskbar Properties = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 161. Unplug Eject Hardware = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll62. User Accounts = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL nusrmgr.cpl63. Welcome Center = rundll32.exe oobefldr.dll,ShowWelcomeCenter64. Windows (About) = RunDll32.exe SHELL32.DLL,ShellAboutW65. Windows Firewall = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL firewall.cpl66. Windows Firewall = rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL firewall.cpl67. Windows Security Center = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL wscui.cpl68. Wireless Network Setup = RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL

NetSetup.cpl,@0,WNSW69. Wireless Networks pop-up = rundll32.exe van.dll,RunVAN

Internet Explorer Advanced Settings

1. Delete All (Deeper Cleaning Including Add-on Data Deletion) = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351

2. Delete All = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 2553. Delete Cookies = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 24. Delete Form Data = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 165. Delete History = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 16. Delete Passwords = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 327. Delete Temporary Internet Files = RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 8

How to uninstall programs from DOS

Having to do with a lot of programs can be fun and distressing at the same time. As a matter of fact, once you don’t need of a certain application anymore, you have to uninstall it to free up some space in your hard disk. The easy solution to do that is to use those features located under “Programs and Features” which let you uninstall, change or repair your software. These features are part of the so called GUI (graphic user interface) whose task is to let you perform, thanks to icons and a “guided mode”, certain operations with ease. Anyway, uninstalling programs in this way is not the fastest method available. Let’s see how we can remove software with a couple of simple commands from DOS. (these commands are also useful when you can’t uninstall a program by using the regular way).

1. Click Start.2. Click All Porgrams.3. Click Accessories and select Command Prompt.4. Once the black Windows is open, type WMIC and press Enter.5. Now type this command: product get name .This command will create a list of installed

applications on your PC. This list, apart from being useful to know what you have got on your PC, lets you also see the complete name of an application.

6. Now type: product where name=”" call uninstall Note: Inside name”" you have to write the name of software you wish to uninstall i.e. Microsoft Silverlight

7. Here is a complete example of the above command: product where name=”Microsoft Silverlight” call uninstall

8. When prompted just press Y to uninstall the application.

This trick works for Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

Clean Up the "Open With" Option

When you right-click on a file, one of the menu options is Open With, which provides a list of programs for you to open the file with. This list changes according to the type of file you're clicking. Depending on the file type, the lists can get long, because programs frequently add themselves to this list when you install them. Making things worse, there are times when the listed programs aren't applicable. For example, do you really want to open a .bmp bitmap graphics file with Microsoft Word? I think not.

You can clean up the Open With list by using a Registry hack. Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts. Look for the file extension whose Open With list you want to edit and find its OpenWithList subkey-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.bmp\OpenWithList, for example. The subkey will have an alphabetical list of String values. Open each value and examine the value data. It will be the name of one of the programs on the Open With list (Winword.exe, for example). Delete any entry you don't want to appear. Don't delete the value data; delete the String value listing. In other words, if the value data for the a String value is Winword.exe, delete the entire string rather than just the value data. Exit the Registry.

Pages: 1, 2, 3

Hack #39: Surf Anonymously Without a Trace

Feel like someone is watching you? On the Web, they probably are. Protect your privacy by using anonymous proxy servers.

Whenever you surf the Web, you leave yourself open to being snooped upon by web sites. They can track your online travels, know what operating system and browser you're running, find out your machine name, peer into your clipboard, uncover the last sites you've visited, examine your history list, delve into your cache, examine your IP address and use that to learn basic information about you such as your geographic location, and more. To a great extent, your Internet life is an open book when you visit.

Don't believe me? Head to http://www.anonymizer.com/snoop/test_ip.shtml. This page, run by the Anonymizer.com web service, tells you what your IP address and machine name are. And that's just a start. Click on the links on the left side, such as "Exposed Clipboard" and "Geographical Location." You'll see just a small sampling of what web sites can learn about you. Figure 4-10 shows a web site reporting on my geographic location. It's close enough; I live in Cambridge rather than Boston, and we generally require that people turn over their passports at the border.

Figure 4-10. The Anonymizer.com web service, exposing my current geographic location

Much of the reason why web sites can find out this information about you is due to the trusting nature of the Internet's infrastructure and is inherent in the open client/server relationship between your web browser and the servers on the sites you visit. But a lot of it also has to do with the ability to match up information from your PC to information in publicly available databases-for example, databases that have information about IP addresses.

The best way to make sure web sites can't gather personal information about you and your computer is to surf anonymously; use an anonymous proxy server to sit between you and the web sites you visit. When you use an anonymous proxy server, your browser doesn't contact a web site directly. Instead, it tells a proxy server which web site you want to visit. The proxy server then contacts the web site, and when you get the web site's page you don't get it directly from the site. Instead, it's delivered to you by the proxy server. In that way, your browser never directly contacts the web server whose site you want to view. The web site sees the IP address of the proxy server, not your PC's IP address. It can't read your cookies, see your history list, or examine your clipboard and cache, because your PC is never in direct contact with it. You're able to surf anonymously, without a trace.

There are two primary ways to use anonymous proxy servers. You can run client software on your PC, which does the work of contacting the server for you, or you can instead visit a web site, which then does the work of contacting the server.

Web-Based Anonymizer

If you don't want to go to the hassle of installing a client-and if you don't want to pay for software-to surf anonymously, go to Anonymizer.com (http://www.anonymizer.com/). In the box near the top of the page, type the name of the site to which you want to surf, and you'll head there anonymously. The proxy server will grab the page for you, and you'll get the page from the

proxy server. You can also download a free version that runs as a toolbar in Internet Explorer. Surf as you would normally, and you'll visit those web sites directly. When you want to visit a site anonymously, click on a button and the anonymous proxy server will do the work for you.

A fuller version of the program is available on a subscription basis for $29.95 per year or $9.95 for three months. It blocks banner ads, stops pop ups, encrypts the URLs you type so that they can't be read by your ISP or network administrator, and adds a few other features as well. I don't find the extra features worth the money, but if these kinds of things are important to you, go ahead and spend the money. (To learn how to block pop-ups, turn to [Hack #33].)

WARNING: When you use this site, some sites will appear broken, with text and graphics displaying oddly. But it's a small price to pay for your privacy.

Get Software for Anonymous Surfing

If you prefer to install software, get Steganos Internet Anonym 5 (http://www.steganos.com/en/sia). In addition to anonymous proxy serving, it kills pop ups and manages cookies. You can try it for free, but if you want to keep it you'll have to pay $29.95.

Hack #44: Tweak DNS Settings for Faster Internet Access

A handful of DNS hacks for speeding up access to web sites.

You use the Web by typing in hostnames such as www.oreilly.com, but web servers and Internet routers can't understand plain English words, so they need those letters translated into numeric IP addresses. Whenever you type in a hostname, such as www.oreilly.com, it needs to be resolved to its IP address, such as 208.201.239.37. DNS servers provide that name resolution automatically and behind the scenes as you surf the Web.

There are several ways you can hack your DNS settings so that you can get faster web access.

Speed Up Web Access with a HOSTS File

It takes time to send your request to a DNS server, have the server look up the proper IP address to resolve the name, and then send the IP address back to your PC. You can eliminate that delay by creating or editing a local HOSTS file on your own PC that contains hostnames and their corresponding IP addresses. When you create one, XP will first look into the HOSTS file to see if there's an entry for the hostname, and, if it finds it, it will resolve the address itself. That way, you won't have to go out to a DNS server and wait for the response before visiting a web site. The HOSTS file is a plain text file you can create or edit with a text editor like Notepad.

You'll find an existing HOSTS file in C:\System32\Drivers\Etc\HOSTS. The file has no extension; it is named only HOSTS. Open it in Notepad and enter the IP addresses and hostnames of your commonly visited web sites, like this:

208.201.239.37 oreilly.com216.92131.107 simtel.net

Each entry in the file should be on one line. The IP address should be in the first column, and the corresponding hostname in the next column. At least one space should separate the two columns. You can add comments to the file by preceding the line with a #, in which case the entire line will be ignored by the file, or by putting a # after the hostname, in which case only the comment after will be ignored. You might want to comment on individual entries-for example:

130.94.155.164 gralla.com #still in beta

When you're finished editing the file, save it to its existing location.

WARNING: Make sure to check your HOSTS file regularly and keep it up to date, or else you may deny yourself access to certain web sites. For example, if the http://www.gralla.com/ web site were to change its IP address, but your HOSTS file kept the old, incorrect address, your browser would not be able to find the site, because it would be given the wrong addressing information.

Adjust XP's DNS Cache Settings

As a way of speeding up DNS, when you visit a site, XP puts the DNS information into a local DNS cache on your PC. So, when you want to go to a site, XP first looks in its local DNS cache, called the resolve cache, to see whether the DNS information is contained there. That way, if it finds the information locally, it doesn't have to query a remote DNS server to find IP information. The cache is made up of recently queried names and entries taken from your HOSTS file.

The cache contains both negative and positive entries. Positive entries are those in which the DNS lookup succeeded, and you were able to connect to the web site. When XP looks in the cache, if it finds a positive entry, it immediately uses that DNS information and sends you to the requested web site.

Negative entries are those in which no match was found, and you end up getting a "Cannot find server or DNS Error" in your browser. Similarly, when XP looks in the cache and finds a negative entry, it gives you the error message without bothering to go out to the site.

Negative entries can lead to problems. When you try to make a connection to a site that has a negative entry in your cache, you'll get an error message, even if the site's problems have been resolved and it's now reachable.

You can solve this problem, though, using a Registry hack. By default, XP caches negative entries for five minutes. After five minutes, they're cleared from your cache. But if you'd like,

you can force XP not to cache these negative entries, so that you'll never run into this problem. Run the Registry Editor [Hack #68] and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters. Create a new DWORD value with the name NegativeCacheTime and give it a value of 0. (The value may already exist. If it does, edit its value to 0.) The DWORD determines how much time, in seconds, to keep negative entries in the DNS cache. If you like, you can have the entries stay alive for one second by giving it a value of 1.

After you're done editing, exit the Registry. To make the change take effect, restart your computer, or flush your cache by issuing the command ipconfig /flushdns at a command prompt.

TIP: For more information about using ipconfig, see [Hack #52].

That command will flush your DNS cache-all the entries, both positive and negative, will be flushed, and it will be empty until you start visiting web sites. Negative entries, however, will not be added to the cache if you've given the DWORD a value of 0.

You can also use the Registry to control the amount of time that positive entries are kept in the DNS cache. By default, they are kept for 24 hours. To change the default, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters again and create a DWORD value called MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit. (If it's already present, just edit the value.) For the value, enter the amount of time you want the entry to remain, in seconds, making sure to use Decimal as the base.

Fix DNS Problems

Sometimes when you can't connect to a web site, the cause is a DNS problem. There are things you can do to solve these problems, though. If you're having trouble connecting, to find out if DNS is a potential culprit first ping [Hack #52] the site to which you can't connect, by issuing the ping command like this at the command prompt or Run box, like this:

ping www.zdnet.com

If the site is live, you'll get an answer like this:

Pinging www.zdnet.com [206.16.6.252] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 206.16.6.252: bytes=32 time=119ms TTL=242Reply from 206.16.6.252: bytes=32 time=79ms TTL=242Reply from 206.16.6.252: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=242Reply from 206.16.6.252: bytes=32 time=101ms TTL=242

Ping statistics for 206.16.6.252: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 79ms, Maximum = 119ms, Average = 94ms

If it's not, you'll get a response like this:

Ping request could not find host. Please check the name and try again.

If you ping a site and it's live, but you can't connect to it with your browser, a DNS problem might be the reason. If you suspect you're having a DNS problem, take the following actions:

Check your HOSTS file. If your HOSTS file contains an incorrect or outdated listing, you won't be able to connect. Even if you don't recall adding listings to a HOSTS file, it still may contain listings, because some Internet accelerator utilities edit them without telling you. Open your HOSTS file with Notepad and see if the site you can't connect to is listed there. If it is, delete the entry, and you should be able to connect.

Check your DNS settings. Make sure your DNS settings are correct for your ISP or network. Find out from your ISP or network administrator what yours are supposed to be. Then, to find out your current DNS settings, double-click on the problem connection in the Network Connections folder, choose Support → Details, look at the bottom of the tab to find your DNS servers. If they don't match what they're supposed to be, right-click on the problem connection and choose Properties. Then, highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and choose Properties. Change the DNS servers to the proper ones, or choose "Obtain DNS server address automatically" if your ISP or network administrator tells you to.

Flush your DNS cache. The problem may be related to your DNS cache, so flush it out. To flush the cache, type ipconfig /flushdns at a command prompt.

Find out if your ISP is having DNS problems. The cause may be your ISP. One possibility is that one of its DNS servers is down, and you're trying to access the down server. Ping each of your ISP's DNS servers and, if any of them don't respond, remove them from your DNS list, as outlined earlier in this hack.

Backup / Restore the Registry

To Backup/Restore the Windows Registry: Windows 9x For XP 2000 click here

1. If you are in MSDOS, at the C:\Windows prompt type 2. Attrib -s -r -h C:\Windows\System.dat (press Enter) 3. Attrib -s -r -h C:\Windows\User.dat (press Enter)

To make the backup copies type:

1. copy C:\Windows\System.dat C:\Windows\System.000 (press Enter) 2. copy C:\Windows\User.dat C:\Windows\user.000 (press Enter)

To Restore the Registry

1. copy C:\Windows\System.000 C:\Windows\System.dat (press Enter) 2. copy C:\Windows\User.000 C:\Windows\user.dat (press Enter)

Add Open With to all files

You can add "Open With..." to the Right click context menu of all files.This is great for when you have several programs you want to open the same file types with. I use three different text editors so I added it to the ".txt" key.

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell 3. Add a new Key named "OpenWith" by right clicking the "Shell" Key and selecting new 4. Set the (Default) to "Op&en With..." 5. Add a new Key named "Command" by right clicking the "OpenWith" Key and selecting new 6. Set the (Default) to "C:\Windows\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1", C:\ being your Windows drive. You must enter the "OpenAs_RunDLL %1" exactly this way.

Customize the System Tray

You can add your name or anything you like that consists of 8 characters or less. This will replace the AM or PM next to the system time. But you can corrupt some trial licenses of software that you may have downloaded.

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International 3. Add two new String values, "s1159" and "s2359" 4. Right click the new value name and modify. Enter anything you like up to 8 characters.

If you enter two different values when modifying, you can have the system tray display the two different values in the AM and PM.

Lock Out Unwanted Users

Want to keep people from accessing Windows, even as the default user? If you do not have a domain do not attempt this.

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon 3. Create a dword value "MustBeValidated" 4. Set the value to 1 This forced logon can be bypassed in Safe Mode on Windows 9x

Disable the Outlook Express Splash Screen

You can make OutLook Express load quicker by disabling the splash screen:

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\OutLook Express 3. Add a string value "NoSplash" 4. Set the value data to 1 as a Dword value

Multiple Columns For the Start Menu

To make Windows use multiple Start Menu Columns instead of a single scrolling column, like Windows 9x had, Also if you are using Classic Mode in XP

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Advanced 3. Create a string value "StartMenuScrollPrograms" 4. Right click the new string value and select modify 5. Set the value to "FALSE"

Changing Windows' Icons

You can change the Icons Windows uses for folders, the Start Menu, opened and closed folder in the Explorer, and many more.

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Shell Icons 3. Add a string value for each Icon you wish to change. Example: "3" ="C:\Windows\Icons\MyIcon.ico,0" This will change the closed folders in the Explorer to "MyIcon.ico". Here is a complete list for each value.

0= Unknown file type 1= MSN file types 2= Applications Generic 3= Closed Folder 4= Open Folder 5= 5.25" Drive 6= 3.25" Drive 7= Removable Drive 8= Hard Drive 9= NetWork Drive 10= Network Drive Offline 11= CD-ROM Drive 12= RAM Drive 13= Entire Network

14= Network Hub 15= My Computer 16= Printer 17= Network Neighborhood 18= Network Workgroup 19= Start Menu's Program Folders

20= Start Menu's Documents 21= Start Menu's Setting 22= Start Menu's Find 23= Start Menu's Help 24= Start Menu's Run 25= Start Menu's Suspend 26= Start Menu's PC Undock 27= Start Menu's Shutdown

28= Shared 29= Shortcut Arrow 30= (Unknown Overlay) 31= Recycle Bin Empty 32= Recycle Bin Full 33= Dial-up Network 34= DeskTop 35= Control Panel 36= Start Menu's Programs

37= Printer Folder 38= Fonts Folder 39= Taskbar Icon 40= Audio CD

You need to reboot after making changes. You may need to delete the hidden file ShellIconCache if after rebooting the desired Icons are not displayed.

Change Default Folder Locations

You can change or delete the Windows mandatory locations of folder like My Documents:

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Shell Folders 3. Change the desired folder location, My Documents is normally list as "Personal" 4. Open the Explorer and rename or create the folder you wish.

To change the desired location of the Program Files folder 1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion 2. Change the value of "ProgramFiles", or "ProgramFilesDir" Now when you install a new program it will default to the new location you have selected.

Change the Registered Change the User Information

You can change the Registered Owner or Registered Organization to anything you want even after Windows is installed.

1) Open RegEdit 2) Got toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion. 3) Change the value of "RegisteredOrganization" or "RegisteredOwner", to what ever you want

Opening a DOS Window to either the Drive or Directory in Explorer

Add the following Registry Keys for a Directory: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew @="Dos Prompt in that Directory"

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew\command @="command.com /k cd %1"

Add or Edit the following Registry Keys for a Drive: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\opennew @="Dos Prompt in that Drive"

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\opennew\command @="command.com /k cd %1"

These will allow you to right click on either the drive or the directory and the option of starting the dos prompt will pop up.

Changing Exchange/Outlook Mailbox Location

To change the location of your mailbox for Exchange: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem\ Profiles 3. Go to the profile you want to change 4. Go to the value name that has the file location for your mailbox (*.PST) file 5. Make the change to file location or name

To change the location of your mailbox for Outlook 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook (or Outlook Express if Outlook Express) 3. Go to the section "Store Root" 4. Make the change to file location

Add/Remove Sound Events from Control Panel

You can Add and delete sounds events in the Control Panel. In order to do that:

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Eventlabels. If this key does not exist you can create it and add events. 3. You can add/delete any items you want to or delete the ones you no longer want.

Adding an Application to the Right Click on Every Folder

Here is how to add any application to the Context Menu when you right click on any Folder. This way you do not have to always go to the Start Menu. When you right click on any folder, you can have access to that application, the same as using Sent To.

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell 3. Add a new Key to the "Shell" Key and name it anything you like. 4. Give it a default value that will appear when you right click a folder, i.e. NewKey (use an "&" without the quotes, in front of any character and it will allow you to use the keyboard) 5. Click on the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\NewKey 6. Add a New Key named Command 7. Set the (Default) value of the application you want to run 8. For example: c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe (Include the full path and parameters if you need them)

Adding Explore From Here to Every Folder

When you want to right click on any folder and want to open up an Explorer window of that folder.

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell 3. Add a new Key "RootExplore " under the "Shell" Key 4. Set the (Default) value to "E&xplore From Here " 5. Right Click the "RootExplore " Key and add a new Key "Command"to the RootExplore 6. Set the (Default) value of Explorer.exe /e,/root,/idlist,%i

Changing the Location of Windows' Installation Files

If you need to change the drive and or path where Windows looks for its installation files: 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Setup 3.Edit the value next to SourcePath

Creating a Logon Banner

If you want to create a  Logon Banner: A message box to appear below your logon on.

1.Open RegEdit 2.Go To For Windows 9x and ME -HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

For Windows 2000 XP 2003 Vista - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

3.Create a new String value"LegalNoticeCaption " 4. Enter the Title of the window. What is displayed in the Title Bar. 5. Create a new string value "LegalNoticeText" 6. Enter the text for your message box that will appear even before the Logon window.

Creating a Default File Opener

If you have a un-registered file type and want to view it instead of having to select Open With. Use Explorer's Right-click and add your program to the right-click options by: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\Shell 3. Right click on "Shell" and create a New Key and name it "Open " 4. Create a New Key under the "Open" key you just created and name it "Command" 5. Set the (Default) value to the path and filename of the program you want to use to open the file type 6. For example: C:\Windows\NOTEPAD.EXE %1 You must use the "%1" for this to work.and a space between the exe and the %1

Deleting Registry Keys from the Command Line

There are two ways to delete a key from the Registry from the Command line. At the Windows Command line:

RegEdit /l location of System.dat /R location of User.dat /D Registry key to delete You cannot be in Windows at the time you use this switch.

Or you can create a reg file as such: REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\the key you want to delete] Note the negative sign just behind the[Then at the Command line type: 1. RegEdit C:\Windows\(name of the regfile).

Change/Add Restrictions And Features

If you want to make restrictions to what users can do or use on their computer without having to run Poledit, you can edit the Registry. You can add and delete Windows features in this Key shown below.

Zero is Off and the value 1 is On. Example: to Save Windows settings add or modify the value name NoSaveSettings to 0, if set to1 Windows will not save settings. And NoDeletePrinter set to 1 will prevent the user from deleting a printer.

The same key shows up at: HKEY_USERS\(yourprofilename)\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer so change it there also if you are using different profiles.

1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ CurrentVersion\ Policies 3.Go to the Explorer Key (Additional keys that can be created under Policies are System, Explorer, Network   and WinOldApp ) 4.You can then add DWORD or binary values set to 1 in the appropriate keys for ON and 0 for off. NoDeletePrinter - Disables Deletion of Printers NoAddPrinter - Disables Addition of Printers NoRun - Disables Run Command NoSetFolders - Removes Folders from Settings on Start Menu NoSetTaskbar - Removes Taskbar from Settings on Start Menu NoFind - Removes the Find Command NoDrives - Hides Drives in My Computers NoNetHood - Hides the Network Neighborhood NoDesktop - Hides all icons on the Desktop

NoClose - Disables Shutdown NoSaveSettings - Don't save settings on exit DisableRegistryTools - Disable Registry Editing Tools NoRecentDocsMenu - Hides the Documents shortcut at the Start button NoRecentDocsHistory- Clears history of Documents NoFileMenu _ Hides the Files Menu in Explorer NoActiveDesktop - No Active Desktop NoActiveDesktopChanges- No changes allowed NoInternetIcon - No Internet Explorer Icon on the Desktop NoFavoritesMenu - Hides the Favorites menu NoChangeStartMenu _ Disables changes to the Start Menu NoFolderOptions _ Hides the Folder Options in the Explorer ClearRecentDocsOnExit - Empty the recent Docs folder on reboot NoLogoff - Hides the Log Off .... in the Start Menu

And here are a few more you can play with ShowInfoTip NoTrayContextMenu NoStartMenuSubFolders NoWindowsUpdate NoViewContextMenu EnforceShellExtensionSecurity LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo NoDriveTypeAutoRun NoStartBanner NoSetActiveDesktop EditLevel NoNetConnectDisconnect RestrictRun - Disables all exe programs except those listed in the RestrictRun subkey This key has many other available keys, there is one to even hide the taskbar, one to hide the control panel and more. I'm not telling you how, as someone may want to play a trick on you. The policies key has a great deal of control over how and what program can run and how one can access what feature.

In the System key you can enter: NoDispCPL - Disable Display Control Panel NoDispBackgroundPage - Hide Background Page NoDispScrSavPage - Hide Screen Saver Page NoDispAppearancePage - Hide Appearance Page NoDispSettingsPage - Hide Settings Page NoSecCPL - Disable Password Control Panel NoPwdPage - Hide Password Change Page NoAdminPage - Hide Remote Administration Page NoProfilePage - Hide User Profiles Page NoDevMgrPage - Hide Device Manager Page NoConfigPage - Hide Hardware Profiles Page

NoFileSysPage - Hide File System Button NoVirtMemPage - Hide Virtual Memory Button

In the Network key you can enter: NoNetSetup - Disable the Network Control Panel NoNetSetupIDPage - Hide Identification Page NoNetSetupSecurityPage - Hide Access Control Page NoFileSharingControl - Disable File Sharing Controls NoPrintSharing - Disable Print Sharing Controls

In the WinOldApp key you can enter: Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS

Automatic Screen Refresh

When you make changes to your file system and use Explorer, the changes are not usually displayed until you press the F5 key To refresh automatically: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update 3. Set the value name "UpdateMode" to 1

Disable Password Caching

To disable password caching, which allows for the single Network login and eliminates the secondary Windows logon screen. Either use the same password or:

1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to the keyHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Network 3. Add a Dword value "DisablePwdCaching" and set the value to 1

Changing the MaxMTU for faster Downloads

There are four Internet settings that can be configured, you can get greater throughput (faster Internet downloads) by modifying a few settings. They are the MaxMTU, MaxMSS and DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL

1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlset\ Services\ Class\ net\ 000x (where x is your particular network adapter binding.) 3.Right click on the right panel

4.Select New\String Value and create the value name IPMTU 5.Double click on it and enter then the number you want. The usual change is to 576 6.Similarly, you can add IPMSS and give it a value of 536

(Windows 9X)You can set DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL by adding these string values to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlset\ Services\ VXD\ MSTCP Set the DefaultRcvWindow to"5840"and the DefaultTTL to "128"

Note: These settings will slow down your network access speed slightly, but you will probably not even see the difference if you are using a network card. If you are using Direct Cable you should see a sight difference.

Adding Items to the Start Button

To add items when you right-click on the Start Button: 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell 3.Right-click on Shell and select New Key 4.Type in the name of the key and press the Enter key 5.In the Default name that shows in the right hand panel, you can add a title with a "&" character in front of the letter for a shortcut 6.Right-click on the key you just created and create another key under it called command 7.For the value of this command, enter the full path and program you want to execute 8.Now when you right click on the Start Button, your new program will be there. 9.For example, if you want Word to be added, you would add that as the first key, the default in the right panel would be &Word so when you right click on the Start Button, the W would be the Hot Key on your keyboard. The value of the key would be C:\Program Files\Office\Winword\Winword.exe

Remove Open, Explore & Find from Start Button

When you right click on the Start Button, you can select Open, Explore or Find. Open shows your Programs folder. Explore starts the Explorer and allows access to all drives. Find allows you to search and then run programs. In certain situations you might want to disable this feature. To remove them: 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\Find 3.Delete Find 4.Scroll down below Directory to Folder 5.Expand this section under shell 6.Delete Explore and Open Caution: - When you remove Open, you cannot open any folders.

Removing Items from NEW Context Menu

When you right-click on the desktop and select New, or use the File Menu item in the Explore and select New a list of default templates you can open up are listed. To remove items from that list: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Do a Search for the string ShellNew in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Hive 3. Delete the ShellNew command key for the items you want to remove.

Changing Telnet Window

You can view more data if you increase the line count of Telnet. By Default it has a window size of 25 lines. To increase this so you can scroll back and look at a larger number on lines: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Telnet 3. Modify the value data of "Rows"

 Changing the Tips of the Day

You can edit the Tips of the day in the Registry by going to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ explorer\ Tips

Disabling Drives in My Computer

To turn off the display of local or networked drives when you click on My Computer: 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer 3.Add a New DWORD item and name it NoDrives 4.Give it a value of 3FFFFFF 5.Now when you click on My Computer, none of your drives will show.

Changing the caption on the Title Bar

Change the Caption on the Title Bar for OutLook Express or the Internet Explorer: For Outlook Express: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\OutLook ExpressFor IE5 and up use:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\IDENTITIES \{9DDDACCO-38F2-11D6-93CA-812B1F3493B}\ SOFTWARE\ MICROSOFT\ OUTLOOK EXPRESS\5.03. Add a string value "WindowTitle" (no space) 4. Modify the value to what ever you like.

For no splash screen, add a dword value "NoSplash" set to 1The Key {9DDDACCO-38F2-11D6-93CA-812B1F3493B} can be any key you find here. Each

user has his own Key number.The Key 5.0 is whatever version of IE you have

For Internet Explorer: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main 3. Add a string value "Window Title" (use a space) 4. Modify the value to what ever you like.

Disabling the Right-Click on the Start Button

Normally, when you right button click on the Start button, it allows you to open your programs folder, the Explorer and run Find. In situations where you don't want to allow users to be able to do this in order to secure your computer. 1.Open RegEdit 2.Search for Desktop 3.This should bring you to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory 4.Expand this section 5.Under Shell is Find 6.Delete Find 7.Move down a little in the Registry to Folder 8.Expand this section and remove Explore and Open Now when you right click on the Start button, nothing should happen. You can delete only those items that you need. Note: - On Microsoft keyboards, this also disables the Window-E (for Explorer) and Window-F (for Find) keys. See the section on Installation in the RESKIT to see how to do this automatically during an install.

Disabling My Computer

In areas where you are trying to restrict what users can do on the computer, it might be beneficial to disable the ability to click on My Computer and have access to the drives, control panel etc. To disable this: 1.Open RegEdit 2.Search for 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D 3.This should bring you to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID section 4.Delete the entire section. Now when you click on My Computer, nothing will happen. You might want to export this section to a Registry file before deleting it just in case you want to enable it again. Or you can rename it to 20D0HideMyComputer4FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D. You can also hide all the Desktop Icons, see Change/Add restrictions.

Opening Explorer from My Computer

By default, when you click on the My Computer icon, you get a display of all your drives, the Control Panel etc. If you would like to have this open the Explorer: 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\ Shell 3 . Add a new Key named "Open" if it does not exists by right clicking "Shell" and selecting new. 4. . Add a new Key named "Command" by right clicking "Open" and selecting new 5. Set the (Default) value for the Command Key to "Explorer.exe" or "C:\Windows\Explorer.exe"

Recycle Bin Edits

Fooling with the recycle bin. Why not make the icon context menu act like other icon context menus. Add rename to the menu: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ ShellFolder

"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20 Add delete to the menu: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ ShellFolder

"Attributes"=hex:60,01,00,20 Add rename and delete to the menu: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} \ShellFolder

"Attributes"=hex:70,01,00,20 Restore the recycle bin to Windows defaults including un-deleting the icon after deletion: Restore the icon. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows \CurrentVersion\ explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} @="Recycle Bin" Reset Windows defaults. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} \ShellFolder

"Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20 Other edits to the recycle bin icon: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ ShellFolder

"Attributes"=hex:40,01,01,20 ... standard shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,02,20 ... a different shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,04,20 ... and still another shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,08,20 ... make it look disabled (like it's been cut) 

For Windows XP and 2000 also edit HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

For Windows ME also edit HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\ Classes\ CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Setting the Minimum Password Length

1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Network 3. Now, choose the Edit/New/Binary value command and call the new value MinPwdLen. Press Enter twice and Assign it a value equal to your minimum password length.

Add\delete programs to run every time Windows starts

You can start or stop programs from executing at boot up by adding or deleting them to/from the run Keys in the Registry. Windows loads programs to start in the following order; Program listed in the Local Machine hive, then the Current User hive, then theWin.ini Run= and Load = lines. then finally programs in your Start Up folder.

To add or remove programs in the Registry 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to the desired Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion \Run HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion \RunServices HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion \Run HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion \RunServices 3. Add a new String Value and name it anything you like 4. For the value data, enter the path and executable for the program you want to run.

By adding the value to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive instead allows the program to start only when that user is logged on.

If you add the value to the RunOnce key the program will run once and be removed from the key by Windows.

Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows

1.Open RegEdit 2.Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT 3.Open the Key LNKFILE 4.Delete the value IsShortcut 5.Open the next Key PIFFILE 6.Delete the value IsShortcut 7.Restart the Windows

Turn Off Window Animation

You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize Windows. 1. Open RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control panel \Desktop\ WindowMetrics 3. Create a new string value "MinAnimate". 4. Set the value data of 0 for Off or 1 for On

Changing your Modem's Initialization String

1.Open RegEdit 2.Go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet \Services \Class \Modem \0000 \Init 3.Change the settings to the new values

Increasing the Modem Timeout

If your modem it is timing out during file transfers or loading Web Pages, you might try increasing the timeout period. To change the Time Out:: 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\ Services\ Class\ Modem\ XXXX\ Settings Where XXXX is the number of your modem 3. In the right panel and double click on Inactivity Timeout 4.The number of minutes for a timeout should be entered between the brackets. 5.For example, a setting could have S19=<10> to set it to 10 minutes.

Removing Programs from Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section

If you uninstalled a program by deleting the files, it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list in the Control Panel. In order to remove it from the list. 1.Open RegEdit 2.Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Uninstall 3.Delete any programs here. If you have a problem locating the desired program open each key and view the DisplayName value

The Fix for Grayed Out Boxes

The File Types tab in Explorer's View / Options menu lets you edit most of your file types, but certain settings cannot be changed. The default action for a batch file, for instance, runs the batch file instead of opening it via Notepad or Wordpad. Thus, when you double-click on AUTOEXEC.BAT, a DOS window opens, and the file executes. If you want to change this default action and edit a batch file when you double-click on it, however, the File Types tab does not let you do so; the Set Default button for the file type called MS-DOS Batch File is always grayed out.

The button is grayed out because HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT's batfile key contains an EditFlag value entry. Such entries are used throughout the Registry to prevent novice users from altering certain system settings. The binary data in batfile's EditFlag reads d0 04 00 00. If you change this value to 00 00 00 00, you can then change any of the batch file settings. Do not, however, indiscriminately zero out EditFlag; if you do so in a system ProgID such as Drive or AudioCD, it completely disappears from the File Types list. For ProgIDs that are linked to extensions, set all EditFlags to 00 00 00 00. For system ProgIDs, replace EditFlag data with 02 00 00 00.

If you wish to have access to some buttons while leaving others grayed out, you must know the function of each EditFlag bit. The last two bytes of data are always zero, but most bits within the first two bytes have a specific effect:

Byte 1, bit 1: Removes the file type from the master list in the File Types tab (select View / Options under Explorer) if it has an associated extension.

Byte 1, bit 2: Adds the file type to the File Types tab if it does not have an associated extension. Byte 1, bit 3: Identifies a type with no associated extension. Byte 1, bit 4: Grays out the Edit button in the File Types tab. Byte 1, bit 5: Grays out the Remove button in the File Types tab. Byte 1, bit 6: Grays out the New button in the Edit File Type dialog (select the Edit button in the

File Types tab). Byte 1, bit 7: Grays out the Edit button in the Edit File Type dialog. Byte 1, bit 8: Grays out the Remove button in the Edit File Type dialog. Byte 2, bit 1: Prevents you from editing a file type's description in the Edit File Type dialog. Byte 2, bit 2: Grays out the Change Icon button in the Edit File Type dialog. Byte 2, bit 3: Grays out the SetDefault button in the Edit File Type dialog. Byte 2, bit 4: Prevents you from editing an action's description in the Edit Action dialog (select

the Edit button in the Edit File Type dialog). Byte 2, bit 5: Prevents you from editing the command line in the Edit Action dialog. Byte 2, bit 6: Prevents you from setting DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) fields in the Edit Action

dialog.

The EditFlags value for Drive, for instance, is d2 01 00 00 in Hex (1101 0010 0000 0001 in binary). Bits 2, 5, 7, and 8 are on in byte 1, and bit 1 is on in byte 2. The EditFlag for batfile is d0 04 00 00 in Hex or 1101 0000 0000 0100 in binary. In this case, bits 5, 7, and 8 are on in byte 1, and bit 3 is on in byte 2.

Bits 4, 5, and 6 of byte 2 apply only to actions that are protected. EditFlags with action keys (such as HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\open) determine protection. If byte 1, bit 1 of such an EditFlag is 0 (or if there is no EditFlag), then the action is protected. If byte 1, bit 1 is 1, then the action is unprotected.

Protection on system files

To enable protection on system files such as the KnownDLLs list, add the  following value;

1. Open RegEdit 2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\ Control\ SessionManager

3. Create the a Dword value and name it "ProtectionMode " 4. Set the Value to1

 

 

Desktop Context Menu

By default, when a user right clicks on the desktop in Windows XP a context menu is displayed. Implementing the Enable/Disable Desktop Context Menu edit will remove the ability to display a context menu by right clicking the desktop, items on the desktop, and items in Windows Explorer. It does not disable context menus in Internet Explorer. This registry edit can be set either on a user or machine basis.

To Enable/Disable for Current User

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]Registry Key :  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\

Policies\ExplorerModify/Create the Value Data Type (s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.

Data Type: DWORD // Value Name: NoViewContextMenuSetting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry and Reboot

To Enable/Disable for Local Machine

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\policies\ExplorerModify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.

Data Type: DWORD // Value Name: NoViewContextMenuSetting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry and Reboot