How to Protect Firewall
________________________________________
What is a Firewall?
A firewall is a tool that monitors communication to and from your computer. It sits between your computer and the rest of the network, and according to some criteria, it decides which communication to allow, and which communication to block. It may also use some other criteria to decide about which communication or communication request to report to you (either by adding the information to a log file that you may browse whenever you wish, or in an alert message on the screen), and what not to report.
What Is It Good For?
Identifying and blocking remote access Trojans. Perhaps the most common way to break into a home computer and gain control, is by using a remote access Trojan (RAT). (sometimes it is called "backdoor Trojan" or "backdoor program". Many people simply call it a "Trojan horse" although the term "Trojan horse" is much more generic). A Trojan horse, is a program that claims to do something really innocent, but in fact does something much less innocent. This goes to the days where the Greek soldiers succeeded to enter through the gates of Troy by building a big wooden horse, and giving it as a present to the king of Troy. The soldiers allowed the sculpture to enter through their gates, and then at night, when the soldiers were busy guarding against an outside attack, many Greek soldiers who were hiding inside the horse went out and attacked Troy from the inside. This story, which may or may not be true, is an example of something which looks like something innocent and is used for some less innocent purpose. The same thing happens in computers. You may sometimes get some program, via ICQ, or via Usenet, or via IRC, and believe this program to be something good, while in fact running it will do something less nice to your computer. Such programs are called Trojan horses. It is accepted to say that the difference between a Trojan horse and a virus, is that a virus has the ability to self-replicate and to distribute itself, while a Trojan horse lacks this ability. A special type of Trojan horses, is RATs (Remote Access Trojans, some say "remote admin Trojans"). These Trojans once executed in the victim's computer, start to listen to incoming communication from a remote matching program that the attacker uses. When they get instructions from the remote program, they act accordingly, and thus let the user of the remote program to execute commands on the victim's computer. To name a few famous RATs, the most common are Netbus, Back-Orifice, and SubSeven (which is also known as Backdoor-G). In order for the attacker to use this method, your computer must first be infected by a RAT.
Prevention of infections by RATs is no different than prevention of infection by viruses. Antivirus programs can identify and remove most of the more common RATs. Personal firewalls can identify and block remote communication efforts to the more common RATs and by thus blocking the attacker, and identifying the RAT.
Blocking/Identifying Other Types of Trojans and Worms?
There are many other types of Trojan horses which may try to communicate with the outside from your computer. Whether they are e-mail worms trying to distribute themselves using their own SMTP engine, or they might be password stealers, or anything else. Many of them can be identified and blocked by a personal firewall.
Identifying/Blocking Spyware's/Adbots?
The term "spyware" is a slang which is not well defined. It is commonly used mainly for various adware (and adware is a program that is supported by presenting advertisements to the user), and that during their installation process, they install an independent program which we shall call "adbot". The adbot runs independently even if the hosting adware is not running, and it maintains the advertisements, downloads them from the remote server, and provides information to the remote server. The adbot is usually hidden. There are many companies that offer adbots, and advertisements services to adware. The information that the adbots deliver to their servers from the computer where the adbot is installed, is "how much time each advertisement is shown, which was the hosting adware, and whether the user clicked on the advertisement. This is important so that the advertisements server will be able to know how much money to get from each of the advertised companies, and how much from it to deliver to each of the adware maintainers. Some of the adbots also collect other information in order to better choose the advertisements to the users. The term "spyware" is more generic, but most of the spyware fall into this category. Many types of adbots can be identified and blocked by personal firewalls.
Blocking Advertisements?
Some of the better personal firewalls can be set to block communication with specific sites. This can be used in order to prevent downloading of advertisements in web pages, and thus to accelerate the download process of the web sites. This is not a very common use of a personal firewall, though.
Preventing Communication to Tracking Sites?
Some web pages contain references to tracking sites. e.g. instruct the web browser to download a small picture (sometimes invisible) from tracking sites. Sometimes, the pictures are visible and provide some statistics about the site. Those tracking sites will try to save a small text either as a small file in a special directory, or as a line in a special file (depending on what is your browser), and your browser will usually allow the saving site to read the text that it saved on your computer. This is called "web cookies" or sometimes simply "cookies". Cookies allow a web site to keep information that it saved some time when you entered it, to be read whenever you enter the site again. This allow the web site to customize itself for you, and to keep track on everything that you did on that site. It does not have to keep that information on your computer. All it has to save on your computer is a unique identifying number, and then it can keep in the server's side information regarding what has been done by the browser that used that cookie. Yet, by this method, a web site can get only information regarding your visits in it. Some sites such as "doubleclick" or "hitbox" can collect information from various affiliated sites, by putting a small reference in the affiliated pages to some picture on their servers. When you enter one of the affiliated web pages, your browser will communicate with the tracking site, and this will allow the tracking site to put or to read a cookie that identifies your computer uniquely, and it can also know what was the web page that referred to it, and any other information that the affiliated web site wanted to deliver to the tracking site. This way tracking sites can correlate information from many affiliated sites, to build information that for example will allow them to better customize the advertisements that are put on those sites when you browse them.
Some personal firewalls can be set to block communication to tracking sites. It is not a common use of a personal firewall, though, and a personal firewall is not the best tool for that, but if you already have one, this is yet another possible use of it.
Blocking or Limiting the NetBIOS Communication? (as well as other default services)
The two common methods of intruders to break into home computers, are through a RAT (which was discussed in II.3a) and through the NetBIOS communication. The NetBIOS is a standard for naming computers in small networks, developed long ago by IBM and Microsoft. There are a few communication standards which are used in relation to the NetBIOS. The ones that are relevant for Microsoft Windows operating systems, are: NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP), IPX/SPX, and NetBEUI. The communication standard which is used over the Internet, is NBT. If it is enabled, and there is no firewall or something else in the middle, it means that your computer is listening for communications over the Internet via this standard, and will react according to the different NBT commands that it gets from the remote programs. It is thus that the NBT (which sometimes loosely called "NetBIOS") is acting as a server. So the next question should be "what remote NBT commands the NBT server will do on the local computer". The answer to this question depends on the specific setting on your computer. You may set your computer to allow file and print sharing. If also NBT is enabled, it means that you allow remote users to share your files or printers. This is a big problem. It is true that in principle the remote user has to know your password for that computer, but many users do not set a password for their user on Windows, or set a trivial password. Older versions of Win95 had file and print sharing over NetBIOS enabled by default. On Win98, and WinMe it was disabled by default, but many technicians, when they set a home network, they enable the file and print sharing, without being aware that it influences also the authorizations of a remote Internet user. There are even worms and viruses who use the File sharing option to spread in the Internet. Anyway, no matter whether you need it for some reason or just are not aware of it, a personal firewall can identify and block any external effort to communicate with the NetBIOS server on your computer. The more flexible personal firewalls can be set to restrict the authorization to communicate with the NetBIOS. Some Windows operating systems, especially those which are not meant for home uses, offer other public services by default, such as RPC. A firewall can identify communication efforts to them, and block them. Since such services listen to remote communications, there is a potential risk when there are efforts to exploit security holes in the programs that offer the services, if there are such security holes. A firewall may block or limit the communication to those services.
Hiding Your Computer on the Internet?
Without a firewall, on a typical computer, even if well maintained, a remote person will still be able to know that the communication effort has reached some computer, and perhaps some information about the operating system on that computer. If that computer is handled well, the remote user will not be able to get much more information from your computer, but might still be able to identify also who your ISP is, and might decide to invest further time in cracking into your computer.
With a firewall, you can set the firewall so that any communication effort from remote users (in the better firewalls you may define an exception list) will not be responded at all. This way the remote user will not be able to even know that it reached a live computer. This might discourage the remote attacker from investing further time in effort to crack into your computer.
The Non-Firewall Defenses
We've discussed a few situations where a personal firewall can provide defense. Yet, in many cases a computer maintainer can deal with those situations even without a firewall. Those "alternative" defenses, in many cases are recommended regardless of whether you use a firewall or not.
Remote Access Trojans?
The best way to defend against remote access Trojans (RATs) is to prevent them from being installed in the first place on your computer. A RAT should first infect your computer in order to start to listen to remote communication efforts. The infection techniques are very similar to the infection techniques that viruses use, and hence the defense against Trojan horses is similar to the defense against viruses. Trojan horses do not distribute themselves (although they might be companions of another Internet worm or virus that distributes them. Yet, because in most cases they do not distribute themselves, it is likely that you will get them from anonymous sources, such as instant messengers, Kazaa, IRC, or a newsgroup. adopting a suspicious policy regarding downloads from such places, will save you not only from viruses but also from getting infected with Trojan horses, including RATs. Because Trojan horses are similar in some ways to viruses, almost all antivirus programs can identify, block from being installed, and remove most of the Trojan horses, including all the common ones. There are also some programs (sometimes called antiTrojan programs) which specialize in the identification and removal of Trojan horses. For a list of those programs, and for comparison on how well different antivirus, and antiTrojan programs identify different Trojan horses, see Hackfix ([url=http://www.hackfix.org]hackfix.org[/url]), under "Software test results". Hackfix also has information on the more common RATS (such as the Netbus and the Subseven) and on how to remove them manually. There are some tools and web sites, such port scanners, and some ways with a use of more generic tools such as telnet, msconfig, and netstat, which may help you to identify a RAT.
Other types of Trojans and worms?
Also here your main interest should be to prevent them from infecting your computer in the first place, rather than blocking their communication. A good antivirus and a good policy regarding the prevention of virus infections, should be the first and most important defense.
Spyware and Adbots?
The term spyware is sometimes misleading. In my view, it is the responsibility of the adware developer to present the fact that the adware installation will install or use an independent adbots, and to provide the information on how this adbot communicates, and which information it delivers, in a fair place and manner before the adware is installed. It is also a responsibility to provide this information in their web sites, so that people will be aware of that before they even download the software. Yet, in general, those adbots do not pose any security threat, and in many cases also their privacy threat is negligible for many people (e.g. the computer with adbot number 1127533 has been exposed to advertisements a, b, c, such and such times, while using adware x, while on computer with adbot number 1127534 has been exposed to advertisements a,d, and e, such amount of time, with the use of adware y, and clicked on ads number d). It should be fully legitimate for software developers to offer an advertisement supported programs, and it is up to the user to decide whether the use of the program worth the ads and the adbot, or not. Preventing adbot from communicating is generally not a moral thing. If you decide to use an adware, you should pay the price of letting the adbot work. If you don't want it, please remove the adware, and only if for some reason the adbot continue to work even if no hosting adware that uses it is installed, you may remove the adbot. Anyway, there are some very useful tools to identify whether a program is a "spyware", or whether a "spyware" is installed on your computer, and you are certainly entitled to this information. Two useful programs are "AdAware" which identifies "spyware" components on your computer and allows you to remove them, and Ad-Search which allows you to provide a name of a program, and it tells you whether this program is a "spyware" and which adbot it uses. It is useful to assist you in choosing whether to install a program or not. You may find those programs in [url=http://www.lavasoft.nu]Ad-Aware by Lavasoft - Antivirus software, free spyware removal, firewall[/url] (or, if it doesn't work, you may try [url=http://www.lavasoftusa.com]Ad-Aware by Lavasoft - Antivirus software, free spyware removal, firewall[/url]). Those programs are useful, mainly because many adware developers are not fair enough to present this information in a fair manner. AdAware allows you to also remove those adbot components from your computer. This might, however, terminate your license to use the hosting adware programs, and might even cause them to stop functioning. A website which offers to check whether a specific program that you wish to install is "spyware" or not, is [url=http://www.spychecker.com]Spychecker - download spyware removal and Internet privacy tools[/url] .
Blocking Advertisements
Leaving aside the moral aspect of blocking advertisements, a personal firewall is not the best tool for that anyway. This is not the main purpose of a firewall, and neither its main strength. Some of them can block some of the advertisements from being downloaded, if you know how to configure them for that. Yet, there are better tools for that, such as Proxomitron ([url]http://www.proxomitron.org[/url]), CookieCop 2 (search for the word cookiecop on [url=http://www.pcmag.com]PC Magazine - Computer, Software, Hardware and Electronics Reviews, Downloads, News and Opinion[/url]), or Naviscope ([url=http://www.naviscope.com]Naviscope..clean up your computer...download Naviscope[/url]), and there are many other programs as well. You may check for other alternatives, e.g. in Tucows ([url]http://www.tucows.com/adkiller95.html[/url]).
Blocking Tracking Sites?
Also here, a personal firewall is not the best tool for that, and there are other tools and ways which are more effective. These are cookie utilities. Since a tracking site uses a cookie to identify and relate the information gathered to the same person (or computer), by preventing the cookie from being installed. The tracking site will lose its ability to track things. There are plenty of cookie management utilities. Some of them are freeware, and some are not. CookieCop which was mentioned in the former section is one of them. WebWasher ([url=http://www.webwasher.com]McAfee Web Gateway[/url]) is another recommended one, and there are plenty of other alternatives such as cookie-crusher, cookie-pal, pop-up killer, etc. You may search for other alternatives, in Tucows ([url]http://www.tucows.com/cookie95.html[/url]).
NetBIOS and Other Services?
The NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) which is sometimes loosely called "NetBIOS", is a service which has some security problems with it. It is enabled by default in Windows default installations, and it is very common to see that a firewall does the job of preventing the efforts to get access to your computer via NBT. Yet, in almost all cases, this service is not needed, and thus can be disabled. To disable NBT in Win95/98/ME is not as simple as it is in Win2K/XP, but can still be done reliably. We explain how to do this in another article (#to be written soon). It is needless to say, that if NBT is disabled, there is no need for a firewall to block communication to it. Also, in the case of other services, such as RPC services, and others, in many cases you simply don't need those services and better disable them from within Windows rather than use the firewall to block them. There are various ways to know which services are running on your computer, and which of them are listening for communications from the outside. If there are ones that you don't need, they should be disabled.
Hiding the Computer?
In web sites of many personal firewall companies, they are putting a lot of weight on the ability of their firewall to hide the computer on the Internet. Yet, exposing your home computer on the Internet is by itself, neither a security nor a privacy threat. If you provide some services to the Internet on your computer, for example, you put a web server on your computer to allow other people to view web pages, then you might get rid of some of the crackers, by setting your firewall to unhide only this type of communications. Some attackers will not make a full scan of your computer, but only a partial scan, and if they did not scan for the specific service that you provided, they will not see your computer. Yet, if the service is a common one, there is a good chance for many of them to scan it and thus find the existence of your computer. If they "see" the existence of your computer, they might decide to scan it further, and find out the services you are providing, and scan it for security holes to use. Yet, there is no much meaning to it when we speak about simple home computers.
What a Firewall Cannot Do!
Another misconception about personal firewalls is that they are incorrectly thought as if they claim to give an overall protection against "hackers" (i.e. intrusions). They are not.
Defense Against Exploitation of Security Holes
A firewall can allow or deny access to your computer or from your computer according to the type of communication, its source and destination, and according to the question which program on your computer is handling the communication. Yet, its ability to understand the details of the communication is very limited. For example, you may set the firewall to allow or to deny your e-mail program from getting and/or sending messages. It may allow or deny your web browser from browsing the Internet. But if you allowed your e-mail program to communicate with the e-mail servers for sending and receiving messages, (and you are likely to allow it if you want to use your e-mail program), or if you set the firewall to allow your web browser to communicate with web sites, the firewall will not be able to understand the content of the communication much further, and if your web browser has a security hole, and some remote site will try to exploit it, your firewall will not be able to make a distinction between the communication that exploits the security hole, and legitimate communication. The same principle goes with e-mail program. A personal firewall may block you from receiving or sending e-mail messages, but if you allowed it to receive messages, the personal firewall will not make a distinction between a legitimate message and a non-legitimate one (such as a one that carries a virus or a Trojan horse). Security holes in legitimate programs can be exploited and a personal firewall can do practically nothing about it.
I should comment, however, that some personal firewalls come combined with some Trojan horse detection, or intrusion detection. This is not part of the classical definition of a firewall, but it might be useful. Such tasks are usually taken by other tools such as antivirus programs or antiTrojan programs.
Tricks to Bypass or Disable Personal Firewalls
There are also various ways to disable, or bypass personal firewalls. During the time a few tricks to bypass or disable were demonstrated by various programs. Especially, tricks for an internal program to communicate with the outside bypassing or tricking the firewall. For some of them such as the one demonstrated by the Leaktest, and in which a non-legitimate program disguises itself as Internet Explorer, practically today, all personal firewalls are immuned. For other tricks, such as a one demonstrated by Outbound, which uses some non-standard type of communication directly to the network adapters bypassing the components of the operating system which are suppose to deal with Internet communication, and by that bypassing the firewall, are only now being patched against by the various firewalls, and yet other methods, such as the one demonstrated by Tooleaky, which uses Internet Explorer as a messenger to communicate with the outside, and is thus identified as a mere legitimate browsing, are still waiting for most of the personal firewall to find a fix.
Firewalls CANNOT Decide for You What is a Legitimate Communication and What is Not
One of the main problems with personal firewalls, is that you cannot simply install them and forget them, counting on them to do their job. They can deny or permit various types of communications according to some criteria, but what is this criteria, and who decides what is the criteria for whether they should permit or deny some communication?
The answer, is that it is the computer user's job to define the exact criteria when the firewall should allow a communication and when it should block it. The firewall may make it easier for you, but it should not take the decisions. There are too many programs, too many versions, and it is not possible for the firewall to decide accurately when a communication is legitimate and when it is not. One person might think that it is legitimate for some program to deliver some information to the outside in order to get some service, while another will think that it is not. One version of a program might communicate with its home server in order to check whether there is an upgrade, and another version might also install the upgrade even if you do not wish. Some firewalls will try to identify communication efforts which are largely considered as legitimate, and will let you the information so that it will be easier for you to decide whether such should be allowed. Others will suffice with more basic information, making no suggestions (and thus - no incorrect recommendations). One way or another, once you installed a firewall, you will have better means to understand what types of communications are running on your computer, but you will also have to understand them in order to be able to configure your firewall so that it will correctly know which communications to allow and which to block.
Common Problems and Deficiencies Regarding Personal Firewalls
A personal firewall might be a good contribution to security. Yet, if you do not understand much about the topic, then you are likely to be confused and misled by its alerts and queries, and thus find yourself spending hours in chasing after imaginary crackers, fear from imaginary threats, and misconfigure it due to misunderstanding. You may find yourself blocking legitimate and important communication believing it to be cracking efforts, and thus surprised to see why things work slowly or why you are disconnected from the Internet, or you might be misled to allow a non-legitimate communication by some software that tricked you to believe that it is a legitimate one. On the other side, if you are quite knowledgeable on computers and security, then you are likely to effectively defend your computer even without a firewall (by means discussed in section II.4) and it is thus that the role of personal firewall in securing your computer, is extremely small and not much important. We discuss here in brief some of the problems that personal firewalls may generate.
A False Sense of Security
As we've already learned here, a firewall is limited in its ability to secure your computer. Yet, many people believe that if they will install a personal firewall they will be secured against the various security threats. I was even surprised to find out that there are people who believe that give much higher priority in installing a personal firewall than in installing an antivirus program. An always updated antivirus program plays a much more important role in the security of a personal home computer than installing and maintaining a personal firewall. A personal firewall should not come on account of any other security measure that you use.
A False Sense of Insecurity
When you install a firewall and you look at all the communication efforts through it, you might be surprised at the amount of communication efforts from the Internet to your computer. Most of them are blocked by a typically configured firewall. There are all the times efforts to try to communicate with various backdoor Trojans on your computers. If you are not infected, there will be nothing to listen and to respond to those communication efforts, and they are thus practically harmless. There are efforts to communicate with your NBT driver, to see if your computer by mistake allows file sharing. There are other types of probes to see if your computer exists, or various efforts of servers to probe your computer in order to find the best path for legitimate communication to it. There are sometimes remnants of communications that were supposed to go to other computers, but made their way to yours (for advanced readers: because the IP number that your computer uses, were used by some other computer earlier). Those communication efforts are blocked even without a firewall. If your computer is not infected with a RAT, and if your computer don't have NetBIOS over TCP/IP enabled or even it does not have file and print sharing enabled (and on most computers this is disabled by default), then none of these pose any security threat. If your computer is not infected with a SubSeven Trojan, then no matter how often there will be efforts to communicate with it, they are all doomed to be failed.
Yet, some personal firewall (such as Norton Personal Firewall or ZoneAlarm) by default proudly announce that they have just blocked an effort to crack into your computer. Norton may even define those efforts that were blocked as "high security threats" while they were not a threat at all even if your computer didn't have a personal firewall at all. Such firewalls give you the false impression that they save your computer again and again from extremely dangerous threats on the Internet, so that you wonder how did you survive so much time without noticing any intrusion before you installed the firewall. I usually say, that those personal firewalls are set their "report level" to "promotional mode". Namely, the personal firewall is set to give you the false impression that it is much more important than it really is.
Chasing After Ghosts
This is a side effect of the types of misunderstandings that were discussed in the previous subsection.
When a person who starts to learn about the jargon related to personal firewalls, is reported that some "dangerous" communication efforts persist from the same source, the person is decisive to locate and identify the "hacker", and perhaps report about it to the police or to its Internet service provider. However, since many people do not really understand thoroughly how things work, they may sometimes spend many hours in trying to locate a cracker that does not exist, or when the knowledge they need to have, in order to track the cracker, is much higher than what they have, and they might even suspect the wrong person due to lack of knowledge (e.g. the connection person on the Internet service provider that was used by the cracker). More knowledgeable people, usually do not bother to track those "hackers" (which are usually teenagers), but instead are concentrating on the security of their computer.
Blocking Legitimate Communications
No personal firewall is smart enough to decide for the user what is a legitimate communication and what is not. A personal firewall cannot make a distinction between a legitimate program trying to contact its server to check and notify the user when there is a newer version, and a non-legitimate program trying to communicate with its server in order deliver sensitive information such as passwords, unless the user tells it. It is thus up to the user to decide what should be considered as legitimate and what should not. Yet, can we count on the user to be knowledgeable enough to decide what is legitimate and what is not? In many cases the user is not knowledgeable enough, and may thus allow non-legitimate communication or disallow a legitimate and important communication. There are many types of communications handled just to manage other communications. Among this are various types of communications between your computer and the various servers of your Internet service provider. A not knowledgeable user may interpret those types of communications as cracking efforts, and will thus decide to block them. As a result, a connection might become slower, a connection to the Internet service provider might be disconnected quiet often and other types of communication problems.
Being Tricked by Trojans bbb
Just as less knowledgeable users may instruct the firewall to block legitimate communications, they can be tricked by various Trojans to allow them to communicate. Some Trojans are using names resembling or identical to names of legitimate programs, so that the user would think that it is a legitimate programs. Users should be aware of that.
Heavy Software, Buggy Software
Until now we discussed only problems related to lack of appropriate knowledge by the user. Yet, there are other problems regarding personal firewalls. For example, some of them are known to be quite heavy on computer resources, or slow down the communication speed. Different personal firewalls quite vary with regard to that. If you have a new computer with a slow Internet communication (such as regular dial-up networking) then it might not slow down your computer noticeably. Yet, if you use an older computer, and a fast communication, you might find that some personal firewalls will slow down your communication quite drastically. Personal firewalls also vary on how much they are stable.
Advantages of External Firewalls over Personal Firewalls:
1. They do not take resources from the computer. This should be clear. This is especially useful when the firewall blocks flooding attacks.
2. It is harder (although in principle still possible) for a Trojan horse to disable it, because it does not reside in the same computer that the Trojan has infected. It is not possible to use the specific communication while totally bypassing the firewall.
3. They can be used without any dependence on the operating system on the computer(s) they defend.
4. No instability problems.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
COMMAN DOS COMMANDS CMD COMMANDS
The following is a list of most of the common DOS commands. For more
information on a particular command, type command /?, or command
–help if that does not work.This Dos Command is very useful for fast work with help of keyboard
Append : Similar to Path; allows programs to open data files in other directories.
Arp : Display or modify the IP-to-MAC address translation tables.
Attrib : Change file properties.
Cd : Change directories.
Chkdsk : Utility to check the hard disk for errors.
cls : Clear the contents of the screen.
Cmd : The command interpreter; similar to “Command.”
copy : Copy a file from one location to another
date : Display and set the current system date.
del : Delete files permanently.
dir : View files in the current and parent directories.
doskey : Utility used to keep a history of commands on the computer.
edit : Start the text editor program.
exit :Terminate the current running application.
expand : Expand compressed Windows files.
fc : Compare two files against one another.
fdisk : Create and delete partitions on a hard disk.
find : Search for case-sensitive text within a file or set of files.
format : Prepare a disk for the file system; erase all files from a disk.
ftp : Transfer files to and from a computer running the FTP service.
help : Access the help file to display information about a command.
md : Create directories on the file system; similar to mkdir.
more : Display information one page at a time.
move : Move files or directories from one directory or drive location to
another.
ping : Check connectivity and connection path from one computer to
another.
print : Print text to a specified printer.
rd : Delete a directory.
ren :Rename one or more files.
route : Display, add, or delete routes in the computer’s routing table.
sort : Sort input from a file alphabetically, and numerically, and in
reverse.
time : Display or modify the computer’s current time setting.
tracert : Display the route taken along the network to a computer.
tree : Display the folder structure for a drive or path in a graphical
form.
type : Display the contents of a text file or files.
ver : Display the Windows version.
xcopy : Copy file and directory trees.
Hope so this command help you.
information on a particular command, type command /?, or command
–help if that does not work.This Dos Command is very useful for fast work with help of keyboard
Append : Similar to Path; allows programs to open data files in other directories.
Arp : Display or modify the IP-to-MAC address translation tables.
Attrib : Change file properties.
Cd : Change directories.
Chkdsk : Utility to check the hard disk for errors.
cls : Clear the contents of the screen.
Cmd : The command interpreter; similar to “Command.”
copy : Copy a file from one location to another
date : Display and set the current system date.
del : Delete files permanently.
dir : View files in the current and parent directories.
doskey : Utility used to keep a history of commands on the computer.
edit : Start the text editor program.
exit :Terminate the current running application.
expand : Expand compressed Windows files.
fc : Compare two files against one another.
fdisk : Create and delete partitions on a hard disk.
find : Search for case-sensitive text within a file or set of files.
format : Prepare a disk for the file system; erase all files from a disk.
ftp : Transfer files to and from a computer running the FTP service.
help : Access the help file to display information about a command.
md : Create directories on the file system; similar to mkdir.
more : Display information one page at a time.
move : Move files or directories from one directory or drive location to
another.
ping : Check connectivity and connection path from one computer to
another.
print : Print text to a specified printer.
rd : Delete a directory.
ren :Rename one or more files.
route : Display, add, or delete routes in the computer’s routing table.
sort : Sort input from a file alphabetically, and numerically, and in
reverse.
time : Display or modify the computer’s current time setting.
tracert : Display the route taken along the network to a computer.
tree : Display the folder structure for a drive or path in a graphical
form.
type : Display the contents of a text file or files.
ver : Display the Windows version.
xcopy : Copy file and directory trees.
Hope so this command help you.
Keyboard shortcut for windows XP (Ctrl + Alt + DEL) Use Window without Mouse
Minimize all loaded programs and windows
Windows Button + M
Show Desktop
Windows Button + D
Load Windows Explorer
Windows Button + E
Load Run Command Window
Windows Button + R
Open Start menu
Windows Button or Ctrl + Escape
Load Utility manager
Windows Button + U
Lock Windows
Windows Button + L
Show Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Shift + Escape
Close any sub window
Ctrl + F4
Minimize any active program or window
Alt + Space + N
Maximize any active program or window
Alt + Space + X
Restore any active program or window
Alt + Space + R
Move any active program or window (active window must not in maximizedposition)
Alt + Space + M
Re size any active program or window (active window must not in maximizedposition)
Alt + Space + S
Capture only active window (You can paste it in Paint Brush or any otherprogram like Photoshop or Microsot Word etc.)
Alt + Print Screen
Switching between loaded softwares
Alt + Tab
Get properties of selected file
Alt + Enter
Right click
Shift + F10
1.) Windows Hotkeys
* Shift + F10 right-clicks.
* Win + L (XP Only): Locks keyboard. Similar to Lock Workstation.
* Win + F or F3: Open Find dialog. (All Files) F3 may not work in someapplications which use F3 for their own find dialogs.
* Win + Control + F: Open Find dialog. (Computers)
* Win + U: Open Utility Manager.
* Win + F1: Open Windows help.
* Win + Pause: Open System Properties dialog.
* Win + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or Shift +F10 right-clicks.
* Win + Shift + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.
* Alt + Tab: Display CoolSwitch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.
* Alt + Shift + Tab: Display CoolSwitch; go in reverse.
* Alt + Escape: Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.
* Alt + Shift + Escape: Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.
* Alt + F4: Close active window; or, if all windows are closed, open shutdowndialog.
* Shift while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.
* Shift while login: Bypass startup folder. Only those applications will beignored which are in the startup folder, not those started from the registry(MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun)
* Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invokethe Task Manager or NT Security dialog.
* Ctrl + Shift + Escape (2000/XP ) or (Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDot) : Invoke thetask manager. On earlier OSes, acts like Ctrl + Escape.
* Printscreen: Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard.
* Alt + Printscreen: Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.
* Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: Invert screen. Untested on OSes other than XP.
* Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: Undo inversion.
* Win + B : Move focus to systray icons.
2.) Generic
* Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copy.
* Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cut.
* Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Paste/Move.
* Ctrl + N: New... File, Tab, Entry, etc.
* Ctrl + S: Save.
* Ctrl + O: Open...
* Ctrl + P: Print.
* Ctrl + Z: Undo.
* Ctrl + A: Select all.
* Ctrl + F: Find...
* Ctrl+W : to close the current window
* Ctrl + F4: Close tab or child window.
* F1: Open help.
* F11: Toggle full screen mode.
* Alt or F10: Activate menu bar.
* Alt + Space: Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.
* Escape: Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.
3.) Generic Navigation
* Tab: Forward one item.
* Shift + Tab: Backward one item.
* Ctrl + Tab: Cycle through tabs/child windows.
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.
* Enter: If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button.
* Space: Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
* Alt + (Letter): Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is theunderlined letter on the item's name.
* Ctrl + Left: Move cursor to the beginning of previous word.
* Ctrl + Right: Move cursor to the beginning of next word.
* Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and allsubsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work inRichEdit controls.
* Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.
* Shift + Left: Highlight one character to the left.
* Shift + Right: Highlight one character to the right.
* Shift + Up: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.
* Shift + Down: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down.
* Ctrl + Shift + Left: Highlight to beginning of previous word.
* Ctrl + Shift + Right: Highlight to beginning of next word.
* Ctrl + Shift + Up: Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.
* Ctrl + Shift + Down: Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.
* Home: Move cursor to top of a scrollable control.
* End: Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control.
4.) Generic File Browser
* Arrow Keys: Navigate.
* Shift + Arrow Keys: Select multiple items.
* Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Change focus without changing selection. "Focus"is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focuseditem.
* (Letter): Select first found item that begins with (Letter).
* BackSpace: Go up one level to the parent directory.
* Alt + Left: Go back one folder.
* Alt + Right: Go forward one folder.
* Enter: Activate (Double-click) selected item(s).
* Alt + Enter: View properties for selected item.
* F2: Rename selected item(s).
* Ctrl + NumpadPlus: In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longestitem in each one.
* Delete: Delete selected item(s).
* Shift + Delete: Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.
* Ctrl while dragging item(s): Copy.
* Ctrl + Shift while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).
* In tree pane, if any:
* Left: Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parentfolder.
* Right: Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the firstsubfolder.
* NumpadAsterisk: Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories.No undo.
* NumpadPlus: Expand currently selected directory.
* NumpadMinus: Collapse currently selected directory.
5.) Accessibility
* Right Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and off. FilterKeys mustbe enabled.
* Left Alt + Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast on and off. HighContrast must be enabled.
* Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and off. MouseKeys mustbe enabled.
* NumLock for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off. ToggleKeys must beenabled.
* Shift five times: Toggle StickyKeys on and off. StickyKeys must be enabled.
* Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.
* Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.
* Ctrl + N: New window.
* Ctrl + T: New tab.
* Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.
* Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.
* Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.
* Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.
* Ctrl + O: Open a local file.
* Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
* Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.
* Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.
* Ctrl + P: Print page.
* Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.
* Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...
* Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...
* Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.
* Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.
* Escape: Stop loading page.
* Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.
* Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.
* Ctrl + U: View page source.
* Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.
* Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.
* Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.
* Ctrl + Numpad0 or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.
* Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.
* Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.
* Alt + Home: Open home page.
* Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.
* Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.
* F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.
* Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.
* Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.
* Slash (/): Find text as you type.
Windows Button + M
Show Desktop
Windows Button + D
Load Windows Explorer
Windows Button + E
Load Run Command Window
Windows Button + R
Open Start menu
Windows Button or Ctrl + Escape
Load Utility manager
Windows Button + U
Lock Windows
Windows Button + L
Show Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Shift + Escape
Close any sub window
Ctrl + F4
Minimize any active program or window
Alt + Space + N
Maximize any active program or window
Alt + Space + X
Restore any active program or window
Alt + Space + R
Move any active program or window (active window must not in maximizedposition)
Alt + Space + M
Re size any active program or window (active window must not in maximizedposition)
Alt + Space + S
Capture only active window (You can paste it in Paint Brush or any otherprogram like Photoshop or Microsot Word etc.)
Alt + Print Screen
Switching between loaded softwares
Alt + Tab
Get properties of selected file
Alt + Enter
Right click
Shift + F10
1.) Windows Hotkeys
* Shift + F10 right-clicks.
* Win + L (XP Only): Locks keyboard. Similar to Lock Workstation.
* Win + F or F3: Open Find dialog. (All Files) F3 may not work in someapplications which use F3 for their own find dialogs.
* Win + Control + F: Open Find dialog. (Computers)
* Win + U: Open Utility Manager.
* Win + F1: Open Windows help.
* Win + Pause: Open System Properties dialog.
* Win + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or Shift +F10 right-clicks.
* Win + Shift + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.
* Alt + Tab: Display CoolSwitch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.
* Alt + Shift + Tab: Display CoolSwitch; go in reverse.
* Alt + Escape: Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.
* Alt + Shift + Escape: Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.
* Alt + F4: Close active window; or, if all windows are closed, open shutdowndialog.
* Shift while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.
* Shift while login: Bypass startup folder. Only those applications will beignored which are in the startup folder, not those started from the registry(MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun)
* Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invokethe Task Manager or NT Security dialog.
* Ctrl + Shift + Escape (2000/XP ) or (Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDot) : Invoke thetask manager. On earlier OSes, acts like Ctrl + Escape.
* Printscreen: Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard.
* Alt + Printscreen: Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.
* Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: Invert screen. Untested on OSes other than XP.
* Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: Undo inversion.
* Win + B : Move focus to systray icons.
2.) Generic
* Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copy.
* Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cut.
* Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Paste/Move.
* Ctrl + N: New... File, Tab, Entry, etc.
* Ctrl + S: Save.
* Ctrl + O: Open...
* Ctrl + P: Print.
* Ctrl + Z: Undo.
* Ctrl + A: Select all.
* Ctrl + F: Find...
* Ctrl+W : to close the current window
* Ctrl + F4: Close tab or child window.
* F1: Open help.
* F11: Toggle full screen mode.
* Alt or F10: Activate menu bar.
* Alt + Space: Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.
* Escape: Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.
3.) Generic Navigation
* Tab: Forward one item.
* Shift + Tab: Backward one item.
* Ctrl + Tab: Cycle through tabs/child windows.
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.
* Enter: If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button.
* Space: Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
* Alt + (Letter): Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is theunderlined letter on the item's name.
* Ctrl + Left: Move cursor to the beginning of previous word.
* Ctrl + Right: Move cursor to the beginning of next word.
* Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and allsubsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work inRichEdit controls.
* Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.
* Shift + Left: Highlight one character to the left.
* Shift + Right: Highlight one character to the right.
* Shift + Up: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.
* Shift + Down: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down.
* Ctrl + Shift + Left: Highlight to beginning of previous word.
* Ctrl + Shift + Right: Highlight to beginning of next word.
* Ctrl + Shift + Up: Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.
* Ctrl + Shift + Down: Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.
* Home: Move cursor to top of a scrollable control.
* End: Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control.
4.) Generic File Browser
* Arrow Keys: Navigate.
* Shift + Arrow Keys: Select multiple items.
* Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Change focus without changing selection. "Focus"is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focuseditem.
* (Letter): Select first found item that begins with (Letter).
* BackSpace: Go up one level to the parent directory.
* Alt + Left: Go back one folder.
* Alt + Right: Go forward one folder.
* Enter: Activate (Double-click) selected item(s).
* Alt + Enter: View properties for selected item.
* F2: Rename selected item(s).
* Ctrl + NumpadPlus: In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longestitem in each one.
* Delete: Delete selected item(s).
* Shift + Delete: Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.
* Ctrl while dragging item(s): Copy.
* Ctrl + Shift while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).
* In tree pane, if any:
* Left: Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parentfolder.
* Right: Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the firstsubfolder.
* NumpadAsterisk: Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories.No undo.
* NumpadPlus: Expand currently selected directory.
* NumpadMinus: Collapse currently selected directory.
5.) Accessibility
* Right Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and off. FilterKeys mustbe enabled.
* Left Alt + Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast on and off. HighContrast must be enabled.
* Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and off. MouseKeys mustbe enabled.
* NumLock for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off. ToggleKeys must beenabled.
* Shift five times: Toggle StickyKeys on and off. StickyKeys must be enabled.
* Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.
* Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.
* Ctrl + N: New window.
* Ctrl + T: New tab.
* Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.
* Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.
* Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.
* Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.
* Ctrl + O: Open a local file.
* Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
* Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.
* Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.
* Ctrl + P: Print page.
* Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.
* Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...
* Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...
* Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.
* Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.
* Escape: Stop loading page.
* Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.
* Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.
* Ctrl + U: View page source.
* Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.
* Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.
* Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.
* Ctrl + Numpad0 or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.
* Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.
* Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.
* Alt + Home: Open home page.
* Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.
* Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.
* F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.
* Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.
* Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.
* Slash (/): Find text as you type.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
About Hardware
Definition: A computer is a collection of electrical and mechanical devices that can accept input via input devices and can provide output via output devices.
Hardware Definition:
Hardware is the physical aspect of computer and other devices hardware is a collective term. Hardware includes not only the computer proper but also the cables, connectors, power supply units, and peripheral devices such as the keyboard, mouse, audio speakers, and printers. Hardware is sometimes used as a term collectively describing the physical aspects of telephony and telecommunications network infrastructure
Hardware Definition:
Hardware is the physical aspect of computer and other devices hardware is a collective term. Hardware includes not only the computer proper but also the cables, connectors, power supply units, and peripheral devices such as the keyboard, mouse, audio speakers, and printers. Hardware is sometimes used as a term collectively describing the physical aspects of telephony and telecommunications network infrastructure
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Registry Editor for Windows Xp
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Allowing Network Access with Blank Passwords (XP and Vista)
Added 2/10/07
Although you can log in locally without a password, by default, WindowsXP Pro does not allow network users to access the computer without a password. Typically you will receive an Unknown error 31 if this is the case.
To change this setting:
Run gpedit.msc
Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options
Double click on Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console login only
Disable this option
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Disabling the F3 Search Key
Added 1/20/03
If you want to disable the ability to use the F3 key from either the Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
Create a Dword value called NoFindFiles
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
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Preventing Changes to File Associations
Submitted 9/18/02
You can prevent users from changing associations via Windows Explorer's Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explore
Create REG_DWORD data type NoFileAssociate
Give it a value of 1
Submitted by Paul Barker
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Locking File Associations
Submitted 9/18.02
If you have your file associations the way you want for a particular file type, you can remove it from the list that gets displayed in the Folder Options / File Types screen
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Scroll to the file association you want to lock.
In the right panel, create a new Binary value
Call it EditFlags
Give it a value of 01 00 00 00
Now when you go to the Folder Options / File Types screen, you won't see that file type listed.
Submitted by Paul Barker
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Turning off System Beeps
Added 9/10/01
If you want to turn off all system beeps (like the ones that go through your computers' internal speaker):
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound
Edit the key Beep and give it a value of No
Download reg file
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Changing the Location Of Special Folders
Added 9/10/02
You can modify the registry to change the location of special folders like:
My Documents
Favorites
My Pictures
Personal
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
Double click on any locations you want to change and alter the path
Logoff or restart for the changes to go into effect
Note: TweakUI from Microsoft will allow you to make these changes from a dialog box as well
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Deleting Specific Registry Value
Submitted 12/22/01
In a previous tip, Automatically Deleting a Registry Key, it was mentioned how to remove an entire registry key.
If you want to simply remove a specific value within a key, use the syntax below:
[Registry Key]
"value"=-
For example:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"MSConfig"=-
would delete the value MSCONFIG.
Submitted by Brent Towsley
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Setting the Recycle Bin to Always Delete
Added 11/17/01
You can set the recycle bin to always delete items (like holding down the shift key when dragging files to the recycle bin)
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ BitBucket
Set the key NukeOnDelete to 1
Download reg file
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Setting the Internet Explorer Home Page
Submitted 9/4/01
If you want to set the home page used by Internet Explorer through the registry
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main
Give the Start Page key the string value you wish set as homepage
Submitted by Austin Henderson
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Preparing to Move Hard Drive to Another Computer
Submitted 12/20/00
To remove the devices from device manager when taking a HD from one computer to another,
simply:
Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ and delete the Enum section
This removes all of the hardware specific settings
Submitted by Lee Berry
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Comparing Registries
Added 2/21/00
While working with changes to your system, you might want to see what is changing in your Registry.
Since you can export it to a text file, the steps are fairly easy
Start Regedit
With the very top level select - My Computer, on the Toolbar select Registry / Export Registry File
I usually save it to the root of the C: drive with the name before (you don't need to add an extension)
Make the change to your system
Go back to Regedit
Press F5 to update it
Export the Registry like step 2
Name the file after and have it go in the same directory
Open up a DOS window
Go to the directory where the two exported files are
Enter FC before.reg after.reg > diff.txt
Then you can edit diff.txt with your favorite text editor.
Note: I do the last steps so often I have a simple batch file already set up.
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Setting Excel 2000 High-Contrast Cell Selection
Added 2/2/00
If you want to increase the contrast in selected cells:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options
Add a DWORD value call Options6
Give it a value of 16
Now when you select cells, they will be white on black.
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Changing Common Icons
Updated 1/31/00
You can change many of the common Windows icons.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons
The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40
Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below.
Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file.
Note: The numbering starts with zero.
If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0.
e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0.
Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE
0-13 Are the Drive and Application Icons
0 - To change the Unknown Application Icon
2 - To change the Default Application Icon
3 - To change the Closed Folder Icon
4 - To change the Open Folder Icon
5 - To change the 5 1/4" Floppy Icon
6 - To change the 3 1/2" Floppy Icon
7 - To change the Removable Disk Icon
8 - To change the Hard Drive Icon
9 - To change the Network Drive Online Icon
10 - To change the Network Drive Offline Icon
11 - To change the CD Drive Icon
12 - To change the Ramdrive Icon
13 - To change the Entire Network Icon
19-27 Are the Start Menu Icons
19 - To change the Programs Icon
20 - To change the Documents Icon
21 - To change the Settings Icon
22 - To change the Find Icon
23 - To change the Help Icon
24 - To change the Run Icon
27 - To change the Shutdown Icon
Other Icons
33 - To change the DUN Folder Icon
34 - To change the Desktop Icon
35 - To change the Control Panel Icon
37 - To change the Printer Folder Icon
40 - To change the Audio CD Icon
43 - To change the Favorites Icon
44 - To change the Logoff Icon
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Prevent Changes to the Start Menu
Added 1/31/00
To prevent any changes to the Start Menu, even a right click:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a DWORD called NoChangeStartMenu
Give it a value of 1
Download reg file
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DOS Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00
There are restrictions you can make to the ability to execute DOS programs
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
Create a new key under Policies called WinOldApp
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt
NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS
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Networking Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00
There are general restrictions you can make in Networking
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
Create a new key under Policies called Network
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
DisablePwdCaching = Password Caching
HideSharePwds [hex] =Shared Passwords
NoEntireNetwork =Entire Network
NoNetSetup =Network applet
NoNetSetupIDPage =Network Identification tab
NoNetSetupSecurityPage =Network Access tab
NoFileSharing =Network File Sharing button
MinPwdLen = set Minimum Password Length (integer number: 0 - 99)
NoPrintSharing =Network Print Sharing button
NoWorkgroupContents =Network Workgroup
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Control Panel Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00
There are many general restrictions you can make to the Control Panel
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
Create a new keys under Policies called System
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
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
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Restricting the Start Menu, Explorer and the Desktop
Updated 1/30/00
There are many general restrictions you can make to the Start Menu, the Explorer and to the Desktop itself.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
There should already be at least a Explorer section there already
Additional keys that can be created under Policies are WinOldApp
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
ClearRecentDocsOnExit = Clear of Recent Documents on Exit
NoAddPrinter = Adding new printers
NoClose = Computer Shutdown
NoDeletePrinter = Delete Installed Printers
NoDesktop = Doesn't show Desktop items as well as and Desktop right-click menu
NoDevMgrUpdate = Windows 98/ME web Update Manager
NoDrives [hex] = Hides Drives in my computer
NoFind = Find command
NoInternetIcon = Internet Icon on Desktop
NoNetHood = Network Neighborhood
NoRecentDocsHistory = Recent Documents in Start Menu
NoRun = Run command
NoSaveSettings = Save Settings on exit
NoSetFolders = Folders in Start Menu -> Settings
NoSetTaskbar = Taskbar in Start Menu -> Settings
NoSMMyDocs = My Documents folder in Start Menu
NoSMMyPictures = My Pictures folder in Start Menu
NoWindowsUpdate = Windows web Update
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Changing Office 2000's Excel Undo History
Added 1/27/00
By default, Excel has only approximately 16 undo's you can perform.
To increase that number:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options
Add a dword called UndoHistory
Give it the value you want for the amount you want.
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Changing the Title on Windows Media Player
Added 1/27/00
You can change the title bar for the Windows Media Player
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_USERS \ .DEFAULT \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsMediaPlayer
Create a string value of TitleBar
Give it a value of whatever you want to appear in the title bar
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Eliminating the Right Click on the Taskbar
Added 1/10/00
To eliminate the right click on the taskbar:
Start Regedit
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoTrayContextMenu
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
Download reg file
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Eliminating the Right Click on the Desktop
Added 1/10/00
To eliminate the right click on the desktop:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoViewContextMenu
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
Download reg file
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Turning Off the Help on Min, Max, Close Icons
Added 1/8/00
When the mouse goes over the minimize, maximize and close icons on the upper right hand side of a window, you normally get a display telling you want those are for.
To disable that display:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
Create a String Value called MinMaxClose
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
Download reg file
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Adding Open With to the Right Click in the Explorer
Added 12/28/99
To add the option Open With when you right click on a file in the Explorer:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ CLASSES \* \ shell \ openas \ command
If this key isn't there then just create it
Give it the value of C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1
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Automatically Deleting a Registry Key
Added 12/20/99
Normally you cannot automatically delete registry keys from reg file. But there is a way...
Simply include a minus sign inside the left bracket before the main key.
For example.
If you want to delete the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 8.0 \ Common \ Assistants, your regfile would simply look like:
REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Common\Assistants]
This would delete that key and any below it.
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Fixing no AutoRun for CDs
Added 11/9/99
If your CDs have stop starting automatically, and you have checked everything else:
Go to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
The value for NoDriveTypeAutoRun should be set to 95 00 00 00
Download reg file
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Renaming the File System Profiles
Added 4/20/99
In the Control Panel / System / Performance / File System, you can select either Desktop Computer, Mobile or docking system, or Network Server.
You can change these labels to something more descriptive:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version / FS Templates
You can change the text that appears under each key
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Sticky Menus
Added 4/20/99
Normally when you move the mouse over the Start Menu / Programs, it will automatically cascade and show the submenus.
If you want them to open only when you actually click on them:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
If if it not already there, create a string called MenuShowDelay
Give it a value of 65534
Download reg file
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Automatic Shutdown with Windows NT
Submitted 3/28/99
Most laptops allow the operating system to turn off the hardware after shutdown, instead of displaying the message telling you it's now safe to turn off your system.
You can take advantage of this capability by enabling the Power Down After Shutdown feature.
To enable this feature, simply add a REG_SZ value named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\PowerdownAfterShutDown and set it to 1.
Next, tell NT to shut down and see if the machine turns itself off after shutting down. If it doesn't, change the value back to 0 to restore normal operation.
Download reg file
Submitted by D Puffer
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Kill Hung Processes When Logging Off in Windows NT
Submitted 3/28/99
When you tell NT to shut down, it first sends shutdown requests to any running processes.
Most 32-bit applications honor these requests and shut down, but older 16-bit apps running in the Virtual DOS Machine often won't.
When this occurs, the operating system prompts you with a dialog box asking if you want to kill the task, wait for the task to die on its own, or cancel the shutdown.
By modifying the Registry, you can automate this process.
You can force NT to kill all running processes on shutdown by adding a REG_SZ value named HKEY_USER\\ControlPanel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks and set the value to 1. You can also add this value to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT so that all new accounts will shut down the same way.
Submitted by D Puffer
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NT Crash Log File
Submitted 3/28/99
In addition to the crash log file, you can also enable two other methods of crash notification and logging.
You can enable an administrative alert by changing the value of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl\SendAlert to 1. The next time the system crashes, an administrative alert will be sent that may provide the first sign of the crash.
You can also make NT log the crash in the event log by changing the value of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\CrashControl\LogEvent to 1 instead of its default 0. Now, the exact time of the crash will be permanently recorded.
Submitted by D Puffer
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Changing the Location of Outlook Express Data Files
Added 1/16/99
Normally Outlook Express keeps its data files in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express directory.
To change this:
First copy those files to the new location
Start RegEdit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Outlook Express
Change the Store Root key to the directory where you moved the files
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Disabling the Blinking Cursor
Added 10/17/98
To stop the cursor from blinking in applications such as Word:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add a String Value
Name it CursorBlinkRate
Give it a value of -1
Reboot the computer
Download reg file
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Re-Enabling DHCP Error Messages
Added 9/20/98
If you got a DHCP error message, selected to not see DHCP errors, and now want to see them again;
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ DHCP
Change the value of PopupFlag from 00 to 01
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Getting Rid of Schemes
Updated 6/7/98
A safer way would be is to go to the Control Panel / Display / Appearance tab
Go to the Scheme drop down box
Select the one you don't want and click on the delete button
Submitted by obs
When you right click on your desktop and pick properties your Display Properties screen appears.
Under Appearance tab / Schemes, determine if you want all those wild schemes.
If not they can be deleted and clear approximately 45K.
Before you delete them, choose or create at least 1 Scheme and "Save As" (in my case Bud 1).
Open Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Appearance \ Schemes
Highlight every String and Value on the right side and delete. DO NOT DELETE "Default"
Submitted by Bud Allen
bwil@erinet.com
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Hiding Any Combination of Drives
Submitted 2/15/98
If you want to stop a drive or any combination of drives appearing in Explorer/My Computer
Add the Binary Value of 'NoDrives' in the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Give it a value from a combination of the table below:
A 1 00 00 00
B 2 00 00 00
C 4 00 00 00
D 8 00 00 00
E 16 00 00 00
F 32 00 00 00
G 64 00 00 00
H 128 00 00 00
I 00 1 00 00
J 00 2 00 00
K 00 4 00 00
L 00 8 00 00
M 00 16 00 00
N 00 32 00 00
O 00 64 00 00
P 00 128 00 00
Q 00 00 1 00
R 00 00 2 00
S 00 00 4 00
T 00 00 8 00
U 00 00 16 00
V 00 00 32 00
W 00 00 64 00
X 00 00 128 00
Y 00 00 00 1
Z 00 00 00 2
Where (for eg) you want to hide Drives {C,E,J,O,R,U,Y,Z} you would give 'NoDrives' the value 14 42 12 03
Where C+E = 14, J+O = 42, R+U=12 and Y+Z = 03
Please NOTE: The Numbers are to be added in HEXadecimal ie: ABCD = 0F, not 15 All Drives Visible is 00 00 00 00 All Drives Hidden is FF FF FF 03
Submitted by Ramon Buckland
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Creating a Legal Text Notice Before Logon
Added 2/15/98
You can create a banner that will come up just before you logon to the computer:
Start Regedit
Go to HKeyLocalMachine \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ WinLogon
Create a new string value called LegalNoticeCaption and give it a value you want to see in the menu bar
Create a new string value called LegalNoticeText and give it a value you want to see in the dialog box
Now before anyone logs into that computer, this banner will come up on the screen.
This can be useful for any legal warnings you want to give regarding the use of the computer.
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Removing the Hand Icon from Shared Resources
Submitted 2/11/98
When you share a local resource, Windows95 normally puts a hand in from of that resources icon.
To remove hand icon from your shared resources:
Start Regedit.
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / Network
Open SharingHandler.
Clear it's default value
Restart Windows.
To restore set Default value "msshrui.dll".
Submitted by Guntars Revelins
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Enabling the Middle Mouse Button on Logitech Mouse
To enable the middle mouse button on Logitech Mouses to act as a double-click button by only pressing it once:
Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LOGITECH\MOUSEWARE\CURRENTVERSION\SERIALV\0000
Change DoubleClick to equal 001
Submitted by Jason Maruniak
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Easily Opening a File with Notepad
Submitted 10/25/97
This will enable you to right click on any file and have the option to open it with notepad.
Also if a file has no association and you try to open it it will open with notepad
Run 'regedit.exe'
Expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT"
Inside "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT", expand "*"
Inside "*", create a key called "shell"
Inside "shell" create a key called "open"
Inside "open" edit the string "(default)" to say "open (notepad)"
Inside "open" create a key called "command"
Inside "command" edit the string "(default)" to say C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE "%1"
Submitted by EIBON
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Displaying Hi-Color Icons without the Plus Pack
Submitted 10/19/97
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ desktop \ WindowMetrics
Add or edit Shell Icon BPP=16 where the number is the color depth.
The default is 8 (bit or 256 colors).
Submitted by Frank Lolli
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Backing Up the Registry
Submitted 9/13/97
There are many backup programs for the registry but if the computer goes down and you can't fire off Win95 because of the registry problem.
Backup to a directory the following files:
SYSTEM.DATA
SYSTEM.DA0 (Yes seem to be the same size)
USER.DAT
USER.DA0 (Same size likely)
WIN.INI
CONTROL.INI
SYSTEM.INI
These files can be copied to the windows directory from Win95 or DOS to help correct problems.
Submitted by George Harper
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Removing Unwanted Items from the RUN Menu
Submitted 8/23/97
Start the REGEDIT program
Search for the word RUNMRU
Delete the ones you don't want
Rename so they are all in alphabetical order again
Close and restart windows
Submitted by Graham Orchard
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Opening a DOS Window to either the Drive or Directory in Explorer
Submitted 8/9/97
Add or Edit the following Registry Keys
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew]
@="Dos Prompt in that Directory"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew\command]
@="command.com /k cd %1"
[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 there will pop up
Submitted by James Doss
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Compacting the Registry
Submitted 4/5/97
How to compact the registry?
Got to true DOS, not a DOS window
Run Regedit and then export the entire Registry to COMPACT.REG.
Then exit regedit and run it again with the following switch. REGEDIT /C COMPACT.REG
Submitted by Ian Buda
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Changing Exchange's Mailbox Location
Added 3/29/97
When you create a mailbox in Exchange for e-mail, you specify the file where you want to mail to go.
You cannot change this in Exchange afterwards.
If you want to change the file name or location::
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsMessaging Subsystem \ Profiles
Go to the profile you want to change
Go to the section that has the file location for your mailbox (*.PST) file in the right hand panel
Make the change to file location or name
Restart Exchange
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Removing Sound Events from Control Panel / Sounds
Added 3/16/97
When you view what events you can assign sounds to from Control Panel / Sounds,
you cannot delete the events themselves. In order to do that:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / AppEvents / Schemes / Apps
From here you can delete any items you don't want to show or no longer need.
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Changing the Registered Owner
Added 2/6/97
Starting Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion
From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key
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Adding an Application to the Right Click on Every Folder
Added 1/30/97
Here is how to add any application to the menu when you right click on any Folder.
This could be useful if there is an app you always want available and don't want to go through the Start menu
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell
Add a key Name_of_Your_App
This can really be any label, just use one that makes sense to you
Give it a default value of Name_of_Your_App
Putting a & in front of a character will allow you to use the keyboard
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ Name_of_Your_App
Add a key command
Give it a default value of the application you want to run
For example: c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe
Include the full path
Now when you right click on any folder, you can have access to that application
This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0
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Adding Explore From Here to Every Folder
Added 1/30/97
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell
Add a key rootexplore
Give it a default value of E&xplore From Here
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ rootexplore
Add a key command
Give it a default value of Explorer.exe /e,/root,/idlist,%i
Now when you right click on any folder, you can open up an Explorer window of that folder.
This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0
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Saving Desktop Settings
Submitted 1/11/97
When I would go to Control Panel or Start Menu Programs, or any other Desktop window setting; meaning size, position, icon arrangement, they would never be as I set them. I found an answer:
At [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
There is a "NoSaveSettings" key. I deleted it and now my all my stuff stays where I tell it.
The same key shows up at:
[HKEY_USERS\bwil\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer](where bwil is your password profile) Just thought I'd share this with you all.
Submitted by Bud Allen
bwil@erinet.com
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Getting Rid of Tips
Remember those "Tips of the day" that appeared when you first install Win95?
If you don't want them any longer and want to clear yet more Clutter, approximately 5K, you can delete them at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips
Submitted by Bud Allen
bwil@erinet.com
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Changing the Location of Windows95's Installation Files
Added 12/18/96
If you need to change the drive and or path where Windows95 will look for it's installation files:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ SourcePath
Change the location from there
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Creating a Network Logon Banner
Submitted 12/7/96
If you want to create a Network Logon Banner:
Start Regedit
Go To HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Create a new String called LegalNoticeCaption
Enter the text for your banner
Submitted by Frank Tanner
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Creating a Default File Opener
Added 11/29/96
If you have a un-registered file type and want to view it with Explorer's Right-click
you can add your program to the right-click options by:
Starting Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASS_ROOT / Unknown
Highlight the Shell Folder below it
Right click on Shell and create a New Key
Name it anything you want (For example NOTEPAD)
Create a New Key under that named command
Highlight the Command key
Double click on the Default value in the right hand panel
In Value Data, enter the path and filename of the program you want to use to open the file type
For example: C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE %1
Click on OK
In this example, when you right click on a file in Explorer, NOTEPAD will show up as an option.
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Deleting Registry Keys from the Command Line
Added 11/3/96
With the OEM Version of Windows95, a new switch, /D, is added to Regedit.
This enables you to delete items from Registry.
The syntax is: REGEDIT /L:system.dat_location /R:user.dat_location /D Reg_Key
where Reg_Key is the key you want to delete
There are two requirements:
1. That you have to boot to the same OEM version of Windows95 as the REGEDIT.EXE file.
2. You cannot be in Win95 at the time you use this switch.
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Automatic Screen Refresh
Added 10/24/96
When you make changes to your hard drive and use Explorer, the changes are not usually displayed until you press the F5 key
To make the updates automatic:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Control / UpdateMode
Edit the DWORD value to be between 1 and 7
Restart Windows
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Disable Password Caching
Added 10/19/96
As in Windows for Workgroups, when logging on to an NT Domain, it is preferable to disable password caching.
This allows for the single NT Domain login and eliminates the secondary Windows logon screen.
It also eliminates the possibility of the respective passwords to get out of sync.
To disable password caching on the workstation, a one-line addition to the registry needs to be made.
To make the change, create a ASCII text file called DISABLE.REG with the following lines:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
Open up a DOS box and type REGEDIT DISABLE.REG
You can also download the DISABLE.REG file.
If you need to re-enable password caching, download ENABLE.REG and repeat the process just with the different file name
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Changing the MaxMTU and other Network Settings
Added 10/19/96
There are four network settings that can be configured so when dialing to an ISP, you should get somewhat greater throughput.
They are the MaxMTU, MaxMSS and DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL
MaxMTU and MaxMSS
Start REGEDIT
Go to Hkey_Local_Machine / System / CurrentControlset / Services / Class / netTrans / 000n
(where n is your particular network adapter binding.)
Right click on the right panel
Select New / String Value
Type in MaxMTU
Double click on it and enter then the number you want. The usual change is to 576
Similarly, you can add MaxMSS and give it a value of 536
DefaultRcvWindows and DefaultTTL
Start REGEDIT
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ MSTCP
Add a new string DefaultRcvWindow and give it a value of 2144
Add a new string DefaultTTL and give it a value of 60-64
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Adding Items to the Start Button
Added 10/17/96
To add items when you right-click on the Start Button:
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Classes_Root / Directory / Shell
Right-click on Shell and select New / Key
Type in the name of the key and press the Enter key
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
Right-click on the key you just created and create another key under it called command
For the value of this command, enter the full path and program you want to execute
Now when you right click on the Start Button, your new program will show up. You do not need to reboot first.
For example, if you wanted WinWord, you would add that as the first key, the default in the right panel would be &WinWord so when you right click on the Start Button, the W would be underlined and you could just press that key. The command would be something like C:\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\WINWORD.EXE
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Removing Open, Explore & Find from Start Button
Added 9/15/96
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:
Start Regedit
Search for Directory
This should bring you to Hkey_Classes_Root \ Directory
Expand this section by clicking on the "+"
Under shell is Find
Delete Find
Scroll down below Directory to Folder
Expand this section under shell
Delete Explore and Open
Note: - When you remove Open, you cannot open any folders.
If you need to undo any of the changes, you can download the registry settings before the changes.
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Removing Items from NEW
Added 7/27/96
When you right-click on the desktop and select New, a list of default templates you can open up are listed.
To remove items from that list:
Start Regedit
Search for the string ShellNew
This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root
For the items you want to remove, simply rename the ShellNew command
Renaming is safer that deleting it
Continue searching for the items you want to remove
You do not need to reboot for the change to take effect
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Changing the Telnet Scroll-Back Buffer Size
Added 7/27/96
By default, the Telnet session has a window size of 25 lines. To increase this so you can scroll back
and look at a larger number on lines:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Telnet
Double-click on the entry Rows in the right hand panel
Increase the decimal value to one that suits your needs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing the Tips of the Day
Submitted 7/27/96
You can edit the Tips of the day in the Registry by going to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips
Submitted by Jayme Johnston
jayme@excalibur.net
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Disabling Drives in My Computer
Added 7/24/96
To turn off the display of local or networked drives when you click on My Computer:
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a New DWORD item and name it NoDrives
Give it a value of 3FFFFFF
Now when you click on My Computer, none of your drives will show
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Not Saving Setting on Exit
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoSaveSettings
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Download reg file
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Not Displaying the Network Neighborhood
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoNetHood
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Download reg file
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Disabling Run or Find from the Start Menu
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoFile or NoRun
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Download reg for no_file
Download reg for no_run
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Hiding All Icons from the Desktop
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoDesktop
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Now all icons are hidden on the desktop.
Download reg file
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Get Your Folders to Open the Way You Want Every Time
Submitted 7/7/96
To get your folders to open the way you want every time:
Set up all your folders the way you want (auto arrange, view, etc.),
Start RegEdit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Go to NoSaveSettings
Modify and change Value to 1
Submitted by Dan Poplawski
dan@together.net
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Modifying Default Desktop Icons
Added 7/1/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons
The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40
Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below.
Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file.
Note: The numbering starts with zero.
If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0.
e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0.
Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE
Below is a reference for the icons I've been able to figure out:
0 - Default Icon
1 - Default Document
2 - Application
3 - Closed Folder
4 - Open Folder
5 - 5 1/4 Drive
6 - 3 1/4 Drive
7 - Removable Drive
8 - Hard Drive
9 - Network Folder
10 - Network Offline
11 - CD
12 - RAM Drive
13 - Entire Nertwork
15 - My Computer
16 - Printer
17 - Network Neighborhood
18 - Network Workgroup
19-27 are the Start Menu icons
19 - Programs
20 - Desktop
21 - Settings
22 - Find
23 - Help
24 - Run
25 - Suspend
27 - Shutdown
28 - Share
29 - Shortcut
31 - Recycle Bin (Empty)
32 - Recycle Bin (Full)
33 - Folder, Dial-Up Networking
34 - Desktop
36 - Program Group
40 - Audio Card
In addition, you can change:
My Computer - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
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Clearing the Documents Menu Automatically
Added 6/2/96
The Documents Menu displays the last file and programs you used. You can clear item manually but only through editing
the Registry can you turn this off automatically. This can be useful on computers that are used by multiple people.
The same settings can be also used in NT 4.0
Set the properties on the Recycle Bin to delete files immediately.
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders
Right click on the right panel
Select New / String Value
Rename it to Recent - Only if it is not already there
Give it the value of C:\RECYCLED
Set your Recycle bin to Automatically delete files
Log off and back on again.
Your Documents Menu should now be blank. This will be for all subsequent users who logon as well.
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Disabling the Right-Click on the Start Button
Added 6/29/96
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.
Start Regedit
Search for Desktop
This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ Directory
Expand this section
Under Shell is Find
Delete Find
Move down a little in the Registry to Folder
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 to see how to do this automatically during an install.
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Disabling My Computer
Added 6/29/96
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:
Start Regedit
Search for 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
This should bring you to the HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID section
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..
See the section on Installation to see how to do this automatically during an install.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing Desktop Icons
Added 5/28/96
You can change many of the icons that are located on your desktop.
Start Regedit
Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
Expand that key
Highlight Default Icon
Double click on the Default in the right panel
Enter the name of the program with the icon you want to use followed by and command and then the number of the icon (starting with 0)
Some of the additional items that can be searched for are:
Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Additional icons can be found in:
\WINDOWS\MORICONS.DLL
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PIFMGR.DLL
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL
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Opening Explorer from My Computer
Added 5/28/96
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:
Start Regedit
Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID
Expand the key {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Right click on Shell
Select New / Key and type Open and press the Enter key
Right click on Open
Select New / Key and type Command and press the Enter key
Double click on the Default for Command and type Explorer.exe for the value
Now when you click on My Computer, the Explorer will start
If you want to return to normal, simply delete the Open key
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Fixing Corrupt Registry
Added 5/12/96
If your registry has gotten corrupted, and re-installing Windows95 over your existing version does not fix the problem,
there is a hidden, read-only, system file on the root of your boot drive called SYSTEM.1ST.
This is the initial system registry created when you first installed Windows95.
To use this file:
Go to your Windows directory
Un-Attrib your current SYSTEM.DAT file (attrib -r -s -h system.dat)
Copy your current SYSTEM.DAT to something like SYSTEM.BAD file (just in case)
Move to your root directory
Un-Attrib the SYSTEM.1ST file
Copy SYSTEM.1ST to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
Re-start your system
You will need to install your 32-bit apps and any other programs or changes that modified your system registry
but you will not need to go through a new again. Your 16-bit apps should not need to be re-installed since they do
not modify the registry. You will also retain your current desktop configuration.
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Recycle Bin Edits
Submitted 5/2/96
Fooling with the recycle bin. Why not make the icon context menu act like other icon context menu's.
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 win 95 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 win 95 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 ... another shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,04,20 ... and another shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,08,20 ... make it look disabled (like it's been cut)
I added the above edits for fun. But it gets you thinking.
Note: Adding rename and delete to the context menu takes effect instantly. To restore the icon after deletion requires screen refresh (F5).
Have fun.... Tom
Submitted by Tom Temple
temple@earthlink.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setting the Minimum Password Length
Added 4/29/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
Add a new Binary Value
Rename it to MinPwdLen
Assign it a value equal to your minimum password length
Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disabling File and Print Sharing
Added 4/29/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
Add a new DWord Value
Rename it to NoPrintSharing or NoFileSharing
Assign it a value of 1
Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifying programs to run every time Windows95 starts
Added 4/21/96
If you want to start programs every time Windows95 runs, but would like to hide them from users
by not having the listed in the Startup folder or the WIN.INI file, you can have them load through the registry.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run or RunOnce
Right click on the right panel
Select New / String Value
Type in any name
For the value, enter the path and executable for the program you want to run.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows
Added 4/21/96
Open REGEDIT.EXE
Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Open the Key LNKFILE
Delete the value IsShortcut
Open the next Key PIFFILE
Delete the value IsShortcut
Restart the Win95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turn Off Window Animation
You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows.
Added 4/21/96
Open Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Control panel
Desktop
WindowMetrics
Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane.
Select new string value.
Name the new value MinAnimate.
Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify"
Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit Enter
Close Regedit and all programs then reboot.
Download reg file
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To speed up the Start Menu
Added 4/21/96
Start the REGEDIT program
Search for the word desktop
This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400...
Right Click on the right panel
Pick NEW / String Value.
Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word.
Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest.
Exit REGEDIT
Restart Windows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing your Modem's Initialization String
Added 4/21/96
Start REGEDIT
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init
Change the settings to the new values
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Increasing the Modem Timeout
Added 4/21/96
If your modem it timing out during file transfers or loading Web Pages,
you might try increasing the timeout period.
To change it:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Services / Class / Modem / XXXX / Settings
Where XXXX is the number of your modem
Move to the right panel and double click on Inactivity Timeout
The number of minutes for a timeout should be entered between the brackets.
For example, a US Robotics Sportster could have S19=<30> to set it to 30 minutes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing Programs listed from the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section
Added 4/21/96
If you remove an installed program and its files by deleting the files,
it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list through the control panel.
In order to remove it from the list (so you don't need to re-install in order to just remove it again).
Start the Registry Editor
Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall
Delete any programs here.
This will only delete them from the list, not delete the actual programs.
Only programs designed for Windows95 will show up here in the first place.
Allowing Network Access with Blank Passwords (XP and Vista)
Added 2/10/07
Although you can log in locally without a password, by default, WindowsXP Pro does not allow network users to access the computer without a password. Typically you will receive an Unknown error 31 if this is the case.
To change this setting:
Run gpedit.msc
Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options
Double click on Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console login only
Disable this option
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Disabling the F3 Search Key
Added 1/20/03
If you want to disable the ability to use the F3 key from either the Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
Create a Dword value called NoFindFiles
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
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Preventing Changes to File Associations
Submitted 9/18/02
You can prevent users from changing associations via Windows Explorer's Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explore
Create REG_DWORD data type NoFileAssociate
Give it a value of 1
Submitted by Paul Barker
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Locking File Associations
Submitted 9/18.02
If you have your file associations the way you want for a particular file type, you can remove it from the list that gets displayed in the Folder Options / File Types screen
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Scroll to the file association you want to lock.
In the right panel, create a new Binary value
Call it EditFlags
Give it a value of 01 00 00 00
Now when you go to the Folder Options / File Types screen, you won't see that file type listed.
Submitted by Paul Barker
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Turning off System Beeps
Added 9/10/01
If you want to turn off all system beeps (like the ones that go through your computers' internal speaker):
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound
Edit the key Beep and give it a value of No
Download reg file
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Changing the Location Of Special Folders
Added 9/10/02
You can modify the registry to change the location of special folders like:
My Documents
Favorites
My Pictures
Personal
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
Double click on any locations you want to change and alter the path
Logoff or restart for the changes to go into effect
Note: TweakUI from Microsoft will allow you to make these changes from a dialog box as well
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Deleting Specific Registry Value
Submitted 12/22/01
In a previous tip, Automatically Deleting a Registry Key, it was mentioned how to remove an entire registry key.
If you want to simply remove a specific value within a key, use the syntax below:
[Registry Key]
"value"=-
For example:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"MSConfig"=-
would delete the value MSCONFIG.
Submitted by Brent Towsley
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Setting the Recycle Bin to Always Delete
Added 11/17/01
You can set the recycle bin to always delete items (like holding down the shift key when dragging files to the recycle bin)
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ BitBucket
Set the key NukeOnDelete to 1
Download reg file
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Setting the Internet Explorer Home Page
Submitted 9/4/01
If you want to set the home page used by Internet Explorer through the registry
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main
Give the Start Page key the string value you wish set as homepage
Submitted by Austin Henderson
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Preparing to Move Hard Drive to Another Computer
Submitted 12/20/00
To remove the devices from device manager when taking a HD from one computer to another,
simply:
Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ and delete the Enum section
This removes all of the hardware specific settings
Submitted by Lee Berry
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Comparing Registries
Added 2/21/00
While working with changes to your system, you might want to see what is changing in your Registry.
Since you can export it to a text file, the steps are fairly easy
Start Regedit
With the very top level select - My Computer, on the Toolbar select Registry / Export Registry File
I usually save it to the root of the C: drive with the name before (you don't need to add an extension)
Make the change to your system
Go back to Regedit
Press F5 to update it
Export the Registry like step 2
Name the file after and have it go in the same directory
Open up a DOS window
Go to the directory where the two exported files are
Enter FC before.reg after.reg > diff.txt
Then you can edit diff.txt with your favorite text editor.
Note: I do the last steps so often I have a simple batch file already set up.
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Setting Excel 2000 High-Contrast Cell Selection
Added 2/2/00
If you want to increase the contrast in selected cells:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options
Add a DWORD value call Options6
Give it a value of 16
Now when you select cells, they will be white on black.
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Changing Common Icons
Updated 1/31/00
You can change many of the common Windows icons.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons
The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40
Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below.
Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file.
Note: The numbering starts with zero.
If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0.
e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0.
Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE
0-13 Are the Drive and Application Icons
0 - To change the Unknown Application Icon
2 - To change the Default Application Icon
3 - To change the Closed Folder Icon
4 - To change the Open Folder Icon
5 - To change the 5 1/4" Floppy Icon
6 - To change the 3 1/2" Floppy Icon
7 - To change the Removable Disk Icon
8 - To change the Hard Drive Icon
9 - To change the Network Drive Online Icon
10 - To change the Network Drive Offline Icon
11 - To change the CD Drive Icon
12 - To change the Ramdrive Icon
13 - To change the Entire Network Icon
19-27 Are the Start Menu Icons
19 - To change the Programs Icon
20 - To change the Documents Icon
21 - To change the Settings Icon
22 - To change the Find Icon
23 - To change the Help Icon
24 - To change the Run Icon
27 - To change the Shutdown Icon
Other Icons
33 - To change the DUN Folder Icon
34 - To change the Desktop Icon
35 - To change the Control Panel Icon
37 - To change the Printer Folder Icon
40 - To change the Audio CD Icon
43 - To change the Favorites Icon
44 - To change the Logoff Icon
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Prevent Changes to the Start Menu
Added 1/31/00
To prevent any changes to the Start Menu, even a right click:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a DWORD called NoChangeStartMenu
Give it a value of 1
Download reg file
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DOS Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00
There are restrictions you can make to the ability to execute DOS programs
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
Create a new key under Policies called WinOldApp
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt
NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Networking Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00
There are general restrictions you can make in Networking
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
Create a new key under Policies called Network
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
DisablePwdCaching = Password Caching
HideSharePwds [hex] =Shared Passwords
NoEntireNetwork =Entire Network
NoNetSetup =Network applet
NoNetSetupIDPage =Network Identification tab
NoNetSetupSecurityPage =Network Access tab
NoFileSharing =Network File Sharing button
MinPwdLen = set Minimum Password Length (integer number: 0 - 99)
NoPrintSharing =Network Print Sharing button
NoWorkgroupContents =Network Workgroup
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Control Panel Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00
There are many general restrictions you can make to the Control Panel
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
Create a new keys under Policies called System
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
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
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Restricting the Start Menu, Explorer and the Desktop
Updated 1/30/00
There are many general restrictions you can make to the Start Menu, the Explorer and to the Desktop itself.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
There should already be at least a Explorer section there already
Additional keys that can be created under Policies are WinOldApp
You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0
ClearRecentDocsOnExit = Clear of Recent Documents on Exit
NoAddPrinter = Adding new printers
NoClose = Computer Shutdown
NoDeletePrinter = Delete Installed Printers
NoDesktop = Doesn't show Desktop items as well as and Desktop right-click menu
NoDevMgrUpdate = Windows 98/ME web Update Manager
NoDrives [hex] = Hides Drives in my computer
NoFind = Find command
NoInternetIcon = Internet Icon on Desktop
NoNetHood = Network Neighborhood
NoRecentDocsHistory = Recent Documents in Start Menu
NoRun = Run command
NoSaveSettings = Save Settings on exit
NoSetFolders = Folders in Start Menu -> Settings
NoSetTaskbar = Taskbar in Start Menu -> Settings
NoSMMyDocs = My Documents folder in Start Menu
NoSMMyPictures = My Pictures folder in Start Menu
NoWindowsUpdate = Windows web Update
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing Office 2000's Excel Undo History
Added 1/27/00
By default, Excel has only approximately 16 undo's you can perform.
To increase that number:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options
Add a dword called UndoHistory
Give it the value you want for the amount you want.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing the Title on Windows Media Player
Added 1/27/00
You can change the title bar for the Windows Media Player
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_USERS \ .DEFAULT \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsMediaPlayer
Create a string value of TitleBar
Give it a value of whatever you want to appear in the title bar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eliminating the Right Click on the Taskbar
Added 1/10/00
To eliminate the right click on the taskbar:
Start Regedit
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoTrayContextMenu
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
Download reg file
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Eliminating the Right Click on the Desktop
Added 1/10/00
To eliminate the right click on the desktop:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoViewContextMenu
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turning Off the Help on Min, Max, Close Icons
Added 1/8/00
When the mouse goes over the minimize, maximize and close icons on the upper right hand side of a window, you normally get a display telling you want those are for.
To disable that display:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
Create a String Value called MinMaxClose
Give it a value of 1
Reboot
Download reg file
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Adding Open With to the Right Click in the Explorer
Added 12/28/99
To add the option Open With when you right click on a file in the Explorer:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ CLASSES \* \ shell \ openas \ command
If this key isn't there then just create it
Give it the value of C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1
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Automatically Deleting a Registry Key
Added 12/20/99
Normally you cannot automatically delete registry keys from reg file. But there is a way...
Simply include a minus sign inside the left bracket before the main key.
For example.
If you want to delete the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 8.0 \ Common \ Assistants, your regfile would simply look like:
REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Common\Assistants]
This would delete that key and any below it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixing no AutoRun for CDs
Added 11/9/99
If your CDs have stop starting automatically, and you have checked everything else:
Go to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
The value for NoDriveTypeAutoRun should be set to 95 00 00 00
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Renaming the File System Profiles
Added 4/20/99
In the Control Panel / System / Performance / File System, you can select either Desktop Computer, Mobile or docking system, or Network Server.
You can change these labels to something more descriptive:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version / FS Templates
You can change the text that appears under each key
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sticky Menus
Added 4/20/99
Normally when you move the mouse over the Start Menu / Programs, it will automatically cascade and show the submenus.
If you want them to open only when you actually click on them:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
If if it not already there, create a string called MenuShowDelay
Give it a value of 65534
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automatic Shutdown with Windows NT
Submitted 3/28/99
Most laptops allow the operating system to turn off the hardware after shutdown, instead of displaying the message telling you it's now safe to turn off your system.
You can take advantage of this capability by enabling the Power Down After Shutdown feature.
To enable this feature, simply add a REG_SZ value named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\PowerdownAfterShutDown and set it to 1.
Next, tell NT to shut down and see if the machine turns itself off after shutting down. If it doesn't, change the value back to 0 to restore normal operation.
Download reg file
Submitted by D Puffer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kill Hung Processes When Logging Off in Windows NT
Submitted 3/28/99
When you tell NT to shut down, it first sends shutdown requests to any running processes.
Most 32-bit applications honor these requests and shut down, but older 16-bit apps running in the Virtual DOS Machine often won't.
When this occurs, the operating system prompts you with a dialog box asking if you want to kill the task, wait for the task to die on its own, or cancel the shutdown.
By modifying the Registry, you can automate this process.
You can force NT to kill all running processes on shutdown by adding a REG_SZ value named HKEY_USER\\ControlPanel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks and set the value to 1. You can also add this value to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT so that all new accounts will shut down the same way.
Submitted by D Puffer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NT Crash Log File
Submitted 3/28/99
In addition to the crash log file, you can also enable two other methods of crash notification and logging.
You can enable an administrative alert by changing the value of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl\SendAlert to 1. The next time the system crashes, an administrative alert will be sent that may provide the first sign of the crash.
You can also make NT log the crash in the event log by changing the value of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\CrashControl\LogEvent to 1 instead of its default 0. Now, the exact time of the crash will be permanently recorded.
Submitted by D Puffer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing the Location of Outlook Express Data Files
Added 1/16/99
Normally Outlook Express keeps its data files in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express directory.
To change this:
First copy those files to the new location
Start RegEdit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Outlook Express
Change the Store Root key to the directory where you moved the files
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disabling the Blinking Cursor
Added 10/17/98
To stop the cursor from blinking in applications such as Word:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add a String Value
Name it CursorBlinkRate
Give it a value of -1
Reboot the computer
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re-Enabling DHCP Error Messages
Added 9/20/98
If you got a DHCP error message, selected to not see DHCP errors, and now want to see them again;
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ DHCP
Change the value of PopupFlag from 00 to 01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Getting Rid of Schemes
Updated 6/7/98
A safer way would be is to go to the Control Panel / Display / Appearance tab
Go to the Scheme drop down box
Select the one you don't want and click on the delete button
Submitted by obs
When you right click on your desktop and pick properties your Display Properties screen appears.
Under Appearance tab / Schemes, determine if you want all those wild schemes.
If not they can be deleted and clear approximately 45K.
Before you delete them, choose or create at least 1 Scheme and "Save As" (in my case Bud 1).
Open Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Appearance \ Schemes
Highlight every String and Value on the right side and delete. DO NOT DELETE "Default"
Submitted by Bud Allen
bwil@erinet.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiding Any Combination of Drives
Submitted 2/15/98
If you want to stop a drive or any combination of drives appearing in Explorer/My Computer
Add the Binary Value of 'NoDrives' in the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Give it a value from a combination of the table below:
A 1 00 00 00
B 2 00 00 00
C 4 00 00 00
D 8 00 00 00
E 16 00 00 00
F 32 00 00 00
G 64 00 00 00
H 128 00 00 00
I 00 1 00 00
J 00 2 00 00
K 00 4 00 00
L 00 8 00 00
M 00 16 00 00
N 00 32 00 00
O 00 64 00 00
P 00 128 00 00
Q 00 00 1 00
R 00 00 2 00
S 00 00 4 00
T 00 00 8 00
U 00 00 16 00
V 00 00 32 00
W 00 00 64 00
X 00 00 128 00
Y 00 00 00 1
Z 00 00 00 2
Where (for eg) you want to hide Drives {C,E,J,O,R,U,Y,Z} you would give 'NoDrives' the value 14 42 12 03
Where C+E = 14, J+O = 42, R+U=12 and Y+Z = 03
Please NOTE: The Numbers are to be added in HEXadecimal ie: ABCD = 0F, not 15 All Drives Visible is 00 00 00 00 All Drives Hidden is FF FF FF 03
Submitted by Ramon Buckland
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Creating a Legal Text Notice Before Logon
Added 2/15/98
You can create a banner that will come up just before you logon to the computer:
Start Regedit
Go to HKeyLocalMachine \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ WinLogon
Create a new string value called LegalNoticeCaption and give it a value you want to see in the menu bar
Create a new string value called LegalNoticeText and give it a value you want to see in the dialog box
Now before anyone logs into that computer, this banner will come up on the screen.
This can be useful for any legal warnings you want to give regarding the use of the computer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the Hand Icon from Shared Resources
Submitted 2/11/98
When you share a local resource, Windows95 normally puts a hand in from of that resources icon.
To remove hand icon from your shared resources:
Start Regedit.
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / Network
Open SharingHandler.
Clear it's default value
Restart Windows.
To restore set Default value "msshrui.dll".
Submitted by Guntars Revelins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enabling the Middle Mouse Button on Logitech Mouse
To enable the middle mouse button on Logitech Mouses to act as a double-click button by only pressing it once:
Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LOGITECH\MOUSEWARE\CURRENTVERSION\SERIALV\0000
Change DoubleClick to equal 001
Submitted by Jason Maruniak
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Easily Opening a File with Notepad
Submitted 10/25/97
This will enable you to right click on any file and have the option to open it with notepad.
Also if a file has no association and you try to open it it will open with notepad
Run 'regedit.exe'
Expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT"
Inside "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT", expand "*"
Inside "*", create a key called "shell"
Inside "shell" create a key called "open"
Inside "open" edit the string "(default)" to say "open (notepad)"
Inside "open" create a key called "command"
Inside "command" edit the string "(default)" to say C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE "%1"
Submitted by EIBON
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Displaying Hi-Color Icons without the Plus Pack
Submitted 10/19/97
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ desktop \ WindowMetrics
Add or edit Shell Icon BPP=16 where the number is the color depth.
The default is 8 (bit or 256 colors).
Submitted by Frank Lolli
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Backing Up the Registry
Submitted 9/13/97
There are many backup programs for the registry but if the computer goes down and you can't fire off Win95 because of the registry problem.
Backup to a directory the following files:
SYSTEM.DATA
SYSTEM.DA0 (Yes seem to be the same size)
USER.DAT
USER.DA0 (Same size likely)
WIN.INI
CONTROL.INI
SYSTEM.INI
These files can be copied to the windows directory from Win95 or DOS to help correct problems.
Submitted by George Harper
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Removing Unwanted Items from the RUN Menu
Submitted 8/23/97
Start the REGEDIT program
Search for the word RUNMRU
Delete the ones you don't want
Rename so they are all in alphabetical order again
Close and restart windows
Submitted by Graham Orchard
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Opening a DOS Window to either the Drive or Directory in Explorer
Submitted 8/9/97
Add or Edit the following Registry Keys
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew]
@="Dos Prompt in that Directory"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew\command]
@="command.com /k cd %1"
[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 there will pop up
Submitted by James Doss
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Compacting the Registry
Submitted 4/5/97
How to compact the registry?
Got to true DOS, not a DOS window
Run Regedit and then export the entire Registry to COMPACT.REG.
Then exit regedit and run it again with the following switch. REGEDIT /C COMPACT.REG
Submitted by Ian Buda
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Changing Exchange's Mailbox Location
Added 3/29/97
When you create a mailbox in Exchange for e-mail, you specify the file where you want to mail to go.
You cannot change this in Exchange afterwards.
If you want to change the file name or location::
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsMessaging Subsystem \ Profiles
Go to the profile you want to change
Go to the section that has the file location for your mailbox (*.PST) file in the right hand panel
Make the change to file location or name
Restart Exchange
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Removing Sound Events from Control Panel / Sounds
Added 3/16/97
When you view what events you can assign sounds to from Control Panel / Sounds,
you cannot delete the events themselves. In order to do that:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / AppEvents / Schemes / Apps
From here you can delete any items you don't want to show or no longer need.
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Changing the Registered Owner
Added 2/6/97
Starting Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion
From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key
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Adding an Application to the Right Click on Every Folder
Added 1/30/97
Here is how to add any application to the menu when you right click on any Folder.
This could be useful if there is an app you always want available and don't want to go through the Start menu
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell
Add a key Name_of_Your_App
This can really be any label, just use one that makes sense to you
Give it a default value of Name_of_Your_App
Putting a & in front of a character will allow you to use the keyboard
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ Name_of_Your_App
Add a key command
Give it a default value of the application you want to run
For example: c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe
Include the full path
Now when you right click on any folder, you can have access to that application
This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0
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Adding Explore From Here to Every Folder
Added 1/30/97
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell
Add a key rootexplore
Give it a default value of E&xplore From Here
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ rootexplore
Add a key command
Give it a default value of Explorer.exe /e,/root,/idlist,%i
Now when you right click on any folder, you can open up an Explorer window of that folder.
This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saving Desktop Settings
Submitted 1/11/97
When I would go to Control Panel or Start Menu Programs, or any other Desktop window setting; meaning size, position, icon arrangement, they would never be as I set them. I found an answer:
At [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
There is a "NoSaveSettings" key. I deleted it and now my all my stuff stays where I tell it.
The same key shows up at:
[HKEY_USERS\bwil\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer](where bwil is your password profile) Just thought I'd share this with you all.
Submitted by Bud Allen
bwil@erinet.com
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Getting Rid of Tips
Remember those "Tips of the day" that appeared when you first install Win95?
If you don't want them any longer and want to clear yet more Clutter, approximately 5K, you can delete them at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips
Submitted by Bud Allen
bwil@erinet.com
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Changing the Location of Windows95's Installation Files
Added 12/18/96
If you need to change the drive and or path where Windows95 will look for it's installation files:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ SourcePath
Change the location from there
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Creating a Network Logon Banner
Submitted 12/7/96
If you want to create a Network Logon Banner:
Start Regedit
Go To HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Create a new String called LegalNoticeCaption
Enter the text for your banner
Submitted by Frank Tanner
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Creating a Default File Opener
Added 11/29/96
If you have a un-registered file type and want to view it with Explorer's Right-click
you can add your program to the right-click options by:
Starting Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASS_ROOT / Unknown
Highlight the Shell Folder below it
Right click on Shell and create a New Key
Name it anything you want (For example NOTEPAD)
Create a New Key under that named command
Highlight the Command key
Double click on the Default value in the right hand panel
In Value Data, enter the path and filename of the program you want to use to open the file type
For example: C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE %1
Click on OK
In this example, when you right click on a file in Explorer, NOTEPAD will show up as an option.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deleting Registry Keys from the Command Line
Added 11/3/96
With the OEM Version of Windows95, a new switch, /D, is added to Regedit.
This enables you to delete items from Registry.
The syntax is: REGEDIT /L:system.dat_location /R:user.dat_location /D Reg_Key
where Reg_Key is the key you want to delete
There are two requirements:
1. That you have to boot to the same OEM version of Windows95 as the REGEDIT.EXE file.
2. You cannot be in Win95 at the time you use this switch.
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Automatic Screen Refresh
Added 10/24/96
When you make changes to your hard drive and use Explorer, the changes are not usually displayed until you press the F5 key
To make the updates automatic:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Control / UpdateMode
Edit the DWORD value to be between 1 and 7
Restart Windows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disable Password Caching
Added 10/19/96
As in Windows for Workgroups, when logging on to an NT Domain, it is preferable to disable password caching.
This allows for the single NT Domain login and eliminates the secondary Windows logon screen.
It also eliminates the possibility of the respective passwords to get out of sync.
To disable password caching on the workstation, a one-line addition to the registry needs to be made.
To make the change, create a ASCII text file called DISABLE.REG with the following lines:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
Open up a DOS box and type REGEDIT DISABLE.REG
You can also download the DISABLE.REG file.
If you need to re-enable password caching, download ENABLE.REG and repeat the process just with the different file name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing the MaxMTU and other Network Settings
Added 10/19/96
There are four network settings that can be configured so when dialing to an ISP, you should get somewhat greater throughput.
They are the MaxMTU, MaxMSS and DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL
MaxMTU and MaxMSS
Start REGEDIT
Go to Hkey_Local_Machine / System / CurrentControlset / Services / Class / netTrans / 000n
(where n is your particular network adapter binding.)
Right click on the right panel
Select New / String Value
Type in MaxMTU
Double click on it and enter then the number you want. The usual change is to 576
Similarly, you can add MaxMSS and give it a value of 536
DefaultRcvWindows and DefaultTTL
Start REGEDIT
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ MSTCP
Add a new string DefaultRcvWindow and give it a value of 2144
Add a new string DefaultTTL and give it a value of 60-64
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding Items to the Start Button
Added 10/17/96
To add items when you right-click on the Start Button:
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Classes_Root / Directory / Shell
Right-click on Shell and select New / Key
Type in the name of the key and press the Enter key
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
Right-click on the key you just created and create another key under it called command
For the value of this command, enter the full path and program you want to execute
Now when you right click on the Start Button, your new program will show up. You do not need to reboot first.
For example, if you wanted WinWord, you would add that as the first key, the default in the right panel would be &WinWord so when you right click on the Start Button, the W would be underlined and you could just press that key. The command would be something like C:\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\WINWORD.EXE
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Removing Open, Explore & Find from Start Button
Added 9/15/96
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:
Start Regedit
Search for Directory
This should bring you to Hkey_Classes_Root \ Directory
Expand this section by clicking on the "+"
Under shell is Find
Delete Find
Scroll down below Directory to Folder
Expand this section under shell
Delete Explore and Open
Note: - When you remove Open, you cannot open any folders.
If you need to undo any of the changes, you can download the registry settings before the changes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing Items from NEW
Added 7/27/96
When you right-click on the desktop and select New, a list of default templates you can open up are listed.
To remove items from that list:
Start Regedit
Search for the string ShellNew
This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root
For the items you want to remove, simply rename the ShellNew command
Renaming is safer that deleting it
Continue searching for the items you want to remove
You do not need to reboot for the change to take effect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing the Telnet Scroll-Back Buffer Size
Added 7/27/96
By default, the Telnet session has a window size of 25 lines. To increase this so you can scroll back
and look at a larger number on lines:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Telnet
Double-click on the entry Rows in the right hand panel
Increase the decimal value to one that suits your needs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing the Tips of the Day
Submitted 7/27/96
You can edit the Tips of the day in the Registry by going to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips
Submitted by Jayme Johnston
jayme@excalibur.net
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Disabling Drives in My Computer
Added 7/24/96
To turn off the display of local or networked drives when you click on My Computer:
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Add a New DWORD item and name it NoDrives
Give it a value of 3FFFFFF
Now when you click on My Computer, none of your drives will show
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not Saving Setting on Exit
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoSaveSettings
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not Displaying the Network Neighborhood
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoNetHood
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disabling Run or Find from the Start Menu
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoFile or NoRun
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Download reg for no_file
Download reg for no_run
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiding All Icons from the Desktop
Added 7/21/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoDesktop
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Now all icons are hidden on the desktop.
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get Your Folders to Open the Way You Want Every Time
Submitted 7/7/96
To get your folders to open the way you want every time:
Set up all your folders the way you want (auto arrange, view, etc.),
Start RegEdit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Go to NoSaveSettings
Modify and change Value to 1
Submitted by Dan Poplawski
dan@together.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modifying Default Desktop Icons
Added 7/1/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons
The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40
Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below.
Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file.
Note: The numbering starts with zero.
If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0.
e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0.
Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE
Below is a reference for the icons I've been able to figure out:
0 - Default Icon
1 - Default Document
2 - Application
3 - Closed Folder
4 - Open Folder
5 - 5 1/4 Drive
6 - 3 1/4 Drive
7 - Removable Drive
8 - Hard Drive
9 - Network Folder
10 - Network Offline
11 - CD
12 - RAM Drive
13 - Entire Nertwork
15 - My Computer
16 - Printer
17 - Network Neighborhood
18 - Network Workgroup
19-27 are the Start Menu icons
19 - Programs
20 - Desktop
21 - Settings
22 - Find
23 - Help
24 - Run
25 - Suspend
27 - Shutdown
28 - Share
29 - Shortcut
31 - Recycle Bin (Empty)
32 - Recycle Bin (Full)
33 - Folder, Dial-Up Networking
34 - Desktop
36 - Program Group
40 - Audio Card
In addition, you can change:
My Computer - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clearing the Documents Menu Automatically
Added 6/2/96
The Documents Menu displays the last file and programs you used. You can clear item manually but only through editing
the Registry can you turn this off automatically. This can be useful on computers that are used by multiple people.
The same settings can be also used in NT 4.0
Set the properties on the Recycle Bin to delete files immediately.
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders
Right click on the right panel
Select New / String Value
Rename it to Recent - Only if it is not already there
Give it the value of C:\RECYCLED
Set your Recycle bin to Automatically delete files
Log off and back on again.
Your Documents Menu should now be blank. This will be for all subsequent users who logon as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disabling the Right-Click on the Start Button
Added 6/29/96
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.
Start Regedit
Search for Desktop
This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ Directory
Expand this section
Under Shell is Find
Delete Find
Move down a little in the Registry to Folder
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 to see how to do this automatically during an install.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disabling My Computer
Added 6/29/96
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:
Start Regedit
Search for 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
This should bring you to the HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID section
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..
See the section on Installation to see how to do this automatically during an install.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing Desktop Icons
Added 5/28/96
You can change many of the icons that are located on your desktop.
Start Regedit
Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
Expand that key
Highlight Default Icon
Double click on the Default in the right panel
Enter the name of the program with the icon you want to use followed by and command and then the number of the icon (starting with 0)
Some of the additional items that can be searched for are:
Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Additional icons can be found in:
\WINDOWS\MORICONS.DLL
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PIFMGR.DLL
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Opening Explorer from My Computer
Added 5/28/96
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:
Start Regedit
Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID
Expand the key {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Right click on Shell
Select New / Key and type Open and press the Enter key
Right click on Open
Select New / Key and type Command and press the Enter key
Double click on the Default for Command and type Explorer.exe for the value
Now when you click on My Computer, the Explorer will start
If you want to return to normal, simply delete the Open key
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixing Corrupt Registry
Added 5/12/96
If your registry has gotten corrupted, and re-installing Windows95 over your existing version does not fix the problem,
there is a hidden, read-only, system file on the root of your boot drive called SYSTEM.1ST.
This is the initial system registry created when you first installed Windows95.
To use this file:
Go to your Windows directory
Un-Attrib your current SYSTEM.DAT file (attrib -r -s -h system.dat)
Copy your current SYSTEM.DAT to something like SYSTEM.BAD file (just in case)
Move to your root directory
Un-Attrib the SYSTEM.1ST file
Copy SYSTEM.1ST to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
Re-start your system
You will need to install your 32-bit apps and any other programs or changes that modified your system registry
but you will not need to go through a new again. Your 16-bit apps should not need to be re-installed since they do
not modify the registry. You will also retain your current desktop configuration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recycle Bin Edits
Submitted 5/2/96
Fooling with the recycle bin. Why not make the icon context menu act like other icon context menu's.
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 win 95 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 win 95 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 ... another shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,04,20 ... and another shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,08,20 ... make it look disabled (like it's been cut)
I added the above edits for fun. But it gets you thinking.
Note: Adding rename and delete to the context menu takes effect instantly. To restore the icon after deletion requires screen refresh (F5).
Have fun.... Tom
Submitted by Tom Temple
temple@earthlink.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setting the Minimum Password Length
Added 4/29/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
Add a new Binary Value
Rename it to MinPwdLen
Assign it a value equal to your minimum password length
Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disabling File and Print Sharing
Added 4/29/96
Start Regedit
Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
Add a new DWord Value
Rename it to NoPrintSharing or NoFileSharing
Assign it a value of 1
Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifying programs to run every time Windows95 starts
Added 4/21/96
If you want to start programs every time Windows95 runs, but would like to hide them from users
by not having the listed in the Startup folder or the WIN.INI file, you can have them load through the registry.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run or RunOnce
Right click on the right panel
Select New / String Value
Type in any name
For the value, enter the path and executable for the program you want to run.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows
Added 4/21/96
Open REGEDIT.EXE
Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Open the Key LNKFILE
Delete the value IsShortcut
Open the next Key PIFFILE
Delete the value IsShortcut
Restart the Win95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turn Off Window Animation
You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows.
Added 4/21/96
Open Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Control panel
Desktop
WindowMetrics
Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane.
Select new string value.
Name the new value MinAnimate.
Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify"
Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit Enter
Close Regedit and all programs then reboot.
Download reg file
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To speed up the Start Menu
Added 4/21/96
Start the REGEDIT program
Search for the word desktop
This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400...
Right Click on the right panel
Pick NEW / String Value.
Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word.
Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest.
Exit REGEDIT
Restart Windows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changing your Modem's Initialization String
Added 4/21/96
Start REGEDIT
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init
Change the settings to the new values
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increasing the Modem Timeout
Added 4/21/96
If your modem it timing out during file transfers or loading Web Pages,
you might try increasing the timeout period.
To change it:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Services / Class / Modem / XXXX / Settings
Where XXXX is the number of your modem
Move to the right panel and double click on Inactivity Timeout
The number of minutes for a timeout should be entered between the brackets.
For example, a US Robotics Sportster could have S19=<30> to set it to 30 minutes.
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Removing Programs listed from the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section
Added 4/21/96
If you remove an installed program and its files by deleting the files,
it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list through the control panel.
In order to remove it from the list (so you don't need to re-install in order to just remove it again).
Start the Registry Editor
Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall
Delete any programs here.
This will only delete them from the list, not delete the actual programs.
Only programs designed for Windows95 will show up here in the first place.
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