50 Registry tricks to help you become a true Windows 7 / Vista 'hacker' (Part 1)

The registry is a hierarchical database that stores the values ​​of parameters in windows and applications and services running on the Windows operating system.

1. Prevent Windows Update "force" to restart your computer

Assuming that during your work, a dialog box will appear on your screen to indicate that your computer is about to restart. This makes you feel extremely uncomfortable, plus you have to manipulate the dialog window off. So how to disable this window?

1.1. Edit the Registry manually

First open the Registry by entering regedit.exe into the Search Start Menu box or via the Run dialog box.

On the interface of the Registry Editor you navigate to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU

Here you proceed to create a 32-bit DWORD value and name this value NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers .

Set the NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers value in the Value data frame to 1 to prevent the computer boot notification dialog from appearing.

In case if you want to display the computer startup message again, you should follow the same steps and set the value in the Value data frame to the original value.

1.2. Download the available Registry

Just download and proceed to extract the edited Registry file, then double-click WUNoAutoReboot.reg to disable the automatic restart of the computer.

Download WUNoAutoReboot Registry Hack to your computer and install it here.

1.3. Use the Auto Reboot Remover utility

If you don't want to "touch" the Registry, you can use the Auto Reboot Remover utility. If you are using Windows Vista, just click on the option you want to use, then run the option under Admin.

Download Auto Reboot Remover from Intelliadmin to your device and install it here.

2. Clean up the mess on the Context Menu

One of the most annoying things about Windows is the mess on the Context Menu when you install a variety of applications. Here are some tips to help you "clean up" this mess.

2.1. Clean up the Context Menu by hacking the Registry

If you want to clean up this mess, first open the Registry by entering regedit.exe into the Search Start Menu pane or the Run command window, then on the Registry Editor interface you navigate to one of the keys below. :

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT * shell

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT * shellexContextMenuHandlers

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTAllFileSystemObjectsShellEx

You can find items in a specific directory with one of the keys below:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryshell

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryshellexContextMenuHandlers

- With "Shell":

In the example below you can see under the Shell key is the Add to VLC media player and Play with VLC .

If you want to hide one of these items, press Shift + Right Click , then create a new value string in the right pane and name this value Extended :

If you want to disable but don't want to delete the key, you can add a new value string and name this value LegacyDisable .

- With "Shellex":

Continuing with the example above, you can navigate by key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryshellexContextMenuHandlers

To decode these items will be a little more difficult . but you can find each item by the key name in the left pane, then adjust the value (default) by adding a few dashes on the side Previous to disable items without deleting anything.

In the example below, I clicked on the 7-ZIP item in the left pane, and added a few dashes before the value data to disable 7-ZIP.

- With specific file formats:

Sometimes in some cases, not often, items are placed on the registry key with a specific file format. In this case, you need to find the expanded key file location under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT .

In the following example, suppose if you want to delete Excel (.xls), you search by Registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.xls

The actual format of the file is Excel.Sheet.8, so you can navigate the Registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTExcel.Sheet.8shell

Finally, perform the steps as in the Shell section above to disable items.

2.2. Use available tools

If you don't want to "hack" the Registry, you can use two NirSoft utilities to clean up the Context Menu ( context menu).

The first tool is ShellMenuView . This tool allows users to manage all items at the "Shell" key with an easy-to-use interface. Just browse the items you want to find, then click Disable to finish.

On the screen you can see items that have been disabled:

Next to disable " Shellex " or Shell Extensions , you can use ShellExView tool.

Similar to ShellMenuView tool, you just need to click Disable to remove items.

Download ShellExView to your computer and install it here.

Download ShellMenuView to your device and install it here.

3. Prevent Windows Update from "attacking" the Sleep / Shutdown button

3.1. Edit the Registry manually

First open the Registry by entering regedit.exe into the Search box on the Start Menu or on the Run dialog box.

On the Registry window you navigate to the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU

Here you create the 32-bit DWORD value and name this value NoAUAsDefaultShutdownOption , then set the value of NoAUAsDefaultShutdownOption in the Value data frame to 1.

Note: No need to restart your computer in case of necessity.

3.2. Download the available Registry

Download and extract the file StopHijackingMySleepButton Registry Hack , then double-click the file StopHijackingMySleepButton.reg to activate the Registry.

Note: You do not need to restart your computer.

Download StopHijackingMySleepButton Registry Hack about the machine and install it here.

Refer to some of the following articles:

1. 50 Registry tricks to help you become a true Windows 7 / Vista "hacker" (Part 2)

1. 50 Registry tricks to help you become a true Windows 7 / Vista "hacker" (Part 3)

1. 50 Registry tricks to help you become a true Windows 7 / Vista "hacker" (Part 4)

1. 50 Registry tricks to help you become a true Windows 7 / Vista "hacker" (Part 5)

Good luck!