Some interesting Registry tweaks for Windows XP

Network Administration - Surely you've seen warnings about editing the Registry that your system may crash. While it is dangerous, if you take very careful steps, some Registry tweaks can be quite beneficial . In this article, I will introduce you some tips in Windows XP, from which you can make some adjustments far beyond the simple settings in Control Panel.

Maybe you have some pretty friendly people with Registry Editor. In Windows XP, simply run the REGEDIT command at the Run prompt. Then look in the interface structure to tree the desired values ​​and settings, and double-click on them to make changes in the dialog format. However, before you start making any changes, the best and safest way to do this is to backup your Registry by choosing File | Export .

1. Change the items in Control Panel

Windows XP's Control Panel is divided into categories in the default view, but grouping certain items that belong to an item does not always make you feel satisfied. If you do not agree with the Microsoft agreement, you can convert them a bit. To assign a different category to an item, go to:

# KEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
Control PanelExtended Properties {305CA226-D286-468e-B848-2B2E8E697B74} 2

Find the item you want to change and double-click it to bring up the dialog box. Change the DWORD value of the item to your preferred value. Use table A as a guide (represented by base number 10).

Table A

Categories

DWORD value to set

Khác Control Panel Options

0

Appearance and Themes

first

Printers and Other Hardware

2

Network and Internet Connections

3

Sounds, Speed, and Audio Devices

4

Performance and Maintenance

5

Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options

6

Accessibility Options

7

Add or Remove Programs

8

User Accounts

9

2. Create hidden user accounts

The user account you set up will appear on the Welcome screen (a new feature in Windows XP) when you start your computer. To hide a certain user account, make them not appear here, go to:

# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersion
WinlogonSpecialAccountsUserList

Right-click anywhere inside the Registry Window and select New to create a new DWORD value with the desired account name hidden. Set this value to 0 (base 10 system). This account will not be accessible when switching users with Fast User Switching ; You will only be able to access it from the Log On to Windows dialog box. It should be noted that it is not a completely hidden account; The account profile will appear in the Documents and Settings folder . In addition, the account will also appear in Local Users and Groups when the administrator logs on.

3. Prevent programs from loading at startup

Going back to the golden days of Windows 3.1, users can open the Win.ini file in a text editor and remove certain items from the RUN = line to disable it in running time. boot? With Windows 9x and later versions, the Win.ini file becomes less useful because 32-bit programs are set to run at startup from within the Registry.

One way to disable programs loaded at startup is to use MSCONFIG (from the Run prompt). Another way to remove them is to edit the Registry directly in the locations below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun

for startup applications for all users

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun

for applications that start when the current user logs in

Remove the entry for a program by right-clicking on it and selecting Delete to avoid loading it.

See page 2

 

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4. Sort menu by rhyme

 

When you install a new program for users, it will not be categorized in an instant, but somewhere at the end of the menu list, or somewhere. If your users use the Classic Start menu, they can arrange it manually by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Properties , clicking the Customize button next to Classic Start Menu and the Sort button. However, with the Start menu type in Windows XP, you don't have the equivalent button. To make Windows sort menus in rhyme, you must remove the Registry key privileges used to control the order that appears in the Start menu. To do that, you need to go to:

# HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
ExplorerMenuOrder

Select Edit | Permissions and click the Advanced button. Uncheck the Inherit checkbox from the Parent Permission Entries That Apply to Child Objects , then click Copy when the Security dialog box appears. Click OK and uncheck the Full Control item for your account and all security groups you are a member of. Only allow ' only Read ' privileges.

5. Change the desktop cleanup frequency

Via Display Properties (Desktop tab, Customize Desktop button, General tab), you can enable or disable the feature to run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days. However there is no option to set another time here. To change this frequency, you need to enter the Registry by going to:

# HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
ExplorerDesktopCleanupWiz

Change the Days Between Clean Up Value to the number of days you want (below base 10).

6. Use patterns for the desktop

Windows XP does not provide direct support for the Patterns feature, which is available in previous versions of Windows. However, it is not completely lost, but is actually hidden in the Registry. To activate a pattern, first need to set the background in Display Properties to None . Then you need to find the code for that pattern. To look up the code of a pattern, go to:

# HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelPatterns

A variety of patterns are listed here, each with a Data value. Please copy the value you want into the Clipboard. Then go to:

# HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop

Add a string value named Pattern. Then paste the string from the clipboard into as its value. This new pattern will appear on your next login.

7. Delete the "Files Stored on This Computer " entry in the My Computer window

In Windows XP, the listing of the My Computer window is divided into categories: Hard Disk Drives , Devices with Removable Storage , etc. There is also the Files Stored on This Computer section , which appears at the top of the My Computer window. . If you don't need it, you can remove this item. To do this, go to:

# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
ExplorerMyComputerNameSpaceDelegate Folders

Delete subkey {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c55595fe6b30ee} to remove the category.

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8. Delete the file that worked when shutdown

 

You may worry about someone being able to browse users' working files and get some sensitive data from there. To reduce security concerns, you can go to:

# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlSession Manager
Memory Management

And set ClearPageFileAtShutdown DWORD to 1. This method will make the process shutdown longer because it will overwrite everything in the file that is exchanged with zeros. Don't enable this feature unless you're really worried about security issues.

9. Adjust system recovery values

The new System Restore feature in Windows XP will automatically backup a snapshot of the system, including the Registry, every 24 hours. It can also save restore points for a period of 90 days. While these values ​​cannot be changed directly in System Restore, you can change them in the Registry by going to:

# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersion
SystemRestore

You will then see a series of settings here. To change the interval between automatically created restore points, simply change the RPGlobalInterval setting . To change the number of days to maintain the restore point, change the RPLifeInterval setting .

System Restore time intervals are calculated in seconds, not days, so you need to convert the date you want to be in seconds. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, so multiply 86,400 by the number of days you want to set to get the right value.

10. Create a command prompt option with a right click

You can right-click a folder to get a list of actions that can be applied to it. Here's how to create an action, the right-click menu lets you choose to open a command prompt window and that folder is the current directory in the command prompt window that is open. In the text editor such as Notepad, type the following paragraph:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTFoldershellCmd Here] @ = 'Command & Prompt Here'
[HKEY_CLASSES-ROOTFoldershellCmd Herecommand] @ = 'cmd.exe / k pushd% L'

Save this file with any name you want to set, but there must be a .reg extension. Then double-click the saved file and select Yes to merge the information in the file into the Registry. You can then delete the file. Click on any folder, now you will see the CommandPrompt Here option.

Conclude

Editing the Registry is not always a dangerous action. With careful implementation and full backup, any IT professional can take advantage of the powerful features that are inside the Registry. And we hope that through this lesson, you will have a lot of knowledge to be able to build your own Registry.