windowsskater- Bob Tyrer v.1.0
Windows XP Registry Tweak Companion
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(C) 2005- Bob Tyrer-- Windowsskater, Microbeta.net |
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Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Importance of back-up
3. Edit the registry
4. Possible errors, mistakes or other problems
5. How to fix these problems
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1. Introduction
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First off, I want it to be clear that, if any possible
problems arise with the machine you are using tweaks from
this guide on, I am first off not accountable if there is
property damage, personal injury, or any other type of
damage. (Personal injury should not occuour, as it is rare
that a computer will blow up due to a registry tweak).
Second, MOST of the tweaks in this guide were not found by
me, and may not be trustworthy, use your own judgment, if it
doesn't look trustworthy to you, do not attempt to use it on
your machine, as problems may arise. All material in this
guide are property of their respectful owners.
Registry tweaks are common among Windows enthusiasts and
common nerds alike. Some are very basic, while others are
more complicated. Some can help you or your machine success-
fully, or others may destroy it. That is why backup of your
registry is so important, which I will be discussing in the
following chapter.
The registry has an editor built in with your copy of
Windows XP, called RegEdit. You can access this program by
clicking "Start> Run", type in "regedit" and
click "Ok".
Most of the tweaks will be entered in through this program,
under the correct directory in your registry.
Many people have written small applications for fixing
errors in the Windows Registry, some of which I may mention
later in this guide.
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2. Importance of Back-Up
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There are several reasons that you should back up the windows
registry. One may be an application may not run if you enter a
false value under the programs registry directory. Another may
be Windows may not load correctly or will have multiple errors
on startup. Whatever the case may be, it is a complete necessary
to backup the registry before you edit any key or directory.
This section of the guide will show you how to do this in
Windows XP.
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Restoring Registry Keys
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(Taken from Microsoft Knowlege Base to veiw the entire article,
please visit: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756#4)
To restore registry subkeys that you exported,
double-click the Registration Entries (.reg) file
that you saved in the Export registry subkeys section.
You can follow these steps to export a registry subkey before you
edit it.
Note Do not follow these steps to export a whole registry subtree.
(HKEY_CURRENT_USER is an example of such a subtree.)
If you must back up whole registry subtrees, back up the whole registry
instead.
1.Click Start, and then click Run.
2.In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3.Locate and then click the subkey that contains the value that you
want to edit.
4.On the File menu, click Export.
5.In the Save in box, select a location where you want to save the
Registration Entries
(.reg) file, type a file name in the File name box, and then click
Save.
To back up the whole registry, use the Backup utility to back up
the
system state. The system state includes the registry, the COM+ Class
Registration
Database, and your boot files.
The Backup tool in Windows XP helps you protect your data in case
your hard disk
fails or files are accidentally erased. By using Backup, you can create
a duplicate
copy of all the data on your hard disk and then archive it on another
storage device,
such as a hard disk or a tape.
If the original data on your hard disk is accidentally erased or
overwritten, or becomes
inaccessible because of a hard-disk malfunction, you can easily restore
the data from the
disk or archived copy by using the Restore Wizard or Automated System
Recovery Wizard.
How to Back up using the Back Up Utility:
Note You must have permissions as an administrator or as a backup
operator on your computer
to back up files and folders. Also, backup operators and administrators
can back up and restore
encrypted files and folders without decrypting
the files or folders.
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point
to System Tools,
and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.
2. Click Advanced Mode.
3. Click the Backup tab.
4. On the Job menu, click New.
5. Click to select the check boxes for the drives that you want to
back up.
If you want to be more specific in your selections, expand the drive
that you want,
and then click to select the check boxes for the files or folders
that you want.
6. Click to select the System State check box.
Note If you want to back up your system settings and your data files,
back up all the data
on your computer plus the System State data. The System State data
includes such things as
the registry, the COM+ class registration database, files under Windows
File Protection,
and boot files.
7. In the Backup destination list, click the backup destination that
you want to use.
8. If you clicked File in the previous step, type the full path and
file name that you
want in the Backup media or file name box. You can also specify a
network share as a
destination for the backup file.
9. Click Start Backup. The Backup Job Information dialog box appears.
10. Under If the media already contains backups, use one of the following
steps:
•If you want to append this backup to previous backups, click
Append this backup to the
media.
•If you want to overwrite previous backups with this backup,
click Replace the data on
the media with this backup.
11. Click Advanced.
12. Select the Verify data after backup check box.
13. In the Backup Type box, click the type of backup that you want.
When you click a backup type, a description of that backup type appears
under "Description."
14. Click OK, and then click Start Backup. A Backup Progress dialog
box appears,
and the backup starts.
15. When the backup is complete, click Close.
To veiw a video on how to do this go here:
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/ShowMeHow/308422.asx (requires
Windows Media
Player) and click the play button.
After your backup is complete, you can start editing your registry.
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3. Editing the Registry
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(Most of the content in this chapter is taken from the Microsoft Knowledge
Base)
"Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems
that may require you
to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems that result
from incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry
Editor at your own risk."
Editing the registry involves the following six types of procedures:
•Locating a subtree, key, subkey, or value
•Adding a subkey
•Adding a value
•Changing a value
•Deleting a subkey or a value
•Renaming a subkey or a value
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There are five top-level registry subtreesEach of them starts with
"HKEY."
In the following example, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is the subtree, SOFTWARE
is the key,
and Microsoft is the subkey.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
In Registry Editor, you can search through the keys and subkeys
in the same way that you search through your folders in Windows Explorer.
The keys and the subkeys are listed in a folder tree in the left
pane of Registry Editor.
If you click a key or a subkey in the left pane, information about
the value name,
the value type, and the value data appears in the right pane.
As in Windows Explorer, each folder may be expanded by clicking the
plus sign (+)
that is next to it. After a folder is expanded, the plus sign changes
to a minus sign (-).
Note When this article says to expand an item, click the plus sign
next to that item.
To locate the Microsoftsubkey that is mentioned earlier in this section,
follow these
steps:
1.Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2.Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
3.Expand SOFTWARE.
4.Click Microsoft.
Note When you click the Microsoft subkey, its values
appear in the right pane.
To view the next lower level of subkeys, expand the Microsoft subkey.
To locate a
value, click the subkey that contains the value, and then view the
contents of the
right pane.
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To add a new subkey named TestSubkey to the Microsoft subkey, follow
these steps:
1.Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2.Expand SOFTWARE.
3.Click the Microsoft subkey.
4.On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
5.Type TestSubkey, and then press ENTER.
To add a new DWORD Value named TestDWORD and to set its value data
to 1 in the
TestSubkey key, follow these steps:
1.Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2.Expand SOFTWARE.
3.Expand Microsoft.
4.Click the TestSubkey subkey.
5.On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
6.Type TestDWORD and then press ENTER..
7.Right-click the TestDWORD DWORD Value, and then click Modify.
8.Type 1, and then click OK.
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To change the value data for the TestDWORD DWORD Value to 0 in the
TestSubkey key,
follow these steps:
1.Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2.Expand SOFTWARE.
3.Expand Microsoft.
4.Click the TestSubkey subkey.
5.Right-click the TestDWORD DWORD Value, and then click Modify.
6.Type 0, and then click OK.
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To rename the TestSubkeysubkey to Test, follow these steps:
1.Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2.Expand SOFTWARE.
3.Expand Microsoft.
4.Right-click the TestSubkey key, and then click Rename.
5.Type Test, and then press ENTER.
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To delete the TestDWORD DWORD Value in the TestSubkey subkey, follow
these steps:
1.Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2.Expand SOFTWARE.
3.Expand Microsoft.
4.Click the TestSubkey subkey.
5.Right-click the TestDWORD DWORD Value, and then click Delete.
6.Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the value.
For more information about editing the registry, follow these steps
in
Registry Editor:
1.On the Help menu, click Help Topics.
2.On the Contents tab, double-click Registry Editor.
3.Double-click How To.
4.Double-click Change Keys and Values, and then click the topic that
you want.
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General Tweaks
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Enough fun stuff, we are now going to tweak the registry.
Here is one that you can try, it turns off auto restart in the event
of a BSOD.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl]
Edit the autoreboot key to look like this:
"AutoReboot"=dword:00000000
1. This tweak disables the desktop cleanup wizard:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz]
Change the simmilar key to this:
"NoRun"=dword:00000001
2. This tweak disables Windows Error Reporting, which I am sure many
people find annoying.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting]
Change the simmilar key to this:
"DoReport"=dword:00000000
3. This one turns off the annoying "Tour Windows XP Popup Bubble"
from the tray.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour]
Edit the RunCount Key to look like this:
"RunCount"=dword:00000000
4. This is a longer tweak, but it will add the "Services"
option to the right-click
menu of "My Computer"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\services]
@=hex(2):53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,00,00
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\services\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,
00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,
65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,
00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,
32,00,5c,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,
00,63,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,00,00
5. To allow the renaming of your recycle bin, do this tweak.
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
Change Attributes to:
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
and change CallForAttributs to:
"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000
6. This tweak will allow you to maximize the number of Internet Explorer
Downloads.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings]
Change the dword values to these:
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:0000000a
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:0000000a
7. Do this tweak to automatically open .nfo files into Notepad.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.nfo]
"Application"="NOTEPAD.EXE"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.nfo\OpenWithList]
"a"="Explorer.exe"
"MRUList"="ba"
"b"="NOTEPAD.EXE"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.nfo\OpenWithProgids]
"MSInfo.Document"=hex(0):
8. Change the colour of encrypted files.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"AltEncryptionColor"="RR
GG BB 00"
(default = 00 80 40 00)
9. A simmilar tweak: Change the colour of compressed files or
folders.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"AltColor"="00 00 ff 00"
10. For the last tip in this section, I chose this, It isn't a direct
registry tweak
but you may find it usefull after editing your registry.
Some registry changes require you to restart Windows before they are
enabled.
This tip lets you re-initialize your registry and refresh your desktop
without having
to leave Windows.
Save your work before attempting this tip!
Press CTRL + ALT + DELETE, to bring up the Windows task list. Highlight
'Explorer'
and click on 'End Task', if the Shutdown screen is shown, click 'Cancel'.
After a few
seconds an error message will popup, click on 'End Task' and the Windows
explorer will be
reloaded along with any new registry settings.
For Windows NT or 2000, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and select "Task
Manager".
Choose the "Processes" tab and locate the "explorer.exe"
process, highlight it
and click "End Process". Select 'File -> New Task', then
enter 'explorer' and click OK.
End of document, Microbeta, i will continue to work on this until
i have at least 10
tweaks in as many catagories as i can possibly think of :)