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By Faithe Wempen
This blog post was originally an article published on January 17, 2002.
We’ve all heard the dire warnings about editing the Registry: Crack open the Registry
Editor and your system will explode. But you can make many Registry edits that are quite
beneficial, as long as you exercise care. This Daily Feature presents a few Registry edit
gems you can try out in Windows XP to make adjustments that go beyond simple Control
Panel settings.
You may already be familiar with the Registry Editor. For Windows XP, you just run the
REGEDIT command at the Run prompt. Then, move down through the organization tree
levels to the values and settings you want and double-click them to change them in a
dialog box format. However, before you start making any changes, it’s a good idea to
make a backup copy of the Registry by choosing File | Export.
This blog post is also available in the PDF format in a free TechRepublic Download.
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control
Panel\Extended Properties\{305CA226-D286-468e-B848-2B2E8E697B74} 2
Find the item you want to change and double-click it to bring up a dialog box. Change the
item’s DWORD value to your preference. Use Table A as a guide (shown with decimal
numbers, which is the way you should enter them).
Table A
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
Right-click anywhere within the Registry Window and click New to create a new
DWORD value with the name of the account to be hidden. Set the value to 0 (decimal).
This account won’t be accessible when switching users with Fast User Switching; you’ll
only be able to access it from the Log On To Windows dialog box. Keep in mind that it is
not a totally hidden account; the account’s profile will appear in the Documents And
Settings folder. Also, the account appears in Local Users And Groups when an
administrator is logged on.
One way to selectively disable programs from loading at startup is to use MSCONFIG
(from the Run command) to deselect certain items. Another way to remove them is to edit
the Registry directly. Consider the following locations:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
for applications that start up for all users
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
for applications that start up when the current user logs on
Remove the entry for a program by right-clicking it and selecting Delete to prevent it
from loading.
#
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Menu
Order
Choose Edit | Permissions and click the Advanced button. Deselect the Inherit From
Parent The Permission Entries That Apply To Child Objects check box and then click
Copy when the Security dialog box pops up. Click OK and clear the Full Control entry
for your account and all security groups you are a member of. Leave only Read
permission.
Change the Days Between Clean Up Value to some other number of days (in decimal
format).
# HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Patterns
A variety of patterns is listed, and each one has a Data value. Copy the value you want to
the Clipboard. Then go to:
# HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add a string value called Pattern. Then paste the string from the clipboard in as its value.
The new pattern will appear the next time you log on.
#
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyC
omputer\NameSpace\Delegate Folders
Set the ClearPageFileAtShutdown DWORD to 1. This will make shutdowns take longer,
because it overwrites everything in the swap file with zeroes. Don’t turn this feature on
unless you have a serious security threat.
#
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\System
Restore
You’ll find an assortment of settings here. To change the interval between automatically
created restore points, change the RPGlobalInterval setting. To change the number of
days that a restore point is retained, change the RPLifeInterval setting.
System Restore time intervals are measured in seconds, not days, so you must convert the
number of days you want into seconds. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, so multiply
86,400 by the number of days you want to determine the value. There are 3,600 seconds
in an hour.
Save the file with any name you want, with a .reg extension. Then double-click the saved
file and choose Yes to merge the file’s information into the Registry. You can delete the
file. Right-click any folder and you’ll see the CommandPrompt Here option.
Conclusion
Registry editing doesn’t have to be a dangerous endeavor. With a careful eye to detail,
any IT pro can make use of the powerful features included within the Registry. I hope
you will use these tips as a guide to build on your own Registry editing skills.
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