Registry Hacks

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INDEX

Introduction to Registry Editor

How to take back up the Windows registry

How to Customize the logon screen in Windows

How to disable Windows Hotkeys

How to disable Right click on the Desktop

How to disable the SHUTDOWN,RESTART,SLEEP and

HIBERNATE

How to display Legal Notice on Startup

How to add the Encrypt/Decrypt option to files and

folders

How to prevent access to certain Drives

How to disable Control Panel

How to disable the Task Manager

Locking the Toolbars

How to disable Balloon Notification

How to disable Aero Shake feature in Windows 7

How to stop Users from Locking their Computers

How to see Last Login details

How to disable Last Login details from being

Displayed

How to disable Access to Windows Registry

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Introduction to Registry Editor

There are millions of system around the world that are running the

windows operating system. And every windows operating system has

something known as Windows registry, which is hierarchical listing of

the various properties and settings of the different aspects of the

Microsoft Windows System. The registry defines and controls how

everything in Windows will look, feel and function. Windows registry is

like a brain of the system which controls all the functions of a

computer.

And yes it is possible to access the windows registry by just clicking on

start button and type regedit.

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If you will open the windows registry than you will come across below

screen.

The Windows registry is made up of keys and values. What you see in

left pane is known as keys and sub keys. And what you see in right pane

is known as values. Each value will contain name and data.

And yes guy’s it is possible to change the name and values in registry

editor manually and customize windows. It is important to be careful

while playing with the windows registry as in case of any mistake it can

corrupt your operating system and make it unusable. So it’s better to

take back up of windows so you can repair and restore if problem has

occur.

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How to take back up the Windows registry

See the below steps to create back up of windows registry.

Step-1: Right click on MY COMPUTER and go to properties

Step-2: Click on the SYSTEM PROTECTION option from the left pane.

STEP-3: Press the CREATE button

Windows will create a restore point to which your computer can be

restored in case of any problem while editing in Windows registry.

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How to customize the logon screen in Windows

Fed up with windows startup screen, now don’t be because you can

change the startup screen by following below steps

Step-1: Download an application called Windows 7 Logon Background

Changer for free from the below link

Link: www.download.com

Step-2: Once you start the application it will display a variety of

wallpapers which is default in that application which can be used for

startup screen

Step-3: Just select any wallpaper from given wallpapers and click on

apply and when you restart your system the startup screen would have

been changed.

It is also possible to select any wallpaper of your choice and use it as the

startup screen.

http://www.download.com/

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How to disable Windows hotkeys

It is possible to disable windows hotkeys from the user which uses

windows shortcut hotkeys like ALT+TAB etc.

Step-1: Open regedit.exe

Step-2: Scroll to and create the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\ Policies

And create a key with the name: Explorer

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Step-3: In the right pane create a new DWORD value and named with

NoWinKeys and set its data value to 1 to disable the windows

hot keys, 0 to enable them.

Step-4: Exit the Windows registry and restart the windows for the

change to be applied.

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How to disable Right click on the Desktop

By right clicking on the desktop pops up a number of context menu like

copy, paste, properties etc. A number of system administrators would

prefer to disable the right click for some security reasons.

So how would you do?

Simply follow the below steps to disable right click on the desktop:


Step-2: Scroll down to and create the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio

n\Policies\Explorer

Step-3: In the right pane, create a new DWORD value and named

NoViewContextMenu and set its data value to 1 to disable the right

click on desktop and 0 to enable.

NOTE: You may have to completely delete the file if changing the data

value to 0 will not worked properly.

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How to disable the SHUTDOWN, RESTART, SLEEP

and HIBERNATE

There is a hidden feature in almost all windows platforms (except the

windows Home or start version). Pranksters who want to prank their

friends can also exploit this simple registry tweak. In order to disable

shutdown, sleep, restart and hibernate options, all you need to follow

the below steps:

Step-1: Go to gpedit.msc (Group Policy Editor by Microsoft

Corporation)

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Step-2: Under the User Configuration, go to Administrative Templates,

then click on Start Menu and Taskbar and in the right pane search for

the Remove and prevent access to the Shutdown, Restart, Sleep and

Hibernate.

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Step-3: Double click on the option and select the enable option

Click on Apply

Click on OK.

NOTE: If you want disable, simply go to the path shown above and

select disable option or not configured option and click ok.

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How to display Legal Notice on Startup

It is possible to display a message before a user log in. You can even

prank your friend by displaying message like, Your computer has been

hacked etc. something like this!!!!!


Step-2: Scroll down to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\Policies\System

Step-3: As you can see in below screenshot that keys are already created

and we just have to double click and edit and type whatever you want to

display message on start up

There are two keys created, first legalnoticecaption- Title of your

message and secondly legalnoticetext- Body of your message.

NOTE: For XP user’s they have to create the above string keys with

exact name.

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How to add the Encrypt/Decrypt option to files

and folders

As we know that files are more important that contains sensitive or

private data. Wouldn’t it great if you encrypt your files easily and

quickly by simply right clicking on them?

Follow the steps below to do above task:

Step-1: Open registry.exe

Step-2: Scroll down to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

\ Explorer\Advanced

Step-3: In the right pane, create a new DWORD value and named it

EncryptionContextMenu and give it data value to 1.

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Step-4: Now, whenever you right click on any file or folder you will see

new added option called Encryption. Select it and follow the instruction

on the screen to encrypt file or folder.

Step-5: Once the file has been encrypted, you will notice that the name

of the file appears in green color. Now when you right click on

encrypted file you will see the decrypt option which allows you to

decrypt the file.

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How to prevent access to certain Drives

As a useful security feature and yes it is possible for a user to block

access to specific drivers in Windows. This can be used as privacy

protection tool. See the below steps to prevent access to certain drives:


Step-2: Scroll down to:


\Policies\Explorer

Step-3: In the right pane, create a new DWORD value with the name

NoViewOnDrive and set its data value to the number of the drive that

you want to hide as per the below list:

Drive Letters Value

A 1

B 2

C 4

D 8

E 16

F 32

G 64

H 128

ALL 67108863

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Step-4: Exit the windows registry. You may have to restart the Windows

for the changes to come into effect. To enable all the drives, simply

delete DWORD value that you created.

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How to disable Control Panel

Sometimes your system administrators disable control panel from your

system for some security reasons and prevent the user from making

any changes to the settings of the computer. This can easily be done by

following below steps.


Step-2: Scroll down to below path:


\Policies\Explorer

Step-3: In the right pane, create the DWORD value called

NoControlPanel and change its value to 1 to disable the control panel

and 0 to enable the control panel.

Click OK.

Now if you try to open the control panel it will show you the error that

say, please contact your system administrator.

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How to disable the Task Manager

Task manager is used to control over the application means which

process are running, you can stop any process, you can see the CPU

speed and etc. Some system administrator block the task manager for

security reasons. It is possible to disable the task manager just follow

the below steps.




\Policies\System

Create a key named System

Step-3: In the right pane, create a new DWORD value called

DisableTaskMgr and set its value to 1 to disable the task manager and 0

to enable.

You may have to restart your system for changes to be implemented

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Locking the Toolbars

Usually users customize their toolbars by simply clicking on the view

and then in toolbars option and playing around it. So it is possible for

system administrator to disable and prevent users from playing around

with the various options. Follow the below steps


Step-2: Scroll down to below path


\Policies\Explorer

Step-3: In the right pane, create a DWORD value called

NoBandCustomize and set its value to 1 to lock the toolbar and 0 to

unlock it.

You may have to restart your windows for the change to be applied.

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How to disable Balloon Notification

Most Windows users are quite used to balloon notification that shows up

on the left bottom corner of your screen telling you to do something or

warning you about something on your computer. This balloon

notifications are quite annoying and most of the time we tend to ignore.

So follow the below steps to disable the balloon notification.



HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\

Explorer\Advanced

Step-3: In the right pane, look for the EnableBalloonTips value and set its

data value to 1 to disable and 0 to enable but if EnableBalloonTips not

found then you have to create it.

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How to disable Aero Shake feature in Windows 7

As we all know guys that Windows 7 comes with a new feature known as

Aero Shake feature, which allows a user to click on the title bar of a

window and move the mouse back and forth to minimize all other

windows automatically. It is possible to disable this feature by simply

following below steps



HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Create a key named Explorer

Step-3: In the right pane, create a DWORD file with the name of

NoWindowMinimizingShortcuts and set its value to 1 to disable the aero

shake feature

You have to delete the value to enable it again.

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How to Stop Users from Locking their Computer

It is possible for users to lock their computer by pressing the WINDOWS

KEY+ L KEY together. If you are a system administrator, you can easily stop

users from locking their computer with the help of below steps



HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\

Policies\System

Step-3: In the right pane, create a DWORD value with the name

DisableLockWorkstation and set its data value to 1 to disable and 0 to

enable

Restart needed.

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How to see Last Login Details

It is possible to see last login details and it’s very important for security

and increase your system security. First of all you have to enable Audit

logon events by following below steps

Step-1: Open gpedit.msc

Step-2: Navigate to below path

Computer Configuration Windows Setting Security Settings

Local policies Audit Policy

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Step-3: Double click on it and check both the box as shown in below

screenshot

After enabling this setting, Windows will log logon events – including a

username and time – to the system security log.

See the below steps to see the last login details.

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Step-1: Open Event Viewer from start menu

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Step-2: Navigate to the path below:

Event Viewer (Local) Windows Logs Security and search for the

Event ID 4624

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Step-3: Double click on the Event ID to see the login details

Here you can see account name, time at logon, security ID and etc. which

is useful for us to see who logged in to system in our absence.

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How to disable Last Login details from being

Displayed

In the above topic we saw that we can see the last login details but

what if you don’t want to display last login details for some reasons

then you simply follow the below steps to disable last login details.



HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsooft\Windows\CurrentVersi

on\Policies\System

Step-3: In the right pane, create a new DWORD value with the name

DontDisplayLastUserName and set its value to 1 to prevent the last

login details from display, and 0 to implement the default settings.

You may have to restart your computer in order to make changes.

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How to Disable Access to the Windows Registry

It is very useful for the system administrator to disable the access to the

Windows registry so that no one can do editing in it. And even you can

prevent from the registry hacks/tricks. Follow the steps below


Step-2: Scroll to below path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\

Policies\System

Step-3: In the right pane, create a DWORD value with the name

DisableRegistryTool and set its value to 1 to disable the registry and 0 to

enable it.

You may have to restart your computer for the change to come into

effect.

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Now what if, you have no permission to change or to edit in the Windows

registry. Follow the simple steps below in order to take access even your

system administrator has blocked the access of Windows registry.

Step-1: Open gpedit.msc

Step-2: Navigate to the below path:

User configuration Administrative Templates System

And in the right pane, search for the Prevent Access To Registry Tool

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Step-4: Double click on the above option and check the Enable

Click Apply

Click OK.

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http://www.howtogeek.com

http://wikipedia.org

http://www.regedit.com

http://www.sevenforums.com

http://www.thewindowsclub.com

http://www.howtogeek.com/

http://wikipedia.org/

http://www.regedit.com/

http://www.sevenforums.com/

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/

Registry Hacks

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