To hide all Desktop Icons from Explorer, use the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 / Windows XP registry hack :
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Name: NoDesktop
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
With this key enabled, in addition, you cannot right click on the desktop to get a context menu. This is a lockdown option.
Almost all Windows NT registry hacks work for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Windows NT and Windows XP have the Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer key by default. Windows 2000 does not. But if you create the key with the NoDesktop value set to 1, the hack works for Windows 2000 also. When you create the Explorer key under Policies, you will be prompted for a class. Leave it blank.
To hide all Desktop Icons from Explorer but still enable right-clicking on the desktop there is the following registry hack :
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Name: HideIcons
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
************************************************************************
This little trick will disable all autoplay features, eg. CDs, USB-memories etc. Open Regedit and configure the following registry value:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer
Value Name: NoDriveTypeAutoRun
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 255 (hex: 0x0ff)
*************************************************************************
Windows XP comes with built in support for uncompressing zip'd files. If you prefer to continue using a dedicated utility like pkzip or winzip which has more functionality, you probably need to disable the limited capability of XP to prevent interactions and problems, run the following command:
regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll
Want to re-enable the built in zip capability, run the following command:
regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll
Additionally Windows XP by default, opens EVERY compressed file to search through because it treats them as directories. This can extend the time taken for a drive-level search for up hours and sometimes hangs (the search windows) before it can complete. Another reason to disable the builtin zip server - if you keep lots of zip files on your HD and you use XP search capabilities.
Chris comments: found that the way windowsXP treats zips like folders was the stupidest thing ever, so of course I wanted it gone right away. I ran regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll and It worked, but now winzip wasn't associated with zip files, I ran winzip to re-associate and the zip/folder 'bug' was back. The fix is:
- Rename zipfldr.dll and say OK when Windows complains.
- Don't worry about the scary message that says stability will be affected.
- Then double-click on a zip file and reassociate when WinZip asks you to. Then your WinZip functionality will be back and Windows Search won't search within zip files.
******************************************************************************
You can disable those annoying balloon tips that keep popping up in Windows XP with the following Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Name: EnableBalloonTips
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0 disables tips
********************************************************************************
To disable the CD autoplay feature, use the following Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer
Name: NoDriveTypeAutoRun
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 181 hex 0x0b5
**********************************************************************************
If the Windows 2000 / Windows XP Command Extensions are enabled the PROMPT command supports the following additional formatting characters:
$+ zero or more plus sign (+) characters depending upon the
depth of the PUSHD directory stack, one character for each
level pushed.
$M Displays the remote name associated with the current drive
letter or the empty string if current drive is not a network
drive.
To enable or disable the command prompt extension in Windows 2000 or Windows XP, use the following registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Command Processor
Name: EnableExtensions
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1 enable
Value: 0 disable
You can enable/disable the extensions for the command shell you are in by issuing the following commands:
cmd /y disables command extensions for this cmd session
cmd /x enables command extensions for this cmd session
************************************************************************************
Microsoft Windows XP will generate an alert when disk space gets low on a partition. When you click on the message, Disk Cleanup Wizard starts. When XP free disk space reaches 200MB, the following alert displays for 10 seconds, once per session:
You are running out of disk space on [drive]. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here.
When XP free disk space reaches 80MB, the following alert displays for 30 seconds, every four hours, twice per session:
You are running very low on disk space on [drive]. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here.
When XP free disk reaches 50MB, you receive the following message for 30 seconds, every five minutes, until free space is above 50 MB:
You are running very low on disk space on [drive]. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here.
You can disable these alerts using the following Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Name: NoLowDiskSpaceChecks
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1 disables alerts
******************************************************************************************
To disable Windows Messenger 4.5 or later for Windows XP Home or Windows XP Pro:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client
Name: PreventRun
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1 disabled
**********************************************************************************************
To control whether you allow the Windows Media Player Automatic Update feature, user the following Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaPlayer
Name: DisableAutoUpdate
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
The same registry hack works for Windows Media Player 7.0 and 7.1 used in NT and Windows 2000.
For older Windows with Windows Media Player 6.4, the key is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\EnableAutoUpgrade, Type=REG_SZ, and value="No".
*************************************************************************************************
It is a good security policy to disable optional, unused sub-systems Microsoft included with Windows - NT, W2K, & XP. To disable the obsolete and insecure posix and os/2 subsystems by clearing the multistring value named "Optional" in the Registry entry:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Subsystems
Under some OSs the string with have both "os/2" and "posix" strings. XP generally just has "posix". In any case, clear the value.
****************************************************************************************************
When you open an image file in Windows XP the default action is to preview it using the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer for image formats that are associated with an alternate viewer. Want to disable the default:
Hive: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Key: SystemFileAssociations\image\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\ShellImagePreview
Name: (Default)
Type: REG_SZ
Value: {e84fda7c-1d6a-45f6-b725-cb260c236066} preview
Value: blank no preview
**********************************************************************************************
There is a registry hack to enable or disable Windows NT TaskManager. The same registry hack applies to Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Name: DisableTaskMgr
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1=Enablethis key, that is DISABLE TaskManager
Value: 0=Disablethis key, that is Don't Disable, Enable TaskManager
As part of the enhanced management available in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, rather than risking a registry change, as an administrator you can enable or disable Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Pro's TaskManager using Group Policy Editor. This can be applied to the local policy. Note: if you are trying to override your organizations group policy, you can't. As soon as you re-authenticate to the domain, the domain or OU Group Policy will rewrite the registry setting. But if the TaskManager was accidently disabled or you need to control this item for a set of standalone boxes this is for you:
Click Start
Click Run
Enter gpedit.msc in the Open box and click OK
In the Group Policy settings window
Select User Configuration
Select Administrative Templates
Select System
Select Ctrl+Alt+Delete options
Select Remove Task Manager
Double-click the Remove Task Manager option
And as I mentioned above, since the policy is Remove Task Manager, by disabling the policy, you are enabling the Task Manager.
Got XP Home - use the registry edit.
No comments:
Post a Comment