Back

Modifying Win9x/NT 4.x 

Registry Settings  
 

This document assumes working knowledge of the Windows Registry.
It is possible to render your computer useless by incorrectly modifying the Registry.
Caution is advised…

Settings pertaining to Windows NT will say Win NT. All others refer to Win9x


1.    Remove unwanted items from Control Panel | Add/Remove programs

2.    Changing Icons for Desktop Items

3.    Stopping a programming from loading when Windows Starts

4.    Removing Items from the Start | Run List

5.    Where to find DUN information

6.   
Removing Documents from the Start menu

7.    Removing Favorites from the Start Menu

8.    Finding your CD Key for Microsoft Software

9.    Where to find your Windows Operating System CD key and Product ID in Win9x

10.  Location of Windows Logon information in the Registry

11.  Win NT and Win9x - Internet Explorer is intercepting FTP commands typed into Start / Run

12.  
Win NT - To restrict Anonymous logons

13.  Changing your Registered Name and Company

14.  Dialog box displaying a Win9x login to Windows NT

15.  Win NT - Clearing the Pagefile on Shutdown

16.  Preventing the Quick Launch icons from changing to incorrect icons

17.  Tell Win9.x where to find the Windows install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive

18.  Tell WinNT 4.x where to find the NT install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive

19.  Win NT - Creating a Registry File to Logon to NT Automatically

20.  How to obtain BIOS information from the registry

21.  Change the URL for Windows 98 Update web site

22.  Delete Desktop Icons placed by applications

23. 
Delete Entire Network icon from Network Neighborhood

24. 
Retoring the MS animated logo in MSIE 4.x and 5.x

25. 
Adding a Customized Windows Title to Internet Explorer - MSIE 3.x and up

26.  Removing a Customized MSIE 3.x and up Title Bar

27.  Restoring the Recycle Bin Icon to the Desktop

28.  Restoring My Documents Icon to the Desktop


29.  Win NT - Instant Reboot

30.  Win NT - Auto Completing Directory Path Names

31.  Win NT - Preventing Changes to Drive Mappings

 



    

 

1. Remove unwanted items from Control Panel | Add/Remove programs:    Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Delete any program names you no longer need.

Note:  Use the same registry key in Windows NT


2. Changing Icons for Desktop Items:    
Top

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID; then, depending on the icon you want to change, select:

For My Computer:
{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

For Inbox:
{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

For the Recycle Bin icons (full or empty):
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

For The Internet:
{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}

Expand this key, and inside, select the DefaultIcon key. In the right pane, right-mouse-click 
(Default) and select Modify. (Note: If you're changing the Recycle Bin icons, 
right-mouse-click Empty or Full, depending on the icon you want to change, then select Modify.) 
On the Value data line, type the path and number of the desired icon in the 
following format: path, ##

Click OK, close the Registry Editor, click the desktop, and press F5.
So how do you locate the icon you want to use? And how do you then determine its number 
(to use in the format above)?

Each of you has different icon files on your system depending on the applications you have installed.
However, all Windows 95 users have one icon file in common--Shell32.dll. To view this file's contents
(icons), right-mouse- lick any folder shortcut, select Properties, click the Shortcut tab, and click the
Change Icon button. Inside the Change Icon dialog box, you'll see all the icons in Shell32.dll. The
numbering starts at 0 (zero) and moves from left to right. (If you have IE 4.0 installed, the numbering
starts in the top-left corner, moves down the first row, then to the top of the second row, and so on.)

To view the contents of another icon file--such as Pifmgr.dll, located in the Windows/System 
folder--click the Change Icon dialog box's Browse button, navigate your way to the file you 
have in mind, and double-click it.

(Note: If you don't see any DLL files inside the Change Icon dialog box, open any
Windows 95 window, select View under Options, and on the View tab, select Show all files.)

Finding other icon files on your system can be a hit-or-miss operation. (The only sure bets are
that all EXE files contain their own icon and that a select few DLL files contain icons). Click 
Browse and start your search. If you select a file with icons in it, they'll appear. If not, 
you'll get a message saying it doesn't contain any icons. Click the Browse button and try again.

3. Stopping a programming from loading when Windows Starts:   
Top

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

The program file name can be under any (more than one) of these 3 locations. Look in all three and
delete whatever Program it is you don't want to load during startup.

In Win98
you can also click Start | Run and type msconfig <enter>. Click the Startup tab in the
resulting dialog box, scroll through the list until you find the program you don't want to load at startup.
Uncheck the box next to the Program.

Note:

There are seven Run keys in the registry that cause programs to be run automatically.
Some of these are run once only:

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce

7. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ RunOnce\Setup

Keys 1-4 are run each time a new user logs in.

Keys 5-6 are run in the background when the logon dialog box first appears, or at 
this stage of the boot process if there is no logon. These keys are for background services
such as remote registry service and are run only once per boot.

Key 7 is run as part of Setup's first-boot activities, or after you use the Add/Remove 
Programs Wizard.

4. Removing Items from the Start | Run List:
   
Top

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Run(MRU)

In the right pane, right-mouse click on the letter (in the Name column) next to any item 
you'd like to remove from the list, and select Delete.

5. Where to find DUN information:    
Top

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\RemoteAccess

6. Removing Documents from the Start menu:    
Top

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane, right-mouse-click a blank area, select New, then select Binary Value.
Type NoRecentDocsHistory (to name the new value), then press Enter. Right-mouse-click 
the new value and select Modify. In the Value data box, type exactly

01 00 00 00

(You'll see four zeros there already. Just type the above eight numbers, and the spaces 
will be inserted automatically.) Click OK.

Now repeat these steps to add a NoRecentDocsMenu value:

Right-mouse-click a blank area in the right pane; select New, Binary Value; name the value
NoRecentDocsMenu
right-mouse-click the new value and select Modify; in the Value data box, type the 
above numbers; then click OK.

Close the Registry Editor, restart Windows 98, click Start, and that Documents list is
nowhere in sight (and neither is the Windows\Recent folder that used to hold 
the contents of the Documents menu)!

Note:
If you change your mind and want your Documents list back, you have two options. You can
delete the NoRecentDocsHistory and NoRecentDocsMenu values you just created, or change the data
in each to 00 00 00 00

7. Removing Favorites from the Start Menu:    Top    

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

In the right pane, right-click a blank area and select New, Binary Value. Type the name
NoFavoritesMenu
and press Enter. Right-click the new value, select Modify, and in the Value Data box, type exactly

01 00 00 00

(Don't worry about the four zeros that are there already. Just type the above eight 
numbers in sequence, without the spaces.) Click OK.
Close the Registry Editor, restart Windows, and check out your Start menu. 
That Favorites list is gone!

Note:
If you change your mind and want your Favorites folder back, you have two options. 
You can delete the NoFavoritesMenu value you just created, or change its data to 00 00 00 00.

8. Finding your CD Key for Microsoft Software:    Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft

Look for the directory containing the program you want the CD Key for, open the 
ProductID key, and look at the middle two number strings. This should be your CD Key.

Note:
In Windows NT your CD Key can be found by right Clicking on My Computer, and on the
General Tab under Registered to: you will find your Registered Name, Company and CD Key.

9. Where to find your Windows Operating System CD key and Product ID in Win9x:    
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion.

You'll see ProductID and ProductKey string values (among others) in the right pane.
ProductID will match the ID in My Computer's properties.  The ProductKey is the product
key entered during installation.

10. Location of Windows Logon information in the Registry:   
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Winlogon

AutoAdminLogin - "1" or "0" in quotes | 1 means Yes, 0 means No
DefaultPassword - "in quotes"
DefaultUserName - "in quotes"
All the entries are String Values

11.
Win NT and Win9x - Internet Explorer is intercepting FTP commands 
      typed into
Start / Run:   
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\URL\Prefixes

and delete the ftp and ftp. values.

12.
Win NT - To restrict Anonymous logons:   
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\LSA

On the edit menu, Add Value name RestrictAnonymous and set this REG_DWORD to 1.
You must reboot.

13.
Changing your Registered Name and Company:   
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion

Select the CurrentVersion key, and you'll see RegisteredOrganization and RegisteredOwner 
string values (among many others) in the right pane.

To change either of these values, right-click it and select Modify. Type the new information 
on the Value data line and then click OK. Repeat these steps for the other value, if necessary, 
then close the Registry Editor.

14. Dialog box displaying a Win9x login to Windows NT:   
Top

Use Registry Editor to add a DWORD value named DomainLogonMessage to the following
registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon

Set the data value for DomainLogonMessage to 1 if you want a message displayed 
after login.  Set the data value for DomainLogonMessage to 0 if you don't want a message 
displayed after login or just delete the value.

15. Win NT - Clearing the Pagefile on Shutdown:   
Top

To clear the pagefile at shutdown, add the REG_DWORD value:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory

Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown and set it to 1.

16. Preventing the Quick Launch icons from changing to incorrect icons:   
Top

Create the following String Value and set it equal to 2048:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
Max Cached Icons

17. Tell Win9.x where to find the Windows install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive.    

     You first need to copy the Win9x folder from the CD to your hard drive then:  
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Double-click on the value "SourcePath" in the right pane and edit it from
d:\win98 or whatever it is, and point it to the folder on your hard drive where the Win9x cabfiles are
located.

18. Tell WinNT 4.x where to find the NT install files, or changing from CD to your Hard Drive.    

     You first need to copy the i386 folder from the CD to your hard drive then:  
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion.

In the right pane, you'll see that SourcePath is set to d:\i386\. Change the value to 
c:\i386 (or where ever you copied the i386 directory) and then choose Registry, Exit. 
When you restart the computer, the new path takes effect.

19. Win NT - Creating a Registry File to Logon to NT Automatically:   
Top

see Tip # 10 to do this in Win9x

The username Public and Password public are used as examples, you can use whatever you want
as long as the user name is a valid NT name.

To create the REG file, run Notepad and enter the file as shown. Where you see 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter.

REGEDIT4
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
"DefaultUserName"="Public"
"AutoAdminLogon"="1"
"DefaultPassword"="public"
BLANK LINE GOES HERE

Choose File, Save As, and name the file AutoLog.reg. Locate a folder for the new file and 
click Save.  To use the file, locate it and double-click its icon. You'll get a dialog box 
saying the file has been merged and so forth. Click OK in this dialog box to continue.

Now restart the computer. You may get an error message telling you that the password 
or name is incorrect. If so, the log-on dialog box appears. Enter the name and 
password--for example:

Public
and
public

and click OK. Now you're in Public.
If you restart the computer, the system automatically logs on to Public with no input 
from the users.

When you need to log on as an administrator, click Start, Shut Down.
When the Shut Down Windows dialog box appears, select the 'Close all programs and log on as
a different user?' radio button. Click Yes and hold down Shift while the system starts. This time, 
you'll get the startup dialog box, where you can enter Administrator and your password. 
When you're ready to go back to Public, use the same method to restart and change 
the log-on to the following:

Public
and
public

20. How to obtain BIOS information from the registry:   
Top

Using Registry Editor, view the BIOSDate, BIOSName, and BIOSVersion string values in 
the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\*PNP0C01\0000

This information is accurate only
if you do not update or change the BIOS since you last ran
Windows 95/98 Setup. If you update or change the BIOS, you must install Windows 95/98 again to
update the registry.

21. Change the URL for Windows 98 Update web site:   
Top

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Update]

"Remote URL"=http://www.windowsupdate.com

22. Delete Desktop Icons placed by applications:    Top

Ocassionally, an application will place an icon on the desktop that you cannot delete by
right clicking and choosing delete. To delete the icon do the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace.

Select a key under NameSpace and watch the name that appears in the right pane under Data.
Once you find it, right-click its key (again, under NameSpace in the left pane), select Delete, 
then click Yes to confirm. Close the Registry Editor, click the desktop to place the focus there, 
then press F5 (for refresh). Bye-bye icon!

23.
Delete Entire Network icon from Network Neighborhood:     Top

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network

Create a dword key called "NoEntireNetwork" (without quotes) and give it the value of 00000001
To bring back the icon, delete the above key, or change the number 1 in the value to 0.

24. Restoring the MS animated logo in MSIE 4.x and 5.x:    
Top

To restore the animated Internet Explorer logo, delete the BrandBitmap and SmBrandBitmap string
values under the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar


After you make this change, quit Registry Editor and restart your computer.

25. Adding a Customized Windows Title to Internet Explorer
     MSIE 3.x and up:     Top    

Using Registry Editor, add the String value "Window Title" (without quotation marks) to 
the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

The data value is the title you want to appear on the Internet Explorer window.

NOTE: In Windows NT, the value should be type REG_SZ instead of String. 

26. Removing a Customized MSIE 3.x and up Title Bar:
Top  

Using Registry Editor, delete the Window Title value in the registry key: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main 

When you delete this value, "Microsoft Internet Explorer" becomes the default window title. 

27. Restoring the Recycle Bin Icon to the Desktop:
Top  

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace. 

In the left pane, right-click the NameSpace key and select New, Key. 
Type exactly {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and press Enter. 
Then, in the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. In the resulting Edit String dialog box, 
on the Value data line, type: Recycle Bin and click OK. Close the Registry Editor, 
click the desktop once, press F5 (for refresh)

28. Restoring the My Documents Icon to the Desktop:
Top

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\ 
In the left pane, right-click the NameSpace key and select New, Key. 
Type exactly {450d8fba-ad25-11d0-98a8-0800361b1103} and press Enter. 
Then, in the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. In the resulting Edit String 
dialog box, on the Value data line, type: My Documents and click OK. Close the Registry Editor, 
click the desktop once, press F5 (for refresh).
 

29. Win NT - Instant Reboot:
Top  

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon 
Create a new string value: "EnableQuickReboot"="1" Once this is done and you reboot NT, 
you can use SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+DEL to Immediately reboot NT 4.0. 

Note:
You must have sp4 installed for this to work, and this bypasses the normal shutdown process.
30. Win NT- Auto Completing Directory Path Names    Top

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Prompt.

In the pane on the right, double-click on the CompletionChar value. By changing 
CompletionChar from 0 to 9, you configure Windows NT to automatically complete paths
for you in a Command Prompt window.

To try out your change, open a Command Prompt window. Type cd p, then press the TAB key. 
You should see that Windows NT automatically fills in the path for you with the first directory 
on your hard drive that begins with the letter "p."

31. Win NT - Preventing Changes to Drive Mappings    Top
   
You can prevent Windows NT users from mapping new drives or disconnecting their existing 
drives by modifying the Registry.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

Add the value  NoNetConnectDisconnect  with a data type of REG_DWORD and a value of 1.
This value removes the Map Network Drive and Disconnect Network Drive from the menu in 
Windows NT Explorer and from the shortcut menu displayed when users right-click on the 
Network Neighborhood icon.

Note:  You must be using Windows NT with Service Pack 2 or later to support this setting.


bobjohnson:09/01/99