gHacks technology news » gpedit.msc http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:22:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Enable Bitlocker On Unsupported Hardware http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/22/enable-bitlocker-on-unsupported-hardware/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/22/enable-bitlocker-on-unsupported-hardware/#comments Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:19:38 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/22/enable-bitlocker-on-unsupported-hardware/ Bitlocker is an additional software component that gets distributed with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise only. It can be used to encrypt full partitions on computer systems but can only be run on supported hardware. Bitlocker by default does require a Trusted Platform Module chip (TPM Chip) that is located on the computer’s motherboard. This chip contains a cryptographic key that Bitlocker uses in the encryption process.

There is however a way to enable Bitlocker encryption even if the computer does not have a TPM chip. The following method will enable Bitlocker and should work in the upcoming Microsoft operating system Windows 7 as well.

  • Run [gpedit.msc] by either clicking on the Windows Vista Start Menu button or by using the shortcut [Windows R]. This will open the Group Policy Editor.
  • Locate the following menu: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\BitLocker Drive Encryption
  • Enable the Advanced Startup Options by double-clicking on Control Panel Setup to display the advanced options.
  • Click on Enabled and check the Allow Bitlocker Without A Compatible TPM Checkbox.

bitlocker

A click on OK will enable Bitlocker on computer systems without Trusted Platform Module chips. It is from then on possible to save the Bitlocker encryption key on an external storage device like an USB stick or Flash memory card. This key is essential for accessing the encrypted partitions. There is no way of accessing the encrypted partition or hard drive if the storage device gets damaged or lost.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/22/enable-bitlocker-on-unsupported-hardware/feed/ 3 Disable Balloon Tips in Windows Vista http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/28/disable-balloon-tips-in-windows-vista/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/28/disable-balloon-tips-in-windows-vista/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:46:12 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/28/disable-balloon-tips-in-windows-vista/ This article explains how to disable Balloon Tips in Windows Vista. I thought it would be a nice follow up article on the one that described how to make the balloon tips transparent. I personally think that Balloon Tips have no right to be there at all, they look awful and most do not contain information that are important in any way. I disabled them the first day I started using Windows XP and I did the same on my Windows Vista notebook. Balloon Tips are a waste of time in my opinion. Let me explain how you can disable balloon tips in Windows Vista.

  • Press Windows+R, enter gpedit.msc and hit enter. This opens the Group Policy Editor. Please note that the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) is not available in Windows Vista Home and Vista Home Premium. I’m going to outline how to disable balloon tips on those editions at the end
  • Go to User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Start Menu and Taskbar.
  • Select Remove Balloon Tips, right-click it and choose properties from the context menu
  • Select Enable from the options and click ok
  • Close the Group Policy Editor
  • Reboot Windows Vista

As I said earlier gpedit.msc is not available in Windows Vista Home and Home Premium which means that we have to rely on the registry to disable those annoying balloon tips in Windows Vista.

  • Press Windows+R, type regedit and hit enter. This starts the registry editor
  • Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / Advanced
  • Create a new Dword and name it EnableBalloonTips
  • The value should be automatically set to 0, if it is not change it to 0
  • Reboot Windows Vista
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