gHacks technology news » registry

Forensic Windows Registry Software Registry Report

Martin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:57:06 +0000

Registry Report is a forensic software program for the Windows operating system that can generate Windows Registry reports by loading Registry hives into the software. It should be noted that the Registry software can only load hives that are not currently in use by the operating system and is therefor ideal for analysing Registry hives that have been copied, backed up. The portable software program displays a minimal interface upon system start. The default language is set to German which can be changed by clicking on the extras > Sprache / Language menu entry on the top of the application window. Available languages are English, Japanese, Chinese and Dutch.

Registry hives can be loaded into the software program by clicking on File > Open Registry Files.

A click on File > Create Report or pressing CTRL R will create the report of the selected Registry hive. The report will display various information about the hive which can be summed up as various system settings. Depending on the hives that are loaded in the software information such as Windows accounts and users, Windows services, printers, firewalls, network settings and various other information.

The Ntuser.dat file is probably the most interesting hive that can be loaded in the Registry software as it displays recently opened documents, recently opened applications and last typed applications. The settings can be used to add or remove data from the report. Various modules are not enabled by default. Enabling them can increase the depth of the report. Registry Report can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Computer Maintenance Software Advanced System Care Free

Martin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:28:13 +0000

Advanced System Care Free is the free version of the commercial tool of the same name that is offered by Iobit. It is a system maintenance software that can be compared to similar tools in the niche including CCleaner, Microsoft OneCare, System Mechanic or Tuneup Utilities.

Advanced System Care divides the computer maintenance process in three different categories that are named Maintain Windows, Diagnose System and Utilities.

Maintain Windows includes a spyware checker, Registry cleanup tool, privacy sweeper and junk file cleaner. This category comes closest to the popular CCleaner application. The program will automatically scan the system for problems upon startup. Findings are displayed in red indicating problems and Megabytes that can be saved if the repair button is pressed.

It is furthermore possible to click on a function to take a closer look at the problems and files that have been found during the scan. This makes it possible to remove entries from the repair. Advanced System Care will also remind the the user if System Restore is disabled.

A click on the repair button will initiate a backup before the problems are fixed on the computer system.

The diagnose system window offers system optimization, security defense, disk defragment and security analyzer functions. A scan will display detected problems offering the same functionality as the maintain windows menu to view them in detail, remove some and repair them.

The system optimization menu scans for problems in various categories including network connections, Windows services or troubleshooting. Not all recommendations should be accepted right away as the optimizer might suggest corrections for enhancements made by the user. A simple example would be the suggestion to change the time it takes to show the start menu from 1 to the recommended value of 200.

Users should take a look at all the settings before they press the repair button.

The same can be said for the security defense scan in the same category and the suggestions made by the security analyzer. This does mean that it takes additional time before the remaining problems can be repaired but it is important to avoid complications and other problems.

The utilities category offers quick access to tools offered by the Windows operating system and Iobit including an Internet and Game Booster, Registry defragmentation or a startup manager.

Advanced System Care Free is an interesting program that provides access to many computer maintenance scans that can improve a systems reliability, security and stability. It is recommended to check the scan results thoroughly before proceeding with the repair.

via Online Tech Tips

Tags: advanced system care, computer maintenance, computer repair, registry, system cleanup, Windows, windows software

USB Flash Drive Write Protection

Martin — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:00:56 +0000

System administrators might want to limit the use of external USB flash drives by making them read only. This can actually be useful in several situations like preventing users from copying local data to the external device or preventing malicious software from spreading on a computer network using those flash drives.

The Windows operating system has a Registry setting that can add USB write protection to a computer system. It is like a switch that can be enabled to make use of the write protection or disabled to allow write processes.

Users who experience problems writing to USB devices might want to take a look at this setting as well if they have the proper rights to do so to see if it is the cause for their difficulties.

Start by opening the run dialog box with the keyboard shortcut [Windows R]. Type [regedit] and hit [enter]. This should open the Windows Registry editor.

Navigate to the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\

Look at the sub-keys and see if a key named StorageDevicePolicies is listed. If it is skip this paragraph and read the next. If it is not create the key by right-clicking Control and selecting New > Key

See if there is an entry named WriteProtect. It can be easily created if it is not present by right-clicking in the right window and selecting New > DWord from the menu. The following values are allowed for this entry:

0 – This will allow write processes on USB Flash Drives
1- This will block write processes on USB Flash Drives.

An alternative would be to delete the Registry key WriteProtect completely to enable both read and write processes. A restart or log off is required before the changes take effect.

Tags: registry, registry tips, usb, usb devices, usb tips, usb write protect, window usb, windows registry, windows tips

Windows Registry Watcher

Martin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:06:58 +0000

The Windows Registry is one of the major attack locations for malicious software and should therefor be protected by security software to ensure that no settings get changed or added to it. One prime example is the addition of new startup items to the Windows operating system. The Windows Registry contains several locations where those new files can be placed so that they are loaded during system startup.

Windows Registry Watcher is resource friendly portable software program for the Windows operating system that monitors thousands of values and Registry keys but also files and directory with the option to add, delete or edit any of the monitored locations easily. The Windows Registry monitoring application will update the information every 30 seconds by default. This value can be changed to another time in seconds between 0 and 9999.

The software can be started right away in Windows XP while Windows Vista users need to run it with administrator privileges. Some of the more interesting options besides the wealth of information that it provides are the option to configure custom or pre-defined security settings that range from light to highest security. The security settings define for example the frequency in which the keys are analyzed for changes.

The Windows Registry software can be used to backup and quarantine files. It supports audio notifications but can also be configured to send email notifications. The software can also be started from the command line using various parameters like starting the application with a specific security setting. The Registry watcher is probably not the easiest to understand if you do not know what you are looking for or how to configure the alert process.

MJ Registry Watcher is using less than 2 Megabytes of computer memory when running minimized in the Windows system tray.

Tags: mj registry watcher, portable software, registry, registry watcher, security-software, software, windows registry, windows software

How To Change The Edit Application In Windows

Martin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:47:25 +0000

The Edit option pops up in Windows after right-clicking a file type in Windows Explorer. Windows associated one software program that can be used to edit that file type. For image files it is usually Microsoft Paint while text documents are usually opened in Notepad. Those applications are set in the Windows Registry where they can be changed so that Edit will open a different application.

It is actually pretty easy to change the default edit application in Windows to another one providing you got the location in the Registry to do so. Now, to change the default Edit application open the Windows Registry by pressing [Windows R], typing [regedit] and hitting [enter]. Locate the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations

In there you find all the different file types and they association. The order is filetype > shell > edit > command. Not every filetype has that chain but the most common ones do. To edit the default text editor in Windows you need to locate the text subkey and follow the path mentioned above until you reach the command key. There should be only one Default entry in there:

%SystemRoot%\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE %1

To change the program that opens when clicking on the Edit option in the right-click menu simply change the path so that it leads to the application that you want to use, for example

"c:\program files\notepad++\notepad++.exe" "%1"

Tags: default application, edit application, registry, registry tips, Windows, windows edit, windows registry, windows tips

Registry Analyzer

Martin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:17:28 +0000

Registry Ripper is a portable software program to automatically analyze Registry Hives. It will analyze a selected Registry hive and export the findings into a selected text document. Registry Hives are locked by the Windows operating system which means that it is necessary to copy or access them before the operating system is running. This can be done with a Live CD or by booting into another operating system that can access the Windows partition.

Most of the Registry hives are located in the \Windows\system32\config directory but some in other locations like Document and Settings. To analyze the NTuser hive one would load the file NTUSER.DAT which is located in the \Documents and Settings\username\ directory, select a name for the text document in the second step, select ntuser from the plugin list and click the Rip It button.

The analysis will save various system information in the text document which depend on the analyzed Registry hive. The analysis of the NTuser hive will for example reveal information about the logon username, installed applications, system and remote drives, various recent files lists, the programs that have been accessed recently and software that will start with the computer system.

Registry Ripper is a Registry analyzer that requires some knowledge about the locations of the various Registry hives on the computer system. It clearly aims at more advanced users and can provide the user with all kinds of useful information about a computer system and its users.

Tags: portable software, registry, registry analyzer, registry hives, registry ripper, software, windows registry, windows software

Windows Registry Protection

Martin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:12:27 +0000

The Windows Registry is of uttermost importance to the Windows operating system. Malicious software makes use of the capacities of the Windows Registry regularly by changing system settings and adding malicious scripts to the system startup process. Many security software programs do not protect the Windows Registry from those dangers which is why running an program for additional protection might make sense.

Registry Prot is a tiny program that protects important Registry keys from being manipulated without the user’s knowledge. It barely uses 200 Kilobytes of computer memory while running and will only become active when programs try to make changes or new additions to the Windows Registry. There is no list of all the Registry locations that are monitored by Registry Protection. Among the known locations are the various possibilities to add system startup items and the default applications for known file types.

Registry Prot might not be something for inexperienced users as the informational dialogs are sometimes hard to understand without the proper knowledge. A web search can aid in the decision making process.

Registry Prot Download

Tags: registry, registry protection, registry tips, windows registry, windows registry protection, windows software

Prevent Windows Registry from remembering last key viewed

Martin — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:54:00 +0000

“This is a guest post by Aseem Kishore, the lead blogger for HelpDeskGeek.com, which focuses on providing Help Desk tips to IT Professionals.”

One of the things that bothers me the most is when I open the Windows Registry to edit a key and it loads up showing me the last key I had viewed. I normally go into the Registry to make one change and that’s it. I never go back and edit the same key. Wouldn’t it be great if you could open the registry and all the hives would load up collapsed like you opened it for the first time ever?

Luckily, there’s a little shortcut you can create to the registry that will get rid of that annoying little feature. It’s actually a script with a few lines of code. Just open Notepad and paste in the following lines of code:

Dim objShell, RegKey, Q


Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strQuote = chr(34)      
RegKey = "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit"
RegKey = RegKey & "\LastKey"
objShell.RegWrite RegKey, ""

objShell.Run "regedit"

Save the file with a .VBS extension, which stands for Visual Basic Script. To do this in Notepad, choose All Files for the Save as type combo box and name the file “Registry.vbs” without the quotes.

So now instead of opening the Registry and getting something that looks like this:

You can easily start from the very top of the Registry hives like normal!

If you want to make if more official, you can change the icon for the VBS script file to the Registry icon. In order to do this, you have to create a shortcut to the script. Just right-click on Registry.vbs, click on Send To, and then click on Desktop (create shortcut).

Now right-click on the shortcut icon and click on Rename. Name the shortcut Registry. Next right-click again and go to Properties. Click on the Change Icon button.

Choose the Registry icon from the list of icons. Finally you can copy your shortcut to the Start Menu for easy acce

Tags: registry, registry hives, registry tips, Windows, windows registry, windows script

Registry Benchmark

Martin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:20:10 +0000

Not many software programs can benchmark the Registry. A tool that can do it is might be interesting to use after cleaning and compacting the Registry. Two software applications that can compact the Registry are NTRegOpt and Comodo Registry Cleaner. The tools defragment the Registry which reduces the size of it which decreases loading time of the Registry at system startup and should increase overall performance as well.

RegBench which has been released in an alpha version can benchmark the various Registry hives. It is an excellent tool to run before and after optimizing the Registry to provide the user with an analysis of the effects of the compacting.

The tool is completely command line driven meaning that users need to either run it from the command line or batch script to run it. The Registry hives have to be specified as command line parameters.

The basic command is “regbench Hives”. Acronyms can be thankfully used to test the various hives. Available are HKLM, HKCU, HKCR, HKCC and HKU. To test HKEY_Local_Machine and HKEY_Current_USER the command “regbench HKLM HKCU” would be used.

A report will be generated in the end detailing the time per access, the enumeration time, the keys in the Hive and the total access time. Additional parameters include to specify a filename for the report and to verbose the command line.

Tags: optimize registry, portable software, regbench, registry, registry benchmark, windows software

Comodo Registry Cleaner

Martin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:41:20 +0000

Comodo Registry Cleaner is an advanced Registry tool from Comodo who are probably best known for their free firewall program.The Registry Cleaner is currently offered as a beta release only in the Comodo forums and selected download portals.

The software program scans the Registry for various errors like links that are pointing to deleted files, font locations and pretty much everything coming up as an error in the Registry. Those entries that are found are later on displayed in a list. The user can check individual entries or clean them all in one go.

The Registry Cleaner is automatically creating a backup before cleaning the Registry. That way it is possible to restore the Registry to a state before the cleaning took place. The Windows XP and Vista Registry cleaner comes with another option called compact which compacts the Registry to reduce it’s size.

It is recommended to compact the Registry after cleaning it for maximum performance gain. A smaller Registry can reduce system start and overall system performance.

Comodo Registry Cleaner is compatible to Windows XP and Windows Vista and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the operating systems.

Tags: Comodo Registry Cleaner, registry, registry cleaner, registry tool, software, vista registry cleaner, Windows

Back To Basics: Backup Registry

Martin — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:55:05 +0000

The Back to Basics series looks at common tasks and problems that Windows users might encounter on a daily basis and explains solutions and ways to do those “things”. To kickoff this new article series I’m going to look at ways to backup the Windows Registry.

The Windows Registry is the core of the Windows system and malware likes to use it to spread its disease throughout the whole system. A good way to be on the safe side is to backup the Windows Registry regularly so that it can be restored when needed.

Most of the time there is a Microsoft way to do things and an easier one provided by third party developers and their applications.

The Microsoft way to backup the Windows Registry:

Microsoft suggests to create system restore points which automatically include the Windows Registry. System Restore has to be turned on in Windows Services as a requirement.

Windows Vista users type systempropertiesprotection in the search box and press enter. Windows XP users on the other hand run %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe from the Run box (Windows R). The menus are easy to follow through, it is just a matter of selecting Create A New Restore Point, assigning a descriptive name to it and clicking on Create. Windows Vista users might have to overcome the User Account Control before they reach System Restore. They find the Create button in the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab.

The third party way to backup the Windows Registry:

Download ERUNT, a free software to backup and restore the Windows Registry that runs on most editions and versions of Windows including Windows XP and Windows Vista.

ERUNT requires minimal user input to backup the Registry. A click on OK on the welcome screen loads the program interface. It is usually not required to make any changes in this menu but to change the location of the Registry backup. It would be ideal to store it on another hard drive.

A click on OK creates a backup of the Windows Registry which can be restored by executing the program from the backup folder.

Tags: back to basic, backup registry, registry, windows registry, windows registry backup, windows tips

Registry Cleanup with RegDefrag

Martin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:39:04 +0000

The excellent registry cleanup tool Quicksys RegDefrag is now available in version 2.0. It features a new registry scan algorithm, improved Windows 64-bit performance and multi-language support among other additions.

The Registry cleanup tool quickly scans the Windows Registry to find gaps, fragments and wasted space and displays a quick report after the Registry scan that outlines the gain from defragmenting the Registry.

A smaller Registry has several advantages including a faster system start and an overall increase in system performance. It is necessary to close all open software programs before starting the Registry scan.

RegDefrag provides access to automatic System Restore Point creation and Registry backups before starting the defragmentation. Both can be configured in the program’s options.

A html report can be created in the end which provides an in depths summary of the Registry cleanup process. The computer system has to be restarted before the changes take effect.

Tags: regdefrag, registry, registry cleanup, registry scan, software, Windows

Monitor Software Registry Changes

Martin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:38:13 +0000

The Windows Registry is a book with seven seals for many users. Many know that one can change Registry settings to apply tweaks or change system settings in Windows but most do not know what their applications are writing in the Registry. Not all applications make use of the Registry, especially portable applications do not need it at all hence the name portable.

Reg From App is a portable program that monitors a specific application on the system and writes the changes made to the Registry in the program window which can be exported as a standard Registry file that contains all the Registry changes that have been made by the application since the monitoring process started.

Only running processes can be selected by Reg from App and the user is asked to pick one of the processes that will be monitored constantly from that point on. Constantly meaning as long as the program is running or the user is not stopping the monitoring.

Reg From App is a Nirsoft application with some limitations. It can only monitor one process at a time which can be bypassed by opening another program window. More pressing than that is in my opinion the missing possibility to start the monitoring before a program is started on a system to include the changes to the Registry that are done during program startup.

In Windows Vista users have to have the same rights as the application that is getting monitored which means that a regular user cannot monitor a process started by the administrator of the system.

The software is compatible to all 32-bit Windows NT systems including Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003.

Tags: nirsoft, registry, registry monitor, software, Windows, windows registry

Auslogics Registry Defrag

Martin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:56:36 +0000

The Auslogics Disk Defrag software is a popular hard disk defragmentation tool and many users who like it will probably also find the Registry defragmentation tool useful. The Windows Registry is not defragmented during hard disk defragmentation because it is not possible to defragment files that are open for exclusive access.

Auslogics Registry Defrag reduces the size of the Registry by defragmenting it which has the effect that the Registry will take up less memory when Windows is running which does increase system performance including boot time. The tool initially scans the Windows Registry and displays a report of the fragmentation level of the Registry afterwards.

It is recommended by the application to close all open applications to maximize the effectiveness of the Registry scan. Once started the mouse cannot be moved outside of the program’s interface and even the usual ALT TAB or Windows keys are disabled. The user has the option to quit the application at any time or proceed with the defragmentation which requires a system restart.

As you can see in the screenshot above the tool was able to cut the size of my Registry by more than six Megabytes from 34 to 28 Megabytes which is a size difference of 18%. It cut down my boot time by two seconds.

Tags: registry, registry defrag, Windows, windows registry, windows tips

A Few Useful Tweaks

joshua — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:15:47 +0000

Since this is a subject we have touched on a couple of times recently I decided to share a a few useful registry tweaks. These apply to Windows Vista.

1) Stop UAC being so annoying

Yes, I leave User Account Control on. I find it bearable with time and its just one extra security caution. However the most annoying thing about it for me is not the popup requiring you to proceed, but the way it blocks out the rest of the desktop.

With time I found it begins to slow down and become increasingly frustrating. Luckily it’s easy to fix:

Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\System\PromptOnSecureDesktop
Change from 1 to 0

2) Auto Logon

Maybe not so secure a tip, but seeing as I have to reset Windows so often I wish sometimes it could just logon automatically so I could go off and do something else. This is a registry tweak to do jut that:

Registry Key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\winlogon\AutoAdminLogon
Now create a new String Value and call it DefaultPassword
Set: DefaultPassword = "P@ssw0rd"
Check for a REG_SZ called DefaultUserName. If it’s not there, then right-click in the right pane > New > REG_SZ and name it, DefaultUserName. Set the string value to the required UserName to be auto logged in.

3) Simultaneous Downloads

This is a fantastic little tweak as I’ve run into trouble with this before… by default you cannot download more then 2 files from one web server.

Registry Key: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
Create two DWORDS (Right Click > New> DWORD (32-Bit) Value)
MaxConnectionsPerServer and MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
Set the value of the first to 000000a and the value of the second to 0000000a

Tags: registry, tweaks, vista

Defrag the Registry with Regdefrag

Martin — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:05:17 +0000

The Windows Registry is not defragmented if you defragment your hard drive. This can be quite a problem for users who regularly install and uninstall applications on their system because uninstallers tend to “forget” to remove entries in the Registry during the uninstallation process. It’s astonishing that even the Registry of my brand new system which has been setup only a week ago was highly fragmented.

Defragmenting the Registry with Regdefrag (via Genbeta) would reduce the size from 28904 Kilobyte to 27160 Kilobyte, a reduction of more than 6%. A smaller Registry tends to increase performance on the system and even decrease the time it takes to boot a system. I remember that the Registry on my old computer had a size of 55 Megabytes, that’s twice the size of the current Registry.

The process or defragmentation works exactly the same way as the defragmentation of a hard drive by removing gaps, fragments and wasted space in Windows Registry files.

Analysis and Defragmentation did only take a matter of seconds on my computer, it probably will take longer on slower computers with a larger Registry.

Tags: registry, registry tips, Windows, windows boot time, windows performance, windows registry, windows tips

EnablePrefetcher in PrefetchParameters

Martin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:47:30 +0000

I remember that several tweaking programs that emerged after the release of Windows XP changed the EnablePrefetcher in the Registry which supposedly should speed up application load time. I also read about that tip in many forums and just recently in a computer magazine that published the tip to change the EnablePrefetcher value to 4-6 to speed up the system.

I was astonished to read this tip in a well respected magazine and would like to use this article to clarify it. You can find the current EnablePrefetcher value in your Registry. Navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters. The default value for the string should be 3 which means that prefetching is enabled for application launch and boot.

Other values are 0 for disabling prefetching, 1 to enable it for application launch only and 2 to enable it for boot only. The optimal setting is the default one which is 3. Setting EnablePrefetcher to a value above 3 has no effect at all. Even systems with low RAM should keep the default setting of 3 because they actually do benefit from prefetching.

My suggestion would be to check the Registry key on your system to make sure that the value is set to 3. If it is not change it to 3 and you will probably witness great speed improvements.

Tags: EnablePrefetcher, prefetcher, registry, windows tips

Not enough server storage is available to process this command

Martin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:53:08 +0000

Not enough server storage is available to process this command is a message that you can receive when you try to access a shared resource on a network. The Event ID: 2011 may also be written referring to the configuration parameter IRPStackSize. If the IRPStackSize is not present in the Registry the default value which may not be large enough for the server service to administer shared folders on some of the physical drives.

To solve this problem open the Registry and navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ lanmanserver \ parameters and check if the string IRPStackSize exists. If it does not exist create a new Dword with the name IRPStackSize.

The default value for this Dword is 18 and you should raise the value by adding 3 to it. The first value for IRPStackSize would be 21. Reboot your computer and see if that solved the problem. If you still get the error message add 3 again and reboot your computer again.

The maximum size for IRPStackSize is 50.

Tags: IRPStackSize, registry, server, server storage, Windows

Revo Uninstaller Program Uninstaller

Martin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:15:13 +0000

A new version of Revo Uninstaller was released this week and I decided to install it again to check on the progress of the application. Revo Uninstaller is a program uninstaller that has several interesting features that I mentioned only briefly in my last article which was published a while ago. It’s main task is a replacement for the Windows uninstaller which is slow and careless when it comes to uninstalling applications.

Many registry entries but also entries in the Windows profile folder are not deleted if you use the Windows uninstaller. Now, Revo Uninstaller offers a way that makes sure that no leftovers remain on your system after uninstallation. It does that by adding a scanner to the uninstallation process that observers which files are getting deleted and scans the computer afterwards for leftovers.

It actually offers four different modes when uninstalling a program. The modes are Built-in which only runs the uninstaller of the software, Safe which is the fastest mode that scans part of the Registry and hard drive, Moderate which offers an extended scan of the Registry and Hard Drive and finally Advanced which performs a deep scan of the Registry and Hard Drive.

The default mode is Moderate which does a very good job in identifying leftovers that can be uninstalled as well. The user is given a choice if he wants to uninstall those leftovers. It’s easy to decided most of the time especially when the leftover uses the name of the application that you just uninstalled.

Revo Uninstaller has another unique feature that is worth writing about. It is called the Hunter Mode. If you activate that mode a small icon appears on your screen and you can drag and drop shortcuts or programs from many Windows locations on it.

When you move a file on the icon you will be see a menu with options to uninstall it, stop the program from auto starting, to kill the process, open the containing folder, perform a Google search or take a look at the properties. Not even option makes sense for every program that you drag and drop on the icon.

You do not need to kill the process if the program is not running for instance. The most interesting option is the Uninstall option which works with program shortcuts, system tray icons and start menu entries. This is great if you do not want to search for the program folder or location to uninstall it.

Revo Uninstaller does a very thorough job even when run in moderate settings. It identifies leftovers that would not be uninstalled if you would use another uninstaller like the default Windows uninstaller.

Tags: leftovers, registry, revo uninstaller, uninstaller, windows software

Pin Folders to the start menu

Martin — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:13:12 +0000

While Windows XP and Vista offer a way to pin files to the Start Menu both operating systems do not offer a way to pin folders to it. You might have noticed that a right-click on a file on your hard drive does not give the option to pin it to the Start Menu as well, it only appears if you press the shift key while right-clicking the file.

This however does not work for folders. One of my friend wanted his folders there which is why I researched the matter and found a way to add the pin to Start Menu right-click option for folders as well. This tweak requires that you open the registry and add a new key to it, make sure you back it up before you continue.

Open the registry by using run in Windows XP or the Search in Windows XP. Type in regedit32 and hit enter. Navigate to the following key in the registry and right-click choosing New > Key there.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shellex \ ContextMenuHandlers

Name that key {a2a9545d-a0c2-42b4-9708-a0b2badd77c8} and close the registry again. If you right-click a folder now while pressing the shift key you should see the option to pin that folder to the Windows Start Menu.

To reverse it you simply delete the key in the registry. Changes will take effect immediately, no reboot required.

via Thinktechno

Tags: pin to start menu, registry, vista, Windows, xp

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