On the previous post I have wrote on Windows Registry Branches. In this article, we are going to talk on Registry Values inside those Registry Branches.

Windows Registry Value

There are 5 main type of registry values in the Windows Registry. These value contain data and information for the operation of Windows Operating System.

1. REG_DWORD
   REG_DWORD values are shown in hexadecimal format and use a 4 byte number as data, with the decimal equivalent in brackets next to that. DWORD value can be entered in hexadecimal or decimal format. DWORD value are mostly use for switch value, with the value ‘0′ as off, and the value ‘1′ as on.
2. REG_SZ
   REG_SZ value can be word or number, or the location of file in your Windows Operating System. REG_SZ is also known as the string value.
3. REG_EXPAND_SZ
   This value act as a variable where an input from any application will place a value in REG_EXPAND_SZ value.
4. REG_MULTI_SZ
   This value contain multiple values or list.
   
5. REG_BINARY
   This value contain values as binary data. Usually, REG_BINARY are use for data or information related to hardware that cannot be edited or change by the user.

These are the values that are use in Windows Registry. I will talk on how to create or edit these values on the next article on Windows Registry Editing.

See also:

• Windows Registry Editing Tips (1)
• Windows Registry Branches (1)

Today we are going to delve deeper into Microsoft Windows Registry editing by looking at the 5 main branches of the Windows Registry.

The Windows Registry consist of 5 main branches, as you can see from the pictures below.

Windows Registry 5 Main Branches

Inside this main 5 branches in Windows Registry are registry keys, which are represented by folders, and inside them are Registry SubKeys and Registry Values.

The main 5 branches in the Windows Registry are:

1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
   The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT branch contains the information Microsoft Windows needs for internal functions such as OLE (Object Linking and Embedding, the ability to copy and paste between different programs and documents) and drag-and-drop. The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is also the database for file associations, which is how the OS determines what program opens when you double click a specific file type. This branch is by far the least user-friendly and the least edited from all the branches.
2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER
   This Windows Registry Branch contain several configuration settings for the user that is currently logged in only. All the customizations that have been made to Windows, such as a new desktop configuration, or a change of font will be stored here. Any Windows or application setting that is specific to your user can be found within this branch of the registry. As such, there are many customization options here. HKEY_CURRENT_USER is actually a sub-set of the HKEY_USERS branch, specific to the currently logged in user only.
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is probably the most edited friendly registry branch. This branch contains configuration settings that are specific to the computer and the software installed on it, but independent of users. As such, any changes made here will apply to any user that is logged in.
4. HKEY_USERS
   Like the CURRENT_USER branch, this contains individual configuration settings specific to individual users. However, it contains these options for all users that have been created. The users are identified by their SID (Security Identifier) number.
5. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
   This is connected to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, in much the same way that the CURRENT_USER branch connects to HKEY_USERS. It specifies hardware and software settings that apply to all users, for a given hardware profile.

Inside each of these 5 main registry branches are keys which hold subkeys and value. We will look into the keys, subkeys and value in the next article.

See also:

• Windows Registry Value (0)
• Windows Registry Editing Tips (1)

Microsoft Windows Registry Editing is a high risk practice which can cause serious damage to your Windows Operating System if not done correctly. Below are tips on Windows Registry Editing.

If you read Microsoft Knowledge Base on Registry editing, you will find the statement

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

As scary as it may seems, actually editing Windows Registry manually using Regedit and Notepad is not that troublesome, and if done correctly can produce positive results that will affect your Windows Operating System.

One of the basic tips on Windows Registry Editing that will certainly get you out of trouble when editing Windows Registy would be to backup everything before doing any editing. This is compulsory because if you mess up something, you can easily restore the previous key.

To backup your registry key using Regedit:

1. Go to start menu
2. Run
3. Type “regedit” without the quote and press enter.
4. Go to menu “Files”.
5. Choose “Export”.
6. Save the backup as .reg files.

export registry

If something went wrong after editing your registry using Regedit, you can easily restore the registy key files that you have backed up using the import feature.

We will be looking into other registry editing tips and tricks in the future at badxp.

However if you feel that editing registry manually using Regedit as troublesome, you can use Registry utility such as Regsweep for registry fixing, optimization and cleaning. Refer to my previous post on Registry cleaning using Regsweep.

See also:

• Windows Registry Value (0)
• RegSweep for Windows Registry Cleaning (4)
• Windows Registry Branches (1)

Every one in a while we have to run defragmenter software on our hard disk to keep it on maximum performance. Find out why it is advisable to run Microsoft Windows check disk utility or checkdisk (chkdsk.exe) before defragmenting your hard disk drive.

Microsoft Windows XP built in defragmenter in action

Running Defragmenter, be it the one that came with Windows, or a 3rd party defragmenter software will not run if the drive are flagged as dirty by Windows. The drive are flagged dirty when the drive contain errors.

To fix this error, you must run check disk utility with the checkdisk (chkdsk.exe) before defragmenting your hard disk drive.

There are some 3rd party defragmenter that will force to defrag your drive even if the drive is flagged dirty. This is bad for the health of your drive. Defragmenting a drive that contains error will lead to bad sector. If the bad sector are not fixed by running check disk utility, the drive will contain unrecoverable errors.

Even if you are not defragmenting your drive on a regular basis, you should run Check Disk Utility regularly to check your drive conditions.

More info on checkdisk disk utility can be found on my previous post on Check Disk Utility. I have also posted on how to use the Check disk utility at startup.

See also:

• Windows XP checkdisk utility - chkdsk.exe (4)
• Run checkdisk at startup in Windows XP (1)
• Using checkdisk - chkdsk.exe without booting Windows (2)

Windows Vista came with a built in CD Burning features, but since there are a lot of better freeware CD Burning applications for Windows Vista, you might want to disable Vista built in CD Burning.

This will require you to get your hand dirty with Windows Vista Registry Editor. Be advised that editing, tweaking or playing with the registry can lead your system to serious trouble. Make sure to backup your registry before following the steps below to disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning.

To disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning:

1. Go to start menu > run
2. Type “regedit” without the quote
3. At the registry editor, navigate to
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
4. Right click on the left pane, and create a new DWORD (32bit) key
5. Type NoCDBurning without the quote.
   
6. Double click on NoCDBurning and enter the value as “1″.
7. Close Registry Editor
8. Log off and then log in again for the changes to take effect.

This steps will Disable Windows Vista Built In CD Burning. To re-enable Vista Built In CD Burning, just change the Dword value to “0″.

See also:

• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)
• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Microsoft admits Microsoft Windows Vista mistake (4)
• Disable Task Manager in Windows Vista (0)
• Disable Run Command in Windows Vista (1)

Sometimes disabling Task Manager in Windows Vista can prove to be useful in securing your Windows Operating System. This tutorial will show you how to disable Task Manager in Windows Vista.

To disable Task Manager in Windows Vista using Registry Tweak, follow these steps:

1. Go to Start Menu
2. Go to “Run”
3. Type “regedit” without the quote to run Registry Editor
4. Go to
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system.
5. Go to the right pane of Registry Editor, right click and create a new DWORD value
6. Name the DWORD value “DisableTaskMgr” without the quote
7. Set the value to “1″
8. Save and restart your computer

The process above will Disable Task Manager in Windows Vista. To undo the the process, just change the value of “1″ to “0″.

See also:

• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)
• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Microsoft admits Microsoft Windows Vista mistake (4)
• How To Disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning (1)
• Disable Run Command in Windows Vista (1)

Run command is a useful tools in every variant of Microsoft Windows, but sometimes for security purposes you might want to disable the Run command completely in Microsoft Windows. This tutorial will show how to disable run command completely in Microsoft Windows Vista.

To disable run command in Windows Vista

• Go to Windows Vista start menu.
• Type “gpedit.msc” without the quote.
• This will open the Group Policy Editor in Windows Vista
• Go to User Configuration
• Go to Administrative Template
• Go to Start Menu and Taskbar
• Choose “Remove run from start menu”
• Right click on “Remove run from start menu and choose “Properties”
• Select “Enable” at the “Remove run from start menu” properties page
• Click “Ok” and restart your computer

Be advised that by removing Run command, you will not be able to use the Run command anymore and everything that are associated with the run command.

See also:

• Tweak Windows Vista Services using Vista Service Optimizer (3)
• Microsoft admits Microsoft Windows Vista mistake (4)
• Change search engine provider in Windows Internet Explorer 7 (0)
• Vista Service Pack 2 will be available before Windows 7 (2)
• How To Disable Windows Vista built in CD Burning (1)

This is a tip on how to run checkdisk in Windows XP on startup.

Usually when running checkdisk - chkdsk.exe , only the drive that contain locked Operating System files on Windows XP will be ask to run checkdisk on startup. However there is a another command that can be use in Windows XP to run checkdisk on every drives on Windows XP startup.

To run checkdisk on every drives at startup in Windows XP:

• Run command prompt. Go to start menu > Run
• Type “cmd.exe” without the quote
• At the command prompt, type “chkntfs /D” without the quote

This will restores Windows XP to the default behavior and all drives are checked at boot time and checkdisk - chkdsk is run on those that are dirty.

See also:

• Windows XP checkdisk utility - chkdsk.exe (4)
• Run checkdisk before defragmenting your hard drive (1)
• Using checkdisk - chkdsk.exe without booting Windows (2)

Do you know that the Windows key that sits between your Ctrl and Alt key when combined with other key will produce shortcuts that will save you a lot of time and increase your productivity.

The windows key, or also known as a Flag key, Start key, or Menu key is originally introduced during the Windows 95 Operating System. With the introduction of Microsoft Windows XP, the Windows key were included in every keyboard manufactured after 1st September 2003, by (you guessed who) Microsoft. And, not to be suprised, Microsoft are pushing that all new keyboard will incorporated the new Windows Vista logo (circle) as the Windows key instead of the traditional Windows key logo.

Back to the usage of Windows Key Shortcuts. Below are the shortcuts that you can use by combining the with Windows key:

• Windows Key to Open the Start Menu
• Windows Key + D to Show Desktop
• Windows Key + E to Open My Computer
• Windows Key + F to Open Search
• Windows Key + F + Control Key to Open Search For Computers program
• Windows Key + F1 to Open Help
• Windows Key + L to Switch Between Users, or Lock desktop while unattended
• Windows Key + M to Minimize All Windows
• Windows Key + M + Shift Key to restore after Minimizing All Windows
• Windows Key + R to Open Run Dialog
• Windows Key + U to open Utility Manager
• Windows Key + Y to Open Yahoo Messenger (if loaded)
• Windows Key + Pause Key To Open System Properties
• Windows Key + Tab Key To Switch Between Active Programs
• Windows Key + X to enter Windows Mobility Center (Windows Vista+ only)
• Windows Key + P to switch Projection modes (clone, extend, single, multiple monitors, etc.) (Windows 7 only)

The usage of Windows Key shortcuts will definitely save you a lot of mouse click if you could master them, and incorporate them in your daily Windows computing.

See also:

• No related posts.

Firefox 3 come with a lot of new features, and a suprisingly large oversized back button. I don’t know what came into the developer mind when they decided to put an oversized back button on the new Firefox 3. Maybe their research on ergonomic and surfer’s behavior have led them to conclude the need for an oversized back button on Firefox 3.

Luckily, the developer of Firefox 3 gave us a choice of turning the large back button on Firefox 3 to Firefox 3 small back button. To change Firefox 3 large back button to firefox 3 small big button, follow this simple steps.

1. Go to menu “View”, select “Toolbars”.
2. Select “Customize”.
   
3. In Customize pop up box, select “use small icons”.
   
4. Click “done”.

That is all the steps you need to enable Firefox 3 small back button. If you want turn the large oversized back button on, just untick “Use small incons” in the “Customize” window. Hopefully this simple guide will help those who are looking of a way to use Firefox 3 small back button.

See also:

• Firefox About Robots Easter Egg (0)
• Firefox 3.1 porn mode (1)
• Firefox 3.1 beta 1 download (0)
• Firefox 3.1 (soon to be released) awesome bar (1)
• Firefox 3 improve performance by enabling windows to swap memory (1)