Before continuing please read this note about the Windows Registry Editor. You will need to know how to use it for some of the tricks.
Using Internet Explorer to View Restricted Files
This trick will allow you to view restricted files on a computer at a public place such as a school or
library. By restricted, I mean that you cannot access files on the hard drive as you normally would
through My Computer, or Explorer. The first thing to do is to open up Internet Explorer. (If the
computer you're using dose not have Internet Explorer, you can try a different web browser such as
Netscape, but I have not tested this trick on any other browser.) Put your cursor in the address bar
and erase everything that is in it. Next type C:\ and press enter. In less secure computer networks this
will give you access to the files on the hard drive. In some cases though, you will get a error box
saying that this resource has been disallowed, or something to that effect. If this is the case you will
have to use a little trick to access the files, which is just a simple JavaScript code. This is what you
need to do.
Open up Notepad and type this:<![CDATA[
<script language="JavaScript">
window.location="C:"
</script>
]]>
Save the file as open.html, then open up that HTML file. You are now looking at the contents of drive C.
That was fairly easy wasn't it? However, there are more fundamental ways of viewing and opening
the contents of drive C. The simplest of these is to make a shortcut to the file. To do this, open a
folder that you know you can save files in. Next, click the File menu and select New -> Shortcut.
When the dialog box appears, click Browse. This will show you the contents of drive C and you can
choose any item from it that you want to open. Once you have made your selection click Open, and
follow the rest of the steps until the shortcut is made. You can then click on this shortcut to open the
desired file. Two programs I suggest you make short cuts to are the command prompt
(c:\command.com) and the Registry Editor (c:\windows\regedit.exe), they will be very useful latter
on.
Desktop Shortcuts for Windows Commands
These two shortcuts can go on your desktop, and allow you to easily restart and shut down your computer with one click. When clicked this shortcut will shut down your computer without warning. To add the shortcut, right click on your desktop and on the menu choose New -> Shortcut. A dialog box will pop up with a textarea labled Command Line. In that line type the following:
c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows
Click Next, and where it asks you to lable it just simply lable it Shut Down, and click Finish.
The next shortcut will restart your computer. This is useful if you make changes with the registry, and need to restart for the changes to take place, or just need to restart your computer. This doesn't completely reboot your computer, but it closes, and then restarts the Window's Software, so it will be a little quicker than choosing to restart your computer from the Start Menu. For this shortcut, follow the same instructions as before, except type the following in the command line:
C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec
You can then name this shortcut Restart.
Shortcuts With CLSID Numbers
CLSID numbers can be used to make shortcuts to certain windows Folders which you can't normally make shortcuts to because they are not a physical directory that windows lists. Here is a list of many common CLSID numbers:
My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Desktop:{00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}
Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}
Fonts:{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}
Inbox:{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
My Computer:{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}
Printers:{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}
Recycle Bin:{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
History:{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Winzip:{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}
You should be able to tell by their name what the CLSID numbers are for. Please note that the name part such as History: is part of the number, and without it, they will not work at all. To make a shortcut to one of these files go to a folder, desktop, or anywhere else you would like to put a shortcut and right click. On the menu chose New -> Folder. A new folder will appear where ever you chose to put one. Rename the folder with one of the CLSID numbers and when you are done naming it, the folder icon will change to the corresponding icon with the link, and the name will also change to match it.
Screen Shots
A screen shot is just a picture of your computer screen. You may find screen shots useful when you have just hacked in the FBI's computer network mainframe (caugh, caugh) and want proof that you were there, so you can brag to your friends.
Taking a screen shot is actually much easier than you may think. Just press the Print Screen key, located to the right of the F12 key. Now open MS Paint and click the Edit menu, and then click Paste. You might get a dialog box asking you if you would like to resize your image, click Yes.
Full Windows Refresh
You may know that by pressing the F5 key you are supposed to have refreshed your entire desktop. This does refresh some things, but not everything. There is a way however, to completely refresh Windows.
Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys to bring up the prompt. In it, click on Explorer and then click End Task. This will give you the normal shutdown prompt; click No. Now wait for about 10 seconds and you should get a dialog box telling you that the program is not responding. Click End Task; your taskbar and any windows open will flash a few times and then Windows will have been completely refreshed.
Dissable The Shut Down Button
Open up Regedit and go to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now inside the Explorer key right click in the right pane and click New -> String Value. Rename this value to NoClose and press your Enter key. Now double click on this value and a prompt will open on your screen. In the value data box type 1 and click OK. Now click the Start menu and select Shut Down. You'll get a dialog box saying: "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator."
Now do a full Windows refresh and try it again. You can't, because when you refreshed Windows the Shut Down button was removed. To restore the Shut Down button go back into Regedit and right click on the NoClose value and select Delete. Do another full refresh and the Shut Down button will have been restored.
Hide Desktop Icons
Open Regedit and go to key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Right click in the right pane and select New -> DWORD Value. Rename it NoDesktop and press Enter. Then double click on it and change the value in the prompt that opens from 0 to 1 and click OK. Now do a full Windows refresh, and there should be no more icons on the desktop. Also notice now that double clicking the desktop will open the Start menu. This is a good trick to play on your friends if you really want to scare them, especially if they don't know much about computers they will think that everything is gone. To restore the desktop delete the NoDesktop value and do another full Windows refresh.