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Windows 98 Registry Hacks; Part 1 |
2nd, Although the registries in 95 and 98 are different is some aspects,
many of the "Registry Hacks" at "Assorted Categories"
"Registry Hacks and Assorted
Tips" still work like a charm.
Windows 98 Registry Hacks; Part 2
You can disable the Documents submenu on Win98's Start menu. Tweak UI's Paranoia tab can automatically clear the Documents menu each time you boot, but a quick Registry edit removes the Documents menu and the C:\WINDOWS\RECENT folder altogether.
First, back up your Registry files - C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT
- before making any changes.
Next, launch RegEdit and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
In the right pane, right-click on the background and select New/Binary
Value. Type NoRecentDocsHistory and press Enter. Double-click on the new
icon and enter 01000000 in the Edit Binary Value dialog box. (Note: RegEdit
automatically inserts three spaces into the value).
Click on OK.
Add a new NoRecentDocsMenu binary value entry and follow the same steps.
Close RegEdit and restart Windows.
To reverse the tip, delete the two new binary values you added, or
change both values to 00000000.
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"FontSmoothing"="0"
To remove the Start menu's Favorites menu. First, back up your Registry files - C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT - before making any changes. Next, launch RegEdit and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\Explorer.
In the right pane, right-click on the background and select New/Binary
Value. Type NoFavoritesMenu and press Enter. Double-click on the new icon
and enter 01000000 in the Edit Binary Value dialog box. (Note: RegEdit
automatically inserts three spaces into the value). Click on OK. Close
RegEdit and restart Windows. To reverse it all, delete the new binary value
you added, or change it to 00000000.
This is not a hack, just some neat information.
Sometimes you need to get basic BIOS information fast: Open the Registry
and drill down to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\*PNP0C01\0000.
Your BIOS name, version and date will all be listed.
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\
Policies\ Explorer.
Double-click on the NoRecentDocsHistory value in the right pane - if
it's not there, create a new binary value by that name.
Change 00,00,00,00 to 01,00,00,00
Repeat the last two steps on the NoRecentDocsMenu value.
You'll have to restart Windows for the change to take effect.
Sometimes you don't want to make Windows easy to shut down. In those
cases, you can disable the Start menu's Shut Down option. (Note: It will
still be visible - it just won't work.) Here's how: Launch RegEdit and
go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Right-click on the NoClose entry, select Modify and type 1 in the Value
data box.
If the entry isn't there, add it by right-clicking in the Contents pane
and selecting New/String Value. Name it and enter a value of 1.
Exit RegEdit and reboot; Shut Down should be disabled.
To restore it, change the value to 0 (you could also just delete the
entire entry), press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, highlight Explorer and click on the
End Task button. Cancel any dialogs that open, and the Shut Down option
should work again.
Windows 95, Windows 98
When you are using the Microsoft Service for NetWare Directory Services (MSNDS), the registry entry for DisableDefaultPasswords does not function properly.
The Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks uses the registry entry "DisableDefaultPasswords = 1" to turn off automatic NetWare login, but MSNDS uses a different registry entry ("DisableDefaultPassword = 1").
NOTE: The MSNDS entry is missing the trailing "s" on the end.
NOTE: For information about how to edit the registry, view the Changing Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and User.dat) before you edit the registry.
To disable the automatic login attempt with the MSNDS client, use Registry Editor to add a DWORD value named "DisableDefaultPassword" (without quotation marks) to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NWNP32\NetworkProvider
Set the data value for DisableDefaultPassword to 1.
The purpose of this registry key is to prevent the MSNDS client from
automatically using the Windows login password as the master password for
both the bindery and NDS tree login attempt. Instead, you are prompted
for a separate user name and password to log into the bindery server and
NDS trees.
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.
You can use the Windows Update tool to download updated product features, device drivers, and system files. Shortcuts to the Windows Update tool (Wupdmgr.exe) appear in two locations on the Start menu. A shortcut appears at the top of the Start menu, and in the Settings folder on the Start menu. The Windows Update wizard is also available in the Update Device Driver wizard in Device Manager. This article describes how to remove the shortcuts to Windows Update tool on the Start menu and how to remove the Windows Update wizard check box in the Update Device Driver wizard.
For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. The easiest way to back up your registry in Windows 98 is to run the Windows 98 Registry Checker (ScanregW).
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To remove the Windows Update tool, use the appropriate method:
Start Menu
To remove the Windows Update shortcut at the top of the Start menu, right- click the shortcut, and then click Delete.
Settings Folder
To remove the Windows Update shortcut from the Settings folder on the Start menu, add the DWORD value "NoWindowsUpdate" (without quotation marks) to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Set the data value to 1.
Update Device Driver Wizard
To remove the Windows Update wizard check box in the Update Device Driver wizard, add the DWORD value "NoDevMgrUpdate" (without quotation marks) to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Set the data value to 1.
To restore the Windows Update tool in the Settings folder on the Start menu, or the Update Device Driver wizard in Device Manager, use Registry Editor to change the appropriate data values from 1 to 0.
Note that when you add or remove the Windows Update shortcut on the Start menu, the change takes effect when you restart your computer. When you add or remove the Windows Update wizard check box in the Update Device Driver wizard in Device Manager, the change takes effect immediately.
For information about the Windows Update tool, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
How the Windows Update Tool Determines if an Update Is Valid
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/3/06.asp
Unfortunately, you can't change this setting in the familiar Display Properties dialog box, but if you're willing to do a little Registry editing, you can pick and choose your icon size.
(Warning: As with all Registry-editing techniques, we recommend backing up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files on the root of your hard drive--before continuing.)
Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing
regedit
and clicking OK and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics. In the right pane, right-click Shell Icon Size and select Modify. In the Edit String dialog box, change the number on the Value data line to match your desired icon size in pixels (the default is 32). Click OK. Close the Registry Editor, click the desktop once to place the focus there, then press F5 to refresh.
(Note: If you don't see a Shell Icon Size value, you'll need to create one: With the WindowMetrics key selected, right-click a blank area in the right pane; select New, String Value; type
Shell Icon Size
and click OK.)
Win95 and Win98 don't refresh your view of files and folders as often
as you might like. Here's how to make Windows refresh constantly (make
sure you back up your system before editing the Registry). Launch the Registry
Editor by selecting Start/Run, typing REGEDIT in the Run dialog and pressing
Enter. Click on the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE, then on the
plus sign next to System, and then on CurrentControlSet. Select Control,
then Update. In the right pane, right-click on UpdateMode and select Modify.
Select the 01 reading and change it to 00. Click on OK, exit the Registry
Editor and restart.
The General tab on the My Computer Properties sheet probably reports
that your computer is a GenuineIntel (one word) Pentium(r.)
Processor (or similar). For more details, open the following Registry
key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Description\
System\CentralProcessor\0 Double-click on VendorIdentifier and put
a space between "Genuine" and "Intel" or make some other edit in this line.
Now re-open the Properties sheet. Underneath the Genuine Intel line, you’ll
see that your CPU comes from the "x86 Family X Model Y Stepping [version]
Z," where X, Y, Z are the appropriate values in your system. Close the
Properties sheet, reopen the
Registry key and the same information will be seen on the Identifier
line. Restart Windows 98 and the default information will be
restored. (This tip has not been tested on non-Intel systems.)
To remove the Favorites folder from the Start menu, add the DWORD value "NoFavoritesMenu" (without quotation marks) to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Set the data value to 1
Wish your Start menu icons were in alphabetical order--folders first, then shortcuts? (If you've done any manual rearranging by clicking and dragging items to new locations, you'll notice that Windows 98 doesn't alphabetize them for you.) You could rearrange them all by hand, but there's a much easier way. With one simple Registry change, Windows 98 will restore order to the entire Start menu.
(Warning: As with all Registry-editing techniques, I recommend backing up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files on the root of your hard drive--before continuing.)
Open the Registry Editor--select Start, Run, type
regedit
and click OK--and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Menu. In the right pane, right-click
Order, select Delete, then click Yes to confirm. Close the Registry Editor,
restart Windows 98, and check out your newly arranged Start menu!
1. Select AUTOLOG.INF found in the \Tools\MTSutil folder on the Windows 98 CD.
2. Right-Click AUTOLOG.INF.
-or-
Hold down the SHIFT key and press the function key, F10.
3. Choose INSTALL to remove the AutoLogon entry.
DEFRAG.INF - DEFRAGMENT ALL DRIVES ON SUBSEQUENT WINDOWS STARTUP
The Disk Defragmenter for Windows 98 (DEFRAG.EXE) may start and not complete its task. If repeated attempts to defragment the drive are unsuccessful, it may be because an application is writing to the disk. The Disk Defragementer cannot share access to a drive with other tasks.
An application loading automatically at startup may interfere with DEFRAG. Run DEFRAG before applications load at startup by adding a value for DEFRAG.EXE /ALL to the RunServicesOnce key in the registry.
NOTE: You can use your computer while Disk Defragmenter is running,
however, Disk Defragmenter restarts if the contents of the drive you are
defragmenting change.
This is due to an obscure bug, which exhibits itself when the path specified for the swapfile in the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file includes a lowercase drive letter.
The name of the swapfile used by Windows 98 can be changed by adding
a PagingFile= line to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file. If the
path specified for the swapfile includes a lowercase drive letter, it can
cause Windows 98 Second
Edition to occasionally hang during a suspend.
To fix this:
1.Select Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box, then press
OK
2.Select the System.ini tab
3.Click the + sign next to the [386Enh] section to expand it
4.Select the line PagingFile= and click Edit
5.Change the lowercase drive letter to uppercase
6.Click Apply and OK
7.When prompted, restart your computer
There are two ways that disk drives get drive letters on a PC. The first kind are the ones controlled by your BIOS. These usually include your floppy and most hard drives, for which drive letters are created when your system is first turned on. The second kind of drives are controlled by software, or more specifically, drivers. These types of drives include CD-ROMs and other removables, network drives, and sometimes SCSI hard disks with ID's other than zero (0) or one (1). Generally, drive letters are assigned to these drives depending on the order in which they are loaded.
In WindowsNT and OS/2, you can choose drive letters for any drive, but
Windows 98 only allows this configuration for those drives controlled by
drivers (the second type). By editing the Registry directly you should
be able to change the drive letter assignments for any type of drive.
Note: It is extremely important that you back up your Registry before
continuing. Here's how it's done:
Method 1:
Double-click on the System icon in Control Panel, and click on the Device Manager tab. Find the device (CD-ROM drive, or otherwise) that you wish to configure from the list, and select it.
Click Properties, and then click the Settings tab. In the section entitled Reserved drive letters, choose the same letter for both the Start drive letter and End drive letter.
If the Removable option is not checked, and the reserved drive letters listboxes are disabled, check it now. If initially unchecked, make sure to uncheck it again when you're done with this procedure.
You'll have to restart your computer for this change to take effect.
Method 2 (use with caution, and only if Method 1 doesn't work):
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
Open one of the following branches, depending on the type of device you wish to configure (your system may vary):
For all SCSI devices, and most non-SCSI CD-ROM drives, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Enum\ SCSI.
For IDE hard disks, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Enum\ ESDI.
For standard floppy drives, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Enum\ FLOP.
Expand the branch of the SCSI device you wish to configure, and click on the key under that device (if you have two of the same device, there will be two keys here).
Double-click on the string value called UserDriveLetterAssignment (create it if it's not there by selecting New and then String Value from the Edit menu). In the box that appears, type the desired drive letter once, in all caps (example: type NN to configure this drive to use N:).
Next, double-click on the string value called CurrentDriveLetterAssignment. In the box that appears, type the desired drive letter once, in all caps - if this device is partitioned into more than one logical drive, include all drive letters (example: type CEFG to configure this drive to use C:, E:, F:, and G:).
Close the registry editor when finished, and restart your computer immediately for this change to take effect.
Important: neither of these methods will work if the drivers for the device are loaded in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT, since Windows 98 will not have control over these devices.
If the devices are supported in Windows 98, you should remove the old
drivers from these files.
Use this setting to hide the Screen Saver tab under Control Panel > Display. By hiding this tab, you can prevent users from activating screen savers or setting screen saver passwords. This can be very useful in classroom settings to prevent students from setting unknown passwords or inappropriate screen saver phrases. To set this option, go to:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
and edit/create the value "NoDispScrSavPage" (REG_DWORD) and set the value to "1" (without quotes) to hide the Screen Saver tab, or "0" to re-enable the Screen Saver tab.
Available for: 95, 98, NT, 2000
Use this Registry setting to hide the Virtual Memory button on the Performance tab under Control Panel > System. By hiding this button, you can prevent users from changing or disabling the machine's Virtual Memory setting, which can adversely effect the machine's performance. To set this option, open the Registry Editor and go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\System
Edit/create the value "NoVirtMemPage" (String Value) and set the value
to "1" (without quotes) to hide the Virtual Memory button, or "0" to display
the button. The setting will take effect immediately and does not
require a reboot.
Use this Registry setting to hide the Background tab under Control Panel >Display, to prevent users from changing their desktop background andn wallpaper settings. To set this option, open the Registry Editor and go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\System
Edit/create the value "NoDispBackgroundPage" (DWORD value) and set the value to "1" (without quotes) to hide the Background tab. To reenable the tab, set the value to "0". The setting will take effect immediately and does not require a reboot.
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Use this setting to hide the Find command on the Start Menu.
(Note that this will not disable a user from pressing F3 to get to
the Find dialog box.)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer
Edit/create the value NoFind (DWORD value) and set the value to 1 to hide the Find command, or 0 to display the Find command.
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Change the Registered Owner and Organization for a Win 9x Machine
Use this setting to change the Registered Owner and Organization which were entered at the time Windows was installed. If you have inherited your machine from another user, these options will probably be incorrect. Since these settings are used each time you install new software, changing these options in the Registry will prevent you from having to correct them each time you install software. To set this option, go to:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
Edit the value "RegisteredOwner" (REG_SZ) to update the name of the owner and the value "RegisteredOrganization" (REG_SZ) to update the name of the organization.
For: 95, 98
One simple solution, aimed specifically at restoring your ability to view *.jpg files, is this:
Select Start, Run. IE 4 users should type
regsvr32.exe /i shdocvw.dll
IE 5 users should type
regsvr32.exe /i shdoc401.dll
Then press Enter.
The much longer alternative--a solution for all file types--is to edit the Registry. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files in your Windows folder--before proceeding.)
Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing
regedit
and clicking OK. Then, navigate your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\, where is the type of file you want to preview, such as .gif. With that key selected, press the asterisk key (*) on your numeric keypad to expand all keys within it. In order for preview mode to work for that file type, the following entries need to be there:
Registry Key: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\ShellEx] Registry Key: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\
type>\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}] Value: (Default)="{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC}"
If any or all of these entries aren't there, you'll need to create them, as follows:
Right-click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\, select New, Key, type
ShellEx
and press Enter. Right-click the new ShellEx key, select New, Key, type
{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}
and press Enter. With the newly created key selected, right-click (Default) in the right pane and select Modify. On the Value Data line of the Edit String dialog box, type
{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC}
and click OK.