Write A Batch File To Start Program In Startup
You can start your computer applications automatically and control the sequence of the programs when your computer comes up.
Here we consider you want to run three different applications (WordPad, calculator, and notepad) and minimized automatically with sequence at windows startup. However, you can write a batch file to do the job for you. Open any text editor like notepad and type the following command.
start /min wordpad.exe start /min calc.exe start /min notepad.exe
Now choose the option, Save As to save this file with .bat extension. For example filename.bat.
Now Right- click on Start button and choose open > Double click Programs > here open Startup folder. Now drag your .bat file in the Startup folder and close the dialog box.
Next time When you restart the computer, WordPad, Calc will start first and then Notepad. You won’t see the batch file run because you told it to run minimized.
Safer Registry Editing
Make sure before modifying your system Registry about its backup and you need to know how to organized the registry, how to perform the basic editing, because Registry contains all information how your system runs. This backup will help you to restore Registry in case any problem occurs after modifying. Learn how you can Export and Import Registry File before Editing?
You can backup the whole Registry and only Registry subkeys also.
Click Start Button then type regedit in Run dialog box and click Ok button. Here you can backup the whole Registry or you can locate the required subkeys that contain the information that you want to edit.
Go to File menu option then click on Export option for backup and save it with on any your system drive with .reg extension and you can restore this backup going File menu using import option.
Removing Add/Remove Programs Entries From RegEdit
Generally we use Add/Remove programs option in Control Panel to remove any unwanted program from our computer. Normally this may be due to poorly designed uninstaller with this program. That is why some programs may not be removed properly and a reference to this program remains in the computer registry. This reference in registry may be creating problems to run your computer smoothly. Here you need to delete this reference to edit your computer registry using RegEdit editor.
First go to Start button and open Run dialog box. Type here RegEdit and press Enter.
Now in editor Navigate to the given path
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.
Here locate the entry created by your program with its name and select that entry from the list on the left panel and delete its key.
Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer, the program will be removed from your computer permanently.
How to Turn Your Num Lock On Forever?
You can set your Num Lock to stay on by default when you logon your system.
There are two different techniques to set Num Lock stay on by default.
If you can use Registry Editor correctly then Click on start button and type Regedt32.exe in Run command. Here Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Keyboard and change the value for InitialKeyboardIndicators from 0 to 2.
You can do same by configuring the script to change the NUM LOCK state. Click Start button and then open Notepad. Copy the giving code and paste in Notepad.
set WshShell = CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”)
WshShell.SendKeys “{NUMLOCK}”
Now save this file with name “num.vbs” must including the quotes. At the end copy this file to user startup folder. The path for this folder is Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.
Now restart the computer. Num Lock should come on and stay on.
How to Disable or Enable Auto run CD in Windows XP?
In windows XP you can enjoy a good feature to run CD or DVD automatically when you loaded it into you CD drives on your computer. This is a defaults feature in windows XP but you can disable and enable it according to your nature of work. In user interface mode there is no option to disable or enable this feature, you must edit the registry of windows and be careful to work registry.
Click Start button then type regedit in Run option then press Enter for next.
Here locate the location to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom
Here you can disable or enable automatically running your CD. Change the value of Autorun to 0 for disable and change the value to 1 for enable. At the end restart your computer for this change.
How you can Change The Recycle Bin’s Name?
You can change the name of Recycle Bin of your system if you wish. It is very easy and interesting but it require some changes in windows registry,
First click on Start button > click on Run option.
Type here regedit.exe and press enter then you will find there regedit editor.
In regedit editor you will open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder, In this folder open the CLSID folder then open the {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} folder >ShellFolder folder at last.
Here simply change the data value from “40 01 00 20” to “70 01 00 20”.
After performing all above steps restart your computer then you will find option to rename Recycle name after right clicking on Recycle Bin Icon. Now you can change new name as you wish.
A Quick way to print a Document
There are many ways to prints a document, but you can print a document quickly if you put a shortcut to the printer on your desktop and drag a document icon to it, no need to open file for printing just drag a file to printer icon and get your print.
To do this, first click Start button, Settings, then Printers ( first make sure you installed your printer driver). When the Printers window opens, hold down Ctrl and drag the printer icon to your system desktop.
Now you can drag a document icon and drop it in printer icon on your desktop. Here you will get a print quickly and with out open a file.
To display your Username and Computer Name on the ‘My Computer’
Here is a tip for those who like to hack the registry.
Preliminary step, show the ‘My Computer’ icon, go to Control Panel, Display, Desktop (Tab), Customize Desktop, Check My Computer.
Principle: Find the setting for the My Computer object in the HKey_Classes_Root, substitute two variables for the original setting. Warning: This is a particularly difficult registry change to make so export the registry FIRST. Regedit, File (menu), Export.
Getting Started
a) Use regedit to locate [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} rename LocalizedString to LocalizedString.Old. I advice this step in case anything goes wrong and you want to revert to how it was.
b) Create a new VALUE type Expand_SZ name it LocalizedString Set the value of LocalizedString to %Username% at %Computername%
Press F5 to refresh the ‘My Computer’, there is no need to logoff and certainly do not reboot.
How can I delete the Recycle Bin icon from the desktop in Windows XP/2003?
To delete the Recycle Bin icon from the Windows XP/2003 desktop follow these steps:
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
3. Find the following key:
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Delete the above key.
Note: As always, before making changes to your registry you should always make sure you have a valid backup. In cases where you’re supposed to delete or modify keys or values from the registry it is possible to first export that key or value(s) to a .REG file before performing the changes.
4. Close Registry Editor.
There is no need to reboot. Just wait a few seconds and see how the icon disappears from the desktop.
5. In order to restore the Recycle Bin icon to the desktop just re-create the missing key (or import it back to the registry in case you’ve exported it earlier).
In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
Create the following key:
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
(just copy/paste, including the brackets).
How to Enable Auto-Complete Feature In The Command Prompt
This neat tip, Jamel provided us, avoids headaches when using the command prompt console. It’ll turn on the auto-complete feature so when you type ‘cd d’ and hit the tab key, the console will display the list of folders that begin with the ‘d’ letter, and you’ll be able to choose the one you’re looking for, right from the console instead of typing its path.
Log on as Administrator,
Click Start, and then click Run,
Type Regedit and OK,
Double click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
Double click SOFTWARE,
Double click Microsoft,
Double click Command Processor,
In the right pane of Regedit, double click the ‘CompletionChar’ DWORD value,
Type 9 click OK,
Close Regedit,
Click start/programs/accessories/command prompt,
Type ‘cd d’ and hit the Tab key: the first folder that matches the ‘d’ letter is displayed (you can switch from folders pushing several times the Tab key).
What is a Trojan horse?
In it the Greeks give a giant wooden horse to their enemies, the Trojans, supposedly as a peace offering. But after the horse is inside the city walls, Greek soldiers sneak out of the horse’s hollow belly and open the city gates, allowing their soldiers to enter and capture Troy.
Similarly, what is known as a Trojan horse is a destructive program disguised as a simple application or useful program. The program contains additional hidden code which allows the unauthorized collection, exploitation, falsification, or destruction of data. Though lumped in with viruses, it doesn’t propagate itself like a virus does.
One of the worst kinds of Trojans is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead puts them on your computer. Another common type will open a security hole for a hacker to get into your system and do all kinds of nasty stuff
You can prevent getting a Trojan Horse by having up-to-date anti-virus software, not opening unsolicited attachments, and scanning freeware and shareware you download before you unzip.
Hidden User Account
For my next trick I will make a user account disappear, yet remain a full functioning account. Today’s Security Tip is another way to lock down your system, and it does this by hiding specified user accounts. This feature is only available in XP and 2000, so unfortunately the rest of you are out of luck. This process does involve an easy registry edit, but if you’re uncomfortable with that you might want to think twice about attempting this.
Normally when you log into XP, you see the startup screen where you see all the icons for the users who can access. What this tip does is allow you to hide a desired account from this screen. If you want to log on as this user you have to press Cntrl+Alt+Del twice at the Welcome screen to make a Windows Security dialog box appear. Here you can type in the user name and password of the hidden account and log in. Limited Users shouldn’t be able to see any sign of you except for the listing in the Documents and Settings folder. Other administrative users will be able to see your hidden account in Control Panel/User Accounts, so keep this in mind when you’re planning this out.
All right, now down to the good stuff. If having a hidden account sounds like your cup of tea, and you have no problem with small Registry augmentation, then let’s go:
* First we need to open up the Registry Editor. Go to Start/Run and type “regedit” and click OK
* You should be looking at the Registry editor, and what we need to do now is navigate to H-KEY\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\Userlist . You will not see this folder if you do not have “show hidden system files” turned on.
* Once here we need to create another DWORD value. This is easier than it sounds, right click on the User list label file on the left side of the screen and select New>DWORD . You’ll see the new entry in the right pane of the window, rename this value the name of the user account you want hidden (exactly how it is listed in the Startup screen, case sensitive) and leave the value at 0.
* Close your Registry Editor and restart the PC. When the Welcome screen comes up you’ll notice that there’s no icon for the user you just concealed. So how do you log in? This is where you press Cntrl+Alt+Del 2x’s and the Windows Security Dialog box will come asking you to authenticate (name/password) after this the system should log you in.
Here’s one more thing you might want to keep in mindâ€â€Windows logon screen. This is the screen where you see the available users you can choose to log in as. You can turn this option on/off in the User Accounts ( Start/Control Panel/User Accounts then “Change the way Users log in or off” and “Use Windows Welcome Screen” and you need to turn it off if you plan on using a hidden account and there are no other accounts on the system. The reason why is that the Windows doesn’t have any user accounts to display in the Welcome screen, so it will continuously reboot. Now if you do run into this or any problems simply enter Safe mode at the next boot, this will allow you to go to the User Accounts Window and fix any problems. If you find that you can’t log in at all with your hidden account go back and look at the registry value you created. Make sure you’re spelling the user name is correct and that it’s in the right location in the registry.
Power off completely after shut down your Computer.
Normally when you are trying to shut down your windows XP and some time you may receive the message “it’s now safe to power off the machine”. Here you should change your system Advanced Power Management setting or edit your system registry to solve this problem and power off completely.
Follow the given steps to solve this problem with Advanced Power Management.
First click on Start button then go to Control Panel.
Open the Performance and Maintenance option in control panel then click on Power Options.
Here Click on APM tab then select the option Enable Advanced Power Management Support box and press Ok.
Now follow the given steps to solve this problem by editing system registry.
First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
Here locate the location to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Here in right side panel, double click on PowerdownAfterShutdown and set its value 1 to power down.
Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.
Removing Unwanted or selected Items from the RUN Menu
In Windows environment the Run prompt is the shortcut key to access mostly computer programs. You can open the lot of computer programs very quickly using Run command, that is why mostly computer professional love to using Run prompt. But if you want to clear the unwanted or selected search items from Run Menu, you must edit the registry of windows and be careful to work with computer registry.
Follow the given steps to clear the history Menu.
First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
In Registry Editor go to Edit (Shortcut Ctrl+F) then Find to search the word RUNMRU.
In right panel delete the unwanted items using right click on that item then delete.
Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.
Hiding All Icons from the Desktop
Start Regedit
Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD
Name it NoDesktop
Give it a value of 1
Logoff or Reboot the computer
Now all icons are hidden on the desktop
Disable drives in My Computer from unknown user.
If you want to prevent any users to access your computer or network shared drives using My Computer then you can hide the all drives for example C:/, D:/ and save your data from any unknown user. But next time you can turn on the display of these drives using registry editor. Now edit the computer registry to turn off the display of drives, but be careful to work with computer registry.
Follow the given steps to hide computer drives:
First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
Here locate the location to:
HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows
\ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
Here right click on right side of Registry editor panel and add new DWORD then put its value 3FFFFFF.
Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.
Disabling the ability to click on My Computer
You can restrict any user to access your system drives if you disable the click feature on My Computer. User will get no any changes when he will try to open My Computer.
By editing the windows registry keys, you can disable the click feature on My Computer. But always export or backup the whole windows registry keys on backup drive before editing. Because any mistake in Registry can cause serious problem in your computer to run properly.
Follow the given steps to disable My Computer setting.
First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
In registry editor panel search the value
20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
May be you will find this value on path HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID section.
Here delete the entire section of this value.
Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.
Displaying a Text Notice before Logon
You can create a funny message or legal warnings for others just before logon to your computer. This is very useful if you want to give a message to new user about the use of computer. Edit the value of registry keys to create a banner message.
Click Start button then type regedit in Run option then press Enter for next.
Here locate the location to:
HKeyLocalMachine \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Win Logon
Here in right side panel, right click to create a new string value LegalNoticeCaption and give it a value you want to see in the menu bar
Now again right click to create a new string value called LegalNoticeText and change the value you want to see in the dialog box
Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.