Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide

Jerry Honeycutt

Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Table of Contents……Page 2
Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide……Page 12
This Book Is DifferentŠReally……Page 15
Power Users First; Then IT Professionals……Page 16
Some Terminology……Page 17
Final Note……Page 18
Part Overview……Page 20
Heart and Soul of Windows XP……Page 21
For Power Users……Page 22
For IT Professionals……Page 23
Security Identifiers……Page 25
Hexadecimal Notation……Page 28
Bits and Bit Masks……Page 29
Little-Endian and Big-Endian……Page 30
Structure of the Registry……Page 31
Keys……Page 33
Values……Page 34
Types……Page 35
Organization of the Registry……Page 37
HKEY_USERS……Page 38
HKEY_CURRENT_USER……Page 39
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT……Page 40
Registry Management Tools……Page 41
Hives in HKLM……Page 42
Hives in HKU……Page 43
Running Regedit……Page 44
Exploring Regedit……Page 45
Key Pane……Page 46
Value Pane……Page 47
Searching for Data……Page 48
Searching in Binary Values……Page 49
Bookmarking Favorite Keys……Page 50
Using Better Techniques……Page 51
Changing Values……Page 52
Adding Keys or Values……Page 55
Renaming Keys or Values……Page 56
Printing the Registry……Page 57
Exporting Settings to Files……Page 58
Registration Files……Page 59
Win9x/NT4 Registration Files……Page 60
Hive Files……Page 61
Working with Hive Files……Page 62
Getting Beyond Basics……Page 63
Editing the Registry Safely……Page 64
Copying Single Values……Page 65
Backing Up to Hive Files……Page 66
Fixing Corrupt Settings……Page 68
Allowing Windows XP to Fix Errors……Page 69
Repairing an Application’s Settings……Page 70
Removing Programs from the Registry……Page 72
Using System Restore……Page 73
Taking Configuration Snapshots……Page 74
Peeking Under the Covers……Page 75
Hacking System Restore……Page 77
Scripting System Restore……Page 78
Backing Up the Registry Regularly……Page 79
Planning a Backup Strategy……Page 80
Backing Up System State Data……Page 81
Restoring System State Data……Page 82
Backing Up User Settings……Page 83
Advanced Options Menu……Page 84
Recovery Console……Page 85
Automated System Recovery……Page 87
Redirecting Special Folders……Page 89
Customizing Shell Folders……Page 91
Renaming Desktop Icons……Page 93
Adding Desktop Icons……Page 94
Customizing File Associations……Page 96
Running Programs from My Computer……Page 97
Open Command Prompts at Folders……Page 99
Rooting Windows Explorer at a Folder……Page 100
Adding InfoTips to Program Classes……Page 101
Adding File Templates……Page 103
Personalizing the Start Menu……Page 104
Configuring the Menu’s Contents……Page 105
Trimming the Frequently Used Programs List……Page 107
Restoring the Sort Order……Page 108
Extending the Shortcut Menus……Page 109
Customizing Search URLs……Page 110
Running Programs at Startup……Page 113
Storing Window Position and Size……Page 114
Changing User Information……Page 115
Looking for More Hacks……Page 116
General……Page 117
Focus……Page 119
Mouse……Page 120
X-Mouse……Page 121
Explorer……Page 122
Shortcut……Page 123
Thumbnails……Page 124
Command Keys……Page 125
Common Dialog Boxes……Page 126
Grouping……Page 127
XP Start Menu……Page 128
Desktop……Page 129
Drives……Page 130
Special Folders……Page 131
AutoPlay……Page 132
Templates……Page 133
Search……Page 134
View Source……Page 135
Autologon……Page 136
Part Overview……Page 138
Editing Local Policies……Page 139
Group Policy Extensions……Page 141
Registry-Based Policy……Page 142
Group Policy Storage……Page 145
Extending Registry-Based Policy……Page 146
Strings……Page 148
CLASS……Page 149
CATEGORY……Page 150
POLICY……Page 151
ACTIONLIST……Page 153
PART……Page 154
CHECKBOX……Page 156
COMBOBOX……Page 158
DROPDOWNLIST……Page 159
EDITTEXT……Page 161
LISTBOX……Page 162
NUMERIC……Page 163
TEXT……Page 165
Windows 2000 Server-Based Networks……Page 166
Windows NT-Based and Other Networks……Page 167
Customizing Windows XP……Page 168
Gpresult……Page 170
Gpupdate……Page 171
Help and Support Center……Page 172
Resultant Set of Policy……Page 173
Finding More Resources……Page 174
Setting Keys’ Permissions……Page 175
Removing Users from ACLs……Page 177
Assigning Special Permissions……Page 178
Mapping Default Permissions……Page 179
Taking Ownership of Keys……Page 183
Auditing Registry Access……Page 184
Preventing Local Registry Access……Page 185
Deploying Security Templates……Page 186
Creating a Security Management Console……Page 187
Choosing a Predefined Security Template……Page 188
Building a Custom Security Template……Page 189
Analyzing a Computer’s Configuration……Page 190
Modifying a Computer’s Configuration……Page 191
Deploying Security Templates on the Network……Page 192
Comparing REG Files……Page 193
Using WinDiff……Page 195
Using Word 2002……Page 196
Comparing with Reg.exe……Page 197
Auditing the Registry……Page 198
Auditing Registry Keys……Page 199
Using Winternals Regmon……Page 200
Filtering for Better Results……Page 202
Part Overview……Page 203
Choosing a Technique……Page 204
Installing INF Files……Page 205
Starting with a Template……Page 206
Linking Sections Together……Page 208
Adding Keys and Values……Page 209
Setting and Clearing Bits……Page 211
Using Strings in INF Files……Page 213
Setting Values with REG Files……Page 214
Exporting Settings to REG Files……Page 215
Creating REG Files Manually……Page 216
Encoding Special Characters……Page 217
Editing from the Command Prompt……Page 218
Adding Keys and Values……Page 219
Deleting Keys and Values……Page 220
Comparing Keys and Values……Page 221
Exporting Keys to REG Files……Page 222
Loading Hive Files……Page 223
Scripting Using Windows Script Host……Page 224
Creating Script Files……Page 225
Running Script Files……Page 226
Formatting Key and Value Names……Page 228
Removing Keys and Values……Page 229
Creating Windows Installer Packages……Page 230
Exploring User Profiles……Page 232
Profile Folders……Page 235
Special Profiles……Page 238
Local Profiles……Page 239
Roaming Profiles……Page 240
Using Roaming User Profiles……Page 241
Managing Roaming User Profiles……Page 243
Understanding Fast Network Logon……Page 244
Understanding the New Merge……Page 245
Deploying Default User Profiles……Page 246
Customizing User Settings……Page 247
Cleaning User Profiles……Page 248
Creating Default User Folders……Page 250
Coexisting with Earlier Versions of Windows……Page 251
Files And Settings Transfer Wizard……Page 252
User State Migration Tool……Page 253
Repairing Registry Settings……Page 254
Managing Windows Installer with Policies……Page 255
Installing with Elevated Privileges……Page 257
Locking Down Windows Installer……Page 258
Msizap.exe……Page 259
Msicuu.exe……Page 260
Inventorying Applications……Page 261
Creating Distribution Folders……Page 264
Customizing Answer Files……Page 266
Setup Manager……Page 269
Notepad and Other Text Editors……Page 271
[GuiRunOnce]……Page 273
Cmdlines.txt……Page 274
Logging On Automatically After Installation……Page 275
Cloning Windows XP……Page 277
Sysprep Limitations……Page 279
Building a Disk Image……Page 280
Customizing Mini-Setup……Page 281
Cloning the Disk Image……Page 283
Filling SysprepMassStorage Manually……Page 286
Cleaning Up After Sysprep……Page 287
Mapping Sysprep Settings……Page 288
Keeping Perspective……Page 289
Profile Wizard……Page 291
Customizing the Wizard……Page 292
Capturing Settings……Page 299
Deploying Settings……Page 300
Custom Installation Wizard……Page 301
Add/Remove Registry Entries……Page 302
Customize Default Application Settings……Page 303
Change Office User Settings……Page 304
Add Installations and Run Programs……Page 305
Group and System Policy……Page 306
Controlling Just-in-Time Setup……Page 309
Outlook Express……Page 310
Desktop Themes……Page 311
Other Shortcuts……Page 312
Answer File [Components] Section……Page 313
Extending Windows Components Wizard……Page 315
Removing Components After Installation……Page 316
Hiding Non-Removable Components……Page 317
Removing Policy Tattoos……Page 318
Group Policy……Page 320
Scheduled Tasks……Page 321
AutoLogon……Page 322
Severing File Associations……Page 324
Enabling Remote Desktop Remotely……Page 325
Customizing the Windows XP Logon……Page 326
Part Overview……Page 327
File Extension Keys……Page 328
OpenWithList……Page 329
Program Class Keys……Page 330
EditFlags……Page 332
Shell……Page 333
Specialized Keys……Page 334
COM Class Keys……Page 335
AppEvents……Page 338
Console……Page 339
Control Panel……Page 340
Desktop……Page 341
DesktopWindow Metrics……Page 344
Mouse……Page 346
Keyboard Layout……Page 347
Software……Page 348
MicrosoftCommand Processor……Page 349
MicrosoftInternet Explorer……Page 350
MicrosoftInternet ExplorerMenuExt……Page 351
MicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchURL……Page 352
MicrosoftMessengerService……Page 353
MicrosoftOffice……Page 354
MicrosoftVBATrusted……Page 355
Policies……Page 356
ExplorerAdvanced……Page 357
ExplorerMenuOrder……Page 361
ExplorerUser Shell Folders……Page 362
HARDWARE……Page 364
DEVICEMAP……Page 365
SECURITY……Page 366
Clients……Page 367
MicrosoftActive Setup……Page 368
MicrosoftCommand Processor……Page 369
MicrosoftDriver Signing……Page 370
MicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersion……Page 371
SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion……Page 372
Explorer……Page 373
ExplorerFindExtensions……Page 374
ExplorerNetworkNeighborhoodNameSpace……Page 375
ExplorerVisualEffects……Page 376
SYSTEM……Page 377
CurrentControlSetControl……Page 378
CurrentControlSetServices……Page 379
Conf.adm……Page 381
Inetres.adm……Page 383
Inetset.adm……Page 392
System.adm……Page 393
Wmplayer.adm……Page 428
List of Figures……Page 429
List of Tables……Page 434
List of Listings……Page 437
List of Sidebars……Page 439