Useful Registry Hacks

[hitminion]

1- Prevent Windows Update from Forcibly Rebooting Your Computer

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search box or run dialog and navigate down to the following key creating new keys if they don’t exist

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and give it a value of 1 to prevent automatic reboot while users are logged on. Delete the value to put things back to the way they were.

Or just download and extract the registry hack files and double-click on WUNoAutoReboot.reg to disable automatic reboots. The other script will remove the hack.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ydtede7q1gkfb7r

2- Add "Open with Notepad" to the Context Menu for All Files

Open regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell

Right-click on “shell” and choose to create a new key calling it “Open with Notepad”. Create a new key below that one called “command”. Double-click on the (Default) value in the right-hand pane and enter in the following:

notepad.exe %1

The change should take effect immediately just right-click on any file and you’ll see the next menu entry.

Or just download, extract and double-click on the OpenWithNotepad.reg file to enter the information into the registry. There’s also an uninstall script included.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/2q9qj4kwukkaf7p/OpenWithNotepad.rar

3- Disable All Notification Balloons in Windows 7 or Vista

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Right-click on the right-hand pane and create a new 32-bit DWORD with the following values:

Name: EnableBalloonTips
Value: 0

You’ll have to logoff and back on in order to see the change or to be more correct, you won’t see any popup balloons anymore.

Or simply download, extract, and double-click on the DisableNotificationBalloons.reg file to enter the information into the registry. There’s also an included EnableNotificationBalloons file that will reverse the change.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mo9a941lro07846

4- Add Any Application to the Windows Desktop Right-Click Menu

Open up regedit.exe through the Start Menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell

Right-click on the “shell” key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu. Give the new key the name that you want to show up on the desktop context menu. For this example we’ll be using Notepad. Create the command key that will actually hold the command used to launch the application. Right-click on the new Notepad key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu. Give this key the name “command” in lowercase. To complete this step you’ll need the full path to the application that you want to launch. You can use Shift + Right-Click to get the Copy as Path menu item to find this more quickly. Now click on “command” on the left side, and then double-click on the (Default) key in the right side to edit the string value. Paste in the full path to the executable that you got from the “Copy as Path” step above, or you can put in the full path yourself if you’d like.

5- Add Registry Editor to Control Panel

After installation you’ll need to choose System and Maintenance in the control panel. Perhaps most useful it’s now available through the start menu search box.

Just extract and double-click on the installation script. You can remove using the included removal script.

http://www.mediafire.com/?64b2hhvzzo186kf

6- Remove "Shortcut" Text From New Shortcuts in Windows 7 or Vista

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search box, and then browse down to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

On the right-hand side you’ll find a key that is just called “link”, with a default value of 1e 00 00 00. Open this key up and change the 1e to 00 instead, leaving you with 00 00 00 00.

You’ll have to log off and then back on to make this change take effect. Please note that this won’t affect existing shortcuts, only shortcuts that you create from now on. To change the setting back, just change back to the 1e value, log off and back on.

Or just use these ready-to-use registry keys

http://www.mediafire.com/?8p0wggq0178h5r8

7- Hide Drives from Your Computer in Windows 7 or Vista

Open up regedit.exe by using the start menu search box, and then browse down to the following key.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

If the Explorer key does not exist, you can right-click on Policies, select New Key and name it Explorer. The NoDrives key most likely does not exist by default, so you’ll need to create it with right-click \ new 32-bit DWORD and name it NoDrives.

This value is a 32 bit number, and the bits are arranged in reverse order with a value of 1 hiding that drive. For example, if we wanted to hide drives A: and F: we would arrange it like this:

A = 1

B = 0

C = 0

D = 0

E = 0

F = 1

G = 0

H = 0

I = 0

J = 0

K = 0

L = 0

M = 0

N = 0

O = 0

P = 0

Q = 0

R = 0

S = 0

T = 0

U = 0

V = 0

W = 0

X = 0

Y = 0

Z = 0

Converting 100001 to decimal we end up with a decimal value of 33 or a hex value of 0×21, so if you double-click on the key in the registry editor, choose Decimal and then enter 33 into the value field. In order to see these changes, you’ll need to restart explorer.exe, which you can do easily from Task Manager or the longer way by just logging off and back on.

To disable this tweak, simply remove the NoDrives registry key entirely.

Here’s a list of the values you’ll want to enter for a few different drive letters.

Drive Letter - Decimal - Hex

A 1 1

B 2 2

C 4 4

D 8 8

E 16 10

F 32 20

G 64 40

H 128 80

If you want to hide multiple drives, you’ll need to use the table of all the drive letters to figure out the correct binary code, and then convert that to decimal or hex.

8- Add Recycle Bin to “My Computer” in Windows 7 or Vista

Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

Right-click and create a new key. Name the key with the following text:

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Or simply download the file, extract it, and then either double-click on the AddRecycleBinToMyComputer.reg to add Recycle Bin or RemoveRecycleBinToMyComputer.reg to remove it.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6pvx6qm8b6actc7

[tarekma7]

Thank you