Windows registry: A user's guide

You might have heard about windows registry.Many of us use registry without even knowing exactly how it works.In this article i will explain windows registry with the discussion being limited only to windows XP ,as i dont care about vista(i switched back you see) and 98 is dead.

• What is registry?

It is a directory which stores different settings and options.All the contents are arranged in hierarchal manner. It provides information and settings for all the hardware, operating system and currently installed programs alongwith the changes made to default system configurations.

• Structure of Windows registry:

As i said the registry is arranged in hierarchal manner.It has five main branches and each can expanded into sub-branches called "Keys".Each key can contain one or more "Values".The value can be of different types such as string (_SZ), binary(_BINARY), Double word(_DWORD) or even no type(_NONE).

• Where is it stored?

In windows XP it is stored in two directories depending upon corresponding "Hives". Each of these hives need support files containing its data. "%SystemRoot%\System32\Config" and "%SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username" are the directories that contain these files.

• Branches:

The windows XP registry is divided into five main branches(Hives).These branches are named starting with "HKEY" and these names are then abbreviated to four letters starting with "HK".
I have listed all branches in accordance with the order they appear in XP registry.

1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT:(HKCR)
   

This key contains all the file extension associations and COM class registration information such as ProgIDs, CLSIDs, and IIDs.
Actually this information is a compilation of registration and file extension information stored under both the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER keys. The HKCR key provides a view of the registry that merges the information from these two sources.

2.HKEY_CURRENT_USER:(HKCU)

As the name suggests this hive stores all the data related to the currently logged-in user. You can find this as "NTUSER.DAT" in "%SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username"
The information stored under this hive includes control panel settings, system events etc.

3.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)

This branch contains information about all of the hardware and software installed on your computer.
A list of all active hives can be found at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist

4.HKEY_USERS:(HKU)

This key contains the information related to all the users currently registered with the system.

5.HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG:(HKCC)

This branch points to the part of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE appropriate for the current hardware configuration. It contains information about the hardware profile that is used by the local computer at system startup.

• Moving through the registry:

The Registry Editor (regedit.exe) is included with Windows enables manual editing as well as viewing of the contents of the Registry. To use this just type "regedit" at RUN and hit "Enter".
After this you'll see a window divided into two panes. The left side shows a tree with folders (see image for reference), and the right side shows the contents (values) of the currently selected folder (key).
To expand any branch, click on the little plus sign [+] to the left of any folder, or just double-click on the folder. To display the contents of a key (folder), just click the desired key, and look at the values listed on the right side

• Editing the registry:

This can also be called as "importing into" the registry.

1. Manual editing:

A new key or value can be added by selecting New from the Edit menu. You can rename any value and almost any key with the same method used to rename files; right-click on an object and click rename, or click on it twice (slowly), or just press F2 on the keyboard. Lastly, you can delete a key or value by clicking on it, and pressing Delete on the keyboard, or by right-clicking on it, and choosing Delete.Few registry edits will need you to restart system to take effect.

2.Using Registration entries:(.reg files)

The registry can be edited by simply merging ".Reg" file in it. Again it can be done manually by double clicking or by using logon/logoff scripts. The examples for these can be found here and here.

• Exporting:

Can also be referred as "backing up" of the registry.
Just ope the Registry Editor, select a branch, and choose "Export" from the File menu. Then, specify a filename, and press OK. The file will be saved as ".Reg" file.By opening it in Notepad (right-click on it and select Edit) its contents can be viewed.To apply it to the registry just open it by double clicking.


PS:
If you like this article and are interested in learning .reg scripts then leave a comment i'll be happy to explain in next article.

I signed up for PPP!

Or is it the other way round?
When a blogger decides to moneytize his/her blog then most common and trusted way is to write sponsored reviews. Now as we all know PPP is most trusted among advertisers whenever it comes to blog reviews and most favored among the bloggers.For past one month i had been trying frantically to get my blog approved by them. I did all i can from changing my blog's layout to spamming their help boxes telling them about how good my blog is but PPP kept rejecting me without a second thought as i had more ads than posts.At last i gave up and you can imagine how happy(shocked?) i was when i saw "your blog has been approved" mail in my inbox.
Without losing a single moment i logged into my PPP account and Viola! there was an opportunity waiting for me.As if to enable me to write what i felt (and to get paid for that) it was about PPP itself. I am being paid $20 for this post and if i can get two such opportunities every week my gaming rig wont be sitting idle at the shop.

Before you apply(and start dreaming about your $s) you should consider following things:

• PPP is as big as blog reviews can get and will remain so for coming years.
  
• The blogs are approved only when they satisfy strict norms that are in place to benefit both bloggers and advertisers.
• The blogs primarily maintained for making money(i.e those containing excessive advertising) wont probably get approved.
• PPP needs you to disclose to your readers about a particular post/opinion being a paid one.
• As to the benefits, they are practically unlimited. Just for example "a page rank 6" blogger can get as high as $135 for a single post. Lowest is $10.
• You(blogger) can even decide your own price and use PPP tools to get advertisers independently.

I wont write too much but i can safely tell you that if you want to moneytize your blog then sponsored reviews is the best option and for that you don't need to look beyond PPP.

MAC has fallen again

yeah it has happened again.If last year it took few hours for Dino Dai Zovi to get control of MAC this year Charlie Miller did it in just two minutes.Some improvement, huh?

Charlie Miller has broken into a "MacBook Air"(yup the same one "thinnest" and all that...) at the CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest.The security researcher had to work under strict conditions with one of them being "He/she could only take advantage of software that was pre-installed on the Mac" which means the flaw must be of OS itself.He used a flaw in "Safari" by directing the contest organizers to a malicious wab page that contained a script written by him.
Last year's winner Dino Dai Zovi exploited a vulnerability in QuickTime to take control of the machine.
At the same time the researchers were not able to hack into Vista computers(Ok leave it for some kid...) under strict conditions for third party applications.
So in short it means that Out of the box(no third party apps.) Vista is more secure than Mac.
The rules were to be eased on Friday so the exact standings of both the operating systems will be out today as with third party apps. machine will have more bugs that can be exploited.

PS:
Mighty Apple engineers are working to release the patch.

Excellent freeware utilities for windows XP/Vista

While i was surfing today i found an interesting site with equally interesting tools for windows users.

• Restart 1.56

Description

Restart is a system utility for advanced users with more than one operating system installed on their machine. The program installs an icon in the notification area, and with a single click the computer will shutdown and restart with the selected operating system. The program also includes commands to shutdown the computer in different ways (including stand-by and hibernate), a schedule function, and advanced settings for uncommon configurations.
Few weeks back i wrote an article about customizing boot.ini for dual boot you can go through it if you want to know exactly how booting takes place.

Download this excellent utility from here.

• Send To Toys 2.5

If you are a windows user then you have surely seen "send to" menu whenever you right click on anything. This freeware utility lets you customize the send to menu so that you can get all your preferred options.True, you can do all this manually within minutes but whats the point of using "windows" then?
So instead of sweating(?) yourself just download this utility and you are done.

14 ways to speed up XP/vista

Most(almost all) of these tweaks are applicable for Vista as well just with a little bit of change.
e.g vista uses "computer" instead of "my computer" in xp

1.) Defragment your HDD regurlarly. You can use windows in built defragging tool or use a dedicated software like diskeeper.

2.)You should upgrade your RAM.These days you can easily get a 1gb chip(DDR2) for 850 INR.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system.
If you are using FAT then convert it to NTFS .

• click Start,

• click Run,

• type CMD,

• click OK.

At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. NTFS offers greater security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. Though this service speeds up searching it really is taxing on the system so outweighs its benefits. TO disable just follow these simple steps:

• First, double-click the My Computer icon.
  
• right-click on the C: Drive,
• then select Properties.
• Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching."
  
• Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK.
  
• If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
• Now wait for some time this takes time to complete.
  

5.) Use tune-up.

6.) To speed up boot read this article.

7.) Run a disk cleanup frequently(wont be necessary if you use tune up).

• Double-click the My Computer icon.
  
• right-click on the C: drive and select Properties.
• Click the Disk Cleanup button
  
• delete all temporary files.

8.) Use proper cabling nd upgrade your hardware drivers.You will find the options in device manager. Just enter "dvmgr.msc" at RUN and choose the hardware (like monitor) and double click on it to open properties box. Under drivers tab you will find an option to upgrade your drivers.

9.) Use a good antivirus program.I recommend "kaspersky" the ultimate security solution that blocks everything from pop-ups to viruses.

10.) Use "msconfig" to remove an program that are loading your system start-up and are good for nothing.
Just type "msconfig" at run and uncheck unwanted programs from "start-up" restart your system and you will see boot time reduced.

11.) If you are not a looks freak then just turn off all the not so cool animations and there by save your precious resources.

• right click on "my computer"
• select "properties"
• "advanced"
• "performance" click on settings
• In "visual effects" tab select adjust for best performance.You should keep " use drop shadows under desktop icons" and "show common tasks for folders" checked so that you wont feel too alien.
  

12.) Update windows regularly.

13.) Make habit of cleaning computer case and fans. If you are not sure about opening cabinet then you can take it to any computer shop.

14.)This is most important if you want your system to run smooth.Keep visiting this blog to get more tips and tweaks.

Vista SP1 is available for download

Vista service pack 1 is finally available for the general public. The SP1 has been released for x86 as well as x64 architectures . The x86 is update is about 435 mb and x64 is 763mb. According to microsoft this update irons out issues like compatibility, performance and also supports few emerging standards.I'll use sp1 today and hopefully update this post tomorrow.
Download sp1 for x86 here
Download sp1 for x64 here

Beryl cube on XP

If you are smitten by the looks of vista then you should check out these videos:

1. WINDOWS VISTA AERO VS LINUX UBUNTU BERYL
2. 3D Desktop! TouchScreen and XGL on Linux!

You wont really need to think which one is HOT ! Beryl easily beats Vista in looks and it will seem hotter when i tell you that Beryl works on linux thats not a resource hog like dear old Vista. Beryl doesnt need all those graphics cards and 2gigs of RAM to get it crawling,it RUNs great even with 512 mbs of RAM. But not everyone one of us will be ready to switch from vista/xp to linux just for Beryl instead you will immediately search if Beryl is available for vista/xp. This is where i step in, well not in the big way but i will save your 5 minutes by giving link to a good software that imitates Beryl on xp.
You can download trial version from
http://www.otakusoftware.com/deskspace/index.html

Though its not as good as real Beryl its enough to give some hint about what you will see with linux in coming years.

Tilana Reserve: a complete data protection solution

Well, first of all let me make it clear that this article is not for terrorists,because Tilana Reverse is a data protection software that makes it impossible for you to get rid of your data.OK! kiddin!
All of us know how important it is to keep our data safe.The importance of some dedicated data management platform can not be underestimated in business as well as home environments. Most businesses employ data management professionals whose work solely consists of securely backing up and storing of data. This results in greater expense and lesser reliability.
"Tilana Reverse" is a perfection solution for such small to medium business and home environments.I have also provided a snapshot of the tool.

Features:

• Truly Continuous Data Protection(CDP):

With this enabled each and every file edited/changed by you is backed up automatically in REAL time not at fixed intervals like any other backup utility.

• Off-site file storage:

Your deleted files are permanently stored at a secure remote storage space from which those can easily be retrieved whenever needed.

• Tilana Reverse is not only fully compatible with windows XP and vista but also with windows mobile.
• Multi-computer synchronization on one balanced, quickly deployed, versatile, and extensible online CDP data protection and synchronization platform.
• Technical support is available whenever needed.
• Provides all the necessary links right into your browser as a toolbar making it much more easier to work with.
• Most importantly unlike any other back up utility Tilana does not load system or eat up bandwidth it works silently in the background so that you will notice it only when you restore some important project document from your Off-site storage.
  

Nano does a Nokia

The ultimate perfections have always proved to be otherwise no matter how marginally. Same has happened with an ipod in Japan.In January an ipod (model number MA099J/A) from a series "nano" that has long been discontinued in japan emitted sparks while charging and happens to contain the same type of batteries(lithium ion) that were replaced by Nokia in INDIA last year when few handsets started getting extremely hot while charging.
Though the ipod in question was fairly old Apple japan is investigating into the matter, as there are about 425,000 ipods sold with same model number.With no injuries being reported it is clear that the incident was a minor one.Japan's trade ministry has launched a safety investigation and results will be out in few days.

customize VISTA interface

This is another article in my vista series.Here i 'll talk about few extremely cool vista customizations.

• windows dreamscene:

This coolest feature of vista lets you set a video clip or full size movie as your desktop background.
How to use(for default scene):

1. right click on desktop
   
2. select personalize
   
3. desktop background
4. from location drop-down menu choose "windows dreamscene content". You are done.
   

Any other file (.mpg or wmv) can be used just by right clicking on it and then selecting "set as desktop background".

• windows photo gallery:

Gone are the days of passive "picture and fax viewer" of XP. Coz vista's photo gallery not only lets you view the photo but also provides options for adding tags and controlling colors.
Just click on "fix" and you will be able to adjust color,exposure or even fix the red eye effect.

• Navigation pane:

Vista doesnt show familiar "my documents" folder if you open "computer"
Instead at the left hand side of explorer window you will see list of commonly visited locations like documents, picures etc. It also shows a location called "recently changed" which lists the documents that recently edited.
At the bottom of this pane is a option called "Folders". If you click on this it will expand into good old explorer of XP.
In the same navigation pane there is a location named "Searches". Many times you search for something ,find it,use it and again forget its location so that you have to search again next time.No more. In vista it provides an option of saving your search results so that they can be accessed any time and much more easily. Whenever you perform any search just click "file(or ALT+ F) and choose "save search" you are done.


Keep visiting.

Vista security(read ps)

Is vista really secure? Well thats the million dollar question.Though its for the first time after NT microsoft has designed something keeping security at center, the worldwide acceptance of windows is quite appealing for the attackers to work their brains out.As due to the "Law of Conservation of Bugs(see note)" it is entirely impossible to make any software completely secure because it is these bugs that are exploited to take control of victim machine.But the important point is finally world's greatest software company has taken security seriously and so we can except next windows (probably Windows 7 ) versions to be more and more secure.


Now lets get back to Vista.

• Many times while using XP sp2 we have seen security center in action. Its primary function in XP was to report about current status of firewalls , antivirus and all that. This passive security center is made active in Vista.

The first three functions are just like XP.
The notable addition is windows defender and its really cool because MS continuously updates the spyware definitions which are instantly made available through updates .
Security center also ensures that all internet settings are at recommend level.

• Now another important feature is UAC(User Account Control)

Though this gives more trouble, its importance can not be denied.Whenever you try to do anything that threatens security(e.g changing screen resolution) UAC asks for your permission.
Personally i think MS should have excluded day to day tasks from UAC. As most of us have heard the story of "The shepherd who cried wolf" after some time we just start allowing anything UAC asks our permission for(I have disabled UAC).

Next articles will dug deep into defender and discuss its strengths and weaknesses.

Note:
Law of conversion of Bugs: The law states that bugs can neither be created nor be destroyed they can only be converted from one form to another.
Number of bugs is directly proportional to the number of line in a program.

PS there was a mistake in title earlier that has been corrected.

have some fun with windows

here is a trick worthy of trying on your friend's PC and it can be really funny.

Open command prompt.

Goto start > run > cmd

now type

debug name.txt hit enter
ignore "file not found"

type rcx hit enter

now here comes the important part. First decide the filesize you want to create. Dont go for too large 1000000000 bytes is more than sufficient to scare anyone. Now using windows calculator or by hand(better) convert this number into hex.It comes out to be 3B9ACA00 now split this number in two parts like 3B9A and CA00.

Now enter CA00 in command window and hit enter.

type rbx hit enter
again enter 3B9A and hit enter

type w to write the file. Hit enter. This will take time depending upon filesize so wait till the dash appears again.

now type q to exit debug and type exit to close command prompt.

Now you will see a 1gb text file which is too big for notepad to open.

VISTA User interface

Just look at this.This Flip-3D really justifies all the efforts MS took while designing vista and the trouble we had while installing it.
The AERO interface looks just amazing when you get to see the contents of underlying window through the edges of upper windows.
Though customizing the display is bit complicated vista provides more options than XP.

If you right click on your desktop and chose "personalize" then you will be presented with a completely different window with following options like "colour and appearance , desktop background, sounds etc." Using each of these you can have the look and feel of your choice which was not that much possible in XP.

live taskbar thumbnails make it real easy to examine contents of a folder without maximizing it (.025 seconds saved) and it looks really hot.(see im on about looks only coz thats what i have found till now)

Now lets take a look at the start menu. This is again completely different from XP (I can here you saying "This is VISTA dude not XP" yeah i know but XP...) and good thing is it can be customized to make it look like XP. You will atleast need good old RUN box back.

The "All programs" tab also works differently.Unlike in XP here it opens right above the tab.
The games are also better than XP. Chess is fabulous and i have been beaten twice this morning(in case you are wondering i was playing at expert level.)

The integrated search functionality is where vista really scores above XP . The search box located at the left bottom corner of start menu makes it easier to search for documents and application alike.You can perform search on your own PC or search the internet with provided options.

This much is sufficient for today. Now that fun is over next articles will deal with tweaks to use vista efficiently.

Google IS GOD !

Just before few days i had a little row with one of my friends who said god doesnt exist and obviously I contradicted him. And luckily while i was online today googling as usual, I found something really funny.
I found an article that proved GOOGLE is the real god. Traditionally god is said to posses few extraordinary powers like he is omniscient , omnipresent , answers our prayers and many more.
Someone with a cool head has come up with an extremely funny article where he(lets hope) proves that google has all above qualities.
I was wondering whether i'd just put a link to that article or the article itself as it is and i have finally decided in favor of later so here is the article itself with link and all credit to its original source.
Read the original article here

PROOF #1

Google is the closest thing to an Omniscient (all-knowing) entity in existence, which can be scientifically verified. She indexes over 9.5 billion WebPages, which is more than any other search engine on the web today. Not only is Google the closest known entity to being Omniscient, but She also sorts through this vast amount of knowledge using Her patented PageRank technology, organizing said data and making it easily accessible to us mere mortals.

» PROOF #2

Google is everywhere at once (Omnipresent). Google is virtually everywhere on earth at the same time. Billions of indexed WebPages hosted from every corner of the earth. With the proliferation of Wi-Fi networks, one will eventually be able to access Google from anywhere on earth, truly making Her an omnipresent entity.

» PROOF #3

Google answers prayers. One can pray to Google by doing a search for whatever question or problem is plaguing them. As an example, you can quickly find information on alternative cancer treatments, ways to improve your health, new and innovative medical discoveries and generally anything that resembles a typical prayer. Ask Google and She will show you the way, but showing you is all She can do, for you must help yourself from that point on.

» PROOF #4

Google is potentially immortal. She cannot be considered a physical being such as ourselves. Her Algorithms are spread out across many servers; if any of which were taken down or damaged, another would undoubtedly take its place. Google can theoretically last forever.

» PROOF #5

Google is infinite. The Internet can theoretically grow forever, and Google will forever index its infinite growth.

» PROOF #6

Google remembers all. Google caches WebPages regularly and stores them on its massive servers. In fact, by uploading your thoughts and opinions to the internet, you will forever live on in Google's cache, even after you die, in a sort of "Google Afterlife".

» PROOF #7

Google can "do no evil" (Omnibenevolent). Part of Google's corporate philosophy is the belief that a company can make money without being evil.

» PROOF #8

According to Google trends, the term "Google" is searched for more than the terms "God", "Jesus", "Allah", "Buddha", "Christianity", "Islam", "Buddhism" and "Judaism" combined.

God is thought to be an entity in which we mortals can turn to when in a time of need. Google clearly fulfils this to a much larger degree than traditional "gods", as shown in the image below (click to enlarge).



» PROOF #9

Evidence of Google's existence is abundant. There is more evidence for the existence of Google than any other God worshiped today. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If seeing is believing, then surf over to www.google.com and experience for yourself Google's awesome power. No faith required.