SPEED UP YOUR MENUS

It is very best trick of windows XP. After applying this trick you will feel excellent fast speed of your menus. This tricks doesn’t effect on windows startup or browsing speed. It just effects on your menus e.g start programe menu, right click menu etc. To apply this trick simply follow these steps.

i.                    Go to start menu and click on run

ii.                  Type “Regedit” and click “oK”. You will find registry editor window.

iii.                Click on “HKEY CURRENT USER” then click on “CONTROL PENAL” and finally click on “DESKTOP”

iv.                You will see a list on right side and search for “Menushowdelay”

v.                  Double click or right click on “Menu Show Delay” to modify thevalue data.

vi.                Change the value data of value name to “0” and click ok.

vii.              It is done. Enjoy an excellent menu opening speed.

(Note. You can adjust value according to your requirements. Minimum value is “0” but normally you can use 50 to 150 )

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Disable USB port in a Windows by editing registry.

This articles describes how to disable USB port in a Windows PC by editing registry. Follow the steps given below to disable USB port from registry editor.

Warning: Modifying the registry is always risky, if anything goes wrong Windows OS needs to be reinstalled. So be very careful while modifying the registry.

1. Clcik Start and then click Run
2. Type regedit in Run window and click  OK. Registry editor window o pens.
3. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key on the left pane under My Computer (by clicking on + sign on left side of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE)
4. Expand SYSTEM key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
5. Expand CurrentControlSet key under SYSTEM.
6. Expand Services key under CurrentControlSet. (as shown below)

7. Select usbstor key under Services.
8. Select Start value on the right pane
9. Right click Start value, select Modify in right click menu
10. Edit DWORD value dialog will pop-up. Modify the Start value data to 4. Click OKbutton to commit the changes done. After modifying the value, the registry editor's right pane looks as shown below.

11. Close the registry editor. Now USB port is disabled.

Note: To enable USB port modify the Start value to 3.

What are registry cleaners ?

Registry cleaner may look like an alien word for many or may be many of you aware of this little stuff. In this article I will share some information regarding registry cleaners with you.

Ever wondered Why your PC runs slow ?this may be because of crap values left by an uninstalled software. The work of registry cleaner is to remove these ‘crap’ values from the registry of computers.

When you install a new software in computer, the software adds some values in registry of computer like when software was installed ? , encrypted serial key etc. for convenience of software itself and user.

When you uninstall a software program, it removes itself from computer but it does not remove values added into registry of computer, these values are no longer useful.

There are two reasons why a software doesn’t remove values added by it from the registry:

1. Useful when software is reinstalled – Suppose you are using a software which has 30 days trial period, you remove the software when you have used it from 28 days and you are thinking that after removing if you reinstall you will again gain 30 days period. This is the reason why some values are not removed from registry of software program. To prevent you from doing ‘social engineering’.

Note: Beside adding some values to registry, software programs use some other techniques too for tracking for how many days the trail software program was used ?

2. Software don’t care you – Since you are rude toward software and are removing it completely from your computer system, then why software will care you and will remove some junk values from registry ?

When there are junk values present in the registry, your computer will most probably act like a ‘junk machine’. To again make it a normal handsome computer, you might like to use Registry cleaners.

Why registry cleaner ?

Registry cleaners remove junk values, which are no longer useful from the registry of computer. Registry cleaners are useful to speedup computers, since they remove waste values from registry of computer which leads to improvement in the speed of computer.

Any disadvantage of registry cleaner ?

There are hundreds of registry cleaners floating around the web, few of these registry cleaners are malware and viruses, but there are good one too. In many cases it was found that using registry cleaners lead to corrupt of registry, this may be because of use of an unpopular registry cleaner program. Some registries can not always be deleted neither manually nor by using registry cleaner.

The best thing to never get in the trouble is to backup whole registry of computer before installing and using any registry cleaner. If any thing bad happens then you have backup of your registry and can use it to restore registry of the computer.

Courtesy : http://bnjho.blogspot.in

Why Folder Options not showing

How to get folder option backIts a silly virus which modify your registry files remove the folder option from tools menu.today at free computer tips I will teach you how you can get Folder Options back.

Open Start menu and from there select Run type gpedit.msc and hit enter now in the Group Policy window, from the left pane,

select user configuration-> Administrative Templates-> windows components-> Windows Explorer by highlighting it with the mouse cursor and now in the right side you will see an option which says "Removes the Folder Options menu item from the Tools menu" right click on this option and select properties now in the properties under Setting tab, select Disabled and hit apply then OK







Alternate Method

Open run and type gpedit.msc

user configuration >> administrative templates >> system disable "prevent access to registry editing tools".

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Use registry shortcuts to disable and enable screensavers in Win XP:

Use registry shortcuts to disable and enable screensavers in Win XP:

The steps in this tip will show you how to edit the registry for a time-saving shortcut for enabling and disabling your screensaver.

When you perform maintenance operations such as defragmenting or backing up the hard disk, you probably disable your screensaver before you begin to prevent it from interfering with the maintenance operation. However, disabling your screensaver manually is a multi step operation that involves accessing the Display Properties dialog box, navigating to the Screen Saver tab, and setting the screen saver to None. Then, you need to re-enable the screen saver after you complete the maintenance operation.

Fortunately, you can automate the disabling and enabling screen saver procedures with a couple of registry shortcuts. Note: Editing the registry is risky, so make sure you have a verified backup before making any changes.

Here's how.

1. Launch Notepad and type the following four lines. (Note: The second line must be blank.)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

"ScreenSaveActive"="0"

2. Save the file to your desktop with the name Disable Screen Saver.reg.

3. Change the 0 to a 1 in the fourth line.

4. Save the file to your desktop with the name Enable Screen Saver.reg.

Now, when you need to disable the screen saver, just double-click the Disable Screen Saver.reg shortcut. To enable the screen saver, double-click the Enable Screen Saver.reg shortcut.

When you run either of these files, the Registry Editor will display two confirmation prompts—one before making the change and one after making the change.

Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU

You can easily remove recent Documents Menu and RUN MRU by doing little bit with registry through this tip.

To disable The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key:

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


Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.

You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key:

HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU and delete.

Source: Sohail Anwar 

How Employers Disable USB Ports & How Employees Enable them again

Desktop computer equipped with a CD writer or a DVD burner is a rare sight is most companies. But a much larger security threat is posed by the open USB ports where mischievous office workers can just plugin the Flash Pen Drive, External Hard Disk or their iPod music player and transfer corporate data or even copy licensed software to their memory sticks in seconds.

Also, USB keys are not just a popular way to sneak data out from companies, unhappy employees may use USB ports for delivering trojans or spyware into the company networks.

Now some smart admins disable usb drive by changing the BIOS settings and then lock the BIOS using passwords. Some not so-smart admins fix tapes over the USB ports to prevent employees from inserting any USB device into their computer. 

However, both these approaches can prove to be counter-productives as your staff can no longer use USB keyboards, wireless mouse, digital cameras, camcorders, scanners, printers or even USB microphones to their computers.

So a more reasonable option for sysadmins is to disable write access to USB port so that data files cannot be written to the mass storage device. The USB thumb drive will be read-only.

Open the Windows Registry and open the following key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\ Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Now add a new DWORD called WriteProtect and put the value as 0 to disable write privileges to the USB port. To reverse the step, either delete the WriteProtect REG_DWORD or toggle the value to 1 which will enable the port.

Remember that the above trick works only with Windows XP SP2.

If you like to go a step further and disable users from connecting USB storage devices to their computers, here's the trick:

Open registry and navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet \Services\UsbStor

Now in the right pane, double-click Start and type 4 in the Value data box (Hexadecimal) and quite the registry editor. To enable the USB storage devices, change the Start value back to 3.

No matter how good the protection tricks are, determined people always find workarounds. Here are some of the tricks that may render the above methods unusable:

» Employee may boot computer using a LiveCD like Knoppix or Ubuntu so the USB drives are again available to him for writing.

» They could open the computer chasis, take the battery out to reset the BIOS settings.

» Some may even invest in a PS2 to USB port converter.

» If he manages to get admin access for a temporary period (like installing software), he may undo the registry edits.

The cat-mouse game will never end. USB drives will remain a headache for the sysadmins for some time. However, Windows Vista will make life much simpler for IT administrators. There's a new Policy in Vista that allows USB keyboards or mouse to be used but not any USB devices. 

Source : http://labnol.blogspot.in/   

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How to disable USB sticks and limit access to USB storage devices on Windows systems

USB storage - a possible security risk?

Decent IT administrators secure their networks behind firewalls. They install mail filters on their SMTP servers and deploy anti-virus software on all client workstations. But securing the network is not sufficient -- what happens if the users bring their own USB memory sticks and connect them to the computers at their office? A 1 Gb USB stick can sometimes hold an entire company's vital data. Within minutes or even seconds an employee has all the files they need in order to start up their own business and take all the customers with them. Alternatively, what happens if a careless user accidentally compromises the network with an infected USB stick?

What does Microsoft have to say about it?

If you, the administrator, want to establish a minimum level of security, it is absolutely necessary to control which users can connect USB memory sticks to a computer. Unfortunately, a default Windows XP or Windows 2000 installation comes with no limitations on who is able to install and use USB storage media. Microsoft knowledge base article 823732 contains instructions on how to disable USB storage access for a certain group of users; however, the article only distinguishes between whether or not a USB storage device has been installed on a particular computer. Furthermore, the instructions are limited to a stand-alone computer. According to the general rule of thumb "If it's tedious, there is a better way", I try to avoid techniques that force me to repeat certain tasks for each computer that I manage. That's what group policy objects (GPO) are for.

Suggestions?

Mark Heitbrink describes how to disable USB storage devices entirely on all or some computers in the network. He employs an ADM template in a group policy object that disables the USB storage driver (USBSTOR). The ADM template simply sets the registry valueHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor\Start to 4 (Disable). But his technique has a serious drawback. It only works if the USB storage driver is already installed. If it has not yet been installed, Windows' plug & play subsystem automatically resets the Start value to 3 (Manual) when it installs USBSTOR after a USB storage device is plugged in for the first time. In that case, USBSTOR remains enabled until the GPO is re-applied, usually at the next reboot. If the storage device is plugged in during that reboot, it will still be available because the USBSTOR driver is started before any GPOs are processed.

The Howto!

If we combine Mark Heitbrink's approach with the one outlined in knowledge base article 823732, we get a more reliable solution. Firstly, we need to prevent USBSTOR from being installed unless the currently logged on user is allowed to use USB storage. We do that by restricting access toUSBSTOR.INF and USBSTORE.PNF in a GPO such that PNP can't automatically install the driver. This is possible because when PNP installs a driver, the installation is performed using the priviledges of the currently logged on user. Secondly, we need to make sure that USBSTOR is not started when a USB storage device is plugged in. For that we use Mark's ADM template. The only minor drawback of my solution is that users with access to USB storage need to manually start USBSTOR before connecting USB storage devices.

1.   In Active Directory Users and Computers, open an existing GPO or create a new one and open it. Use the security settings of that GPO to specify which computers it affects.

2.   In that GPO, go to Computer Configuration – Windows Settings – Security Settings – File System and create a new entry (right-click File System and select Add File). Specify the location of USBSTOR.INF (usually SystemRoot%\Inf\USBSTOR.INF)

3.   Change the security settings of the new entry. The security settings that you specify here will be enforced on the USBSTOR.INF of every computer to which the GPO is applied. This process is not additive, which means that the previous security settings ofUSBSTOR.INF will be overwritten by the ones given in the GPO. It is therefore recommended to grant full control to SYSTEM and local administrators. But unlike in the default security settings of USBSTOR.INF, you should not grant any priviledges to Everybody. You do not need to explicitly deny access – just omit an entry for Everybody. Optionally, you can grant read access to a certain group. Members of this group will be able to use USB storage.

4.   Repeat the above two steps for USBSTOR.PNF.

5.   Download USBSTOR.ADM.

6.   Back in the GPO, right-click Administrative Templates under Computer Configuration and select Add/Remove Templates. Click Add and browse to the location of USBSTOR.ADM. Close the dialog.

7.   You should now have an additional entry called Services and Drivers in Administrative Templates. Click on it. If it is empty, select View from the menu and uncheck Show Policies Only. Click back on Services and Drivers in Administrative Templates. It should now show the USB Storage policy. Double click it, select Enabled and pick Disabled from the Startup Type drop down. Again, the policy must be enabled wheras Startup Type must be Disabled.

8.   Close the dialog as well as the GPO and boot/reboot one of your workstations. Make sure no USB strorage device is connected to that computer. Log on with administrative privileges and check the permissions of USBSTOR.INF and USBSTOR.PNF. Check the value of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor\Start. It should be 4. It is also ok if the UsbStor key doesn't exist at all.

9.   On the same workstation, log off and back on as a user that should not have access to USB storage. Connect a USB memory stick or a similar device. Nothing should happen. Remove the memory stick.

10.                Log on as a user that should have access to USB storage and execute net start usbstorin a command shell or at Start – Run before connecting the memory stick. The memory stick should initialized and mapped to a drive letter. If USBSTOR fails to start, it's probably because this is the first time a memory stick is plugged into the workstation in which case USBSTOR is not yet installed. Nevertheless, the memory stick should be initialized and mapped correctly but you need to reboot in order to reapply the administrative template such that USBSTOR is disabled again. Alternatively, you can disable it manually by downloading and double clicking USBSTOR.REG as well as executing net stop usbstor.

11.                Instruct the users with access to USB storage that they need to execute net start usbstor before they can connect a USB storage device.

Attachment	Size
usbstore.adm	530 bytes
usbstore.reg	258 bytes

Source : http://diaryproducts.net/
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To Speed-Up Computer by editing Registry

Is your Computer running too slow?
Have you installed many unwanted softwares which are slowing down your PC?
Here is the solution for you!

If the computer is running slow this may be that it is low on memory. The first thing a person will try to do is to uninstall some of those computer software that are not in use. The truth is that unless the program is removed from the registry then the computer may assume it is still there. The computer registry is very important in the overall operation of the computer, it is recommended that a backup be done on the system before attempting this.

Instructions

1. Go to the start menu and click on run.
2. From here type in regedit.exe and then press enter key. This will open the registry of the computer now it is possible to look for the specific program to be edited.
3. There will be five options available to choose from. Select theHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT option. Double-click the word to expand this option.
4. Once done, scroll through this section and find the programs or software to be deleted and then delete it.

Create a restore point

1. Click Start: this is usually located at the bottom left corner of the task bar
2. Go to all Programs: This is usually located at the bottom of the menu. here the cursor can be placed over the option or the user can just click it.
3. Go to Accessories: This option is most times found at the top near the other folders, simply use the mouse to click this folder to see more folders appear
4. Go to system/System tools: Place the cursor over this option to view a list of programs
5. Click on the system restore option: Left click on this option and a menu will pop up which will provide a choice a restoring the computer or creating a restore point
6. Create the Restore point: Open this option and follow the on screen instructions to create a restore point.

The registry contains extended information, settings and a number of various values for the Microsoft Operating System (OS). Within the registry, an individual is able to control a large portion of the OS which can be used to correct problems with Windows.

Tips and Warnings

• IF YOU ARE UNSURE HOW TO DO THIS, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT. If the incorrect program is deleted this may interrupt the overall operation of the computer.
• To avoid the bad functioning of the computer try not to attempt these steps. Editing the registry can be very costly as well as beneficial. If the wrong program in the registry is deleted then this may affect how the computer operates and it may require the services of a computer technician which would be an unnecessary expense. While of this is done properly, the overall function of the computer may be elevated and things will run faster.
• Seek assistance if you have no knowledge of how to edit the registry
• Make careful note of the program names