Tip: common edits needed after running cleaners:
EXE and LNK Fix for Windows XP - Line 12
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Tip: For all other File Association Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
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Access Denied: Error Message - Windows Update
Network policy settings prevent you from using Windows Update to download and install updates on your computer. If you believe you have received this message in error, please check with your system administrator.
For Windows XP Pro:
Start/Run/gpedit.msc. User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update. In the right pane, double click, Remove access to all Windows Update Features and set it to disabled.
Activation - Workaround (Ronnie Vernon MVP)
If you are doing a repair reinstall of XP on the same hardware, you can back up the activation status and then restore it after you run the repair install of the OS. To save the activation status, back up the wpa.dbl file from the %systemroot%\system32 folder to a floppy disk.
After the repair install of the OS is complete, start in Minimal Safe mode. Open the \%systemroot%\system32 folder. Rename wpa.dbl to wpa.noact. Copy the backed up wpa.dbl file to the system32 folder. Reboot your system.
This isn't a hack to avoid activating installations and will work only on the same hardware for an XP installation that you've already activated.
Add and Remove
Hide selective programs/applications listed in Add or Remove:
& Removing Invalid Entries in the Add/Remove Programs Tool
Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Local the program in question in the left pane. In the right pane, right click DisplayName and select rename: Add Quiet so it will read:
QuietDisplayName. No reboot or refresh needed. Open Add or Remove - the listing is now gone. To revert, rename back to DisplayName
& Each program listed in Add/Remove Programs has a subkey listed here. Locate the correct subkey for the program in question and right click it, then select Delete. You may want to choose Export, first, to export the key to a REG file. The REG file can be re-imported if you find you made a mistake.
Note: Other checkpoints to consider when trying to remove a program:
Check to see if the software/program is listed here: Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
1. Right click the Program's shortcut/Properties to gain the Target Path.
2. Go to Start/Run/Msconfig/Startup and make sure it is not listed or checked there. If so, uncheck it and remove the program listing from here: Start/Run/Regedit
For items that were in the Start menu, Programs, Startup folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupfolder. You'll find a subkey for each disabled item.
For items loaded from the Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg. Again, you'll find a subkey for each disabled item.
Add Programs to Add/Remove
To add additional components to the Add/Remove Programs list (Windows Components):
Tools/Folder Options/View/Show Hidden Files and Folders and Show Extensions for known file types. Then go to Windows Explorer/Inf Folder/Sysoc.inf (Double Click it). You will find several lines that include the word 'hide'. Simply remove the word 'hide' (but leave the comma). Save and exit. From there you will be able to remove it from add/remove.
Add and Remove vs. System Restore - Anshul Rawat [MS]
System Restore does not completely uninstall any program by itself if restoring to a point prior to the program installation. Since system restore is based on an inclusionary model, any file added or modified by the installation which System Restore does not monitor or files added to or modified in a non monitored drive will not be tracked by System Restore.
Thus System Restore cannot delete or undo any modifications made to these files. To remove all the changes an installation may have made on the system, the user should first use the Add/Remove option in the control panel to remove the application prior to using System Restore. System Restore however will undo all recorded changes made to the registry & monitored
files caused by the application install including:
a.. Delete monitored files the program installation may have added to the system
b.. Undo modifications to monitored files made by the installation
c.. Replace the current registry with the registry snapshot taken when the restore point chosen was created. (*note: some
current values will persist)
d.. Any file type not monitored by System Restore added or modified on the system will not be restored or removed. E.g.
.jpg, .txt files.
Add New Hardware Error Message: "Found New Hardware Wizard" advises, "Cannot install this Hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: PCI Simple Communications Controller. The data is Invalid.
This is caused in XP by the new PCI Registry entry defaulting to "Read" under Permissions. Also, the Device Manager shows the typical yellow query against other Devices/PCI Simple Communications Controller.
Suggested Solution/Fix:
Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI
Open each sub-key: Ven_XXXX... In the right pane read the Value Data for each DEVICEDESC, until you find your modem. Once found, right click the 3&71aaa sub-key and select Permissions and under the word "Allow", select "Full Control", click OK then go to File/Exit.
Then go to the Device Manager, right click on the device name that matches the "DEVICEDESC" value you changed in the registry. Select Properties/Driver/Update Driver. Windows will now ask you for the disk or CD-ROM that contains the driver for the failing device.
This error can also occur when configuring drivers for a such as SCSI cards, Network cards, Sound Cards, or other peripherals. This symptom appears to occur when there has been a recent hardware configuration change within Windows XP. This error is believed to be due to an issue occurring when hardware enumeration takes place by the operating system.
Administrator Account - Access from Welcome Screen
On Pro Edition, from the Welcome screen, press ctrl-Alt-Delete Twice. Press Control/Alt/Delete Twice for Pro and Boot into safe mode and login for Home. On Home, boot to Safe Mode, and logon.
Animation - Disable Windows Animation in XP
Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics. In the right pane, select New/String. Name it MinAnimate. Set Value to 0. Exit/Reboot.
Application Path - Creating Path to use the Run Command
To create an application path, so you can run an application in Windows XP from the Run dialog box you need to:
1. Run regedit and go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths
2. Create a new key with the what ever you want to use as your run command:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\nameofprogram.exe
3. In the key folder that you created, create a new string, call it 'Path' and modify the value to point the specific folder of your
executable your running: C:\ProgramFiles\nameofprogram.
4. Use the default string and modify it's value to point to the executable you want to run.
Applications - Restrict Users from Running Specific Applications
This setting allows you to specify applications and filenames that users are restricted from running.
Open your registry and find the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer]
Create a new DWORD value and name it "DisallowRun" set the value to "1" to enable application restrictions or "0" to allow all applications to run.
Then create a new sub-key called [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun] and define the applications the are to be restricted. Creating a new string value for each application, named as consecutive numbers, and setting the value to the filename to be restricted (e.g. "regedit.exe").
Another Option - (KWE) - You can move shortcuts out of %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\StartMenu\Programs and place the shortcuts in specific user account profiles to keep program shortcuts from being visible to all accounts. This does not stop the limited account from running the program using a variety of techniques.
Attachments - Avoid download of file attachments that may have virus infections.
Start/Run/gpedit.msc. User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Internet Explorer. Configure Outlook Express/Enable Block attachments that may contain a virus.
AutoComplete - Clear
IE/Tools/Internet Options/General/Clear History
IE/Tools/Internet Options/Content/AutoComplete
Can't Clear History: Start/Search/Change Preferences/Turn off AutoComplete
AutoComplete: Remove Google Search History
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System
Provider\S-1-5-21-839522115-1708537768-1343024091-1003\Data\e161255a-37c3-11
d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\e161255a-37c3-11d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\q:StringData]
"Behavior"=-
"Item Data"=-
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System
Provider\S-1-5-21-839522115-1708537768-1343024091-1003\Data\e161255a-37c3-11
d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\e161255a-37c3-11d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\q:StringIndex]
"Behavior"=-
"Item Data"=-
Note: The S-1-5 ... portion of this string may be different on your machine.
Note 2: To delete the value doesn't work unless the Permissions have been set to allow full control. Nor is it possible to delete the keys, without Full Control being allowed.
Tip: Step by Step instruction:
Go to the key listed below:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider\
S-1-5-21-1960408961-220523388-682003330-1003
With the S-1-5-21....in blue, choose File/Export and save it to your desktop and name it (ex). googlehistoryclear.reg. Leave the registry open then go to your desktop. Right click the saved reg file and choose Edit. If it needs an association choose Notepad. Scroll down to these keys:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System
Provider\S-1-5-21-839522115-1708537768-1343024091-1003\Data\e161255a-37c3-11d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\e161255a-37c3-11d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\q:StringData]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System
Provider\S-1-5-21-839522115-1708537768-1343024091-1003\Data\e161255a-37c3-11d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\e161255a-37c3-11d2-bcaa-00c04fd929db\q:StringIndex]
To make the search/scroll easier they are listed in alphabetic order and you are looking for the end of the string in this case \q:StringData and \q:StringIndex. So scroll down to the q's....
Under q:StringData
Highlight what is listed after the word "Behavior"= only up to the words "Item Data"= and delete it. Then place a - (minus sign) after the = so that it looks like this: "Behavior"=-
From there highlight what is listed after the words "Item Data"= only up to the next key and delete it. Then place a - (minus sign) after the = so that it looks like this:
"Item Data"=-
Do the same for q:StringIndex.
Once done choose File/Save. Use the red X to close. If it asked to save again, answer yes.
Return to the registy and delete this key: (right click, delete, accept the warning)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider\
S-1-5-21-1960408961-220523388-682003330-1003
Then go back to your desktop and double click your saved regedit, answer yes. Then open Google and the search history is gone.
Disable Automatic Modem Connections at Startup
If remote connections are enabled in Windows, the system may try to initiate an Internet connection at Windows startup or at the start of many applications. This setting disables that behavior.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole. Value Name: EnableRemoteConnect, Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value), Value Data: "Y" = enable automatic connections, "N" = disabled.
Create a new String value, or modify the existing value, called 'EnableRemoteConnect' and edit the value according to the settings above. Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.
Modify the Internet Auto-Dial Settings
Windows has the option to automatically dial your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to establish an Internet connection. This option can be controlled using this tweak.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
Create a new binary value named "EnableAutodial", and set the new value to equal "01 00 00 00" to enable autodial or "00 00 00 00" to disable it.
Note: This restriction can be used either on a user by user basis by adding it to HKEY_CURRENT_USER or on a computer wide basis by adding it to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Auto-Logon
1. At a command prompt, type "control userpasswords2" and press Enter to open the Windows 2000-style User Accounts application.
2. On the Users tab, clear the Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer check box and then click OK.
3. In the Automatically Log On dialog box that appears, type the user name and password for the account you want to be logged on each time you start your computer.
Or...
Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Local Security Settings/Minimum Password Length (0). User account/Remove Password.
Automatically Close Non-Responding Applications on Shutdown
Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
Value Name: AutoEndTasks, Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value), Value Data: (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled). Modify the value of 'AutoEndTasks' to equal '1' to automatically end tasks or '0' to prompt for action.
Note: This change will affect all users but the value can also be changed on a user-by-user basis by modifying [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] with the same values.
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