While I am happy to show you examples of .reg files for Windows 8, I
greatest home is
that you will modify my files and thus learn how to create your own .reg
files. I have included tips and techniques to help you can
create .reg files from scratch.
Problem: Malware has hi-jacked your Internet Explorer's homepage. Solution: Copy these settings into a text file, and then save
with a .reg extension, for example FixHijack.reg. Right-click the file and 'Merge' into
your registry.
This is how I found the homepage reference in the registry. On a machine that
was working properly, I set the homepage to an unusual website, a name like
fashionera that
is unlikely to be found anywhere else in the registry.
Next, I used regedit's 'Find' to locate the unusual website name
fashionera.
Then I exported this branch of the registry (File Menu, Export).
Note 3: This technique could be used to find other
browsers' setting, e.g. Chrome home page.
2) Windows 8 .Reg
File Example - Roaming Profile Cache
Permitting roaming profiles provides a familiar desktop for users who hot-desk. However, a
roaming profile can result in a slow logon or confusion. The
killer reason to delete roaming profiles is where you have a 'Kiosk' machine
used by people on a one-off basis. What can happen is that the disk fills up
with roaming profiles that will never be used again.
Logic Behind
Deleting Roaming Profiles The first question for deleting
roaming profiles is: 'Where does the cache get deleted? On the server or the
Windows 8 computer?' The answer is on the machine where you set
the value, DeleteRoamingCache=1.
Let us spend a minute checking the
logic; in this instance a value of 1 means: no roaming caches gets saved. To be
clear, 1 means that all roaming profiles get deleted on that Windows 8 computer.
On the other hand, changing to DeleteRoamingCache=0, would be a double negative,
(don't delete), therefore you would end up with roaming profiles!
Guy
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Copy the text below then open Notepad and paste the text. Now, save the file with .reg
extension. To inject the settings into your registry just double-click
the resulting file.
The key piece of knowledge is realizing that Delete Roaming Cache can be
controlled via Windows 8's Group Policy. You have a choice of editors,
GPMC on a domain controller, or what I used was gpedit.msc (remember that
.msc). Here is where you find the policy setting:
Computer Configuration: Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles
And the policy: 'Delete cached copies of roaming profiles', see screenshot
below.
Note 5: This is a policy under Computer
Configuration, (and not User Confuration).
The next connection is how to translate a policy setting into a .reg
file? There is the cheat technique; if you know the value then you can
simply 'Find' DeleteRoamingCache in the registry. However, let us
assume we don't know the registry value and decide to research the values
from scratch using my before-and-after technique.
Export the registry with the group policy set to 'Not Configured'
(see above). Save as Before.reg
Change the Group Policy to 'Enabled'
Export the registry AGAIN, save as After.reg
Employ PowerShell's compare-object to isolate the difference.
Alternatively call for WinDiff to highlight the differences.
Optionally, you could export only the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch of the
registry. If you guess right, and the setting is in this hive, it will
speed up your search. If you guess wrong then you waste time in
drawing a blank and having to revert to exporting the whole registry.
Guy
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If you don't like arrows on your desktop shortcuts, then this registry
tweak is for you. Beware; while this registry tweak is not difficult
to achieve you do need to
absorb the principles, which I will explain.
The crucial point is that you need a special clear icon
file; but don't worry, just download my noArrow.ico
zip file.
Once you have the physical file then it's just a matter of 'wiring-up' the
key in the registry called 'Shell
Icons' to the location where you saved the noarrow.ico file.
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I have always found copying a file from folder to another fiddly.
Sometimes Windows Explorer develops a mind of its own and drops the file in the
wrong place. Moving a file can be worse, the file seems to disappear
altogether.
In order to solve this problem I have an option on the context menu to 'Copy To
folder...', or 'Move To folder..' The way I achieve this
goal is to merge the .reg
file below with the registry. Then when I right-click the file and select
'Copy to Folder', a dialog box opens inviting me to choose the file destination.
The result is copying or moving files is now fool-proof.
Here are the contents of the actual Copy To .reg file.
Once you copy the above instructions into Notepad, and save with a .reg
extension; you are ready to right-click the new .reg file and 'Merge' into
the registry.
There is no need to logoff, this tweak works straightaway. Launch
Windows Explorer, right-click any file and observe the 'Copy To folder'
context menu option. See Regedit in
action with the DaRT recovery tool.
How to Add the 'Copy To' to the Explorer Context Menu
Launch Regedit
- 'Run As Administrator'.
Drill down through HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, and navigate to this key:
Create a new Key. The name does not matter! Traditionally it's Copy To,
but I used Guy Copy.
In the right-hand pane, you should see an existing REG_SZ called Default.
It is this default item that you need to re-program to be: {C2FBB630-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
Note: the {curly brackets}
are required for this CLSID.
Close regedit. This tweak works without having to logoff. Launch
Windows Explorer, right-click any file and see 'Copy To folder' as a
context menu option.
Note 6: Even though I called the key 'Guy Copy', Windows
Explorer labels it Copy to Folder.
Note 7: You may also notice that Guy Move is highlighted
in the above screenshot, and appears in my context menu. To achieve
this goal I changed one digit in the CLSID, C2FBB630 to C2FBB631 and then
copied the curly brackets and contents to the default in Guy Move.
The full name of the Move To value is:
{C2FBB631-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
Create the Windows 8 .reg File
One more crucial learning point, Export the registry, and save the file
with a .reg extension.
Naturally, I have concrete examples of .reg files, but I hope that you
will see how to create your own .reg files by researching the registry
settings. My favorite technique is before-and-after using regedit or
gpedit.
If you like this page then please share it with your friends
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