The Windows 8 registry has the same structure as its predecessors. The
principles of storing operating system settings haven't changed, and the
tool to edit the registry is the old faithful regedit. The only
difference is there are more keys
providing more configuration options.
When a computer is misbehaving, or has been infected with maleware, editing the registry is the best
way to cure the problem. My primary aim is to give you the skill, the practice, and above all, the confidence
to launch the built-in regedit and change the registry settings. My
secondary aim is to persuade you to take sensible precautions, for example,
export at least that particular branch before changing any
registry values.
As usual, I have lots of worked examples, which I urge you to try on your own machine. Each registry tweak has two aims; to solve a specific problem, and to provide general learning
points. I have tested these registry tweaks on Windows8,
Windows 7, Vista, XP and Windows Server.
There will be times when your research reveals that there is simply no
Control Panel applet to configure a particular Windows 8 setting. Consequently, the only hope of solving the problem is to
change a value in the registry; and that means using regedit. Another reason
to acquire confidence at editing the registry, is so that you can repair a defective machine remotely.
Officially, you edit the
Windows 8 registry by adding keys, or modifying values, colloquially,
this process is called tweaking or hacking the registry. If I have a hidden agenda it is that
learning should be fun.
To reinforce this 'let's have fun' message, many of my examples have amusing anecdotes.
Windows 8 Registry Defined
The registry means different things depending on which aspect of a
computer you are looking at. All of these are true of the Windows 8 registry:
A set of all the operating system's settings.
A database for your Group Policies.
A no-go area for amateurs!
A tool for troubleshooting operating system problems.
A back-end corresponding to the Control Panel's front-end.
A replacement for those old .ini files.
A vehicle for having
fun while you tweak Windows 8.
To become expert
with the registry you need to develop a range of skills. Because the registry is live
and there is no 'What if' button I have arranged the following Windows 8
registry editing techniques as a progression,
each with worked examples.
Free Monitor for Your Network: SolarWinds Real-time Traffic Analyzer
The main reason for monitoring your network is to check at a glance which
servers are available. If there is a network problem you
want an interface to show the scope of the problem immediately.
Even when all servers and routers are available, sooner or later you will be curious to
know who, or what, is hogging the precious network's bandwidth. A GUI
showing the top 10 users always makes interesting reading.
Another reason to monitor network traffic is to learn more about your
server's response times and the consumption of resources. To take the pain out of
capturing frames and analysing the raw data, Guy recommends that you download a copy of
the SolarWinds
free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer.
Although I will be giving you clear instructions to help you master tweaking the registry,
I still advise you to take precautions because there is no 'Simulate' button
in regedit.
The safest way of all to experiment with the registry is on a test machine,
because in the worst case scenario you could re-install Windows 8 if you (we!) make a terrible mistake,
and there would be no significant data loss.
Let us assume that your mission is to change a setting in Windows 8
by using the registry editor.
From the Metro UI type: R e g e d i
t
You should see the famous icon in the results pane
See screenshot right
right-click the regedit app, and 'Advanced' should appear in the
bottom left of your screen.
Click and select: 'Run as
administrator'.
Launch your registry editor - Regedit.
Note 1: Unlike other Windows executables, if you type just the first few letters,
for example: 'reg',
Windows 8 does not display name of this registry editor, you have to type the full name -
regedit.
My favorite technique for recovering from mini-disasters is to export the
registry key BEFORE I change any values. To do this, launch regedit
then click on the File menu, Export,
Selected Branch. Every other registry expert will tell you to backup the System State before you begin.
Windows 8 Registry Tip: Like the Internet Explorer,
regedit has a 'Favorites' menu option. This has saved me hours of work
trying to re-find a setting I modified last month.
