My Windows XP Customizer

Here's something I developed in Visual Studio 2008 to customize/tweak my Windows XP Professional OS.
p.s : The App requires that the dot net framework to be installed first.

you can download it here

How to restrict the guest account

Step 1:
Log into a local administrative account.
Choose Manage from the My Computer Context Menu.
From the Computer Management window browse to
System Tools > Users and Groups > Users
Double click on Guest to access the Guest Properties window
Click the Member Of tab
Click the Add button
From the Select Groups window click the Advanced... button
Click on the Find Now button
Select Administrators from the list
Keep clicking on all the OK buttons till it exits the Guest Properties window

This step just gave the guest account administrative privileges to run tools such as regedit, GPedit.msc, Services.msc, MMC, DOC, etc.

Close all the open windows and log off from the administrative account.

Step 2:
Log into the local Guest account.

Apply whatever restrictions you wanted to add to the guest user using regedit, MMC, or other tools.

Log off from the Guest Account.

Step 3:
Log back into the Administrative account.

Go back into Local Users and Groups>Users>Guest

Open the Guest Properties and click the Member Of tab. Select Administrators and click the Remove button.
Click OK.

Thats it. You now have a guest account with whatever restrictions you wanted to apply to it.

Prohibit a user from changing LAN settings using the registry

To provide restrictions even for administrator accounts merge the following in the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_EnableAdminProhibits"=dword:00000001

To prohibit access to properties of a LAN connection:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_LanProperties"=dword:00000000

To disable the Ability to enable/disable a LAN connection:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_LanConnect"=dword:00000000

To prohibit TCP/IP advanced configuration:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_AllowAdvancedTCPIPConfig"=dword:00000000

To Prohibit access to the advanced settings item on the advanced menu:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_AdvancedSettings"=dword:00000000

To Prohibit access to the new connection wizard:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections]
"NC_NewConnectionWizard"=dword:00000000

Prohibit a user from changing LAN settings using Group Policies

One way is to give a limited account to the user. But what about accounts that need other administrative privileges? Well here how you can restrict network settings for the administrative user account:

Run GPEdit.msc

Go to User Configuration> Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections.

Here you’ll find many network restrictions.

The ones I find useful are:
Prohibit access to properties of a LAN connection
Ability to enable/disable a LAN connection
Prohibit TCP/IP advanced configuration
Prohibit access to the advanced settings item on the advanced menu
Prohibit access to the new connection wizard

None of the above seemed to be working for an administrative account. Later on I learned that for it all to work in an administrative account I had to enable this:

Enable Windows 2000 Network Connections settings for Administrators.

How to edit the windows registry: Video tutorial for beginners

Well here’s a simple video tutorial to edit the registry. It lacks audio though.

Hope it helps somebody:)

Prevent changing file associations using the Folder Options

To prevent users from changing file associations using the File Types tab in Folder Options, merge the following in the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoFileAssociate"=dword:00000001

Delete the key to allow changing the associations.

Remove options to Shutdown using the Start menu and the task manager

Merge the following into the registry to remove access to shutdown using the Start menu and the task manager.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoClose"=dword:00000001

You can shutdown using the command prompt or by first logging off. to get it back change the value of NoClose to 0 or delete the key.

Make Explore/Open the first option when you right-click a folder

To make Explore the first option in the right-click, merge the following to the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell] @="explore"

To make Open the first option in the right-click, merge the following to the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell] @="open"

Reset User Password without knowing the previous password

Manage local groups using the command prompt

User accounts using the command prompt

Hide your data in an Image file

You can hide your documents in a JPEG image file.

1) Put your files in a RAR file. You can use WinRAR for that. I'll use abc.rar as an example.

2) Now move this RAR file into a particular folder. I'll use the C:\MyFolder here.

3) Have a JPEG/JPG file (The one in which you want to hide the stuff) in the same folder. I'll use Logo.jpg as an example.

Now in the command prompt navigate to the folder using cd MyFolder

now type this: copy /b Logo.jpg + abc.rar Logo.jpg

Now double-click on the Logo.jpg file it should open with your Picture viewer. To open it as a RAR file you can use open with from the files right-click menu and choose WinRAR Or drag it into WinRAR otherwise the JPG's open with will have a WinRAR entry. To make it more secure I recommend adding a password for the RAR file.

How to open multiple instances of Google Talk

It's frustrating when you share a single PC at your home with your family. By default Google Talk allows only one user to sign in at a time. Here's how you can have multiple instances of Gtalk open to sign in with different accounts.

1) Browse to the directory where you installed Google Talk: C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk

2) Select the file named 'googletalk.exe' and create a shortcut for it.

3) Open the properties for the shortcut and append its target location with /nomutex

The target: should look like this; "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex

4) Now run this shortcut whenever you require to open another instance of Google Talk

Force files sent to the Windows Recycle Bin to be automatically erased

To forcefully delete files without moving it to the Recycle Bin (Without holding Shift + Delete) :

Merge the following into the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BitBucket] "NukeOnDelete"=dword:00000001

Show/Hide file extensions

One way is to do it using folder options. The registry way is as follows: To Hide: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced] "HideFileExt"=dword:00000001

To Show/Unhide: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced] "HideFileExt"=dword:00000000

Restore missing Send To Desktop (Create Shortcut)

If the Desktop (create shortcut) entry is missing from the Send To when you right-click a file you can restore it using the following methods. Method 1:

Type shell:sendto in Start menu>Run.

This will open the Send To folder.

In this folder create a new text file and rename it as Desktop (create shortcut).DeskLink

Method 2:

Use the following command in Start Menu>Run or the Command Prompt: regsvr32 sendmail.dll

Disable access to a drive

To prevent users from using My Computer, Explorer, Run, Map Network Drive to access the content of selected drives:

In the Windows Registry Editor (regedit) navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value named: NoViewOnDrive

The value for NoViewOnDrive needs to be calculated as follows:

A drive that needs to be hidden is represented by a binary 1.

ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
00000000000000000000100000

For example to hide drive F the value for NoDrives = 20 in hexadicimal

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoViewOnDrive"=dword:00000020

To hide all drives except C, D and E the binary value is 11111111111111111111100011

So the value for NoDrives will be: 3FFFFE3

If a user tries to access the drive he will get a restriction warning stating "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator."

Disable personalizing the target location for My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and Favourites

When you right-click the My Documents folder icon in the Desktop or Start Menu, you get an option to change its target location. To disable changing this target location merge the following into the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "DisablePersonalDirChange"=dword:00000001

To re-enable it delete the "DisablePersonalDirChange" from the registry.

Use the following to restrict the remaining:

DisablePersonalDirChange - Restrict changes to My Documents DisableMyPicturesDirChange - Restrict changes to My Pictures DisableMyMusicDirChange - Restrict changes to My Music DisableFavoritesDirChange - Restrict changes to Favorites

Disable the recycle bin properties option

Import the following into the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoPropertiesRecycleBin"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer] "NoPropertiesRecycleBin"=dword:00000001

Restore missing tabs in Folder Options

Paste the following in notepad and save it with the .reg extension:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EF8AD2D1-AE36-11D1-B2D2-006097DF8C11}] [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B091E540-83E3-11CF-A713-0020AFD79762}] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EF8AD2D1-AE36-11D1-B2D2-006097DF8C11}] @="Global Folder Settings" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{EF8AD2D1-AE36-11D1-B2D2-006097DF8C11}\InProcServer32] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,62,00,72,00,\ 6f,00,77,00,73,00,65,00,75,00,69,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00 "ThreadingModel"="Both" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B091E540-83E3-11CF-A713-0020AFD79762}] @="File Types Page" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B091E540-83E3-11CF-A713-0020AFD79762}\InProcServer32] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,53,00,48,00,\ 45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00 "ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

Now merge it with the registry.