Unlocking Regedit

You would have already seen that most of the Windows hacks require access to the Registry Editor. If you are trying out these hacks in a school, office or a similar place, you might come across locked Regedit. You can even cross this barrier by following these steps:

1. Open Windows folder in C:
2. Delete file user.dat or system.dat (on Windows 98). Reboot.
3. When a message reporting error in Windows Registry appears, don't press OK, give the three-finger-salute (Ctrl-Alt-Del).
4. All restrictions will be removed.

Now go on with your tweaking Windows!

Shutting Down Faster

For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information, such as unencrypted passwords, sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it.

To shut down XP without clearing the paging file, run the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES\SYSTEM\CurrnetControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to "0"(zero). Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.

You might want to change the delay you notice when you click the Start menu. The default speed can be adjusted with a quick Registry hack. Go to the Registry folder

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

and find the key MenuShowDelay. The default value is 400. Set it to 0 to remove the delay completely, but if you do that, it will be nearly impossible to move the mouse fast enough not to activate ‘All Programs’ if you mouse over it while going to your selection. Pick a number that suits you, make the change, and test it until you find a good compromise between speed and usability.

 

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

You know the obvious keyboard shortcuts, such as [Ctrl] + [V], and [Alt] + [Tab]. You probably don’t know them all, however. Experiment with all of them and see which ones you’d like to adopt!

• [Windows] + [E] opens My Computer in Windows Explorer

• [Windows] + [Pause/Break] opens the System Properties dialog box

• [Windows] + [U] opens the Utility Manager

• [Windows] + [R] opens the ‘Run…’ prompt

• [Windows] + [F] opens the ‘Search for Files and Folders’ window

• [Windows] + [Ctrl] + [R] opens the ‘Search for computers on the Network’ window

• [Windows] + [M] minimises all the windows

• [Windows] + [Shift] + [M] maximises all windows (after you have minimised them)

• [Windows] + [D] minimises all windows to the desktop, and then restores all Windows

• [Windows] + [L] locks the computer (i.e. takes you to the ‘Welcome’ screen)

• [Windows] + [B] selects the first item in the System tray; use the arrow keys to cycle through the items and use [Enter] to open a selected item in the System Tray

• [Alt] + [Enter] opens the ‘Properties’ page of a selected item

• [Alt] + [Esc] cycles between open programs in the order they were opened

• [Alt] + [Spacebar] in the active window, this brings up the corner dialog box for Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, or Close

• [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc] opens the Windows Task Manager (just like [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] does)

• [F2] will rename an item

• [F3] opens the ‘Search for files and folders’ window

• [F6] cycles through the different types of elements that can be selections on a screen or window

• [F10] selects the menu bar in the active program (usually ‘File’) (like [Alt]) so you can use the arrow keys to navigate through the menus and [Enter] to select

• [Shift] + [F10] for a selected item, this does the same thing as a right-click with the mouse (instead you can even use a dedicated button to this on keyboard located between [Windows] and [Ctrl])

• [Ctrl] + [Esc] opens the Start Menu

• Clicking [Shift] five times turns StickyKeys On or Off

• Holding down the right [Shift] for eight seconds turns FilterKeys On or Off

• Holding down [Num Lock] for five seconds turns ToggleKeys On or Off

Try these out!!!