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Registry Tweaks, Part-1


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I'm having problems getting a few registry tweaks to stick. The settings for TLS1.0 and a few other security settings, the entries which control maximum amount of IE cache, and small icons on the IE toolbar all reset themselves. Kinda annoying after taking the time to isolate those entries :)

I apply them during the cmdlines.txt part of setup, so they should be applied for all users...

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@GreenMachine

That's exactly what I did. I use your unattended method. I apply all my registry tweaks during the pre-gui setup mode. But still, I couldn't get this two tweaks to work.

;Disable Remove the prefix "Shortcut to" when creating a new shortcuts.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"Link"=hex:00,00,00,00

;Disable Group similar taskbar buttons
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarGlomming"=dword:00000000

Seem like you know ins and outs about the Windows XP Installation Process. Can you provide a detail step of what the setup is doing at various points of the installation? That would really clear up some of the issues we are all having.

For example:

1. Setup Copying: Copies all of setup files over to the hard drive and then reboot to Pre-GUI Setup Mode or Text Setup Mode.

2. Pre-Gui Setup Mode: Uses the Default User Profile. Install and configure the Windows XP. etc.. Gets to 13Minute point, execute your cmdline.txt. etc... When done, reboot your computer to GUI Setup Mode.

3. GUI Setup Mode: etc..

You can fill this out. It was just an outline.

-Kenneth

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"SecondLevelDataCache"=dword:00000100

I use an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ with 512Mb RAM.  Do the tweaks need to be altered or left as they are?

"SecondLevelDataCache"=dword:00000100

With most computers now having L2 caches larger than that it pays to take the time to change the setting to correspond to the size of the cache memory installed.

100 = 256KB

200 = 512KB

Ok, how do I find out how big my cache memory is (whether I have 256Kb or 512kb)?

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Thanks, Kenneth, for the compliment. In fact I do not really know the internals of Windows - I have not had a computer class in nearly 20 years - but I do now how to pragmatically debug. I have run into the same problems as many here, and am too stubborn not to make it work. I try to share my experience as to what has worked for me, what appears to me to be happening, and how I would proceed to locate certain problems. I will not attempt to post a process description, because I do not care to have to justify myself to those that know better. There are enough people here who concider themselves pro's that can do that...

That said and done, I will tell you what I think your problem might be, and steps you can take in finding the answer: I do not have the answer myself.

I implement both the tweaks you are talking about, as well as the small icons that RyanVM mentions, and they "stick": all users get them as defaults. I cannot say if my way will work for you, but it works for me...

Background: If you have the tweaks added to the registry from the CMDLINES.TXT file, as I assume you have (right Ryan ...), they will be added to the default users settings, normally found in C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\NTUSER.DAT. This .DAT file contaings the HOT_KEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) registry hive ("section"), and is used as a template for every user created, including the built-in "Administrator" account. For Explorer and IExplorer it is important that these settings be in the template, as you cannot add them with a .reg file to an existing Profile (User account). This is because windows will update Explorer and IExplorer settings on log-off with the current settings (behaviour by design). The tweaks both you and RyanVM are talking about fall into this category.

Debugging questions are: are these tweaks pressent when a new user first logs on? (It looks like no, but check the registry), and are these tweaks included in the default .DAT file mentioned above. For the first question, you can see the answer directly with regedit. For the second, you will need to use regedit, load the afore mentioned hive, and see if it is there. I hypothosize that this will show you that the tweaks are in the default user file (template), but are changed somewhere after the template is copied to a new user, and the new user can access regedit to verify.

If the above is indeed the case, my next question is why does it work for me, and not you. Again, I can only hypothosize, but I suspect it is due to an additional tweak I add to the registry, in a value named "Stubpath". Stubpath is a pointer to a program to execute. A stub is a standard, though perhaps less common, programming item. There are many places that can tell you better than I what exactly it means: google it if you are curious. In any event, there are about 10 of these I have found, and I believe that they are all used to initialize the environment of the specific program. Programs that use this in XP include IE, Explorer, Outlook Express, WMP, Netmeeting, and more. I cleared all these entries from the registry, as I do not want these programs initializing at regisrty settings, reverting back to WMP from winamp just because a new user has logged on.

Conclusion: I think that a program is re-initalizing your reg tweaks with default values AFTER the registry is copied from the "template" via one of these stubs, and that is why it is not working for you.

What you can do: Examine both the HKCU branch of the registry of a brand new user, and that of the C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\NTUSER.DAT, which you will need to load first. If they are different, clear out all the stubpath entries, and create a new user (or remove the users profile), and see if the settings "stick".

As I said, I get all the settings y'all do not, and this is the main difference I see in my setup. I also think that I am the only one who bothers with the stubpath stuff, so I doubt there is someone who could confirm this right now. You can do the tests on an existing system, so please do, and let me know.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I am hoping that it can add some insight if you are truely interested, and weed out those who are not truely interested by simple long windedness.

Phew .....

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Welcome GreenMachine. I thank you for being so caring in helping others on this as we are all learning. I can't wait to write a short guide for others on this once I learn it myself.

Thanks for the long detail post. It really clears up some of the things. Here is what I don't understand. If it is true that some of the settings that you change using the registry tweaks which will be resetted when you log off or log back on next time, then how does Windows actually save the new settings permanently when you change them directly but through a registry file (.reg)? For example, if I remove the "Shortcut To" prefix using PowerToys Tweakui, how does it make the permanent changes? It must be saved somewhere. But if I apply the same tweak using a registry tweak, nothing happens as it compares to using Tweakui.

Also, I notice 90% of the settings in Explorer can be change through a registry file. This is very mind blogging. Anyone else have any inside on this.

At first I thought that some of the tweaks cannot be done through a registry file is because some requires more than just the changes in registry keys.

-Kenneth

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100 = 256KB

200 = 512KB

Ok, how do I find out how big my cache memory is (whether I have 256Kb or 512kb)?

AIDA32 or AIDA16 (runs under DOS )

Nice when you build a RESCUE CD

put Partition Magic, WinXP unattend, AIDA16, winternals ERD commander and many other tools on one CD

btw AIDA is freeware

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@Kenneth

Volatile Memory.

The registry is basically a simple database, with a programmers interface to add/remove/edit data inside. This uses a certain amount of resources. Some entries in the registry are in almost constant use (explorer settings for example, as explorer is more the "file manager" window you see: it is also the desktop itself). To alleviate the load of extracting the data from the database each time - thousands of times per second - all the settings are stored in a fixed place in memory, where explorer can directly access it. When logoff time comes, it simply dumps the settings from memory back into the database, overwriting any modifications you may have made via a .reg file. A simple example of this behavior can be done as such: place a few icons on your desktop, log off and back on, move the items, even align them so that you know explorer is aware of them. Pull the power cord out of the PC (assuming it is not a laptop ... do what ever you need to do to cause a hard stop or reboot. Reset for example). When you log back on (after replacing the cord ...) you will find your icons just as they were last time you logged on, and not where you moved them to and aligned them. Explorer did not have a chance to save your settings. Another way to see this is to take a registry setting you modify and you know works (from HKCU, an explorer setting) modify it in regedit, log off and on and you see it has reset itself. Use regedit to modify the same setting in another users HKCU (by “loading” their .DAT “hive” file), and you will find the tweak “stuck”. My biggest problem with this is locating certain registry entries. You change the explorer view to details, doing a .reg dump before and after, and you see nothing comparing them: the registry has not yet been updated. If you wait till next logon to compare, there are MANY more differences, so it’s hard to find that one little bit somewhere…

TweakUI gets around this by loading itself BEFORE the registry information is parsed, and it injects the tweaks that have been set through the users interface. Before explorer access its settings, TweakUI has insured that your modifications are taken into account.

Now, if you understand that, excellent! Unfortunately, I made it all up … well, not completely: it is based on the way System Tables were implemented in an OS I worked on in the 80s. What I mean is I have no proof that what I say is correct, just my evaluation of what is happening, and it suits my needs just fine. I make XP do it my way, based on theories such as these. Of course, your actual mileage may differ …

In response to your last lines: I would say it is a lot closer to 100% than 90% for explorer settings. I also think that every adjustable setting can be done in a reg file, barring those still using .ini files (rare in native MS windows applications, more frequent in third party software). Just gotta get it there at the right time.

Enough for the theory: Does this help with any of your tweaks? Creating a new user, clearing all “stubpath” entries you find, and logging in the new user should be a simple enough test. What are the values of the two tweaks you mentioned earlier in the new user registry, and the default user registry.

Another note on stubpath. Clearing this entry will cause certain programs not to perform their initialization routines for new users. That is the whole reason I do this. I do not have a need for these initializations, but you may. By not having a "stubpath" entry for IE, it no longer does it's spiel when a new user first logs on, and does not adds it's icon all over the place. Outlook Express icons are no longer put in the quick launch bar. I like it clean.

Last note: as I think about it, the stubpath is probably not your problem: don't others have those tweaks working? You need to find out what is in the default users .DAT file. I dd, however, think it is a likely suspect for RyanVM.

Keep us posted.

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heres one for anyone unlucky enough to have a microsoft keyboard with an annoying f-lock key.. thisll reverse functionality so you dont have to press f-lock before using f keys :)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,19,00,00,00,3b,00,3b,e0,3c,00,08,e0,\
 3d,00,07,e0,3e,00,3e,e0,3f,00,3f,e0,40,00,40,e0,41,00,41,e0,42,00,42,e0,43,\
 00,43,e0,44,00,23,e0,57,00,57,e0,58,00,58,e0,3b,e0,3b,00,08,e0,3c,00,07,e0,\
 3d,00,3e,e0,3e,00,3f,e0,3f,00,40,e0,40,00,41,e0,41,00,42,e0,42,00,43,e0,43,\
 00,23,e0,44,00,57,e0,57,00,58,e0,58,00,00,00,00,00

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found the info ..heres how it breaks down

windows xp doesn't invent its settings out of thin air. it uses four inf files in the i386 distribution folder to create the registry's hive files when you install the operating system. you should be able to customize them easily. here are those four inf files:

hivecls.inf -- creates the settings in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes (HKCR)

hivedef.inf -- creates the settings in HKU\.DEFAULT -- also creates the settings for the default user profile

hivesft.inf -- creates the settings in HKLM\SOFTWARE

hivesys.inf -- creates the settings in HKLM\SYSTEM

you can change any of the windows xp default settings by changing the setting in the hive files listed. for example, if you want to deploy a per−user hack, change those values in the file hivedef.inf. this is in lieu of creating a default user profile for windows xp. if you want to change file associations for every computer in the organization, change them in the file hivecls.inf

hack heaven baby :)

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fantastisch!

Numinous...you have hit on what I have been trying to do for the last couple of weeks. I had ended up using "settings and files transfer wizard" to do it after an install.

now to go tweaking!

I want to do things like disable screensaver and have power policy as always on.

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