Extra Topics (Joe’s Blog Site)

Gpedit.msc is a Group Policy editor in Windows which allows you to easily edit registry-based policy settings. Unfortunately, some Windows releases have incomplete and outdated policy entries, that’s why there are Administrative Template files (.adm files) used to populate user interface settings in the Group Policy editor.

Before, Windows users could obtain the recent .adm files by getting the latest service packs or operating systems. But now, you can simply download these .adm files to add or populate your Group Policy editor.

Download appropriate .adm files from this page.

You may have noticed that whenever you open “My Computer” to browse files, there is a slight delay. That is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers each time you open Windows Explorer. You can significantly increase browsing speed by doing the following:

1. Double-click on My Computer
2. Click the Tools menu
3. Select Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers
6. Click OK

I have created an article on How to speed up boot time using Sysinternals Autoruns. I strongly suggest that you read that article first. A lot of people are asking which startup program items can be deleted or unchecked in Sysinternals Autoruns that slows down the boot sequence and those harmful items added by trojans and spywares.

Well I found a great website that have a database of startup programs. It currently has 23,403 startup items on its database at the time of this writing. It allows you to search for programs that you find starting automatically on your computer and determine if they are considered to be harmful, optional, unnecessary, or necessary to run.

The database is alphabetically organized so you can browse through using its index. You can also use its search feature to find the program you want to know.

Each entry in the database will have a Status assigned to it. The key to this status is the following:

• Y - This status flag means that this entry should be left alone and be allowed to run as if it is unchecked it may break the functionality or use of a particular program.
• N - This status flag means it is unnecessary to run this program automatically when Windows starts as you can run it manually when necessary.
• U - This status flag means it is up to you whether or not you feel this program needs to run automatically.
• X - This status flags means the item should definitely not start up automatically. Items that have this flag are generally malware such as viruses, trojans, hijackers, spyware, etc.
• ? - This status flag means the status of this entry is unknown at this time and more research is necessary.

Link to list of startup program items: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/

Have you been bothered by the Caps Lock key? Sometimes you’d accidentally press that key instead of the Shift key or the Tab key. Well honestly I didn’t realize that until I came across an article on disabling the caps lock key from The Geek. Maybe I wasn’t really THAT bothered that’s why I didn’t realize it before, but I’d share it to you anyway…

The procedure is quite simple but you’d have to enter a very long value as shown in the graphic above. I’ll save you all the trouble of modifying your registry manually so just download the Keyboard Mappings Registry Tweaks and merge them to your registry.

The zip file contains the following:

• ChangeCapsToControl.reg - Changes Caps Lock to be a Control key
• ChangeCapsToShift.reg - Changes Caps Lock to be a Shift key
• SwitchCapsToScrollLock.reg - Disables Caps Lock and swaps Scroll lock to be Caps Lock
• KillCapsLock.reg - Disables Caps Lock
• DisableKeyboardRemap - Uninstalls the preference by deleting the key

How do you merge a registry key, you ask?

1. Just double click or open any of the desired .REG file mentioned above (or Right-click then Merge).
2. A confirmation dialog will appear asking if you want to add the information to the registry. Answer “Yes”.
   
   

   A confirmation dialog when you try to merge a registry key

3. Restart your computer to take effect.

The User Account Control (UAC) is a feature which is new to Windows Vista. It can help you prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. It works by prompting you for permission when a task requires administrative rights, such as installing software or changing settings that affect other users. It is turned on by default and it is NOT recommended to be turned off for security reasons.

This is a good thing but it’s so annoying to most people and for me as well.
The reason why I’m making this article is because I’ve known a LOT of people who switched back to Windows XP because they are annoyed of this feature. They could have simply turned this feature off instead of replacing their Windows Vista.

How to turn off the User Account Control (UAC)

1. Click the Start Menu
2. Go to Control Panel
3. Open User Accounts and Family Safety (or simply User Accounts in Classic View)
4. Click “Turn User Account Control on or off” (type the Administrator password if prompted)
5. Uncheck “Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer”
6. Click OK and restart your computer to take effect.

Please note that this is a security feature, it is not recommended that you turn this feature off. Do this only if you know what you’re doing. Well if you’re willing to switch back to XP which doesn’t have this feature, then I think you probably know what you’re doing.