Useful Registry tips

Increasing File System Caching

To increase the amount of memory Windows will locked for I/O operations:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
3. Edit the key IoPageLockLimit

4096 - 32megs of memory or less
8192 - 32+ megs of memory
16384 - 64+ megs of memory
32768 - 128+ megs of memory
65536 - 256+ megs of memory

 Enabling NumLock on by Default

To have numlock turned on for each user:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
3. Change the value from 0 to 2
4. Turn Numlock on manually
5. Log off and back on again.
6. For all users, make the same change to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators

 Changing the Internet Explorer Title

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Window Title
3. Enter what you want appear in the title bar

 Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks
3. Set the value to be 1
4. In the same section, change the WaitToKillAppTimeout to the number of milliseconds you want.

 Removing the MSN Messenger

If you want to remove the MSN Messenger from always starting in the system tray, do

1. Start / Run
2. Then enter in the following string: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

To remove it completely, see the section Adding / Removing Additional Programs
Remove the hide  from the line:
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

 Creating a Password Recovery Disk

In case you forget your password, you can create a password recovery floppy disk beforehand to help you out of this problem.

1. Single-click Start menu
2. Go to the Control Panel / User Accounts
3. Click the User Account
4. On the left hand side, click on Prevent forgotten password
5. You will need to know your password to create the disk.
6. If you don't remember your password sometime in the future, click on the green arrow like normal at the login and you will be prompted to insert the password recover disk.

 Repairing Damaged Winsock2

The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged shows when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG.
And you get the following error message:
An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.
Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.
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If you have WindowsXP with Service Pack 2, there is a one line command you can run to reset the winsock2 registry entries
netsh winsock reset catalog
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There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:
From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory
Winsock Test Method 1
Run netdiag /test:winsock
The end should say Winsock test ..... passed
Winsock Test Method 2

1. Run Msinfo32
2. Click on the + by Components
3. Click on the by Network
4. Click on Protocol
5. There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok

MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

1. Run Regedit
2. Delete the following two registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

3. Restart the computer
4. Go to Network Connections
5. Right click and select Properties
6. Click on the Install button
7. Select Protocol
8. Click on the Add  button
9. Click on the Have Disk button
10. Browse to the \Windows\inf directory
11. Click on the Open button
12. Click on the OK button
13. Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
14. Click on the OK button
15. Reboot

 Locking the Workstation

There are two ways you can lock the workstation.

1. With a Windows key + L
2. Create an shortcut rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

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