Hide and Lock your drives in Windows XP, Vista & 7 0

Hide and Lock your drives in Windows XP, Vista & 7


Doing some simple Registry editing, you can hide or lock your drive in My Computer.

Here is the trick:

1. Open RUN dialog box, type regedit and hit enter.

2. Navigate to the following key:

Code:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

3. Now right click in right side pane and create a new DWORD Value.

4. Rename it as "NoViewOnDrive" (for locking drive) or "NoDrives" (for Hiding drive), without quote.

5. Double click on it and put some numbers from the list below to lock or hide your desired Drive and click OK.

Code:

Drive Letter A : Decimal Value : 1
Drive Letter B : Decimal Value : 2
Drive Letter C : Decimal Value : 4
Drive Letter D : Decimal Value : 8
Drive Letter E : Decimal Value : 16
Drive Letter F : Decimal Value : 32
Drive Letter G : Decimal Value : 64
Drive Letter H : Decimal Value : 128

6. Finally restart or log-off the computer for changed to take effect.

7. Keep in mind that "0" is Default Value to Disable or remove this setting. Or simply delete the "NoViewOnDrive" or "NoDrives" key.

8. After locking the drive when you try to open it, you will see a message box like this:

"This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator".

Note:

1. You can hide or lock more than one drive. Just add the numbers given to lock or hide multiple drives. For example if you want to lock or hide drive D: and E: then the required value will be 8+16=24 and so on.

2. Do not hide or lock your system drive, usually C:

Simple Script to Close and Restart Explorer Automatically in Windows XP, Vista and 7 0

Simple Script to Close and Restart Explorer Automatically in Windows XP, Vista and 7

I have discussed in my previous post how to Restart Explorer in the safest way. Now I will discuss about how to create a batch file to close and restart Explorer in one click.

Just copy and paste the code below in notepad and save it as "Restart_Explorer.bat" (including quote).

Code:

@ECHO OFF
echo.
echo.
echo STEP 1: Closing Explorer . . .
echo.
TASKKILL /F /IM explorer.exe
echo.
echo.
echo STEP 2: Starting Explorer . . .
start explorer.exe
echo.
echo SUCCESS: Explorer is running.
echo.
echo.
PAUSE

Now Place the file in some location in your hard disk like desktop or quick launch or create a shortcut. This is the simplest way to restart Windows Explorer.

Hidden Trick to Safely Restart Windows Explorer in Windows XP, Vista & 7 0

Hidden Trick to Safely Restart Windows Explorer in Windows XP, Vista & 7


Sometimes we notice that installing some software or shell extension, we require to restart our system. But log off or end task of explorer does the job perfectly without restarting the whole system. We usually end task of Explorer from Task Manager. But this method of forcibly restart Explorer is not recommended by Microsoft.

But there is a hidden option in Windows XP, Vista and 7 by which we can restart Explorer more safely.

Windows XP:

Code:

1. Click on Turn Off Computer button in Start Menu.

2. It will open Turn Off Computer dialog box.

3. Now press Ctrl + Alt + Shift Keys and click on Cancel Button.

4. It will close the Explorer.

5. Now to get Explorer back again, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys.

6. It will open Task Manager.

7. Now click on File > New Task (RUN).

8. Type Explorer in the text box and click OK.

9. Now Windows Explorer is back again.

Windows Vista and 7:

Code:

1. Open Start Menu. Now press Ctrl + Shift and right click on any empty area in start menu.

2. You will see a new option Exit Explorer.

3. Click on Exit Explorer and Windows Explorer will be closed.

4. Now to get Explorer back again, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys.

5. It will open Task Manager.

6. Now click on File > New Task (RUN).

7. Type Explorer in the text box and click OK.

8. Windows Explorer is back again.

This method is much safe and has been recommended by Microsoft itself.

Easily Show / Hide Hidden Files and Folders in Windows XP, Vista and 7 0

Easily Show / Hide Hidden Files and Folders in Windows XP, Vista and 7

In my previous post, I discussed how to generate a simple script to show/hide file extensions in Windows. In this post, I am going to discuss how to create a VB script to easily show/hide hidden files and folder in Windows without going to Tools > Folder Option > View > Show/Do not show hidden files and folders.

Just copy and paste the following script in notepad and save it as "ShowHiddenFilesOnOff.vbs" (including quotes).

Script:

Code:

Hidden = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Hidden"

SHidden = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ShowSuperHidden"

Set Sh = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

St = Sh.RegRead(Hidden)

If St = 2 Then

Sh.RegWrite Hidden, 1, "REG_DWORD"

Sh.RegWrite SHidden, 1, "REG_DWORD"

Else

Sh.RegWrite Hidden, 2, "REG_DWORD"

Sh.RegWrite SHidden, 0, "REG_DWORD"

End If

Sh.SendKeys("{F5}")

That's it! Now place it in some place in hard disk and create a shortcut in desktop or quick launch. The show/hide files and folder option will be toggled whenever you click on this shortcut.

Now if you want to create a context menu entry in folder, supposing you saved the script file in C:, create a reg file and save it as "ShowHiddenFilesOnOff.reg" without quote and merge it to registry.

Windows Vista and 7:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\Show / Hide Hidden Files]
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\Show / Hide Hidden Files\command]
@="cmd.exe /c start C:\\ShowHiddenFilesOnOff.vbs"

Windows XP:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Show / Hide Hidden Files]
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Show / Hide Hidden Files\command]
@="cmd.exe /c start C:\\ShowHiddenFilesOnOff.vbs"

Modify the registry file if you saved the script file to any other location. To remove this entry from folder context menu just navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\Shell (in Vista and 7) or HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell (in XP) and remove Show / Hide Hidden Files entry.

Easily Show / Hide File Extensions in Windows XP, Vista and 7. 0

Easily Show / Hide File Extensions in Windows XP, Vista and 7.

We know that when we want to show or hide file extension in Windows Explorer, we follow these steps:
In Windows explorer Tools > Folder Option > View > Check or Uncheck Hide Extensions for known file types.

It is a tedious job to open all this again and again. Instead we can create a simple script to do all the job, in a single click.

Just create a VB Script and save it as "ShowHideFileExtensions.vbs" including quote. Here is the script:

Code:

FileExt = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\HideFileExt"
Set Sh = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
St = Sh.RegRead(FileExt)
If St = 1 Then
Sh.RegWrite FileExt, 0, "REG_DWORD"
Else
Sh.RegWrite FileExt, 1, "REG_DWORD"
End If
Sh.SendKeys("{F5}")

Now save it in some location in your hard drive and create a desktop or quick launch shortcut. Whenever you need to toggle the show hide file extension option simply run the script.

You can also add a folder context menu option to run the script. Suppose you have saved the script in C: drive. Then make the following Registry File and name it as "ShowHideFileExtensions.reg" without quote and merge it to registry. If you change the file location, change the reg file according to your need.

Windows Vista and 7:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\Show / Hide File Extensions]
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\Show / Hide File Extensions\command]
@="cmd.exe /c start C:\\ShowHideFileExtension.vbs"

Windows XP:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Show / Hide File Extensions]
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Show / Hide File Extensions\command]
@="cmd.exe /c start C:\\ShowHideFileExtension.vbs"

If you want to delete the entry from context menu, then just go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell (in Vista and 7) or HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell (in XP) and delete Show / Hide File Extensions entry.

Add Recycle Bin, Run, Search and Many Other Useful Shortcuts in My Computer. 0

Add Recycle Bin, Run, Search and Many Other Useful Shortcuts in My Computer.

You can add useful shortcuts to My Computer for easy access. Here is the trick:

1. Type regedit in RUN to open Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the following key:

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

3. Now right click on NameSpace and create a new key. Assign a name for this key as per your requirement from the following list (only the indicated red part) :

Code:

Recycle Bin - {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Control Panel - {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Run - {2559A1F3-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Search - {2559A1F0-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Internet Explorer - {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Administrative Tools - {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153}
Network Connections - {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Printers - {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

4. Changes will take effect immediately.

5. To block these entry to appear in My Computer, simply delete the key that you have created in Registry.

Reset Hosts File to Default in Windows XP, Vista and 7 0

Reset Hosts File to Default in Windows XP, Vista and 7

In Windows, hosts file is an important file which maps hostnames to IP addresses. It is an simple text file that contains text lines containing IP address followed by the hostname. It is usually found in "%windir%\System32\drivers\etc\" folder. In 64-bit editions, it might be also stored in "%windir%\SysWOW64\drivers\etc\" folder.

It is sometimes hijacked by malware to redirect to website that contains malicious code. Sometimes malware block security website or Windows Update to install security update or virus definition using this file.

You can always set it to default using following trick:

1. Press "Windows + r" to open RUN dialog box.

2. Type following line of text and hit enter:

Code:

%windir%\System32\drivers\etc\

3. In etc folder, you will find hosts file.

4. Open the file with notepad and replace its contents with the following text:

For Windows 7:

Code:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
 # localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

For Windows Vista and Server 2008:

Code:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
 127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost

For Windows XP and Server 2003:

Code:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
 127.0.0.1 localhost

5. Save the file and it is set to default.