You’ve probably read a bunch of posts on how to create hidden folders, secure folders, locked folders, etc, etc in Windows on many occasions! Hell, one of the most popular articles on this blog is How to create a secure and locked folder in Windows XP. However, hiding a folder is a tricky proposition and usually doesn’t work well unless you use something like Truecrypt.
But there’s yet ANOTHER way you can hide your “private” files using a nifty little registry hack that will completely remove an entire drive from your computer. The drive will not show up in My Computer, will not be accessible from the command prompt, and won’t even show up in Safe Mode!
Ok, so here’s how to implement the hack: first off, back up your registry as this requires adding a key to the registry. Once you’ve backed up your registry, open the registry editor by clicking on Start, Run and typing in regedit.
Now navigate to the following registry hive shown below:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer
Right-click on Explorer and choose New and then DWORD Value.
Name the new value NoDrives and then double click on it to open the properties dialog box. Click on Decimal for the Base unit.
Type in one of the following values depending on that drive letter you want to hide.
A: 1 B: 2 C: 4 D: 8
E: 16 F: 32 G: 64 H: 128 I: 256
J: 512 K: 1024 L: 2048 M: 4096 N: 8192
O: 16384 P: 32768 Q: 65536 R: 131072 S: 262144
T: 524288 U: 1048576 V: 2097152 W: 4194304 X: 8388608
Y: 16777216 Z: 33554432 All: 67108863
If you want to hide drive E, just type in the value 16. The really cool thing about this trick is the fact that you can hide multiple drives by adding the numbers of the particular drives together. For example, if you want to hide drive E and drive G, you would type in the number 80, which is 64 + 16.
Restart your computer and your drive will now be hidden! Trying to hide your system drive (C) will not work as Windows has to use this drive to run correctly, so don’t store your secret files there!
When you want to get your drives back, change the value of NoDrives to 0 or simply delete the value altogether. Of course, having to do this everyday can be a pain, so if you’re up for it, you can try and write a registry file that will allow you to insert and delete the value by just double-clicking a file.
This trick also works for mapped drives, so if you want to hide mapped drives, you can do it this way (though it might just be easier to disconnect a mapped drive).
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Disable Animations and Appearance Overhauls to maximize performance
If you’re a serious performance junkie, you probably won’t bother about eyecandy. Go to System Properties in the Control Panel. Click ‘Advanced’, then ‘Performance’ and click ‘Adjust for best performance’. This might boost your PC’s performance up a bit.
Additional Tips:
- Always keep your computer clean. Remove Junk and Unnecessary registry entries. Use CCleaner for this purpose, one excellent tool that just does what it says.
- Don’t keep installing software. Install a program only if it really serves you a purpose.
- Keep as less programs as possible running on the System Tray. This essentially means reducing the number of programs that start during Windows start up
Additional Tips:
- Always keep your computer clean. Remove Junk and Unnecessary registry entries. Use CCleaner for this purpose, one excellent tool that just does what it says.
- Don’t keep installing software. Install a program only if it really serves you a purpose.
- Keep as less programs as possible running on the System Tray. This essentially means reducing the number of programs that start during Windows start up
Slow Ending of Unresponsive Programs
If you’ve clicked on ‘End Task’ if any program is running unresponsive, you might have noticed that the program is not terminated immediately. You can alter this by going to Run >> regedit.exe >> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ and change this value to 1000
Make your Computer work Faster
There can be a variety of reasons to Windows loading slow during start up. Go to Run, type msconfig and hit enter. Under the ‘Start Up’ tab, uncheck the unwanted programs and press OK. Things should be a bit fine the next time Windows boots.
Another program worth mentioning here is StartUp Delayer which will help in setting after how much time programs should be loaded after Windows boots. For instance, you could set your instant messenger program to load 50 seconds after Windows starts up
Another program worth mentioning here is StartUp Delayer which will help in setting after how much time programs should be loaded after Windows boots. For instance, you could set your instant messenger program to load 50 seconds after Windows starts up
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
how to post Sound and Video on GTallk
Sound & Video :
It's possible to broadcast music, MP3, etc.. through Google Talk.
Unplug your microphone. Double click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner. This will open up "Volume Control". Select "Options" and then "Properties". Then check the button next to "Recording" then click OK. You may also have to change your setting under Mixer Device. Now the Recording Control screen should be up. On my computer I selected "Wave Out Mix". Click on the green phone in Google Talk and call your friend.
It's possible to broadcast music, MP3, etc.. through Google Talk.
Unplug your microphone. Double click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner. This will open up "Volume Control". Select "Options" and then "Properties". Then check the button next to "Recording" then click OK. You may also have to change your setting under Mixer Device. Now the Recording Control screen should be up. On my computer I selected "Wave Out Mix". Click on the green phone in Google Talk and call your friend.
Tips and Tricks about GTalk
Tips and Tricks about Google Talk
With Google Talk being all the craze right now, some people hating it, and others loving it, I figured that I would post a list of tips and tricks for those curious about the extra "features" Google implemented and has not said much about.
Registry Tweaks
You can edit most settings by opening regedit (start -> regedit),
and navigating to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk.
The "Google/Google Talk" key has several sub-keys that hold different option values:
Accounts: This one has subkeys for each different account that has logged in on the client. These keys have different values that store the username, password and connection options.
Autoupdate: Stores the current version information. When the client checks for updates it compares Google's response with these values. If an update is needed, it will download and update the new version.
Options: This is the most interesting part, where most of the current hacks should be used (keep reading).
Process: Stores the process ID. Probably used by Google Talk to detect if it's already running or not.
1.) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\show_pin
If 1, shows a "pin" next to the minimize button that keeps the windows on top of all the other open windows when clicked.
2.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\view_show_taskbutton
If 0, hides the taskbar button, and leaves the tray icon only, when the window is shown
3.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_inactive
If 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.
4.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_screensaver
If 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.
5.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\inactive_minutes
Number of inactive minutes to become away if auto-away is on.
With Google Talk being all the craze right now, some people hating it, and others loving it, I figured that I would post a list of tips and tricks for those curious about the extra "features" Google implemented and has not said much about.
Registry Tweaks
You can edit most settings by opening regedit (start -> regedit),
and navigating to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk.
The "Google/Google Talk" key has several sub-keys that hold different option values:
Accounts: This one has subkeys for each different account that has logged in on the client. These keys have different values that store the username, password and connection options.
Autoupdate: Stores the current version information. When the client checks for updates it compares Google's response with these values. If an update is needed, it will download and update the new version.
Options: This is the most interesting part, where most of the current hacks should be used (keep reading).
Process: Stores the process ID. Probably used by Google Talk to detect if it's already running or not.
1.) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\show_pin
If 1, shows a "pin" next to the minimize button that keeps the windows on top of all the other open windows when clicked.
2.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\view_show_taskbutton
If 0, hides the taskbar button, and leaves the tray icon only, when the window is shown
3.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_inactive
If 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.
4.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_screensaver
If 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.
5.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\inactive_minutes
Number of inactive minutes to become away if auto-away is on.
Friday, September 18, 2009
If your Pen drive lost !!!!
Ever lost a USB drive? Even if you haven’t, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll lose a few during your life. And with all the important information on it, it could be a disaster to have it fall into someone’s hands.
A good idea is to encrypt all the information on the drive, but you would still want it back, wouldn’t you? Luckily, the folks at the Daily Cup Of Tech have come up with a solution.
Save a program called “Help! I’m Lost!” on the drive, that a finder just can’t get around opening. The program opens a message box with your personal “I’m lost” message. It’s a good idea to offer the finder a bigger reward than the drive itself, so that they’ll be interested in contacting you.
A good idea is to encrypt all the information on the drive, but you would still want it back, wouldn’t you? Luckily, the folks at the Daily Cup Of Tech have come up with a solution.
Save a program called “Help! I’m Lost!” on the drive, that a finder just can’t get around opening. The program opens a message box with your personal “I’m lost” message. It’s a good idea to offer the finder a bigger reward than the drive itself, so that they’ll be interested in contacting you.
Set a program to run automatically (autorun)
Using autorun, you can set a program to start up automatically when you connect the drive to a computer. You can also use the same script for a data CD-ROM. Note that some computers have autorun disabled for security purposes. [Here's how to disable autorun.]
Open up notepad and paste the following script:
[autorun]
ShellExecute=filename
Label=description
UseAutoPlay=1
Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe
Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox.
Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!
Open up notepad and paste the following script:
[autorun]
ShellExecute=filename
Label=description
UseAutoPlay=1
Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe
Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox.
Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!
Take your programs with you
We all know how frustrating it is when we take your files to another computer just to discover that the software required to read the files is not installed.
Here’s the simplest solution – take your programs with you – on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps:
1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along.
2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive.
And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.
Here’s the simplest solution – take your programs with you – on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps:
1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along.
2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive.
And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.
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