Security Registry Edits


Security is one of the biggest problems of today’s computer age. With broadband, and access to computers everywhere, security has become the number 1 priority of not just corporate America, but also in the home. These tweaks will fix security holes that Microsoft left behind.

Required Validation on Windows 9x

In a password environment, if a user wants to use a computer, but does not have a username or privilege has been taken away, he or she can just press cancel on a Windows 9x machine. This tweak allows network administrators and security freaks to have more over access to their windows 9x machines.

Find the key below, and create a new entry called “MustBeValidated.” If you want validation to be required set the value at 1, 0 if you do not want required validation.

Key: HKEY_LACAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon

Entry: MustBeValidated

Data: 0=disabled, 1=enabled

Data Type: REG_DWORD

Disabling Registry Editing Tools

Registry Tools are powerful, but if in the wrong hands they can ruin your computer. If your little brother likes to come, and messes with your registry, this tip will keep him out. It will disable regeit.exe and regedt32.exe. Be careful though, because when you set this, you will also lock yourself out of the registry editing tools. If accidentally this happens, then copy the following into a text document and rename it to a .reg.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

“DisableRegistryTools”=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

“DisableRegistryTools”=dword:00000000

Find the key below, and create a new entry called “DisableRegistryTools.” Set the value as 1 to disable the tools.

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Entry: DisableRegistryTools

Data: 0=tools are enabled, 1=tools are disabled

Data Type: REG_DWORD

Clear NT Page File

When windows NT/2000 shuts down, the system page file, where all the memory pages not stored in physical memory are written, does not normally get cleared. A highly skilled hacker could read the page file, and find personal information in it. Also this will decrease the performance drop from a huge page file.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Entry: ClearPageFileAtShutdown

Data: 0=disabled, 1=enabled

Performance

To any real gamers, a few more fps in Quake 3 is an excuse to started editing the registry. These tweaks will not only increase fps, but Internet performance, and windows applications.

Increase NTFS Performance

The NT/2000 OS uses a file system specifically designed to be able to know the exact time a directory was accessed. This severely decreases performance when browsing folders because each time you expand a folder NT updates the access time.

Add a new key called “NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate” or modify the existing entry. Set the value to “1” to prevent the Access time to be disabled.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MCAHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

Entry: NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate

Data: 0 = Access Time Updated, 1 = Access Time is not Updated.

Data Type: REG_DWORD

Contiguous File Allocation

This is for disk intensive applications. This will optimize the Contiguous File Allocation. Create a new REG_DWORD Value called “ContigFileAllocSize” and set the value to 200

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTem\CurrentControlSet\Contol\FileSystem

Entry: ContigFileAllocSize

Data: 200 (hex) 512 (decimal)

Data Type: REG_DWORD

PS2 Port Hertz Adjustment

Any real gamer is annoyed by an inaccurate mouse. A slow refresh rate on the PS2 port will make the mouse be less accurate. This will make the pointer move more smoothly across the screen. Sorry Windows 9x users, this is for only NT Users.

Find the key below and open the “SampleRate” and set the value to a higher number, as high as 200. The higher the number the smoother the mouse flow, but also the CPU usage will go up.

KEY: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters

Entry: SampleRate

Data: 0-200, default is 60, Higher is Better

Data Type: REG_DWORD

Windows 9x Installation Files

When editing settings in windows, such as the network settings, the OS will ask for the Install CD. With this weak you can set the default to a different directory. This will allow you to set it to a directory on the hard drive and never be bothered again.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Entry: SourcePath

Data Type: REG_SZ

Data: Directory you wish setup to be pointed to

Dial-Up Connection Speed

Optimizing The MTU and MSS Settings will make your dial up connection in Windows 9x. Before editing this tweak, it would be beneficial to know what MTU and MSS mean.

MTU is Maximum Transmission Unit that sets the Maximum size of a packet transferred in a frame over a network.

MSS, Maximum Segment Size defines exactly how much data that can be put in a packet, so this would be a smaller value then the MTU.

In Windows the default setting for the MTU is 1500 bytes. This is fine for Ethernet networks, but over a dial-up connection, this causes an extreme setting. By adjusting this to more of a dial-up speed, it will allow for faster browsing. There are nine steps to faster browsing

1. Find the details of your Dial-Up Adapter
2. Open the Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\Net, and in this key, there will be many sub keys such as 0000, 00001, …
3. Open Each Key and find the one that contains the entry “DeviceDesc” equal to “Dial-Up Adapter”. To make this easier you can use the Find tool, in the edit menu.
4. Open the Sub Key Bindings in the Key you just found. Find the Entry MSTCP\0000, or another four-digit number. Write this number down.
5. Open KHEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Network\MSTCP, and find the key with same four-digit number that you wrote down.
6. In this key, find the value Driver, and it should be equal to NetTrans/0002, or another four-digit number. Take not of this number.
7. Find the HKEY_LOCAL_MCHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans, and open the sub key that equals the second number you took down.
8. In this key, create two new entries called “MaxMTU” and “MaxMSS”. Set “MaxMTU” to “576” and “MaxMSS” to “536”. This will improve performance on you Dial-Up Adapter.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans

Entry: MaxMTU and MaxMSS

Data: 576 and 536

Data Type: REG_SZ

Conclusion

The Registry can be your best friend or your worst enemy. With proper tweaking, Windows will run at its best, but can also be destroyed by the registry. These tweaks hopefully will allow you to make windows runner faster safer, and add more features. But watch out, because if you don’t pray to the registry gods, they will destroy you, and your OS.

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