I want to add drive mapping from my c# app for specific user on remote machine. I'm trying to do it by adding new registry key.
When I add new drive mapping in registry, adding new key in:
HKEY_USERS\< USER >\Network
so, for example, to map \some_path\all under R:\ I make new key:
HKEY_USERS\< USER >\Network\R
with following values:
such added drive is visible when I type
net use
in command line, but it's status is "Unavailable". It becomes "OK" after computer restart(and it's visible in Windows Explorer).
How can I achieve it without restarting computer? What process during restart changes drive status and makes it visible in Windows Explorer?
Or another approach: when i type add drive via:
net use R:\ \\some_path\all
it's immediately available in Windows Explorer and visible after net use command. What net use does beside adding new key to registry(as presented above)?
Related
We just virtualized a Windows server in Azure and everything in working fine on Client side, but we are not being able to solve the indexing search problem.
When you have a local drive, Windows can index the path and searches works fine using Windows menu/search box in task bar. But for shared drives it seems to fail.
In Windows Explorer the search pretends to work, but it takes forever to find a file or folder. And sometimes it just won't move anywhere. So it is not an option for users since them are used to search using menu bar.
We have tried to change drive properties in Right button to Shared Driver > "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties, but it was already enabled.
When we try to disable it, it prompts an error saying that the user doesn't have permission to do it, but it does anyway. And when we try to re-enable, the message prompts again, but it is enabled with no problem at all. But once again, nothing changes and Initial Menu Search just won't work.
Does anyone knows if there is a solution for that?
For me it seems to be an server setup since I see that permission error, but, as far as I know, if the shared driver is already mounted, I can't see a reason why Windows can't index it.
Ps.1: In the shared drive security tab, the System has full permissions.
Ps.2: If there is a solution for this, is that possible to solve it on the Windows server Side so we won't need to access client by client to change it manually?
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Please check the following setting and see.
1.First thing is to check network location is being indexed. open File Explorer right-click on the mapped network drive that you need to index, then select the Properties and Make sure that, the Allow Files on this Drive to Have Contents Indexed checkbox is selected.
You have already done this step
2.try to check the search options for network drive in file explorer, go to view tab>>click on Options Icon and choose the change folder and search option menu it will open the folder options dialog box and select search tab and make sure first option is not selected
3.check server side Indexing
4.we need to make sure search service needs to be running.
Open services.msc check for the wndows search service and try to restart the service.
5.Go to Settings on the Windows 10 desktop, then click on Search, followed by Searching Windows scroll down and try to run the indexer troubleshooter
Reference https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/shell-experience/fix-problems-in-windows-search
How do I edit Group Policy Object "Prevent installation of removable devices" (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753539(v=ws.10).aspx) in CMD?
I have a server (Windows Server 2008 R2) that is locked out as I am unable to use keyboard or mouse to as input devices when the windows login requires me to press ctrl+alt+delete. This Policy is the one causing this locked out situation as the old keyboard and mouse which I am trying to solve.
Current situation only allows me to use CMD to make changes to the system when I boot up with a bootable CD.
My server doesn't have PS2 port for the old type keyboard. Any other solution that can help me solve this locked out situation is also welcome :)
"Prevent installation of removable devices" is part of "Administrative Templates" and therefore corresponds to a Registry key.
To find out that registry key, I searched for "Prevent installation of removable devices" within C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US\, found <string id="DeviceInstall_Removable_Deny">Prevent installation of removable devices</string> in C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US\DeviceInstallation.adml. Then I searched for DeviceInstall_Removable_Deny in C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\ and found it in C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\DeviceInstallation.admx. The registry key is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions
valueName: DenyRemovableDevices
enabled Value: decimal 1
disabled Value: decimal 0
If you change that value, it will be overridden when the group policy is applied the next time -- most likely at boot time.
According to http://learnthat.com/prevent-group-policy-from-applying-to-your-computer/ you can avoid this by denying write permissions to that specific registry key. (Note, I did not test this!)
To change the registry offline, you can boot from a windows install CD, press Shift+F10 simultaneously to open cmd, type regedit, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, click Menu File -> Load Hive..., navigate to your installations \Windows\System32\Config\ folder and select the file named SOFTWARE.
Chose any key name, that doesn't already exist (e.g. Offline_Software) and then change the registry under that key. (e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Offline_Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions)
When you're done, select your loaded Hive (e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Offline_Software) and click File -> Unload Hive...
To shutdown properly, just close all windows, including the setup window.
I have my application written in Delphi XE that works with PDF files. Applicaiton is Win32. On start I would like to ensure that there is my item in explorer context menu for PDF files. I would like to be able to specify whether it should be added for active user only or for all users (with UAC I will need to restart with Admin privileges but thats ok).
I started with How to associate a Delphi program with a file type, but only for the current user? and How to add item to windows explorer content menu in delphi? . I tested it with manual registry editing via regedit and it worked fine for "new" extensions. But for .pdf it is more complicated as it will be most probably already present in the registry.
On my PC the .pdf key is referencing AcroExch.Document . But adding shell/something subkey to the AcroExch.Document key is not working because it has CurVer subkey referencing to AcroExch.Document.7. However another PC with another verison of Acrobat had this names a little different. It is no problem for me to follow the CurVer reference but is that a correct approach? And what about situation where no PDF reader is installed, how should I name my keys so Acrobat won't overwrite them when installed?
But more pressing matter is in which root should I put my keys? How to associate a Delphi program with a file type, but only for the current user? is mentioning HKLM (Local Machine) and HKCU (Current user). Its seems rather straightforward but I am unable to set values in HKLM from Delphi. Strangely I can create keys:
var reg:TRegistry;
key := '\Software\Classes\'+keyname+'\shell\'+name+'\command';
reg.CreateKey(key);
but I am getting Access Denied when trying to write the actual value:
reg.OpenKey(key,false);
reg.WriteString('',command);
I am getting the same Access Denied exception even on WinXP, no matter if the applicaiton is running as Admin (Win7), I even tried to set permissions (Everyone full control) for the key via regedit (I can edit the value via regedit without problems). I tried creating the registry with different access modes, all with no luck:
reg := TRegistry.Create(KEY_WRITE or KEY_WOW64_64KEY);
reg := TRegistry.Create(KEY_ALL_ACCESS or KEY_WOW64_64KEY);
reg.Access := KEY_ALL_ACCESS;
reg.Access := KEY_WRITE or KEY_WOW64_64KEY;
reg.Access := KEY_ALL_ACCESS or KEY_WOW64_64KEY;
With HKCU everything works fine.
So I tried writing into HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and it works and actually puts the keys exactly where I want (into HKLM) if running as Admin. But according to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms724475.aspx
The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR) key contains file name extension associations and COM class registration information such as ProgIDs, CLSIDs, and IIDs. It is primarily intended for compatibility with the registry in 16-bit Windows.
I do not like the note about the primary purpose being compatibile with 16-bit Windows. And the actual conditions where the changes will be written is more complicated than I would like.
So basically I have these questions:
What is the advantage of using AcroExch.Document and CurVer instead of pointing directly to AcroExch.Document.7? And what are the "best manners" when adding my keys into this structure? What about the case when the .pdf is not yet associated with anything?
Where should I put my keys and why I am not able to write into HKLM?
Edit:
The problem with Access Denied when writing to HKLM was caused by my error. I did use in previous code openKeyReadOnly and I did not notice that it will swtich the Access property to readonly for all subsequent calls.
To answer your other question, if Adobe is not installed yet then obviously the PDF keys will likely not exist in the Registry yet so you would have to create your own .pdf and ProgID keys so that you can attach your Shell command on it. If Adobe is installed afterwards, it is likely going to wipe out your keys and replace them with its own, so you would have to recreate your Shell command within Adobe's key structure. Your app can query the Registry to check for that condition periodically, such as at startup.
You have asked two separate questions. Since I know the answer to one and not the other, I'm going to answer just one. For future reference, I do recommend that you ask a single question at a time.
Where should I put my keys?
You are correct in discerning that you should not use HKCR. The documentation for HKCR says:
Class registration and file name extension information is stored under
both the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER keys. The
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes key contains default settings that
can apply to all users on the local computer. The
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes key contains settings that apply
only to the interactive user. The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key provides a
view of the registry that merges the information from these two
sources. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT also provides this merged view for
applications designed for previous versions of Windows.
....
If you write keys to a key under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, the system stores
the information under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes. If you
write values to a key under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, and the key already
exists under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes, the system will store
the information there instead of under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes.
So, it is reasonable to use HKCR for reading, but for writing you typically need to exert control over whether to write to HKLM or HKCU. And that means that you cannot write to HKCR.
So, write to HKLM\Software\Classes for machine-wide settings, and HKCU\Software\Classes for user-specific settings.
Note that in Windows 7 and later neither of these keys is redirected and so you do not need to worry about using KEY_WOW64_64KEY. However, in Vista and XP64, and the equivalent server editions, these keys are redirected and reflected. Which means that it might be prudent to use KEY_WOW64_64KEY.
I have a VB6 application which links to several POS terminals from a Windows 7 32-bit machine. The POS terminals are mapped to the Windows 7 machine and I can access the POS terminals from the Windows 7 machine from Explorer or via the cmdline/shell.
The application has been updated to ADO 2.8 and all other controls and components I no longer had source code for have been re-written. After a few annoying hiccups, I got the application to recompile on the Windows 7 computer without errors.
Now come the problems. The VB6 application cannot see or navigate to any mapped drives! I have tried twiddling UAC settings; I have set the app to run in Windows XP SP3 mode; I have tried running as Administrator. None of these things (and many permutations of these) work.
Any suggestions on how to make this work?
Adding this registry setting solved the problem for me: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee844140%28v=ws.10%29.aspx.
To work around this problem, configure the EnableLinkedConnections
registry value. This value enables Windows Vista and Windows 7 to
share network connections between the filtered access token and the
full administrator access token for a member of the Administrators
group. After you configure this registry value, LSA checks whether
there is another access token that is associated with the current user
session if a network resource is mapped to an access token. If LSA
determines that there is a linked access token, it adds the network
share to the linked location. To configure the EnableLinkedConnections
registry value
Click Start, type regedit in the Start programs and files box, and
then press ENTER.
Locate and then right-click the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type EnableLinkedConnections, and then press ENTER.
Right-click EnableLinkedConnections, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.
I believe you are having trouble because casual drive mapping is per-user, and on a UAC system Administrators group users have two separate contexts (one for each token: SU & elevated).
There is such a thing as a system level drive mapping, which is one done under the System user (NT Authority\System). When you map a drive under this account, and map it persistently, all users can see and use the mapping (subject to the usual access rights for files there).
The normal way you do this is via Domain-level GPOs (Group Policy Objects), which means bribing your local box jockeys if in a corporate managed LAN environment.
One way to do this in a Workgroup machine is to map the letter as System via the AT command, from an elevated command prompt:
at 8:53 am "net use m: \\MediaShare\MyLibrary
ThePW /user:MediaShare\TheUser /persistent:yes > nul"
There the remote server is MediaShare, user TheUser, password ThePW, and 8:53 AM is a minute or two in the future to avoid accidentally scheduling this for tomorrow.
But this fails on Vista and later due to Session 0 Isolation!
So... use the 3rd alternative at Run CMD.exe as Local System Account which is the same thing mentioned by ForcePush's reply to How to map a network drive to be used by a service.
I believe that's what you are after here.
don't know if you ever figured this one out but for me it was the ChDir command (even with the registry fix above).
I had in my code
ChDir "P:\Temp\VidCap\Cam1\" 'I almost never use ChDir
Open "list.txt" For Output As #1
and all the VB6 inbuilt file commands looked straight though any operations, no errors, no nothing. I solved it by explicitly having the path, (in my code it was in a string but you could have it explicitly):
dd = "P:\Temp\VidCap\Cam1\"
Open dd & "list.txt" For Output As #1
works as expected.
hope this helps
H
Try this:
Open command prompt as administrator, and type this in:
net use Z: \\IP Address\share /user:you passwd /persistent:Yes
Change "IP Address", the "share" name, and your username and password as needed.
The author of this is howtogeek (source).
I had same problem. VB6 kept crashing when trying to access USB and mapped drives using the Commondialog method, even though the drives and files were all accessible OK via Explorer. Problem is the drives were not set as shared.
Solved by selecting the connected USB drive in explorer and then right click to
select Properties.
Select Sharing Tab
Select Advanced Sharing
Set the sharing and user rights as needed. May need to have local admin rights.
After connect a network-drive, when we open a Windows Explorer or a File Dialog,
the process find this key in the registry to show it's volume name.
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2\{A45BA3B2-F3
96-4F67-8375-ECC2CA1EBBFC}\_LabelFromReg
I don't know what the GUID is.
What is it?
Who(When) does create the key?
How does the application(in this case, Windows Explorer) know the key?
I'm developing a network-redirector like SMB.
I should write a volume name to the key.
Once my network volume connected, the registry key also created. (of cource the GUID is different with SMB's. It even changes whenever each connection created and deleted)
But I don't know how I can get the my volume's(?) GUID.(Even who creates the key)
I tried to find DefineDosDeviceW(suspected) in ReactOS source. But it hasn't implemented yet. T.T
-Of course, I also write the volume name to \MountPoints2\##UNCNAME\_LabelFromReg
But it doesn't work for WOW64 applications in 64Bit Windows.
This is not a specific GUID; it's a volume identifier. Windows Explorer creates these keys when volumes are mounted. You can see a list of currently mounted volume IDs by running mountvol without parameters. Programmatically (on Win32 level), you can obtain it with FindFirstVolume and friends. I don't know anything about network redirector; however, it doesn't seem right to poke within Explorer registry key manually. It's Explorer's private territory. What are you trying to accomplish? Maybe there is a documented API for that.