How to take a watch in registry in windows, so that when any value in registry is supposed to modified then there should be pop up?
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I was looking into making a script which toggles a network adapter's metered or unmetered status. I found this script which allowed me to automatically toggle using registry keys. However, that script was hard coded to toggle an Ethernet connection, I wanted to toggle whichever adapter is primarily in use. I saw that in the registry folder for DefaultMediaCost, which controls metered status, there is a key called Default. I was hoping somebody could tell me what this key affects. Thank you.
I don't see why you would need a complicated script for this. Would two .reg files that switch everything to metered, or switches everything back on not do the trick?
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\DefaultMediaCost]
"3G"=dword:00000002
"4G"=dword:00000002
"Default"=dword:00000002
"Ethernet"=dword:00000002
"WiFi"=dword:00000002
I have an application which when I install in Windows 10, need to show up in left navigation pane. Now, I checked how other applications like OneDrive, DropBox which when installed in Windows 10, show up in the navigation pane. Apparently, it was mentioned that there is a DWORD value in registry which controls this behavior which is System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree. This value should be set to 1. But, when I tried to create this value in registry manually for my application's registry entries, it did not work for me. I am kind of stuck here. So, can somebody please help me in this regard ?
After lot of search and studying Dropbox entries in the Windows registry, I figured out the answer. We have to create new keys and sub keys with the following values similar to this GUID {E31EA727-12ED-4702-820C-4B6445F28E1A}:
Create a new GUID for the application online.
Search for the Dropbox GUID as mentioned above and add keys/subkeys similar to Dropbox.
After putting entries similar to Dropbox into Windows registry, I am able to see my application in the left navigation pane :-)
However, there is still one issue with this change. After changing the registry entries, a folder in Desktop got created with the name of my application and there is not even a delete option on it, somewhat like Recycle Bin. Any idea how to fix this issue ?
I have made a program to change the mouse sensivity in the same way as you can do it with the Control Panel.
The changes are made in the registry, the keys at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse and they are in fact done (I have checked them from regedit.exe) but the mouse works as if this changes are not made. In other words, the changes do not take any effect, they only do if you use the control panel. Why do they not take effect?
Windows registry isn't something that is refreshed all the time. The changes you made will be applied after the current user (that's why it's HKEY_CURRENT_USER) logs in again, or as you said after using control panel, which will read the registry. I don't know, what language your program is written in, but you should check out this link: "https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724947.aspx"
In general, tweaking registry settings directly is unsupported, especially when there's an API to tweak the setting. In this case, the API is SystemParametersInfo. In particular, you need to use the SPI_SETMOUSESPEED as the argument for the uiAction parameter.
In other words, the changes do not take any effect, they only do if you use the control panel. Why do they not take effect?
Because there's often a little more to it than setting the value in the registry. Often there is a notification that must be sent after changing the value in order to tell the all the other software on the machine to drop any cached values and replace them with the new value that's now in the registry. In many cases, the notification will be in the form of a broadcast message.
In the case of mouse driver settings, you probably need to use the SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE argument for the fWinIni parameter. You might also need to OR it with SPIF_SENDCHANGE to broadcast a WM_SETTINGCHANGE message, but I'm not sure about that.
I have been trying to add context based right click in windows explorer for a file of extension L5X. I have tried HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\l5xfile\Shell\convert\command and set the (Default) key value to the program I want to have open the file. (I want it to say "Convert" on the context menu) My first issue seems to be that in .NET (even when running elevated) I cannot change the Default key's value. My other issue is changing that Default key value doesn't do anything to the context menu. I would really prefer a no reboot required solution.
Also, I really need this to work on WinXP all the way up to Win7 (including Server 2003, 2008 and 2008R2). If I need to detect OS and do things differently for different OSes, I will but I'm really stuck here.
PS, I tried the solution found here with no luck.
You need administrator rights to write to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is a merged view of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes. If you want to install it for just the current user, write to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes
\l5xfile\Shell\convert\command might not be the correct path, when windows looks for context menu entries for a filetype, it first looks in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.EXT, then uses the default value it finds there: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\%defaultvaluefrom.EXT%\Shell\*
XP added a new key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations designed for non-primary actions where you don't care about the ProgId/Class (The l5xfile part)
MSDN documents all these registry paths and settings, see: File Types and Verbs and File Associations
One of my programs seems to be changing the Display Properties > Appearance > Effects > Show window contents while dragging setting to off every few hours.
I'm not sure exactly which program, or when it happens. I have a number of programs that seem like likely culprits - wallpaper rotators, software for multiple monitors, multiple virual desktops and switching, and a few others.
I am just thinking to create a little batch script to run periodically and set the setting back to on.
Does anyone know how to do this in windows? I'm using xp pro sp3.
Thanks!
The best option is to do this programmatically using the supported API. i haven't tested this, but it should do the trick:
SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETDRAGFULLWINDOWS,
TRUE,
NULL,
SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE | SPIF_SENDCHANGE)
You can use SPI_GETDRAGFULLWINDOWS to see if the the bit has been flipped to avoid unnecessarily triggering a WM_SETTINGCHANGE.
You can use RegMon to find the program that keeps changing your settings. Maybe that's a better start than hacking around it.
There is a simple and effective solution to this problem. In Notepad type the following lines :
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "DragFullWindows"="1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects\DragFullWindows] "CheckedValue"=dword:00000001 "UncheckedValue"=dword:00000001
Save the file as "Show Window Contents.reg" Double clicking this file and restarting will cure the problem permanently. Post a message if you find this useful.
Aravind Banerjee
It seems the registry setting which controls that preference is HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\DragFullWindows. You can read more about it here. However, trying it on my own computer does not register the change right away, so a batch script won't do it. You'll probably have to write a program to manipulate it using SystemParametersInfo(). You can pass it the SPI_SETDRAGFULLWINDOWS parameter. Here's a page explaining it more. Here's a page showing how to call it, albeit not for the same parameter.
I suspect it's kept in the registry - maybe [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] - "DragFullWindows"?
It would be easy to flip the registry setting back to "1" every hour or so with a batch file.