Hacking The Windows Registry

Info

Level: Beginner
Presenter: Eli the Computer Guy
Date Created: January 23, 2012
Length of Class: 23 Minutes
Tracks

Hacking
Computer Security /Integrity
Computer Repair
Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of Windows system administration. (You should know how to reinstall Windows in case you kill your computer.)
Purpose of Class

This class teaches students how to easily modify the registry to enable and disable important Windows tools and change system configurations.
Chapters

Introduction (00:00)
Overview (02:06)
Demonstration (09:08)
Final Thoughts (21:15)
Class Notes

Introduction
The Registry contains 90% of the configuration information for Windows and installed programs
The Registry can be easily changed using the REGEDIT tool
For basic tasks you can "paint by numbers". Simply do a Google search for what you are tryng to accomplish, and follow the instructions EXACTLY.
Overview
Settings in the Registry are called KEYS
There are different types of KEYS, but you don't have to worry about it (Paint by Numbers)
The Operating System will respond to new keys that you create that may not already be in the Registry.
You can export Keys to .REG files. These are Text files that can be opened and edited in Notepad
Double Clicking a .REG file will make the Operating System try to Import the Keys into the Registry
You can have multiple Keys in one .REG file
Final Thoughts...
BE CAREFUL / READY TO REINSTALL YOUR OS! It is VERY easy to crash your computer when you are playing with core Windows Registry Keys.
You can EXPORT/ IMPORT the entire registry to act as a Backup, BUT this may not always fix something you broke...
The Registry Key for Disabling the Task Manager is:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"DisableTaskMgr"=dword:00000001

To enable the Task manager again either DELETE the key or change dword:00000001 to dword:00000000

Resources

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