Page History: Useful Windows Registry Keys

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Page Revision: Fri, May 24, 2013, 8:05 AM

Table of Contents [Hide/Show]    Windows Explorer Context Menus for Files    Programs Run at OS Startup    Windows System Folders    Windows AutoRun Feature    MRU (Most-Recently Used) Lists    Miscellaneous

Windows Explorer Context Menus for Files¶

Key	Description
HKCR\.extension\(Default)	defines the ClassName for files with the specified extension
HKCR\ClassName	has a subkey for each additional command on the Explorer context menu. The name of the subkey is used as the caption for the menu selection
HKCR\ClassName\MenuCaption\command\(Default)	command line executed when the menu option is selected. Uses the %1 convention to specify the file name selected. Note: Do not use long file names for the executable. Instead, use the MS-DOS name.

Programs Run at OS Startup¶

Each entry under the following keys represent the Name and Executable file for apps to run when Windows starts.

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
  

Windows System Folders¶

The following registry entries are found within the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders registry key. Note that dragging and dropping any folder specified here to a new location in Windows Explorer will change the corresponding registry entry here. This is the preferred method of changing these entries.

Registry Entry	Sample Value
AppData	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Application Data
Cache	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Temporary Internet Files
Cookies	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Cookies
Desktop	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Desktop
Favorites	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Start Menu\Favorites
Fonts	C:\WINNT\Fonts
History	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\History
NetHood	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\NetHood
Personal	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Personal
PrintHood	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\PrintHood
Programs	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Start Menu\Programs
Recent	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Recent
SendTo	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\SendTo
Start Menu	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Start Menu
Startup	C:\WINNT\Profiles\pgj01\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Templates	C:\WINNT\ShellNew

Windows AutoRun Feature¶

Registry Folder	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\ or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\
Registry Key	NoDriveTypeAutorun (DWORD?)
Registry Values	Hex Value Decimal Value Bit (zero-based) Disables AutoRun on ... 0x1 1 0 drives of unknown type 0x4 4 2 removable drives 0x8 8 3 fixed drives 0x10 16 4 network drives 0x20 32 5 CD-ROM drives 0x40 64 6 RAM disks 0x80 128 7 drives of unknown type 0xFF 255 (n/a) all kinds of drives

MRU (Most-Recently Used) Lists¶

App	Description	Key	Values
Visual Studio 2005	Projects and Solutions	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\ProjectMRUList	File1, File2, ...

Miscellaneous¶

Item	Key	Description
COM+	HKLM\Software\Microsoft\COM3	This hive has many entries for the COM+ catalog
GetSetting and SaveSetting VB functions	HKCU\Software\VB and VBA Program Settings	this key has a subkey for each AppName submitted to the SaveSetting VBfunction
Drive Mappings	HKCU\Network	This key has one sub-key for each drive mapping on the system. Each sub-key has an entry called RemotePath (among others) to indicate the path the drive is mapped to.
Application Paths	HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\App Paths	This key has one sub-key for per application. The name of each sub-key is the short name of the EXE file (e.g., winword.exe). Each sub-key has the full path to the EXE file as its default entry.
Add/Remove Programs Listing	HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\ARPCache	This key has one sub-key per application installed. Some of them are GUIDs
Installed versions of .NET Framework	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP	This key has one sub-key for each version of the .NET framework installed
Internet Explorer menu bar visiblity	HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\AlwaysShowMenus (REG_DWORD)	If 1, menu bar is always visible; if 0 (zero), menu bar is visible only when user presses Alt key.
Registry Editor favorites	HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit\Favorites
Drive Mappings (Windows 7)	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2	This key contains a subkey for each drive mapping. Each subkey contains an entry called _LabelFromReg which can be edited much like renaming a drive mapping in Windows Explorer, but without the restriction on length.