Making easier use of the registry

  • Thread starter Thread starter mm
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mm

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Is there an easier way to manipulate the registry than I've been led
to believe.

In particular, I have start up programs that I' not using now but may
use next month. Their presence slows down startup (on my old slow
laptop that I just bought second-hand)

Rather than export and later have to import, I thought I could modify
t he value by putting soething in front of the program name.

In JCL for mainframes, IEFBR14 was a program that did nothing. Is
there anything like that for PCs.

For example, I have two wireless modems, each with its own software,
one for public hot spots, and a new one I had to buy for hotspots that
require a password. Level b vs. Level g.

But where I am living this month, one doesn't work at all and the
other one rarely does, so I have to plug into the cable directly.

Nonethess "primsta.exe Start" starts and loads every time I start up,
plus software for the other one two.

Rather than export the line in the registry that causes them to load,
I thought I could prefix them with something that would cause the rest
of the line also to not do anything, as if the rest of the line was
parameters for the first part.

dummy program primsta.exe Start

Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

mm wrote:
> Is there an easier way to manipulate the registry than I've been led
> to believe.
>
> In particular, I have start up programs that I' not using now but
> may use next month. Their presence slows down startup (on my old
> slow laptop that I just bought second-hand)

Start
Run
msconfig
Startup tab

Uncheck those you want to disable. None are needed for Windows, some
may be needed for any add on cards/hardware.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:12:01 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>Is there an easier way to manipulate the registry than I've been led
>to believe.
>
>In particular, I have start up programs that I' not using now but may
>use next month. Their presence slows down startup (on my old slow
>laptop that I just bought second-hand)
>
>Rather than export and later have to import, I thought I could modify
>t he value by putting soething in front of the program name.
>
>In JCL for mainframes, IEFBR14 was a program that did nothing. Is
>there anything like that for PCs.
>
>For example, I have two wireless modems, each with its own software,
>one for public hot spots, and a new one I had to buy for hotspots that
>require a password. Level b vs. Level g.
>
>But where I am living this month, one doesn't work at all and the
>other one rarely does, so I have to plug into the cable directly.
>
>Nonethess "primsta.exe Start" starts and loads every time I start up,
>plus software for the other one two.
>
>Rather than export the line in the registry that causes them to load,
>I thought I could prefix them with something that would cause the rest
>of the line also to not do anything, as if the rest of the line was
>parameters for the first part.
>
>dummy program primsta.exe Start
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>Thanks a lot

What I do in cases like yours is disable the respective entries in the
Run key in the registry via the Startup tab in msconfig.exe. I then
create a desktop shortcut which points to a .bat file containing the
aformentioned entries.

In your case the .bat file could look like this:

@echo off
choice Do you want to run primsta.exe
if not errorlevel 2 start /m path1\primsta.exe Start
choice Do you want to run program2
if not errorlevel 2 start /m path2\program2 arg1 arg2 ... argn

Alternatively you could have a separate shortcut and .bat file for
each program.

For a description of the options for the "start" command, type the
following at a DOS prompt:

start /?

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 15:37:08 -0500, "dadiOH" <dadiOH@guesswhere.com>
wrote:

>mm wrote:
>> Is there an easier way to manipulate the registry than I've been led
>> to believe.
>>
>> In particular, I have start up programs that I' not using now but
>> may use next month. Their presence slows down startup (on my old
>> slow laptop that I just bought second-hand)
>
>Start
> Run
> msconfig
> Startup tab

That's great. Exactly what I need. I wasn't in the room when it
started up this time, but I'll bet it was a lot faster and I also have
more ram left now.

I wonder if I might have fewer problems with msg32 or msgsvr32, or
whatever it is called. It goes to "not responding" pretty often.

>Uncheck those you want to disable. None are needed for Windows, some

Not even rundll?

>may be needed for any add on cards/hardware.

Thanks a lot. This is great.
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:13:10 +1100, Franc Zabkar
<fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote:

>
>>For example, I have two wireless modems, each with its own software,
>>one for public hot spots, and a new one I had to buy for hotspots that
>>require a password. Level b vs. Level g.
>>
>>But where I am living this month, one doesn't work at all and the
>>other one rarely does, so I have to plug into the cable directly.
>>
>>Nonethess "primsta.exe Start" starts and loads every time I start up,
>>plus software for the other one two.
>>
>>Rather than export the line in the registry that causes them to load,
>>I thought I could prefix them with something that would cause the rest
>>of the line also to not do anything, as if the rest of the line was
>>parameters for the first part.
>>
>>dummy program primsta.exe Start
>>
>>Any suggestions?
>>
>>Thanks a lot
>
>What I do in cases like yours is disable the respective entries in the
>Run key in the registry via the Startup tab in msconfig.exe. I then
>create a desktop shortcut which points to a .bat file containing the
>aformentioned entries.
>
>In your case the .bat file could look like this:
>
> @echo off
> choice Do you want to run primsta.exe
> if not errorlevel 2 start /m path1\primsta.exe Start
> choice Do you want to run program2
> if not errorlevel 2 start /m path2\program2 arg1 arg2 ... argn

This is great. I didn't even know about the choice command.

>Alternatively you could have a separate shortcut and .bat file for
>each program.
>
>For a description of the options for the "start" command, type the
>following at a DOS prompt:
>
> start /?

I did this a few years ago but everything I learn drifted away.

This is great too. I signed up for another month living here, but
it's very cheap (3 guys to a room) and I can afford to go other places
while I have the room here. Probably the first night I'm somewhere
else, I'll steal your code and set it up like you have it.

Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?

Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?

**like my two wireless programs do.

Thanks a lot.

>- Franc Zabkar
>--
>Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

While MSCONFIG is the proper tool for your needs, particularly if you are
constantly changing the startup profile, if you are only and regularly
switching from one fixed profile to another then a pair of REG files might
be more useful and efficient. If you want to go through the procedures, just
ask.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> wrote in message
news:3r0il39vp1av1r4mr9krg1e63hesc9uhc7@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:13:10 +1100, Franc Zabkar
> <fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>>For example, I have two wireless modems, each with its own software,
>>>one for public hot spots, and a new one I had to buy for hotspots that
>>>require a password. Level b vs. Level g.
>>>
>>>But where I am living this month, one doesn't work at all and the
>>>other one rarely does, so I have to plug into the cable directly.
>>>
>>>Nonethess "primsta.exe Start" starts and loads every time I start up,
>>>plus software for the other one two.
>>>
>>>Rather than export the line in the registry that causes them to load,
>>>I thought I could prefix them with something that would cause the rest
>>>of the line also to not do anything, as if the rest of the line was
>>>parameters for the first part.
>>>
>>>dummy program primsta.exe Start
>>>
>>>Any suggestions?
>>>
>>>Thanks a lot
>>
>>What I do in cases like yours is disable the respective entries in the
>>Run key in the registry via the Startup tab in msconfig.exe. I then
>>create a desktop shortcut which points to a .bat file containing the
>>aformentioned entries.
>>
>>In your case the .bat file could look like this:
>>
>> @echo off
>> choice Do you want to run primsta.exe
>> if not errorlevel 2 start /m path1\primsta.exe Start
>> choice Do you want to run program2
>> if not errorlevel 2 start /m path2\program2 arg1 arg2 ... argn
>
> This is great. I didn't even know about the choice command.
>
>>Alternatively you could have a separate shortcut and .bat file for
>>each program.
>>
>>For a description of the options for the "start" command, type the
>>following at a DOS prompt:
>>
>> start /?
>
> I did this a few years ago but everything I learn drifted away.
>
> This is great too. I signed up for another month living here, but
> it's very cheap (3 guys to a room) and I can afford to go other places
> while I have the room here. Probably the first night I'm somewhere
> else, I'll steal your code and set it up like you have it.
>
> Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
> suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
> don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?
>
> Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?
>
> **like my two wireless programs do.
>
> Thanks a lot.
>
>>- Franc Zabkar
>>--
>>Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
>
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:32:27 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
>suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
>don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?
>
>Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?
>
>**like my two wireless programs do.

I have dozens of disabled programs in my msconfig startup tab. All but
one are .exe files. The exception is a .pif which points to a .bat
file. This .pif is a shortcut in the "C:\WIN98SE\Start
Menu\Programs\StartUp" directory.

So, yes, a counterexample would be helpful. :-)

I haven't tested this, but if the Run key understands file
associations, eg if filename.doc launches Wordpad or some other app,
then try to expand that line in your .bat file, eg ...

start /m "C:\Program Files\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE" filename.doc

Note that quotes are required if the filespec contains spaces.

BTW, I use my technique to launch my scanner software on demand
instead of having it run automatically at every boot. Ditto for my
camera software. I also have a way to prevent annoying applications
such as Real Player and Avast from automatically injecting themselves
into the registry's Run key. I do this by temporarily replacing the
offending EXEs with a do-nothing 2-byte dummy during the boot process.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

Sorry to stick my nose in, but why wouldn't you want your AV (AVAST!) to run
at startup? I know it slows things down a bit but is it wise to risk a
virus by not having it running at all times? I always have AVAST! and ZA
firewall running. Not meant to criticize -- just curious.

============================================================================
================
"Franc Zabkar" <fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote in message
news:1jcjl3tm8knmklbea4f7bt7frv3k2b8uks@4ax.com...
On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:32:27 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
>suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
>don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?
>
>Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?
>
>**like my two wireless programs do.

I have dozens of disabled programs in my msconfig startup tab. All but
one are .exe files. The exception is a .pif which points to a .bat
file. This .pif is a shortcut in the "C:\WIN98SE\Start
Menu\Programs\StartUp" directory.

So, yes, a counterexample would be helpful. :-)

I haven't tested this, but if the Run key understands file
associations, eg if filename.doc launches Wordpad or some other app,
then try to expand that line in your .bat file, eg ...

start /m "C:\Program Files\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE" filename.doc

Note that quotes are required if the filespec contains spaces.

BTW, I use my technique to launch my scanner software on demand
instead of having it run automatically at every boot. Ditto for my
camera software. I also have a way to prevent annoying applications
such as Real Player and Avast from automatically injecting themselves
into the registry's Run key. I do this by temporarily replacing the
offending EXEs with a do-nothing 2-byte dummy during the boot process.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007 21:05:50 -0800, "bobster" <fauxie@bogus.net> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>Sorry to stick my nose in, but why wouldn't you want your AV (AVAST!) to run
>at startup? I know it slows things down a bit but is it wise to risk a
>virus by not having it running at all times? I always have AVAST! and ZA
>firewall running. Not meant to criticize -- just curious.

I have three antivirus programs (AVG, Avast, PC-cillin). Avast is much
slower than the other two, so I use it only occasionally to confirm
that the others haven't missed anything. PC-cillin no longer
officially supports Win98, but I get around this by manually
downloading the pattern file updates. I'm stuck with an outdated scan
engine, though.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry


"bobster" <fauxie@bogus.net> wrote in message
news:%23W$UZgVOIHA.5140@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Sorry to stick my nose in, but why wouldn't you want your AV (AVAST!) to
run
> at startup? I know it slows things down a bit but is it wise to risk a
> virus by not having it running at all times? I always have AVAST! and ZA
> firewall running. Not meant to criticize -- just curious.
>

If he's like me, I never "Run" programs from the net but instead always
download the file. After download, I then check it manually before executing
it. Same with attachments, I save them as a file, then check before opening.

>
============================================================================
> ================
> "Franc Zabkar" <fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote in message
> news:1jcjl3tm8knmklbea4f7bt7frv3k2b8uks@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:32:27 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> put
> finger to keyboard and composed:
>
> >Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
> >suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
> >don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?
> >
> >Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?
> >
> >**like my two wireless programs do.
>
> I have dozens of disabled programs in my msconfig startup tab. All but
> one are .exe files. The exception is a .pif which points to a .bat
> file. This .pif is a shortcut in the "C:\WIN98SE\Start
> Menu\Programs\StartUp" directory.
>
> So, yes, a counterexample would be helpful. :-)
>
> I haven't tested this, but if the Run key understands file
> associations, eg if filename.doc launches Wordpad or some other app,
> then try to expand that line in your .bat file, eg ...
>
> start /m "C:\Program Files\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE" filename.doc
>
> Note that quotes are required if the filespec contains spaces.
>
> BTW, I use my technique to launch my scanner software on demand
> instead of having it run automatically at every boot. Ditto for my
> camera software. I also have a way to prevent annoying applications
> such as Real Player and Avast from automatically injecting themselves
> into the registry's Run key. I do this by temporarily replacing the
> offending EXEs with a do-nothing 2-byte dummy during the boot process.
>
> - Franc Zabkar
> --
> Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
>
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:32:53 +1100, Franc Zabkar
<fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote:

>On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:32:27 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> put
>finger to keyboard and composed:
>
>>Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
>>suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
>>don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?
>>
>>Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?
>>
>>**like my two wireless programs do.
>
>I have dozens of disabled programs in my msconfig startup tab. All but
>one are .exe files. The exception is a .pif which points to a .bat
>file. This .pif is a shortcut in the "C:\WIN98SE\Start
>Menu\Programs\StartUp" directory.
>
>So, yes, a counterexample would be helpful. :-)

You' re right. I didn't have in mind any of these programs.

Rather, what I was thinking of were *.vxd files, that I think I see
referred to in win.ini or system.ini. Sometimes either I've thought
such "files" never "execute" or I thought they did and were cancelled
later, or when I do step-by-step startup, the start up stalls on one
of those files.

So I wanted to be able to "execute" one of them if it didn't, or if it
crashed. And if the start up stalled on one, I wanted to be able to
try the line again for testing.

But I don't know what happens to a .vxd file.
>
>I haven't tested this, but if the Run key understands file
>associations, eg if filename.doc launches Wordpad or some other app,
>then try to expand that line in your .bat file, eg ...
>
> start /m "C:\Program Files\Accessories\WORDPAD.EXE" filename.doc
>
>Note that quotes are required if the filespec contains spaces.
>
>BTW, I use my technique to launch my scanner software on demand
>instead of having it run automatically at every boot. Ditto for my
>camera software. I also have a way to prevent annoying applications
>such as Real Player and Avast from automatically injecting themselves
>into the registry's Run key. I do this by temporarily replacing the
>offending EXEs with a do-nothing 2-byte dummy during the boot process.
>
>- Franc Zabkar
 
Re: Making easier use of the registry

On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:40:36 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

>On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:32:53 +1100, Franc Zabkar
><fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:32:27 -0500, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.coim> put
>>finger to keyboard and composed:
>>
>>>Not every Run line in the registry, win.ini, or system.ini seems
>>>suitable for Start or Run style execution, iirc???. At least they
>>>don't end in exe** or any extension that I know. Am I off base here?
>>>
>>>Should I find examples, or do you know what I mean?
>>>
>>>**like my two wireless programs do.
>>
>>I have dozens of disabled programs in my msconfig startup tab. All but
>>one are .exe files. The exception is a .pif which points to a .bat
>>file. This .pif is a shortcut in the "C:\WIN98SE\Start
>>Menu\Programs\StartUp" directory.
>>
>>So, yes, a counterexample would be helpful. :-)
>
>You' re right. I didn't have in mind any of these programs.
>
>Rather, what I was thinking of were *.vxd files, that I think I see
>referred to in win.ini or system.ini. Sometimes either I've thought
>such "files" never "execute" or I thought they did and were cancelled
>later, or when I do step-by-step startup, the start up stalls on one
>of those files.
>
>So I wanted to be able to "execute" one of them if it didn't, or if it
>crashed. And if the start up stalled on one, I wanted to be able to
>try the line again for testing.
>
>But I don't know what happens to a .vxd file.

VxD files are device drivers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VxD

They appear to be loaded from this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD

You can see the loaded drivers in the Software Environment of
msinfo32.exe.

If you have a problem with a particular VxD, then I suppose you could
toggle it on or off in autoexec.bat as follows, unless that particular
module has been incorporated into vmm32.vxd (???).

@echo off
choice Do you want to load filename.vxd
if errorlevel 2 goto disable
if exist c:\windows\system\filename.vx_ ren
c:\windows\system\filename.vx_ filename.vxd
goto next
:disable
if exist c:\windows\system\filename.vxd ren
c:\windows\system\filename.vxd filename.vx_
:next

Any line that does not begin with a space has wrapped.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
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