Entries tagged with registry - Channel 10

Use Your Zune Remote to Control Windows Media Center

Sarah Perez — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:04:00 GMT

Did you know you can Zune wireless remote to control your Windows Media Center PC? Although not designed for this purpose, a simple registry hack is all the stands in the way of turning your Zune remote into one that controls Media Center, too.

Recently posted to LifeHacker, this tip is worth sharing:

Open the registry. Scroll down toComputer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\HidIr\Remotes\745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da
Find the REG_DWORD named CodeSetNum0 and change the value to Zero.
Reboot the PC and enjoy.

By default, Windows listens to channel 1 and the Zune remote is channel 8. This hack works by setting the ID to 0 which allows Windows to listen to all the IR ID’s. It’s been tested in Windows 7 and not in other versions, but there’s no reason to believe that it wouldn’t work in those, too. Let us know if you try it!

How to Disable InPrivate Mode in IE8

Sarah Perez — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:35:00 GMT

InPrivate mode in Internet Explorer 8 is the new feature that allows a web user to surf anonymously, leaving no traces of their activity behind. Designed for privacy conscious users, surfing in InPrivate leaves no record of sites visited in your Internet History and it erases any cookies, URLs visited, usernames and passwords, and temporary internet files that would normally accumulate during a browsing session.

However, there are some people who would probably like to shut of InPrivate mode for good. Parents, for example, may not want their children to have access to this feature. Also, in an enterprise setting, I.T. administrators may want to restrict their users from going “InPrivate,” especially in companies where all internet communication has to be recorded for legal purposes.

To disable the setting, it’s as simple as making a change to the registry key located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Privacy\EnableInPrivateMode.

When enabled (the default), the dword value is set to 00000001. To disable InPrivate mode, just change that last “1” to a “0” as in 00000000.

On some systems that key may not exist, so you’ll need to first create it. To do so, follow these instructions (courtesy of Grand Stream Dreams):

Logon to your machine with an account that has administrative rights.
Right-click on your desktop and select "New"..."Text Document".
Rename it to something like "IE8SafeMode.reg" (Note: change the file extension from .txt to .reg)
Save the change and tell Windows you know you changed the file extension name.
Right-click on the file you just made and select "Edit". It should open in notepad.
Copy the following text (all three lines) and paste it into that Notepad file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Privacy]
"EnableInPrivateBrowsing"=dword:00000000
Save the file and then close it.
When you double-click the file it will ask you if you want to add those changes into the Registry. Select Yes.
Then reopen IE8 and you should now have InPrivate mode disabled.

Tip - Make Command Line Easier to Read

Sarah Perez — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:31:00 GMT

I just saw this tip for developers over on the IEBlog, but I think it's safe to say that is handy for anyone who uses command line whether they are developers, net admins, or just your average geek. The tip involves how to turn on the Consolas font, a ClearType font) for use in the CMD.EXE window. You don't get as many lines on a screen, but this font is much easier to read. Make the change is really not too hard, just follow these steps below:

Launch the command prompt (in Vista, launch it with elevated privileges)
Type in the command window: reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont" /v 00 /d Consolas
Logoff
When you log back in, Consolas will be an option in the “Command Prompt” Properties for you to choose.

The IEBlog has screenshots showing the before and after so you can see what a difference this makes. Save your eyes and make the switch!