MASTER THE WINDOWS 10 REGISTRY
Tweak your PC with the help of Regedit and Nick Peers
Tweak your PC and really push its performance with the help of Regedit.
The Registry has been a vital component of Windows for the last 20-odd years. It’s a central database, where all kinds of settings and preferences are stored, and not just by Windows, either. The vast majority of applications installed on your PC store their own data in the Registry, too, as do many hardware devices.
In this feature, we’ll examine how the Registry is constructed, plus reveal how you can access its data—not just to view its contents, but also to tweak settings. Why do this? It all boils down to personal preference, and the fact that Windows is built with a wide range of hardware in mind, so many settings are configured to just work, rather than push your PC’s performance, or give you granular control over various aspects of how it works.
The Registry is also a useful beast for those unhappy with how Windows 10 looks and operates—that’s because lurking behind some of the less appealing parts of the new user interface are settings you can tweak that restore classic functionality. We’ll examine some of these tweaks in this feature. We’ll also reveal a number of tweaks that may help you boost your gaming performance, too, plus how you can use the Registry to tweak various security and privacy settings that are normally reserved for Windows 10 Professional users.
All of this sounds frightfully (or delightfully) meddlesome, so it’s a good idea to back up your Registry before you start to mess around—we’ll reveal what you need to do (plus how to restore your backup if things go wrong). Finally, jumping around different parts of the Registry can be time-consuming, so we’ll reveal how you can quickly build scripts using Notepad to change multiple parts of the Registry with relative ease.
Let’s open with a bit of Registry 101. The Registry is made up of a group of files called “hives,” which are stored in two separate folders on your hard drive: “Windows > System32 > Config” for system-wide settings, and your personal User folder for settings associated specifically with your user account.
Each hive consists of a different set of preferences and configuration data—for example, the system-wide software settings are stored in a file called SOFTWARE. This information is organized into sub-folders known as “keys.” Each key contains one or more “values” with their associated “value data,” which are the actual configuration settings for your PC.
There are numerous types of value, depending on the data they contain. The most common include REG_ DWORD values, which contain binary or hexadecimal numbers in 32-bit format (the 64-bit equivalent is REG_QWORD), and REG_SZ, which contains text-like drive labels, context menu options, or the path to a particular folder or file on your hard drive.
Whenever Windows, a program, or hardware device needs certain settings or information, it consults the Registry for the specific values it needs, enabling it to function correctly. These keys, sub-keys, and values are usually added when the software or hardware is first installed, and organized in such a way as to be accessible (many software and Windows settings are found inside the HKEY_CURRENT_USER SOFTWARE key, for example).
Access and edit the Registry
The best tool for accessing the Registry is Registry Editor (regedit.exe). This is built into Windows, and has all the tools you need for editing the Registry. The quickest way to access it is by pressing Win-R, or typing “regedit”and hitting Enter, or you can open the Windows folder and create a shortcut to regedit.exe from there, for pinning wherever you want. Regedit naturally requires administrator access, so click “Yes” when prompted after launching it.
You’ll see a two-paned window—in the left are the keys and sub-keys, while the right-hand window displays the values currently associated with the selected key. In terms of Windows and application settings, the best key to start looking inside is the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key. Doubleclick this, and you’ll see its sub-keys appear. Double-click one of these, and its sub-keys will appear, and so on, and so forth. Select a key to see its associated values appear in the right-hand window.
Navigating the Registry can be a timeconsuming process as you move between keys, sub-keys, and values. One way to
speed up access to frequently viewed subkeys is to make use of Regedit’s Favorites feature—select the key you want easy access to, and choose “Favorites > Add to Favorites.” By default, the sub-key name is given as its entry—you might want to tweak this to make it easier to link (tip: use abbreviations like HKLM for HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE to keep things relatively short), and click “OK.” In future, jump back to the key by selecting it from the Favorites menu.
There are other useful shortcuts when navigating Registry Editor. For instance, open a key containing dozens of sub-keys, and you can quickly jump to one of these by typing the first two or three letters of its name. Or use the cursor keys to navigate around the Registry, using the left arrow to collapse previously opened sub-keys.
Tweak Windows 10
Many Registry tweaks can be performed outside of Registry Editor, simply by using Windows’ own tools and dialog boxes— for example, choosing whether or not to show hidden files is best done from File Explorer’s “Options” dialog (select the “View” tab). With this in mind, we’re going to focus on tweaks you can’t make using Windows’ own tools.
Let’s start by creating a Registry value that enables the hidden Dark Theme in Windows 10, which provides light text on a dark background for those who need it. This will change all widgets, menus, and apps such as Edge and Mail, and can easily be toggled on or off as required.
First, browse to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Themes > Personalize
If “Personalize” doesn’t exist, right-click the “Themes” key, and choose “New > Key” to create it. Once done, select “Personalize” in the left-hand pane, then right-click on some blank space in the right-hand pane, and choose “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.” Name the value “AppsUseLightTheme,” then double-click it, and verify its value is 0 (it should be by default). Next, you need to switch to the corresponding folder in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch—the swiftest way to do this is to right-click the “Personalize” key, and choose “Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.” Once there, create “AppsUseLightTheme” there, too, again with a value of 0.
Conventional wisdom tells you to reboot your PC (or log off Windows) to enable most tweaks, but in this case, the change is immediate—just click “Start > Settings” to see the new theme in action. How do you undo this particular tweak? You have two options: one, simply delete both values you created, or you can double-click each one in turn, and change them to 1, enabling you to switch back and forth easily.
When you are expected to reboot, try simply restarting the Explorer process first. To do this, right-click “Task Manager,” click “More details” if necessary, then scroll down to the bottom of the “Processes” tab, where you’ll find “Explorer” in the “Windows Processes” section. Right-click “Explorer,” and choose “Restart,” and the tweak should—in most cases—be applied.
More great tweaks
The next tweak enables you to increase the transparency on the Taskbar. Go to HKLM (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Advanced, and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value called “UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency.” Give it a value of 1, then select “Start > Settings > Personalization > Colors,” and flick the “Make Start, taskbar, and Action Center transparent” switch on (or off and on again if it’s already enabled) to see the tweak in action. Again, changing the value to 0, or deleting the value, will remove the tweak.
The next three tweaks enable you to restore various Taskbar notification area user interfaces from Windows 7 and 8.1. First, the volume control: Browse to HKLM > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion, then create a key called “MTCUVC” under “CurrentVersion.” From here, create a new DWORD value called “EnableMtcUvc,” and set its value to 0.
To restore the Windows 7 classic UI for both Date and Time, and Battery, browse to HKLM > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > ImmersiveShell. Restore the UIs by creating two DWORD values called “UseWin32TrayClockExperience” and “UseWin32BatteryFlyout” respectively, then set their values to 1.
Don’t like the way Windows has removed balloon notifications in favor of slide-in “toasts”? Go to HKCU (HKEY_ CURRENT_USER) > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows >
Explorer, create a new DWORD value called “EnableLegacyBalloonNotifications” and give it a value of 1.
Want to hide selected user folders from view when browsing “This PC”? Browse to HKLM > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > FolderDescriptions. You’ll see a string of strangely named keys, each pointing to a different shell folder. Restrict your search to those keys with “” next to them, indicating they have sub-keys. Select each one in turn, and use the “Name” value to help identify them as Local Pictures, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, and Videos folders—the “Local” reference confirms they’re your personal user folders. Expand the key and select the “PropertyBag” key inside it. You’ll see a REG_SZ value called “ThisPCPolicy” in the right-hand pane. Double-click this and change it from “Show” to “Hide.” This will hide the folder in “This PC” view after you’ve restarted Explorer.
Add options to context menu
Save time moving and copying files by adding two options to the context menu that appears when you right-click a file or folder. Browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > AllFilesystemObjects > Shellex > ContextMenuHandlers, then create two sub-keys beneath this called “Move To” and “Copy To” respectively. Select the “Move To” key, then double-click the “(Default)” value and change it to: {C2FBB631-297111D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}. Now doubleclick “(Default)” under the “Copy To” key, and change it to: {C2FBB630-2971-11D1A18C-00C04FD75D13}. The change is
immediate—right-click a file or folder in File Explorer to see the options appear.
The following tweak makes it easy to open files in Notepad to view and edit. Browse to HKEY_CLASSES ROOT > * > Shell. Create a new sub-key called “Open with Notepad,” and create another sub-key inside that called “command.” With “command” selected, double-click “(Default),” and change its value to “notepad.exe %1.” If you have another text editor installed in your Program Files folder, you can use that instead—for example, “notepad++.exe.” Change the “Open with…” sub-key’s name to suit—it’s what’s displayed on the context menu when you right-click a file.
Boost performance
Registry tweaks aren’t just about wresting back control over the interface—dig deeply, and you can even make certain aspects of Windows run faster, too. And we’re not just talking about visual tricks, such as making menu entries appear quicker (although if you’d like to do that, navigate to HKCU > Control Panel > Desktop, and experiment with the “MenuShowDelay” value—try a setting of 20, and reboot to feel the effects).
Windows 10 has a built-in delay before it starts loading programs from the Startup folder, to give itself time to load. If you’re running Windows on a fast PC, you can try eliminating the delay to see if it speeds up the overall startup time. Navigate to HKCU > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer. Create a new sub-key called “Serialize,” then create a new DWORD value inside “Serialize” called “StartupDelayInMSec.” Leave its value set at 0, reboot, and see if it makes a difference (remove it if it slows things down).
The following tweaks may help speed up your gaming performance. The first may reduce latency and ping in some games. Browse to HKLM > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services > Tcpip > Parameters > Interfaces. You’ll see a list of keys relating to different network interfaces—identify your Wi-Fi or Ethernet adapter from the IPAddress value, then create three new DWORD values: “TcpAckFrequency,” “TCPNoDelay,” and “TcpDelAckTicks.” Set the first two to 1, and leave the last one at 0.
Next, try disabling network throttling. Browse to HKLM > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > Multimedia > SystemProfile. Doubleclick or create a new DWORD called “NetworkThrottlingIndex,” and set its Hexadecimal value to ffffffff. While here, edit (or create) the “SystemResponsiveness” DWORD value, but set this to 00000000 for maximum streaming.
Browse from here to the Tasks > Games sub-key. Verify “GPU Priority” is set to 8, and change the Priority value to 6, which will throw more system resources at games.
Find more tweaks
You’ll find the Internet is littered with Registry tweaks for you to try, but always take precautions before you follow any—see the box on backing up. Tweaks from older versions of Windows (particularly Windows 8 and 8.1) should also work in Windows 10, but it’s not always guaranteed.
When surfing the net for useful tweaks— particularly when it comes to securing your PC—you’ll often find a reference to gpedit. msc, or Group Policy Editor. This handy tool makes it easy to set various security and privacy policies in Windows, and while it’s aimed at enterprise and business users, it’s often handy for us mere mortals, too.
The only problem with gpedit.msc is that it’s not available in Home editions of Windows. But don’t worry, because Group Policy Editor is a neat front end for various Registry settings—all you need to know is which tweak applies to which Registry setting, and thanks to a handy Excel file from Microsoft, you can do just that. Download the Windows 10 ADMX spreadsheet.xlsx file from www.microsoft.com/en-us/ download/details.aspx?id=25250 for the translation you need.