Hidden Registry Setting for "Sendto" menu in window 7

The Send To menu in Windows allows you to quickly send a file to different locations including a floppy disk, CD-RW/DVD-RW, or to a third-party application. We’ve covered a few articles on the "Send To" menu before, and here are the three new and undocumented registry edits that can be used in Windows 7.

DelaySendToMenuBuild

By default when you right-click on a file or folder in Windows 7,  it enumerates the items in your Send To folder to build the Send To menu. By setting the DelaySendToMenuBuild DWORD value data to 1 you can change the default behavior, so that Send To menu entries are generated only when you click the "Send To" menu, rather than on every right-click.
Also, you may notice that the context menu pops up little bit faster than before.
DelaySendToMenuBuild (REG_DWORD value) is implemented in the following registry location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

NoSendTo

The NoSendTo value can be used to hide the "Send To" menu in the right-click menu for a file type. It’s implemented in the file type’s ProgID. For example, to hide the "Send To" menu for text files (.txt), you’ll have to create a NoSendTo (REG_SZ) value in this location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ txtfile

NoDrivesInSendToMenu

The Send To menu displays removable drives by default, as shown below:

By enabling the NoDrivesInSendToMenu (DWORD) value, you can hide drive-letters from the Send To menu without actually hiding the drives in Windows Explorer environment. This edit works in Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and is explained in this article and also here. It’s implemented in this registry location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

* You’ll need to logoff and login back for this registry edit to take effect.

Error "Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator" when you open the Registry Editor in Windows Vista

Symptom

When you attempt to start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) in your Windows Vista system, you may receive the following message:

Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator

Resolution

If the above error message is shown in a standalone system, then it may be a result of Malware infection. It is also possible that the DisableRegistryTools policy had been enabled by a third-party tweak program which you may be using. It's highly advisable to follow up with a complete system checkup for Virus and Malware, especially when you're unsure about the cause.

Note: If your system is connected to a domain, your network administrator may have enabled the DisableRegistryTools Policy setting. In that case, you'll need to contact the network administrator to relax this restriction, if need be.

Method 1 - Using Group Policy Editor

If you are using an edition of Windows Vista (Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions) which includes the Group Policy Editor, follow these steps:

• Click Start, type gpedit.msc in the Search box, and press ENTER
• Go to the following branch:

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | System

• Double-click Prevent access to registry editing tools
• Set it as Not Configured

Important: If it's already set to Not Configured, set it to Enabled and click Apply. Then repeat the steps and revert the setting back to Not Configured. This removes the registry based policy if set already.

Method 2

This method should work in all editions of Windows Vista.

• Download reg_enable.vbs , and save it to Desktop
• Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
• Switch to your Desktop directory by typing the following command, and then pressing ENTER:

cd /d %userprofile%\desktop

• Then, type the following command and press ENTER 

wscript.exe  reg_enable.vbs

• Type EXIT to close the Command Prompt window.

If everything worked fine, the DisableRegistryTools policy should have been removed by now. See if you're able to launch Regedit.exe now.

How To Renew a Computer's IP Address

In computer networking, each device connected to a network has an assigned number called an IP Address or Internet Protocol Address. This number is used so that devices, especially computers can be located and identified. There are various other network communication protocols. This system of addressing works for networks that use Internet Protocol communication. Some connectivity problems can arise from a computer having the wrong IP Address. This can happen through any number of hardware malfunctions or system configuration issues. One way to restore connectivity is to renew a computer’s IP Address. The following procedures apply to PCs with a Windows operating system.

1. Access the command prompt. Click on the Start menu and then click on the Run option. On this dialog box, type in ‘cmd’ (this stands for ‘command prompt’). Another window will open which looks like the old MS-DOS interface where you have to type in commands. Alternatively you can open this window by clicking on All Programs on the Start menu, hover over the Accessories option, and then clicking on Command Prompt.
2. Check the computer’s IP Address. On the Command Prompt window you’ll see something like this: ‘C:\Documents and Settings\ (computer name)>’ followed by a blinking cursor. Your computer’s name is what you assigned it when you installed Windows. Type ‘ipconfig/all’ on this line and then press Enter. A series of information will be displayed and among them will be your computer’s IP Address. You can then check with your Network Administrator or Internet Service Provider if the number displayed is the correct IP Address for your computer.
3. Release the current IP Address. The same command line with blinking cursor will appear after the displayed information. This time type in ‘ipconfig/release’ and press Enter. This command tells your computer to let go of the currently assigned IP Address.
4. Acquire a new IP Address. Now type in ‘ipconfig/renew’ and press the Enter key. This will tell your computer to acquire a new IP Address. After the procedure, close the Command Prompt window and check if your connectivity issue has been solved.

You can also check for other possible causes of the connectivity problem. Is your modem actually plugged in and turned on? Are all the indicator lights for Power, DSL, Internet and Ethernet green? If the DSL indicator is off, your service provider could possibly be having problems sending a signal.  If the Ethernet indicator is off, your computer’s LAN card could be disabled or malfunctioning. An enabled LAN card should show in the Network Connections folder with its status description stated as ‘connected’. Access this folder by clicking on the Start menu, hover over ‘Connect to’, and then choose ‘Show all connections’.

How To Set Up an Ethernet LAN

You don’t have to be a network engineer to set up an Ethernet LAN at home or in a small office. But it will require some knowledge of the hardware devices involved and a little planning.

1. Figure out your network wiring scheme. A LAN will involve numerous cable and power connections. You don’t want your home or office to look like a jungle of cables. First determine where the computers in the network will be positioned. Next find the central location for the router or hub and modem. The modem connects to the telephone line, the router/hub connects to the modem, then all the computers connect to the router/hub. Given this sequence, what would be the best place for the router/hub? You have to make sure that the Ethernet cables from computer to router/hub can be laid out neatly, running tightly along ceiling or floor and wall corners.
2. Connect the router or hub to the modem. The router/hub has one or two ports labeled ‘uplink’ or ‘modem’. These are the ports that connect the device to the modem. An Ethernet cable is used for this connection. Ethernet cables are also called RJ-45 network cables. Don’t confuse them with telephone line cables which have thinner wires and smaller jacks. Telephone line cables are only used for connecting the modem to the telephone box.
3. Connect the computers to the router or hub. Each computer needs to have a network interface card in order to be networked. This hardware component is now standard in all CPUs. They are either integrated into the motherboard or are PCI cards slotted into the motherboard. In either case their ports can be found at the back of the CPU tower. Their ports look exactly like the ones on the router/hub and thus also use Ethernet cables for connection. Each computer will need one cable running from it and plugged in to one port on the router/hub. The router/hub ports will be numerically labeled. It’s important to note which computer plugs in to which port on the router/hub so it will be easier to troubleshoot later on if connection issues arise.
4. Configure the computers’ network settings. You will have to configure each computer so that they are all recognized as part of the network. For Windows-based computers the settings are available on the Network Connections directory. Click on the ‘Connect to’ options from the Start menu and choose ‘Show all connections’ to open the Network Connections window. Choose the ‘Set up a home or small office network’ option displayed on the left panel. The Network Setup Wizard will open. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions on this Wizard. The important choices to make are to set the connection as TCP/IP and that the computer should ‘Obtain an IP address automatically’.

All the computers in a LAN share the bandwidth of a single Internet connection. Consider applying for a subscription package with a larger bandwidth to avoid any slow downs in operation.

How To Change your Startup Menu in Windows Vista

When you buy a new computer, chances are that it comes with various default programs and applications. Some of these are useful, such as antivirus software and security suites. Some are intrusive, though. In most cases, these take up memory, hard drive space, and—worse—these take time to load. These are often called “bloatware” or sometimes even “crapware” because they are installed by default, but you might not want them to start up with your computer.

Ideally, Windows Vista and Windows 7 will take about one and a half minutes to boot up from a cold start. This means that within that period of time, you should have a working desktop, and you can already launch applications that you want. However, with the bloatware that comes with new computers, some take two to three minutes to boot up. Some might even take longer. This can cause serious productivity losses if you want to be able to work right away, after hitting the power button.

You can either uninstall them from the Control Panel, but you can also remove them from being automatically started up. Fortunately, changing startup items in Windows Vista is simple, with the aid of a few built-in Windows applications.

• First, you can use the MSConfig application to change the startup items. This application is actually included with Windows XP onwards, so you can fine-tune or tweak your system as necessary.
• Click the Start menu and then “Run …” Then type in “msconfig.exe” and then press enter. Alternatively, you can hit Windows key + R to bring up the Run window.
• By default, User Account Control is active, so Windows Vista will ask you to confirm if you want to run MSConfig. Click “Continue” to give Vista permission to run the application.
• Click the “Startup” tab. You will see a list of applications that run with startup by default. The ones with checkmarks start when you open your computer. Uncheck the applications you want to disable. Then, click OK or Apply. You can exit without restarting if you don’t need to reboot for now.
• Additionally, you can also look for the Startup menu. Simply right-click on the Start Menu, and then click “Explore” or “Explore All.” Browse down to “Programs” and then “Startup.” Chances are, if you have already removed items using MSConfig, they will no longer be here.
• If you want applications to run when you start Windows, you can copy shortcuts to the Startup folder.
• If you want to re-enable applications with MSConfig, simply check the checkbox so they will run on startup.

When changing your startup items, take care not to remove essential components of your computer. For example, your antivirus software would usually be included in the startup items on MSConfig, unless it is listed as a Service. Disabling it on MSConfig will render your security weak upon startup. If you are unsure, try disabling the items on your MSConfig startup tab one at a time, so you can see the effect of taking out certain programs, before choosing to customize your startup.

How to find the IP address of the email sender in Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail, AOL, Outlook Express, etc

When you receive an email, you receive more than just the message. The email comes with headers that carry important information that can tell where the email was sent from and possibly who sent it. For that, you would need to find the IP address of the sender. The tutorial below can help you find the IP address of the sender.
Note that this will not work if the sender uses anonymous proxy servers.
Also, note that if you receive an email sent from a Gmail account through the web browser, you may not be able to find the real IP address because Google hides the real IP address of the sender. However, if someone sends you a mail from his/her Gmail account using a client like Thunderbird, Outlook or Apple Mail, you can find the originating IP address.
Lets begin this. First of all, the IP address is generally found in the headers enclosed beween square brackets, for instance, [129.130.1.1]

Finding IP address in Gmail

1. Log into your Gmail account with your username and password.
2. Open the mail.
3. To display the email headers,
   • Click on the inverted triangle beside Reply. Select Show Orginal.
4. You may copy the headers and use my IP address detection script to ease the process. Or if you want to manually find the IP address, proceed to 5.
5. Look for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ].

   Received: from [69.138.30.1] by web31804.mail.mud.yahoo.com

6. If you find more than one Received: from patterns, select the last one.
7. Track the IP address of the sender

Finding IP address in Yahoo! Mail

1. Log into your Yahoo! mail with your username and password.
2. Click on Inbox or whichever folder you have stored your mail.
3. Click on the Subject of the email you want to track and right-click. You should get a menu like this.
   
4. You may copy the headers and use my IP address detection script to ease the process. Or if you want to manually find the IP address, proceed to the next step.
5. Look for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ].
   That should most likely be the IP address of the sender.
   If there are many instances of Received: from with the IP address, select the IP address in the last pattern. If there are no instances of Received: from with the IP address, select the first IP address in X-Originating-IP.
6. Track the IP address of the sender

Finding IP address in Hotmail

Hotmail has been integrated with Windows Live, or vice-versa. And the format has changed. Here is how you find the IP address of the sender.

1. Log into your Hotmail/Windows Live account with your username and password.
2. Click on the Inbox link on the left.
3. Under the column that says "Sort by", find the email that you want to track and right-click on it. You should get a menu that has something like Mark as read, Mark as unread, and so on. The last option in the menu should be View message source. Select it.
   
4. You should see the email headers now.
5. You may copy the headers and use my IP address detection script to ease the process. Or if you want to manually find the IP address, proceed to step 6.
6. If you find a header with X-Originating-IP: followed by an IP address, that is the sender's IP address
7. If that doesn't work, look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
8. * If you have multiple Received: from headers, eliminate the ones that have proxy.anyknownserver.com.
9. Track the IP address of the sender

Finding IP address in AOL

1. Log into your AOL Mail AIM account with your username and password.
2. Open the email that you want to track.
3. On the top row, click on Action and in the drop-down menu, select View Message Source
   
4. It opens a new page with the headers. Once you have the headers, look for the IP address that follows X-AOL-IP:. That should be the IP address of the sender.
5. Track that IP address of the sender

How To Connect Two PCs with Serial Cable

Two PCs can connect to each other without the use of network interface cards. This method is called Direct Cable Connection (DCC) and can be established through the use of a serial cable.

Plug in the serial cable on the serial ports of the two PCs.
Serial ports are located at the back of a desktop PC's casing. Even modern computers that have Ethernet and USB have at least one serial port free. It looks like a rectangle with 9 pins in it. Check for these serial ports in both PCs and see what type they are. 9 pins mean a male connector while 9 holes means a female connector. Serial ports could also come in the 25 pin/hole variety. Use a serial cable that can fit in to the type of serial ports the two PCs have. Depending on the serial ports, you might need to add an adapter to the cable, possibly to change a female connector to male one or a 9 pin/hole to a 25 pin/hole connector.

Set up the Host computer.
The Host computer is the PC that has the needed information; it will be the source. Access the Control Panel then click on Network Connections. On the left-hand panel of the succeeding window, under the heading Network Tasks, choose the 'Create a new connection' option. The New Connection Wizard will open up and the following are the steps you have to take.

a) Choose 'Set up an advanced connection'. Click Next.
b) Choose 'Connect directly to another computer'. Click Next.
c) Choose 'Host' as the role of the computer. Click Next.
d) Choose 'Communications Port (COM1)' as the connection device (drop-down list). Click Next.
e) Choose a user from the list to establish who has access to the connection. Click Next then Finish.

You will notice that in the Network Connections folder you will now have a new item labeled 'Incoming Connections'.

Set up the Guest computer.
The Guest computer is the PC that needs to access and retrieve information from the Host. The steps for setting up the Guest computer is the same with the Host with some exceptions. When asked to choose a role the 'Guest' option must be clicked. Afterwards you will be asked to name the connection. Here you have to type in the name of the Host computer. After this, the following steps will be similar once again to the Host set up and you only have to pick the same choices. The new item that will appear on the Guest computer's Network Connections folder will be labeled 'Direct Connection'.

Once the connection and configuration is complete, the two PCs can now communicate and transfer files via the new connections available in their respective Network Connections folder.