Disabled Task Manager & Registry Editing

Let’s face it. All of us have been infected by virus before. Even if you have anti-virus installed, you can still be infected by a new or custom virus that is not recognized by your anti-virus. Sometimes after removing the virus completely from our system, you’ll face new problems such as you can no longer bring up Windows Task Manager from CTRL+ALT+DEL. You get the error message saying “Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator”.
You think that it’s easy to fix this problem by going to Registry Editor but you can’t! You get the error message “Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator“.
Folder Options and even Show Hidden Files & Folder is disabled! How frustrating! Don’t worry, here’s how to restore your Windows Task Manager, Registry Editor, Folder Options and Show hidden files & folders.
This problem is most commonly caused by a virus called “Brontok“. Brontok virus will make some changes to the system restrictions in order to hide itself from easy detection and also from easy cleaning.

Here’s a free tool called Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT) which is able to re-enables all what the virus had previously disabled, and gives you back the control over your own computer.
Remove Restrictions Tool is able to re-enable:
- Registry Tools (regedit)
- Ctrl+Alt+Del
- Folder Options
- Show Hidden Files

Small and easy to use. Make sure you boot in to Safe Mode to use Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT). Just click on the buttons and it’ll do it’s job.

[ Download Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT) ]

A Lot Of Virus Creates An Auto Run

A lot of virus creates an autorun.inf file at the root of your local drives and USB flash drive. The reason for this is when you open My Computer and tries to access a drive, it will run the virus to infect your computer. Very often anti-virus is able to remove executable virus from system but not autorun.inf. This is because autorun.inf that’s located at the root of your drive is only an instruction file that tells Windows what to automatically run when you access the drive from My Computer.

So even after the virus being cleaned, you’ll find that you’re unable to access your C drive from My Computer. Some people double click C drive, a search window will appear. For some, it’d say that it cannot find the script or file to run. Most common of all, when double click C drive, it gives you an option to choose a program to open.

For computer experts, one look and they’ll know they had to remove the autorun.inf file from C drive. Usually the autorun.inf cannot be easily deleted because it has system, read-only, and hidden file attribute. You can go to command prompt to remove the file attributes and then delete it. Sounds easy for an advance computer user but might be tough for a novice. Here’s how to easily double clicking C drive at My Computer and not opening problem.

Disk Heal is a useful tool that restores the condition of your storage device after being infected by a virus. Disk Heal is a useful tool that performs many functions. Initially it was a program which fixed disk problems that occur after a virus has been removed with a few additional features like changing the icon of a drive. Currently it performs various other tweaks as well. More will be added soon.

To fix your C drive problem, download, install and run Disk Heal. Make sure you have administrator privileges. Click the Fix button, type the drive letter and click Fix.

Disk Heal is FREE and portable that works on Windows NT, 2000, XP and Vista. After installing Disk Heal, go to C:\Program Files\Disk Heal\Disk Heal v1.47 and copy the Disk Heal.exe to your USB flash drive. Great and useful tool.

[ Download Disk Heal ]

Speed up Shutdown Times

It’s not only startup times that you’d like to speed up; you can also make sure that your system shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process:

             Don’t have XP clear you’re paging file at shutdown

For security reasons, you can have XP clear you’re paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information, such as unencrypted passwords, sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn’t a high priority, you might not want to clear it. To shut down XP without clearing your paging file,

Step 1: Go ‘Run’ & type ‘regedit’ and press Enter and Open ‘Registry Editor’.

Step 2: Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE→SYSTEM→CurrentControlSet→Control→SessionManager→Memory Management

Change the value of ‘ClearPageFileAtShutdown’ to ‘0’. Close the Registry and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won’t be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.

Turn off unnecessary services

Services take time to shut down, so the fewer you run, the faster you can shut down.

Disable Windows Safe Mode for Extra Security

Whenever Windows is not working properly, most of the time the first thing that I will do is to boot into Safe Mode and see if the problem still persists. If a Windows that will only boot into its safe mode typically has a major problem, such as disk corruption or the installation of poorly configured software or driver that prevents the operating system from successfully booting into its normal operating mode.

Windows in safe mode will have reduced functionality, but the task of isolating problems is easier because many non-core components are disabled (turned off). Safe mode typically provides access to utility and diagnostic programs so a user can troubleshoot what is preventing the operating system from working normally. Safe mode is intended for maintenance, not functionality, and provides minimal access to features.

Although Safe Mode is very useful for troubleshooting computer problems, it can also be used to bypass some security software that auto starts in normal Windows. An example is if you installed an internet monitoring software which restricts your children to use the computer an hour a day, your kid can simple boot in to Safe Mode and use the computer the whole day… There are times we need to disable Safe Mode for extra security.

At first found a software called NOSafeMode which claims to be able to disable F8, disable Safe Mode and disable Advanced Boot Options in Windows NT based Operating Systems (Including Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista). It is a simple tool of less than 60KB in size, portable, does not hack or modify the operating system files or registry and can disable ALL keys during boot process so the system boots without any interference. I don’t know whether this tool truly exist or not because I couldn’t find any image or screenshot for NOSafeMode and it cost €19.95. If you have any information on NOSafeMode, please share it with me.

As for the free method, you’ll have to modify your registry, so just follow the steps below on how to disable Safe Mode.

1. Go to Start > Run
2. Type regedit and click OK
3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot
4. Expand SafeBoot by clicking the + sign and you should see 2 keys with the name Minimal and Network.
5. Rename both of the keys to something else, example, Minimal to MinimalX and Network to NetworkX.

6. Now if you try to boot in to Safe Mode, doesn’t matter if you select the normal Safe Mode, or Safe Mode with Networking or Safe Mode with Command Prompt, the computer will auto reboot or get a blue screen of death (BSOD).

To enable Safe Mode back, just rename MinimalX to Minimal and NetworkX to Network. I know that this solution is not perfect because if the person knows about this trick, he/she can simply modify the registry to re-enable back Safe Mode.

If you’re not comfortable in modifying your system’s registry, I found a very small free tool called Enable/Disable SafeMode which allows you to enable or disable SafeMode. Basically it does the same thing as the above which is modifying the SafeBoot keys. You can also set an application-password to prevent unauthorized access to this tool.

Very easy to use as the tool is pretty much self explanatory. Actually if you can create a Limited User account, you wouldn’t need to use this registry hack because a limited user cannot even access the registry. So this is a solution to those that for some reason don’t want to create a Limiter User.

<< Download Enable/Disable SafeMode >>

FREE Full Version System Mechanic 8 Registration License Key Code

Most of the time when a software has a major update, they will provide some kind of free license promotion for their older version and if you like the software, you can fork out a little money to upgrade it to the latest version. This is the same case as System Mechanic 6 which I’ve posted a tip on how to obtain a free license for few months ago. Back then the latest version for System Mechanic was version 7 and they gave out free license for version 6. You won’t be able to use the version 6 key code on the latest version 7.

Surprisingly iolo technologies, the developer of System Mechanic is giving out free license for their latest version of System Mechanic 8! If you still don’t know what is System Mechanic, it is a very useful all-in-one software for computer beginners to maintain your computer in tip top condition. It automatically repairs errors and fragmentation, cleans out clutter, and tunes up your PC so that it runs smoothly, reliably, and up to 300% faster! As usual, this news is first published in this blog as I still couldn’t any other blog sites that has written about this. Continue reading on how to get your free license registration code for the latest iolo System Mechanic 8. System Mechanic 8 provides the tools you need to keep your PC running in peak condition. Fix problems, clean out clutter, boost performance, eliminate crashes, remove dangerous spyware, and much more. 

What’s new in System Mechanic 8 compared to version 7.

Revamped registry optimization – The Defragment and Compact Registry tool now analyzes fragmentation levels, ensuring that registry optimization is only done when needed. Analysis results are presented in both a graphical and detailed format. New DriveSense™ monitor – The new DriveSense hard drive monitor provides real-time data about the status of hard drives, including drive temperature and other indicators of drive reliability. Updated ActiveCare™ engine – ActiveCare’s idle-time processing has been refined to detect battery power, detect activity based on CPU usage, and detect full screen mode operations (such as movies). More ActiveCare options – New options give you more control over when and how ActiveCare runs. Updated program library – iolo’s library of programs and program components has been expanded, offering enhanced tracking of potentially dangerous software.

 Windows Firewall integration
- Access to Windows Firewall is now integrated into System Mechanic for seamless updates and configurations.

Interface enhancements
- New navigational breadcrumb trails simplify moving throughout System Mechanic, and Vista users now have an integrated frame display for a consistent look and feel.

Just follow the few simple steps below to get your free System Mechanic 8 license.
1. Visit this page and click Continue button. You might need to turn off your firewall or Kaspersky to see the Continue button. If you still don’t see the Continue button, try using another web browser.

2. You should see a page with the Item Code SM8-PR, Description System Mechanic – Six Month Subscription with the order total showing $0.00. Click Secure Checkout button.

3. Enter your first name, last name, address 1, city, postal code, country phone number and email address. You can actually enter fake or bogus information but make sure the email address is a real one. Click Continue button.

4. Make sure Email Delivery is selected and click Continue button.

5. Review Order page will load and click Place Order button.

6. Once you see a page that says “Thank you! Your order #XXXXXXXXXXXXXX is complete.”, check the email address that you’ve entered at step 3. Open the email from iolo technologies, LLC (orders@iolo.com) with the subject “Thank you for ordering from iolo technologies, #XXXXXXXXXXXXXX“‏. Note down the Activation Key.

7. Download iolo System Mechanic 8 and install.

8. Select “I own System Mechanic and can enter my serial number later” and click Next.

9. Enter the Activation Key (serial number) that you noted down earlier. Click OK and continue with the installation.

This free System Mechanic 8 activation key is only valid for 6 months subscription. You can actually select “Install as a time-limited trial” to activate the 30 days trial, use it until it expires, then only use the 6 months license. This way you get up to 7 months of free System Mechanic 8 subscription. Perhaps by then I’ll find new way to extend the subscription. Enjoy!