Getting IObit Toolbox

The beta version of Toolbox 2.0 (which will be described here) is surprisingly hard to find. Even the links on the official forum announcement point to the 1.0 stable version. So far, the best download link I’ve yet found for 2.0 is here at TechSpot.

It’s a portable application, so instead of an installer you’ll get a ZIP file with the application. Just extract the ZIP file normally and run Toolbox.exe to begin.

Cleaning Options

The Registry Cleaner is simple and thorough, but not without its flaws. For example, in the screenshot below, you can see that Toolbox assigns a Risk level to the threats it finds. What it doesn’t say is precisely what the risk is pertaining to. Is the threat itself high-risk, or the act of removing it? Since Toolbox automatically selected the low-risk items for action, that suggests the latter. Going to the Help menu was no use, since the menu item does not appear to be connected to any dialog (this seems to be true on both the Stable and Beta versions).

You might not think that IObit Uninstaller would be a particularly useful app, but you may be surprised. Along with the ability to select multiple items for removal, you can perform several more advanced tricks, like being able to open the Registry right to the entries for the selected application. If you’ve ever had a package stuck in limbo, not quite installed but not quite deleted, you’ll fall in love with the uninstaller.

Performance Optimization Options

I first tried the Smart RAM application. This tool says it will scan your system memory for unneeded blocks to free. There are two levels of optimization, the Smart Scan and Deep Scan. On my tests, the Smart Scan claimed to free approximately 200-300MB of memory. The Deep Scan acted somewhat differently, first ballooning the used RAM to 100% of physical before dropping about 500MB off the previous total. After a brief period of slowness immediately following the scan, my system tended to remain almost a gig below original RAM usage (while Smart RAM continues to run in the background).

The purpose of the Internet Booster is to tweak your system and browser settings to improve overall Internet speed. Some users may find this more beneficial than others. Users of OSes and browsers that are already heavily optimized for speed (like Windows 7 and Google Chrome) will get little benefit from this section.

Repair Options

The most notable tool in this section is WinFix. When run, it performs a surprisingly comprehensive scan of your Windows settings to see if there are any configuration problems it can address. This can be anything from restoring missing system files to putting a My Computer icon back on the desktop.

The only problem I’ve yet encountered with WinFix is that it does not seem to be fully Windows 7 aware. For example, WinFix repeatedly tells me that I have no working taskbar or desktop, though the system is fully functional. This is the Beta however, and this is precisely the type of issues a Beta release is intended to work out.

Security

Unfortunately, there’s not much to say about the tools in this section. The Security Hole Scanner appears to be mainly a wrapper or front end for your normal Windows Update utility. To date, the scanner has yet to give a single result for my system, which is already set for auto updates from Microsoft.

Next up is the Process Manager, which is nearly identical in design and functionality to the existing Windows task manager. There are even a few situations in which Toolbox’s Process Manager actually lags behind the built-in version. In the Services pane, for example, Toolbox still shows svchost.exe for the bulk of services, while Win7 shows the proper names.

Control Options

In this section you’ll find a few utilities for file and disk management. The one that most stands out is the Disk Explorer, which can scan your drive(s) and give you a report on disk usage. You can use it to see which files and folders on your disk are using up the most space.

The others tools in the Control section are a Cloned Files Scanner, System Information, and Empty Folder Scanner.

Conclusion

While there’s certainly room for improvement in some areas, IObit Toolbox is clearly an extremely useful and well designed software suite. The utilities are typically very well thought out and can really help automate or improve many common administration and repair options. I, for one, will be taking it with me next time my neighbor’s computer goes down.

Think of registry editor as a large table where the system configurations and application settings are stored hierarchically.  Various applications use the Windows registry in some way or the other and applications use the registry API to retrieve, modify or delete data from the registry.

There are lots of things which can be done with Windows registry, however we will confine this article to understand the structure and operation of Windows registry.

Structure of Windows Registry

The Windows registry is made up of two fundamental elements – keys and values. The data stored in Windows registry is structured in a tree format where each node is called a key. Each key can contain several subkeys which again can contain more subkeys and so on.

Each key also contains data entries called values. This depends from application to application; some application do not require to store values in a particular key. This is because the presence of the key is sufficient for the application to perform a task. On general instances, an application opens a key and uses the value associated with it.

The name of a key can contain alphabets and numbers, they are not case sensitive but the use of backslash character (\) is not allowed.

Predefined Keys in Windows Registry

There are six Root Keys:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• HKEY_USERS
• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
• HKEY_DYN_DATA

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT:

This root key stores information about registered applications, file associations and OLE object class ID’s. Shell and COM applications user the information stored in this key. This key also stores information for DDE and OLE support, thus allows backward compatibility with Windows registration databases.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER:

This key stores only user specific settings which means that the settings for currently logged in users (including administrators) are stored in this key. Each user’s settings is stored in a new NTUSER.DAT and USRCLASS.DAT files – you can check the files from My Computer -> OS Drive -> Documents and Settings.

User specific settings and preferences include the settings for environment variables, startup items, program groups, active network connections and other application preferences. Whenever you use “Switch user” or Log off from one user and Log in back again – this key is triggered and it starts loading all the user defined system variables and environment modules.

An example will make the situation more clear. Suppose Harry and Tom use the same computer and both of them use the same Word processor application for writing articles. Harry has chosen the default font as “Arial” while Tom has set “Verdana” as the default font. The Word processor has stored this information under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Softwarename\ and whenever the system finds a specific user, it starts loading the environment from the application’s subkey defined under HKEY_CURRENT_USER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE :

The subkeys defines under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key define the physical state of the computer. This includes different issues – available system memory, bus type, installed hardware details and so on. The subkeys contain a complete list of hardware configuration data that has ever been used by the operating system. Other critical system information are also stored under this key, this includes network preferences, plug and play information, network security, server names and so on.

There are four main subkeys of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE – SECURITY, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE  and SAM. The files can be found from My Computer -> OS Drive -> Windows -> System 32 -> Config. The fifth subkey named “HARDWARE” is created dynamically and the data is not stored locally on disk. The SYSTEM subkey holds all the information about system drivers and services, while the SOFTWARE subkey contains Windows settings other software details.

HKEY_USER:

This key consists of subkeys that correspondsto HKEY_CURRENT_USER keys for each active user profile available on the operating system. Registry entries that are subordinate to this key define the user configuration for new users on the local machine as well the user configuration for the logged in user.

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG:

This root key contains information that are available at the run time and information available about the hardware profile of the operating system. The information available in this registry key is not stored to disk but it is dynamically generated when the system boots. The values stored in this key (and it’s subkeys) describe the differences between the current hardware configuration and the standard configuration of the operating system.

This key can also be called an alias of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\Current

HKEY_DYN_DATA:

This key is used on older versions of Windows NT – Windows 95- Windows Me. It contains information about various hardware devices and network performance statistics. The information is gathered dynamically during system boot and stored in RAM but not on disk.

Editing the Windows Registry

To access Windows registry, type regedit in the search box of Windows start menu. If you are running Windows XP or earlier versions, go to Run -> regedit and hit Enter to open the registry editor.

Modifying the values of existing registry entries should be done carefully because any wrong changes made may lead to system instability.

Further reading on Windows Registry:

1. How to backup registry in Windows7
2. How to clean up Windows registry
3. Why Defragment the Windows Registry

Now, if you have lost the CD case (high chances that you would), the product keys can be extracted from Windows registry. Wouldn’t it be wise to first extract all the product keys of software and keep them at a safe location? This ensures full installation of programs after a system format. This article shows you ways to extract the serial and product keys of application software in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

1. Magical Jelly Keyfinder

Magical Jelly is the best product key finder for Windows. It’s free and portable, hence you can use it without installation or modifying the Windows registry. It can be used to extract the product keys of paid software like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visual Studio, Adobe Photoshop etc.

Using Magical Jelly is pretty simple as double-clicking the program extracts all the available product keys from your Windows registry. This key finder program works with all the major versions of Windows (Win 95 -Win 7).

2. WinKeyFinder

WinkeyFinder is another great program to find the CD keys of installed software as well as the operating system. You can use this program to

• Find product keys of Windows XP, Vista, Windows 2003, Windows 98 and Windows ME editions
• Find serial keys of Microsoft Office 2000, 2003 and Microsoft 2007.
• Change or copy the volume serial number.
• View .NET key.

Apart from viewing the product keys, this keyfinder program lets you save your software product keys in an encrypted format. You can use this program to generate unique passwords by entering the combination of any serial key code.

Some FAQ regarding Serial and Product Keys

Note that you need to run the key finder program before formatting the system. If you format the system and try to retrieve the keys, you would find nothing as the registry would be completely fresh with no data stored. Hence, use any of the above key finder programs and save the serial keys in your computer. A better option would be to print a hard copy of all the serial keys and keep it in your shelf.

Following are some common questions regarding serial and product keys of Windows:

1. The product key retrieved by the Keyfinder is different from the one I purchased.

Ans: Some computer manufacturers use generic product keys provided by Microsoft, so that they can manufacture products at a large amount. If the key extracted by the key finder program does not match with the one that came with the Windows CD, then be rest assured that your version of Windows is not completely “Premium”. Generic keys expires after re-installation Windows while premium keys don’t.

2. If I use different Keyfinder programs, will I get different keys?

Ans: The answer is NO, you won’t. As I earlier said, serial keys are stored in Windows registry and the Keyfinder program is just a way to recover that. Thus, using different key finder program would not alter the result in any case.

3. I uninstalled a program long ago and forgot the serial key. Can I recover the serial key using a Keyfinder software?

Ans: It depends on the software itself. During uninstallation, some application programs completely remove the registry entries while others do not. You should try with a Keyfinder program and see whether the serials are still available or not.

4. I cannot boot Windows because my Operating System has crashed. How do I recover the CD key?

Ans: The keyfinder program works only when Windows is running fine. If Windows crashes, you can not use any Keyfinder to extract the serial key.

Do you have any more questions regarding Windows serial keys? What technique do you use to recover CD keys of Windows or other applications? Please share your ideas with us in the comments section.

Changing the logon screen via the registry

Before you start, please backup your Windows registry to be on the safe side. The following process involves changing the registry and tweaking it to change the logon screen in Windows7

• Press Windows key + R. Type “regedit” and hit Enter.
• Now navigate to the following path as shown below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background

• On the right pane, right click on the blank space and choose New->DWORD Value. Give the name as “OEMBackground”.
• Double click on this newly created key and set the vale to –1. Chose the base as Hexadecimal and click “OK”.

• Go to your system drive (C:\) and navigate to C -> Windows ->System32 ->oobe.
• Create a new folder named “info”. Under “info” create another folder named as “backgrounds”.
• You are almost done. Now copy the image that you want to put in the logon screen into the “backgrounds” folder and rename it to “backgroundDefault”.
• Restart the computer and the change will be reflected.

The above process is pretty simple, but the downside is that it requires you to hack into the registry (which most people are afraid to do so) and it works only for a single login screen. If you want to switch to a different background, you have to restart the process from scratch.

Change the Logon screen with Logon Screen Rotator

For those who want a more automated way, logon Screen Rotator could just be the app for you. This application automates the process and changes the logon screen in each logon or as defined by the user.

• Download logon Screen Rotator.
• It is a tiny program that does not need any installation. Double click on the application file that you’ve downloaded.

• Right click on the blank space under the “Images”  tab and click on “Add Image” to add the images you want to put in the logon screen. It is recommended that the size of the images should be less than 256 KB.

• Under “Settings” tab, you can customize the settings of the application. Here you can disable the changes for the other users by checking the box labeled with “Disable Other Users Changing Settings”. You can also setup the frequency of changing the screen under “Change Logon Screen” option.

• Now click on “test” to see the effect.
• When you are done and happy with the testing, click the Close button in right hand top corner to close the logon screen rotator window. Immediately it will appear a message like this.

• Click on “Yes” to enable the program.

Restart Windows 7 and watch the effect. Now it will change the logon screen as you’ve set up the option in the setting tab.

Enjoy.

Primary Checks

Prior to fixing your error, you need to do some basic checks

1. Make sure the write-protection latch of your drive (if it has any) is turned off.

2. If you are using an updated antivirus, try scanning the drive for viruses.

Solutions

There are many solutions to this problem and actually every one of them may have worked for some users but may not work for you. Hence I’m trying to enlist all the feasible solutions, so if one doesn’t work, try the other one.

1. Fixing Registry

• Press Winkey + R (or just open the Run from Start menu). Type regedit and hit enter.
• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
  
  NOTE : If this is not there, you may need to add this entry. For that download the batch file add.bat from here, and double-click the file. The entry will be added to registry.
• Now in the right pane double-click the key WriteProtect. Now set the Value Data to 0 (zero) and press OK.
• Exit Registry and restart your PC.
• Now try using your USB Drive.

2. Using Formatting Utility

As the solution suggests we will be formatting the USB drive, so backup all the items in the drive first before carrying out htis step.

• Download Apacer Formatting Utility.
• Unzip the pack to a folder. Now double-click the Start.bat file in that folder. This will initiate the formatting. Wait until the formatting completes or the LED of the drive stops blinking. If you fail once give it few more try.
• Now remove the pen-drive and plug it in to the PC again. Now, open RUN and type cmd and hit Enter.
• Now in the command prompt, type CHKDSK [usb-drive-letter]: /F. That’s it. You are done.

3. Trying a low-level format

This is yet another solution which will try to solve the problem by using a low-level format. Don’t forget to backup your drive items.

• Download the free utility HDD Low Level Format Tool.
• Now using it, perform a low-level format of your USB drive. If you fail once give it few more try.
• Now open RUN and type diskmgmt.msc, hit Enter.
• Now right-click the USB Drive and press Format. Now do as shown in the screenshot below. Then press OK.

4. For Transcend USB Drive Users

Transcend has its own Recovery Tool to get rid of this error.

• Go to the Transcend Product Support Page.
• Enter your Model No. of your USB Drive, hit Enter. Now select the product which which is most similar to yours from search results.
• Download the mFormat utility. If you are asked for serial no. enter your product serial no. or if you don’t have it enter this number: 1456784523.
• Plug-in your drive and run the utility to format your drive. You may need to try this method several times to fix the error.

Well as I said earlier that every single trick among all those listed above have solved the problem for many and has not for many others. Lets hope one of these will help you out of the “Write-protection” error. If you fail, feel free to ask. But if you succeed, please let us know which one worked for you, so that our future readers get a share of your valuable experience. Also, if you feel you have a better idea, let me know via comments.

Needless to say, the windows registry tends to be in a mess most of the time.

As a Windows user, you also might have noticed Windows becoming progressively slower as you use it, installing and removing software, going about your daily business. One of the reasons for this is because the Windows registry tends to get bloated with stale entries and such, over time and since it is stored in the memory as long as the computer is being used, it slows down the whole computer.

There are a lot of utilities available to help you clean up the registry and most of them do the job pretty well. One of them that I tried recently (and was pretty impressed with) is Auslogics’ Registry Defrag.

Registry Defrag is a no nonsense, no frills application. Download and install it from the above link and you’re all set (almost).

When run Registry Defrag for the first time, it reads the registry, analyses it and tells you the approximate gains that you’ll get by running the utility.

Once you click on Defrag, Registry Defrag schedules the defrag to take place on the next reboot of Windows. It’ll ask you to let it reboot windows, so that it can work on the registry, without Windows bothering it. Or you can keep working and reboot later at your convenience.

If you’re the kind of user who installs and removes a lot of software and are convinced that reinstalling Windows is the only way to remove the crud, try giving Registry Defrag a try.