Windows XP Registry...

[Ichinisan]

I've been trying to merge some registry settings with HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT

For some reason, these settings do not affect new users, even if the computer is restarted before a new user is created. Am I doing this the wrong way? I thought that I understood the Windows registry pretty well, but now I'm starting to wonder what the hell the "DEFAULT" settings are good for!

 

[Ichinisan]

^

 

[Ichinisan]

^

 

[catrats]

Can you give an example of a setting that you're trying to set as default?

 

[Ichinisan]

These values were exported from the HKCU branch. Only the path was changed from "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\..." to "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\..."
For a test, I created the following reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit\Favorites]
"HKLM Run"="My Computer\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run"
"HKCU run"="My Computer\\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\run"

Merged file.
Restarted computer.
Verified that the values still exist in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT
Create new user

...settings do not appear in HKCU of new user. :|

 

[catrats]

Actually, you're going to have to load the registry hive (NTUSER.DAT) located in the "Default User" profile folder into the registry editor. That is where the modification has to be made. The changes you made under the .DEFAULT hive will only affect the profile used when no one is logged in (i.e. at the login screen). If you have any questions, let me know.

 

[Ichinisan]

How can I force regedit to load/edit the NTUSER.DAT from C:\Documenta and Settings\Default User\NTUSER.DAT?

 

[Steelerz37]

what we do at the school i work at is make the profile under the local administrator login, then logoff and in as someone else, and copy the administrators ntuser.dat and desktop folder(can do anything else you may require), to the Default User folder. I dont necessarlly like how we do this but thats what the boss says. But that way of making changes works well and is easy, I'm not sure how you would load the hive since we have never done that.

 

[Ichinisan]

I'd like to make a script that I can run on any computer which can update the settings for all users and have the same settings applied to any new users. So I really need to figure out how to get regedit to merge .reg files with a specific NTUSER.DAT file...

 

[catrats]

Download ModifyProfile from this page. Then create your registry file which should contain the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\NewUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit\Favorites]
"HKLM Run"="My Computer\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run"
"HKCU run"="My Computer\\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\run"

As an example, let's save the file at the root of the C: drive as "regfav.reg". Then, from a command prompt, you would run the ModifyProfile as follows:

modifyprofile /profile:"c:\documents and settings\default user\ntuser.dat" /reg:c:\regfav.reg /keyname:newuser

/profile is the location of the registry hive for the default user on your computer
/reg is the location of the registry file containing the registry modifications
/keyname has to match the name listed in the registry file after HKEY_USERS; you'll see that I placed it in bold above

If you see

Profiles modified successfully: 1

Profiles that failed: 0


The command completed successfully.

you should be golden. Let me know how it goes for you.

 

[ND40oz]

Originally posted by: Steelerz37
what we do at the school i work at is make the profile under the local administrator login, then logoff and in as someone else, and copy the administrators ntuser.dat and desktop folder(can do anything else you may require), to the Default User folder. I dont necessarlly like how we do this but thats what the boss says. But that way of making changes works well and is easy, I'm not sure how you would load the hive since we have never done that.

When you do this, make sure you reboot, not just log out of the profile you were making the changes to. If you do not reboot, some of the files will still be in use when you log in under the administrator and try to copy the user profile to the default user profile. This is the easiest way to set up a default user. You can configure the start menu exactly like you want it, the favorites like you want them and any other user configurable windows settings. You then reboot, log in under admin and copy your profile into the default users profile.

Edit: make sure you don't put your name and initials into an Office program before you copy over the profile. If you do, everyone that uses that computer will have the name and initials you put in associated with any document they create, edit or have open. You can always go into word and clear out the user settings before you copy the profile over.