Windows Basics

 An Operating System for Everyone





It shocks me to think about the number of younger people that will never find the joys of Windows. Hold on, I meant to say Linux.😉

But, while I have your minds thinking about Windows, let's learn a little bit more about it. If you plan on working for the majority of companies in the world, you best get familiar with Windows, now.  


Note: I started on Windows more than 20 years ago, but have since switched to Linux in the last 10 years. I recommend learning Linux because even more things in the computer world are controlled in a Linux environment. 

So what is Windows, well it is an operating system. The operating system is in charge of taking what the user wants to do and it then translates those wants into what the computer hardware needs to know. The operating system also sets limitations on what user data is being stored and where. 

What does this mean for you? If you decide to explore the operating system, you may be blown away and even a little scared as to what you can learn about who and how that person used your computer. 

Let's start off with a few things to know. Windows comes in many versions (3.1, NT, 95, 98, etc...), and within those versions, they have editions (Homes, Pro, Education, etc...). Each of these different Windows has different functionality, or better said; each of them can perform different tasks. But, no matter how different each maybe, all Windows have the following in common:

  • Registry - The brains of the operations. Everything that the windows operating system does, and can do is stored in the registry. (ex.  you can disable private browser for any internet browser)
  • Processes - Like customer service within your computer. A process is started whenever you launch an application like Chrome or Firefox. You request the application, and the process delivers it to you.
  • Services - These are like the warehouse workers that you never see. Services are processes that run in the background making sure that essential operations work sone as you log into your computer. (ex. network services or even plug and play functionality that lets you plug in a USB stick)
  • Administrative Tools - A set of tools reserved for administrators to help optimize the use of the Windows machine. (ex. task scheduler used to schedule repetitive tasks like clearing out your trash file (recycle bin))

Why is it important to know about these things? Well, if you understand these items, you can manage any Windows local machine. Working with Windows servers is a little bit different. We will get to Windows servers and domains soon enough. 

The Windows Registry

Windows registry is comprised of 5 different folder like structures called hives. 2 of the hives are actually just linked to the HKey Local Machine hive.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Windows uses this section to manage file type associations, and it is usually abbreviated HKCR when being referenced in documentation. This key is actually just a link to HKLM\Software\Classes.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Holds the user settings for the currently logged in user, and is usually abbreviated HKCU This is actually just a link to HKEY_USERS\<SID-FOR-CURRENT-USER>. The most important sub-key in here is HKCU\Software, which contains user-level settings for most of your software.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

All of the system-wide settings are stored here, and it is usually abbreviated as HKLM. You’ll mostly use the HKLM\Software key to check machine-wide settings.

HKEY_USERS

Stores all of the settings for all users on the system. You’ll typically use HKCU instead, but if you need to check settings for another user on your computer, you can use this one.

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Stores all of the information about the current hardware configuration. This one isn’t used very often, and it just a link to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\Current

How do you make use of these hives? You can modify, add, or delete what are called key values. You must first access the Registry by typing "regedit" or "regedt32" in either the run box or the start menu search field. 



From the Registry Editor you can make changes, but be careful. Messing around in the registry is like performing a brain survey with no experience, you could kill your operating system. 

A fun exercise that I like to show people is how you can disable private browsing on any internet browser from the registry. Let's try it now.



while in the Registry Editor navigate to the following folder:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft


From here you will create a new key by right-clicking on the Microsoft folder and select "new" and then "key"


Name the new key "Edge" and press your "Enter" button to save

Make sure that you are in the "Edge" folder and then right-click anywhere in the open area of the right side window. You will be given an option of "New". Click on "New" and then go to "DWORD (32-bit) Value". 



Name the new key "InPrivateModeAvailability" and then double click on it to set the value to "1". Click "OK" to save


Now the "New InPrivate window" is grayed out


Setting the value to "0" will re-enable in private mode browsing

To learn more about the windows registry, try these reads:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/windows-registry-advanced-users

https://www.maketecheasier.com/windows-10-registry-hacks/

https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/industry-blog/en-gb/technetuk/2016/07/15/13-epic-registry-hacks/

Besides the registry, I think it is worth taking a look at the administrative tools built into Windows. Just type in "administrative" in the start menu search bar or "control admintools" in the Run command box:






To learn about each of the tools check out this article: https://www.howtogeek.com/193922/21-windows-administrative-tools-explained/


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