where is UAC in the registry?

[Thufir]

From safe mode with command prompt the command to disable UAC returns a
message that the path is incorrect.

"C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM
\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /
t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f"

<http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/enable-or-disable-uac-from-
the-windows-vista-command-line/>

regedit indicates that there's no such sub-key. From the command prompt,
should a sub-key be created first?



thanks,

Thufir

 

[Jon]

From safe mode with command prompt the command to disable UAC returns a
message that the path is incorrect.

"C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM
\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /
t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f"

<http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/enable-or-disable-uac-from-
the-windows-vista-command-line/>

regedit indicates that there's no such sub-key. From the command prompt,
should a sub-key be created first?



thanks,

Thufir

The relevant subkeys should already be in place, and the command looks fine.
Bear in mind that it's all one long line, and would need to be run from an
elevated command prompt in Vista.

 

[Chad Harris]

Thufir--

What am I missing here? You simply want to disable UAC. Why not go to
msconfig and do it? Why do you need to run a command from safe mode with a
command prompt or a command prompt period? Why are you worried about
finding reg subkeys?

You can also modfiy UAC with these policies:

http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/archive/2006/01/22/516066.aspx

TechNet Webcast: Limiting Administrator Privileges with User Account Control
(UAC) in Windows Vista (Level 200)
http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/archive/2006/06/26/647384.aspx

Understanding and Configuring User Account Control in Windows Vista
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...2b2f-422c-b70e-b18ff918c2811033.mspx?mfr=true

CH

 

[Chad Harris]

Thufir --

If you want to go to the registry to do this (for whatever reason) set a
restore point, export the entire registry and save to a convenient location
and:

Open Registry Editor.

In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Locate the following value (DWORD):

EnableLUA

and give it a value of 0.

CH

Congrats to the hypocritical Americans who showed their political cynicism
and utter hypocrisy in the ways they hae accepted countless US Senate
lawbreakers but went berzerk over one for political convenience.

Of course it had nothing to do with a Democratic governor appointing David
Vitter's successor in Louisana or a right wing cracker appointing Larry
Craig's successor in Idaho.

America is still a bastion of hypocritical intolerance and media talking
heads who have less gray matter than Barbie and Ken dolls making certain to
discuss any issue at its most superficial level.

Saturday September 1, 2007 07:41 EST

McCain's selective defense of "traditional marriage" by Glenn Greewald
(Salon)

Here is John McCain's "straight talk", in defense of traditional marriage
yesterday, regarding the Iowa state court's decision declaring
unconstitutional that state's opposite-sex-only marriage law:

John McCain also entered the fray last night, calling the decision "a loss
for the traditional family," and noting that he supports "the traditional
definition of marriage as between one man and one woman."
By stark contrast, this is John McCain's "straight action":
McCain was still married and living with his wife in 1979 while, according
to The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, "aggressively courting a
25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich." McCain divorced his
wife, who had raised their three children while he was imprisoned in
Vietnam, then launched his political career with his new wife's family
money.
How can John McCain claim to believe that the law should recognize only
"traditional marriages" while simultaneously demanding that the law
recognize his own so-called "second marriage" -- also known as "an
adulterous relationship" under the precepts of "traditional marriage" (Mark
10:11 -- "And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries
another, commits adultery against her").

The issue is not that McCain sinned in the past. It is that he argues now
that the law ought to recognize only "the traditional definition of
marriage" while simultaneously demanding that the law recognize and treat as
equal his own "marriage," which is as much a deviation from the "traditional
definition" as the same-sex marriages he opposes. How can someone with this
"family" stand up in public and claim to support the "traditional definition
of marriage"?

McCain married Carol Shepp, his first wife, in 1965. He adopted her two
children from a previous marriage, and they have a daughter, born in 1966.
The couple divorced in 1980. He and his second wife, Cindy, have four
children.
Whatever else that family is, "traditional" is not it. But the only reason
this glaring contradiction can be maintained is because most of the media
and huge numbers of voters even outside of the "Value Voters" sphere have
convinced themselves -- driven by obvious self-interest and oozing
self-centeredness -- that the only rule of "traditional marriage" is that
you need a man and a woman and provided that rule is complied with, all
other types of marriages and divorces qualify as "traditional."

Undoubtedly we'll be hearing from the "pro-traditional-marriage" Fred
Thompson soon, too, about the importance of ensuring that the law only
recognize "traditional marriages." As he speaks solemnly of the vital need
to preserve this institution in its traditional form, his lovely "second
wife" and his even older daughter from his first marriage can look on
adoringly.

One last point. The conventional wisdom has already arisen that this
"activist" judicial ruling in Iowa is going to catapult same-sex marriages
to the top of the political agenda, galvanizing the potent Values Voters
base. Last October -- weeks before the midterm election -- a New Jersey
state court issued a similar ruling about marriage laws (albeit mandating
civil unions), and we were told by the standard cliche-spewers that this
posed a real election danger for Democrats because of the backlash it would
produce.

Two weeks later, New Jersey elected a new Democratic Senator by a wide
margin in what was predicted to be a close race and easily re-elected every
Democratic House incumbent; no incumbent Democratic Senator, Representative
or Governor was defeated anywhere in the entire nation, and Democrats took
over control of both houses of Congress, multiple state houses and several
governorships. How wrong does a political cliche have to become before our
pundit class stops repeating it?

-- Glenn Greenwald

 

[Thufir]

Thufir --

If you want to go to the registry to do this (for whatever reason) set a
restore point, export the entire registry and save to a convenient location
and:

Open Registry Editor.

In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Locate the following value (DWORD):

EnableLUA

and give it a value of 0.

CH

[...]

I left out data because I wanted to confirm that I had at least that
part correct.

A virus/whatever has disabled the control panel, the run command, and
IE7 can only be accessed indirectly (it keeps looping, starting and
stopping).

Leaving that aside, just dealing with the registry issue, please:

<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310516> describes how to change the
registry sub-key's and so forth. However, this particular sub-key
simply isn't there. Can it be created from the command line?

It's possible to boot into safe mode with command prompt to run
commands, including regedit. (From normal mode, the command prompt is
disabled.)


thanks,

Thufir

 

[Chad Harris]

Thufir--

I'm a little puzzled here. If you in fact did have a virus problem, that's
your first priority. I'm assuming because you wrote a virus/whatever that
the odds are small that an actual virus is your problem there.

"A virus/whatever has disabled the control panel, the run command, and
IE7 can only be accessed indirectly (it keeps looping, starting and
stopping)."

Let's fix those guys. You need 'em in Vista. I'm going to put the links and
info to do that below.

Your original problem was to disable UAC, and as I said you can do it at 1)
msconfig, you can do it using 2) Group Policy or Active Directory Based GPO

In the Group Policy Editor window, browse to Computer Configuration >
Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options. In
the right pane scroll to find the User Access Control policies (they're down
at the bottom of the window). You need to configure UAC policies and this is
more complex than simply using UAC or the reg value




3) Using Regedit as I showed you

4) At the Control Panel

Your request is:

"Leaving that aside, just dealing with the registry issue, please":

Fine. I already dealt with the registry issue very adequately. I told you
exactly how to disable UAC from the reg. Asked and answered as they say on
TV courtroom dramas.

The MSKB that you linked is not specific to anything that's a nexus between
the reg and UAC--it's a very basic description of ways to modify the
registry in general.

So...

If you want to turn off UAC, I've given you all the ways. And here's a
piece of advice. Don't turn it off. Vista has a multitude of security
holes they will never fix. You need it. If you need to get something done,
let us know--we'll show you how. If you want it off, use msconfig to turn
it off to temporarily get done what you are having trouble doing, although
you could simply take permission of the folder, etc. you're dealing with.

As to those things that are not working, here's how to fix them:

***SFC as a Remedy***:

SFC or System File Checker is a bit like the spare tire in your car or a
backup battery I suppose. In Vista of course, they have changed it somewhat
and come up with a new name--Redmond stands for name it something different
twice a year and now it's part of WRP or Windows Resource Protection. It
scans protected resources including thousands of files, libraries, critical
folders, and essential registry keys, and it replaces those that are
corrupted with intact ones. It fixes a lot of problems in Windows XP, OE,
Windows Vista, Win Mail, IE6, and on Vista or if it is installed on XP, IE7.
It protects these things from changes by any source including
administrators, by keeping a spare of most of them.


How to Run SFC:

Type "cmd" into the Search box above the Start Button>and when cmd comes up
at the top of the Start menu>right click cmd and click "run as Admin" and
when the cmd prompt comes up at the cmd prompt type "sfc /scannow" no quotes
and let it run. This may fix things quite a bit. It replaces corrupt files
with intact ones, if you're not familiar with it.

***Startup Repair from the Vista DVD***

How to Use The Vista DVD to Repair Vista (Startup Repair is misnamed by the
Win RE team and it can be used to fix many Vista components even when you
***can boot to Vista):

http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

If you elect to run Startup repair from the Vista DVD (it can fix major
components in Vista--I've verified this many many times; it's good for more
than startup problems, and the Win RE team simply screwed up when they named
it not understanding its full functionality):

Startup Repair will look like this when you put in the Vista DVD:

http://www.vistaclues.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/click-repair-your-computer.png

You run the startup repair tool this way (and system restore from here is
also sometimes effective):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

It will automatically take you to this on your screen:

http://www.vistaclues.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/click-repair-your-computer.png

That will allow you to go to the Vista setup that has a Repair link on
thelower left corner>click it and then you'll see a gray backgrounded list
and I want you to click Startup Repair from it and follow the directions.

The gray screen after you click the first link in the above pic will look
like this:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winvista/images/repair/staruprepair/Image17.gif

Click Startup Repair, the link at the top and after it scans>click OK and
let it try to repair Vista. It will tell you if it does, and if it
doesn't, try System Restore from the Recovery Link on the DVD. If these
don't work booting into Safe Mode by tapping the F8 key and using System
Restore from one of the safe modes besides VGA may work. That means you
have the option to try 4 different safe modes to get to system restore, (one
from the Recovery link on the DVD) and sometimes one will work when the
others won't.


You could also try a Repair Install with Vista which is done exactly the
same way as in XP:

***Repair Install Steps*** (can be used for Vista) MVP Doug Knox
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx


***Using the F8 Environment***

***Taking Full Advantage of the F8 Options (Windows Advanced Options Menu)
by starting the PC and tapping F8 once per second when the firmware screen
with the pc manufacturer's name shows a few seconds after restarting***:

The F8 options in Vista are the same as XP, and the link for Safe Mode Boot
options is labled XP by MSFT but they are the same for Vista (they haven't
updated to add Vista to the title as they have with several MSKBs that apply
to both).

Again, pressing F8 repeatedly when you seem the firmware screen may be is a
generic way to launch Windows RE on some OEM Vista computers.

You could also:

Think: I have 4 different ways to get back my XP at F8 and try 'em in order.
1) Safe Mode 2) Safe Mode with Cmd to Sys Restore which is simply a cmd
prompt in safe mode 3) Safe Mode with Neworking 4) LKG or Last Known Good
Configuration


Try to F8 to the Windows Adv Options Menu>try 3 safe modes there (I don't
use WGA) and Last Known Good>then I go to Win RE in Vista. That gives you a
choice of Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking,and Safe Mode with Command
Prompt.

These methods are outlined in

A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP/and Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding System Restore from MSFT:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/plan/faqsrwxp.mspx

System Restore can be run from the Win RE recovery environment from the same
link as Startup Repair, and sometimes it will work from one F8 safe mode
location or from the Win Recovery Environment when it won't work from other
locations.

How to start the System Restore tool at a command prompt in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304449

Good luck,

CH

Thufir --

If you want to go to the registry to do this (for whatever reason) set a
restore point, export the entire registry and save to a convenient
location
and:

Open Registry Editor.

In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Locate the following value (DWORD):

EnableLUA

and give it a value of 0.

CH

[...]

I left out data because I wanted to confirm that I had at least that
part correct.

A virus/whatever has disabled the control panel, the run command, and
IE7 can only be accessed indirectly (it keeps looping, starting and
stopping).

Leaving that aside, just dealing with the registry issue, please:

<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310516> describes how to change the
registry sub-key's and so forth. However, this particular sub-key
simply isn't there. Can it be created from the command line?

It's possible to boot into safe mode with command prompt to run
commands, including regedit. (From normal mode, the command prompt is
disabled.)


thanks,

Thufir

 

[Thufir]

Thank you. To clarify:

normal mode: cannot access the command line, nor the control panel,
nor IE, nor msconfig, etc.

cannot boot into any safemode but safemode with command prompt. Last
known good configuration failed as well as several of the different
safe modes.

From safemode with command prompt, can access regedit, which is quite

helpful. However, the specified entry doesn't appear.

I like your suggestion of the System File Checker, and running sfc /
scannow, that seems like a good idea.

In a general sense, though, I know that it's possibly to edit the
registry through the command line. For instance, I found that entry
to change the registry sub-key. However, I don't know the command to
*create* a sub-key from the command prompt.

I'll take a closer look at the links you provided.



thank you,

Thufir

 

[John Barnes]

Personally I would save off anything you want to save and do a reload,
either from a restore disk, partition or Vista DVD.