Distributing Registry Changes

Regini Features
Regini gives you several options for data manipulation. For example, DELETE is a regini.exe keyword that requires only the name of the data item. To remove a data item, enter the following syntax as the second (i.e., data item) line of your script:

DataItemName = DELETE

Regini.exe also has a neat feature that lets you point to a text file that contains the value for a data item. This feature eliminates the need to directly enter long binary values (for REG_BINARY data items) or many multiple strings (for REG_ MULTI_SZ data items). During execution, regini.exe opens the target file and writes its contents to the registry as the value for the data item. To use this feature, replace the item type with an instruction to use a file. The instruction includes a reference to the item type and uses the following syntax options:

• For REG_BINARY data items: DataItemName = REG_BINARYFILE FilePath
• For REG_MULTI_SZ data items: DataItemName = REG_MULTISZFILE FilePath

For example, if you enter the following script:

UserNicknamesForCompanyNewsletter = REG_MULTISZFILE \myscripts\script101.txt

Regini reads the content of the file named script101.txt and writes the contents as the value of the data item UserNicknamesForCompanyNewsletter. (I made up that data item for this example, so don't look for it in your registry.)

Putting It All Together
As an example of a complete command, review the following script. This command changes computer settings so that the most recent user's name doesn't appear in the Logon dialog box.

\registry\machine\software\micro
soft\windows\currentversionpolicies\system
DontDisplayLastUserName = REG_DWORD 1

To make additional changes in the same subkey, you need only add lines below the line that references the subkey. As long as each additional line contains an equal sign, regini.exe properly handles the line's content. For example, the data items that control pre-logon messages (i.e., LegalNoticeText and LegalNoticeCaption) reside in the same registry subkey as the DontDisplayLastUserName item. To also configure the computer to display a message before users log on, simply add two lines to the previous script:

\registry\machine\software\micro
soft\windows\currentversionpolicies\system
DontDisplayLastUserName = REG_DWORD 1
LegalNoticeText = REG_SZ Your E-Mail is Now Being Monitored
LegalNoticeCaption = REG_SZ Notice To Employees

Option 3: Use Policies
You can also distribute registry changes by creating system policies that manipulate the registries of target users. The process you use varies between Win2K (which uses the Microsoft Management Console—MMC—GPE snap-in) and earlier versions of Windows (which use SPE), but in either case, you can build administration (.adm) files to send registry changes to selected computers.

The easiest way to create an .adm file is to use an existing .adm template as a starting point. Templates are text files, and you can open them in Notepad or any text editor. Before you do anything with existing templates, back up the originals. When you modify a template, save the new version with a new filename, even if you've backed up the original. And you must test your new .adm files in a lab environment before you unleash your creation on the enterprise. (See Reader to Reader, ".adm Files and the Headaches They Can Cause," October 1999, for a description of the consequences you might face if you ignore this advice.)

Of course, to implement a registry change through an .adm template, you need to know which registry key to target. The resource kits' registry documentation is rather sparse. To learn my way around the registry, I used a lab environment to plunge in and make system changes with existing policies and Control Panel applets. I used Sysinternals' regmon.exe (available from http://www.sysinternals.com) to track the resulting registry changes. Eventually, I learned quite a bit about the registry's organization and registry entries' data types.

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