The registry contains the database of hardware, operating system and user configurations for your Windows computer. The registry is physically stored in 7 files in your system folder.
When you install new programs or add new hardware the registry is affected. By default Windows saves the state of the registry once per day as a restore point. It also will create a restore point automatically when you install new programs. If settings in the registry are corrupted they can render Windows unable to start. Because of this we need to keep backups of it. I recommend you run anti-virus and spyware removal programs before any backups are created. There are a few different ways to restore your registry; The easiest way is:

click Start
click Programs
click Accessories
click System Tools
click System Restore
click Restore My Computer To an Earlier Time (Then choose a restore point to revert to.)
or
click Create a Restore Point (You will be asked to provide a name for this restore point.)

If System Restore is turned off you will be asked to turn it on and choose how much harddrive space to allocate.

The System Restore is handy for those times when things go terrible wrong and you don’t know what else to do.

OK, everyone has that one or one-thousand things about the default behavior of Windows that needs tweaking. Here I’ve tried to list the more useful changes that can be made to the windows registry. I believe these all will work with XP, 2000, Vista.

First thing first! Back up your Registry!! Don’t be lazy! Just do it! It takes a lot less time than a Windows reload!

Now open the registry:

click Windows key+R

type regedit

1. Those annoying little balloons that keep popping up every so often near the notification area at the lower right of the screen that say you’ve got unused icons on the desktop or, you’re firewall is disabled etc. Those have gotta go…this is how: Open the following keys: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced open value name EnableBalloonTips change value data from 1 to 0.
2. If you get frequent stuck programs that won’t end especially at Windows shutdown you get a prompt from asking to shutdown the program. If you would rather have Windows automatically shutdown stuck apps do this: HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop open value name AutoEndTasks change value data from 0 to 1.
3. To force Windows to power down after shutdown: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon open value PowerDownAfterShutdown set value data to 1.
4. To show all operating system hidden files: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced open value name ShowSuperHidden set value data to 1.
5. If you are installing Windows components that require the installation CD, here is how to avoid needing to install the CD. First copy the i386 folder from the Windows install CD to your preferred harddrive. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup open value SourcePath type in complete path to the drive where you’ve copied the i386 folder (C:/I3 86, for example.)
6. If you’d like Windows to discard old restore points at an interval other than every 90 days tweak this: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore open value name RPLifeInterval set value data to the number of seconds you’d like windows to wait before discarding. (One week is 604,800 seconds).
7. Windows learns the preferences of its users by tracking opened programs and folders. To prevent this behavior: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
   open value name NoInstrumentation set value data to 1.

• Firefox doesn’t use Activex - A major reason viruses get unknowingly installed on windows machines

• Firefox uses less system resources

• Firefox has many useful add-ons that are easy to install

• Firefox has many skins to change it’s aesthetics

• Firefox has a download manager so you can see where your recent or past downloads went

• Firefox has an integrated pop-up blocker

• Firefox is not owned by Bill Gates

It’s always good to have alternatives so to be safe I use Firefox as my main internet application and use IE when I have no choice.

So you think you have what it takes to make your pc malware proof? Honestly, I don’t think you have what it takes. Remember the good ole days of html 1.0 where the webpages all looked bland, and altogether not inspiring? There was no Javascript, ActiveX, Cookies XHTML, PHP, yadda…; all the things that make a webpage sparkle with interactivity! If you’re truly ready to surf care free you must ask yourself these simple questions:

1 Can you survive without that awesome music that starts up when you go to your favorite site?

2 Do you love typing in your name and password every time you log in to your fav site?

3 Do you hate it when you start an application and it tells you that updates are available and can be downloaded automatically.

4 Basically do you like doing everything yourself?

5 Do you love websites with no bells and whistles ?

6 Do you enjoy getting advertisements that aren’t marketed for you specifically?

7 Do you hate those fast connections to websites?

If you’ve answered yes to these questions GREAT you are ready to creep back into the stoneage of the internet, when phishing meant you couldn’t spell the word fishing.

So in a nutshell you can go ahead and turn off active X, Java, Javascript, .NET, PHP etc. deny all cookies, don’t cache any webpages, don’t view any unencrypted webpage, don’t install any browser add-ons, make sure you connect to all websites through a proxy, don’t bookmark any webpage, don’t download anything! Run at least 3 antivirus/spyware programs!For god sake don’t do anything logged on as an administrator! And if at all possible use a MAC (or even better someone elses computer)! Follow these simple rules and you should never get malware. Your online experience will totally suck, but hey… You could live to be 125 if you cut out the drinking, eating, sex, FUN!