Changing Windows Registry.

Hi. I have only recently made my first change to the Windows registry to remove an irritation, and would be grateful for some info to make sure I don't mess up. We have 3 PC's, one of which has only 1 Local Admin Account (no Standard User Account). I made a change, following a tutorial, to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key, and everything went well.

Our other 2 Windows 11 22H2 PC's have each got a Local, non MS Admin Account, and a Standard Local User Account. The Reg Keys shown in regedit are the usual -
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_USERS and
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

If I wanted to make a change to the registry which was reflected across both the Admin and Standard User accounts, should any changes be made inside the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Key and not CURRENT USER as for the PC with only 1 account? I should also say that I backed up the Registry before making any changes.
I would be grateful for any advice to keep me on the right lines.

Thanks again.

Hi there,
not every reg-tweak (regkey) is avaiable in HKLM (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE)
Some are only in HKLM, somer are only in HKCU (HKEY_CURRENT_USER)

BUT some are in both.
So if you set it in HKLM it will change the wanted behaviour for every user Account.
Sometimes this "disables" [greys out] switches in the Windows Settings.

Just google the regkey with HKLM and or HKCU to see if it is avaiable in both "hives".

Thanks for replying. So if the tweak isn't available in HKLM, would I need to change the key in HKCU when signed in to the Admin Account and do the same for HKCU when signed in to the Standard User Account for the same PC - do the same reg change separately for each account? Thanks again.

Yes.
There are ways to Mount other hives or look up for the SID of the user and write to that users part of the registry (only doable with an admin account).
But I never tryed / used that way.

@Mitch

If you can tell us what "irritation" you're trying to remove... we might be able to give you a more definitive answer.

Hi Ghot, Yes. I got rid of "Trending Searches" which just appeared on our Windows 10 PC ( the one with only 1 account) whenever you click the Search box and takes up half the area. Hasn't been there before. I followed the instructions and changed the HKCU Key, rebooted and it disappeared. I just wanted to know what to do if I need to make any changes to the Win 11 PC's with 2 accounts and which HKEY I should be changing HKCU/HKLM?
Thanks.

Mitch said:

Hi Ghot, Yes. I got rid of "Trending Searches" which just appeared on our Windows 10 PC ( the one with only 1 account) whenever you click the Search box and takes up half the area. Hasn't been there before. I followed the instructions and changed the HKCU Key, rebooted and it disappeared. I just wanted to know what to do if I need to make any changes to the Win 11 PC's with 2 accounts and which HKEY I should be changing HKCU/HKLM?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

More input...

What instructions did you follow? What registry key are you playing with?
As mentioned above... some things need to be specifically disabled in both HKCU and HKLM... but some don't.

There's also tutorials about web results in Search...

Hi. I followed a YT Video and the keys were HKCU/SOFTWARE/POLICIES/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS. New Key - "Explorer". New DWORD (32bit) Value
rename "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" ValueData 1, Hexadecimal. Close and reboot. All ok.
The "Trending Searches" box has gone.

Mitch said:

Hi. I followed a YT Video and the keys were HKCU/SOFTWARE/POLICIES/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS. New Key - "Explorer". New DWORD (32bit) Value
rename "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" ValueData 1, Hexadecimal. Close and reboot. All ok.
The "Trending Searches" box has gone.

Click to expand...

Apparently, that's all you need to do, even for all users.
The simplest way to check, is to just do that tweak, and then "look" and the Standard account and see if it took effect.

That's the 2nd tutorial I linked above.







You can also just use Winaero Tweaker to disable web search and Cortana... with two check marks.


Winaero Tweaker, not only allows you to do 100's of registry tweaks, with just a check box, but also has a link to how to do the tweak manually. You can also "export" your tweaks to a file in case you ever need them in the future.









That link, takes you here...

Hi Ghot, I'll check the tutorials before any other reg changes. If I make the changes in HKCU first for the Admin account then check the Standard account to see if that has also changed - if not do the same for HKCU when signed in to the Standard Account. That should cover both bases. Thanks also to adu78 for the advice.

Mitch said:

Hi Ghot, I'll check the tutorials before any other reg changes. If I make the changes in HKCU first for the Admin account then check the Standard account to see if that has also changed - if not do the same for HKCU when signed in to the Standard Account. That should cover both bases. Thanks also to adu78 for the advice.

Click to expand...

Yeah, doing the HKCU for both accounts should apply to both... if the original tweak hasn't already done that.
Usually, in situations where you need to also do a tweak in HKLM for "all" users... that will be noted in the ElevenForum tutorials.

Our favorite neighborhood alien @Brink is usually pretty good about mentioning things like that.

Hi Ghot. Thanks for that. I'll check Winaero out. I assume I can run Regedit from a Standard non admin account by "Run As Administrator" and make changes? Are there any restrictions in editing the reg when signed in to a Std account?

Mitch said:

Hi Ghot. Thanks for that. I'll check Winaero out. I assume I can run Regedit from a Standard non admin account by "Run As Administrator" and make changes? Are there any restrictions in editing the reg when signed in to a Std account?

Click to expand...

Probably not, when "run as admin".
But I would imagine that you won't need to, after making the change ON the admin account.

This is one of those... "try it and see" things.
Welcome to the fast and dangerous world of Windows tweakers.



Just substitute the word "tweaker", every time you hear the word "agent" in this song...

Thanks. Definitely stepping out of my comfort zone.

Mitch said:

Thanks. Definitely stepping out of my comfort zone.

Click to expand...

Honestly.... play around with a few tweaks here and there... and you'll soon be comfortable again.

Here... play with some of these...



Most importantly... use backup software. Then, if you break something... you can just restore from a backup. ^^



Just about ALL of "those that tweak" on here... use backup software.
It's pretty much a required item since Windows 8 and above. :/

Hi Ghot. I'll back up the Registry beforehand and if necessary I would bring Reflect in to play. I bought a 4 pack earlier this year and it's got me out of trouble several times. Money well spent. Cheers.

Wonder if I can ask a further question about regedit please? Before doing anything to the Registry I would back it up first. I would do this while signed in to the Admin account as HKCU or if the Tutorial said HKLM. As I also have a Stardard Local Account on the PC I assume the reg backup would backup both the Admin and Standard accounts, in other words no need to back up individually? Also, if I need to make reg changes while signed in to each account separately (HKCU) because the reg change in the Admin account didn't reflect in the Standard account, if I have to restore the registry in case of problems i assume it would restore for both accounts? I will also look at Winaero suggested by GHOT. I'd be grateful if someone could give me some advice. Thanks.