locking a registry key (windows media player 12)

hi there,

is there a way that i can lock a registry key, as in, no software can change it's value?

in windows 7, wmp12 won't start in maximized state, the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences\Maximized always goes back to 0 (1 makes it remember the maximized state) no matter what. it is a known bug which hasn't yet been fixed, and it is unlikely that it ever will be, and the only solution is to lock this key. so is there a way that i can?

thanks.

 

In this case, you are really asking if you can log a string value, not a key.

You could lock a key (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences\) but I do not know if that is wise because you would lock all the settings within the key. This might be one of those law of unintended consequences.

When does it change back from 1 to 0?

I just tried it, and it stayed the same.....

 

ok, open a file with windows media player 12, and then maximize it. close it, and open the file again, wmp 12 doesn't open maximized, does it?

 

interesting.... I was just opening and closing WMP--I did not click on a file to open wmp by association.

I tried a couple things, none of which worked, but this guy wrote a utility to fix it for you

Windows Media Player 12 maximize fix (Windows 7)

 

oh no, no deal!

can't I use something like a-squared/mbam or something where i can put a custom value, which the software monitors?

it's really, really, annoying.

 

Why is that "no deal"?

The program needs to be running so it can do what you are asking--monitor the key and maintain the MAXIMIZE value.

I don't think a-squared or mbam even does that--teatimer from spybot will monitor a value, but only startup values--but it has to be running too.

 

it is a "no deal" because - the likes of a-squared/mbam/sb s&d are known, widely used, programs, while this is written by some guy who no one knows about.

of course, i'm not saying that his intentions are bad, the guy took time out to write a program to help people with this annoyance, it's just i don't trust his program with my system.

can't it be done by registry permissions etc? if i set the permissions to this key only to me, instead of "system" or whatever it is right now?

 

The problem with that is that you have to lock the entire key with its 20+ settings. You cannot lock just that setting.

I tried it to see what the results on a dummy machine might be by preventing the SYSTEM from making changes and it had no impact. The setting is not altered by SYSTEM account.

That means it must be controlled by the USER account (you). I don't know, but locking YOU out of changes to WMP sounds like a recipe for disaster.

You need a way to lock or change just that setting inside the key--which is what his utility does.

If you were clicking on a WMP shortcut to launch WMP, you could set it to silently run a reg script to do what you want, but you are opening files by association.

I suspect that is taking its cue from Windows EXPLORER? Not sure. When you open a normal window, is it maximized or not?

 

what do you mean by "normal window"?

also, I don't change any settings of windows media player at all. i just use it out of the box.

i don't have a dummy machine so i can't test it with the user account.

 

normal window...START > COMPUTER

"Computer" is a normal window

 

yeah everything opens normally, but for windows media player, and it's really annoying. thank god i don't play audio files with it, as for them it opens up a tiny, minuscule, window.

there must be a way to lock this key from wmp, to just give it a read access, and not write.

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences

Try changing the registry setting VIDEOZOOM to 300 (decimal).

 

i have gone through that too. all this does is increase the video size, it doesn't load it up in full screen. my best hope is sp1.

thanks for your help, i doubt there is a way to lock a key.