If you don’t know what we’re talking about, I mean the menu that shows up when you right-click on the desktop:

For today’s lesson we’ll show you how to add Notepad to the menu, but you could add any applications you want instead.

Step 1: Browse to the Registry Key

The first thing you’ll want to do is open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell

The screen should look similar to this one if you are in the right place.

Step 2: Create the Menu Item Key Name

To complete this step we’ll need to create a new key, the name of which is exactly what is going to show up on the desktop menu.

Right-click on the “shell” key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu.

Give the new key the name that you want to show up on the desktop context menu. For this example we’ll be using Notepad.

Optional Step: If you want to assign an “Alt” key to this menu entry for quicker access, you can change the (Default) value on the right and put an & character in front of the key you want to use. For instance, if you wanted to be able to just use the N key to launch Notepad once the desktop context menu pops up, you can do this:

Personally I don’t find this terribly useful since you have to use the mouse to right-click on the desktop… may as well just use the mouse to click the item. Still, for completeness I’ve included it.

Step 3: Create the Command Key

Next you’ll need to create the command key that will actually hold the command used to launch the application. Right-click on the new Notepad key, and then choose New \ Key from the menu.

Give this key the name “command” in lowercase.

Step 4: Add in the Full Application Executable Path

To complete this step you’ll need the full path to the application that you want to launch. You can use Shift + Right-Click to get the Copy as Path menu item to find this more quickly.

Now click on “command” on the left side, and then double-click on the (Default) key in the right side to edit the string value.

Paste in the full path to the executable that you got from the “Copy as Path” step above, or you can put in the full path yourself if you’d like.

Once it’s done, it should look like this:

And right-clicking on the desktop will produce the new menu item… naturally, using this menu item should launch Notepad.

You can add as many applications to the desktop context menu as you’d like

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A spokesperson for Microsoft was on hand to provide an official reaction:

"Microsoft is investigating solutions for the final release of Windows Vista to help protect against the attacks demonstrated. In addition, we are working with our hardware partners to investigate ways to help prevent the virtualization attack used by the Blue Pill."

Rutkowska was quick to quell suggestion that Vista was fully compromised however:

"The fact that this mechanism was bypassed does not mean that Vista is completely insecure. It’s just not as secure as advertised. It’s very difficult to implement a 100 percent-efficient kernel protection."

There has also been the suggestion that the hacker was sponsored by Intel to perform the work. Everything was developed whilst using AMD technology however she insisted that this was not the case.

Microsoft is coming away from this with a positive outlook. It remains to be seen whether other hackers will be optimistic now that it is clear that Vista can be hacked or whether Microsoft will be able to patch up all the vulnerabilities exposed at this meeting.

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With some clever Registry trickery, hackers have found a way to permanently delay the activation of 32-bit Windows Vista.

A previous hack last month involved setting up a spoof key server to generate faked license keys for the corporate version of the OS. This hack, which is rather simpler, avoids running the key server entirely.

In fact, it doesn’t even require the input of any keys at all.

Vista runs, out of the box, fully functionally, for 30 days without requiring activation. This new hack stops the countdown timer at 30 days and makes sure that it never goes further – thus giving the eager pirate a fully functional version of Vista.

The hack, covered by Engadget, probably won’t work on 64-bit Vista, thanks to the security improvements MS has made in that version of the OS. You can also bet that Microsoft isn’t going to be sitting around with this exploit in the wild – expect the first batch of Vista Windows Updates to address this.

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We previously read that Vista could prove to be a nightmare for enthusiasts who upgrade often, with only one transfer to a new machine allowed and with the license tied to a particular system configuration in a way that was far more limiting than Windows XP.

A Microsoft spokesman from the Licensing Dept told bit-tech that this would not be the case. He told us that Windows Vista will not require a system re-activation unless the hard drive and one other component is changed. This means that enthusiasts will be able to swap CPUs, memory and graphics cards out without any worry about having to re-activate with MS, either on the internet or by phone.

Should you change the hard drive and another piece of hardware – for example for a major upgrade such as a motherboard change that requires a re-installation – Microsoft will allow you to re-activate up to 10 times. You will not, however, be able to have more than one machine activated concurrently.

Should you wish to activate more than 10 times, you could be busted, or Microsoft could choose to let you activate again at its discretion.

For hardcore system enthusiasts, keeping a ghosted, activated copy of Vista with no drivers could be a good way of being able to swap around components and machines with the minimum amount of hassle.

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