Normally in windows CE sound properties it doesn’t show the option for disabling the sounds of “key click” and “screen taps”.

If you want to enable these two options in the Volume control panel applet, you need to add following registry entry either in platform.reg or project.reg.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ControlPanel]

“InputConfig”=dword:3 ;                        Bit0=have keybd, Bit1=have touch screen ,Bit2=have HW buttons

After adding the above registry entry you will be able to see “key click” and “screen taps” option in the Volume and Sound Properties control panel applet.

Normally for launching control panel application you have to go to control panel and double click the icons. Its useful if we can launch it programmatically. For instance, if the program wants the user to check the computer name, the system properties can be launched. If the program wants to uninstall some software, for easiness – the add/remove programs dialog can be launched and so and so…

There is an undocumented api – “Control_RunDLL” in the Shell32.dll which can be used to launch control panel applications. You’ve to pass the filename of control Panel application and it will be launched. See the following code block.

// Load the Shell32 dll.
HINSTANCE hShell32 = LoadLibrary(_T("Shell32.dll"));

// Typedef for function pointer for Control_RunDLL.
typedef void( CALLBACK * CONTROL_RUNDLL_FN_PTR)( HWND hwnd,
                                                 HINSTANCE hinst,
                                                 LPSTR lpszCmdLine,
                                                 int nCmdShow );

// Get the function pointer of - Control_RunDLL.
CONTROL_RUNDLL_FN_PTR pControl_RunDLL =
  (CONTROL_RUNDLL_FN_PTR)GetProcAddress( hShell32,
                                         _T("Control_RunDLL"));

// Now call the function and launch the ControlPanel App.
(*pControl_RunDLL)( 0, // hwnd
                    0, // Hinstance
                    _T("sysdm.cpl"), // ControlPanelApp filename.
                    SW_NORMAL );     // Show Normal

The control panel applications are located inside your windows directory. If you search the windows directory for “*.cpl” you can find a number of files. Each file is a control panel application. Even though the file extension is “.cpl“, its a dll. From the name itself you can interpret which control panel application it refers to. Go on, have a try.

For launching some control panel apps, you’ve to provide valid hwnd and hinstance. Then only it will be shown. For instance – timedate.cpl.

Targeted Audience – Intermediate.

The following instructions only apply if you are installing Zone Alarm for the very first time. These instructions are NOT for the people who already have Zone Alarm installed on their computers, and are upgrading to the latest version.

1. Create a New Folder on your desktop and Rename it to Downloads. By doing this you will have one central location for all programs that you download. When you download any program DO NOT select ‘Run’, select ‘Save’ and when you have saved it scan it with an anti-virus program.
I recommend the use of AVG AntiVirus which I have covered in another post.

2. Click Here to download ZoneAlarm. Download it into the folder named Downloads, BUT DO NOT install it until you have followed the instructions below.

3. Once you have downloaded your version of ZoneAlarm to your Desktop Folder, disconnect from the Internet. If you use Cable or DSL Modem, disconnect it and close any other running programs apart from your basic programs to run Windows. This includes the Windows Firewall. To find out
what Applications are running go to Task Manager (Control+Alt+Delete). Look for Applications, make sure there are NO Applications running. If they are, use the End Task Button. To disable the Windows Firewall go to your Control Panel, switch it to Classic View then double click on Windows Firewall and then click the ‘Off’ button.

4. Go into your Control Panel, on top of the screen you will see Tools, click on it, then another tab will show up and click on Folder Options, in the new panel that opens click on View. Scroll down to where it says Hidden Files and Folders, put a dot or check-mark in the box that says, “Show hidden files and folders”, then REMOVE the check mark from the next two boxes that say the following,” Hide Extensions for known file types” and “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)”. Drop down to bottom
of panel and click Apply. Now go to the top of the panel and click on “Apply to All Folders”, click Yes in new window then click OK in Folder Options panel. This way all your folders will show the change. Close the control Panel.

5. Make sure you have completely removed any other vendor’s firewall product you were currently using ie: Norton, McAfee etc. Now for those of you who are installing the Zone Alarm Security Suite or Zone Alarm Anti-Virus, the very same applies, make sure you have completely removed any other anti-virus product you were currently using. If you are using AVG Anti-Virus and/or Spybot Search & Destroy you can safely ignore them. If the program has an Uninstall feature please use that, if not go to your Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs and select each item individually and select Remove. Do NOT reboot if prompted to.

You then need to ensure that there are no Registry keys or Files left behind. Click on Start, then Search or Find, and select Files. Make sure that the location box is set to search your local hard drive (usually C or All Local
Drives. XP users: set Advanced search options to search ALL files and folders! Type in Norton or Symantec etc. then wait for search to complete. If any items show up simply right click and Delete. Then double click MY COMPUTER, double click on C (if that is your main drive) and you will
have a window of Folders open. Locate the Program Files folder and double click to open it and you will then have a list of all of your Program Files. Look for any folder that has your old Firewall or Anti-Virus name on it, right click on the folder and select Delete. Once you have done this, click the Back button at the top locate and and double click on the Windows folder. This will open a panel of all of you Windows Files, scroll down to find the one named Prefetch. Double click it to open then go to the Edit Tab at the top and click on it, scroll down to Select All, left click on it and all of the files will be highlighted. Then go to File (beside Edit) click on it scroll down and select Delete. You will get a pop-up message ‘Are you sure you want to send these XXXX items to the Recycle Bin’. Click Yes, this will remove the items out of the Prefetch Folder. Now close the window to return to your desktop. Go to your Recycle Bin, right click and select Empty Recycle Bin.

Now, I will try to explain to you how to find any stray Registry Keys in your Registry. First of all backup your Registry. Go to Start, Run and type in regedit click on OK and the Registry Editor will then open. Go to the top Tabs
and click on File, scroll down until you see Export, left click it and this will open Export Registry File window. Save this file to your desktop and in the File Name box enter Registry Backup File. Click on Save and it should now
be on your desktop. Verify the file is a good copy, in the Registry Editor window click on File, select Import, in new panel where it says ‘Look in’ select desktop and then click on your saved file then click ‘Open’. Once it says it has been read in successfully, you have a good backup.

Now to edit the Registry go to the Edit Tab at the top left click it, scroll down until you see Find, left click
it, another panel will pop up, it will ask you Find What, type in Norton, Symantec, Mcafee or whatever Firewall or Anti-Virus vendor you were using before installing ZoneAlarm. After you have typed the name, make sure that there are checkmarks in all of the boxes – Should be 4 blocks, Keys, Values, Data, and Match Whole String Only – then go back to where you typed in Norton, Symantec, etc then click on ‘Find Next’. The search will locate Folders in the left panel and strings in the right pane. Ignore the right pane strings and keys values, look for the highlighted Folder in the left pane, right click on it and select ‘Delete’, click ‘Yes’ on pop-up window then hit your F3 keyboard button and it will continue to search the Registry, delete any Folders it finds in the left pane and continue until a pop-up says Finished searching through the registry. Exit the Registry Editor.

6. Now go back to your desktop to where you have downloaded and saved your copy of ZoneAlarm and install it.

7. Let ZoneAlarm configure your Program Settings. The reason for this is that there is a very good possibility
that when you manually install the Program Settings, something may not get properly installed, which may cause major problems with your installation of ZoneAlarm. Later if you decide you do not want a specific program in your Programs Control Panel, then remove it. If it is required, you will get a balloon alert about it allowing or disallowing it. That’s your decision. I have always done this and have never had a problem by letting Zone Alarm configure my settings.

8. When the installation is complete, reboot your system and connect back on to the Internet, making sure all your other programs are activated this includes ZoneAlarm and the ones that you had disabled, especially your Cable or DSL Modems. These should all automatically restart after rebooting.

9. Final step..go back to Start > Control Panel and if necessary switch it to Classic View. Locate the folder
named ‘Folder Options’ and double click it. In the ‘View’ tab go to Hidden files and folders and click the radio
button ‘Do not show hidden files and folders’ and place ticks in the following two boxes, ‘Hide extensions for known file types’ and ‘Hide protected operating system files(Recommended)’.

For additional in-depth information click here

You can find an installation tutorial here once you have completed the steps above.

ZoneAlarm will walk you through the setup when you install it.

If you have any questions please leave a comment or use the ‘Contact Me here’ at the top of this page and I will get back to you asap.

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