[Fix] KB3093594 Update Causing Email Sync Problems to Windows Live Mail 2012 Users

Recently Microsoft sent an email to all outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, msn.com and other Microsoft email account (previously known as Windows Live email account) users about the upcoming changes to the email service which will prevent them from syncing their Microsoft email accounts using Windows Live Mail 2012 program in coming weeks.

Windows Live Mail also known as WLM is a Desktop email client program which is a part of Microsoft's official and popular Windows Essentials (previously known as Windows Live Essentials) package which consists of Windows Live Mail, Messenger, Writer, OneDrive, Photo Gallery, Family Safety and other useful programs.

Windows Live Mail uses Microsoft's own DeltaSync protocol to synchronize emails for Outlook, Hotmail, Live, MSN and other Microsoft email accounts. It works similar to IMAP protocol but its faster and more accurate than IMAP.

Now Microsoft has decided to retire DeltaSync protocol and the company is planning to replace it with Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol which is also used by Microsoft Outlook program. When Microsoft will discontinue DeltaSync protocol, Windows Live Mail program will stop synchronizing emails for all Outlook and other Microsoft accounts. That's why Microsoft sent the email to all users informing about this upcoming change.

PROBLEM SYMPTOM:

Although that was a nice initiative by Microsoft to inform the users in advance about the change but it has started giving problems to many Windows Live Mail users.

Actually Microsoft has mentioned in the email that once the Windows Live Mail program stops working for Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts, all users will need to install a new update KB3093594 to fix the issue. This update will allow Windows Live Mail to again synchronize emails without any problem.

Actually this update adds support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol to Windows Live Mail program and also updates the existing Outlook, Hotmail, Live, MSN and other Microsoft email accounts settings in Windows Live Mail program so that the program can sync emails using new EAS protocol.

But instead of fixing the issue, this update is causing a big problem to Windows Live Mail users. As soon as a Windows Live Mail 2012 user installs this update, the program stops synchronizing emails for Outlook and other Microsoft accounts. The programs starts giving errors while syncing email accounts.

PROBLEM REASON:

The problem is occurring due to following reasons:

REASON 1:

First of all this update has been released only for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1operating systems. Its mentioned in the supported operating system list under "System Requirements" section of the update download page as shown in following screenshot:

But this important fact is nowhere mentioned in the email that Windows 10 users should not install this update. So if you install this update in Windows 10, it'll obviously break the Windows Live Mail program as the update was not intended for Windows 10. Microsoft should have mentioned it clearly in the email that Windows 10 users should stay away from this update. Also this update should warn users if they try to install it in Windows 10 OS. Currently this update doesn't show any warning or error messages while installing in Windows 10.

REASON 2:

Even though this update was released for Windows 7/8/8.1 operating system, it still causes the same problem to these operating system users. The reason is very simple! This update adds support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol to Windows Live Mail program but Microsoft has not yet fully implemented the functionality at server side. That's why Windows Live Mail program can't sync emails for Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts as the functionality is currently broken at server side.

Actually Microsoft has been upgrading all Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts to a new service called Outlook Mail (Preview) since May 2015. Some email accounts have been upgraded to this new service but many Microsoft email accounts are still pending. Microsoft will keep upgrading all remaining email accounts to this new email service in coming weeks or months.

You can check whether your email account has been upgraded to the new Outlook Mail (Preview) service or not by logging into your Outlook email account using any web browser and if you see the new Outlook Mail (Preview) logo at the top-left corner of the webpage that means your account has been successfully upgraded. But if you see only Outlook logo that means your account has not been upgraded yet.

Now the problem is that the email accounts which have been upgraded to Outlook Mail (Preview) service already support EAS protocol sync so those accounts will be able to sync emails in Windows Live Mail 2012 with the KB3093594 patch installed. Other remaining Microsoft email account users who have not been upgraded to this new service yet, can't sync emails in Windows Live Mail 2012 with KB3093594 update installed as their email accounts don't have EAS support.

So if your Microsoft email account has been upgraded to new Outlook Mail (Preview) service, you'll need to install KB3093594 update in Windows Live Mail 2012 program to sync emails using EAS protocol because the new Outlook Mail (Preview) email accounts no longer support older DeltaSync protocol used by Windows Live Mail 2012 program.

And if your email account has not been upgraded to new Outlook Mail (Preview) service, DO NOT install KB3093594 update.

PROBLEM SOLUTION:

First of all if you have not installed the KB3093594 update yet and your email account is working fine in Windows Live Mail 2012, DO NOT install the update at the moment. Stay away from this update. Microsoft has already updated and re-released the update twice. First the previous version of this update (released on December 11th) caused crashing problems in Windows Live Mail program when the user tried to update the Calendar. Then Microsoft released a new version of this update on December 17th which started this syncing problem. Microsoft has already acknowledged the issue and they are investigating it. Once the issue is resolved, they'll release another version of the update to fix the problem.

But if you have installed the update and are facing email syncing problem, you can try following solutions:

SOLUTION 1:

The best solution would be first uninstall and then reinstall Windows Live Mail program. Doing this will automatically remove the new update from your computer. Don't worry! When you uninstall the program, it'll not delete your email account settings and emails from your computer. It'll keep them safe in AppData folder. When you'll reinstall the program, it'll automatically detect the settings and existing email accounts and will start working as usual.

PS: If you are still worried about losing email account settings and email messages, you can take a backup of the email accounts and messages using built-in export option. Click on File -> Export email -> Email messages and Account options. Now you can export your desired accounts and emails. After reinstalling Windows Live Mail, you can import email accounts using File -> Options -> Email accounts -> Import option and import messages using File -> Import messages option.

To uninstall the program do as following:

1. Open Control Panel and click on "Programs and Features" icon.

2. You'll see Windows Essentials 2012 present in the installed programs list. Click on it and then click on "Uninstall/Change" button present in the toolbar.

3. It'll open the setup wizard which will ask you to remove or repair the program. Click on "Remove one or more Windows Essentials programs" option.

Now select Mail program from the list. Uncheck other programs if you want to keep them on your computer. Click on Uninstall button and it'll uninstall Windows Live Mail 2012 within a few minutes.

4. Now run Windows Essentials setup installer again (if you don't have, you can download it from here) and click on "Choose the programs you want to install" option.

Now select Mail program and click on Install button. It'll install Windows Live Mail again on your computer.

Launch the program and since the KB3093594 update was automatically removed when you uninstalled Windows Live Mail program, now your Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts will sync properly in Windows Live Mail 2012 program.

SOLUTION 2:

If you don't want to uninstall and reinstall the program, you can take help of IMAP protocol to sync your email accounts. You can remove existing Outlook or other Microsoft email account and then re-add the same account using following steps:

1. Click on Accounts tab present in the Ribbon and then click on Email button.

2. It'll launch add new email accounts wizard. Now provide required information such as your email account address, password, display name and then select "Manually configure server settings" option. Now click on Next button.

3. On next screen, select IMAP from "Server type" drop-down list and enter required incoming and outgoing server addresses and port numbers for your Outlook email account 

Following screenshot also shows the required information:

Don't forget to type your correct email address in "Logon user name" field.

4. Now click on Next button and it'll add your email account successfully.

Now your Outlook or other Microsoft email account will sync perfectly using IMAP protocol in Windows Live Mail 2012.

SOLUTION 3:

If you are not satisfied with Windows Live Mail program, you can try the built-in Mail app present in Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 to sync your email accounts.

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[Fix] Can’t Open Bing, MSN, Outlook or Other Microsoft Websites in Windows 10

I have received many emails from AskVG readers regarding this strange problem in Windows OS. Many readers have reported that they can't access Bing, MSN, Outlook or other Microsoft websites in their computers. Most of those readers were using Windows 10 operating system and some readers were using Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 operating system.

After investigating the issue, I found the reason behind this problem and it helped those readers in fixing this problem.

So today in this tutorial, I'm going to share the same solution so that if you are also facing similar problem, you can fix it using these simple methods:

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

Sometimes Windows 7, 8/8.1 or Windows 10 users can't open Microsoft websites such as Bing.com, MSN.com, Outlook.com, etc in their web browser. Whenever they try to access these websites, they get "This page can't be displayed" error message as shown in following screenshot:

Other websites open fine without any problem so its not a problem in their Internet connection. Only Bing and other Microsoft related websites cause this problem.

PROBLEM REASON:

This problem occurs when a user tries to block or disable telemetry and data collection feature in Windows OS. Actually many people are worried about their privacy in Windows 10 and previous Windows versions such as Windows 7 and 8/8.1 as Microsoft has mentioned a few times that Windows 10 regularly collects some user personalized data and automatically sends it to Microsoft to help them in improving Windows functionality and user experience.

Microsoft has also released some updates for Windows 7 and 8/8.1 operating systems which add similar data collection and telemetry feature to these Windows 

That's why many people are taking help of some 3rd party tweaking software which claim to disable telemetry feature and block Windows to collect and send any data to Microsoft. To disable this feature, these software add several entries of IP addresses and URLs related to Microsoft servers in Windows Firewall rules list and Hosts file. These entries block those IPs and URLs to connect to Microsoft servers.

But these IPs and URLs also block Bing and other Microsoft websites and that's why people face problems while accessing these websites in their web browser.

PROBLEM SOLUTION:

I'll never suggest anyone to use any software to block Microsoft IPs or URLs as it may also block several other websites such as Bing, Outlook, etc and may also prevent Windows Update from downloading and installing updates in your computer which might be harmful for your computer as Microsoft regularly releases security updates for Windows to fix security risks.

If you have used any of such software, you'll need to restore default settings in Firewall and hosts file so that you can access all websites without any problem. Just follow these simple steps to fix this problem:

STEP 1: Reset Hosts File to Default

First of all, reset Hosts file to default. Hosts file is an important system file which maps hostnames to IP addresses. Its a simple text file stored in "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\" folder.

You can restore default hosts file with the help of following tutorial or freeware:

How to Reset Hosts File to Default in Windows?

Host Mechanic: Freeware to Edit, Delete or Restore Hosts File in Windows

Now try to open Bing or other Microsoft websites and they should open fine. If still some websites do not open, follow step 2.

STEP 2: Restore Default Settings and Policy in Windows Firewall

Now we'll need to restore default settings and policies/rules in Windows Firewall.

First of all open Windows Firewall from Control Panel. You can also directly launch it using following command in RUN or Start searchbox:

explorer shell:::{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}

Now click on "Restore defaults" link present in left sidebar.

It'll show another page, click on "Restore defaults" button. It'll ask for confirmation, click onYes button to make changes.

Now click on "Advanced settings" link present in left sidebar.

It'll open "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security" window. Click on "Restore Default Policy" link present in right-sidebar.

It'll also ask for confirmation, click on Yes button.

That's it. Now try to open Bing or other Microsoft websites and they should open fine now.

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Windows 10 Automatic Upgrade on Your Computer Again

UPDATED on Feb 01, 2016: Windows 10 upgrade is now available as a "Recommended Update" for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. If you don't want to upgrade to Windows 10, check out the steps given below to prevent your computer from automatically upgrading to Windows 10.

When Microsoft released Windows 10 operating system to public and announced the free upgrade offer for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, they released a special program called "Get Windows 10" which was created to help users in upgrading their computers to Windows 10 easily. It was a good initiative but for those people who didn't want to upgrade to Windows 10, it was just an annoying icon sitting in Taskbar notification area.

It helped those people who were not willing to upgrade to the new Windows 10 OS. But now another new thing is coming to force you to upgrade your computer to Windows 10.

Recently Microsoft announced that very soon they are going to release Windows 10 as an "Optional Update" for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users which means if you are using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 operating system, you'll see Windows 10 an an optional update listed in available Windows updates in coming days. Since it'll be an optional update, it'll not be selected by default. Hence it'll not be downloaded and installed until you manually select it. That's OK.

But Microsoft also said that in the beginning of next year i.e. 2016, they'll release Windows 10 as "Recommended Update" for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users which means the update may be selected by default and the full Windows 10 setup files (offline ISO file) may be automatically downloaded on your computer without your knowledge.

Why? Because by default Windows Update is set to "Install updates automatically" option which means Windows automatically downloads and installs new updates on your computer including recommended updates (based upon the settings). So when Windows 10 will be released as recommended update, it'll be automatically downloaded on your computer which will consume a big amount of your valuable Internet connection and if you are using an Internet connection with data limit, you'll be in big trouble.

Although Microsoft said that once Windows 10 is downloaded on your computer, it'll prompt you to install it and you can accept or decline the installation but it'll be a complete waste of your Internet connection bandwidth if you don't want to upgrade to Windows 10.

Now there are two cases:

CASE 1: If you want to upgrade to Windows 10, you don't need to worry about anything. When Microsoft will release Windows 10 update, just upgrade your computer to Windows 10. Simple.

CASE 2: But if you are satisfied with your existing operating system and don't want to upgrade to Windows 10, then you should definitely follow the steps given in this tutorial to stop the upcoming automatic and forced Windows 10 upgrade in your computer:

You just need to adjust Windows Update settings in your computer to prevent the automatic upgrade to Windows 10. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Open Control Panel and click on Windows Update icon. Alternatively, you can direct launch Windows Update using wuapp.exe command in RUN dialog box or Start search box.

2. Now click on "Change Settings" link present in left sidebar. It'll open Windows Update settings page.

PS: You can directly launch Windows Update settings page by running following command in RUN dialog box:

explorer shell:::{36EEF7DB-88AD-4E81-AD49-0E313F0C35F8}\pageSettings

3. Now first disable "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates" option. If you disable this checkbox, Windows 10 update will not be automatically downloaded on your computer.

4. Now also change "Important updates" option to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" from the drop-down box. This way, all future updates will not be downloaded automatically. Instead Windows will notify you that new updates are available and then you can select which updates you want to install. I always keep this option selected in all computers. In my opinion that's the best and safest way to install Windows updates in any computer.

Now you'll have full control over new Windows updates and you'll be able to decide which updates you want to install in your computer. Now when Windows 10 update becomes available and if you don't want to install it, either leave the update unchecked (deselected) or right-click on the update and select "Hide update" option and Windows will not notify you again about this update.

That's it. These steps will make sure that no automatic Windows 10 upgrade is going to happen in your computer and will prevent your computer from downloading the huge Windows 10 update when it becomes available.

But I'll advise you to upgrade your computer to Windows 10, I'm using it as my primary OS and its awesome, believe me...

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[Windows Tip] Disable “This App is Preventing Shutdown or Restart” Screen

Recently an AskVG reader contacted me regarding this annoying issue. The reader wanted to completely disable the screen which appears when you try to log off, restart or shut down in Windows OS and shows a list of apps which are preventing the operation. Actually this screen can be disabled using a simple Registry tweak which has been shared a long time back in following exclusive 

Today another reader contacted me regarding same problem, so I decided to create a separate tutorial for it so that it can help other people in addressing the same issue.

Actually it's not a problem or issue. It's a feature by design. This feature is called app manager or program manager. It automatically detects the running apps list as soon as the user performs a power operation such as restart or shut down and if the user has some unsaved work in any app, the program notifies the user about it. This feature shows following message on screen as soon as the user tries to log off, restart or shut down:

Closing apps and shutting down / restarting / signing out
To go back and save your work, click Cancel and finish what you need to.

Running app name
This app is preventing shutdown / This app is preventing you from restarting / This app is preventing you from signing out.

Two buttons are given "Shut down / restart / sign out anyway" and "Cancel". You can click on the first button to end task of the running apps and perform power operation. If you want to go back and save the work, you can click on Cancel button.

Following screenshot shows this feature live in action:

If you are also getting this screen frequently and want to turn this feature off, this tutorial will help you.

You can follow these simple steps to disable the annoying "This app is preventing..." message screen:

1. Type regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

3. In right-side pane, right-click on empty area and create a new String AutoEndTasks and set its value to 1

4. That's it. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer to take effect.

Now Windows will automatically end task of all running apps without showing you "This app is preventing..." message on screen whenever you want to sign out, restart or shut down your computer.

If you are worried about editing Registry and want a ready-made Registry script to do the whole task automatically, you can download the Registry script from the "Collection of Registry tweaks" topic mentioned in the beginning of this article.

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[Windows Tip] Disable Search Box on New Tab Page in Internet Explorer

Microsoft's latest OS Windows 10 comes with Internet Explorer 11 version. The previous Windows version i.e. Windows 8.1 also came with IE11 version and Microsoft has released the same IE11 version for good ol' Windows 7 OS. Internet Explorer 11 comes with many new features and changes and one of these changes is the addition of search box on new tab page.

When you open a new tab in Internet Explorer 11, it shows a big search box on top along with thumbnails of frequently visited webpages.

The above guide helps you in removing the search box from IE's new tab page using very simple and easy to follow methods. But recently an AskVG reader "almostfamous84" asked us about Registry tweak or Group Policy method to remove the search box from new tab page.

So today in this tutorial, we are going to share Registry tweaks and Group Policy tips to disable the search box on new tab page in Internet Explorer 11 version.

If you also want to get rid of the search box in IE11, following methods will definitely help you:

METHOD 1: Remove Search Box from New Tab Page Using Registry Editor

This method has same effect as the first method given in above mentioned tutorial link. When you disable search box on new tab page in IE by unchecking "Search in the address bar and the search box on the new tab page" option in "Manage Add-ons" window, it makes some changes in Windows Registry. So you can directly disable Search box on new tab page in IE by modifying Registry yourself as given in following steps:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

3. In right-side pane, look for AutoSearch DWORD. By default its value is set to 1 which means the option "Search in the address bar and the search box on the new tab page" in "Manage Add-ons" window is enabled and the search box is shown on new tab page.

To disable search box on new tab page, double-click on AutoSearch DWORD and change its value to 0

It'll immediately remove search box from new tab page in IE and the option "Search in the address bar and the search box on the new tab page" in "Manage Add-ons" window will get disabled.

To re-enable search box on new tab page, you can set the value of AutoSearch DWORD to 1again.

METHOD 2: Remove Search Box and Restrict Changes to "Manage Add-ons" Options

There is another way to remove search box from IE's new tab page. This method will also restrict users from changing the "Search in the address bar and the search box on the new tab page" option in "Manage Add-ons" window. The option will be greyed out and no one will be able to turn on/off this option.

This method uses Group Policy Editor tool and allows you to remove search box from new tab page as well as disable search functionality in address bar of Internet Explorer.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type gpedit.msc in RUN and press Enter. It'll open Group Policy Editor.

2. Now go to:

Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Searching

3. In right-side pane, double-click on "Prevent configuration of search on Address bar" option and set it to Enabled. Apply the changes.

It'll immediately remove search box from IE's new tab page.

If you also want to disable search functionality in IE address bar, again double-click on "Prevent configuration of search on Address bar" option, set it to Enabled and select "Do not search from the address bar" option from drop-down box. Now apply changes.

It'll disable address bar search functionality as well as search box on new tab page in Internet Explorer.

PS: If you decide to restore default settings in future, double-click on "Prevent configuration of search on Address bar" option and set it to Not Configured again.

METHOD 3: Remove Search Box and Restrict Changes Using Registry Editor

If you are using Home edition of Windows OS, you'll not find Group Policy Editor tool as this Windows edition doesn't contain this program. In such situation, you can take help of Registry Editor to perform same task. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

3. Under Microsoft key, create a new key and set its name to Internet Explorer

4. Now under Internet Explorer key again create a new key and set its name to Main

So the final key path would be:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

5. Select Main key and in right-side pane, create a new DWORD and set its name toAutoSearch

6. Now double-click on AutoSearch DWORD and set its value to 4. It'll remove the search box from new tab page but it'll keep search functionality in address bar. It'll also restrict users from changing the "Search in the address bar and the search box on the new tab page" option in "Manage Add-ons" window.

Similar to METHOD 2, if you also want to disable search functionality in IE address bar along with removing search box from new tab page, set value of AutoSearch DWORD to 0

It'll remove the search box from new tab page, will restrict users from changing the "Search in the address bar and the search box on the new tab page" option in "Manage Add-ons" window and will also disable search functionality in address bar of Internet Explorer.

PS: If you decide to restore default settings in future, delete AutoSearch DWORD from Registry which was created in STEP 5.

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[Windows Tip] Replace “Ease of Access” Button with Other Programs on Login Screen

A few years back I posted a tutorial about changing action of "Ease of Access" aka "Accessibility" button at Login Screen. In that tutorial, I provided a simple trick to replace the "Ease of Access" button with any desired program such as Command Prompt, Calculator, any web browser or other desired programs. Using that trick you were able to launch your desired program at login screen by clicking on "Ease of Access" button without actually signing into Windows OS.

But in that tutorial, you had to replace a system file "utilman.exe" in "System32" folder with the EXE file of your desired program. Today in this tutorial, I'm going to share another easy to follow and simple trick to replace "Ease of Access" button's action on Login Screen. With the help of this new trick, you'll be able to launch any desired program from Login Screen and you'll not need to replace any system file. We are going to use a simple Registry tweak in this tutorial shared by our reader "Vincent".

This trick will work in Windows Vista and all later Windows versions such as Windows 7/8/8.1 and Windows 10. If you also want to launch any desired program using "Ease of Access" button at Login Screen, following steps will help you:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

3. Under Image File Execution Options key, create a new key and set its name asutilman.exe

4. Select utilman.exe key and in right-side pane, create a new String and set its name asDebugger

5. Now the final step! Double-click on Debugger string and set its value to the full path of your desired program's EXE file. If you want to launch Command Prompt, Calculator, Notepad, Paint or any other system program, you can use the direct EXE file name of those programs as the value of Debugger string such as cmd.exe or calc.exe or notepad.exe, etc.

But if you want to launch programs such as Internet Explorer or any other 3rd party software, then you'll need to provide full path of that program's exe file as value of Debugger string such as C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe for launching Internet Explorer.

That's it. Now lock your computer or log off from the current session and click on "Ease of Access" button at Login Screen. It'll immediately launch your desired program without any need to sign into Windows.

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[Tip] Restrict Any Desired Program from Running in Windows

Recently we shared a useful Registry tweak to replace "Ease of Access" button at Login Screen with any desired program in Windows Vista and later Windows versions. With the help of that tutorial, you can launch any desired program by clicking on "Ease of Access" button at Login Screen without any need of sign into Windows. 

Now in this tutorial, we are going to use the same Registry tweak for a different task. With the help of the same Registry tweak we'll restrict any desired program from running in Windows. If a user tries to run the restricted program either by clicking on its shortcut or by directly running its EXE file, some other program will launch in its place. For example, you can restrict any 3rd party software such as a web browser and when someone tries to run that program, you can force Windows to launch a different program such as Notepad, Paint, etc in its place.

The beauty of this trick is that the user will never have any idea what's going on in the system. The user will never find the reason why Windows is opening a different program instead of the actual program associated with the shortcut.

If you want to restrict any program in Windows, check out following simple steps:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

3. Under Image File Execution Options key, create a new key and set its name to the EXE file name of your desired program which you want to restrict from running. For example, if you want to restrict Mozilla Firefox, then set the key name to firefox.exe, if you want to restrict Internet Explorer, set key name to iexplore.exe and so on. You can find the program's EXE file name from its shortcut's properties.

4. Now select the new key created in previous step and in right-side pane, create a new String and set its name as Debugger

5. Now the final step! Double-click on Debugger string and set its value to the full path of the program's EXE file which you want to launch in place of the restricted program. If you want to launch Command Prompt, Calculator, Notepad, Paint or any other system program instead of the restricted program, you can use the direct EXE file name of those programs as the value ofDebugger string such as cmd.exe or calc.exe or notepad.exe, etc.

But if you want to launch programs such as Internet Explorer or any other 3rd party software, then you'll need to provide full path of that program's exe file as value of Debugger string such as C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe for launching Internet Explorer.

That's it. Now try to open the restricted program and a different program which has been set as the value of Debugger string in Registry will launch in place of it.

If you want to remove the restriction in future, simply delete the key created in Step 3.

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