The IT guys from work were a bit unhappy to see we’ve installed more programs than they wanted to. Well, not really a bit since a memo came up showing all the unwanted programs to be purged. Apparently, Ovulation Calendar program was not included in the list of company approved programs for work.
Well we can’t blame ‘em, that’s what they’re paid for. But I do admit there are some programs I’m not that willing to part with yet. Seeing that the simplest for of their network scan was to access your ADD/REMOVE Programs list and view everything installed.
Yeah, this little bugger knows all your dirty little computer secrets. Think again!
Of course the only way you would be able to remove an item from the list is to succumb to the greater IT guy’s will and uninstall it……. until now. Well, you wouldn’t be here unless you were looking for a solution now, would you?
But for whatever reason that is, this is a simple registry hack I’ve recently found where you can hide the item from the list and save you the humiliation of being found with your NSFW programs like Dora the explorer.
Note that this just removes the item from the list and not uninstall it, and this will not be able to hide the programs from any program sweeper. This just hides it from plain sight. Which works for IT specialist below level 10.
You can see the list of installed programs here. For this sample, I’m using Beyond Compare 2. An illegal program. God knows why it’s illegal, it just is.
Be sure to backup your registry before doing this!
Next open Regedit. If you don’t know what that is, google it. or simply click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
Now a window will pop up, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall \ [Name of your program]
In this case the program name is BC2_IS1
You then create a new DWORD value, right click and select new->DWORD (shown below)
And you name it ‘SystemComponent’ (without the ‘)
Next is to fill it’s value with a hexadecimal 1
Save, exit and you’re done! Now laugh at the faces of the people who run thorugh programs list and fail to see what devious stuff you have underlying there.
Disclaimer: *Hey you IT guys from work, I’m not using this to hide my programs so your plans of using this post against me is thwarted! Secondly, I don’t recommend this to officemates since it might be more trouble than the program’s worth.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Hey, that’s great… It’s actually pretty mucho what I’ve looking for. Just a question: do you have a uber-10 level IT specialist trick? I mean, is it possible to super-hide installed programs from an audit scan? Yes, I know, maybe that’s just too much to ask, but you never know…
Thanks!
January 24th, 2010 at 7:25 am
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January 24th, 2010 at 7:25 am
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January 24th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Great advice, i like it. I should just give up and take lessons from you
January 24th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Its really nice, it very instructive for me. I need some time to think about this
January 24th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Yeah, showing maturity in your response. I need some time to think about this
January 24th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Love your blog, it’s all so pretty. I thought I would leave my first comment
January 24th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Thanks for saying so, we’re glad you like it. What you wrote is great advice any way that you look at it.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Good job, i will keep visiting this blog very often. I thought I would leave my first comment
January 26th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I have needed this information for so long. Where have you been!!! Thanks
February 5th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
I dont know about all the camotion around farmville. I know one thing for sure if you have alot of free time to kill then this the game for you
My cousin is taken up with it . Nice post by the way