So Windows lets you break the computer

[colonel_mortis]

So windows allows you to essentially redirect one exe to another by adding a registry key. Imagine if you tried to do that to explorer.exe.........

I can tell you that it works. I can also tell you that safe mode doesn't help. What happens is that the system boots into a black screen with only a cursor. Win+? doesn't work, although Ctrl+Alt+Del does, and the only way I can find to fix it is to boot into safe mode with CMD and open regedit through there.

I hope you know what you're doing

Paste it into notepad and save it as a .reg (make sure the encoding is set to ANSI), then run it. To fix it, boot into safe mode with command prompt and type regedit, then in the window that opens, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe and delete the "debugger" key. Alternatively, in the cmd, type reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe" \v Debugger

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00;This file will replace explorer.exe with shutdown.exe[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe]"Debugger"="shutdown.exe /p /f /t 0"

[xrex64]

Thanks! Been looking for this for a while now.

[Konrath]

GMC also allows me to break my truck.  I put vodka in the gas tank and now I can't go anywhere.

[xox]

Of course it does, it's just your responsibility not to break your own stuff.

 

I could delete my registry. Doesn't mean I should do it.

 

I could kill a baby. Doesn't mean I should do it.

 

 

See what I mean?

[DarrenP]

Did you try deleting system.32 ? 

[colonel_mortis]

Of course it does, it's just your responsibility not to break your own stuff.

I could delete my registry. Doesn't mean I should do it.

I could kill a baby. Doesn't mean I should do it.

See what I mean?

No, that's not the point of the post. It's just an interesting observation of what you could must never ever do to someone else's pc. And it's so simple (and easy to automate) that someone could bundle it with say an installer and you are screwed. So watch out and never ever use it on anyone else.

[AlwaysFSX]

No, that's not the point of the post. It's just an interesting observation of what you could must never ever do to someone else's pc. And it's so simple (and easy to automate) that someone could bundle it with say an installer and you are screwed. So watch out and never ever use it on anyone else.

I would at least create an image of their system before doing that.

[bac06]

Registry is accessible for admins

 

Just like root user can mess things up in Unix like systems (Gnu & MacOs)

 

Admin/root grants total control so why bother with a simple tweak?

 

If I had admin access to someone's else pc I would install a malware.

[Satlen]

removing explorer.exe would not break anything b/c you can ctrl+alt+del and open task manager, then open the run box and type in explorer.exe