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I am attempting to clean out my dad's laptop, which is running Windows Vista. Somehow, he has managed to accrue 1,400 wireless networks in the "Manage Wireless Networks" control panel. Is there any easy way to clear this list short of reinstalling Windows?

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1302 days since Vista was released. Assuming he bought it the same day, he's averaged ~ 1.075 new networks per day. Nice. – mindless.panda Jun 2 '10 at 18:24
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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

The keys are stored in an XML file, apparently:

Q: What is the Registry location that Windows Vista stores the wireless key ?

A: Windows Vista doesn't store the wireless keys in Registry anymore. Instead, the keys are stored in the file system - under c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces\[Interface Guid]. The [Interface Guid] is a unique GUID value the represents your wireless network card. The keys are stored and well-encrypted inside the .xml files that you can find in the above path.

( via )

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+1. I'm a big fan of nirsoft.net. I didn't know the guy had that information up. Now a bigger fan of nirsoft.net. – James T Jun 3 '10 at 0:42
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up vote 0 down vote

Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Manage Wireless Networks in the left pane

Right-click the ones you want to Remove, then delete. It might take a while.

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I know that's the regular way to do it. But with 1,400 networks it will take more than "a while." What I really want to know is how that list is populated. – BEn Jun 2 '10 at 17:28
Open your registry and search for one of the names which seems to be unique, you'll find where it's stored in the registry, just delete all those entries. Use caution though, registry editing can do damage if you mess it up. – Daisetsu Jun 2 '10 at 18:17
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You could use Autohotkey to simulate pressing the delete key and then ok 1400 times.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

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