ClassifyIt Shell Extension – Alpha Version – Admin Guide

Release Note: The ClassifyIt Shell Extension has reached Alpha status. THIS IS NOT the final version and SHALL NOT BE USED OPERATIONALLY.

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Functional Overview

The ClassifyIt Shell Extension (Alpha) provides a Windows Shell Extension with an additional context menu to select and see the classification of a file, and adds Icon Overlay to graphically show the classification of the file.  

 

 

Icon Overlay

Icon Overlay provides the graphical representation of the files classifications.

Example: the result might look like this. In Explorer each classified file receives a graphical representation of its classification if form of a coloured stamp. Here file a1.txt would represent an UNCLASSIFIED file, shown with a black stamp. File a2.doc is a RESTRICTED file, represented with a green stamp, etc.

ClassifyIt Shell Extension Icon Overlay Example

 ClassifyIt Icon Ovleray in Explorer

 

 

Context Menu

With a right click on the file icon the ClassifyIt context menu is visible and offers a set of commands. To see and change the file classification. This example is based on the TLP classification and marking schema, and would be adopted to the use-case of your company.  ClassifyIt Shell Extension Context Menu

 

 

Installation Instructions

The installation of the ClassifyIt Shell Extension in its Alpha version is a bit cumbersome which will be efficiently improved in the Beta and operational versions.

Please follow the instructions steps in the sequence and pay attention to detail, as wrong changes can result in system instability.

  1. Download the ClassifyIt_ShellExt zip from ugarbe.de
  2. Extract the files to the following folder: c:\ClassifyIt
  1. The c:\ClassifyIt folder contains a couple of files required for the installation and some test files.
  2. Double-click the registry.reg file.
    this will add a key in the registry and provides the location of the ClassifyIt(TLP).json configuration file.
  1. Open the command line interface in admin mode.
  2. In command line interface change the directory to the ClassifyIt folder: cd c:\ClassifyIt
  1. Register the DLL file: regsvr32 ClassifyIt_ShellExt.dll
  1. Confirm the dialogue which should indicate that the DLL was registered successfully.
  1. The shell extension is now active but we could only see the context menu. In order to also allow the icon overlays being visible, we need to restart the explorer:
    1. close all Explorer windows;
    2. start the Task Manager;
    3. find the Windows Explorer process which is almost on the bottom of the list and right click; if there are more than one select the most bottom one;
    4. select Restart;
      1. the desktop will disappear and after 1-2 seconds will appear again;
      2. if the desktop did not disappear look again in the Task Manager and select the most bottom Windows Explorer process and Restart.

The installation is complete. Lets test.

Test Guidance

In Explorer navigate to c:\ClassifyIt. There are 4 test files a1.txt till a4.txt. those are classified already as shown in the Functional Overview and the icon overlays should be visible.

Right click on any file and see the ClassifyIt menu.

Note: with Windows 11 the context menu of Explorer became a ‘modern’ look. You only see the ClassifyIt item if you press the SHIFT key while right-clicking, or when selecting Show more options.

In the ClassifyIt menu you can select the classification directly by selecting one of the TLP classifications: WHITE, GREEN, AMBER or RED.
Note: other often used classification schema use: UNCLASSIFIED, RESTRICTED, CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET

The ClassifyIt menu can be used for a single file, or a selection of multiple files.

The Release Form menu option will open a form/window to select a classification and also a release could be selected.

The Show Classification menu shows for the selected file(s) the classification label.
Note: this will be improved to show the real classification

Removal Instructions

To deinstall the ClassifyIt Shell Extension execute the following steps:

  1. open the CMD command line interface in admin mode;
  2. change the directory to the c:\ClassifyIt folder;
  3. un-register the DLL:

regsvr32 -u ClassifyIt_ShellExt.dll

  1. close all Explorer windows;
  2. start Task Manager and restart the Windows Explorer process;
    1. this is typically at the end of the processes list;
    2. the restart must make the desktop disappear and come back after 1-2 seconds;
  3. open the registry editor and remove the key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CLASSIFY_IT