Foreword

In my years supporting NT, I have become certain about one thing: not many things in this computer-crazed world are certain. The new supercharged computer purchased last week is now obsolete, and most ideas started today by our industry leaders will probably be changed tomorrow. All this points to a bit of chaos built into our world. And this chaos extends to Windows NT.

We all recognize that the key to Windows NT is hidden in its poorly understood, undocumented, and somewhat chaotic registry. Users tend to assume that changing settings in the registry will provide an instant fix, whether or not the change is called for. I have seen many instances when registry changes have irreversibly killed an installation of NT. In fact, I have been guilty of playing this game of registry roulette myself. You feel fabulous when you succeed but not so good and embarrassed when you spend the night fixing what never should have happened in the first place. So what are we to do? Continue playing registry roulette until the inevitable happens? Many sources of information out there tell us what the registry is. But until now, no book has told us where to find these undocumented goodies in the registry or given us the information necessary to change these settings.

Tim Daniel’s new book is indispensable here. It provides a plethora of registry settings for supporting NT. It is as valuable a tool as all your diskettes, CDs, and screwdrivers taken together. Let’s face it, not all IS managers or NT users are registry “He-men” — those brave few who have the time on their hands to charge unknowingly into chaos, hoping to emerge the winner.

This book provides a collection of registry settings that have been tried and shown to work. Many of these settings are undocumented and are, quite frankly, neat to try. This book does not help you understand the registry. We do not need another collection of ethereal concepts. What we need is reality in the form of useful, usable settings, and Tim has come through for us on that score. Do you want to change the number of available critical worker threads? The book shows you how. Want to allow a workstation the same cache characteristics as a server? The book shows you how. The book even shows you how to change font types in Internet Explorer. My list could go on and on but the bottom line is simple: this book is mandatory. All serious users of NT will appreciate the wisdom and utility of this book. You will be able to choose registry settings you never knew existed to obtain the results you desire. IS managers can tell before they leap what certain changes will accomplish. For the first time, the wild, chaotic underpinnings of the registry have been tamed and exposed. I certainly hope that the book does not stop here. Future additions to our knowledge of the registry are always welcome. For now, buy the book. It is a superb addition to your support fundamentals.

Dr. Bob Chronister
Windows NT Magazine’s “Tricks & Traps” author