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Troubleshooting and Configuring the Windows NT/95 Registry
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Questions and Answers
for Users and the Registry
The Explorer interface and user options hold one of the largest sections of things
you can do with the Registry. Many items will work for both Windows 95 and Windows
NT 4.0. It's like a new car. As soon as you get it, there are little things you want
to do to personalize it. Some people even go wild and change it completely. You have
the same options here.
SOLUTIONS: I don't really like the look
of Windows 95 or NT 4.0. Can I just go back to Program Manager? Using Program Manager
in Windows 95 isn't a very good solution, because it is the 16-bit version that came
in Windows for Workgroups. It does not support long filenames, and it has other serious
limitations, too. In Windows NT, though, Program Manager is the 32-bit version that
came with NT 3.51. It has all the support you need and is very popular. Some users
just don't like the Explorer interface. (See Figure 27.1.) Rather than stay with
Windows 3.x or NT 3.51, simply use Program Manager. (See Figure 27.2.) It
is an updated 32-bit version with the same features and an updated look. Still, it
requires no additional training, and it will feel like a new pair of Hush Puppies.
Figure
27.1. Before: The
Explorer interface in Windows NT Workstation.
To change to Program Manager, open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon key, and edit the Shell
value. Enter PROGMAN.EXE and restart the system. Then, every time NT starts,
it will use the Program Manager interface.
Figure
27.2. After: Program
Manager with Windows NT Workstation.
Whether they run Program Manager or Explorer, many people like to use File Manager.
File Manager still ships with NT 4.0, and it is the 32-bit version, so it is powerful,
stable, and easy to use. Unfortunately, it will not work on Windows 95.
SOLUTIONS: I like the new NT interface
enough; I just wish I could get the old Task List back. Can I? The Task List that
you've used for years with Windows isn't anything special; it's just small, easy,
and fast. If you change to Program Manager and press Ctrl+Esc, the old Task List
pops up. If you are in Explorer and you press Ctrl+Esc, you get the Start menu (as
shown in Figure 27.1). But many of you already have a single key (the Windows key)
that launches the Start menu. The new Task Manager in NT 4.0 also includes a mini-Performance
Monitor, statistical information, and a task list. (See Figure 27.3.) To get the
old Task List with NT 4.0, add the TaskMan value to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\
Winlogon. The TaskMan value is a REG_SZ entry. The data is
TASKMAN.EXE. It is included with NT 4.0, so you don't have to copy anything.
Figure
27.3. The new Task
Manager showing the performance characteristics of the system.
To activate this change, log off and log on again. After logon, launch the Task List
with Ctrl+Esc. (See Figure 27.4.)
Figure
27.4. The old Task
List with Windows NT 4.0.
To launch Windows NT 4.0 Task Manager, with all its features, hold the Shift key
down, and then press Ctrl+Esc.
SOLUTIONS: Can I change my wallpaper that
shows on my logon screen in Windows NT? Every individual gets a choice of wallpapers
in the Control Panel, which updates the NTUSER.DAT file. By changing the
wallpaper in the default section of HKEY_USERS, the logon wallpaper is changed.
Add the name of the wallpaper to the Wallpaper value in HKEY_USERS\
.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. It will show when you log off the next time.
Consider putting your company logo as the wallpaper that starts up, as shown in
this Solution. Then, let your users select the one that they want to use the rest
of the time.
SOLUTIONS: Can I change where my wallpaper
is on the screen? Yes. It's easy, and it works in both NT 4.0 and in Windows 95.
In the Control Panel, you only have the options of having your wallpaper centered
(see Figure 27.5) or tiled (so it fills the whole screen). If you want it somewhere
else, so it doesn't get covered by your icons, you need to make a Registry change.
Figure
27.5. A centered
wallpaper with the icons on top.
Make the change in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. By the way,
using this Solution will also move the wallpaper for the previous Solution if you
put it in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Two values must be
added to the key (with Edit | Add Value in REGEDT32.EXE): WallpaperOriginX
sets the horizontal location of the left side of the graphic. WallpaperOriginY
sets the vertical location of the top of the graphic. The value is in pixels. A value
of 100 for WallpaperOriginX specifies that the wallpaper image
is 100 pixels from the left of the screen. A value of 275 for WallpaperOriginY
makes the graphic start 275 pixels from the top. Obviously, your screen's resolution
affects the actual location. A pixel in a 640x480 screen is much larger than one
in a 1024x768 screen. Try different values for different effects. When you log off
and log on again, the wallpaper will be in the new location. (See Figure 27.6.)
Figure
27.6. The wallpaper
moved to the right and down.
The values for the graphic in Figure 27.6 are Resolution 800x600 WallpaperOriginX
285 WallpaperOriginY 225 Other resolutions and different size graphics require
different values. Experiment with yours and place the wallpaper anywhere you choose.
Set your icons in place, and use the next Solution to make sure they stay there.
Here are several more Solutions that work in both NT and 95.
SOLUTIONS: I've got a really fast machine,
but it doesn't feel any faster than my old one. Why not? Much of what the performance
characteristics of hardware do is related to the applications you use. The demand
for calculations, the need for hard disk performance, and other factors are critical,
but they are not as noticeable. Make your menus faster by changing the amount of
time the system waits before having a menu appear when your mouse floats over a pop-up
location. Those locations are indicated on the menus with a right triangle. If you're
having trouble keeping up, or your mouse actions are not precise, and you keep getting
menus you don't want, you can increase the delay. To change the menu speeds, edit
the MenuShowDelay value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
(This will also work with Windows 95, but the value name must be added.) The range
for this value is 1-10,000 (milliseconds). The higher the number, the longer the
wait. The default value of 400 is for novice mouseketeers, whereas lower
values appeal to speed rats. To activate MenuShowDelay, log off and log
on again. Another way to boost the performance of the system is to change the way
the windows fly out of the Taskbar and minimize back in. Watching the default animation
for the windows reminds me of the genie in the bottle. My one wish is that it could
be faster. So, here's how to make a wish come true. Add a new REG_SZ value
called MinAnimate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
key. Animation is either on or off. To enable animation on, use 1; use 0
to disable it. To activate MinAnimate, log off and log on again. Then, minimize
a window. Boom! It's gone! It's going to feel a lot faster.
Animation and the menu speeds make the most difference on a slow machine. On a
Pentium Pro 200, you won't see as much of a difference as you will on a 486 running
at 33MHz.
SOLUTIONS: How can I get rid of the shortcut
arrows on my icons? Do you really want to do that? They are there to show which icons
are duplicates, and which icons actually represent files. If you are careful, you
can remove the arrows, but double-check before removing any icons. Every time you
make a shortcut, either for the desktop or for Explorer, NT or 95 puts a little arrow
in the lower-left corner and describes the icon as Shortcut to .... (See Figure 27.7.)
It's easy to edit the name, but you must use this Solution to get rid of the arrow.
All shortcuts then appear with the same icons as the main application. It makes the
desktop cleaner but can also help users who feel they can delete anything with an
arrow attached.
Figure
27.7. Icons with
the shortcut arrow.
In HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Lnkfile, the value name that creates the arrow is called
IsShortcut. Remove the value and the arrows go away (see Figure 27.8), not
just for the new icons, but also for all other shortcuts in the system (see Figure 27.9).
Figure
27.8. Removing the
IsShortcut value.
Figure 27.9. Icons without the shortcut arrow.
To activate this change, log off and log on again. Your arrows will be gone.
If you use this Solution, right-click the icon and check the properties before
you delete it. You don't want to delete an application inadvertently.
WARNING: One of the greatest challenges
for technical support is the cavalier deletion of items on the desktop. Many users
just assume that everything is just an icon that points to something else. That was
the case in Windows 3.x, but not in Windows 95 or NT. With the Explorer interface,
what you see on the desktop may be a shortcut to something else or it may be the
actual file. Use the Recycle Bin as a way to restore deleted files, if necessary.
SOLUTIONS: How can I get rid of the shortcut
arrows on my icons? By default, Windows NT and Windows 95 save the settings on the
desktop when the session ends. Essentially, it is the same as Save Settings on Exit
options in NT 3.5x and Windows for Workgroups. There is no way to turn that
off from the interface, so you need to do it in the Registry. Then, even if you change
them during the session, the icon locations are always the same. In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer, change the NoSaveSettings value. The setting is
either turned on (1) or off (0). To save the settings every time
you log off, remove the value or set it to 0. To ensure that your desktop
looks exactly the same every time you log on, follow these steps: Set your desktop
exactly as you want it. Log off and on again. Add the value and set it to 1.
Log off and log on again.
I call this the maid feature. Once I set all my windows and icons in place and
turn this on, it will always be the same when I start up the system. It's just as
if a maid came in and cleaned it up for you.
SOLUTIONS: Can I choose my screen saver
and set how long the screen saver will wait before starting if no one logs onto my
NT system? The timeout setting for a screen saver determines how long the system
waits before the screen saver starts if there is no activity. Setting it for the
default user in HKEY_USERS sets it for the logon screen if no one logs on
immediately. Also, set ScreenSaveTimeOut (in seconds) in the same key. In
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop, in the SCRNSAVE.EXE
value, enter the name of the screen saver. It must be in the Windows NT directory,
in the System32 directory below it, or the full path must be listed.
Do not use one of the OpenGL Screen savers on Windows NT Server. They will eat
up all of your CPU time and make the server performance much worse. Most of the others
should be OK, but as an alternative, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and lock the Workstation.
You will have to supply the original user's password or the Administrator password
to get in. Because it blanks out the contents of the screen, it is an effective deterrent
to prying eyes.
SOLUTIONS: Every time I leave NT, it seems
my shutdown option is different. Can I set it so it will always be the same? Not
really. Each time you leave NT, it sets in the Registry the option that was used.
You can set your choice in the Registry, but it is overwritten by the system as soon
as you leave your current session. If this Registry change is made as part of System
Policy Editor, it will set the Registry each time you log on. For more details about
using one of these Solutions as a policy in System Policy Editor, see Chapter 34,
"Creating Custom Policies." For example, if you want the default choice
when leaving to be to close all programs and log on as a different user, you can
set a policy to do that. Then, every time you select Start | Shut Down, your preferred
choice will be selected. The Registry location is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer, and the value name is Shutdown Setting. Table
27.1 shows the possible settings for this Solution. Select the shutdown option desired,
and enter the setting in the string editor.
Table 27.1. Shut-down options for Windows NT.
Setting |
Option |
1 |
Shut down the computer? |
2 |
Restart the computer? |
3 |
Close all programs and log on as a different user? |
Using System Policy Editor would be a great option for this Solution. Regardless
of what the user did the last time, it would always stay the same. See more about
creating custom templates to implement Registry changes in Chapter 34.
SOLUTIONS: I use Windows NT Workstation
as a stand-alone system, and I am the only one who ever uses it. Do I have to log
on every time? Windows NT requires a logon, but it is possible to automate it. To
set it so the system will automatically log on, you will need to make four Registry
changes. All of the values are in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. The value names required are AutoAdminLogon
DefaultDomainName DefaultUserName DefaultPassword If any
are missing, add them with Edit | Add Value. Each is a REG_SZ value. Set
AutoAdminLogon to 1 to turn it on, and 0 to disable it.
The DefaultUser name contains the name of the last user who logged on to
the network. Change it to the user name you plan to use. The DefaultDomainName
is normally there, but the DefaultPassword is usually not. Adding the value
is easy, but be aware that the string for the password is clear text (unencrypted)
and can be read by any user who has access to the Registry. To activate this change,
restart the system.
WARNING: To override the automatic logon
procedure, hold the Shift key down during logoff and until the logon dialog box appears.
When you log on as another user, the system resets the AutoAdminLogon to 0 and changes
the default name and password to the ones you just used. After you work on the system,
make sure you change all the settings back so the automatic logon works.
TIP: Use the System Policy Editor to set
these values. As long as the policy is in force, the system automatically changes
the settings to the desired ones even if they have changed after manual editing.
See the System Policy Editor details in Chapter 31, "Managing Domain Computers
with System Policy Editor."
SOLUTIONS: How can I remove all the names
from the Start | Documents menu? You can remove the document names easily by going
to the Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu Programs | Documents Menu and clicking
the Clear button. All of the document names are stored in the Registry, as are other
settings of Most Recently Used (MRU) lists. Even though you can clear out the documents
list, there is not an easy way to remove the rest of the MRU lists. Even though there
may be more MRU settings in your computer, Table 27.2 shows the three most commonly
used.
Table 27.2. Most commonly used lists in the Registry.
Registry Key |
Description |
DocFindSpecMRU |
MRU for the Find Files command |
FindComputerMRU |
MRU for the Find Computer command |
RunMRU |
MRU for the Run command |
The keys are in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer key, in both Windows 95 and in Windows NT 4.0. To clear
the lists, delete every value in the key, except Default.
Be careful deleting anything from the Registry. The changes are immediate and
permanent. One false move, and you're dead. Back it up regularly, especially before
removing entries.
SOLUTIONS: I don't like the way Windows
95 gives me short filenames. Can I change it? You can change it, with a change in
the Registry. The key is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer,
and the value to add is NameNumericTail. Set it to 0 and you won't
get names that end in ~1 or ~2. The shortened names will take the first four characters
from the first word of the long filename, and the first four characters from the
second word. Be careful, though, because installing Windows 95 components, Plus!
Components, or applications through the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel
may corrupt your files. If you are going to add a new program or feature, edit the
Registry first, and change the NameNumericTail to 1 before you
do. Then you can change it back later.
Summary
With these Solutions, you can change the way Windows NT looks and feels. The Solutions
in this chapter allow you to use the old-style functions and interface for easy transition
to NT 4.0, to boost the performance of the Explorer interface, and to customize the
desktop. Use them freely to improve your comfort level and enjoyment of Windows NT.
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