The Control Panel was one of the biggest changes in the move from NT 3.51 to NT 4.0. With NT 3.51, most of the user changes to the desktop had to be made in the Registry because there wasn't the level of control in Control Panel. Nearly all of the functions in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_USER are exactly the same in both versions. Nearly all the Registry changes that can be made to the system in NT 4.0 can also be made in NT 3.51, and the opposite is also true. The biggest difference in the versions is the Explorer interface. When it comes to the Registry, though, most is the same.
The biggest difference is in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Rather than having a location in the Control Panel Desktop applet for changing the fonts, for example, you need to do it directly in the Registry. The same is true for many other items as well.
Because NT 3.51 also does not accept policies, if you want to change things like
the Legal Notice Caption and Text in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\
Winlogon, you must do it manually.
Also, because NT 3.51 uses Program Manager and File Manager, the settings relating to Explorer do not apply.
Changing the display attributes in the Windows NT 3.51 Control Panel is very limited. In the Display applet, the only things you can change are the display drivers, resolution, and the number of colors. In the Desktop applet, you have more choices, but still there are limitations. In the Desktop applet, you can change the wallpaper, background patterns, screen savers, and horizontal icon spacing. In the Colors applet, you can change the colors of many of the desktop items, but not all of them.
But what if you want to change the icon font, or even the icon vertical spacing? In order to make those changes, you would need to edit the Registry directly.
The icon font characteristics are set in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Figure 24.1 shows the Desktop key. The font name is in the IconTitleFaceName value.
Figure 24.1. The Desktop key holds the values for icon fonts.
By changing the IconTitleFaceName value in the Registry, you can choose
whichever font you would like.
WARNING: If you misspell the name of the font, or the font is not available in your system, the system will revert back to MS Sans Serif. Use caution when entering the font name.
You can also change the size of the font with IconTitleSize. The entry is in points. Each point is one-twelfth of an inch. If the current size is too small, experiment with larger values. This is particularly helpful when using screen resolutions of 800x600 and larger.
If you want to change the vertical spacing of the icons, add the value IconVerticalSpacing (a REG_SZ entry) and experiment with numbers. The current spacing, by default, is 75 pixels.
Are there features that would make me want to upgrade to NT 4.0? Absolutely, but they are mostly related to the interface, as a user. The estimates that Microsoft has touted concerning productivity gains seem a little inflated, but only a little. Printing in a multiple-platform environment is also greatly enhanced.
Stability is the main reason to stay with NT 3.51. It is very stable and will almost never crash. A rogue video driver can kill an NT 4.0 machine, but will hardly cause a ripple in the performance and stability of a 3.51 machine.
TIP: A great value to add to the Registry is in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon key. Add the value AutoRestartShell as a DWORD value, and set the value to 1. Occasionally, the Program Manager fails, leaving Windows NT running, with no way to access it. The background remains with no icons or windows. There is no way to restart Program Manager except to log off and log back on again. With the AutoRestartShell entry, it will automatically restart if it ever happens to your system.
Use the hardware settings, the network settings, and the non-Explorer-based settings that are given for NT 4.0, and for NT 3.51. By editing the Registry, you won't get the flash, but you can make your system work better and have more control over how it will work.
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