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.
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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