Tips on the Registry in Windows NT General All Staff
Activate Screen Saver if No One Logs on
Edit: HKEY_USERS \ DEFAULT \ Control Panel \ Desktop Double click ScreenSaveActive and set it to 1. Double click SCRNSAVE.EXE and enter the full path to the screen saver you want to use such as SCRNSAVE.SCR or SSTARS.SCR. Double click ScreenSaveTimeOut and enter the number of seconds of inactivity before activation. Reboot for this to become effective. Never use anything other than the blank screen saver (scrnsave.scr) on a "Server", as it will steal needed cycles!
Deleting Device Drivers and Services
If you want to remove a device driver: In Control Panel / Services or / Devices, locate the object and STOP it (if it is started). If it won't STOP, configure StartUp as Disabled and reboot. Edit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services Locate the object, highlight, delete.
Displaying Your Company Logo (or other bitmap) During Logon
Design an appropriate bitmap and place it in your NT directory as YourLogoName.BMP. Use the 8.3 naming convention. Edit: HKEY_USERS \ DEFAULT \ Control Panel \ Desktop Double click or Add Value REG_SZ of Wallpaper and set it's full path to YourLogoName.BMP. Double click or Add Value REG_SZ of TileWallpaper. 0 is Don't tile, 1 is tile. Double click or Add Value REG_SZ of WallpaperStyle. 0 is normal, 2 is stretch to fill the screen (which is mutually exclusive with TileWallpaper = 1). Reboot to view your handywork.
Don't Display Last User in Logon Dialogue
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon DontDisplayLastUserName REG_SZ Range: 0 or 1 Default: 0 (false) By default, Windows NT displays the name of the last person to log on in the Username space of the Logon Information dialog box. If you add this value entry and set it to 1, the Username space is always blank when the Logon Information dialog box appears.
Finding Keys, Values, and Data in the WinNT Registry
While the Registry Editor does have search capability, it is rudimentary. A better solution is using REGEDIT.EXE (the Win95 editor) for performing searches using the edit / find menu (do not make changes with this editor). Better yet, get a good shareware package such as Registry Search and Replace. Once in a while, none of the search tools will find your Key / Value/Data! The best way to overcome this is to highlight the Key (or Hive) you wish to search (in Regedt32) and from the Registry menu select Save Subtree As... Browse to the directory you want and save it as YourPreferedName.txt. Now you can search with Wordpad or any text editor.
How to Edit the Windows NT Registry
The Windows NT Registry Editor is REGEDT32.exe and is located in the %windir%\system32 sub-directory. By default, no icon is placed on your desktop. You can use explorer to drill down to this file, right click, and create a shortcut. (This will be at the bottom of the current window). Cut this shortcut and past it in your %windir%\profiles\UserId\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools.
Until you become comfortable with registry navigation and editing, consider setting options / read_only to prevent accidental modification. Click on Window / Cascade to display the 5 panes available. 99% of all your registry activities will use the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE pane and the HKEY_USERS pane. I suggest that you open the registry help and become familiar with the terminology, navigation and editing tools. Spend enough time navigating in read-only mode so you become comfortable.
You might want to get into the habit of creating a new ERD (Emergency Repair Disk) by running RDISK.EXE /S before making registry changes. I keep about 5 generations of the ERD. I also use ConfigSafe NT (my product Id. 222 for $89) to make frequent snapshots of the registry before and after making changes. I use this tool to track changes caused by new installs and configuration options (and to restore a snapshot if I or an install mess up) . Heed the Microsoft warning about registry manipulation. DO NOT BECOME CASUAL AS YOU BECOME FAMILIAR.
Logon Welcome/Legal Notice
The Registry value entries that control the logon sequence for starting Windows NT are found under the following Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon LegalNoticeCaption REG_SZ Default: (none) Specifies a caption for a message to appear when the user presses CTRL+ALT+DEL during logon. Add this value entry if you want to add a warning to be displayed when a user attempts to log on to a Windows NT system. The user cannot proceed with logon without acknowledging this message. To specify text for the message, you must also specify a value for LegalNoticeText. Note: You can use the System Policy Editor to change this value. LegalNoticeText REG_SZ Default: (none) Specifies the message to appear when the user presses CTRL+ALT+DEL during logon. Add this value entry if you want to add a warning to be displayed when a user attempts to log on to a Windows NT system. The user cannot proceed with logging on without acknowledging this message. To include a caption for the logon notice, you must also specify a value forLegalNoticeCaption. Note: You can use the System Policy Editor to change this value. LogonPrompt REG_SZ Default: "Enter a user name and password that is valid for this system." The text entered appears in the Logon Information dialog box. This is designed for additional legal warnings to the user before they log on. This value entry does not appear in the Registry unless you add it. Welcome REG_SZ Default: (Title only; no message) The text entered appears in the caption bar beside the title of the Begin Logon, Logon Information, Workstation Locked, and Unlock Workstation dialog boxes. This value entry does not appear in the Registry unless you add it.
NTFS - Disable 8.3 Name Creation
You can increase NTFS performance if you disable 8.3 name creation. (Some 16bit programs may have trouble finding Long File Names. Don't set this option if you wish to install Norton NT Utilities.) Edit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem Value:NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation REG_DWORD Default: 0 Range: 0 or 1 Set it to 1 to disable 8.3 name creation. This won't take effect until the next boot.
Reduce Windows NT 4.0 Start Menu Navigation Delay
To reduce the time it takes for the Start Menu to display the next tree as the cursor moves over it, edit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop Double click on MenuShowDelay and set it to 100. You will need to reboot for this to take effect.
WinNT 4.0 File Name Completion
If you want to be able to depress the TAB key to complete the file name you are typing at a command prompt, edit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Command Processor Double Click on CompletionChar or add value of REG_DWORD, set it to 9. You will need to reboot.
