Windows NT Tips #1


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TipWorld - http://www.tipworld.com
The Internet's #1 Source for Computer Tips, News, and Gossip

Proudly presents:
The Windows NT Tip of the Day

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*1.   Lots of goodies come with Internet Explorer 4.0

Is your NT Workstation getting jealous because it doesn't have
 the new look-and-feel of Windows98? Don't worry about it, you
 can get the same Windows98 experience by downloading Internet
 Explorer (IE) 4.0. You will need to have NT Service Pack 3.0
 installed on your NT Workstation before you can install IE 4.0,
 but it is well worth the effort. You can find IE 4.0 for Windows
 NT at www.microsoft.com/ie/download. When you install, it is a
 good idea to download all the files first, instead of just
 installing the program directly. If you download all the files,
 you can go back and install the other goodies that come with IE
 4.0, like NetMeeting and Microsoft Chat.


*2.   Using Multiple Mail Accounts in Outlook Express

One of the wonderful tools installed with Internet Explorer 4.0
 is Outlook Express. One feature that makes Outlook Express stand
 out is its ability to handle multiple mail accounts. If you have
 more than one mail account, you will find that Outlook Express
 lets you handle them all through one interface. For example, you
 can compose a message and then use the File | Send Message Using
 menu entry to decide which E-mail account you want to send the
 message through. In Figure A, we are using the Second Mail
 Account to send the message.


*3.   Finding users on your local mail server

If your network uses Exchange Server to send E-mail, you can use
 the Find People feature of Outlook Express to search the LDAP
 directory of the Exchange Server. First, you need to add your
 local mail server to your list of Internet accounts. You do this
 by selecting Tools | Accounts from the Outlook Express menu bar.
 Next, click Add and select Directory Service In the dialog that
 appears, type in the name of your local mail server. Complete
 the wizard and you are ready to begin searching. Select
 Edit | Find People from the menu bar and choose the Directory
 Service you just installed. You can now look for local e-mail
 addresses by searching on their name.


*4.   Modify the Quick Launch toolbar on your task bar

When you install IE 4.0, your task bar is given some new power.
 One of the most useful features is the Quick Launch toolbar.
 This tool bar is configured to have four icons by default, but
 did you know that you could add and delete icons from this tool
 bar? Simply drag any icon to or from the Quick Launch bar or
 drag an icon to change their order. In Figure B, you can see we
 removed the Channel icon and replaced it with an icon to launch
 NT Explorer. You can put shortcuts, folders or any type of icon
 in this tool bar.


*5.   IS THERE A FLOPPY IN DRIVE A? 

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Those of us who deal with MS-DOS programs could use this batch
 file from reader Dan D. Dan uses this batch file when he needs
 to run programs that use drive A.

Let's say you have a program that uses drive A. You run the
 program and have no problems until the program needs to write to
 a floppy disk in drive A. Oops--no disk. If you use Dan's batch
 file to start your MS-DOS program, you won't have that
 problem--the batch file will check for a floppy in drive A
 before calling your MS-DOS program.

To generate the batch file, run Notepad and type in the following
 exactly as shown. 

@echo off 
dir a: >nul 
if errorlevel=2 goto end 
@echo Insert a blank formatted floppy into Drive A 
pause 
:end 
rem Run MS-DOS Program 

After you enter the code, choose File, Save As. Give the file a
 name using the .bat extension (we used Detect.bat). Locate a
 folder for your new file and click Save.

To use Detect.bat, replace the rem statement (Run MS-DOS Program)
 with your program's name--for example, MyProg.exe. When you
 double-click Detect.bat, the batch file runs a Dir on drive A.
 If this fails, there is no floppy disk in drive A or the floppy
 is not formatted. You'll be prompted to insert a blank formatted
 disk. When you press a key to indicate that you have inserted a
 formatted floppy, Detect proceeds with running your
 MS-DOS program. 

If there is already a formatted floppy disk in drive A, Detect
 runs your MS-DOS program without further ado. Note that
 Detect.bat does nothing to detect how much space is available on
 a formatted floppy disk. If the disk is nearly full when you
 start your MS-DOS program, you could run out of disk space.
 Let's hope that the MS-DOS program acts as expected and detects
 a disk-full condition for you.


*6.   MINIMIZE AND MAXIMIZE 

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Subscriber Pete K. asks if there's any way to minimize a Windows
 NT Workstation 4.0 window using only the keyboard.

There sure is--all you have to do is press Alt-Space-N. To
 maximize a window, press Alt-Space-X. If you want to close a
 window without touching the mouse, simply press Alt-F4.

Want to move a window without help from the mouse? Press
 Alt-Space-M. Now use the arrow keys to position the window. When
 you're finished moving the window, press Enter. You can also
 size a window using the arrow keys--just press Alt-Space-S.


*7.   CALCULATOR AND SERVICE PACK 4 

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
If you've installed Service Pack 4, there's a change in the
 Calculator you might like to know about. Calculator now clears
 the display when you switch between Standard and Scientific
 views. If you need to switch between views without losing the
 current number, here's a workaround. For this example, let's
 say you're currently in Standard view.

Store the currently displayed number by clicking MS. Then choose
 View, Scientific to switch view. Click MR to recall the number
 you stored in Standard view.


*8.   THE TIP THAT WILL NEVER DIE 

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
One of our subscribers asks if we can explain how to log on to
 Windows NT Workstation 4.0 automatically.

Since we've had so many requests for this tip, we wrote a REG
 file to make the process easier for you. Although we're using a
 REG file as opposed to using RegEdit to make the Registry
 changes, we are still making changes to the Registry. We can't
 guarantee that the REG file will perform as expected on
 your computer.

To create the REG file, run Notepad and enter the following
 exactly as shown. Where you see the words BLANK LINE GOES HERE,
 press Enter to insert a blank line. Note that the REG file needs
 these blank lines to work properly.

REGEDIT4 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows 
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 
"AutoAdminLogon"="1" 
"DefaultPassword"="Your Password goes here" 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 

For this tip to work, you must have a password, and you must
 enter the password that you chose for your system log-on. If you
 enter a different password, you'll have problems with other
 programs. Type your password into the REG file at
 DefaultPassword. Make sure you retain the quotes.

Now choose File, Save As and name the file Auto.reg. Locate a
 folder for the file and click Save.


*9.   OPEN WITH THIS OR THIS 

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Here's a question from reader Donna P.: 

"Recently when using Windows Explorer, I tried to open a file
 named Card.brk, and a dialog box opened saying Type Not
 Recognized, so I took a guess and told it to open using mplayer.
 This didn't work, so now I would like to open the file using
 raplayer, but every time I go to Windows Explorer to open
 Card.brk, it tries to open it in mplayer. Is there some way I
 can get Windows to stop seeing .brk as type mplayer and have
 Windows see it as another type of file?"

Let's say you double-click a file for which there is no
 association. The Open With dialog box opens so you can choose a
 program that will open the file. Most often, the check box
 labeled "Always use this program to open this file" is selected,
 so once you choose a program to open the file, the association
 will stick even if the program doesn't work with the file.

To choose another program, select the file in question, then hold
 down Shift. Now, right-click the file's icon and choose Open
 With from the menu. The Open With dialog box appears again, and
 you can make a new choice. If you select the "Always use this
 program to open this file" check box, the new association
 becomes the default.


*10.   BORN-AGAIN WORKSTATION 

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Here's a request from reader Stephen M.: 

"I recently saw a tip on how to change the name of the company
 to which Windows 95 is registered. Could you please tell us how
 to do the same with Windows NT Workstation 4.0? Our company name
 recently changed, and we would like to change the name in
 Windows NT Workstation 4.0."

You can do this with a simple Registry edit. That said, it's
 time to warn you that a Registry edit gone awry can thoroughly
 mess up your system. Click Start, Run, type

regedit 

and press Enter. When RedEdit opens, navigate to
 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion.
 In the right pane, you'll see the key
 "RegisteredOrganization"="Your old company name". Click this
 key to select it and press Enter. When the dialog box opens,
 type in the new name and press Enter. Close RegEdit (choose
 Registry, Exit) and restart the computer. Upon restarting, your
 new name will become active.

Note that software installed before you made the change will
 continue to use the original name.