Windows NT Tips #7


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*1. COMPRESSING FOLDERS         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Reader Norman H. wants to know how to compress folders in
 Windows NT Workstation 4.0. 

To compress a folder (or a file), run Windows NT Explorer and
 locate the folder you want to compress. Right-click the folder
 and choose Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens,
 select the Compress check box, then click OK. This opens a
 dialog box, offering OK and Cancel. It also contains a check
 box labeled "Also compress subfolders." If you want to compress
 all the subfolders in the folder, along with all the files,
 select this check box and click OK to continue. 

Compression may not be available on your system. Windows NT
 Workstation 4.0 only compresses files and folders on an NTFS
 disk with a cluster size of less than 4KB. When the cluster
 size is larger than 4KB, compression isn't an option.  

All disks over 2048MB in capacity have a cluster size of
 4KB or greater.


*2. MERGE IT QUIETLY         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Subscriber Hal N. sent this REG file query: 

"I often use REG files, but I'd like to get rid of that dialog
 box that tells me the file has been merged. Is there any way to
 merge a file without the dialog box?" 

There's no way to merge a REG file in the Windows environment
 without the dialog box, but you can do the job at the Command
 Prompt. All you have to do is open the Command Prompt window,
 type 

regedit /s file name.reg 

where file name is the name of the REG file you want to merge,
 and press Enter. RegEdit then merges the file with no response
 from the system.


*3. HOW DOES IT WORK?         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Subscriber Jeanne R. would like to pass along this batch file tip: 

"I used to try to write batch files when I didn't even know how
 to use the commands. Sometimes I didn't even know what commands
 were available to me.  

"I found that an easy way to see how commands work is to open
 the Command Prompt window and type 

help command |more 

"When you press Enter, you get a list of all the command's
 switches. Using More keeps it all on separate pages so you can
 read the entire list. For example, if you want to know what
 switches work with Xcopy, you'd type 

help xcopy |more 

"Then press Enter. You'll get a complete explanation of the
 command and its switches.  

"If you want to find out more about Cmd.exe, you can use the
 same technique. Just open the Command Prompt window, type 

help cmd.exe |more 

"Then press Enter. You'll get detailed information about Cmd.exe
 and its extensions." 

Thanks for the tip, Jeanne.


*4. WINDOWS 98 AND WINDOWS NT WORKSTATION 4.0         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Reader Bruce T. sent us this Windows NT Workstation 4.0
 installation question: 

"Is it possible to install Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on the
 same partition as Windows 98? I have a spare Pentium II
 computer with a single 2GB hard disk. I'd like to install
 Windows NT Workstation 4.0 without having to reformat or
 partition the disk." 

You can install Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on a Windows 98
 partition provided that partition is formatted using FAT16.
 In your example, this is probably the case.  

All you have to do is put your Windows NT Workstation 4.0
 installation CD into the CD-ROM drive and double-click the
 drive's icon. When the Windows NT Workstation 4.0 window opens,
 click Windows NT Setup and proceed with the installation.  

Note that Microsoft doesn't recommend dual booting at all. If
 you're going to use dual boot, it's better to use a separate
 drive or partition for Windows NT Workstation 4.0. However, you
 can install NT 4.0 onto a Windows 95 or 98 partition, as we
 described, provided that partition uses FAT16.


*5. BACK IT UP         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Subscriber Raleigh S. asks us to pass along the tip that the NT
 Backup utility does a very good job of backing up the registry.
 When you do a backup, just select the Backup Registry check box.
 This option only becomes available when you're backing up files
 on the primary Windows NT Workstation 4.0 disk (drive C:
 in most cases).


*6. OPEN IT IN MY COMPUTER         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
A recent tip from a reader reminds us that you can open Windows
 NT Explorer in My Computer. All you have to do is right-click
 the Windows NT Explorer shortcut and choose Properties. When
 Properties opens, click the Shortcut tab. Now click in the
 Target entry box and enter  

explorer.exe /e,/root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} 

Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes. Although
 this method works fine, subscriber Brian B. has an even better
 way. Right-click the Windows NT Explorer shortcut icon and
 choose Properties. When the dialog box opens, click the
 Shortcut tab. Finally, click in the Target entry box and enter 

Explorer.exe /n,/e,/select,C:\ 

Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes. This
 method works just like the previously described method except
 that it has the advantage of including Network Neighborhood in
 the Explorer window. 

Thanks for the tip, Brian.


*7. NOTE THIS         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
We received this request from reader Teresa G.: 

"I once saw a tip on how to make notes to yourself in the
 Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Help files. If this was your tip,
 could you cover the topic again? Even if it wasn't your tip,
 could you cover the topic?" 

Sure, we can take a minute to discuss Help file annotation.
 Double-click My Computer, then choose Help, Help Topics. When
 the Help Topics dialog box opens, click the Index tab. Now
 select a topic and click Display. Next click Options and choose
 Annotate. When the Annotate dialog box opens, you can enter
 your note. Click Save to close the dialog box and
 record your note.

To indicate there's a note present, Help now displays a green
 paper clip icon next to the topic. Click this icon to open the
 Annotate dialog box and read your notes.


*8. DELETE IT NOW         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
Reader Carl T. sent this Windows NT Workstation 4.0 tip: 

"If you're sure you want to delete a specific file in Windows NT
 Explorer, click the file to select it, then hold down the Shift
 key while you press Delete. This deletes the file rather than
 sending it to the Recycle Bin. Don't use this method to delete
 a file unless you're absolutely sure you will never need
 it again."


*9. THE DESKTOP IS A FOLDER, TOO         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 
As reader Gary V. asks us to mention, the desktop is a folder,
 too. This means you can run Windows NT Explorer and move files
 into and out of the desktop. Let's take a look at this option.
 Run NT Explorer and click the desktop folder to select it.
 Explorer's right pane now displays the desktop contents.  

Now let's say you would like to place a shortcut to a specific
 folder on your desktop. Use the right mouse button to drag the
 new folder to the Desktop folder. When you release the right
 mouse button, choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the menu.  

Note that dragging a folder to the desktop using Windows NT
 Explorer has no particular advantage over just dragging it to
 the desktop. However, if you're already working in Explorer,
 you can use this method to avoid juggling windows on the screen.


*10. PLAY IT SAFE         
  
Windows NT Workstation 4.0  
Here's a request from reader Carole N.:  

"I'm probably just being paranoid, but I would like to make sure
 there is no information remaining in the page file after a
 system shuts down. Is there a way to set the page file to
 zero on shutdown?"  

You're not the only paranoid Windows NT Workstation 4.0
 administrator around--we got the same request from several
 readers. Since we keep getting requests for an easy way to
 clear the page file, we decided to write a REG file to do
 the job.   

Remember, REG files can prove dangerous, and we don't guarantee
 this one will do what you expect. To generate the REG file, run
 Notepad and enter the following information exactly as shown.
 Where you see BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter (don't type
 BLANK LINE GOES HERE).   

REGEDIT4  
BLANK LINE GOES HERE   
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ 
Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]  
"ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001  
BLANK LINE GOES HERE   

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

This REG file inserts the Value name ClearPageFileAtShutdown
 and sets it to 1. This causes Windows NT Workstation 4.0 to
 clear as much of the page file as it can at shutdown. Note that
 Windows NT Workstation 4.0 can't clear all the pages since some
 are active at shutdown. It clears only the inactive pages.
