Windows NT Tips #14


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*1. MAPPING NETWORK DRIVES IN WINDOWS NT 4.0 WORKSTATION         
  
One reader has written to suggest that we discuss how to map a
 network drive on a peer-to-peer network in Windows NT 4.0
 Workstation. The reader would like to make sure that users can
 access only a single folder on the remote computer rather than
 the entire drive. 

This is no problem. You will need to go to the remote computer
 and make sure the correct folder is shared. Let's say that you
 have a folder on drive C that contains downloads. At the remote
 computer, double-click My Computer to open it. Next,
 double-click the Drive C folder to open it. Locate the
 C:\Downloads folder and right-click it. Now, locate the
 Downloads folder, right-click it, and choose Sharing. When the
 Properties dialog box opens, select the Shared As option, then
 click OK to close the dialog box and record your selection. 

Now, return to your computer and double-click Network
 Neighborhood. When the window opens, open the computer you just
 set up with the folder share. When the Downloads folder
 appears, right-click it and choose Map Network Drive. Select the
 drive letter you want to use and click OK. 

You can now access the Downloads folder on the remote computer.
 However, you cannot access the rest of the remote drive.


*2. USING THE CLIPBOOK VIEWER TO DISPLAY THE CLIPBOARD         
  
Reader Nan D. has a question about the ClipBook viewer: 

"I sometimes need to see what is in the Clipboard. So, I located
 the ClipBook viewer a few days ago and tried it. Instead of the
 contents of the Clipboard, I got only a blank page. What gives?
 It seems to me that I should be able to view the
 Clipboard contents." 

The ClipBook viewer will indeed let you display the Clipboard
 contents. The only problem is that the ClipBook opens in Local
 ClipBook view. To see the Clipboard, choose Window, Clipboard.
 That should do it.


*3. BACKGROUND COLOR--PART 1 OF 2         
  
Reader Nora B. (and several other readers) asks if there is a way
 to change the background color that you see when Windows NT 4.0
 Workstation starts. 

Yes, there is. We have written a REG file to help you do just
 that. Remember--we can't guarantee that this REG file will work
 with your system. Use it at your own risk. 

If you choose to use the REG file, run Notepad and enter the
 following code. Where you see BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter
 to enter a blank line; do not type BLANK LINE GOES HERE. 
 
REGEDIT4 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors] 
"Background"="255 255 255" 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 
 
Now, choose File, Save As and name your new file Color.reg.
 Select a folder to hold the file and click Save to save the file
 and close the Save As dialog box. 

The line: 

"Background="255 255 255"  

sets the color. The first number represents red, the second
 green, and the last one blue. The color intensities (luminance)
 range from 0 to 255. If you set a color to 0, the result is
 black. If you set the color to 255, you get the fully saturated
 color. So, if you make the first number 255 and set the other
 two to 0, you will get a bright red background. If you set the
 first and third numbers to 0 and the center one to 255, you will
 get bright green. Set the first two numbers to 0 and the third
 one to 255 to get bright blue. Setting all the numbers to 255
 (as shown in the REG file code) will result in a white
 background. All zeroes will produce a black background. 

A combination of the three numbers will produce any one of 16
 million colors (255 X 255 X 255 = 16,581,375). In the next tip,
 we'll discuss how you can choose a color.


*4. BACKGROUND COLOR--PART 2 OF 2         
  
In our previous tip, we showed you a REG file that you can use to
 set the Windows NT 4.0 Workstation background color. This time,
 let's look at a technique you can use to select the color
 you want. 

Right-click the desktop and choose Properties. When the Display
 Properties dialog box opens, click the Appearance tab. Click the
 arrow at the right side of the Color list box. When the color
 list opens, click Other to display the Color dialog box. Click
 on a color you like and then set the luminance by moving the
 arrow at the right side of the dialog box. 

Once you find a color you like, write down the values for red,
 green, and blue. Finally, click Cancel (if you click OK, you'll
 change your desktop color). Now, click Cancel in the Display
 Properties dialog box to close it without making any changes. 

Now, right-click Color.reg (your new REG file) and choose Edit.
 Set the three colors (red, green, and blue) that you just copied
 down and choose File, Save (we used 238 186 134 to produce a
 light beige color). Choose File, Exit to close Notepad and then
 double-click the Color.reg icon to merge the data into the
 Registry. When you restart, you'll see your new
 background color.


*5. CREATING A BOOT DISK FOR WINDOWS NT 4.0 WORKSTATION         
  
This is another of those questions that we see on a regular
 basis: How do you make a boot floppy disk for Windows NT
 4.0 Workstation? 

The answer is that you can't actually make a Windows NT 4.0
 Workstation boot disk in the same way that you'd make an MS-DOS
 or Windows 95 boot disk (the Windows 95 boot disk boots to the
 Windows 95 version of MS-DOS). The reason is that, unlike
 Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation doesn't run on top
 of MS-DOS. 

However, you can make a boot disk to get you going when you have
 a problem. Let's say that you have a dual-boot installation
 using Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows 95/98. Very often,
 if you can't boot to Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, it's because
 your NTLDR file has been damaged. So, let's create a disk that
 will, at least, get you to the boot option list and allow you to
 get Windows NT 4.0 Workstation started. Once it starts, you can
 repair that damaged file. 

To create the disk, insert a blank, formatted floppy into drive
 A. Next, run Windows NT Explorer and copy the following files to
 the floppy disk: 
 
NTDETECT.COM 
BOOT.INI 
BOOTSECT.DOS 
NTLDR 
 
If you have NTBOOTDD.SYS in your boot folder, copy it to the
 floppy disk as well. 

When you have a problem starting your system, insert the new boot
 disk and restart. The boot disk allows you access when the files
 in the boot folder (usually Drive C:\) are damaged. This is not
 a true boot disk because there are no operating system files on
 the disk. The files on the disk simply offer you the possibility
 of choosing which system to boot. 

Note that we have not been able to test this disk on a system
 that runs only Windows NT 4.0 Workstation.


*6. ELIMINATING WINDOWS NT 4.0 WORKSTATION
 FROM A DUAL-BOOT COMPUTER         
  
Here is a question from John G.: 

"I have several computers that are set up to dual-boot to Windows
 98 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. I removed Windows NT 4.0
 Workstation from one of these computers, but I still get the
 opening screen asking which operating system I want to use. Is
 there a way to eliminate this step without damaging the Windows
 98 installation?" 

Yes, there is. Insert your Windows 98 Startup disk and restart
 the computer. When you get the A: prompt, type 
 
sys c: 
 
and press Enter. This will transfer the Windows 98 system to your
 C drive. You can now remove the Startup disk and press
 Ctrl-Alt-Delete to restart. This time, you will boot directly
 into Windows 98.


*7. PUTTING YOUR DESKTOP FOLDER INTO THE START MENU         
  
Several readers had questions about this tip, so let's take a
 closer look: 

To place the desktop folder in your Start menu, you should first
 right-click Start and choose Open. With the Start Menu window
 open, run Windows NT Explorer and navigate to
 \Winnt\Profiles\Username\. You should see a folder named
 Desktop. Use the right mouse button to drag this folder to the
 Start Menu window. When you release the mouse button, choose
 Copy from the shortcut menu. 

This procedure creates a Start menu item that acts just like a
 standard Start menu item--that is, when you move the mouse
 pointer over the item, a submenu opens. 

Note that the contents of the Desktop folder includes only those
 items you have added to the desktop. You won't find My Computer,
 Network Neighborhood, etc. in the list.


*8. TURNING OFF AUTORUN IN WINDOWS NT 4.0 WORKSTATION         
  
Here is a question from reader Mark F.: 

"Sometime back, I saw a tip about how to turn off Autorun in
 Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. I find it annoying to have a CD
 start running some setup program as soon as I insert it into the
 drive. Could you talk about this in one of your future tips?" 

For all of our readers who prefer to lose the Autorun feature, we
 wrote a REG file to handle the job. Of course, we can't say for
 sure that this REG file won't wreak havoc with your system.
 Seriously, you should always be very careful when you run any
 REG file. Look the file over and make sure that you have entered
 all the data correctly before you run it. 

To create the file, run Notepad and enter the code shown here.
 Where you see BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter to enter a blank
 line; don't type BLANK LINE GOES HERE. 
 
REGEDIT4 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom] 
"Autorun"=dword:00000000 
BLANK LINE GOES HERE 
 
Choose File, Save As and name the new file Autorun.reg. Locate a
 folder for the file and click Save to close the dialog box and
 save your file. 

To run the file, double-click its image. You will get a dialog
 box telling you that the file has been merged with the Registry.
 When you restart the computer, the new setting will take effect.


*9. OPENING A FOLDER IN A NEW WINDOW OR IN THE CURRENT WINDOW         
  
Last month we published a tip submitted by reader Bonnie C. The
 tip was intended to explain how you can change the default
 method used to open new windows in My Computer. Several readers
 have had a problem using this tip, so let's take another look.
 The readers with the problems appeared to be using Microsoft
 Internet Explorer 4 with Active Desktop. 

Let's suppose that you use Windows NT 4.0 Workstation with
 Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and Active Desktop. Double-click
 My Computer to open it. Now, double-click your Drive C icon to
 open it. One of two things will happen: The Drive C folder will
 open in a new window, or it will open in the existing My
 Computer window. 

You can decide which way you want the folder to open. To make
 this choice, select (in My Computer) View, Folder Options. When
 the Folder Options dialog box opens, click the General tab. Now,
 select Custom, Based On Settings You Choose, and then click
 Settings. Under Browse Folder As Follows, select the Open Each
 Folder In The Same Window option, then click OK to close the
 dialog box and save your selection. Finally, click Close to
 dismiss the Folder Options dialog box. 


 current window. But if you'd like just this one time to open it
 in a new window, hold down Ctrl while you double-click the Drive
 C icon. It will now open in a new window. 


to the Folder Options dialog box, click Settings, and then select
 the Open Each Folder In A New Window option and click OK. Then
 click Close in the Folder Options dialog box. Now, hold down
 Ctrl and double-click the Drive C icon. It will open in the
 current window. 

In short, you can hold down the Ctrl key while you double-click a
 folder to reverse the action you selected. 

To answer one other question: No, you cannot hold down Ctrl to
 create a new folder in the My Computer window. You can't create
 a new folder in My Computer at all. My Computer is a special
 folder and doesn't allow you to create new folders
 in its window.


*10. USING THE DIRCMD COMMAND IN THE COMMAND PROMPT WINDOW         
  
Here is a command prompt question from reader Larry N.: 

"Is there a way always to get the paged directory listing that
 you get when you type 
 
dir /p 
 
at the command prompt? I have tried a batch file, but this is a
 cumbersome way to handle the task. Do you know of a better way?" 

You can use the DIRCMD command to do exactly what you want. Open
 the Command Prompt window, type 
 
set dircmd=/p 
 
and press Enter. Now when you type 
 
dir 
 
and press Enter, you will automatically get the paged listing you 
want. 

Note that when you exit the Command Prompt window, the DIRCMD
 setting returns to its default.
