SHORTCUT KEYS - Windows NT Workstation 4.0.

Page files Version 4.0
If you'd like to see if your page files are optimum, try this: First, click Start/Settings/Control Panel. In the Control Panel, double-click System to open it, then click the Performance tab. Now click Change under Virtual Memory. This will open the Virtual Memory dialog box. See how much initial memory is assigned in your system. Record the value, then click OK twice to back out of the dialog boxes. Now go ahead with your work and at the end of each day open Windows NT Explorer and click once on Pagefile.SYS to see how large it is. Check this for a few days and if the file size is consistently larger than the initial size, you may want to change the initial size to make your system more efficient.

MS-DOS Version 4.0
If you have some old MS-DOS applications that you simply must run, you might want to run them in full-screen mode. To switch an open MS-DOS window to full screen, press Alt+Enter. To get back to window mode, press Alt+Enter again.

Comms Version 4.0
If you need to add a communication port to your computer, remember that Windows NT 4.0 is not a plug-and-play system. This means that you'll have to tell the system about your new port. Let's say you've just plugged in a new serial card set to COM 3. The next thing to do is click Start|Settings|Control Panel. When Control Panel opens, double-click the Ports icon. Now click Add and add COM 3. Click Settings and choose the appropriate setting for your new card. When you're finished, click Close and restart the computer.

Key use Version 4.0
The usual way of getting around in a window is to use the mouse, but it isn't the only way. Let's say you're in the Drive C window and the first folder is selected. If you want to move to the second folder, you can use the mouse to click the folder, or you can press the right arrow key. To open a folder, you can double-click it. If the folder is already selected, you can open it by simply pressing Enter.

Long names Versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
In Windows 95, if you go to the command prompt and type md This is a test  you'll get an error message telling you that you're trying to enter too many parameters.  If you enter the same thing at the Windows NT command prompt, you'll get folders named:

Deleting files Version 4.0
If you're trying to clear out some unnecessary files, be careful in the root folder. For example, be sure not to accidentally delete Bootsect.DOS. This file contains the boot record for the alternate operating system in a dual-boot configuration. If you delete the file, you'll be unable to start your alternate system.

Time  Version 4.0
If you'd like to change the time format of your Windows NT 4.0 installation, click Start/Settings/Control Panel and double-click Regional Settings. When the dialog box opens click the Time tab.
To change the time format, click the arrow at the right of the Time Style list box to expand the list. Choose the format you want from the list and click OK.  If you want to use 24-hour format, choose H:mm:ss.

Notepad Version 4.0
NotePad is a handy text editor. It's so handy that you might like to keep it readily available. Perhaps you'd like to place a shortcut to it on your desktop.
If so, open Windows NT Explorer and locate the Winnt folder. In the right pane of Explorer, locate the Notepad.EXE icon and use the right mouse button to drag it to the desktop. When you release the mouse button, NT will open a menu from which you need to choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. Now NotePad will always be readily accessible.

Mouse pointers. Version 4.0
If you'd like to try some different mouse pointers, click Start/Settings/Control Panel and double-click the Mouse icon. Click the Pointers tab to see what pointers are currently in effect. Let's say you want to change the Normal Select pointer. You can choose one of the pointers in the list, or you can choose a third-party cursor (provided you have some on your hard disk). To look for a pointer, click Browse, then locate and select an appropriate cursor (a *.CUR file). After you make a selection click Open, then OK.

Startup. Version 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 looks at the Autoexec.BAT file to read environment information. It doesn't act on any commands in the file. So if you want to start a file when Windows NT 4.0 starts, don't use Autoexec.BAT. Place the file you want to start in the Startup folder instead.

F3 Version 4.0
If you're working at the desktop and need to search for a file, you don't have to open Windows NT Explorer or My Computer. All you have to do is click a blank spot on the desktop, then press F3. This will open the Find dialog box that you can use to locate your file.

Files. Version 4.0
You can use the Documents menu to revisit files that you've used recently. For example, if you've worked with several Word files, you'll find those files appear in the Documents menu. All you have to do to open one of them is click Start/Documents and select the file. You may notice that some files don't appear in Documents. Chances are these are files that fail to properly register with NT. Only the files of applications that registered properly during setup will appear in the menu.

PRINTER NAMES
You can use printer names longer than 12 characters on NT servers. True, but if you have to do this, you need to be aware that although Windows NT Workstation can see the long names, Windows 95 can't. If you use such names with Windows 95, make sure you keep the names shorter than 12 characters.

ADDING TO SEND TO
If you right-click a file icon, then choose Send To, you get a menu of possible destinations. Did you know you can add items to this list? Just add a folder or application's shortcut to the C:\Winnt\Profiles\YourProfile\SendTo folder, in which YourProfile is the name of your profile folder. You should work only with your own Send To folder, even if you can access others.
To add an item to the Send To folder, locate the item's icon and drag it to the C:\Winnt\Profiles\YourProfile\SendTo folder. This will create a shortcut in the Send To folder.

COMPRESSED DRIVES Version 4.0
Windows NT can't view drives compressed by Windows 95 or can it?  Windows NT can see drives over a network that have been compressed by Windows 95. It's only files compressed in the same computer that Windows NT can't see.

FIND Version 4.0
If you've just ran a Find that you know you'll need again, keep it around for future use. It's a lot quicker than having to type in all those conditions again.
Once you've completed your search, choose File/Save Search. Doing so places an icon that represents that Find on the desktop. (Of course, you can move it wherever you want, such as into a folder you've set up for Finds.) To conduct the same search in the future, double-click the shortcut. Find will open with all the conditions set, all you have to do is click Find.

FILE SIZE Version 4.0
Need to know how much space a selection of folders and/or files takes up on your hard drive? If so, open Explorer and hold down Ctrl as you select objects. Then right-click any of the objects and choose Properties. You'll get a dialog box that displays the total size of all the selected objects.

PERMANENT DELETE Version 4.0
Deleting files sends them by default to the Recycle Bin, where you can still get them back if need be. If you want to trash a file, knowing that you'll never want to see it again, select it, hold down Shift and press Delete.

PROGRAM MANAGER? Version 4.0
If you really liked Program Manager and don't want to give it up quite yet, open My Computer, double-click the Win NT drive (probably C:) and navigate to the Winnt folder. Double-click Winnt, then double-click System32. Locate Progman.EXE and right-click it, then drag its icon to the desktop. Release the mouse button and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here.
You can now double-click the shortcut to open Program Manager. You'll have to set it up since it isn't aware of anything that's currently on the desktop.

MEMORY Version 4.0
When you run large applications, you can free up some memory by simply minimizing the applications you're not currently using. To test this, open several large applications. Now right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. Click the Process tab, then click Mem Usage to sort by size so you can easily see how much memory your applications are using. Now minimize the applications and check the memory usage again. You'll find that the usage drops significantly when you minimize them. For  Word for Windows uses 1210 Kb as an active window and only 228 Kb when minimized.

DELETION Version 4.0
If you've put some stuff in your Start menu that you no longer need, here's how to get rid of it. Right-click Start and choose Explore. Now double-click Programs, then select and delete the items you no longer need. Note: All the items in Start should be shortcuts, so double-check to make sure you're not deleting an original file.

DRAG & DROP Version 4.0
Let's say you're using the mouse to drag an object from one place to another when you realize you don't want to make that move at all. Don't panic, just keep holding down that mouse button and press Esc to cancel the move (or copy). Now release the mouse button.

UPDATE  REPAIR DISK Version 4.0
Whenever you make a change to your hardware or software setup, you should also update your Emergency Repair disk. To do this, insert the Repair disk into the floppy disk drive and click Start. Choose Help, then click the Index tab. Type Repair Disk and click Display. Click the Repair Disk button. When the dialog box opens, click Update Repair Info. When the operation finishes, click Exit. If another dialog box appears asking if you want to create a Repair disk, click No. Now close Help.

CHECKDISK Versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
If you run CHKDSK /F /R from a command prompt, the system asks if you want to run CHKDSK the next time you start the system. Suppose you answer Yes and then later decide that you'd rather not run CHKDSK on the next restart.
To stop a scheduled CHKDSK, you have to edit the Registry. So be careful.
Run RegEdit32 and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager. Now double-click on BootExecute. When the dialog box opens, change the value to autocheck autochk *. and click on OK. Close RegEdit32. When you restart, CHKDSK /F will not run.

QUICKVIEW Version 4.0
Many users wonder why QuickView isn't an available option for some files. The fact is you can make QuickView available for almost any file type. The problem is that QuickView may not do you much good with some files. Let's say that QuickView isn't available for .DAT files. Open a window and choose View|Options. Click on the File Types tab and then (assuming that .DAT isn't already included) click on New. Now click in the Associated extension text entry box and type in .DAT. Select the Enable QuickView check box and click on OK. In the Options dialog box click on OK to close the dialog box and save your changes. Locate a .DAT file now and right-click on its icon. When the menu opens, choose QuickView to view the file's contents.

WIN.INI? Version 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 doesn't need, or use, Win.INI. All the information NT needs is in the Registry. If you install Windows NT 4.0 over a Windows 3.x installation, the setup program extracts needed information from Win.INI, System.INI, Progman.INI, Control.INI, Winfile.INI, and System.INI during the installation. Win.INI and System.INI remain only to provide backward compatibility with those older programs that need them.

WORKSTATION STARTUP Version 4.0
You can change your Windows NT Workstation startup by opening the Control Panel, then double-clicking the System icon. You can also modify startup by right-clicking My Computer, choosing Properties, then clicking the Startup/Shutdown tab.

MONITORING DISK SPACE
To keep track of hard disk real estate, configure NT's Alert and Messenger services to automatically notify you when a disk is running out of space. Open the Services Applet in the Control Panel and make sure that the Alert and Messenger services are running. Next, open Performance Monitor and select Alert from the View menu. Then select Add to Alert from the Edit menu. In the Add to Alert dialog box, select LogicalDisk in the Object selection list and Free Megabytes in the Counter select list. Then choose the Under option in the Alert If section, and set threshold value to the minimum amount of free disk space you need. Finally, tell the Alert service whom to notify by opening Server Manager and view the server properties. Click the Alerts button in the server properties window and add the names of the computers and users to the Alerts list, so NT will notify these computers and users when the amount of available disk space falls below the threshold specified.

MAKE YOUR OWN TRASH ICONS Version 4.0
To make your own icons, you can use Microsoft Paint and save the two files (empty and full) as BMP files. Let's say you have Empty.bmp and Full.bmp, both in C:\Stuff. You'd run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}}\DefaultIcon.
Right-click on Full and choose Modify. Type in C:\Stuff\Full.bmp and click on OK. Because there's only one icon in each file, you don't have to specify the icon number. Now right-click on Empty, choose Modify and type in C:\Stuff\Empty.bmp . Click on OK, and then right-click on Default and modify its entry to read Stuff\Empty.bmp
Click on OK and the close RegEdit. Restart the computer and check your new icons.

FIND Version 4.0
When you're working in Explorer, you can open Find very quickly by simply pressing F3. Find will open with the path of the currently selected folder in Look In. You can change the path if necessary by typing in the new path. If you prefer, you can click on Browse, locate the new path, and click on OK.

RECYCLE BIN ICONS
You can change the Windows NT 4.0 Recycle Bin icons that show when it's full or empty. All you have to do is dig into the Registry a bit. (As usual, we recommend backing up the Registry first).  Let's make a change to demonstrate how this works.
Run RegEdit (you'll find it in \Winnt, or you can click on Start|Run, type in regedit, and press Enter). Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} }\DefaultIcon. Right-click on the Full icon in the right pane and select Modify. Now type in the path and number of the icon you want to use for an empty Recycle Bin and then click on OK.

For example, let's stick with the current file (shell32.dll) and just choose a new icon. Icon number 56 in shell32.dll shows a folder and a pencil--let's try it. Type into Full: %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,56 and click on OK.
Now restart the computer and drag an item to the Recycle Bin to see the new icon.

CD KEY? Version 4.0
It's easy to lose track of the Windows NT CD case. But if you do lose the case, you also lose the CD Key unless you've already written it down somewhere. This is a problem when you need to re-install.
So, let's look at how you can use RegEdit to get the system to show you the CD Key. As usual, be careful when editing the Registry. Open RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion. Look at ProductId. The CD Key is digits 6 through 15. Copy the number into a NotePad file and save it where you can easily find it. It wouldn't hurt to write it down and file it away in your desk just to be safe. Close RegEdit after you copy the number.
Warning: Don't do anything to change the CD Key, just copy the number and exit RegEdit

TOGGLE KEYS Version 4.0
Even if you don't need most of the features included in Windows NT 4.0's Accessibility Options, you may find the Toggle Keys feature handy. When activated, Toggle Keys beeps when you press any of the toggle keys (Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock). You'll never again type in all caps without knowing it.
To set Toggle Keys, open Control Panel and double-click on Accessibility Options. Click on the Keyboard tab and then select the Use Toggle Keys check box. Click on OK to close the dialog box and record the change. Close Control Panel and you're all finished.

Consider going to Windows NT Workstation only on your fastest computers. Although Windows NT will run on a 486, it is strongly recommended that you use at least a 90-MHz Pentium.
Remember that you cannot install Windows NT over Windows 95. The best approach may be to install NT on a Windows 95 computer as a dual-boot system. This way, you can test NT without compromising the Windows 95 installation.

To modify the shortcut, right-click on it and choose Properties. When the Shortcut Properties dialog box opens, click on the Shortcut tab. Type the new path into the Target text entry box and then click on OK.

If you have TweakUI from Microsoft's PowerToys, you can open Control Panel, double-click on TweakUI, click on the General tab, deselect Window animation, and click on OK.

IS YOUR HARDWARE COMPATIBLE WITH NT?
Are you having trouble installing or booting NT? If so, an incompatible device could be causing a problem. Before installing NT or troubleshooting boot problems, you'll want to make sure that each of your computer's devices appears in the Windows NT Hardware compatibility list. The Windows NT Server and Workstation CD Package includes a hard copy of the list, but because the list changes so frequently, you'll want to check the latest version online at http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/hcl/.
But what if you're not exactly sure of the make and model of the devices in your machine? Fortunately, Microsoft provides the Hardware Detection Tool application on every Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server CD-ROM. You'll find this application in the CD-ROM's \support\hqtool directory. Execute the Makedisk.bat file in this directory to create a bootable floppy that contains the Hardware Detection Tool. Just boot from this floppy and follow the application's instructions.

Description: Custom Excel
Command Line: c:\bat\Excel_S.bat
Working Directory: [As desired]
Button Image: [As desired]

If your font list is very long, you can trim it somewhat (without losing any fonts) by choosing View|Hide Variations(Bold, Italic, etc.). The font variations are still there; you just can't see them in the list. You can repeat the command to get them back into view.

To install imaging, go to Control Panel and double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Now click on the Windows NT Setup tab and double-click on Accessories. Locate Imaging and select it. Click on OK to close the dialog box and then click on OK again to install. You'll have to insert your Windows NT CD at this point. The directory you need on the CD is \i386.

COPYING SHORTCUTS Version 4.0
When you decide to place a shortcut on your desktop, you'll often find it convenient to work with an existing shortcut. For example, if you open the MS Office folder, you'll find shortcuts to all the Office applications. To place them on the desktop, select them and then right-drag them to their target folder. When you release the mouse button, the menu will open. Choose Copy Here. You'll have no problems with copied shortcuts as long as the originals stay in place

MS-DOS PLACEMENT Version 4.0
If you want to decide where your MS-DOS window will open, choose Start, Settings, Control Panel and double-click on Console. When the dialog box opens, click on Layout and deselect the "Let system position window" check box. Now use the spin boxes to set the window's position.

PLACING MS-DOS PROGRAMS  Version 4.0
If you have MS-DOS programs that you want to run in a window, you can make those programs open at different window positions. You don't have to accept the default position.

COPY PROBLEM  Version 4.0
If you sometimes use the command prompt, here's a problem you need to know about. When you use the Copy command at the Windows NT 4.0 command prompt, it will fail to warn you when you're about to copy over a file of the same name. This is a bug, and Microsoft will probably announce a fix one of these days. In the meantime, just make sure what files are in the target folder before you start copying

SOUND FILES AND WINDOWS NT 4.0 Version 4.0
People often like to use special sound files (Beavis and Butthead, Monty Python, President Clinton, etc.) to mark certain Windows events. If you acquire some sound files that you intend to use with your Windows NT installation, copy the files into the \Winnt\Media folder. This is where Windows NT looks for its sound files, and putting them there to start with can save you a lot of trouble. By the way, for shut down with a bang, there's a great scream in "A Christmas Story."

SAVING HARD DISK SPACE
If your Windows NT workstation is using the NTFS file system, you can use Windows NT's built-in compression tool to save disk space. Unlike Windows 95's DriveSpace, Windows NT's compression allows you to squeeze the slack space out of a single folder, an entire drive, or anything in between-all without changing drive letters, affecting settings for installed applications, or going through a lengthy conversion process.
To compress one or more files, open a Windows Explorer window, select the files you want to compress, right-click, and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. At the bottom of the General tab, you'll see a Compress check box. Select that box and click OK. To compress a folder or an entire drive, select the appropriate icon and follow the same steps.

UPDATING YOUR REPAIR DISK.
Whenever you make a change to your hardware or software setup, you may want to update your Emergency Repair disk. To do this, insert the Repair disk into the floppy drive and click Start. Choose Help, then click the Index tab. Type Repair Disk and click Display. Click the Repair Disk button. When the dialog box opens, click Update Repair Info. When the operation finishes, click Exit. If another dialog box appears asking if you want to create a Repair disk, click No. Now close Help.

QUICKVIEW.
You may wonder why QuickView isn't an available option for some files. The fact is you can make this viewer available for almost any file type, although it may not do you much good with some files. Let's say that QuickView isn't available for .dat files. Open a window and choose View, Options, then click the File Types tab. Click New Type. Now click in the "Associated extension" text entry box and type .dat. Select the Enable QuickView check box and click OK. In the Options dialog box, click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes. Locate a .dat file now and right-click its icon. When the menu opens, choose QuickView to view the file's contents. If you want to use QuickView for a file type that is available to the viewer, follow the steps above, but instead of clicking New Type select the file type you want to change. Then click Edit, select the Enable QuickView check box, and click OK. Once again, click OK in the Options dialog box to save changes.

CHECKING DISK PERFORMANCE.
If you want to use the Performance Monitor, you need to turn on the disk counters first. To do this, click Start, Programs, MS-DOS Prompt, then type diskperf -Y and press Enter. Now restart the computer. When NT starts again, you can check disk activity with the Performance Monitor. Since the counters will slightly affect disk performance, you should turn them off when you're finished with your testing. To turn off the counters, go to the Command prompt again, type diskperf -N, press Enter, and restart the computer.

PROPERTIES ON THE FLY  Version 4.0
You don't necessarily have to open a folder or Windows NT Explorer to check a file's properties. You can check the item in the Start menu as well. Click on Start, Programs, and then select one you'd like to check and right-click on its icon in the menu. When the menu opens, choose Properties.
This is a helpful method to employ when you want to find a file's location. Right-click on it in the Start menu, choose Properties, and then click on the Shortcut tab. In Shortcut, click on Find Target and Windows NT will take you there.

CLEAN UP START  Version 4.0
After a while, your Start menu will begin to fill up. When you have so many programs on the Start menu that it takes a few minutes just to locate the one you want to use, you will probably want to delete some of the programs that you seldom use. Many of us place our most-used programs in desktop folders and don't really need to have them duplicated in the Start menu. The easiest way to get rid of some of these files is to right-click on Start and choose Open All Users. When the window opens, you can select the programs you want to delete and press Delete.
The icons in the Start menu should be shortcuts. However, some programs might actually install themselves in the Start folder. So, make sure that the icons you're deleting are shortcuts. Any icons that are not shortcuts you need to keep.

CHANGING ASSIGNMENTS Version 4.0
If you'd like to temporarily change the application opened by a certain type of file, you can do it without first loading the application. All you have to do is click on the file's icon to select it, then right-click on the file while you hold down the Shift key. When the menu opens, select Open With. Locate the program you want to associate with this file type and select it. The file will open using the newly selected application--assuming that application can open the file.

QUICK CONTROL PANEL Version 4.0
To add the Control Panel to the Start menu so that it directly displays the components rather than having to go to Settings and then open Control Panel. You can place individual Control Panel items into the Start menu quite easily.
To do this, open Control Panel and select the items that you most often use. Drag those items to the Start button and release the mouse button. Now they'll appear in the Start menu for immediate use.
This will work for only a few Control Panel items, because putting them all in the Start menu would make it too crowded. However, consider this: Most people frequently use Add/Remove Programs, System, and perhaps Date/Time. The others are generally used very infrequently.
You could put Control Panel into the Start menu by creating a new folder and naming it Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}. However, since this causes a problem for some Windows NT 4.0 Workstation installations, you can add Control Panel to your desktop by opening My Computer and then right clicking the Control Panel. Next you select Create shortcut.

DIR SORTING Version 4.0, 3.51
Did you know you can customize the DIR command? You can set the DIR sort options so that when you do a DIR, the files will appear in the order you specify. To do this, type Set dircmd=\o:xxx /a at the command prompt. For xxx substitute from the following list:

N - sorts by name
E - sorts by extension
D - sorts by date
S - sorts by size
A - sorts by last access date
G - sorts by groups directories first

NO STARTUP SCREEN Version 4.0, 3.51
You may have heard that you can eliminate, or change, the Windows startup and shutdown screens. You never hear anything about Windows NT, though. Windows NT doesn't have a shutdown screen, but it does have a startup screen. If you'd like to eliminate this screen completely, open Windows NT Explorer and locate the Winnt folder. Now find the winnt.bmp and winnt256.bmp files and rename them. You can just change the extension if you like and name them winnt.old and winnt256.old. Of course, you can also substitute another .BMP file to make your own startup screen. Perhaps you'd like to use the company logo, or some personal photographs. To do this, copy your selected file into the Winnt folder and name it Winnt256.bmp. If your system is running at 256 or more colors, then you don't need to worry about winnt.bmp.

QUICK BACKUP Version 4.0
If you commonly use Ntbackup to back up a single folder, you might like to create a simple batch file to handle the job for you. Suppose you'd like to make a daily backup of a folder named Data. Open notepad and enter ntbackup backup c:\data /a /v /d"Data Folder" /hc:on /t daily where /a tells the program to append the data, /v turns on the Verify operation, /d "Data Folder" is the name you want to assign, /hc:on turns on hardware compression (if available), and /t:daily specifies the backup type. Give your new batch file a name, back.bat will do, and save it.
Now you can open Windows NT Explorer and use the right mouse button to drag the icon to the desktop. Release the mouse button and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab and then choose Run Minimized. Click on OK to close the dialog box. Now you can double-click on the Back icon (shortcut) to back up your data. Of course, you do have to have a usable tape in the drive before you run Back.

SYNCHRONIZING YOUR NT DOMAIN FROM THE COMMAND LINE
As you probably know, changes that you make to your NT Domain's SAM (Security Accounts Manager) only affect the PDC's (Primary Domain Controller's) database until automatic replication occurs. In very large NT Domains, automatic replication of the PDC's SAM to the Domain's Backup Domain Controllers can take as long as 45 minutes to an hour after you make changes. To force synchronization of your PDC with all your BDCs, you can open Server Manager and select the PDC and choose Synchronize Entire Domain option from the Computer menu. Or you can use a shortcut. At your PDC, open a command line or Run dialog box and enter the command net accounts /sync to synchronize your PDC's SAM with all of BDCs' SAMs.

PRINTER MEMORY Version 4.0
In some cases, Windows NT can assign more memory to the printer than the printer has installed. When this happens, NT will attempt to send more data than the printer can accept. If you just installed a printer and are getting errors, you should check the memory assignment.
To check the memory, click on Start and choose Settings, Printers. Click on the printer to select it and then press Enter. This opens the printer dialog box. Choose Printer, Properties and then click on the Device Settings tab. Select Installed Memory and modify it if necessary. When finished, click on OK and then close the Printer dialog box.

ADD A MESSAGE Version 4.0, 3.51
Would you like to add a message to your Windows NT 4.0 startup? If so, you can do the job with RegEdit. As usual, we must warn you that you can damage your installation using RegEdit. So, you should be very careful when following the steps shown here.
Run RegEdit and select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Look in the right pane for LegalNoticeText. If the string exists, double-click on its icon and then add your text. Click on OK and close RegEdit. Restart to see the changes.
If you don't see LegalNoticeText in the right pane, you'll have to create it. Click in the right pane and then choose Edit, New, String Value. Name it LegalNoticeText, add your text, and click on OK. Close RegEdit and restart the computer.
You can use the same procedure to add a title to your message dialog box. Once again, be careful when using RegEdit.
Run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. This time, look in the right pane for LegalNoticeCaption. If it's there, double-click on it and add the text you want to appear in the title bar of the legal notice dialog box. If LegalNoticeCaption doesn't appear in the right pane, click in the right pane and then choose Edit, New, String Value. Name it LegalNoticeCaption and then add your text and click on OK. After you finish, close RegEdit and restart the computer.

PRINT THE REGISTRY Version 4.0
Although you can print all of the Registry from RegEdit, this isn't a very practical operation. The problem is that the Registry is very likely to consist of several thousand pages. So if you decide you might like to have a hard copy of your entire Registry, our advice is: forget it. It is practical to print a portion of the Registry, however. For example, if you'd like a hard copy of your Desktop settings, you can select HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. With Desktop selected, press Ctrl-P, select Selected Branch and click on OK.

BARE ICONS - Version 4.0
Have you ever tried to create an icon with no name--no text at all, just the icon? There isn't any way to place a text-free icon--Windows NT won't allow it--but you can come close. To create a label-free icon, click on the name twice (to rename), and use a non-printing character for the new name-- 0160 is a good example. To do this, make sure Num Lock is on and hold down the Alt key while you enter 0160 using the Number pad.

BACKING UP THE REGISTRY  Version 4.0
Backing up the Registry files in Windows NT poses more of a problem than performing the same operation in Windows. The Windows NT 4.0 Registry is located in Winnt\System32\Config. To back up the Registry, you have to make a copy of the contents of this folder. Unfortunately, you can't do this while Windows NT is running. One way to make a Registry backup (if you're using a FAT disk) is to boot into MS-DOS and then copy the files from Winnt\System32\Config. If you use NTFS, you can make a backup by running another instance of Windows NT. For example, if you still have Windows NT 3.51 installed on your computer, you could run it and make a copy of the contents of Winnt\System32\Config.

GET THE HISTORY  Version 4.0
When you enter a command in the Command Prompt window, that command gets saved by the system (up to 50 commands), and you can use it again without having to retype it. All you have to do is press F7 to open the History dialog box. Now you can use the arrow keys to highlight the command you want to use and then press Enter to execute the command. If you need more than the default 50 commands, click in the Command box (upper left corner) and choose Properties. Click on the Options tab and then set Buffer Size to the number of commands you need. Click on OK, and then click on OK again.

MS-DOS PROBLEMS Version 4.0
If you have a problem running an old DOS application, first check Autoexec.nt and Config.nt to make sure the environment is set properly. If the program still won't run from the command prompt, try using Forcedos. Type at the command prompt Forcedos yourApp where yourApp is the full path and name of the application. You may find this method particularly helpful if you'd like to run some old MS-DOS games.

IMPROVING SPEED  Version 4.0
Many people install a new processor to increase their system speed. In most cases, this means a new motherboard, or perhaps even a new bare computer. And this is where you can run into trouble: When you purchase a new motherboard or a new bare computer and then use the old drives, video, and so on, you may find that the new system isn't as peppy as you thought it would be. If you're really serious about increasing the speed of one or more of your systems, take a really good look at your video and hard disk requirements. Windows NT uses the hard disk extensively, so the faster the better. When it comes to video, the quicker you can get something on the screen, the quicker NT can go about its other business. The point is, don't depend on processor speed alone--moving from 166 MHz to 233 MHz won't necessarily be very impressive unless you address the hard disk and video speeds too.

PAGING FILE TIP  Version 4.0
One way to speed up your Windows NT system is to place the paging file on some disk other than the system disk. The reason this results in faster operation is that the system files are accessed very frequently and so is the paging file. If you place the paging file on a different disk, you split up the work a bit. You'll see an even greater speed increase if your system has a separate controller for each drive. And you'll see still more improvement if your controller can perform simultaneous reads and writes.

VOLUME CONTROL Version 4.0
If you'd like to use the CD-ROM drive to listen music while you work, you may be in for some surprises when you set the volume control to suit the music. Picture this: You put in a music disc and then turn up the volume on the speaker system. Along comes a warning beep and it's at an ear-splitting level. The problem is that there are just too many ways to set volume. So why not take some time to tweak them all?
Put a music disc into the drive and set the speaker volume to approximately half (12 O'clock). Next, set the level on the CD Player. Next, double-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar. When the dialog box opens, set the CD Audio level to about 50 percent. Now set the volume (the control on the left side of the dialog box) to produce the level you want for the 12 O'clock speaker setting.

Now you need to see how loud those WAV sounds are. Open Windows NT Explorer, locate Winnt\Media and double-click on a few of the WAV sounds to see how they sound. Set the Wave Output level to get the WAV sounds at approximately the same level as the music. You may want the WAV sounds just a bit louder so you can hear them over the music. When you've finished with your settings, click on the Close box to close the Volume Control dialog box.

AUTO LOG-ON  Version 3.51, 4.0
If you use Windows NT 4.0, you can set automatic log-on using TweakUI. If you're still using Windows NT 3.51 (or if you use 4.0 and don't have TweakUI) you can do the same with some Registry editing.
Keeping in mind the usual warnings about making changes to the Registry, run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Look in the right pane for AutoAdminLogon. If it's there, double-click on it and change the value to 1. If it isn't there, choose Edit, New, String Value (NT 4.0) or Edit, String Value (NT 3.51).
Name the new value AutoAdminLogon and give it the value 1. For the Auto log-on to work, you have to add your password. Look for DefaultPassword in the right pane. If it isn't there, create it by choosing Edit, New, String Value (4.0) or Edit, Add Value (3.51). Assign your password to it. Now you can close RegEdit and restart the computer.
Note that you've just destroyed most of your security since anyone can now log on. Only do this if security isn't a problem for you.

Here's the REG file to avoid editing the registry.

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

To generate the REG file, run Notepad and type the code as shown. Where you see BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter to enter a blank line. When finished entering the code, choose File, Save As and name the file Auto.reg. Locate a folder for the file and click Save. To run the file, double-click its icon.
Now, to bypass the automatic log-on and log in as a new user, click Start, Shut Down, select the radio button labelled "Close all [programs and log on as a different user?", and click Yes. Press and hold the Shift key while Windows NT Workstation 4.0 restarts. This time, you'll get the familiar log-on dialog box.
Here's another suggestion. If you like to use the auto log-on setting while you work, but want to make sure the tech group has the ability to log on as they wish when you're not there, you could generate another REG file to turn auto log-on off. To do this, simply open the Auto.reg file in Notepad and change the line "AutoAdminLogon"="1" to "AutoAdminLogon"="0"
Choose File, Save As and name the file LogOff.reg. Click Save after you choose a folder for the new file. Now, to turn auto log-on off, just double-click LogOff.reg.

USING TOGGLEKEYS Version 4.0
It's easy to accidentally hit the Caps Lock key without realizing it. The next thing you know, you're generating some strange-looking text. sOMETHING LIKE THIS. You can eliminate this problem by using ToggleKeys. It's part of the Accessibility Options. Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel. Double-click on Accessibility Options and then select Use ToggleKeys. Click on Apply and then on OK. Now when you press Caps Lock, you'll get a beep to let you know that's what you've done. You'll also get a beep when you press Num Lock or Scroll Lock.

TASK MANAGER Version 4.0
If you use Task Manger frequently, you can keep it ready for quick use. Open the Task Manger by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Esc. Now choose Options, Hide When Minimized. Task Manager will remain active, but it won't take up much taskbar space--just a tiny little icon. To use Task Manager, locate its tiny icon (a small bar graph display) in the right side of the taskbar near the time display and double click. You may also notice that you can move the mouse pointer over the icon and the tool tip will report CPU usage.

EDITOR CHANGE Version 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation uses NotePad as the default batch file editor. However, many people have become accustomed to the old MS-DOS Edit program. If you fall into this group, you can make Edit.com your default editor. All you have to do is make a change to the Registry. Click on Start, Run, type in RegEdit and click on OK. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\edit\command. In the right pane, double-click on the Default icon to open the Edit String dialog box. Type in e:\winnt\system32\edit.com and click on OK. Choose Registry, Exit to close RegEdit and then restart the computer. Now when you right-click on a batch file and choose Edit, the file will open in Edit.com.

GIVE YOUR HOME DRIVE A LETTER
Longtime NetWare users switching to an NT server may miss the MAP ROOT command, which allows you to assign a drive letter to your server-based personal storage area and work with it as though it were the root directory of the mapped drive. NT doesn't support the MAP ROOT command, but it does let you use the SUBST command, which dates back to the DOS days, to accomplish the same goal. Used in conjunction with NT system variables and login scripts, the SUBST command lets you define a single drive letter where all network users can expect to find their personal files (U, for users, is a popular choice.) To map U: to the Personal folder stored in each user's profile, add the following command to the login script for each user: SUBST U: %userprofile%\Personal
With this command in the login script, NT will add an extra icon to the My Computer window. Double-clicking this icon will take the user straight to the Personal folder on the server. If you're wary of using the SUBST command because you've lost data when using it with pervious versions of DOS or Windows, don't worry. The NT version is far more robust and stable.

NO STARTUP SCREEN  Version 4.0, 3.51
You can change your Windows NT startup screen. If you'd like to eliminate this screen completely, open Windows NT Explorer and locate the Winnt folder. Find the winnt.bmp and winnt256.bmp files and rename them. You can change the extension and name them winnt.old and winnt256.old. Of course, you can also substitute another .BMP file to make your own startup screen. Perhaps you'd like to use the company logo or some personal photographs. To do this, copy your selected file into the Winnt folder and name it Winnt256.bmp. If your system is running at 256 or more colors, then you don't need to worry about winnt.bmp.

HOW MUCH MEMORY DOES IT USE? NT Workstation 4.0
This is a question that many new Windows NT 4.0 users ask. The easiest way to tell how much memory a given application uses is to run the application and then press Ctrl-Shift-Esc to open Task Manager. Click on the Processes tab and then locate your application in the list. We found that Winword.exe was using about 6MB of memory just sitting around doing nothing in particular. To close Task Manager, click on the Close box.

PRINTER MEMORY Version 4.0
In some cases, Windows NT can assign more memory to the printer than the printer has installed. When this happens, NT will attempt to send more data than the printer can accept. If you just installed a printer and are getting errors, you should check the memory assignment.
To check the memory, click on Start and choose Settings, Printers. Click on the printer to select it and then press Enter. This opens the printer dialog box. Choose Printer, Properties and then click on the Device Settings tab. Select Installed Memory and modify it if necessary. When finished, click on OK and then close the Printer dialog box.

QUICK BACKUP Version 4.0
If you commonly use Ntbackup to back up a single folder, you might like to create a simple batch file to handle the job for you. Suppose you'd like to make a daily backup of a folder named Data. Open notepad and enter ntbackup backup c:\data /a /v /d"Data Folder" /hc:on /t daily  where /a tells the program to append the data, /v turns on the Verify operation, /d "Data Folder" is the name you want to assign, /hc:on turns on hardware compression (if available), and /t:daily specifies the backup type. Give your new batch file a name, back.bat will do, and save it.
Now you can open Windows NT Explorer and use the right mouse button to drag the icon to the desktop. Release the mouse button and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab and then choose Run Minimized. Click on OK to close the dialog box. Now you can double-click on the Back icon (shortcut) to back up your data. Of course, you do have to have a usable tape in the drive before you run Back.

MAKE A BOOT FLOPPY NT Workstation 4.0, 3.51
There are times when Windows NT won't start, and you know why it won't start. Suppose Ntdetect.com is bad. When you try to boot the computer, you get an error message telling you that the system can't find, or load, Ntdetect.
When something like this happens, you can go through the usual procedures to restore the system. But since you know what's wrong, you can get running again more quickly if you have a boot floppy.
To create a boot floppy, insert a floppy disk into Drive A. Right-click on the floppy disk icon and choose Format. Format the disk using Full Format (just to be safe). Now open Windows NT Explorer and click on the root folder (usually C:\). Copy the following files to the floppy disk:

Boot.ini
Ntdetect.com
Bootsect.dos (for dual start-up installations)
NTLDR
Ntbootdd.sys (if it's in the root folder, copy it)

If you don't see these files in your root folder, choose View, Options in Windows NT Explorer. Select the radio button labeled Show All Files. Now click on Apply and then OK. Now you should see the files. If you don't, press F5 and look again.
Using the boot floppy, you can boot into your damaged system and make the appropriate repairs.

NO STARTUP SCREEN Version 4.0, 3.51
You may have heard that you can eliminate, or change, the Windows 95 startup and shutdown screens. You never hear anything about Windows NT, though. Windows NT doesn't have a shutdown screen, but it does have a startup screen. If you'd like to eliminate this screen completely, open Windows NT Explorer and locate the Winnt folder. Now find the winnt.bmp and winnt256.bmp files and rename them. You can just change the extension if you like and name them winnt.old and winnt256.old. Of course, you can also substitute another .BMP file to make your own startup screen. Perhaps you'd like to use the company logo, or some personal photographs. To do this, copy your selected file into the Winnt folder and name it Winnt256.bmp. If your system is running at 256 or more colors, then you don't need to worry about winnt.bmp.

DISK DRIVE PROBLEMS NT Workstation 4.0
If you're about to install Windows NT 4.0 on a computer, check to make sure how the hard disk is set up. If the disk drive exceeds 1024 cylinders (most do these days) make sure you format and partition the disk with LBA enabled.
You can have some serious problems if LBA is applied to a disk formatted when LBA was disabled. You'll most likely get a Stop error telling you that the boot device is not accessible.
If this happens to you after you've been running a hard disk for a while, the problem is more likely to be a corrupt partition boot sector.

SYSINFO PROGRAM  NT Workstation 4.0
If you use Office 95 or Office 97, you might like to check out the Office System Information utility. Open Word, or some other application, and choose Help, About . . Now click on System Info to see a rather complete display of information about your system.
You can select the areas that you want to view and print the information using System Info.

BACK TO BASICS NT Workstation 4.0
If you have the correct drivers for your video display, then installing video in Windows NT 4.0 isn't much of a problem. Unfortunately, if you don't have the very latest drivers and are trying to work with the generic drivers, you can get into a situation in which the system won't run. If this happens to you, you need to boot using the generic VGA driver and try again.
Note that when you use the generic drivers for a video card, you may find that full colour at the higher resolutions is unattainable.
This is where many Windows NT users encounter a video problem. If you make an incorrect resolution selection, NT will usually revert to the existing resolution. Unfortunately, sometimes NT will attempt to use the new (unattainable) setting.

CORRUPT BOOT SECTORS  NT Workstation 4.0
If you suddenly get a corrupt partition boot sector error after you've been running a hard disk for an extended period of time, you may wonder how it happens. One cause (one we recently encountered) is a defective disk controller. However, hardware isn't necessarily the problem. There is a chance that some software can corrupt the partition boot sector.
So how do you identify the problem? You can try to eliminate one factor at a time. It could be the hard disk; try another one. It could be the controller; try another controller if possible.

QUICK PATH IN MS-DOS NT Workstation 4.0
If you need to use the command prompt frequently. You can open Windows NT Explorer and drag a file you want to run to the command prompt window. This will enter the complete file name (path + file name) at the command prompt. All you have to do is click in the command prompt window to activate it and then press Enter.

FOLDERS NT Workstation 4.0
When you have a number of open folder or application windows that you need to access, you can press Alt-Tab to cycle through windows and programs. But if you're working in a program and want to see another open (but not currently visible) folder window, you can press Alt-Esc to cycle through the windows. When you use this method, the windows will appear in open view.
The first time you press Alt-Esc, all the open windows appear. Pressing the combination again will cause the current active window to disappear and activate the next window. This continues until all the windows disappear and you're back at your application window.
Note that this only works with windows that are currently open on the desktop; it does not open and display minimised windows.

TASK MANAGER
If you'd like to hide Task Manager but still keep it running and ready for immediate use, here's how. Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Next, choose Options, Hide When Minimised. Now you can run Task Manager and it won't take up space in the taskbar. To make it visible again, double-click its icon. It's a small bar graph display in the right side of the taskbar near the time display.

AUTO-DELETION
If you like to use Notepad to store notes for yourself while you work, here's something you may not have noticed. When you use cut and paste to move all the text from Notepad to your primary document, Notepad will then decline to save an empty document. It will delete the file instead, with your permission of course.
To take a look at how this works, add some text to a Notepad document and save it under a new name. Now select and cut the text and then choose File, Save. Because there's nothing left in the document to save, Notepad will offer to delete it.

SCALING RASTER FONTS
Windows NT includes a set of raster fonts. These are the fonts that you commonly use in the various parts of the system. They come in specific sizes. For example, you'll find MS Serif in 8, 10, 12, and 14 point sizes. Although you can use these fonts for any of your applications (and NT will scale them), they always look best in their supplied sizes. If you scale them more than one or two point sizes, they will become jagged looking. Here is a list of the Windows NT raster fonts.

Courier
MS Serif
MS Sans Serif
Small
Symbol

FORMATTING A DOS DISK
If you sometimes boot into MS-DOS, you should make a bootable floppy disk in case of problems. When you do, make sure to format the floppy disk from MS-DOS, not from the Windows NT command prompt. A disk formatted from the command prompt will not produce the correct Partition Boot Sector on the floppy disk.
Also, just in case you need to be reminded (you probably don't), you can't read an NTFS partition when you boot from an MS-DOS floppy disk. However you can get some software that will allow you to view that NTFS partition after an MS-DOS boot. The software is called NTFSDOS and you'll find it at http://www.ntinternals.com/ntfs20.htm
After you download and extract the file (it's a ZIP file), format an MS-DOS floppy with the system (format a: /s using MS-DOS--not Windows NT). Now copy the two extracted files (ntfsdos.exe and ntfshlp.vxd) to the floppy. When you restart with the floppy in Drive A, you'll be able to view the NTFS partition. You won't be able to make changes, but you can view it.

WINDOWS NT 4.0 AND 16-BIT APPS
When you run a 16-bit application in Windows NT 4.0, it runs as a separate thread in a single multithreaded NT Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM). This works well, but it does limit the performance of 16-bit applications. The NTVDM doesn't run more than one 16-bit application at a time. However, you can use the option to run an app in a separate window.
To do this from the Run dialog box, click Start, Run. When the dialog box appears, type in the path and name of the app you want to run (or click Browse to locate it). When you type in the name of a 16-bit app, the check box labeled Run in Separate Memory Space will become active. Select the check box and click OK.

PRINT SHORTCUT
You can print a document quickly if you put a shortcut to the printer on your desktop and drag a document icon to it. You can do the job even quicker if you put a printer shortcut into the Send To folder.
To do this, open Windows NT Explorer and navigate to Winnt\Profiles\Administrator\Send To (assuming you're the administrator). Now click Start, Settings, Printers. When the Printers window opens, hold down Ctrl and drag the printer icon to the Send To folder.
Now you can right-click a document icon and choose Send To, YourPrinter (or whatever you called your printer).

BACKUP
The fact that the NT Backup utility does a good job of backing up the registry. To do this, simply select the check box labelled Backup Registry. Note that this check box is only available when you're backing up files on the primary NT disk (Drive C in most cases).
The NT Backup utility also restores the registry. If you're running on the same occurrence of NT you're trying to restore, the registry utility will restore the files and then inform you that you need to restart to make the restored files active.

QUICK CLOSE
Is there's a way to close all open windows with a single command or mouse click. The answer is yes. Well . . . sort of. Let's say you double-click My Computer to open it. Now double-click the Drive C icon to open it. Double-click one of the folders in Drive C to open it. Now hold down Shift and click the last window's close box. All the windows you just opened will close; this includes My Computer. Any other open windows that are not related to My Computer will not close. You can also right-click the taskbar and choose Minimise all Windows. This doesn't close them, but it does get them off your desktop and out of the way.

PRINTING
If you'd like to print massive amounts of material while you sleep quietly, far removed from the smell of ozone, you can schedule your printing for when you're not around. To do this, click Start, Settings and choose Printers. When the Printer window opens, right-click your printer icon and choose Properties. Now click the Scheduling tab. Select From and then pick your time range. After you make the choices, click OK to close the dialog box and record your changes.
If you would like to print some documents immediately and some later as scheduled, you can create a new "printer" just like your current printer. The only difference is that you use scheduling on the second printer. You can give the new printer a distinctive name (such as Midnight) and use it to print those scheduled documents.

copy con program1.bat
@ echo off
echo This is Program 1

This is Program 1
This is Program 2
This is Program 3

Now press F6 and then press Enter. Of course, you need to enter your own drive letters and folders. If the folder already exists, you'll get a message, but the batch file will continue to run.
After you've debugged your new batch file and are sure it's doing what you want, create a shortcut to it on your desktop, or in a folder of your choice. Right-click the shortcut and choose Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens, click the Shortcut tab. Click the arrow at the right side of the pull-down box labelled Run. Select Minimized and click OK. Now you can double-click your new icon to make the backup. Since you've minimised it, you won't see anything on the screen when you run the file.

Alt-Tab                  switches you to a new running application. Just release Tab to select.
Alt-Shift-Tab          moves backwards through the running applications.
Alt-Space             opens the active window's Control menu.
Ctrl-Esc                will open the Start menu.
Ctrl-Shift-Esc       opens the Task Manager. Esc closes it.
Print Screen        copies the entire window to the Clipboard.
Alt-Print Screen   copies the active window to the Clipboard.