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English Windows FAQs
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How can I use the percent (%) sign in a batch file?
Although you can use the % sign to specify a variable in a batch
file, you must type two % signs in succession. For example, you must
type
for /L %%n IN (1,1,10) DO @ECHO %%n
to tell the batch file to interpret the command as
for /L %n IN (1 1 10) DO @ECHO %n
If you simply want to output the % sign from a batch file, you must
also type two % sign in succession. For example, type
echo 10%%
to display
10%
The standard % signs that surround an environment variable remain the
same, regardless of whether you're typing them at a command prompt or
including them in a batch file. For example, type
echo %date%
to display the date.
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How can I create a registry link?
Similar to file shortcuts that point to an actual file, registry
links create a symbolic link from a virtual path to an actual path.
You might have seen these links in the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet
registry subkey, which is
a link to one of the ControlSets under the same parent location, and
the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key, which points to a path under
HKEY_USERS\ <SID of current user >
registry subkey.
Both of these registry links are of type REG_LINK, but you can't use
standard registry tools to create this internal type. However, a
freeware utility, Regln, available from the NTinternals Team at
http://www.ntinternals.net/regln
lets you create registry links. Be
sure to read the instructions before you dive in, and treat this
utility with care; otherwise, you might cause serious damage to your
machine.
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What's a SYN attack?
The SYN (TCP connection request) attack is a common Denial of
Service (DoS) technique characterized by the following pattern:
Using a spoofed IP address not in use on the Internet, an attacker sends multiple SYN packets to the target machine. For each SYN packet received, the target machine allocates resources and sends an acknowledgement (SYN-ACK) to the source IP address. Because the target machine doesn't receive a response from the attacking machine, it attempts to resend the SYN-ACK five times, at 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 48-second intervals, before unallocating the resources 96 seconds after attempting the last retry. If you add the numbers all together, you can see that the target machine allocates resources for more than 3 minutes to respond to just one SYN attack.
When an attacker uses this technique repeatedly, the target machine
eventually runs out of resources and is unable to handle any more
connections, thereby denying service to legitimate users.
To determine whether your systems might be vulnerable to this type of
attack, from the command prompt type
netstat -n -p tcp
Look at the output for entries in a state of SYN_RECEIVED. If you
notice multiple entries, your system is vulnerable to attack. For
information on how to protect yourself from such DoS attacks, see the
next FAQ.
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How can I protect my system from a Denial of Service (DoS) attack?
Firewall products can protect your machines from DoS attacks, and
you should use a firewall whenever possible. However, built-in Windows
functionality can also help protect against DoS attacks and quickly
time out SYN requests. To enable this functionality, perform the
following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name SynAttackProtect, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 2, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Reboot the machine.
The SynAttackProtect default value is 0, which offers no protection. A
value of 1 limits the number of SYN retries and delays the route cache
entry when the maximum number of open TCP connections (i.e., the
connections in the SYN_RECEIVED state known as TcpMaxHalfOpen) and
retries (i.e., TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried) have been met. When
SynAttackProtect has a value of 2, the effect is similar to when the
value is set to 1 but includes a delayed Winsock notification until
the 3-way handshake involved in the SYN process is finished. Because
Windows invokes the SynAttackProtect value only after the system
exceeds the TcpMaxHalfOpen and TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried values, I
recommend that you also create the TcpMaxHalfOpen and
TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried values under the same registry key (both DWORD
values) and set them to 100 and 80, respectively.
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Why do I receive an error when I attempt to run the Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003 Administration Tools under Windows XP?
Win.NET Server includes several updated XP files, including
dsprop.dll. The Administration Tools require the Win.NET Server
version of this file because the base XP version doesn't contain
necessary functions. XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) contains the Win.NET
Server version of the file, so you must install XP SP1 before you
attempt to install the Win.NET Server Administration Tools under XP.
You can download the Administration Tools at
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/2/b/52bbe553-bae6-41e0-a82d-30d30145c1ee/rc2-adminpak.exe .
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How can I install Windows 2000 on Toshiba's Portege 3110 laptop?
Because the Portege 3110 includes an external CD-ROM drive that
connects to the laptop through a PC Card, you can't configure the
system BIOS to boot from a CD-ROM. Also, the standard Win2K
installation disks don't recognize the CD-ROM drive, which causes the
OS installation to fail.
If you can connect the laptop to a network, you can set up a Microsoft
Remote Installation Services (RIS) server and install Win2K from the
network. If working from the network isn't an option, you can perform
the following steps (some of these steps are specific to the Portege
3110, but you can modify this process for any CD-ROM driver):
Create an MS-DOS boot disk (you can download the necessary files from http://www.bootdisk.com ).
Copy the CD-ROM driver file to the boot disk; for the Toshiba laptop, this file is arccd.sys, which you can download from the Toshiba Web site.
Edit the config.sys file on the boot disk and add the line DEVICE=A:\ARCCD.SYS
Edit the autoexec.bat file on the boot disk and add the line MSCDEX /D:ARCCD01 /L:E > NUL
Insert the boot disk into your laptop and reboot--the CD-ROM drive should be accessible as drive E.
If no partition exists on the laptop's hard disk, you must use Fdisk to create a partition, then use the FAT file system to format the partition.
Insert the Win2K installation CD-ROM, then type cd i386 to navigate to the I386 folder.
Start the 16-bit version of the installation procedure by typing winnt
The Win2K installation will start and copy all files to the local hard disk. You might want to convert the partition to the NTFS file system during installation.
After the installation is finished, you can use third-party software
such as PowerQuest's PartitionMagic to extend the NTFS partition to
use more of the hard disk.
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What's Microsoft Print Migrator 3.0?
Microsoft Print Migrator 3.0, which is available at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/technologies/fileandprint/print/download.asp,
lets you migrate printers between servers. The current version
supports
migrating printers between different Windows versions (e.g., from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 or Windows .NET Server--Win.NET Server--2003)
Microsoft Cluster service
options for moving Line Print Report (LPR) ports to standard TCP/IP Port Monitor ports
Print Migrator 3.0 can back up a machine's print configuration to a
.cab file for the Win.NET Server, Windows XP, Win2K Service Pack 2
(SP2), and NT 4.0 SP6a platforms. The software can also back up
file-and-print shares, but not the share content. The download
includes a full-command version, and you can download a separate Help
file from the URL I mentioned above that explains the command version.
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How can I remove the hiberfil.sys file from my system?
When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the
system's memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the
hiberfil.sys file will always equal the amount of physical memory in
your system. If you don't use the hibernate feature and want to
recapture the space that Windows uses for the hiberfil.sys file,
perform the following steps:
Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click Power Options).
Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the "System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the hiberfil.sys file.
Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power
Schemes tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.
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What are the Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003 domain and forest modes?
Windows 2000 domains have two modes: mixed (which lets Windows NT
4.0 BDCs participate in domain replication) and native (which lets
only Win2K-based domain controllers--DCs--participate in domain
replication). Win.NET Server introduces new functionality to both
domains and forests, including new domain renaming abilities. As a
result, Microsoft has added a new mode for domain functionality, as
listed below.
Domain Mode DCs Supported
----------- ----------------------------
Win2K mixed (default) Win.NET Server, Win2K, NT 4.0
Win2K native Win.NET Server, Win2K
Win.NET Server Win.NET Server
The differences between Win2K mixed and Win2K native are the same
under Win.NET Server as they are under Win2K. However, the Win.NET
Server domain mode adds support for
a DC renaming tool
an enhanced user logon timestamp
Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) key version numbers
user password support for InetOrgPerson, which is a standard object class defined in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Requests for Comments (RFC) 2798
Win.NET Server also adds a new mode for forest functionality, as
listed below.
Forest Mode DCs Supported
----------- ----------------------------
Win2K (default) Win.NET Server, Win2K, NT 4.0
Win.NET Server Win.NET Server
To upgrade the forest to Win.NET Server, all domains within the forest
must be in Win.NET Server mode or Win2K native mode. The Win.NET Sever
forest mode adds support for
tuning Global Catalog (GC) replication
creating bidirectional transitive forest trusts
performing domain renaming (DNS and NetBIOS name)
improving replication algorithms (including the ability to replicate individual group membership changes instead of replicating information about the entire group)
deactivating an unneeded class or attribute
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How can I raise my domain to use the Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003 domain mode?
Raising a domain is a one-way process that you can't reverse.
Therefore, before you proceed, review the FAQ titled "What are the
Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003 domain and forest modes?" to
ensure that you can raise your domain. To raise your domain, perform
the following steps:
Log on as a domain administrator to a domain controller (DC) or a machine running the Win.NET Server administration tools.
Start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in or the MMC Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in (go to Start, Programs, and select Administrative Tools).
Right-click the domain, then select the Raise Domain Functional Level option from the context menu--Windows will display the current domain mode.
Select the new domain mode, then click Raise.
Click OK to close the confirmation dialog box.
Windows will inform you that it's finished the change and will
replicate the change to the remaining DCs.
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How can I raise my forest to use the Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003 forest mode?
Raising a forest is a one-way process that you can't reverse. All
domains in the forest must be in Windows 2000 native mode or later--if
they aren't, the upgrade will fail and Windows will display a warning.
During the upgrade, Windows will raise any Win2K native-mode domains
to Win.NET Server domain level. To raise your forest, perform the
following steps:
Log on as a domain administrator of the root domain to a domain controller (DC) or a machine running the Win.NET Server administration tools.
Start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in (go to Start, Programs, and select Administrative Tools).
Right-click the root (i.e., Active Directory Domains and Trusts), then select the Raise Forest Functional Level option from the context menu--Windows will display the current forest mode.
Select the new forest mode, then click Raise.
Click OK to close the confirmation dialog box.
Windows will inform you that it's finished the change and will
replicate the change to all DCs.
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How can I configure the amount of bandwidth that Windows reserves for Quality of Service (QoS)?
QoS provides a guaranteed level of service for media-rich
applications and some mission-critical applications. By default,
Windows reserves only 20 percent of the connection bandwidth for QoS.
To adjust this setting in the registry, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PSched\Parameters\Adapters\{ <Adapter ID >} registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name NonBestEffortLimit, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to the new level (e.g., 50 in decimal base), then click OK.
Restart the computer for the change to take effect.
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What's the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard?
The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is a core component of
Windows XP. Previously available as a separate component of the
"Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit" and the "Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit," the wizard is also known as
the User State Migration Tool (USMT--you can download the tool at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/new/usmt-o.asp
). Before you use XP's built-in version, run Windows Update to install
a fix that resolves the following problems identified in the Microsoft
article "Files and Settings are Not Transferred When You Use the Files
and Settings Transfer Wizard"
( http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307869 ):
The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard quits before the transfer process has been completed.
User settings or system settings are not transferred as expected.
Icons created on the desktop do not work as expected.
Account information in Microsoft Outlook Express is lost.
A new account created in Outlook Express overwrites an old mail account.
Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook 2000 settings are not transferred if Outlook Express and Outlook 2000 share the same address book.
The Outlook Express message store becomes corrupted if the store is open while the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is used on a Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)-based computer.
Microsoft created the wizard to let an administrator move a user's
files and settings from one computer to another or to back up the
user's files and settings before reinstalling the OS. The wizard can
use a direct cable connection, removable media, or a local store that
you can back up or move.
You can move any combination of the following user files and settings:
Files and folders (e.g., My Documents, My Pictures, select file-extension types)
Accessibility settings
Command-prompt settings
Display properties
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) settings
Mouse and keyboard settings
Network printer and drive settings
Outlook Express settings
Regional settings
Sounds and multimedia settings
Taskbar options
Application-specific settings
After you export the user's files and settings to target media
separate from the source computer, you can use the wizard to import
the user's files and settings onto a new computer. If you install on
the new computer the same applications that exist on the old computer,
the user's environment will be identical to the environment that
exists on the old computer.
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How can I use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to export my files and settings?
To export your files and settings, perform the following steps:
Start the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click "File and Settings Transfer Wizard"; alternatively, you can type migwiz.exe from the command prompt).
From the welcome screen, click Next.
Select "Old computer", then click Next (the wizard will display only those options applicable to your user profile and installed applications).
Select the transfer method to use (e.g., to output your settings to the local file system, select Other), select a location to store your files (if the entered path doesn't exist, click Yes to create it), then click Next.
Select the option that corresponds to what you want the wizard to transfer--settings, files, or both--then click Next. The wizard will display a warning notifying you that if you export program-specific settings, you'll need to install those programs on the new computer.
After the wizard exports the settings, click Finish.
The wizard will create two files on the target media: a status file
and the .dat file that contains all the user's settings. You should
then import these files and their parent folder to the target machine.
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How can I use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to import my files and settings?
To import your files and settings, perform the following steps:
Start the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click "File and Settings Transfer Wizard"; alternatively, you can type migwiz.exe from the command prompt).
From the welcome screen, click Next.
Select "New computer", then click Next.
When the wizard gives you the option to create a wizard disk that you can use on the old computer to collect the files and settings, select "I don't need the wizard disk," then click Next.
Select the location of your files and settings; click Next (the wizard will import the information and write over the existing configuration information).
After the wizard has finished importing the information, click Finish.
Log off and log on for all changes to take effect.
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How can I enable saving attachments in Microsoft Outlook Express 6?
By default and as a security precaution to avoid saving a virus to
your computer, Outlook Express doesn't let you save files locally. To
enable file saving within Outlook Express, perform the following
steps:
Start Outlook Express.
From the Tools menu, select Options.
Select the Security tab.
Clear the "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus" check box, then click OK.
The change will take effect immediately. To use the registry to enable
or disable file saving in Outlook Express, perform the following
steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{A5FA8995-AE1F-4D4A-8442-C51332A97476}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Mail registry subkey.
Double-click Safe Attachments.
Set the registry value to 0 to allow saving of attachments or to 1 to use the application's default behavior.
Click OK.
Close the registry editor.
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How can I configure Microsoft Outlook Express to perform only as a news reader and not as an email client?
To disable the email capabilities within Outlook Express, simply
add /outnews to the end of the Outlook Express command. For example,
from the command prompt, type
msimn /outnews
When you start the application in this mode, you'll notice the Inbox
folder is missing and the Mail option under the Accounts menu is no
longer available. You can also place the /outnews option outside the
quotes to alter shortcuts. For example, you can change the shortcut
path
"C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe"
to
"C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /outnews
to launch Outlook Express as a news client only.
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What is the FTP Folders feature?
Microsoft introduced the FTP Folders feature in Microsoft Internet
Explorer (IE) 5.x and made it a core part of Windows 2000 and later.
The FTP Folders feature lets you use the familiar Windows Explorer
interface to browse FTP sites. The first figure at
http://www.windows2000faq.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=27453 shows
the view in Windows Explorer without FTP Folders enabled. The second
figure at this URL shows Windows Explorer with FTP Folders enabled.
Be aware that some limitations exist when you use FTP Folders,
including
FTP Folders doesn't work through certain firewall products.
You can't copy files from one FTP server to another.
You can't drag files from one location to another.
You can't right-click an FTP folder and select Copy from the context menu to paste an item locally.
You can't connect to a VAX or VMS FTP server.
If you experience problems using FTP Folders, try using the standard
ftp.exe client to confirm connectivity.
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How do I enable or disable the FTP Folders feature in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)?
To enable or disable FTP Folders, perform the following steps:
Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, then double-click Internet Options.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Browsing, select the "Use Web based FTP" check box or "Enable folder view for FTP sites" check box to enable the FTP Folders feature or clear one of these check boxes to disable this feature.
Click OK.
Restart IE for the change to take effect.
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Why do I receive an error when I access some Active Directory (AD)-related Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins?
The AD tools use Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP),
which by default operates on port 389, to contact the directory
service servers. If you enable TCP/IP filtering, block port 389, and
keep only port 80 open for Web page communication, you might encounter
the following problems when you attempt to access AD MMC snap-ins:
When you attempt to start the MMC Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, you receive an error message that reads "Naming Information cannot be located because: The Server is not operational. Contact your system administrator to verify that your domain is properly configured and is currently online."
When you attempt to start the MMC Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, you receive an error message that reads "Naming Information cannot be located because: The server is not operational. Contact your system administrator to verify that your domain is properly configured and is currently online."
When you attempt to start the MMC Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in, you receive an error message that reads "The configuration information describing this enterprise is not available. The server is not operational."
Log-on processing is very slow.
To resolve these errors, perform the following steps:
Open the Control Panel Network Connections applet, select the network adapter from the list, right-click the network adapter, and select Properties.
From the General tab, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click Properties.
Click the Advanced button.
Select the Options tab.
Select "TCP/IP filtering", then click Properties.
For "TCP Ports", select "Permit All."
Click OK to close all dialog boxes.
Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
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How can I hide core icons from the Windows XP desktop?
In earlier Windows versions, you could use a variety of registry
hacks or Microsoft's Tweak UI utility to hide core icons such as My
Computer and Network Places from the desktop. With XP, Microsoft
provides an interface in the core product that lets you accomplish the
same task. To hide core icons from the desktop, perform the following
steps:
Start the Control Panel Display applet (go to Start, Control Panel, Display).
Select the Desktop tab.
Click Customize Desktop.
Select the General tab.
Under the "Desktop icons" section, clear the check boxes next to any icons that you don't want to appear on the desktop.
Click OK.
To delete other icons from the desktop that you can't remove using
this method, you can use the Desktop component of Tweak UI, which
ships as part of Microsoft PowerToys for XP. However, remember that
Microsoft doesn't support any of the PowerToys applications.
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What is Virtual Network Computing (VNC)?
With Windows XP, Microsoft introduced a feature called Remote
Desktop that lets you take control of a remote XP machine from any
Windows desktop running the Remote Desktop Connection software. A
freeware alternative known as VNC has cross-platform capability and is
available at http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc . The Web site
provides information and clients for the following platforms:
The software uses very few resources and consists of a server process
that you install to run as a service in Windows. After the process is
running, you can use the VNC client from any platform to take control
of your machine.
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How can I configure Windows XP and later to automatically reopen folders when I restart the OS?
You can configure XP and later to automatically reopen any folders
that were open before you shut down the machine. To automatically
reopen these folders, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced registry subkey.
Double-click the PersistBrowsers value, or create this value of type DWORD if it doesn't exist.
Set the value data to 1 to automatically reopen folders or set the value data to 0 to not automatically reopen folders, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
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How can I change the location where Microsoft Outlook temporarily stores mail attachments for viewing?
When you view an attachment in Outlook, the software saves the
attachment to the local file system. To control the location that
Outlook uses to extract these attachments for viewing, perform the
following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security registry subkey for Microsoft Office XP (navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Security registry subkey for Office 2000 or to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Outlook\Security registry subkey for Office 97).
Double-click OutlookSecureTempFolder to view the location Outlook uses to store attachments for viewing.
Change the OutlookSecureTempFolder value data to the location you prefer, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Log off and log on for the change to take effect.
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How can I clear Windows XP's Search Companion cache of previous searches?
XP's Search Companion feature, which you can access by clicking the
Search button in Windows Explorer, lets you locate files, folders,
computers, and media. When you start to type the search criteria,
Search Companion will list all previous search criteria that match the
current search. To clear the search cache, perform the following
steps:
Stop all Windows Explorer sessions.
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru registry subkey.
Select and delete each subkey under ACMru, or simply delete the entire ACMru subkey.
Close the registry editor.
Log off and log on before performing new searches; otherwise, XP will recreate the search cache and store the recreated cache in memory.
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When I click Scan on my computer, why does the OS launch Microsoft Imaging instead of my preferred scanning package?
Windows might automatically launch Microsoft Imaging if you've
upgraded your computer from Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 9x to Windows
2000. Because the upgrade doesn't register your imaging software
correctly as a scanning target, the OS defaults to using the built-in
Microsoft Imaging software. To resolve this problem, reinstall your
preferred imaging software.
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Under what conditions is Fast User Switching available in Windows XP?
Fast User Switching is an XP feature that lets more than one user
simultaneously log on, although only one user account can be active at
any time. For example, say user John is currently logged on and Kevin
needs to print a document from his desktop. Without logging off John,
Kevin can log on, print his document, then make John's user account
active again without logging off to perform the switch.
Several factors determine whether Fast User Switching is available:
You must not be using a third-party Microsoft Graphical Identification and Authentication (msgina.dll) file.
The computer must not be a member of a domain (this factor applies to XP Professional Edition only).
You must enable the Fast User Switching feature (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, User Accounts, and select "Change the way users log on or off"). If the computer has more than 64MB of RAM, XP enables Fast User Switching by default.
The computer has sufficient free resources to create an additional Winlogon service thread (when multiple users are logged on, all the accounts--even those not currently in use--use resources).
If your computer video card uses shared video memory (i.e., the computer uses a portion of the system's RAM for video display memory), the shared memory will minimize the amount of free RAM and can cause XP to disable Fast User Switching.
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Why do I receive event ID 256 in the System log?
The full event ID is
Event Source: PlugPlayManager
Event ID: 256
Description: Timed out sending notification of device interface change to window of <program or service name and/or GUID. >
This event ID is a warning message that you can safely ignore. The
warning basically means that an application registered to receive Plug
and Play (PnP) device interface notifications but didn't respond to a
notification within 30 seconds.
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Why can't I manually stop the Fax service in Windows 2000?
Win2K's built-in FAX service doesn't run constantly. Instead, the
service starts when an application requires the service. As a result,
when you attempt to manually start and stop the service, you receive
the following error:
NET STOP FAX
The Microsoft Fax Service service is not started.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3521.
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Why does the Magnifier utility start automatically whenever I boot my Windows 2000 or later machine?
If you don't stop the Magnifier utility before you shut down your
computer, Windows assumes that you want to use the utility the next
time you start your computer and automatically runs it (the OS does
this by adding the utility value to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
registry subkey). To stop the Magnifier utility, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete
to open the Windows Task Manager, select the magnify.exe task from the
Task tab, then click End Task.
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Why do I receive the error message "Setup can not uninstall Windows XP because the necessary registration information is missing" when I try to uninstall XP?
You might encounter this error message when you attempt to use the
c:\windows\system32\osuninst.exe command and either of the following
conditions exists on your computer:
The Undo folder isn't present on the system.
The Win9xundodirpath and Win9xundointegrityinfo registry values are not present in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup registry subkey.
The Undo folder is typically at the root of the C drive and contains
hidden and system attributes. To view the folder from the recovery
console or command prompt, you need to type
dir /ahs
or set the folder permissions by typing
attrib -sh c:\undo
If the folder is missing, you can't uninstall the OS.
If the registry information is missing, try restoring a previous
registry backup. Again, if this information is missing, you won't be
able to uninstall the OS.
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What is Windows XP's Automatic Metric feature?
XP introduced the TCP/IP Automatic Metric feature. The OS uses
metrics to assign costs to IP routes that let the IP component select
the "cheapest" cost route when sending packets. Traditionally, you
could manually assign a cost to a route--XP lets you automatically
assign a route cost according to the link's connection speed, as shown
below:
Link Speed Metric
------------------------------------------------------------- -------
Greater than 200Mbps 10
Greater than 20Mbps, and less than or equal to 200Mbps 20
Greater than 4Mbps, and less than or equal to 20Mbps 30
Greater than 500Kbps, and less than or equal to 4Mbps 40
Less than or equal to 500Kbps 50
Assigning route costs is useful when you have multiple network
connections to one destination. In such a scenario, XP will use the
fastest link connection because it will have the lowest cost.
To see the end result, from the command prompt type
route print
The following sample shows metric values assigned for multiple IP
routes:
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.102 30
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.101 20
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.101 192.168.1.101 20
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.102 192.168.1.102 30
192.168.1.101 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
192.168.1.102 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 30
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.101 192.168.1.101 20
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.102 192.168.1.102 30
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.1.101 192.168.1.101 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.1.102 192.168.1.102 30
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.101 192.168.1.101 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.101 4 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.102 192.168.1.102 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
In this sample, you can see two interfaces: 192.168.1.101 and
192.168.1.102. The first interface has a metric value of 20, and the
second interface has a metric value of 30. The first interface,
192.168.1.101, is a 100Mbps LAN link and the second interface,
192.168.1.102, is an 11Mbps wireless network that connects to my 1Mbps
broadband link. Where both interfaces are available, XP would use the
lowest metric (i.e., 20), which corresponds to the 100Mbps link.
Top
How can I disable Windows XP's Automatic Metric feature?
To disable XP's Automatic Metric feature, perform the following
steps:
Open the Network Connections dialog box (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and select the Network Connections applet).
Right-click the desired link, then select Properties.
Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)", then click Properties.
Click the Advanced button.
Clear "Automatic metric", then enter a metric value between 1 and 9999.
Click OK to all dialog boxes.
Ensure that the change has taken effect by typing route print at the command prompt.
Top
How can I change the Windows Messenger initial warning?
When you start a new Windows Messenger session, the warning "Never
give out your password or credit card number in an instant message
conversation" appears in the top of the window by default. To modify
this message text, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MessengerService\Policies registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, String Value.
Enter the name IMWarning, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, enter a new string of text that you want to appear in place of the warning message, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
The change takes effect immediately.
Top
How can I hide the Set Program Access and Defaults tool from all users of a particular machine?
Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows 2000 SP3 include a new
GUI tool that lets you configure default program access for some OS
components, including the Web browser, email client, Instant Messaging
(IM) client, and media player. To hide this tool from all users,
perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Uninstall registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name NoChooseProgramsPage, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Restart Windows for the change to take effect.
You can configure the same setting for an individual user by changing
the path in Step 2 to navigate to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Uninstall
registry subkey.
Top
How can I check a system's availability?
Microsoft's Uptime tool, which you can download at
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/management/uptime/default.asp
,
displays basic system-uptime information. This tool can also list
all startup and shutdown events, and you can use the /s switch to show
the total percent time that your machine has been available. For
example, when I type
D:\temp>uptime /s
on my machine, the Uptime tool displays the following information:
Uptime Report for: \\EAGLE01
Current OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 1, Multiprocessor Free.
Time Zone: GMT Standard Time
System Events as of 07/11/2002 15:03:30:
Date: Time: Event: Comment:
---------- ------- ----------------- ---------------------------
27/09/2002 10:54:46 Shutdown
27/09/2002 10:56:42 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:1m:56s
27/09/2002 13:21:54 Shutdown Prior uptime:0d 2h:25m:12s
27/09/2002 13:23:36 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:1m:42s
30/09/2002 08:46:37 Service Pack Service Pack 1 installed
30/09/2002 08:47:50 Shutdown Prior uptime:2d 19h:24m:14s
30/09/2002 08:52:57 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:5m:7s
01/10/2002 08:45:22 Shutdown Prior uptime:0d 23h:52m:25s
01/10/2002 08:50:30 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:5m:8s
02/10/2002 10:46:07 Shutdown Prior uptime:1d 1h:55m:37s
02/10/2002 10:48:38 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:2m:31s
03/10/2002 08:52:48 Shutdown Prior uptime:0d 22h:4m:10s
03/10/2002 08:58:31 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:5m:43s
04/10/2002 15:56:58 Shutdown Prior uptime:1d 6h:58m:27s
04/10/2002 16:02:47 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:5m:49s
07/10/2002 13:23:54 Shutdown Prior uptime:2d 21h:21m:7s
07/10/2002 13:25:46 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:1m:52s
10/10/2002 14:55:03 Shutdown Prior uptime:3d 1h:29m:17s
10/10/2002 15:01:13 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:6m:10s
11/10/2002 09:19:20 Shutdown Prior uptime:0d 18h:18m:7s
11/10/2002 09:21:08 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:1m:48s
28/10/2002 09:24:07 Shutdown Prior uptime:17d 1h:2m:59s
28/10/2002 09:26:48 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:2m:41s
07/11/2002 08:22:25 Shutdown Prior uptime:9d 22h:55m:37s
07/11/2002 08:24:18 Boot Prior downtime:0d 0h:1m:53s
Current System Uptime: 0 day(s), 6 hour(s), 39 minute(s), 12 second(s)
Estimate based on last boot record in the event log.
See UPTIME /help for more detail.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Since 27/09/2002:
System Availability: 99.9287%
Total Uptime: 41d 4h:26m:24s
Total Downtime: 0d 0h:42m:20s
Total Reboots: 12
Mean Time Between Reboots: 3.43 days
Total Bluescreens: 0
Notice the final summary, which displays useful information such as
the number of total reboots and the mean time between reboots. You can
use the /d: switch to generate statistics from a certain date or use
the /p: switch to generate the statistics for a certain number of
days. The /help switch provides a description of all available
options.
Top
Why doesn't Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) install the Set Program Access and Defaults tool when I apply the service pack to my Win2K server?
The Set Program Access and Defaults tool is available only for
Win2K Professional--the tool isn't available for any of the Win2K
server versions.
Top
Why can't I use a dial-up connection to access Web pages after I upgrade my system to Windows XP?
You might experience a problem if you use Microsoft Internet
Explorer (IE) and a dial-up connection to view Web pages if all of the
following conditions are true:
You upgraded your system from Windows Me or Windows 98.
Before the upgrade, you configured on the computer a LAN connection that used a proxy server.
Before the upgrade, one or more of the dial-up connections didn't use a proxy server.
If you meet all conditions, after you upgrade to XP, the OS
installation software incorrectly copies the LAN proxy settings to the
dial-up connections. To resolve this error, you must manually remove
these settings from each dial-up connection by performing the
following steps:
Start IE.
From the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
Select the Connections tab.
Select a dial-up networking entry, then click Settings.
Clear the "Use a proxy server" check box.
Repeat Steps 2 through 5 for each dial-up networking entry.
Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.
Top
Why can't I use My Computer to format a removable disk larger than 2GB as FAT in Windows XP?
XP's My Computer interface lets you format a disk as FAT, FAT32, or
NTFS. The maximum FAT partition size that you can create in XP is 4GB;
however, a limitation in the My Computer interface prevents you from
creating a FAT partition larger than 2GB. To work around this
limitation, open a command prompt and type
format <drive >: /fs:fat /v:<label>
Top
What are the maximum volume sizes and maximum file sizes for the various Windows file systems?
Windows 2000 and later support FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems.
(The next version of Windows--code-named Longhorn--will support a new
file system known as WinFS). The table at
http://www.windows2000faq.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=27253
lists the maximum volume sizes and maximum file sizes for FAT, FAT32, and NTFS.
Top
What are the system and boot partitions?
Windows uses a system partition and a boot partition during
start-up. The system partition contains core files (i.e., Windows NT
Loader--NTLDR--boot.ini, ntdetect.com) that the OS requires for the
first stage of system start-up. The system partition is always
partition 0 (active), which is typically the C drive. The boot
partition contains the OS files, which are typically located in the
\winnt folder, the \windows folder, and the \system32 subfolder. On a
dynamic disk, the system and boot partitions are known as the system
and boot volumes.
The system and boot partitions or volumes can be the same partition,
but they don't have to be. There can be only one system partition.
However, you can have multiple boot partitions in a multiboot
environment--one boot partition for each OS you install on the system.
Top
When I add a static IP route, what value do I use for the interface?
The Windows IP subsystem uses IP configuration information (e.g.,
subnets, gateways) to automatically create a routing table that
dictates how the OS will send IP packets to other host systems. To
view the routing table on your system, open a command prompt and type
route print
You'll see a routing table similar to the following sample table:
=======================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 10 a4 8b 4b 8e ...... Intel(R) PRO/100+ MiniPCI - Packet
Scheduler Miniport
0x4 ...44 45 53 54 42 00 ...... Nortel IPSECSHM Adapter - Packet
Scheduler Miniport
0x20003 ...00 04 5a 0c 96 db ...... Instant Wireless - Network PC CARD
#2 - Packet Scheduler Miniport
========================================================================
========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.100 30
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.100 30
192.168.1.100 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 30
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.100 30
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.100 30
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.100 2 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.100 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.100 4 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
=======================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None
Occasionally, the automatically generated routing table will be
inaccurate and you might want to use the Route Add command to force a
particular route for some IP traffic. You can obtain information about
this command by typing
route /?
at the command prompt, but the basic syntax is
route [-p] add <destination> mask <subnet mask> <gateway> metric <lowest number wins> if <interface>
For example,
route -p add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 metric 1 if 0x20003
This sample command uses the -p option to add a persistent route
(i.e., 0.0.0.0) that will still be in place, even after a reboot, to
all destinations. This persistent route will use the 192.168.1.1
gateway with the highest priority (i.e., metric 1) on interface
0x20003 (i.e., wireless network). The last piece of this information
is the interface. Determining which value to use for the interface can
sometimes be confusing. Basically, you use the Interface List value
that appears in the first part of the routing table. In the sample
table above, the valid values are 0x1, 0x2, 0x4, and 0x20003. Although
this information is easy to obtain, the first part of the routing
table often scrolls off screen, leaving users unsure of what value to
use.
Top
How can I set the state of the Function Lock key on my new Microsoft keyboard?
The new Microsoft keyboards assign actions such as Save or Open to
the function keys. To enable the default functionality of a function
key without performing the action that Microsoft has assigned to the
key, you must press the Function Lock key before you press the
function key. Unfortunately, the new keyboards don't contain a
programmatic way to set the state of the Function Lock key. Therefore,
you can't configure the keyboard to enable the Function Lock key by
default; you must press Function Lock every time you start your
machine.
Top
How can I use Windows 2000's Disk Cleanup Wizard?
Win2K introduced the Disk Cleanup Wizard, which checks a specified
volume and estimates the amount of disk space you might be able to
recover and use. The wizard can identify space savings in several
areas, including
program files that you've downloaded and installed
temporary Internet files
temporary files
temporary offline files (Win2K only)
offline files (Win2K only)
Recycle Bin content
offline Web pages (Windows XP only)
setup log files (XP only)
compressed files that you haven't accessed recently
catalog files for the content indexer that the OS used during a previous indexing operation
To run the Disk Cleanup Wizard, perform the following steps:
Start Disk Cleanup (go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click Disk Cleanup).
Select the name from the displayed list of the disk volume that you want to check for available free space, then click OK.(The wizard displays the status as it checks the various elements--the wizard spends most of its time checking for files that it can compress.
After the analysis is complete, the wizard presents a summary with options you can select for freeing up space. Select the options you want to use and clear those options you don't want to use.
Under the More Options tab, you can take additional steps to free disk space, such as removing installed programs and Windows components as well as deleting all but the most recent system restore point. After you've made your selections, click OK.
Click Yes to the action confirmation.
Depending on the volume you select, the wizard will display different
elements. For example, a nonboot partition or volume will exhibit
options related to the Recycle Bin, compressed files that you haven't
accessed recently, and the content-indexer intermediary catalog files.
After you click Yes on the action confirmation, a dialog box will
appear that displays the progress of the disk cleanup. The wizard will
exit after it finishes the cleanup.
Top
How can I start Windows 2000's Disk Cleanup Wizard from the command line?
To start the GUI version of the Disk Cleanup Wizard, open a command
prompt and type
cleanmgr
You can also create a configuration set to run the wizard without any
user interaction at a future time. To create a configuration set, open
a command prompt and type
cleanmgr [/d <drive >:] /sageset: <numeric between 0 and 65535>
The /d option specifies the drive you want the wizard to clean up. If
you don't specify a drive, the wizard will act on all volumes. If the
volume you specify isn't the system partition or volume, the wizard
will check for space that it can recover by performing actions only on
the Recycle Bin and content-indexer intermediary catalog files. The
/sageset argument dictates which parameters appear in the dialog box
in which you select the cleanup options that you want to perform. The
different numeric values associated with the /sageset argument
correspond to different sets of parameters. Make your selections in
this dialog box, then click OK.
Windows will save your configuration in the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches
registry subkey. To run the Disk Cleanup Wizard without user
interaction, use the command
cleanmgr /sagerun: <numeric from 0 to 65535 defined by /sageset>
The only visible indicator that the wizard is running will be a dialog
box that shows the disk-cleanup progress and gives the user the
opportunity to cancel the task. However, the user can ignore this
dialog box and the wizard will perform the cleanup without requiring
user confirmation. You can define up to 65536 sets of parameters;
however, I don't think that many combinations actually exist.
Top
How can I configure the number of customized folders that Windows XP remembers?
XP lets you customize different appearance settings for different
folders (e.g., some folders might display details while others display
thumbnail images). XP remembers these settings for as many as 400
customized folders and stores this information under the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
registry subkey. However, you can increase or decrease the number of customized
folders that XP remembers by performing the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name BagMRU Size, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to the number of folders that you want XP to remember, then click OK.
Repeat Steps 3 through 5 under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam registry subkey as well.
Close the registry editor, then reboot the system for the change to take effect.
Top
How can I clear my customized folder settings in Windows XP?
To clear any customized folder settings, perform the following
steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell registry subkey.
Delete the Bags and BagMRU subkeys.
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam registry subkey.
Delete the Bags and BagMRU subkeys.
Close the registry editor, then reboot the machine for the changes to take effect.
Top
Why does text appear in the bottom left of my screen after I install Windows Media Player (WMP) 9 beta on Windows 2000?
In the beta-test version of Win2K and later Windows versions, text
appeared on screen to indicate that the user was running a beta
version. This text typically stated "Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional, For Testpurpose only, Build 2195." To stop the text from
appearing, you needed to set the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\PaintDesktopVersion
registry value to 0. However, after
you install WMP 9, this text can reappear. To prevent this text from
displaying on screen after you install WMP 9, perform the following
steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\CA\Certificates\ registry subkey.
Delete the FEE449EE0E3965A5246F000E87FDE2A065FD89D4 subkey.
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\ROOT\Certificates registry subkey.
Delete the 2BD63D28D7BCD0E251195AEB519243C13142EBC3 subkey.
Close the registry editor.
Top
How can I remove the Windows XP notification area i.e., (system tray) from the task bar?
To hide the notification area, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer registry subkey to hide the notification area for the current user, or navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer registry subkey to hide the notification area for all users.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name NoTrayItemsDisplay, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.
Close the registry editor and log off or restart the machine for the change to take effect.
Top
How can I stop Windows from caching a .dll file after I close the program that was accessing it?
Windows caches .dll files to speed disk I/O. However, even after
you close the calling program, the .dll file remains cached. To stop
Windows from caching .dll files after you've closed the calling
program, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name AlwaysUnloadDLL, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.
Close the registry editor, then reboot the machine for the change to take effect.
Top
How do I use the Windows XP alternative TCP/IP configuration?
Laptop users often experience problems when moving between networks
in which DHCP servers aren't consistently used (e.g., moving between
an office that uses DHCP to assign IP addresses and a home network
that uses static IP addresses). If you configure your computer to use
DHCP and no DHCP server is available, the machine will typically use
an IP address in the range 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254 with a
subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The actual IP address will depend on what
IP addresses other machines on the local subnet have selected (XP will
perform a limited test to ensure the Windows TCP/IP component doesn't
use an address already in use). Because the local TCP/IP stack assigns
no WINS, DHCP, or gateway information, all IP communication is limited
to machines in the local subnet.
XP lets you create an alternative IP configuration that you can use
when your system can't find a DHCP server. This alternative
configuration lets you specify an IP address, subnet, gateway, and the
other typical network settings. To create this alternative IP
configuration, perform the following steps:
Open the Control Panel Network Connections applet (go to Start, Programs, Accessories, Communications and click Network Connections).
Right-click the network adapter for which you want to specify an alternate IP configuration, then click Properties.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click Properties.
Under the General tab, ensure that you've configured the connection to use DHCP.
Select the Alternate Configuration tab, select "User configured", then fill in the static IP address details you want the connection to use when the system can't find a DHCP server.
Click OK.
Click OK again to close all remaining windows.
XP stores the custom connection configuration settings under the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces
registry subkey.
Top
How can I stop Windows 2000 from using an encrypted format when I copy encrypted files to a server?
By default, when you copy locally encrypted files to a server,
Win2K retains the encryption format. However, you might not want
server-based files to be encrypted. For example, a laptop user might
want to encrypt files locally for security reasons but want the
server-based files to be unencrypted so that other users can view the
files.
To stop Win2K from copying files to a server in an encrypted format,
perform the following steps on the destination server:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem registry subkey.
Select the NtfsEncryptionService value, then select Edit, Delete from the menu bar.
Close the registry editor.
Reboot the server for the change to take effect.
After you make this change, you'll no longer be able to encrypt files
on the server and Win2K will decrypt any encrypted files that users
copy to the server.
Top
How can I upgrade an IEEE 1394 (FireWire)-connected disk to a dynamic disk under Windows XP?
By default, XP doesn't let you convert a FireWire-connected disk to
a dynamic disk. However, you can make a simple registry change to
accomplish such an upgrade. To convert a FireWire-connected disk to a
dynamic disk, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dmadmin\Parameters registry subkey.
Double-click EnableDynamicConversionFor1394, set this value to 1, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Reboot the machine for the change to take effect.
Top
How can I view and clear my DNS cache content?
When a Windows XP or Windows 2000 machine queries a DNS server, the
response is either positive (a match was found) or negative (no match
was found). The OS stores these results in a local DNS cache so that
local clients don't repeatedly query the DNS server for the same
address. These DNS cache entries are known as DNS Resource Records
(RR), and the DNS resolver always checks the local cache before it
queries the DNS server.
To view the current DNS resolver cache content and the entries
preloaded from the Hosts fie, go to the command prompt and type
C:\> ipconfig /displaydns
Each entry shows the remaining Time to Live (TTL) in seconds. To clear
the cache, go to the command prompt and type
C:\> ipconfig /flushdns
Flushing the DNS cache clears all entries and reloads the entries from
the Hosts file.
Top
How can I configure the amount of time the DNS cache stores positive and negative responses?
By default, Windows stores positive responses in the DNS cache for
86,400 seconds (i.e., 24 hours) and stores negative responses for 300
seconds (i.e., 5 minutes). To modify these values, perform the
following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
avigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit to change the positive cache period or the name NegativeCacheTime to change the negative cache period, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to the desired number of seconds (e.g., if you entered the name NegativeCacheTime, you could set the value to 0 to stop Windows from caching any negative responses), then click OK.
Repeat Step 5 for the other value, if required.
Close the registry editor.
Reboot the computer for the changes to take effect.
Top
What's DNS round robin and subnet prioritization?
The most common type of DNS record is a Resource Record (RR) type
A, which is a record that provides the IP address for a specified host
name. In certain instances, a host name might resolve to multiple IP
addresses, each with its own A record. For example, if three servers
host the http://www.savilltech.com Web site, the DNS server might
contain the following three address records:
www.savilltech.com.IN A200.200.10.1
www.savilltech.com.IN A200.200.11.1
www.savilltech.com.IN A200.200.12.1
When a client queries a DNS server for this host, the server returns
all three address records. To avoid sending every client to the first
address record (and, hence, the first host) every time, the DNS server
uses a round-robin algorithm, which Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 1794 describes. With each request,
the algorithm rotates the order in which the DNS server returns the
address records to more evenly distribute the load across all hosts.
For example, the first time a client queries the DNS server, the
server might return
200.200.10.1 200.200.11.1 200.200.12.1
to the client. The second time, the DNS server would return
200.200.11.1 200.200.12.1 200.200.10.1
The third time, the DNS server would return
200.200.12.1 200.200.10.1 200.200.11.1
and so on.
If the client making the request connects directly to a subnet that
contains one of the returned host addresses, having the client
communicate directly with the host that corresponds to that address
would reduce response time and network traffic. Subnet prioritization
is a feature that recognizes when a host is on the same subnet as the
client and returns the local host's address first. (Microsoft
introduced subnet prioritization in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack
4--SP4--and later.) When a client uses subnet prioritization, the
client resolver receives address record results and sorts them
according to the order of direct subnet connectivity.
So, for example, if a client has address 200.200.11.5 (which is part
of subnet 200.200.11) and the DNS server would typically return
address record results of
200.200.10.1 200.200.11.1 200.200.12.1
the local DNS resolver will use subnet prioritization to re-sort the
results according to the local subnet priority and return results of
200.200.11.1 200.200.10.1 200.200.12.1
to the client. Consequently, the local DNS resolver's subnet
prioritization takes priority over the DNS server round robin when a
resolved address is on the local subnet. Although this approach
reduces network traffic, it doesn't balance the load across hosts.
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How can I enable or disable subnet prioritization on a client machine?
In the FAQ titled "What's DNS round robin and subnet
prioritization?," I explained how subnet prioritization cuts down on
network traffic but defeats the load-balancing effect of the DNS
server round robin. If balancing the load across the hosts is more
important than traffic management, you might want to disable subnet
prioritization. To do so, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe) on each client machine.
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name PrioritizeRecordData, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 0, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Reboot the machine for the change to take effect.
To reenable subnet prioritization, either delete the
PrioritizeRecordData registry value or set this value to 1.
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How can I enable or disable subnet prioritization on the DNS server?
The DNS server can check the IP address of a client that's
requesting name resolution and sort the results the DNS server returns
to the client according to the proximity of the host address to the
querying IP address. To enable or disable this functionality, perform
the following steps on the DNS server:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters\ registry subkey.
Double-click LocalNetPriority, or create this value of type DWORD if it doesn't exist.
Set the value to 1 to enable subnet prioritization or 0 to disable subnet prioritization, then click OK.
Restart the server for the change to take effect.
Under Windows 2000 and later, you can also use the DNS Management
Console to set this functionality. To use this tool to change the
setting, go to Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, then click DNS
Management Console; right-click the server and select Properties;
select the Advanced tab; then clear or select the "Enable Netmask
Ordering" check box. You can also control the round-robin
functionality by opening the DNS Management Console Advanced tab and
clearing or selecting "Enable round robin". The following list
describes the expected functionality, depending on the values you set:
Subnet prioritization disabled, round robin disabled--The DNS server returns records in the order they were added to the database.
Subnet prioritization enabled, round robin disabled--The DNS server returns records in the order of the local subnet priority.
Subnet prioritization disabled, round robin enabled--The DNS server returns records in rotation according to the order they were added to the database.
Subnet prioritization enabled, round robin enabled--The DNS server returns records in rotation according to the local net priority.
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How can I ensure that the DNS resolver uses only results from queried DNS servers?
By default, if a client requests name resolution, the client will
accept any response with the correct query ID, regardless of where the
response is from. This behavior could lead to security problems if a
rogue process that deliberately returns incorrect information exists
on a system. To force the DNS resolver to match the source IP address
of the response with the DNS servers that the DNS resolver queried,
perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe) on each client machine.
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters registry subkey.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name QueryIpMatching, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Reboot the machine for the change to take effect.
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How can I stop Windows XP from displaying the time in the notification area?
To stop XP from displaying the time on the desktop in the
notification area, perform the following steps:
Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer registry subkey to hide the time for the current user or to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer registry subkey to hide the time for all users.
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name HideClock, then press Enter.
Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Log off or restart the machine for the change to take effect.
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