If you installed Windows 2000 after Windows 9x, you may have opted for Dual-Boot. By default, Windows 2000 makes itself the default option when booting, and displays the menu for 30 seconds.
To change these settings, right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Select the Advanced tab, then click the Startup & Recovery button. From there, you can select which menu item is the default, and how long before that default is automatically selected.
The normal way to start Task Manager is to press CNTL-ALT-DEL, then click on the Task Manager button. However, in some cases it is necessary to start it via a means that doesn't require pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL. One example - some remote-access software doesn't work well with that combination of keystrokes.
Alternative ways to start Task Manager include: Click Start/Run, and then type c:\winnt\system32\taskmgr.exe and press ENTER Press CNTL-SHIFT-ESC to bring it up directly (does not work from most remote access programs) Right-Click the Taskbar, and select "Task Manager" from the menu.
If you've installed a beta or an evaluation copy of Windows 2000, you probably know that it has an expiration. After a certain number of days from the installation, it will stop running.
To determine when it will expire, click Start then Run, and enter "winver". A panel displaying the version of Windows 2000 will be displayed, and if it is an evaluation copy, the panel will state that along with the expiration date.
Windows 2000 runs just great on FAT and FAT32 volumes, but prefers NTFS. If you have a Windows 2000 system with FAT drives, and have decided you'd rather be on NTFS, here's the easy way to do it.
Open a command window (or click Start/Run) and execute the following command:
convert c: /fs:ntfs
Be sure to replace 'c:' with the actual drive letter of the drive/partition you wish to convert. Windows 2000 will then convert the drive, or may require a reboot and will do the conversion during the reboot.
Windows 2000 automatically creates Administrative shares for each drive partition when the operating system is installed. These shares are named <drive letter>$ - for example, the c: drive will automatically have one named C$. The "$" denotes a hidden share - it won't appear in the Network Neighborhood lists. These shares by default are open to system and domain administrators.
If you wish to disable these automatic shares, a registry entry must be changed. To change it, do the following:
Open Regedit and drill down to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\
Find the value named AutoShareServer and change the DWORD value to 0 (zero).
When logging on to a Windows 2000 system, the Login dialog box appears. By default, the user ID of the last person to log onto the server will be shown. In some cases, this can be a security problem (after all, someone viewing this now knows of at least one valid user ID, though not the password).
It is possible in Windows 2000 to disable this, so that no user ID is shown in that dialog box. To do so, do the following:
Open Regedit and drill down to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\WinLogon\
Add a new value named "DontDisplayLastUserName" as a REG_SZ item, with a value of 1.
It's very easy to administer Windows 2000 Servers from a Windows 2000 Professional workstation. Microsoft made it easy to install all the MMC snap-ins and other administrative tools.
To do so, simply insert the Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server CD-ROM into your workstation, and run the file adminpak.msi found in the \i386 folder. Once completed, if you look under Start/Programs/Administrative Tools, you'll see many more options than before.
If you are installing Windows 2000 and can't boot from the CD-ROM, then you'll need the boot diskettes. A set ships in the retail boxed copy of Windows 2000, but you can also create them from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM.
To do so, insert the CD-ROM into any computer running Windows 95, 98, NT, or Windows 2000. Click Start/Run (or open a Command Prompt) and type:
d:\bootdisk\makeboot.bat a:
You'll be prompted for a blank diskette and the process will begin. You'll need a total of four blank diskettes to make all of the boot diskettes for Windows 2000.
|
Computer Management Component Services Disk Managment Device Manager Disk Defrag Event Viewer Local Users and Groups Local Security Settings Group Policies Performance Monitor Resultant Set of Policies Services Shared Folders |
compmgmt.msc comexp.msc diskmgmt.msc devmgmt.msc dfrg.msc eventvwr.msc lusrmgr.msc secpol.msc gpedit.msc perfmon.msc rsop.msc services.msc fsmgmt.msc |
If you get this error when you try and renew your IP address,
Likely the winsock2 registry entries are corrupted.
If the System32 folder shows on the desktop, there may be an invalid entry in the Registry
If you are experiencing slow printing for DOS programs with Windows2000
You can show hidden devices in the Device Manager. One way is by making a simple registry change. The other is through a batch file.
Registry Change:
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet001 \ Control \ Session Manager \ Environment
Create a string DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Give it a value of 1
Batch File
@Echo Off
Prompt $p$g
set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
start devmgmt.msc
exit
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Create the Dword value DisableTaskMgr
Give it a value of 0 to enable it
Give it a vaule of 1 to disable it
After the installation of Service Pack 2, (SP2), for Windows 2000 the operating system ceased to execute 16-bit programs. This was due to a program compatibility feature within VDM, (Windows NT Virtual Dos Machine), that prevented the operation of 16-bit applications, and generated the following error code
<Program> caused a general Protection Fault in module KRNL386.EXE at 0001:6382 Choose close. <Program> will close
The resolution is ...
Windows2000 comes with quite a few console utilities you can easily run from the command line:
Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Disk Managment - diskmgmt.msc
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Disk Defrag - dfrg.msc
Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
Group Policies - gpedit.msc
Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Resultant Set of Policies - rsop.msc
Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
Services - services.msc
Component Services - comexp.msc
If you want to quickly access the device manager, create a shortcut on the desktop that point to:
%systemroot%\system32\devmgmt.msc
Note: See the previous tip for other Command Console utilities you can add as well.
To have numlock turned on for each user:
You can now use the MSCONFIG.EXE that comes with WindowsXP.
To increase the amount of memory Windows will save for locked I/O operations:
4096 - 32megs of memory or less
8192 - 32+ megs of memory
16384 - 64+ megs of memory
32768 - 128+ megs of memory
65536 - 256+ megs of memory
If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance by having the core system kept in memory.
If you want to disable Dr. Watson program errors from generating log files:
Note: If you do want to use Dr. Watson, you can change the default settings by running drwtsn32
To enable CD's automatically running when you insert them:
If you want to start a program (like DOSKEY) or set an environment variable each time you open a command prompt:
To rename the My Computer icon to the name of the user that is logged on:
To do a quick shutdown of Windows2000:
Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete
Hold the Control key while you click on the Shutdown button
A warning box will come up stating:
"If you continue, your machine will reboot and any unsaved data will be lost. Use only as a last resort."
If you experience a 30 second or so delay when browsing to Windows98 or WindowsME computers,
delete the following registry key on the Windows2000 computer.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / RemoteComputer / NameSpace {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
If you want quick access to all the commands you can run with Windows2000,
run the following command line:
hh.exe mk:@MSITStore:C:\WINNT\Help\windows.chm::/ntcmds.htm
This is one I like to keep handy as a quick reference.
You can get the current date and time in a batch file by entering:
echo %date% (this gives the same value as date /t)
or
echo %time% (this gives the same value as time /t)
Usually you change the file associates from the Explorer.
An easy way to do it from the cmd prompt is by using the assoc and
ftype commands
Assoc shows you the extension file type and it's name.
For example assoc .txt displays .txt=textfile
Ftype lets you change the file assocation
For example ftype txtfile displays txtfile=%SystemRoot%\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE %1
To change the program you want to use for a txtfile, simply type:
ftype txtfile=the location of the other program
To view or change your network bindings:
From here you can change the bindings for your adapters.
By default, whenever you start Regedit, it starts in the previous location.
To turn off this feature:
To create a logon banner:
Running the program SHRPUBW.EXE will bring up a simple dialog box to let you:
If you have several dial-up connections but don't want to have a shortcut to each one on your desktop,simply copy a shortcut from the \winnt\system32\rasphone.exe file.
This will allow you to select which dial-up connection you want to use from a pull down menu.
If you want to change the letters assigned to your fixed or removable drives:
For a Fixed Disk:
For a Removable Disk:
Simply drag the My Computer icon from the desktop to the Start Button.
Now you have a cascading menu for My Computer available when you press Ctrl-Esc.
This gives you easy access to your disks, CD ROMS, mobile devices and network connections
To re-enable automatic creation of the administrative shares, change the value of the following registry key to one (1), or delete the value:
For Server - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters \AutoShareServer
For Workstation - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters \AutoShareWks
A setting of zero (0) prevents the administrative shares, such as C$, D$, Admin$, and so on, from being created automatically.
You can customize some of the items you can see in the Task Manager
To make sure your IDE Controller is set to use DMA
With Windows2000 Hibernation, when you select it from the Shutdown menu, all your applications as well as their location on your desktop come up the next time you start up your computer.
To enable it:
By default, Windows2000 will allow you to install drivers that have not been
signed and approved my Microsoft.
If you want to restrict this so only signed drivers can be installed:
Silently Succeed
Warn but allow installation
Do not allow installation
If you want to change the green logon color:
There is a command-line utility called System File Checker (SFC.EXe), which allows an administrator to scan all protected files to verify their versions.
The following shows the command-line syntax:
/SCANNOW Scans all protected system files immediately.
/SCANONCE Scans all protected system files once at the next boot.
/SCANBOOT Scans all protected system files at every boot.
/CANCEL Cancels all pending scans of protected system files.
/QUIET Replaces all incorrect file versions without prompting the user.
/ENABLE Enables Windows File Protection for normal operation
/PURGECACHE Purges the file cache and scans all protected system files
immediately.
/CACHESIZE=x Sets the file cache size
You can greatly speed up searching for files, particularly files with text in them, if you index your files.
To turn this on:
Searches should now go extremely fast. The index file is relatively small.
For example I have about 3 gigs of used hard drive space and this created a 20
meg index file.
From the command prompt, you can list files or directories without needing to type in the entire name.
Normally the My Documents fold is in the Documents and Settings / User_Name directory.
You can change that location by:
You can easily display more information than the file name, size, type and modified date in Explorer.
With NT, you have always been able to connect to a network share as another user.
This allowed you to not have to log off and then back on again with a different user.
The same capability is now available with Windows2000 for running applications.
If you need to run an app as an administrator, you can do it without logging off and back on as the admin.
If you want to open a command prompt to a directory that is selected in the Explorer:
To start the Task Manager, simply press the Ctrl-Shift-Esc keys
If you want to change directories but don't want to type in the entire path
name,
you can use the "*" at the end of a partial display.
For example to change to Program Files, you can simply enter cd pro* and it will fill in the rest.
To clean up your drive from Temporary Internet Files, Temp files, the Recycle Bin etc.
Simply drag the My Computer icon from the desktop to the Start Button. Now you have a cascading menu for My Computer available when you press Ctrl-Esc. This gives you easy access to your disks, CD ROMS, mobile devices and network connections.
Go to Start \ Settings \ Control Panel \ System \ Performance \ File System \ Troubleshooting.
Check the box Disable synchronous buffer commits.
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