REG: User Preferences Entries, PART 2

 Last reviewed: May 8, 1997
Article ID: Q102977
The information in this article applies to:
  • Windows NT operating system version 3.1
  • Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

The article contains REGISTRY entries for User Preferences, Part 2. These subgroups are included:
  • Cursor Entry Values for Users
  • Desktop Entry Values for Users
  • Environment Variable Entries for Users
  • File Manager Entries for Users
  • File Manager Software Settings
  • Extensions Entries for Users

This is the second of five articles on the User Preferences entries; for the other entries, see "User Preferences Entries, Part 1," and "User Preferences Entries, Part 3," "User Preferences Entries, Part 4" and "User Preferences Entries, Part 5."

REGISTRY ENTRIES FOR USER PREFERENCES

The information presented here is primarily for troubleshooting, showing the default entry values and explaining the meaning of important entries. There are no hidden values that you can set for user preferences. All of these values can be set using the icons in Control Panel or the tools in the Administrative Tools group, or other programs provided with Windows NT.

All Registry paths shown here are for HKEY_CURRENT_USER, to show how you can view entries for the currently logged on user. However, most of these entries also appear in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT, where changing entries will change values for the default user profile.

CURSORS ENTRY VALUES FOR USERS

The Cursor subkey contains entries that specify the .ANI or .CUR files containing custom cursors defined using the Cursor icon in Control Panel. There are no entries in this key unless the user changes cursor styles in Control Panel. All data types are REG_SZ. The following lists the names for possible default entries: 

   AppStarting
   Arrow
   CrossHair
   IBEam
   No
   SizeAll
   SizeNESW
   SizeNS
   SizeNWSE
   SizeWE
   Wait

DESKTOP ENTRY VALUES FOR USERS

The Desktop key contains entries that control the appearance of the screen background and the position of windows and icons on the screen. The following shows the Registry path: 

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
To change most of these entries, use the Desktop icon in Control Panel. The Desktop subkey can contain the following entries: 

BorderWidth   REG_SZ   number
Default: 3

Sets the width of the borders around all the windows that have sizeable borders. The possible range is 1 (narrowest) to 49 (widest). 

CoolSwitch   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1

Turns fast task switching on or off. To change this entry, choose the Desktop icon from Control Panel, and check or clear the Fast ALT+TAB Switching option in the Task List dialog box. 

CursorBlinkRate   REG_SZ   milliseconds
Default: 530

Indicates how much time elapses between each blink of the selection cursor. 

GridGranularity   REG_SZ   number
Default: 0

Specifies the size of the grid used to position windows on the screen. The possible range is 0 through 49, in units of 8 pixels. 

IconSpacing   REG_SZ   pixels
Default: 75

Specifies the number of pixels that appear horizontally between icons. A larger number increases the space between icons. 

IconTitleFaceName   REG_SZ   fontname
Default: Helv

Specifies the font used to display icon titles. Change this value if the icon title is difficult to read. 

IconTitleSize   REG_SZ   number
Default: 9

Specifies the size of the font used to display icon titles. Change this value if the icon title is difficult to read. 

IconTitleStyle   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 0 

IconTitleWrap   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1

Specifies whether to wrap icon titles. A value of 1 allows icon title wrapping and increases icon vertical spacing by three lines; 0 turns off icon title wrapping. 

Pattern   REG_SZ   b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 b8
Default: (None) (This string appears when no pattern is specified.)

Specifies a pattern for the screen background. The 8 numeric values define a bitmap 8 pixels wide and 8 pixels high. Each decimal value represents a byte, and each byte represents a row of 8 pixels, where 0 sets the corresponding pixel to the background color, and 1 sets the corresponding pixel to the foreground color (specified by the Background and WindowText values in the Colors subkey, respectively).

For example, if you set the b1 value to the decimal value 175, the top row of pixels in the bitmap appears as the binary equivalent (10101111). 

ScreenSaveActive   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 0

Specifies whether a screen saver should be displayed if the system is not actively being used. Set this value to 1 to use a screen saver; 0 turns off the screen saver. 

ScreenSaverIsSecure   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 0

Specifies whether a password is assigned to the screen saver. 

ScreenSaveTimeOut   REG_SZ   seconds
Default: 900

Specifies the amount of time that the system must be idle before the screen saver appears. 

SCRNSAVE.EXE   REG_SZ   Filename
Default: (None)

Specifies the screensaver executable filename. 

TileWallpaper   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 0

Specifies that the desktop wallpaper is tiled across the screen if this value is 1, or centered if this value is 0. 

Wallpaper   REG_SZ   bitmap-filename
Default: "(None)" (This string appears when no pattern is specified.)

Supplies the filename for the bitmap on the screen background. Include the path if the file is not in the SystemRoot or SystemRoot\SYSTEM32 directory.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE ENTRIES FOR USERS

The Environment subkey contains the user environment variables, as defined by choosing the System icon in Control Panel. Changes to these variables take effect the next time a non-Windows NT-based application is run or the command prompt is used. These value entries are found under the following path: 

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment
The default is the environment variables defined in the user’s profile at startup.

FILE MANAGER ENTRIES FOR USERS

This section describes settings for user preferences in File Manager.

File Manager Software Settings

The File Manager subkey under this Registry path contains the user preferences for the appearance of items in File Manager: 

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\File Manager\Settings
The following entries can appear. Most items have a default setting and do not appear unless the user makes changes in File Manager. 

AddOns   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: (none) 

ConfirmDelete   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1 (enabled)

Specifies whether the user is to be prompted to confirm file deletion requests. 

ConfirmFormat   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1 (enabled)

Specifies whether the user is to be prompted to confirm formatting requests. 

ConfirmMouse   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1 (enabled)

Specifies whether the user is to be prompted to confirm mouse drag- and- drop requests. 

ConfirmReplace   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1 (enabled)

Specifies whether the user is to be prompted to confirm file replacement requests. 

ConfirmSubDel   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1 (enabled)

Specifies whether the user is to be prompted to confirm subdirectory deletion requests. 

ConfirmSystemHiddenReadOnly   REG_SZ   Boolean
Default: 1 (enabled)

Specifies whether the user is to be prompted to confirm for system, hidden, or read-only file changes. 

dir1   REG_SZ   Comma-separated list
Default: 0,0,522,249,-1,-1,1,0,202,2033,261,C:\WINNT\*.*

The current directory settings. 

Face   REG_SZ   Typeface

Specifies the name of the typeface used for desktop items. Default: MS Sans Serif. 

FaceWeight   REG_SZ   Number

Specifies 700 for bold or bold italic, 400 for regular or italic. LowerCase 

REG_DWORD    0, 1, 4, 8 Specifies values for lowercase variables checked in
the Fonts dialog box, as follows: 

Value      Meaning


0          No options checked
0x1        Lowercase for FAT drives
0x4        Italic
0x8        Lowercase for all drives

NumButtons   REG_SZ   Number
Default: 15000000 

Size   REG_SZ   Number
Default: 8

The point size for the typeface. 

ToolbarWindow   REG_SZ
Default: CD000000CE000000FFFFFFFFFE000000FF000000FFFFFFFF9101000092010000FFFFFFFF940 10000950100009601000097010000FFFFFFFF52040000FFFFFFFF6B0000006A0000006C0000 00FFFFFFFF5D020000

Contains user-defined settings for the toolbar, as defined in the Options menu in File Manager. 

Window   REG_SZ   Numbers
Default: 0,0,640,480, , ,2

Specifies the size and position of the window and whether it is maximized when opened. Use the mouse to move and size the window.

Extensions Entries for Users

The Extensions subkey identifies personal preferences for document files with corresponding command lines, so that opening a document file in File Manager automatically starts the application. The extensions are found in the following Registry path: 

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft
   \Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Extensions
The following default entries are defined. All have a REG_SZ data type. bmp=pbrush.exe ^.bmp crd=cardfile.exe ^.crd ini=notepad.exe ^.ini pcx=pbrush.exe ^.pcx rec=recorder.exe ^.rec trm=terminal.exe ^.trm 
txt=notepad.exe ^.txt wri=write.exe ^.wri   The extension information for
all users can be viewed and modified in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. This is where you will find the filetypes and extension information for File Manager.

Reference: "The Windows NT Resource Kit for Operating System Version 3.1".

Additional query words: prodnt
Keywords : kbother ntregistry
Version : 3.1
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: May 8, 1997
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