Microsoft KB Archive/90837

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INFO: Default Attributes for Console Windows

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Q90837

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API), used with:
 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows NT, versions 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000

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SUMMARY
Console attributes (screen fonts, screen colors, insert/overstrike, etc.) are stored by console title within each user's profile. When a profile for a new window is not found, the .DEFAULT configuration is used.

MORE INFORMATION
See also the NT Resource Kit Registry Help file for complete documentation on these and other registry settings.

You can change the start font, screen colors, pop up colors, and insert/overstrike defaults using REGEDT32. Under the key HKEY_USERS, there is a .DEFAULT along with an entry for each user who has an account on that machine. Select DEFAULT\Console\Configuration. Use Edit.AddValue to add FontSize as a REG_DWORD to change the default font, Add ScreenColors and PopupColors as REG_DWORDs to change those defaults. To reset the console to be in insert mode rather than overstrike mode, add InsertMode as REG_SZ and set it to ON.

To get the right settings for the font size and colors you should first set your MS-DOS Prompt window font size and colors. Look up Console\MS-DOS Prompt\Configuration under your account and write down the values for the keys you need to add. Then go back to DEFAULT\Console\Configuration and add those values.

The DEFAULT configuration is read when the user chooses the Command prompt. However, if the user chooses to run a command shell via the File Manager (selecting CMD.EXE and choosing Run from the File menu), the DEFAULT configuration will not be read out of the registry.

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WARNING:

RegEdit is a very powerful utility that facilitates directly changing the Registry Database. Using RegEdit incorrectly can cause serious problems, including hard disk corruption. It may be necessary to reinstall the software to correct some problems. Microsoft does not support changes made with RegEdit. Use this tool at your own risk.

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Additional query words: 3.10 3.50

Keywords : kbConsole kbKernBase kbOSWinNT310 kbOSWinNT350 kbOSWinNT351 kbOSWinNT400 kbOSWin2000 kbDSupport kbGrpDSKernBase

Issue type : kbinfo

Technology : kbAudDeveloper kbWin32sSearch kbWin32API