Microsoft KB Archive/102977

= REG: User Preferences Entries, PART 2 =

Article ID: 102977

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
 * Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1

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This article was previously published under Q102977



SUMMARY
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

