Command Prompt Settings Unavailable After Membership Change (111662)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.1
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
- Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1
This article was previously published under Q111662 SYMPTOMS
If you create a user account and assign it to be a member of the
Administrators group, custom settings for Command Prompt under this account
will not be accessible if the user account is later removed from the
Administrators group.
CAUSE
If you start Command Prompt (CMD) from Task Manager, a command prompt
window with the title CMD.EXE is created. Any custom settings that you make
to this window (such as size, position, or colors) are saved to a key in
the Registry with the same name as the command prompt window's title. This
key can be found under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console. The permissions on this
key grant Full Control to Administrators and System only if you are a
member of the Administrators group. Your user name is not given direct
permissions to the key. Consequently, if you are removed from the
Administrators group, you no longer have the necessary rights to access or
change the custom settings key for Command Prompt.
RESOLUTION
In order to get permission to access or change the settings for a command
prompt again, follow this procedure:
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide
problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them.
Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of
Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.
- Make the user name in question a member of the Administrators group
again. Then log on as that user.
- Start Registry Editor.
- Go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console key. All the keys that have been
created to hold custom settings for Command Prompt are under this key.
- Highlight the key the user needs access to and choose Permissions from
the Security menu. Remember the custom settings are stored in the key
name that is the same as the Command Prompt window title.
- Add the user name to the permission list with Full Control access.
- Close Registry Editor.
When the user is removed from the Administrators group, they will still
have access to this Command Prompt configuration key.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT and Windows NT
Advanced Server version 3.1. We are researching this problem and will post
new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes
available.
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 3/12/2004 |
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Keywords: | kbusage KB111662 |
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