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
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.