INFO: Making the Alerter Service Automatic during Unattended Setup (174571)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This article was previously published under Q174571
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

This article describes how to enable the Alerter service and set it to start automatically during an unattended Setup of Windows NT 4.0.

MORE INFORMATION

The Alerter Service in Windows NT notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts that occur on a computer. Normally, this service is either to be turned on by the administrator remotely, or on each workstation. The following steps describe how to enable the Alerter service and set it to start automatically during an unattended Setup.

To turn on the Alerter Service automatically during setup, follow these steps:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

  1. On a computer that already has Windows NT 4.0 installed, click Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Services.
  2. Start Alerter service, and change its Startup option to automatic.
  3. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe), and go to the following subkey:

    HKEY_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Alert
  4. From the Registry menu, click Export Registry File.
  5. Save the file with a recognizable file name (Alerter.reg reccomended, you may save with any name but the steps below will need to be adjusted to match your filename).
  6. Open your Cmdlines.txt file under the $OEM$ directory on the distribution server.
  7. Edit the [commands] section and add the following line: 
          .\Regedit.exe /s .\Alerter.reg
  8. Copy the files Alerter.reg and Regedit.exe to the $OEM$ directory on the disbribution server.
  9. Edit the Unattend.txt file [unattended], and add the following: 
          OemPreinstall = yes
It is recommended that you test your Alerter.reg file by double clicking on the file in Windows NT before attempting the Unattended setup.

Then restart the computer (not just logon as a different user) and check Control Panel, Services to confirm the Alerter Service is turned on.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/9/2001
Keywords:kbinfo kbSBK KB174571
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