Windows XP and 2000 Tips & Tricks UPDATE, July 1, 2002

Windows XP and 2000 Tips & Tricks UPDATE—brought to you by the Windows & .NET Magazine Network and the Windows 2000 FAQ site
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July 1, 2002—In this issue:

1. COMMENTARY

The Case for a Modular Windows

2. FAQS

Q. How can I close Windows Messenger without the program reminding me that it's still running?
Q. How can I use Windows XP's standard Help and Support to get information about my computer?
Q. How can I copy disk quotas from one volume to another?
Q. Why can't I administer my Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) and Windows 2000 domain from a Windows 9x client?

3. ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Enterprise-Management Solutions You've Been Searching For!
July Is Hot! Our Free Webinars Are Cool!

4. CONTACT US

See this section for a list of ways to contact us.

1. COMMENTARY
(contributed by John Savill, FAQ Editor, [email protected])

This week, I tell you how to use the registry to remove an annoying Windows Messenger reminder and how to view information about your PC in Windows XP. I also explain how to copy disk quotas from one volume to another and why you can't administer a Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) and Windows 2000 domain from a Windows 9x client.

Hooray! I finally have a release date for my new book, "The Windows XP/2000 Answer Book: A Complete Resource from the Desktop to the Enterprise" (Addison-Wesley), which is the follow-on book to "The Windows NT and Windows 2000 Answer Book: A Complete Resource from the Desktop to the Enterprise" (Addison-Wesley, 1999). The release date for the new book is September 27, 2002. Preorder a copy from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321113578/windowsntfaq now and for a limited time save $15 off the list price.

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2. FAQS

Q. How can I close Windows Messenger without the program reminding me that it's still running?

A. The Windows Messenger component typically runs as a background process, but it runs as a foreground process while you're communicating with a contact. After you close the foreground application, Windows Messenger continues to run as a background process (so people can initiate contact with you), an icon remains in the notification area, and an information balloon informs you that the program is still running.

If you select the "Click here to not show this reminder again" check box, Windows Messenger won't display the information balloon the next time you close the foreground application. You might want to make this setting the default action (or create a custom policy to do so), in which case you need to know how the registry stores the setting. To modify the registry subkey so that Windows Messenger doesn't notify you that the program is still running, perform the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MessengerService subkey.
Double-click the DSBkgndMode binary value.
To turn off the Windows Messenger information-balloon notification, set the value to

00 00 00 00

To turn on the Windows Messenger information-balloon notification, set the value to

01 00 00 00

Click OK.
Close the registry editor.

The change takes effect immediately.

Q. How can I use Windows XP's standard Help and Support to get information about my computer?

A. XP's Help and Support module, which you can access at the root of the Start menu, provides basic information about your machine, including

machine model and BIOS version
OS build and service pack
memory
processor
disk
system name and domain
proxy and network

To access this information, perform the following steps:

Start the Help and Support module (go to Start and click "Help and Support", or type

helpctr.exe

from the Run dialog box or command prompt).

Under the "Pick a task" section, click the "Use Tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems" link.
From the left-hand pane under the Tools section, select "My Computer Information."
From the right-hand pane, select "View general information about this computer."

XP will display a progress bar that shows the system information the OS is collecting and will then display the system information.

Q. How can I copy disk quotas from one volume to another?

A. The NTFS version that Microsoft supplies with Windows 2000 and later OSs lets you assign user quotas so that an administrator can restrict the amount of space users can access on a per-volume basis. Although you can set global quotas for all users, you can also drill down and assign individual user quotas. Because these per-user quotas can take a long time to configure, you might prefer to export the quotas from one disk to a different volume (e.g., if your system has multiple disks, you might want to configure the same quotas on many disks).

To export quotas from a volume, perform the following steps:

Start Windows Explorer.
Right-click the volume containing the user quotas that you want to copy to another volume, then select Properties from the context menu.
Select the Quota tab.
Click Quota Entries.
From the Quota menu, select Export.
Enter a filename for the export file, then click Save.
Close the Quota dialog box.

To import the quota information, perform the following steps:

Start Windows Explorer.
Right-click the volume to which you want to import the user quotas, then select Properties from the context menu.
Select the Quota tab.
Click Quota Entries.
From the Quota menu, select Import.
Select the exported file and click Open.
For any quotas that already exist, the OS will ask you whether you want to replace the existing file and whether you want to perform this action on all conflicts.
Close the Quota dialog box.

Q. Why can't I administer my Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) and Windows 2000 domain from a Windows 9x client?

A. Both Win.NET Server and Win2K provide an adminpak.msi Windows Installer file that contains the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins for administering Win.NET Server and Win2K servers for deployment on a Windows XP or Win2K client machine. Although you can download the MMC framework from http://support.microsoft.com/support/mmc/mmcdown.asp for execution on Win9x clients, the adminpak.msi file won't run on Win9x systems and Microsoft has no plans to enable this support. The only option is to enable Win2K Server Terminal Services on the server and create a client session to the server.

3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
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4. CONTACT US
Here's how to reach us with your comments and questions:

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