Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE--August 18, 2003

Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE, August 18, 2003, —brought to you by the Windows & .NET Magazine Network and the Windows 2000 FAQ site
http://www.windows2000faq.com

This Issue Sponsored By

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1. Commentary

2. FAQs

Q. How can I stop Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) from creating the Links folder under the Favorites menu?
Q. How can I stop Internet page links from opening in my Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) session?
Q. How can I change the default ActiveX component download location?
Q. How can I disable the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) script debugger?
Q. How can I replace the background image in Windows Messenger?
Q. Why can't I successfully deploy a Sysprep image containing the Recovery Console (RC) on my client computers?
Q. Why does System File Checker overwrite hotfixes on my Windows 2000 installation?

3. Announcements

Get the eBook That Will Help You Get Certified!
Active Directory eBook Chapter 3 Published!

4. Event

New--Mobile & Wireless Road Show!

5. Contact Us

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

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1. Commentary
by John Savill, FAQ Editor, [email protected]

This week, I explain how to stop Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) from creating the Links folder under the Favorites menu, how to stop Internet page links from opening in an existing IE session, how to change the default ActiveX component download location, and how to disable the IE script debugger. I also tell you how to replace the background image in Windows Messenger, why you might encounter an error when deploying a Sysprep image containing the Recovery Console (RC), and why System File Checker overwrites hotfixes in Windows 2000.

Around the industry this week, UltraBac Software has announced an update to UltraBac 7.1 that supports Windows Server 2003. The update, version 7.1.1, adds several new features and fixes. Additional information is available at http://www.ultrabac.com. AWIL Software has released avast! BART CD, which is a bootable antivirus and file system toolset. Among other things, the product lets you remove viruses, fix file systems, and edit the registry. For more information, see http://www.avast.com.

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2. FAQs

Q. How can I stop Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) from creating the Links folder under the Favorites menu?

A. If you delete the Links folder under Favorites, IE will recreate the folder when you restart the browser. To permanently delete this folder and prevent IE from recreating it, perform the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar registry subkey.
Double-click the LinksFolderName value.
Clear the value data, then click OK.
Start IE and delete the Links folder from the Favorites menu.

Start Windows Explorer.
Move to your user profile area (e.g., C:\documents and settings\john).
Open the Favorites folder.
Right-click the Links folder, then select Properties from the context menu.
Select the Hidden check box, then click OK.
Start IE and delete the Links folder from the Favorites menu.

Q. How can I stop Internet page links from opening in my Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) session?

A. If IE is open on your system and you click a hyperlink to a Web page from another application in Windows (e.g., from an email message or from the Run command), Windows will attempt to open the Web page in your existing IE session. To prevent this behavior and force Windows to open a new IE session, perform the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main registry subkey.
Double-click the AllowWindowReuse value.
Set the value data to 0 to force Windows to open a new IE session, then click OK (setting the value to 1 will let Windows use an existing IE session).
Close the registry editor.
Log off and log on for the change to take effect.

Q. How can I change the default ActiveX component download location?

A. By default, when Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) installs an ActiveX control on your machine, Windows stores the component in the \%systemroot%\downloaded program files folder (e.g., C:\windows\downloaded program files). To change this location, perform the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings registry subkey.
Double-click the ActiveXCache value, change the path in the value data to a new location, then click OK.
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ActiveX Cache registry subkey.
Double-click the 0 value, change the path in the value data to the same location you specified in Step 3, then click OK.
Restart IE for the changes to take effect.

Valid registry values can be a folder on the local hard disk, a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) location, or a mapped network drive. However, be aware that running the ActiveX cache from a network location can degrade performance.

Q. How can I disable the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) script debugger?

A. If you run a script in IE that results in an error, IE gives you the option to debug the script. To disable this option, perform the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main registry subkey.
Double-click the Disable Script Debugger value.
Set the value data to "yes" to disable the script debugger, then click OK (setting the value to "no" enables the script debugger).
Restart IE for the change to take effect.

Q. How can I replace the background image in Windows Messenger?

A. Windows Messenger includes a background image of two bobble men. You can replace this .gif image with any image that will fit in the display. To replace the .gif image, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MessengerService registry subkey, then double-click the InstallationDirectory value to verify the location of your Windows Messenger installation (by default, this location is C:\program files\messenger).
Use an imaging program, create the background image that you want to use.
Save the image you created as a .gif file named lvback.gif, and place the file in the Windows Messenger folder.
Restart Windows Messenger for the change to take effect.

Q. Why can't I successfully deploy a Sysprep image containing the Recovery Console (RC) on my client computers?

A. If you install the RC as part of a Sysprep image, then deploy the image to client computers, the RC might fail to start on those client machines. The RC doesn't rely on the standard NT Loader (NTLDR) boot file or the standard boot sector. Instead, Sysprep uses a virtual boot sector in the bootsect.dat file, which is a copy of the boot section of the system partition. Because the bootsect.dat file is unique to each computer and is based on the machine's hard disk structure, the RC will most likely fail because you haven't configured bootsect.dat for that particular client. To resolve this error, reinstall the RC on each machine. For future installations, you can place the

winnt32 /cmdcons /unattend

command in the \[GuiRunOnce\] section of your unattend.txt file to automate installation of the RC.

Q. Why does System File Checker overwrite hotfixes on my Windows 2000 installation?

A. System File Checker replaces corrupt or missing protected files and refreshes corrupt or missing DLL cache components with the latest files from the installation media, service packs, or hotfix/patch locations, whichever was registered most recently. Because System File Checker overwrites existing hotfixes and patches, you have to reapply them after you run the

sfc /scannow

command. Microsoft has corrected this behavior in all Win2K Service Pack 4 (SP4) and later hotfixes and patches, which now register themselves in such a way that System File Checker can "see" them during file-restoration operations.

3. Announcements
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