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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April 22, 2002—In this issue:
1. COMMENTARY
2. FAQS
- Q. How can I hide the Places bar in Windows XP's and Windows 2000's Open and Save common dialog boxes?
- Q. How can I edit the default Places bar quick links in Windows XP's and Windows 2000's Open and Save common dialog boxes?
- Q. How can I disable IP Security (IPSec) on a VPN connection that uses Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP)?
- Q. What system-state information does Windows 2000 and later Windows OSs back up?
- Q. What is the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)?
- Q. How can I add Plug and Play (PnP) support for a parallel port in Windows XP and Windows 2000?
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Cast Your Vote for our Reader's Choice Awards!
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4. CONTACT US
- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
1. COMMENTARY
This week, I show you how to hide the Places bar that appears in Open and Save common dialog boxes and how to change the default Places bar quick links in those dialog boxes. I describe how to disable IP Security (IPSec) on a VPN connection that uses Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), and I explain what system-state information Windows 2000 and later OSs save when you back up your system. I also tell you about a new tool for analyzing your systems, and I identify how to add Plug and Play (PnP) support in Windows XP and Win2K for legacy parallel ports.
Following up on a previous FAQ, I've found an easier way to back up the system state to update the \%systemroot%\repair folder. Just create a script that contains the following command:
ntbackup backup systemstate /f %temp%\backup.bkf del %temp%\backup.bkf
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2. FAQS
A. The Open and Save common dialog boxes display a bar along the left-hand side with quick links to the following default locations:
- History
- My Documents
- Desktop
- Favorites
- My Network Places
You can hide this bar by performing the following steps:
- Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
- Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32 subkey. (If this subkey doesn't exist, select New, Key from the Edit menu to create it.)
- From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
- Enter a name of
- Double-click the new value, set it to 1, and click OK.
- Close the registry editor.
NoPlacesBar
and press Enter.
The registry change will take effect immediately. To enable the Places bar again, either delete the NoPlacesBar registry value or set it to 0. This change will not affect applications within the Microsoft Office suite but will affect applications, such as Notepad and Microsoft Paint, that use the Open and Save common dialog boxes.
A. You can modify the five default quick links in the Open and Save common dialog boxes by performing the following steps:
- Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
- Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32 subkey. (If this subkey doesn't exist, select New, Key from the Edit menu to create it.)
- From the Edit menu, select New, Key.
- Enter a name of
- Navigate to the new registry subkey. You can create five entries (i.e., Place0, Place1, Place2, Place3, and Place4). Make each entry either a string value (REG_SZ) entry (for a named folder) or a DWORD value (REG_DWORD) entry (for a special folder, such as My Documents or My Network Places).
- To create a new entry, go to the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value or New, String Value (as appropriate), enter a name of Placen (e.g., Place0, Place4), and press Enter.
- Double-click the entry and set its REG_SZ "Value data" to a path and folder name or its REG_DWORD "Value data" to a numeric ID (the table below shows a partial list of these numeric IDs--the shlobj.h file, which is part of the platform software development kit (SDK), defines the full list of special numeric IDs).
- Close the registry editor.
Placesbar
and press Enter.
For example, the registry file below sets shortcuts to My Documents, the CD burning folder, and three named folders.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 \[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionPolicies\comdlg32\Placesbar\] "Place0"=dword:00000005 "Place1"=dword:0000003b "Place2"="d:\\temp" "Place3"="d:\\documents" "Place4"="g:\\windows"
This change will not affect applications within the Microsoft Office suite but will affect applications, such as Notepad and Microsoft Paint, that use the Open and Save common dialog boxes. Each new entry you add will replace one of the default quick links.
ID Pathway
0 Desktop
1 Internet Explorer
2 Start Menu\Programs
3 My Computer\Control Panel
4 My Computer\Printers
5 My Documents
6 <user name>\Favorites
7 Start Menu\Programs\Startup
8 <user name>\Recent
9 <user name>\SendTo
a <desktop>\Recycle Bin
b <user name>\Start Menu
c Logical "My Documents" desktop icon
d "My Music" folder
e "My Videos" folder
10 <user name>\Desktop
11 My Computer
12 Network Neighborhood (My Network Places)
13 <user name>\Nethood
14 Windows\Fonts
16 All Users\Start Menu
17 All Users\Start Menu\Programs
18 All Users\Startup
19 All Users\Desktop
1a <user name>\Application Data
1b <user name>\PrintHood
1c <user name>\Local Settings\Application Data
(nonroaming) 0x001d // nonlocalized startup
1e Nonlocalized common startup
1f Common favorites
20 Internet cache
21 Cookies
22 History
23 All Users\Application Data
24 GetWindowsDirectory()
25 GetSystemDirectory()
26 C:\Program Files
27 C:\Program Files\My Pictures
28 USERPROFILE
29 x86 system directory on RISC
2a x86 C:\Program Files on RISC
2b C:\Program Files\Common
2c x86 Program Files\Common on RISC
2d All Users\Templates
2e All Users\Documents
2f All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
30 <user name>\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
31 Network and Dial-up Connections
35 All Users\My Music
36 All Users\My Pictures
37 All Users\My Video
38 Resource Directory
39 Localized Resource Directory
3a All Users OEM-specific applications
3b USERPROFILE\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning
A. Windows automatically creates an IPSec policy for L2TP connections because L2TP doesn't encrypt data. However, you might want to test a VPN L2TP connection without the security of IPSec (e.g., when troubleshooting). Although you must disable IPSec on both the client and server in this situation, make sure you reenable the security policy after you resolve any problems; otherwise, your systems are vulnerable to attack. To disable IPSec, perform the following steps on both ends of the connection (client and server):
- Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
- Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan\Parameters subkey.
- From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
- Enter a name of
- Double-click the new value, set it to 1, and click OK.
- Restart the machine.
ProhibitIpSec
and press Enter.
For more information, see the Microsoft article "How to Configure a L2TP/IPSec Connection Using Pre-shared Key Authentication" at the following URL:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q240262
A. When you perform a backup and include the system state, the information the OS includes in the backup will vary depending on the type and state of the machine. The following table lists the elements the OS backs up:
Element to be Backed up DC Non-DC Active Directory (NTDS) Yes No Boot files Yes Yes COM+ class registration database Yes Yes Registry Yes Yes System volume (SYSVOL) Yes No
The OS will back up information about certificate services regardless of domain controller (DC) status.
A. Microsoft has released MBSA, a tool that analyzes a system for information related to
- Windows OS version
- Microsoft IIS version
- Microsoft SQL Server version
- Hotfix checks
- Password checks
You can use MBSA to run checks against local or remote machines. The tool runs only on Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server), Windows XP, and Windows 2000-based systems. However, you can use the tool to scan remote computers that run Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later.
For more information about MBSA, visit the first URL below. To download MBSA, visit the second URL below.
After you download the tool, run the mbsasetup.msi file to install MBSA. You can run the tool in a graphical mode by executing the MBSA shortcut from the Start menu, or you can type
mbsacli.exe
from the command prompt. (Windows doesn't add the MBSA program to the PATH variable by default, so you must either navigate to the \%programfiles%\microsoft baseline security analyzer folder or add this folder to your PATH statement.)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q320454
http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/Install/1.0/NT5XP/EN-US/mbsasetup.msi
A. If your computer isn't detecting legacy devices (e.g., some early Zip drives) connected through the parallel port, you might want to enable PnP support for parallel ports. To enable PnP support, perform the following:
- Start the System Control Panel applet (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click System).
- Select the Hardware tab.
- Click Device Manager.
- Expand the Ports (COM & LPT) section.
- Right-click the parallel port and select Properties.
- Select the Port Settings tab.
- Select the "Enable legacy Plug and Play detection" check box, and click OK.
- Restart the computer if prompted.
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Copyright 2002, Penton Media, Inc.
