Abstract
This chapter explores the Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel and covers Windows NT 4.0 configuration tools and methods, differences between Windows NT 4.0’s Control Panel and Windows 3.x’s Control Panel, and descriptions of Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel applets.
As any experienced computer user knows, one key to successfully managing your system is knowing how to make changes to the system’s various settings and configurations. In Windows NT 4.0, these changes are made using several different Windows NT utilities, which we will introduce in this chapter.
Users of previous versions of Windows are probably well aware that they can adjust the Windows environment using built-in utilities such as Control Panel and Windows Setup. However, previous Windows products created a confusing separation of function between utility applications, spreading system configuration options among them in a seemingly random fashion. Discovering where to find a particular configuration tool often involved hunting inside each application until the correct tool was found. Windows NT 4.0 eliminates this problem by consolidating all Windows NT configuration functions inside one utility: the Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel.
We’ll be covering the following key topics in this chapter:
Windows NT 4.0 configuration tools and methods
Differences between Windows NT 4.0’s Control Panel and Windows 3.x’s Control Panel
Descriptions of Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel applets
OVERVIEW OF THE WINDOWS NT 4.0 CONTROL PANEL
The Control Panel utility is the most important configuration tool in Windows NT 4.0. Control Panel is “configuration central,” letting Windows NT 4.0 users configure virtually every aspect of their Windows NT environment. Whereas previous Windows products, including the earlier versions of Windows NT, scattered configuration control features among different utilities, Windows NT 4.0’s Control Panel centralizes these tools in a single location. Users can easily find the appropriate utility to make a particular configuration change.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE WINDOWS NT 4.0 AND WINDOWS 3.x CONTROL PANELS
The Control Panel utility’s bigger role in Windows NT 4.0 makes it essentially a “big brother” version of the Control Panel found in Windows 3.x products; it offers a superset of its predecessors’ features. The utility offers a wider range of control over the operating system. You can use it to make not only cosmetic but critical changes to Windows NT settings.
As with the previous versions of Control Panel, the individual icons within the Control Panel utility are referred to as applets (mini applications). Each applet controls a different aspect of the Windows NT environment. The Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel contains many of the applets found in the Windows 3.x Control Panel and adds some significant new ones.
Caution: Windows 3.x and Windows for Workgroups users should be particularly careful when first using the Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel. The effects of making mistakes using the Windows 3.x and Windows for Workgroups Control Panel utilities were likely to be minor. However, using the Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel, you can make mistakes that cause major system problems, such as stopping the system boot. Use special care when examining or experimenting with new applets in Windows NT 4.0’s Control Panel.
Because it includes system-level controls, Windows NT 4.0’s Control Panel offers you much more control than was offered by the Windows 3.x version. The Windows NT Control Panel lets you manage low-level system device drivers (including small computer system interface (SCSI) adapters and other peripherals), the Windows NT paging file, and system services (background processes) essential to proper system operation. Control Panel provides individual applets for each of these system components and for many more.
STARTING CONTROL PANEL
The Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel can be reached via the My Computer icon (double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop to open it) or the Settings submenu of the Start menu, as shown in Figures 5.1 and 5.2, respectively.
When you double-click the Control Panel icon from either location, the Control Panel folder and its icons appear as shown in Figure 5.3.
THE CONTROL PANEL APPLETS
In this section, we’ll list the Control Panel’s applets, describe what the applets control, and discuss how you can use them to configure your Windows NT 4.0 environment. Note that the number and types of Control Panel applets that appear in your Control Panel folder may differ from the examples shown in this chapter. As you’ll learn, some applets in the Control Panel appear only if certain system features are enabled. (Those features may or may not be presently enabled on your system.) In addition, third-party applications sometimes install applets that are not part of Windows NT 4.0 but are accessed through the Control Panel. The following sections (arranged in alphabetical order) describe key Control Panel applets.
Accessibility Options
Windows 95 introduced special accessibility features for people with disabilities or special physical-access needs. These features, incorporated in the Windows NT 4.0 Accessibility Options applet, include
Large screen fonts and high-contrast color schemes for individuals with visual impairments.
On-screen visual indicators corresponding to system audio signals.
Special keyboard modifications for users with restricted movement. Such modifications let users use the keyboard as a mouse, entering Ctrl, Shift, or Alt-based key sequences one key at a time (the StickyKeys feature) and instructing Windows to ignore accidental keystrokes (the FilterKeys feature).
To modify or view Windows NT 4.0’s accessibility features, double-click the Accessibility Options icon in Control Panel. The Accessibility Properties dialog box is shown in Figure 5.4.
The dialog box contains the following four tabbed sections, each of which controls a different type of accessibility feature:
Keyboard: Lets you set the StickyKeys, FilterKeys, and ToggleKeys options on or off, thereby controlling the way Windows NT processes keystrokes
Sound: Instructs Windows NT to provide visual notification of events rather than the usual notification by sound
Mouse: Lets your keyboard’s numeric keypad function as a mouse
General: Controls general configuration options related to Accessibility Options, such as turning off accessibility features automatically after a specified time period (useful if the computer is shared by multiple users) and providing audible notification when features are turned on or off
Add/Remove Programs
The Add/Remove Programs applet is a long-awaited feature that first appeared in Windows 95. Double-clicking the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 5.5.
The Add/Remove Programs dialog box has two tabbed sections: Install/ Uninstall and Windows NT Setup. When you use the Install/Uninstall feature to install new software (by clicking the Install button on the right of the dialog box), Windows NT 4.0 automatically searches your floppy disk and CD-ROM drives for an installation program and offers to install the application. Windows NT tracks the modifications an installation program makes to your system, such as files and directories created and registry keys created or modified. This tracking feature lets Windows NT 4.0 automatically reverse those changes later on if you use Add/Remove Programs to remove the application from the system. Windows 3.x and Windows for Workgroups had no such feature and could, therefore, become cluttered with unnecessary “garbage” left over from old software.
Tip: For good system housekeeping, always use Add/Remove Programs to install new software. Although this feature cannot track every type of application (especially 16-bit applications), using it ensures that installation tracking occurs whenever possible.
The Add/Remove Programs applet has two distinct features:
Windows NT Setup lets you selectively install and remove Windows NT components such as accessory programs, the Exchange client, wallpaper files, and screen savers.
Install/Uninstall lets you install and remove third-party applications.
To use the Setup portion of the dialog box, choose the Windows NT Setup tab. A list of the categories of Windows NT components and features, such as Accessories, Multimedia, and Communications, appears. This screen is shown in Figure 5.6.
Checked components have been installed; those unchecked have not. Components with a gray check box have been partially installed (i.e., at least one part has been installed). To see the individual items within a component, select the component name (e.g., Multimedia) and click the Details button, or just double-click the component’s name. To remove a component from Windows NT, simply clear its check box. When you have checked and cleared the desired boxes, choose OK, and Windows NT installs or uninstalls the components you’ve selected and prompts you to insert the Windows NT 4.0 Installation CD-ROM if necessary.
Console
Although Windows provides a graphical user interface for applications, you may occasionally use programs or issue commands on screens that run in a character-based mode. Windows NT refers to these screens as “consoles,” and you can configure and customize their appearance via the Control Panel’s Console applet. This applet provides several controls over the appearance of character-based screens in Windows NT, including size and shape of the character window, window colors, and the type of font used for characters. It also controls a variety of in-window editing options. The Console applet is shown in Figure 5.7.
The Console applet contains the following four tabbed sections:
Options: Lets you configure several general console properties. In the Command History section, you configure the command scroll-back buffer, which lets you review and reissue commands previously typed (using the up arrow key). The size of the pointer arrow, the console screen appearance (full-screen or windowed), and several screen editing options are also configurable.
Font: Configures the screen font used for a console window. A list of valid screen fonts and size choices is shown along with a preview of the currently selected font inside a sample window.
Layout: Controls the height and width of the console window and lets you set the default position of console windows.
Colors: Lets you configure the text and background colors for console windows and provides an on-screen preview of the currently selected color scheme.
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