Sams Teach Yourself MCSE Windows NT Server 4 in 14 Days
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): David Schaer, et al
ISBN: 0672311283
Publication Date: 12/15/97

HKEY_USERS displays all active profiles. By default, only the DEFAULT profile and the profile of the user locally logged on will be displayed. Additional profiles can be loaded and modified by selecting Registry | Load Hive.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT maintains file associations and OLE settings. For example, when you double-click a file with an extension of .TXT it is opened within Notepad. Figure 4.6 shows the association of text files with Notepad.

Figure 4.6.  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT maintains file associations, such as text files opening with Notepad.

4.3.1. Maneuvering Through the Registry

The registry is like a labyrinth. Finding what you’re looking for can seem impossible and, once you do, finding your way back to where you started can seem impossible. You access the Find Key tool in REGEDT32.EXE from the View option. As the name implies, the Find Key tool can locate only keys, not values. Use REGEDIT.EXE to search for values. In the example shown in Figure 4.7, the Winlogon service is being searched for within HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. The results of the search are shown in Figure 4.8.

Figure 4.7.  The Find Key tool searches only for keys, not values.

Figure 4.8.  The results of the search for Winlogon.

4.3.2. Backing Up the Registry

You can back up and restore individual areas of the registry by using the Save Key and Restore Key features in REGEDT32.EXE. This is an effective means of copying only a single area from one person’s profile to another.

You can back up to tape the entire registry using the NTBACKUP utility. This, along with OEM backup systems, is the most effective means of backup, because the restoration can be performed for the entire system while online. In order to back up the registry using the NTBACKUP utility, it is necessary to back up at least one file on the same drive on which the registry resides. You select from the Backup menu the option to back up the registry.

4.4. Basic NT Services

Service entries are held in the registry in the subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Services. Figure 4.9 shows the users and groups with the rights to modify this area of the registry. The fact that they are held under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE indicates that all users of the system will be affected by their settings.

4.4.1. The Workstation Service

The Workstation service gives both NT Workstation and NT Server the capability to act as network clients and is sometimes referred to as the redirector. The Workstation service on the client is responsible for providing Server Message Block (SMB) connectivity to the Server service on the remote computer.

Figure 4.9.  The users and groups with access rights to the Services subkey.

The Workstation service is configured by default to automatically start when NT is booted. Although the user can stop the Workstation service, it is important to understand that stopping the Workstation service will result in all dependent services stopping as well. Figure 4.10 shows the services dependent on the Workstation service.

Figure 4.10.  Stopping the Workstation service results in the dependent services stopping as well.

The Workstation service provides the network client capability for all NT computers regardless of whether they are running the workstation or server operating systems.

You modify the workstation parameters through the registry editor, as shown in Figure 4.11. The LanmanWorkstation subkey controls the Workstation service settings.

Figure 4.11.  Workstation parameters are modified by editing the registry.

You can retrieve from the command prompt statistics of the Workstation service by running Net Statistics Workstation or Net Statistics RDR. Figure 4.12 shows the workstation statistics on NTMASTER redirected to a file by executing net statistics workstation > Wsstats.txt from the command prompt.

4.4.2. The Server Service

The Server service provides the capability to provide file and print services to SMB-based clients. The Server service is referenced in the registry as the LanmanServer and provides network services to legacy clients, such as Microsoft’s LanMan.

Figure 4.12.  Workstation statistics on NTMASTER.

The Server service runs on NT workstations as well as on NT servers.

Some of the basic Server service settings can be configured through the network properties. In Figure 4.13, the Server service is configured to maximize system resources as a file server.

Figure 4.13.  Configuring the Server service.

The Server service acts independently of the Workstation service on the same machine. A machine with the Server service stopped can still act as a network client; the reverse is also true.

The server statistics can be viewed in the same fashion as the workstation. Figure 4.14 shows the server statistics on NTMASTER redirected to a file by executing net statistics server > Srvstats.txt from the command prompt.

Figure 4.14.  Server statistics on NTMASTER.

4.4.3. The Schedule Service

The Schedule service enables applications to be executed at scheduled times. The Schedule service works in conjunction with the AT.EXE command or the WINAT.EXE utility found on the NT 4.0 Resource kit.

A common usage of the Schedule service in conjunction with the AT.EXE command is to launch the NT backup program, NTBACKUP.EXE. Figure 4.15 shows the AT.EXE command being used to launch a user-created batch file that will execute the NT backup program with the necessary parameters. The execution of the batch file will be repeated every Monday through Friday.

Figure 4.15.  The AT.EXE command being used to execute a batch file.

The NT 4.0 Resource kit includes a graphical version of the AT.EXE command called WINAT.EXE.