Send us your tips and questions. You can also visit Bob Chronister's
online Tricks & Traps at http://www.winntmag.com/ forums/index.html.
Q: I just started getting the message, "Not enough server storage is available to process this command." I have not done anything different. What's causing this message?
A common cause for this message has to do with the PagedPoolSize in the
Windows NT Registry. If you receive this message, you might have a non-zero
PagedPoolSize entry in the Registry. Open the Registry and go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Control\ Session Manager\Memory Management key. Set the PagedPoolSize value to 0. If you have to change this value, you will have to reboot your system.
Q: I have several servers with lots of RAM (at least 256MB in each machine), and I would like to optimize the file system performance. Can I speed up the file system activity on these machines?
Given the amount of RAM on these machines, you might want to change the
IoPageLockLimit value in the Registry. You can usually speed up file system
activity by increasing this value from its default setting of 512KB to 4096KB or
more. This value specifies the number of bytes that Windows NT can set aside for
I/O operations. When this value is 0, the system uses the default setting
(512KB). The maximum value is roughly the equivalent of physical memory minus
pad (memory set aside for the file so the system can access the file from
memory), which is 7MB for a small system and grows as the amount of memory
grows. For a 64MB system, pad is about 16MB; for a 512MB system, pad is about
64MB. Using your favorite Registry editor, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management key. Find the
IoPageLockLimit value, and increase the default limit (512KB). Screen 1, page
226, shows the hex value for 4096 in this value.
Q: I have been getting access denied errors when I try to install software in Windows NT. I have one software package that refuses to install; otherwise, the problem is sporadic. Can you help?
A file with the read-only attribute can commonly cause such an install
failure. This file often resides in the %SystemRoot% directory and its
subdirectories. To display files in your NT directory that have the read-only
attribute, type the following command at a Command Prompt:
dir %systemroot%\*.* /ar /s
Screen 2, page 226, shows this command's output: some printer files that are
all read-only. You will want to write down the names of the files and use the
Properties setting in NT Explorer to turn off the read value. If you prefer to
use the Command Prompt, you can easily change one value of all files.
Specifically, you can remove the read-only attribute from a file with the attrib
command. To remove the read-only attribute from all files in the NT directory
and subdirectories, type
attrib -r %systemroot%\*.* /s
However, for security reasons, I don't recommend taking this approach.
Q: I am running Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and want to replace my hard disk and upgrade my computer from a Pentium 166MHz to a Pentium II 266MHz. Will this upgrade cause problems for NT? Will I have to reinstall NT?
Assuming you are installing the same type of hard disk (i.e., SCSI or IDE),
the upgrade is simple. Do a tape backup of the original hard disk (including the
NT Registry). Put together the new system, and install NT (you have to install
NT on the new hard disk before you can restore the NT backup). After you install
NT, simply restore the tape and reboot. If the system fails to boot properly,
you will have to reinstall NT (but only as an upgrade). I have upgraded
successfully from Service Pack (SP) 3 to SP1 and then immediately added the SP3
update.
Q: I just read your column about hacking the Windows NT Registry to change the default spool directory. The Registry is the only way I know to change the spool directory for a specific printer, but you can change the global spool directory by doing the following:
1. Double-click My Computer.
2. Double-click Printers.
3. Right-click in the printers window (in the empty space).
4. Choose Server Properties.
5. Choose the Advanced tab, and set the spooler location.
Can you please share this information with your readers?
You are indeed correct. In general, I like to avoid editing the Registry if
possible. Your method does work. Thanks for pointing it out.
Q: How can I display drives, folders, and even network systems when NT Explorer opens?
You can control the manner in which the NT Explorer opens. Most of us have
favorite places to store files on our systems, but we also want to see
connections to routine network systems. To specify how the NT Explorer appears,
you have to set some options on the shortcut properties. The proper syntax is
Explorer.exe [/n] [/e] [/root,object] [\[/select],subobject]
where
/n opens a new window even if the NT Explorer window is already open. The /e
value lets you use the Explorer view. The /root,object value lets you specify
the root directory that NT Explorer opens into. The default root is the desktop.
You can change this default setting by specifying a new root (this setting can
be a network system). The /select value specifies what you see in NT Explorer.
I've set my NT Explorer to default to show me my F drive. I use the
following syntax on the shortcut line, as you see in Screen 3:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /select,F:\*.*
Now when I click NT Explorer, my F drive opens, as you see in Screen 4. You
can open multiple instances of NT Explorer, so you can create several new
shortcuts to NT Explorer and change the shortcut parameters. For example, to
connect to my Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and connect to my D drive (must be
a share name and one you have access to), the syntax is
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,/root,\\clydeone\clydeone-d\*.*
Screen 5 shows the window that NT Explorer opens with these settings. The
obvious advantage to setting up NT Explorer in this fashion is the ability to
copy and move files to and from my PDC and my drive F.
Q: I've recently seen major computer vendors selling preloaded Windows NT computers where they clone the NT Workstation setup, and thus clone the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. These vendors claim this practice is safe. Microsoft does not support this practice because the vendor is cloning the unique security identifier (SID) for each user as part of the workstation setup. Microsoft claims that you can't have duplicate SIDs and that having duplicates can cause problems with future releases of NT. Who's right and who's wrong?
This question is significant. The whole issue of cloning systems has
created considerable confusion within the NT industry. Most of the confusion
started with Microsoft stating that you can clone NT disk replication. However,
when you carefully analyze the information in the Microsoft NT literature, you
realize you can't clone a fully installed version of NT because you can't have
duplicate primary SIDs (a combination of the computer name and username) on a
network. In the case of cloning entire NT installations, Microsoft is right and
the vendors are wrong. You can't clone fully installed NT installations. If you
do, all primary SIDs will be the same and the network will fail. However, you
can use cloning to assist you in mass rollouts of machines. Two methods come to
mind.
Method 1
One correct procedure for cloning a system so that you create separate SIDs
for each machine is as follows:
1. Start by modifying the Unattend.txt file so that user input is
required for the ComputerName, User ID, and Password entries. For example, a
standard UserData portion of an unattended text file will look similar to
[UserData]
FullName = "BobC"
OrgName = "Chronister Consultants"
ComputerName = BOB6
ProductId = 111-11111
Simply delete references to name (FullName), organization (OrgName), and
computer name (ComputerName). You want to force the user to add this information
when you place the cloned drive in a system and boot the system. When the NT
installation enters the graphic phase, it will ask for the above information,
thus making the SID unique to the machine and user on the network. Be certain
that all other necessary information is in the unattended text file. This way,
the installation will need only the information above supplied by the user.