Windows XP and 2000 Tips & Tricks UPDATE, April 22, 2002

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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(below COMMENTARY)

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April 22, 2002—In this issue:

1. COMMENTARY

2. FAQS

3. ANNOUNCEMENTS

4. 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.bkfdel %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:

You can hide this bar by performing the following steps:

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:

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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciescomdlg32Placesbar]"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    Pathway0     Desktop 1     Internet Explorer 2     Start MenuPrograms 3     My ComputerControl Panel 4     My ComputerPrinters 5     My Documents 6     Favorites 7     Start MenuProgramsStartup 8     Recent 9     SendTo a     Recycle Bin b     Start Menu c     Logical "My Documents" desktop icon d     "My Music" folder e     "My Videos" folder 10    Desktop 11    My Computer 12    Network Neighborhood (My Network Places) 13    Nethood 14    WindowsFonts 16    All UsersStart Menu 17    All UsersStart MenuPrograms 18    All UsersStartup 19    All UsersDesktop 1a    Application Data 1b    PrintHood 1c    Local SettingsApplication Data       (nonroaming) 0x001d // nonlocalized startup 1e    Nonlocalized common startup 1f    Common favorites 20    Internet cache 21    Cookies 22    History 23    All UsersApplication Data 24    GetWindowsDirectory() 25    GetSystemDirectory() 26    C:Program Files 27    C:Program FilesMy Pictures 28    USERPROFILE 29    x86 system directory on RISC 2a    x86 C:Program Files on RISC 2b    C:Program FilesCommon 2c    x86 Program FilesCommon on RISC 2d    All UsersTemplates 2e    All UsersDocuments 2f    All UsersStart MenuProgramsAdministrative Tools 30    Start MenuProgramsAdministrative Tools 31    Network and Dial-up Connections 35    All UsersMy Music 36    All UsersMy Pictures 37    All UsersMy Video 38    Resource Directory 39    Localized Resource Directory 3a    All Users OEM-specific applications 3b    USERPROFILELocal SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftCD 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):

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-DCActive 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

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:

3. ANNOUNCEMENTS

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4. CONTACT US
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Copyright 2002, Penton Media, Inc.