If you are tired of "it is now safe to turn off your computer" when you select Shut Down, Edit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Double click on PowerDownAfterShutdown or add it as REG_SZ. Set it to 1. This only works if your HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) supports it.

HKEY_Current_User\ControlPanel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
Type REG_SZ: If set to 0, NumLock is disabled for that current user after logging on. If it is 2, NumLock is enabled and will retain the settings from the last shutdown.

The Registry value entries that control the logon sequence for starting Windows NT are found under the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

LegalNoticeCaption REG_SZ
Default: (none)

Specifies a caption for a message to appear when the user presses CTRL+ALT+DEL during logon. Add this value entry if you want to add a warning to be displayed when a user attempts to log on to a Windows NT system. The user cannot proceed with logging on without acknowledging this message. To specify text for the message, you must also specify a value for LegalNoticeText.

Note: You can use the System Policy Editor to change this value.

LegalNoticeText REG_SZ
Default: (none)

Specifies the message to appear when the user presses CTRL+ALT+DEL during logon. Add this value entry if you want to add a warning to be displayed when a user attempts to log on to a Windows NT system. The user cannot proceed with logging on without acknowledging this message. To control presentation, you may insert a lf/cr by copying the contents of lfcr.npd to the clipboard and pasteing it as you type. To include a caption for the logon notice, you must also specify a value forLegalNoticeCaption.

Note: You can use the System Policy Editor to change this value.

LogonPrompt REG_SZ
Default: "Enter a user name and password that is valid for this system."

The text entered appears in the Logon Information dialog box. This is designed for additional legal warnings to the user before they log on. This value entry does not appear in the Registry unless you add it.

Welcome REG_SZ
Default: (Title only; no message)

The text entered appears in the caption bar beside the title of the Begin Logon, Logon Information, Workstation Locked, and Unlock Workstation dialog boxes. This value entry does not appear in the Registry unless you add it.

Design an appropriate bitmap and place it in your NT directory as YourLogoName.BMP. Use 8.3 naming convention.

Edit: HKEY_USERS \.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

Double click or Add Value REG_SZ of Wallpaper and set it to the full path to YourLogoName.BMP.
Double click or Add Value REG_SZ of TileWallpaper. 0 is Don't tile, 1 is tile.
Double click or Add Value REG_SZ of WallpaperStyle. 0 is normal, 2 is stretch to fill the screen (which is mutually exclusive with TileWallpaper = 1).
If you use a normal, not tiled logo, you can position it by adding the following REG_SZ values:
WallpaperOriginX set to the number of pixels from the left hand edge of the screen.
WallpaperOriginY set to the number of pixels from the top of the screen

Set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom\Autorun to zero.

In Explorer, associate .CPL with %windir%\system32\control.exe (View/Options/Type) Then Highlight the .CPL and create a shortcut.
Example:
Description: Display
Command line: c:\winnt\system32\display.cpl
Working Directory: c:\winnt\system32
Click on the shortcut to run Display.CPL.

If you wish to add Control Panel to your start menu, create a new folder (see tip 051) and name it Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
You will need to reboot to see Control Panel on your Start menu.

To display a shutdown button at Login, edit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Value: ShutdownWithoutLogon REG_SZ 0 or 1
When this value is set to 1, you can select Shutdown from the Welcome dialog box.

When you right click on a file in Explorer, the valid choices for that extension are presented. To add a new choice, select view/options/File Types. Scroll to the file type you wish to ammend, select it, and click the Edit button. Click the New button. Type the "Action" (Edit, Smile, Print, view, ...) and the full path to the application (and any command line switches/parametets) required to perform the "Action". If you want to change an "Action", click "Edit" instead of "New". I suggest you edit the "Actions" of "Text Document", "Write Document" and any type that uses DDE such as "Microsoft Word Document" to see the possibilities.

%Windir%\DEBUG\SETWIN95.CMD will fool an application into believing that it is running on Windows 95. Visit http://www.cris.com/~Dstaines/nt40games/ for a list a games that will work on NT 4.0.

You can change the logon backround color by altering the RGB values at:
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors\Background
If you set it to 0 0 0 you will have a black backround, 255 255 255 is white.

If the path to this file has a space in one of the directory names, and/or the path to the .exe has a space in one of the directory names, chances are that the command and parameter at the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/string/shell/open/command are not enclosed in double-quotes.

To find the string, at a CMD prompt, type: assoc .ext where .ext is the extension of the file you double-clicked. This will return the string.

Navigate to the value, double click it, and enclose the full path in quotes and each parameter in quotes. Example:
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe %1 at
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Wordpad.Document.1/shell/open/command
would become "C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe" "%1"

Note: Some programs work regardless of wether the quotes are there or not. Some programs use 8.3 convention instead of quotes.

Simply email mshelp@microsoft.com with the Q# in the subject line!