Any Suggestions, Tips, Tricks, etc. for Windows 2000???

mackstann

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Apr 17, 2001
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i just installed win2k, and there are lots of things i dont know about it. i know everything about win9x, so it's a little uncomfortable not knowing every nook and cranny of my OS. Can anyone explain how to use various things, such as Administrative tools, IIS, Permissions, Services, etc.? Suggestions, tips, anything would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks!:D
 

DAM

Diamond Member
Jan 10, 2000
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well, lets start with the basics.



Do not log in as Admin, make a power user account for yourself and use that one no matter what. if you ever need to install anything, win2k will tell you that you cant install it only admins can, but it will give you the option to log in as admin only during that installation.




dam(nifty ey?)
 

mackstann

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Apr 17, 2001
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i have heard something about that...i am logged in as admin now...i should do that thanks

Keep em comin!
 

Touchdown

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Apr 7, 2000
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Most people here will probably suggest you make sure you're running SP-2 which you can download from the MS site. I haven't had any problems with it
 

murdock2525

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Feb 23, 2001
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Congrats on having a real OS !
Spend a few hours in the help section....there is ALLOT you can do.........
 

AnMig

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Nov 7, 2000
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is there any need not to log on as administrator if you are the only user?
just concerned about the space it takes to create another user.

does not logging on as administrator offer any other advantage/protection? (aside from other users destroying your OS)
 

userpete

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Jun 5, 2001
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Yea AnMig, i'd like to know also cause thats all i'm running since i'm the only one using this puter.

Thx
Pete
 

tagraff

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Jun 18, 2001
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I have found the Event Viewer (which is in the Administrative Tools) to be somewhat useful when problems occur. Often, you can search for solutions to a problem by going to the Microsoft site and using the event description as your search criteria.

Permissions can be useful when you want to limit access that specific users have to your computer. If you format your drive using NTFS, you can set permissions for each individual file or folder if you want to. There are some programs (such as Microsoft Office) that require at least read, write, and delete permissions on certain files in order to even use the program. Most files that you want to edit will require read, write, and delete permissions in order to edit them.

I would highly recommend creating a Ghost image of your drive (if possible) before changing permissions on operating system files because it is possible to set the permissions in such a way that will prevent you from installing some programs. (We had quite a few problems with McAfee VirusScan at work when we tried to limit access to the Everyone group.) This didn't seem to be as much of a problem with NT 4.0. I also recommend giving Administrators and the System account Full Control for everything.

If you do decide to implement permissions on your hard drive, they do seem to slow down the computer a little, especially on computers with slower hard drives. If you want speed and don't care much about security or storage space, you should probably avoid NTFS entirely. If you want to save space, however, NTFS does seem more efficient than FAT and FAT32. It is also very important to keep the MFT as defragmented as possible if you use NTFS. ExecSoft's Diskeeper seems to work best at defragmenting the MFT.

I hope all of this helps.
 

armypants

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Apr 23, 2001
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logging in as admin makes some extra things load that you probably wont be using like user managing and junk
 

SUOrangeman

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Oct 12, 1999
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SHIFT-Right click -> "Run As..." is your new friend. Use it when you need Administrator access. You don't have to log out!

-SUO
 

mackstann

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Apr 17, 2001
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thanks for all the tips. any suggestions about services?? which ones need to be on and which ones really dont matter??

thanks!:D
 

wonkajunk

Junior Member
Jun 13, 2001
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I could go through a ton of awesome tweaks and tips for you,
diskperf -n, Service tweaks,etc etc...

But the best source I have found is a little known website that has great tips and great links involving W2K. Good luck and you have picked the right OS.

http://win2000tips.home.att.net/

WwWonka
 

DearKook

Member
Oct 19, 1999
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Here's my basic WIN2K tweaking:

Installed Programs-
RegCleaner
TweakUI
PageDefrag(NTFS Only)
NVRefreshFIX

Tweaks-

Registry

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak]
"QuickTweak"=dword:00010020
"CoolBits"=dword:00000003

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"Max Cached Icons"="1024"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"IoPageLockLimit"=dword:00008000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug]
"Auto"="0"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"SackOpts"=dword:00000001
"TcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0
"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000001
"DefaultTTL"=dword:00000040
"EnablePMTUBHDetect"=dword:00000000
"EnablePMTUDiscovery"=dword:00000001
"GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0

Services

Set the Following to Manual (these may not apply to all systems)
Distributed Link Tracking Client
IPSEC Policy Agent
Logical Disk Manager
Messenger
Remote Registry Service
RunAs Service
Removable Storage
Task Schedular
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service

OS

Remove OS2/POS Support
Rename the following files in @:\WINNT\System32
os2.exe,os2srv.exe,os2ss.exe,posix.exe,psxss.exe

Set Equal min/max setting for swapfile

Hope this helps
Kook








 

mackstann

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Apr 17, 2001
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wow DearKook, very nice. But could you explain the reg. tweaks? and the removal of other OS support. What is that?
 

DearKook

Member
Oct 19, 1999
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Hope this help you :)


The other OS support is:
"Left over from the Windows NT 3.X days of old are two sub systems for Os2 and Posix Unix. It?s pretty safe to conclude that these sub routines of Windows 2000 will never be used, therefore, there?s no point in them sitting in the RAM."


The registry setting are as follows

"QuickTweak"=dword:00010020
"CoolBits"=dword:00000003
This adds overclocking on your NVIDIA card if the proper drivers are used


"Max Cached Icons"="1024"
This increases your Icon cache thats all


"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
Disables Windows 2000?s file touching feature so that it doesn?t waste time changing the date the files every time it works with one

"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001
Changes the system cache to a large size (use only if you have 128mb ram+ 256 recommended)

"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001
This setting disallows the executive process from paging the kernel directly
(use only if you have 128mb ram, 256 recommended)

"IoPageLockLimit"=dword:00008000
Sets the IO (Input/Output) Page cache to a higher value than the default.MS only sets this value to 512K, which was originally the minimum deemed needed for NT 4.0 on a 12 meg of RAM install (this set's it to 32meg, 4000 sets it to 16meg)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug]
"Auto"="0"
Turns Dr. Watson to manual so it doesn't run automaticaly it gives you the option to debug. This is good because if a app or game crashes Dr Watson will debug and will use up a nice chunck of HD space in @:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Dr Watson

"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020
These settings need to be entered twice like stated in my last post it allows IE to have more open occurences of it self and d/l windows.(you can know d/l more than 3 things at a time :)

"SackOpts"=dword:00000001
"TcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0
"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000001
"DefaultTTL"=dword:00000040
"EnablePMTUBHDetect"=dword:00000000
"EnablePMTUDiscovery"=dword:00000001
"GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0
These are in the Tweak package for cable users if you don't have cable don't enter theses. They are generic and you might be able to get better performence if you goto www.speedguide.net and use values for your own computer and cable company.

And as far as the Services here's a list of all of them and there recomended settings (this is not mine I ran accross it somewhere)


Alerter: Notifies selected users & computers of administrative alerts. Leave this set to Manual if you aren't connected to a network. If you are connected to a network set it to Automatic, this will allow you System Administrator to be notified when something goes wrong (usually), which may aid them in fixing the problem.

Application Management: Provides software installation services such as Assign, Publish, & Remove. Leave this set to Manual.
ClipBook: Supports ClipBook Viewer, which allows pages to be seen by remote ClipBooks. Set this to Manual to enable users to be able to view information on the Clipbook server. You shouldn't ever need to set this to Automatic.

COM+ Event System: Provides automatic distribution of events to subscribing COM components. Set this to Automatic.
Computer Browser: Maintains an up-to-date list of computers on your network & supplies the list to programs that request it. Set this to Manual if you aren't connected to a network. If you are connected to a network set it to Automatic.

DHCP Client: Manages network configuration by registering & updating IP addresses & DNS names. If you on a network or have a permanent internet connection, connected to a specified DCHP server set this to Automatic. Those who are not connected to a network (or specific DCHP server) set this to Manual.

Distributed Link Tracking Client: Sends notifications of files moving between NTFS volumes in a network domain. Set this to Manual. Although its highly unlikely many of you will use this particular Service. If however you are connected to a Windows 2000 domain & use the NTFS file system, set it to Automatic.

Distributed Transaction Coordinator: Coordinates transactions that are distributed across two or more databases, message queues, file systems, or other transaction protected resource managers. Leave this set to Manual.

DNS Client: Resolves & caches Domain Name System (DNS) names. Set this to Automatic if connecting to a specified DNS server on your network. Otherwise set it to Manual.

Event Log: Logs event messages issued by programs & Windows. Event Log reports contain information that can be useful in diagnosing problems. Reports are viewed in Event Viewer. Leave this set to Automatic, this will allow you to view/log errors in programs & is needed to track certain activities, such as Performance logs ( Covered in the Windows 2000 memory guide to be posted soon).

Fax Service: Helps you send & receive faxes. This service gets installed if fax capable modem is installed in your machine. If you have no intention of using the fax capabilities however set this to Manual or Disabled. If you intend to use the fax a lot then set this to Automatic.

Indexing Service: Indexes contents & properties of files on local & remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language. The Indexing service is similar to FindFast in Microsoft Office, although is seen as far more useful. Most of you should be fine leaving this set to Manual/Disabled. If you need this, you'll know.

Internet Connection Sharing: Provides network address translation, addressing, & name resolution services for all computers on your home network through a dial-up connection. If your network is sharing an Internet connection set this to Automatic. If no Internet connection is being shared you can Disable this.

IPSEC Policy Agent: Manages IP security policy & starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) & the IP security driver. If you aren't connected to a Windows 2000 domain you can set this to Manual. If you are connected to a Windows 2000 domain set this to Automatic.

Logical Disk Manager: Logical Disk Manager Watchdog Service. Leave this set to Manual.

Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service: Administrative service for disk management requests. Leave this set to Manual.
Messenger: Sends & receives messages transmitted by administrators or by the Alerter service. Leave this set to Manual. Only set it to Automatic if you're connected to a Windows 2000 domain/network.

Net Logon: Supports pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain. If you are connected to a Windows 2000 domain set this to Manual. Set it to Manual if you aren't to.

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing: Allows authorized people to remotely access your Windows desktop using NetMeeting. For security reasons I'd recommend you set this to Disabled unless you really need to use it, in which case set it to Manual.

Network Connections: Manages objects in the Network & Dial-Up Connections folder, in which you can view both local area network & remote connections. I've found that this Service generally gets started whether set to Manual or not. So its probably best to set this to Automatic.

Network DDE: Provides network transport & security for dynamic data exchange (DDE). Set this to Automatic if you use DDE. If you need this you should know that you need it. Set it to Manual otherwise.

Network DDE DSDM: Manages shared dynamic data exchange & is used by Network DDE. As above, set this to Automatic if you use DDE. If you need this you should know that you need it. Set it to Manual otherwise.

NT LM Security Support Provider: Provides security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs that use transports other than named pipes. Leave this set to Manual.

Performance Logs & Alerts: Configures performance logs & alerts. If you have your system configured to track events/system performance, etc. Upon startup set this to Automatic. If your system isn't configured like this leave it set to Manual.

Plug & Play: Manages device installation & configuration & notifies programs of device changes. Set this to Automatic. It will make hardware installation far easier.

Print Spooler: Loads files to memory for later printing. If you don't have a printer installed you can leave this Manual. If you have a printer installed, or intend to install one then set this to Automatic. You can read more in this MS Knowledge Base article.

Protected Storage: Provides protected storage for sensitive data, such as private keys, to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users. If your system contains such sensitive data then you should set this to Automatic (to keep it protected at all time). If your system isn't connected to the Internet (how are you reading this ;)) then you can safely set this to Manual.

QoS RSVP: Provides network signaling & local traffic control setup functionality for QoS-aware programs & control applets. Leave this set to Manual, most users will not be using such programs & have no need to set it to Automatic. If you do however set it to Automatic. You should know whether or not you need this.
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager: Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address. Leave this set to Automatic if you have a modem connection, this generally gets started when you load Windows 2000 regardless of setting it to Manual.

Remote Access Connection Manager: Creates a network connection. Leave this set to Automatic (Gets loaded regardless of whether you are on a network or not).

Remote Procedure Call (RPC): Provides the endpoint mapper & other miscellaneous RPC services. I've found that setting this to Disabled causes problems with Internet connection (or rather lack of). Leave it set to Automatic.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator: Manages the RPC name service database. Leave this set to Automatic.

Remote Registry Service: Allows remote registry manipulation. Leave this set to Disabled unless the Network administrator needs to be able to enter each PC's registry remotely (in which case a setting of Manual would be more appropriate). This is also a useful security feature in case some "malicious user" manages to obtain the Administrator's password & intends to do bad things to a remote systems registry.

Removable Storage: Manages removable media, drives, & libraries. If you have such devices, e.g. Zip drives (not CD\DVD\Floppy drives), then this set to Automatic. Otherwise you may leave it on Manual.

Routing & Remote Access: Offers routing services to businesses in local area & wide area network environments. If that description fits your system/network type then set this to Automatic, otherwise leave it set it to Manual.

RunAs Service: Enables starting processes under alternate credentials. You should set this to Manual, this can allow you to say, use Windowsupdate (many updates require you to be logged on as an Administrator to install) when logged on as a user other than the Administrator. Leave it set to Manual. This setting is fairly useful so best not to disable it entirely.

Security Accounts Manager: Stores security information for local user accounts. Leave this set to Manual. Or Automatic if you have applied security policies on your machine/network when users logon.

Smart Card: Manages & controls access to a smart card inserted into a smart card reader attached to the computer. If you use a SmartCard (not likely for home users) then you can set this to Disabled or Manual. If you do happen to use a smart card system set this to Automatic.

Smart Card Helper: Provides support for legacy smart card readers attached to the computer. If you use a SmartCard (not likely for home users) then you can set this to Disabled or Manual. If you do happen to use a smart card system set this to Automatic.

System Event Notification: Tracks system events such as Windows logon, network, & power events. Notifies COM+ Event System subscribers of these events. I'd recommend leaving this set to Manual, or Automatic depending on how your system is configured (particularly if on a network). Nearly all home users (like myself) can leave this set to Manual with any problems.

Task Scheduler: Enables a program to run at a designated time. Much like Task Scheduler in Windows 98 this can be used to schedule certain programs be to run at specified times & such. Personally I leave this set to Disabled & run the programs myself, although some of you may find it useful in which case you should leave it set to Automatic.

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service: Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service & NetBIOS name resolution. If you need NetBIOS support then set this to Manual, otherwise leave it Disabled. You should know whether you need it or not. Disabling may improve online security a little too.

Telephony: Provides Telephony API (TAPI) support for programs that control telephony devices & IP based voice connections on the local computer &, through the LAN, on servers that are also running the service. Leave this set to Automatic, generally this Service is started when you load Windows 2000 anyway, even when set to Manual.

Telnet: Allows a remote user to log on to the system & run console programs using the command line. In the event that you still use Telnet (or let others access the machine via Telnet) set this to Manual. Otherwise you can totally Disable it altogether.

Uninterruptible Power Supply: Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer. If you are connected to such a power supply leave this set to Automatic, otherwise leave it Disabled.

Utility Manager: Starts & configures accessibility tools from one window. If you don't use (or have uninstalled) the Accessibilty Tools in Windows 2000 you should set this to Disabled. If you do need to (re) configure Accessibility Tool options set this to Manual.
Windows Installer: Installs, repairs & removes software according to instructions contained in .MSI files. Leave this set to Manual. This will allow you to install/uninstall/repair programs listed in the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. You should Disable this if you don't want others to have the ability to be able to change any software installation.

Windows Management Instrumentation: Provides system management information. WMI is a management infrastructure in Windows 2000 that supports monitoring & controlling system resources through a common set of interfaces & provides a logically organized, consistent model of Windows operation, configuration, & status. Leave this set to Automatic.

Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions: Provides systems management information to & from drivers. As above, you should leave this set to Automatic.

Windows Time: Sets the computer clock. This is best left set to Manual.

WMDM PMSP Service: Leave this set to Automatic (It gets started up regardless of being set to Manual in my experience).

Workstation: Provides network connections & communications. Leave this set to Automatic. This is a "catch all" type setting for those not previously covered.



Enjoy
Kook



P.S. What's your specs?? AMD or Intel??
If AMD don't forget your VIA drivers I use 429's and only the INF and AGP I let SP2 install support for ata100. Also what vid card you got??