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Changing Process Priority
Is a program or process running too slowly, or is one hogging all of the CPU time? Go into the task manager and click on the "Processes" tab. Right click on one of the processes and change the priority class to one of your choosing. Give mission-critical processes high priority and lower those of non-essential tasks.
Larger CPU Usage Graph
If you want to see your CPU usage graph in a larger window than that normally allowed by NT 4.0's Task Manager, just click on the Task Manager's "Performance" tab and double-click the window. A larger graph of the CPU performance will appear in place of the "Task Manager" window temporarily.
Missing a Command Prompt Shortcut?
For various reasons, a shortcut to the command prompt may be missing from your Start menu. If you need to get to it fast, just click the start button, choose "R"un, and then type COMMAND and press ENTER
System Sluggish? Check your Services
If your NT system is running a little sluggish, you may want to check and see if you have unneeded services running.
Click on the "Start" button, choosing "Settings," and then "Control Panel." Double-click the "Services" icon, and look at the list of services.
From the "Services" menu, you have many options including shutting down services temporarily or forcing them outright to never start up again. It is recommended, when attempting to disable services that you are unsure about it, to only temporarily disable such services at first and examine how NT reacts. Then, force the service to run manually instead of automatically, and if all goes well after a testing period, outright disable such service.
Can't Find the Mouse
There may be times when installing Win NT 4.0 that it can not detect the mouse. Even worse, the mouse service can not be started - period. According to the Microsoft Knowledge Base, this is normal with the release of NT 4.0 and can occur when performing an upgrade or under certain other conditions. If this happens, you may want to install the latest Service Pack which should fix the problem.
This error did occur on a test machine, and installing the service pack fixed the problem - just thought I would let you know. Getting *to* the download area wasn't fun without a mouse, though :(
Take Care with your Screensaver Choice
If you like to use screensavers, carefully decide which screensaver you wish to use on a server computer. Some of the fancier screensavers, such as the OpenGL screensavers, use a high percentage of CPU time, slowing down your running services. Stick with simple screensavers or use none at all for servers.
PowerToys - They're Not Just for Windows 95
Just because the PowerToys are under the Windows 95 section of the Microsoft(c) website <http://www.microsoft.com>, doesn't mean they're just for Windows 95. You can use several of the Win95 PowerToys on WinNT 4.0 as well. Two PowerToys the author has used are TweakUI and Command Prompt Here (which is basically just a simple Registry hack). So, stop taking the abuse from Win95 users who say WinNT can't handle the power - download the 'toys' today!
Free Disk Defragmenter
Windows NT 4.0, unlike Windows 95, does not come with a free program to defragment your hard drive. This does not mean that hard drives do not get fragmented under Windows NT 4.0 - the problem is just as real as it is under DOS or Win95. In order to get a disk defragmenter for free, visit <http://www.execsoft.com/> and download a copy of DiskKeeper Lite, a freeware version of a larger utility.
Cool Notepad Features
The version of Notepad under NT 4.0 has some nice features. You can edit text documents of virtually unlimited size, unlike Win95. If you try saving a text file with 0 bytes (an empty file), Notepad will just bring up a message box saying it cannot save such a file, then it will delete the empty file.
PCAnywhere Problems
Do you have problems getting PCAnywhere to work with Windows NT 4.0 as a service? If you are unable to start the host service, then the problem may be as simple as a file called "PROGRAM" existing in your root directory of your boot drive. Delete this file (or back it up first so you can see what was in that file) and restart PCAnywhere.
Disk Performance
Interested in seeing how well your hard drives are performing? If so, you need to turn on the performance monitor and test them out. Be forewarned that this will put a slight strain on the drives, so only turn on the disk monitors when you want to test your drives
Open a DOS prompt and type in 'diskperf -y' and press ENTER. Restart the machine. Now, you can open the Performance Monitor administrator utility and check your disk drive performance. Once you are done checking the results, turn off the monitors. Open a DOS prompt and type in 'diskperf -n' and press ENTER. Restart the machine.
Update your Emergency Repair Disk Often
It's better to be safe than sorry. If you have problems starting Windows NT 4.0, you may need the services of your Emergency Repair Disk. This disk, however, may not prove to be much help if it is not updated from time to time. Whenever you change the hardware on your NT machine, if you add a lot of software to your machine, or if you install a service pack or several hotfixes, you may wish to update the contents of your Emergency Repair Disk. This process is easy. Just insert your ERD (Emergency Repair/Recovery Disk) in your floppy drive and press the "Start" button, choosing "Help." On the multi-tabbed dialog box that appears, click "Index". Type "Repair Disk" and click "Display." Information about the ERD will appear - click the "Repair Disk" button. On the dialog box that next appears, click "Update Repair Info." When done, press the "Exit" button. When you are finished, close the ERD update utility and then close down Help, if you wish.
Switching from FAT to NTFS
If you plan on switching from a FAT file system to a NTFS file system for performance or other reasons, it is recommended to not convert drives from FAT to NTFS if you can help it. Instead, backup all of your files and start clean from a NTFS file structure. This way, the NTFS directory structure will be optimized and placed at the front of your hard drives.
TweakUI for Windows NT?
According to Microsoft Support Article Q168113 (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q168/1/13.ASP), Microsoft claims, but does not support, the use of Win 95's TweakUI under Windows NT 4.0. The article describes how TweakUI, as well as some of the other Win95 Powertoys, can be run under NT 4.0, as well as where to download the file.
Remove Arrows on Shortcut Icons
Want to remove the arrows on Windows NT shortcut icons? Tweak UI may be your answer. Check the "TweakUI for Windows NT" tip in this category for information on installation.
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