REG: User Preferences Entries, PART 3

• Windows NT operating system version 3.1
• Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

• International Entry Values for Users
• Keyboard and Keyboard Layout Entries for Users
• Mouse Entries for Users
• Multimedia and Sound Entries for Users

This is the third of five articles on the User Preferences entries; for the other entries, see "User Preferences Entries, Part 1," and "User Preferences Entries, Part 2," "User Preferences Entries, Part 4," and "User Preferences Entries, Part 5".

REGISTRY ENTRIES FOR USER PREFERENCES

The information presented here is primarily for troubleshooting, showing the default entry values and explaining the meaning of important entries. There are no hidden values that you can set for user preferences. All of these values can be set using the icons in Control Panel or the tools in the Administrative Tools group, or other programs provided with Windows NT.

All Registry paths shown here are for HKEY_CURRENT_USER, to show how you can view entries for the currently logged on user. However, most of these entries also appear in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT, where changing entries will change values for the default user profile.

INTERNATIONAL ENTRY VALUES FOR USERS

The International subkey describes how to display dates, times, currency, and other items for a specific country, under the following Registry path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International

The following table summarizes entry values under this subkey. All data types are REG_SZ. To change any of these items, choose the International icon in Control Panel.

iCountry   REG_SZ   country

Specifies the country code. This number matches the country’s international telephone code, except for Canada, which is 2.

iCurrDigits   REG_SZ   number

Specifies the number of digits to put after the decimal separator in currency.

iCurrency   REG_SZ   number

Specifies a positive currency format, where 0 = $2, 1 = 2$, 2 = $ 2, and 3

= 2 $. iDate   REG_SZ   number

Specifies a numerical date format for compatibility with Windows 2.x, where 0 = 12/31/90, 1 = 31/12/90, and 2 = 90/12/31.

iDigits   REG_SZ   number

Specifies the number of digits to display after the decimal separator in numbers.

iLZero   REG_SZ   0 or 1

Specifies whether to put leading zeros in decimal numbers, where 0 = .7 and 1 = 0.7.

iMeasure   REG_SZ   0 or 1

Specifies the measurement system as metric or English, where 0 = metric and 1 = English.

iNegCurr   REG_SZ   number

Specifies a negative number format, where:

   0 = ($1)   4 = (1$)   8 = -1 $   12 = $ -1.1
   1 = -$1   5 = -1$   9 = -$ 1   13 = 1.1- $
   2 = $-1   6 = 1-$   10 = 1 $-   14 = ($ 1.1)
   3 = $1-   7 = 1$-   11 = $ 1-   15 = (1.1 $)

iTime   REG_SZ   number

Specifies whether to format time using a 12-hour or 24-hour clock, where 0 = 1:00 (12-hour clock) and 1 = 13:00 (24-hour clock).

iTLZero   REG_SZ   number

 The U.S. English default is 0. The actual time separator is specified by

Specifies whether to put leading zeros in time, where 0 = 9:15 and 1 = 09:15.

Locale   REG_SZ   number

Specifies the current user’s locale ID for the local language preferences, based on values defined in CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Language.

s1159   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the time marker to use in time strings before noon in the 12-hour time format.

s2359   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the time marker to use in time strings after noon in the 12-hour format or that follows all times in the 24-hour format. The U.S. English default is PM.

sCountry   REG_SZ   string

 The U.S. English default is United States.

sCurrency   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the currency symbol you want to use.

sDate   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the symbol separating numbers for the short date.

sDecimal   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the punctuation used to separate the fractional part of a decimal number from the whole number part.

sLanguage   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the language you want to work in. Windows applications that provide language specific tasks, such as sorting or spell checking, use this entry. The U.S. English default is enu. Values for the locales supported for the first version of Windows NT are the following:

   csy = Czech                     rc = French (Canadian)
   dan = Danish                   frs = French (Swiss)
   deu = German                   hun = Hungarian
   des = German (Swiss)           isl = Icelandic
   dea = German (Austrian)        ita = Italian
   ell = Greek                    its = Italian (Swiss)
   ena = English (Australia)      nlb = Dutch (Belgian)
   enc = English (canada)         nld = Dutch
   eng = English (U.K.)           non = Norwegian (Nynorsk)
   eni = English (Irish)          nor = Norwegian (Bokmal)
   enu = English (U.S.)           plk = Polish
   enz = English (New Zeal.)      ptb = Portuguese (Brazilian)
   esm = Spanish (Mexican)        ptg = Portuguese
   esn = Modern Spanish           rus = Russian
   esp = Castilian Spanish        sky = Slovak
   fin = Finnish                  svc = Swedish
   fra = French                   trk = Turkish
   frb = French (Belgian)

sLiisl = Icelandic   st   REG_SZ   string

ita = ItalianSpecifies the character used to separate items in a list. In U.S. English, the nld = Dutchmost common separator is a comma.

sLonor = Norwegian   ngDate   REG_SZ   format

ptg = Portuguese   Specifies your choices for the long date formats,
including abbreviations for the sve = Swedish   words and separators.

   d = Day (1-31)
   dd = Day (01-31)
   ddd = Day (Mon-Sun)
   dddd = Day (Monday-Sunday)
   M = Month (1-12)
   MM = Month (01-12)
   MMM = Month (Jan-Dec)
   MMMM = Month (January-December)
   yy = Year (00-99)
   yyyy = Year (1900-2040)

sShortDate   REG_SZ   format

Specifies a choice for the short date format, including abbreviations for the words and separators, according to the list described for sLongDate. Control Panel accepts only certain format combinations. Therefore, you should use Control Panel to change this setting.

sThousand   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the symbol used to separate thousands. For example, if the value is a comma, the number appears as 3,000.

sTime   REG_SZ   string

Specifies the character used to separate the hours, minutes, and seconds in time. For example, if the value is a colon, the time appears as 15:29:31.

KEYBOARD AND KEYBOARD LAYOUT ENTRIES FOR USERS

The Keyboard entry contains user preferences as defined by choosing the Keyboard icon in Control Panel. Entries are found under this Registry path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard

InitialKeyboardIndicators   REG_SZ   Number

Specifies initial values for keys. 0 means that NUMLOCK is turned off after the user logs on; 2 means NUMLOCK is turned on after the user logs on. This value is set during log off or shutdown to preseve the state of the NUMLOCK key at that time.

KeyboardDelay   REG_SZ   0 to 3

Establishes how much time elapses after you hold down a key before the key starts to repeat. The values 0 through 3 provide a linear scale from the smallest delay supported by the keyboard driver to the largest delay. Typically, 0 represents 250 milliseconds, and 3 represents 1 second, with a 20 percent accuracy.

KeyboardSpeed   REG_SZ   0 to 31

Sets how much time elapses between repetitions of a character on the display when you hold down a keyboard key. The values 0 through 31 provide a linear scale from the slowed repeat rate supported by the keyboard driver to the fastest repeat rate. Typically, 0 represents 2 per second, and 31 represents 30 per second.

The Keyboard Layout key records the user’s preferred layout, which is loaded and activated by the system when the user logs on. Entries are found under this Registry path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard Layout

Active   REG_SZ   KeyboardLayout

The Keyboard Layout\Substitutes key is empty by default. This subkey records a mapping between keyboard layout names. The system checks the user’s Substitutes subkey when loading the keyboard driver, and if a substitute is specified, the corresponding layout name is substituted. For example, an entry such as the following under the Keyboard Layout\Substitutes subkey indicates that the user prefers the Dvorak U.S. English keyboard layout (00010409) to the standard U.S. English keyboard layout (00000409).

00000409 : REG_SZ : 00010409

MOUSE ENTRIES FOR USERS

To change these entries, choose the Mouse icon from Control Panel.

DoubleClickSpeed   REG_SZ   milliseconds

Sets the maximum time between clicks of the mouse button that the system permits for one double-click. The lower the value for this entry, the less time you have to click twice to double-click.

MouseSpeed   REG_SZ   0 or 1 or 2

Sets the relationship between mouse and cursor movement when the value of either MouseThreshold1 or MouseThreshold2 is exceeded. When this occurs, cursor movement accelerates according to the value of MouseSpeed.

Value      Meaning

0          No acceleration
1          The cursor is moved twice the normal speed when mouse movement
           exceeds the value of MouseThreshold1
2          The cursor is moved twice the normal speed when the mouse
           movementexceeds the value of MouseThreshold1, or four times the
           normal speed if mouse movement exceeds MouseThreshold2.


MouseThreshold1   REG_SZ   pixels
MouseThreshold2   REG_SZ   pixels

Default:          MouseThreshold1=6
                  MouseThreshold2=10

SwapMouseButtons   REG_SZ   Boolean

Specifies whether to swap the right and left mouse buttons. If the value is 1, the buttons are swapped.

Multimedia and Sound Entries for Users Values related to user preferences for multimedia items in Control Panel are found in the following Registry path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel

Multimedia subkey   Default value entries

MMCPL            H=230
                 NumApps=20
                 W=442
                 X=88
                 Y=84
Sound            Beep=yes
Sounds           Enable=1
                 SystemAsterisk=chord.wav,Asterisk
                 SystemDefault=ding.wav,Default Beep
                 SystemExclamation=chord.wav,Exclamation
                 SystemExit=chord.wav,Windows Logoff
                 SystemHand=chord.wav,Critical Stop
                 SystemQuestion=chord.wav,Question
                 SystemStart=tada.wav.Windows Logon