Terminal Server Registry Settings for Applications

ID: Q186499

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

This article discusses the registry settings that can be used to modify application behavior on a Terminal Server computer.

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

Controlling Application Execution in Execute Mode

Several compatibility bits can be set for an application, registry path, or .ini file to change how a Terminal Server computer handles the merging of application initialization data when a session is in execute mode. These compatibility bits are set in the registry under the following subkey:


   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
   \Terminal Server\Compatibility

NOTE: The above registry key is all one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

There are three separate keys for applications, .ini files, and registry entries under this registry path.

The default settings work for most applications, but can be further tuned using the compatibility bits described below.

WARNING: These compatibility bits should only be changed if an application is not working properly.

The first set of compatibility bits indicates the version of the application that the settings are for. Not all combinations are useful; for example, an MS-DOS application will never make any registry calls. Because the path to the file is not specified, and multiple applications may use the same file name (for example, Setup.exe and Install.exe are now regularly used for installation programs), specifying the application type will help ensure the compatibility settings do not affect other applications with the same file name.

Add together the values of the bits you want to set to determine the String value. For example, to return the user name instead of the computer name for both 16-bit and 32-bit versions of Myapp.exe, create a subkey in the registry by performing the following steps:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe), and go to the following subkey:
```
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
   \Terminal Server\Compatibility\Applications\Myapp 
```
NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and type the following information:
Value Name: Flags of Type: REG_DWORD
In the Data field, type the hex value of 11C (add 0x00000004 for 16-bit Windows applications, 0x00000008 for 32-bit Windows applications, 0x00000010 to return user name instead of computer name, and 0x00000100 to disable registry mapping).

Applications

The compatibility bits below affect the application when it is running and are located in the following registry subkey:


   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
   \Terminal Server\Compatibility\Applications\Appname

NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

NOTE: Appname is the name of the application's executable file (for example, if the executable file name for an application is Prog1.exe, Appname would be PROG1).

Compatibility Bits:

MS-DOS application: 0x00000001

OS/2 application: 0x00000002

Windows 16-bit application: 0x00000004

Windows 32-bit application: 0x00000008

Return user name instead of computer name: 0x00000010

Return Terminal Server build number: 0x00000020

Disable registry mapping for this application: 0x00000100

Do not substitute user Windows directory: 0x00000400

Limit the reported memory: 0x00000800

Use the "Return user name instead of computer name" flag <or bit?> for applications that use the computer name as a unique identifier. This returns the user's name to the application, thereby giving each user of the application a unique identifier.

Use the "Disable registry mapping for this application" <bit? Or flag?> to retain only one global copy of the registry variables used by the application.

The "Do not substitute user Windows directory" bit, when set, retains the SystemRoot directory for GetWindowsDirectory API calls. The default action if this bit is not set is to replace all paths to the Windows directory with the path to the user's Windows directory.

.INI Files

The compatibility bits below control .ini file propagation and are located in the following registry subkey:


   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
   \Terminal Server\Compatibility\IniFiles\Inifile

NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

NOTE: Inifile is the name of the .ini file (for example, if the .ini file name for an application is Prog1.ini, Inifile would be PROG1).

Compatibility Bits:

Windows 16-bit application: 0x00000004

Windows 32-bit application: 0x00000008

Synchronize user .ini file to system version: 0x00000040

Do not substitute user Windows directory: 0x00000080

The "Synchronize user .ini file to system version" bit<or flag?>, when set, adds new entries from the system master .ini file when the application is started, but does not delete any existing data in the user's .ini file. The default action, if this bit is not set, is to overwrite the user's .ini file if it is older than the system master .ini file.

The "Do not substitute user Windows directory" bit, when set, retains the SystemRoot directory for file paths in the .ini file when the system master version of the .ini file is copied to the user's Windows directory. The default action, if this bit is not set, is to replace all paths to the Windows directory with the path to the user's Windows directory.

Registry Paths

The compatibility bits below control registry propagation and are located in the following registry subkey:


   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
   \Terminal Server\Compatibility\RegistryEntries\PathName

NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

NOTE: Pathname is the registry path under the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software (for example, if the registry variable path for an application is HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\BrandX\Prog1, Pathname would be Brandx\Prog1).

Compatibility Bits:

Windows 32-bit application: 0x00000008

Disable registry mapping for application: 0x00000100

The "Disable registry mapping for application" bit<Or flag?>, when set, adds new entries from the system master registry image when the application is started, but does not delete any existing data in the user's registry. The default action, if this bit is not set, is to delete and overwrite the user's registry data if it is older than the system master registry data.

For more information, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

Q186514 Terminal Server Does Not Support Sentinel Devices

Additional query words:

Keywords :
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo