Product Description

Windows 2000 Registry Little Black Book, 2nd Edition is a concise and portable guide to configuration changes that can be made to Windows 2000 to aid in the administration of the operating system and improve performance and stability. The book has been revised and updated from the successful first edition based on actual Windows 2000 implementations. It includes four important new chapters thoroughly covering registry tools, registry disaster prevention, registry programming, and MS Office. The book presents general networking information including protocols and interoperability, local and network printers, remote access service and security. It contains insight on COM+, Internet Information Server, Internet Explorer, MS Transaction Server, SQL Server, and MS Office. Plus, the book has a tear-out quick reference card packed with valuable information.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1751491 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Amazon.com Review
A cookbook of hacks you can make to the Registries of the various Windows 2000 operating systems, Windows 2000 Registry Little Black Book will help Windows 2000 administrators make their machines behave the way they want. It'll also help them get a better understanding of how Windows 2000 works, and more than likely introduce them to capabilities of the operating system that aren't well publicized in standard documentation.

Like all books in the Black Book series, the chapters in Windows 2000 Registry Little Black Book (each of which has to do with a functional area, like TCP/IP networking or the graphical user interface) are divided into "In Brief" and "Immediate Solutions" sections. "In Brief" is meant to explain the concepts that underlie the recipes and procedures that appear in the "Immediate Solutions" section, but for this subject the section seems to have been included as a formality--it's miniscule in most chapters and serves only to introduce some terms (terms you should be familiar with if you're considering hacking the Registry). "Immediate Solutions" sections are good, though wordy: every last Registry change is documented with a procedure that begins, "Launch Regedt32." This book could be a third of its present size if this padding were cut. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to change the values of Windows 2000 Registry keys to bring about particular behaviors, such as changing authentication timeouts and changing the way Windows reacts to a service's failure to start; Registry hacks for networking; the graphical user interface; multimedia; hardware; and Internet Information Server (IIS).

About the Author
Nathan Wallace (Lakewood, CO) has been a software developer for Windows NT since version 3.51 and has been a best-selling computer book author since 1995, with over fifteen books in print and more than 100,000 copies sold. He is a Microsoft Sitebuilder Network Level 2 member specializing in COM+ programming, and participated in the Windows 2000 beta program from its inception.

Anthony Sequeira (Fountain Hills, Arizona) has been an expert in the area of Microsoft Windows technology for the past eight years and has achieved MCT, MCSE+ I, MCSD, and MCDBA certifications. He has consulted, authored books and magazine articles, and taught tens of thousands of IT professionals worldwide. He is currently a Senior Technical Instructor with KnowledgeNet - a revolutionary e-learning based training company based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. He also writes KnowledgeNet News, an electronic newsletter publication that is distributed via e-mail to 100,000 + subscribers.

Customer Reviews

Filled with redundant information
First off, the book starts with "This book is not for amateurs." I fully agree, as modifying the Windows registry can have a huge effect (good or bad) on your server. However, I would venture a guess that most users already know how to launch Regedt32. And for those that don't, you would only need to explain it once or twice in the entire text. From then on, "Launch Regedt32" would suffice in the text... But in this case, almost EVERY page in the text has detailed explanations on HOW to launch Regedt32, such that it accounts for about 25% of every page! Overall, that's about 25% of about 440 pages filled with redundant information!

Second, I would estimate that 30-50% of the registry tweaks described can be accomplished without modifying the registry directly. Any NT or Windows 2000 administrator worth his / her salt will probably know this, and would prefer to accomplish the "tweak" without modifying the registry directly.

So overall, 55-75% (25% + 30-50%) of the text is not going to be useful to the typical reader! Disappointing.

There are several aspects of the text that I do like... If you have a specific problem (like how to implement automatic logons without user input), the book has a very simple step-by-step approach to solving these effectively. It also explains the registry layout a bit, and what some of the subkeys are used for.

Excellent Reference Book
This is an excellent reference book with a detachable quick reference card on the WIN98 registry. The format makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for without reading the entire chapter. It gives step by step instructions on how to accomplish a given task. Also, tips are given in each chapter.

BEST REFERENCE BOOK ON REGISTRY
This was the first book that I read concerning the Windows 98 Registry and could have stopped after finishing this book. The other books lacked the concise detail provided by this book.

This book provides what every computer reference book should but doesn't. Readable informative prose combined with detailed instructions clearly outlining how to accomplish any type of editing possible.

I am the caretaker for a computer lab at work and used this book on a daily basis at work and home. I finally purchased a second copy to cut down on wear and tear of the original. The book is a valuable tool and anyone working with Windows 98 on a daily basis should include this book in their library.