If you have ever tried defining the Security Options policy setting called: "Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on", you may have had some difficulties formatting the message the way you wanted it. This blog is about "how to" workaround a minor bug in the GPEDIT tool…

 

The issue:

First things first - the Group Policy setting is located here:

"Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\"

The value is a Multi-String registry value that allows you to make multiple lines in the message. The message pops up right after a users hits Ctrl+Alt+Del as a general warning to the user before actually logging on. But, unfortunately the formatting isn’t as perfect as it could be.

What happens is, that carriage returns are lost after formatting this "pre-logon message" with GPEDIT, imagine you would want a message like this (see Figure 3):

—>

I don’t know why this should be so hard? Jump next line please…

Let’s do a comma, and continue the line…
Line number 4 is ready, but let’s jump line 5 & 6 now…

Line 7 finishes up this story!

<—

Such a message would end up as (see Figure 5):

—>

I don’t know why this should be so hard? Jump next line please…
Let’s do a comma, and continue the line…
Line number 4 is ready, but let’s jump line 5 & 6 now…
Line 7 finishes up this story!

<—

So, basically the problem is: line feeds/carriage returns/empty lines disappear completely!

You can actually see this within the GPEDIT GUI, but only if you hit "Apply" before "OK" - if you just hit "OK" after typing in your message you cannot see that it’s actually changed by GPEDIT (so you think the formatting is working as it should). I tested this behavior with GPEDIT on Windows XP SP2 (local policy), Windows Server 2003 SP1 (domain policy), Windows Vista SP Pre-RC (local policy) and Windows Server 2008 RC1 (domain policy).

Figure 1 - I typed in my message with the format I wanted:

Figure 2 - I clicked Apply, and the formatting was changed:

If I had just click OK I wouldn’t have noticed the change - anyway it’s a bit annoying, right?

 

Solution/Workaround:

The solution I came up with is to modify the policy file directly/manually using Notepad. The file is located here:

"\\DOMAIN.local\SYSVOL\DOMAIN.local\Policies\{GPO-GUID}\MACHINE\Microsoft\Windows NT\SecEdit\GptTmpl.inf"

Within that file we have the relevant registry value, called "LegalNoticeText":

MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\LegalNoticeText=7,I don’t know why this should be so hard? Jump next line please…," ",Let’s do a comma"," and continue the line…,Line number 4 is ready"," but let’s jump line 5 & 6 now…," "," ",Line 7 finishes up this story!

Notice the " " (<quote><space><quote>) sequences, which are the same as empty lines.

This is the relevant line from a working GptTempl.inf file (the correct syntax written manually), and it actually works great:

Figure 3 - Pre-logon message on a Windows Server 2003 SP1 Domain Controller: 

Figure 4 - The above inserted GptTmpl.inf line also works for Windows XP SP2 in the same domain:

So, this proves that the INI file can actually be correctly formatted so clients (tested w/WS2003 SP1 and XP SP2 in a domain) can show the message perfectly. Please notice that the behavior is similar with local policies, but my testing has been focused on domain environments so far.

If you try to modify the working policy setting using GPEDIT again - after changing just a tiny bit (or just hitting OK to an existing setting) within the GPO the formatting/syntax is ruined again unfortunately (when GPO is saved by GPEDIT)! Look here what came out of it when I tested it:

MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\LegalNoticeText=7,I don’t know why this should be so hard? Jump next line please…,Let’s do a comma"," and continue the line…,Line number 4 is ready"," but let’s jump line 5 & 6 now…,Line 7 finishes up this story!

Notice the " " (<quote><space><quote>) sequences are gone! This gives a wrong result (no empty lines) when clients get the pre-logon message.

Figure 5 - The formatting is lost (or wrong) when GPEDIT does the job:

 

Please notice, if you’re testing this you will have to define an additional policy setting for it to work, namely the "Interactive logon: Message title for users attempting to log on" setting.

Figure 6 - The title must be set for pre-logon message to appear

 

Conclusion

So, my conclusion is that (existing version of) GPEDIT doesn’t modify the GptTmpl.inf file properly (or the registry for local policies for that matter) - for this particular value at least… My best guess is that it doesn’t handle the quotes (") correctly, but I can’t be 100% sure. A bug report has been made for Microsoft - so hopefully it will be fixed before the final release of Windows Server 2008 and the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT).

However, as mentioned you can make it work with a workaround like this: Just perform the GptTmpl.inf (below SYSVOL) editing manually, make a backup of the file when it’s perfect - and never touch that GPO with GPEDIT again… Until Microsoft releases an updated version of GPEDIT anyway.

 

Related KB articles out there:
KB 330618
KB 238149
Technet article

 

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Microsoft has released Visual Studio 2008 with a 90-day free trial of their integrated development environment this week. The Professional Edition download ISO is 3.4 GB and must be burned onto a…

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• Leopard as the New Vista?
  More talk about how Leopard is suffering from some of the same pains as Vista.
  (tags: Apple )

Measuring the performance of an operating system is a tricky thing.  At the same time, it’s the right and necessary thing to do, because performance is one of many criteria important to customers.  Part of the trick of measuring performance is to time testing execution with the product cycle such that the results are as meaningful as possible for customers; this helps them make a better decision by making use of the full array of available information.  As one example, about a year ago we commissioned a firm called Principled Technologies to conduct a study comparing Windows XP SP2 to Windows Vista RTM.  That study found the performance measures of the two operating systems were within the same range for many tasks that home and business users frequently perform under real-world conditions.

My point is that we waited to conduct these benchmarking tests until Windows Vista had reached the RTM milestone in the product cycle, as this allowed us to provide our customers the most meaningful data available at the time — the data most likely to directly affect their decision to upgrade to Windows Vista.  We do a whole range of performance tests at every stage of the OS development process, but, as a general rule, we avoid sharing benchmark tests of software that hasn’t gone RTM (i.e., final code).  This explains why we have not to date published any findings of benchmark tests (nor commissioned anyone to do so) on performance improvements brought about by Windows Vista SP1.  Publishing benchmarks of the performance of Windows Vista SP1 now wouldn’t be a worthwhile exercise for our customers, as the code is still in development and, to the degree that benchmarking tests are involved, remains a moving target.

Aside from that point, let me also emphasize that there are a variety of ways to benchmark the performance of a PC.  Different techniques can yield different results.  Some benchmark techniques simply test PC hardware performance by running a series of tasks at superhuman speed.  Such tests tend to exaggerate small differences between test platforms and consequently are used less frequently nowadays, replaced in favor of benchmarks running tasks at human speeds with realistic waits and data entry.  Benchmarks that run at superhuman speeds often deliver results that don’t tell the whole story.  In fact, we made deliberate choices during the development of Windows Vista to focus on real-world scenarios affecting user experience, rather than focusing on improvement of microsecond operations imperceptible to the user.  In addition, in Windows many operations can require additional processing time for work that is done for reasons that benefit the customer; these can include security, reliability or application compatibility checks conducted when a program launches.  These operations may add microseconds to an individual application’s launch that under real usage isn’t perceivable to the human eye.  When thousands such operations are strung together through automation, those few microseconds can have a cumulative effect on the benchmark result, causing performance to appear much better or worse than expected.

I’ve included below a video we captured depicting a “benchmark test” running a window-open, window-close routine at accelerated speed.  You can see that it isn’t representative of real-world user behavior and hence isn’t an accurate gauge of the actual end-user experience.  Further, tests like these only measure a very small set of Windows capabilities and so aren’t representative of the user’s overall day-to-day experience of working with Windows and running applications.

Video: Windows Vista benchmark testing

Methods like those of Principled Technologies that actually approximate the experience of using the PC, taking an OS through the paces of completing actual tasks at the approximate pace a user might click through them, tend to provide results far more useful to our customers.  The typical Windows customer generally wants to know how his/her actual computing experience will change (read: improve) with an upgrade.  The Principled Technologies tests do that.

For what it’s worth, I can personally attest that I prefer to get my work done on Windows Vista SP1 RC bits.  I run Windows Vista RTM on two production machines and SP1 RC bits on two others; in fact, I’m writing this post on a machine with SP1 RC bits installed.  As a part of our internal SP1 testing program, I know that we continue to develop and improve SP1 every day, in large part based on feedback and bug submissions from external an internal Beta-test program members.  IMO, the perceived gains in performance between SP1 Beta and SP1 RC code are significant.  As I said at the beginning, though, performance is only part of the story — don’t forget that SP1 also brings support for new types of hardware and several emerging standards, and further eases an IT administrator’s deployment and management efforts.

But don’t take my word alone for it.  We’ll broaden the testing pool of SP1 RC bits soon (very soon), so when I post that notice here on the blog, you’ll be able to put Windows Vista SP1 RC through its paces yourself.  I think you’ll find the experience worthwhile and satisfying.

The next version of Mozilla Firefox, codenamed Gran Paradiso, but better known as Firefox 3 is now entering the final phase of testing with the release of the Beta 1 software It’s still a bit early for everyday use but developers and geeks are welcome to give it a test run, and help Mozilla iron out any remaining bugs. It has lots of interesting new features, including Information about the site you are visiting just click on the site’s ‘Favicon’ (the little icon that appears on the address bar, it has beefed up malware protection, better all round security, integration with anti-virus software (it alerts your AV program if it detects anything suspicious in a download), and there’s a ‘resume’ download feature if your connection is interrupted for any reason. Password management has been simplified, the useful Find toolbar now opens automatically and early reports suggest that it is faster and more stable than its predecessors and barring any last minute disasters the finished version is on course for release early next year.

anti virus software, developers, final phase, finished version, Firefox, Internet, mozilla, mozilla firefox, password management, security integration, Web

As you know, windows services start when your Windows XP is booted and it will run in the background as long as your Windows XP is running. Many of these services running automatically when your Windows XP is booted and they can make your computer slow down. There are many windows services are needed but some of them can be turn off safely.

So today I’ll show you how to make your computer faster by turn off unnecessary Windows XP services. Before we begin I suggest you to make a restore point because if something happens to your computer you can go back to an earlier configuration. So this is good option for you to avoid a lot of damage to your computer.

Let’s begin by click on Start Menu > Run > type services.msc and then click “Ok” to launch Services utility.

As you can see there are many services and from here you can change startup type to automatic, manual or disabled by double click on it.

How to turn off the windows services? Simply double click on the service that you want to disable and then click Stop. When the service is stopped, click on the Startup type and then select Disabled to disable the service.

Below is a list of unnecessary Windows XP services that you can be turn off safely:

AdobeLM Service:
It is useless. Disable it if you have it.

Alerter:
Disable it if you are not on a network

Automatic Updates:
Disable it if you don’t need this service.

ClipBook:
Disable it if you are not on a network

Computer Browser:
Disable it if you are not on a network

Error Reporting Service:
Enable you to report errors to Microsoft. This service is useless, you can disable this one.

Fast User Switching Compatibility:
Disable it if you don’t use this feature much.

Help and Support:
Disable this service if you don’t need it. By disable this service, the Windows Help and Support center will not be available.

IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service:
You can disable this service if you don’t have a CD Burner.

Indexing Service:
Disable this service because it uses a lot of memory.

IPSEC Services:
This service is used to manage IP security policy. You can set this service to manual.

Messenger:
Disable it for your good..hehe

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing:
To enables an authorized user to access your computer remotely. I think you can disable this service for security issues.

Performance Logs and Alerts:
You can disable it if you never read the log files. : )

Portable Media Serial Number Service:
Set this service to manual.

Print Spooler:
Don’t have a printer? You can disable this service if you don’t have a printer. This service is necessary for printing only.

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager:
You can disable this service if you don’t use remote desktop function.

Remote Registry:
To enables remote users to modify registry settings on your computer. Disable it for your good.

Routing and Remote Access:
You can set this service to manual.

Removable Storage:
Set this service to manual.

Security Center:
Disable this service.

Server:
Disable it if you are not on a network.

Smart Card:
You can disable this service if you don’t have a smart card.

Telnet:
You can disable this service if you are home users.

Terminal Services:
Set this service to manual.

Uninterruptible Power Supply:
You can set this service to manual.

Universal Plug and Play Device Host:
Set this service to manual.

Windows Image Acquisition:
Set this service to manual.

Wireless Zero Configuration:
You can disable this service if you don’t have any wireless network adapter.

WMI Performance Adapter:
Disable it.

Workstation:
Disable it if you are not on a network.

I hope this article helps you to make your computer faster by turn off unnecessary Windows XP services. : )