Reader Challenge

Customizing Window Positions
[Editor's Note: Solve this month's Windows NT problem and get the chance to win $100 or a copy of one of the author's books about NT. Email your solutions to challenge@winntmag.com. Include your full name, mailing address, and connection to NT (e.g., administrator, user). Because of the number of entries, we cannot reply to all respondents. Look for the solution to this month's problem in the May issue.]

This month's problem comes from several readers. Quite a few IS managers wrote to me with variations of the problem, which can occur on Windows NT, Windows 98, and Win95 systems.

PROBLEM
Joe had a problem running NT Backup. When he clicked OK in the Backup Information dialog box, the window that displays the backup's running statistics opened so far up on his screen that he could see only the bottom of the window (including the OK and Abort buttons). He couldn't pull the window into view with the title bar. Joe closed the window and tried relaunching it several times. Each time, the window opened at the far top of his screen, making it impossible to use.

This problem isn't restricted to NT Backup; it can occur with any software. You can use several temporary methods to move a window and make it accessible. However, when you relaunch the application, the problem returns. How do you solve this problem permanently?

NOVEMBER WINNERS
Congratulations to Dustin Sauter of Phoenix, Arizona, and to Bill Bartolotta of Ellicott City, Maryland. Dustin won first prize of $100 for the best solution to the November Reader Challenge. Bill won second prize of a copy of Windows NT Troubleshooting (Osborne/McGraw-Hill).

SOLUTION
Linda, an IS director, has to upgrade her company's Windows NT network to accommodate dozens of new employees. Linda wants to speed up the logon process and institute redundancy in case of machine failure. She adds two Backup Domain Controllers (BDCs). She must then deal with replication. Linda keeps the following log. Identify any mistakes she makes, and explain what problems might occur.

11/2: I added a new user named REP for replication. The user has full administrative rights. I configured the default user setup (i.e., user must change password every 30 days, system permits changes immediately, system does not keep a password history, and system locks user out after three incorrect password attempts).

An interactive logon doesn't require a user for replication. Replication will fail if Linda doesn't make password changes in a timely manner.

11/3: I set up directory-replication services on all domain controllers for the REP user. I configured the startup type as Automatic. In Server Manager, I used default settings for the replication directories.

These actions are perfectly reasonable.

11/4: I added a new group named Accounting to the domain. All accounting department employees belong to this group, and I removed these users from all other groups. The Accounting group has the same permissions as the Account Operators group.

From a technical standpoint, this action is correct. However, it's risky.

11/5: I added a subdirectory, \Winnt\Repl\AccntScripts, to hold logon scripts for the accounting department. I entered this directory name in the user profile for each group member.

Replication will fail. Scripts must be in a directory under \%systemroot%\Repl\Export. If you put scripts anywhere else, you must change the replication scheme on the import and export computers.

11/6: Catherine and Beth (both members of the Account Operators group) had trouble logging on. I opened Server Manager on the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and selected the BDC. Then I forced replication from the Computer menu and told them to try logging on again.

Replication will probably fail. Forced replication from Server Manager results in a partial replication in NT 4.0 (although it worked in NT 3.51). You need to force replication from the command line with the net accounts /sync command. The Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit also has a useful utility called NLTEST.

11/9: For redundancy and backup, I established an NT 4.0 workstation as an import computer. Tomorrow I will configure the import workstation for export so it can send information to the BDCs in case of PDC problems.

You can't export from an NT workstation (although you can import).

11/10: The IS department is creating a second domain for the new offices on the third floor. The servers are connected through the 10Base-T concentrator, and I am wiring them as a separate leg on the LAN. I will establish a trust in both directions so that replication will be automatic.

Replication isn't automatic between trusting domains. You must establish replication for import and export.

End of Article