The Old New Thing

Why is a registry file called a "hive"?

August 8, 2003 Aug 8, 2003 08/8/03

Raymond Chen

Useless trivia day. Why is a registry file called a "hive"? Because one of the original developers of Windows NT hated bees.  So the developer who was responsible for the registry snuck in as many bee references as he could.  A registry file is called a "hive", and ...

Limitations on DLL resources in Windows 95

August 7, 2003 Aug 7, 2003 08/7/03

Raymond Chen

Ancient history lesson. When Win9x loads a 32-bit DLL, it creates a shadow 16-bit DLL so 16-bit code (like USER) can access resources in it. The shadow DLL is effectively a resource-only 16-bit DLL, created by taking the 32-bit resources and converting them to 16-bit format. ...

Changing the Windows boot logo

August 5, 2003 Aug 5, 2003 08/5/03

Raymond Chen

This is the answer I give to IT people when they ask if it's okay to customize the Windows boot logo. DO NOT DO THIS ON A PRODUCTION MACHINE OR YOU WILL REGRET IT. If you hack the bitmap everything will seem fine until six months down the road when you decide to install the ...

Why doesn't the new Start menu use Intellimenus in the All Programs list?

July 30, 2003 Jul 30, 2003 07/30/03

Raymond Chen

Common request: I want to be able to turn on personalized menus (Intellimenus) when in XP Start Menu mode. Imagine if Intellimenus were enabled with the XP Start Menu. You use 5 apps; the rest are not used much. (Studies show that 5 is the typical number of unique ...

Why doesn't Windows have an "expert mode"?

July 28, 2003 Jul 28, 2003 07/28/03

Raymond Chen

We often get requests like this: There should be a slider bar somewhere, say on the Performance Tab, that ranges from Novice to Advanced. At the highest level, all the geek settings are turned on. At the Novice level, all the settings for beginners are turned on. In between, we can gradually enable stuff...

Why do you have to click the Start button to shut down?

July 22, 2003 Jul 22, 2003 07/22/03

Raymond Chen

Short answer: The same reason you turn the ignition key to shut off your car. Long answer: Back in the early days, the taskbar didn't have a Start button. (In a future history column, you'll learn that back in the early days, the taskbar wasn't called the taskbar.) Instead of ...