Disable the Getting Started dialog

W2K displays the Getting Started dialog box when you
first logon. There are three options available:

• Register Now that runs the Windows 2000
  Registration Wizard
  
• Discover Windows that runs a multimedia
  introduction to W2K features
  
• Connect to the Internet that runs the Internet
  Connection Wizard.

Most of us turn it off immediately by clearing the
Show this screen at startup check box on the Getting Started
with Windows 2000 screen. . This turns it our in your profile. Each new
user of a W2K workstation will be presented the Getting
Started dialog box. As an administrator, if you want to stop the option
from being presented to each new person logging onto a workstation, you will
need to turn the option off in the Default User profile which is used to create
the profile used by each new user of the workstation. To edit the Default User’s
registry

• start regedt32
  
• click the HK_Local_Machine window
  
• choose Registry
  
• load Hive
  
• browse to and select \Documents and Settings\Default
  User\Ntuser.dat
  
• when prompted for a key name, enter any name you wish but I used defaultuser

• expand the loaded hive and make the following registry change:
  

  Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips
  
  Name: Show
  
  Type: REG_DWORD
  
  Value: 0
  
  

  
  
• click the defaultuser hive
  
• choose Registry
  
• unload Hive
  
• close the Registry Editor

You can test the hack by logging onto
the workstation with as a new user. If it worked, you will not get the Getting Started dialog box. If you need to get to the Getting Started dialog box for any profile, it can be started
from the Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools.