Daneek.com

Some of you have been wanting to know how to make your computer type in russian. Windows operating systems (2000, XP, an even earlier) all have the keyboard layouts built into the system. It is just the matter of going into the control panel and selecting the right layout. Those Russians that have grown up in the States (or any other English speaking country) often do not know the true Russian keyboard layout (and who cares.. right?). There is a way of using the phonetic method of typing Russian words using the English alphabet. That is not always the best way to express yourself. Here is the solution… You need to install the phonetic keyboard layout. The Russian letters will then correspond to the same-sounding letter in the English language. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part it is easily mastered. Here are the steps:

These steps are intended for computers running Microsoft Windows XP. Please visit Russian keyboard etc. page for other options and instructions. The following information has been obtained from the previously mentioned URL/Website.
I. Make sure that the generic Russian keyboard and the Russian (Typewriter) layouts are installed. Confirm with the following steps if you are not sure:

1. Go to the Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options
2. Choose Languages and click on Details
3. If there is not a Russian layout selected (“RU”) then click ADD and select Russian
4. Repeat the same step and choose Russian (Typewriter) keyboard layout

II. Download the Russian phonetic keyboard files.

1. Unzip the contents of the file by right-clicking and choosing Open With -> Compressed (zipped) Folders
2. Make sure that you can find the 3 unziped files in the location that you unziped to: KBD1251Y.DLL, y1251_nt.REG, and std_nt.REG.

III. Copy and paste the file KBD1251.DLL to the following folder: C:\WINDOWS\System32

IV. Double-click y1251_nt.REG file and click “OK”.

V. Restart your computer.

You should now be able to see the icon at the bottom right portion of the screen on the taskbar that indicates the current keyboard layout; “EN” for English and “RU” for Russian. The quick way of switching between is by holding Alt and presing Shift (Alt + Shift). If you are not satisfied whith this layout, then you can remove it by running the std_nt.REG file (keep this file for future use).

[inspic=91,left,fullscreen,thumb] I must say that I am impressed with this little program. It is amazing how easy it is to master. Mastering it will take much less time than 3ds Max or Maya. I’m not proficient in any, that is why I have given SketchUp 5 a try. SketchUp 5, created by @Last Software, has been recently purchased by Google (I wonder if it will become a free tool… nah, probably not). Here are some pictures of a house that I created from scratch (not a tutorial). I was amazed what I could do in one little sitting for [inspic=88,right,fullscreen,thumb] the first time. I know that when I tried 3ds Max and Maya, I never got close to even learning how to render. Of course the above mentioned programs are professional in their class and probably should not be compared to SketchUp. For the armatures out there, that are interested in creating 3D objects, you have to give SketchUp a try. I just hope I have more time to experiment with this software.

-DK-

For a while I have been going to each computer and unchecking/checking a couple of boxes in the Internet Explorer’s Internet Options. We would needed to turn of the annoying “Reuse windows for launching shortcuts” option and allowing AutoComplete to work as we wanted. There are not policies in AD to manage these options. So finally I decided to research and automate this process.

ADM files create a registry setting that is not stored in a policies key and thus considered a preference. Therefore it the Group Policy Object that implements this setting is ever removed, this setting will remain.

The .adm file is stored in the C:\WINDOWS\inf directory.

I have created one ADM file named “rhb.adm” that contains two different policies:

1. Reuse Windows for launching Shortcuts
2. AutoComplete

Next I went to the Default Domain Policy and right-clicked on User Configuration/Administrative Templates -> add Templates and added the rbh.adm template.

The template created a folder named “Custom IE Settings”. At first it did not show anything but after turning off the checkbox under View -> Filtering “Only show policy settings that can be fully managed” the two policies appeared.

Actual ADM file:

CLASS USER

;Turn off so that the windows are not reused to open shortcuts

CATEGORY “Custom IE Settings”

POLICY “Reuse Windows for launching shortcuts”
KEYNAME “Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main”
PART “Reuse Windows for launching shortcuts” CHECKBOX
KEYNAME “Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main”
VALUENAME AllowWindowReuse
VALUEON NUMERIC 1
VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0

END PART ;
END POLICY ;Reuse Windows for launching shortcuts
;AutoComplete Settings for IE

KEYNAME “Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main”
POLICY !!AutoCompletePol
PART !!AutoComplete CHECKBOX
KEYNAME “SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoComplete”
VALUENAME “Append Completion”
VALUEON “yes”
VALUEOFF “no”
END PART

PART !!AutoCompleteIntegrated CHECKBOX
KEYNAME “SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoComplete”
VALUENAME “Use AutoComplete”
VALUEON “yes”
VALUEOFF “no”
DEFCHECKED
END PART

PART !!WebComplete CHECKBOX
KEYNAME “SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoComplete”
VALUENAME AutoSuggest
DEFCHECKED
VALUEON “yes”
VALUEOFF “no”
END PART

PART !!FormSuggest CHECKBOX
VALUENAME “Use FormSuggest”
VALUEON “yes”
VALUEOFF “no”
END PART

PART !!FormSuggestPW CHECKBOX
VALUENAME “FormSuggest Passwords”
VALUEON “yes”
VALUEOFF “no”
END PART

PART !!FormSuggestPWAsk CHECKBOX
VALUENAME “FormSuggest PW Ask”
VALUEON “yes”
VALUEOFF “no”
END PART
END POLICY

END CATEGORY ;Custom IE Settings

[strings]
AutoCompleteCat=”AutoComplete”
AutoCompletePol=”AutoComplete Settings”
AutoComplete=”Use inline AutoComplete for Web addresses”
AutoCompleteIntegrated=”Use inline AutoComplete in Windows Explorer”
WebComplete=”Use AutoComplete for Web addresses”
FormSuggest=”Use AutoComplete for forms”
FormSuggestPW=”Use AutoComplete for user names and passwords on forms”
FormSuggestPWAsk=”Prompt to save passwords”