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, Bitmap as Icon Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Francis Gauthier This is how to make individual icons for bitmaps look like a miniature of the bitmap. To make the change: 1.Start REGEDIT.EXE 2.Locate \ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ .BMP and find the value of the default key (usually Paint.Picture) 3.Locate \ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \the value you found, such as \ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \Paint.Picture 4.Open or create the key DefaultIcon from this point; modify or create the string value Default from this key to equal %1 (without quotes). Check Out Where Your Memory is Going Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: March1 At Dos prompt (windows Dos or normal Dos) type mem/p/c and it will tell you where your conventional and upper memory is. Checking your Memory Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Type MEM from the command prompt to see current memory usage of your machine. Clear The Run Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Eddie Yantis Open Regedit. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU. Delete everything in the right pane EXCEPT the value named Default. Restart Windows and the run menu will be empty. Customize the DIR command Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: M Metcalf Customize the DIR command by adding SET DIRCMD= /P in your autoexec.bat, this will automatically use the page break feature whenever you type DIR from the command prompt. Or, try SET DIRCMD= /P /O:GNE to also arrange the files. G will list the directories first, N places the files in alphabetical order and E will list files of the same in order by the extension. DosKey Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? To use DosKey in your MS-DOS boxes without loading it in AUTOEXEC.BAT or creating a startup batch script, go to Program properties and enter DosKey as the startup batch file. Dragging onto MS-DOS Apps Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can drag file and folder icons from the desktop or a folder and drop them on an MS-DOS Command Prompt. The filename will then be shoved into the keyboard buffer of the running MS-DOS-based application. Expanded Wildcards in DOS Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Martin Richardson MS-DOS in Windows 95 now allows for expanded use of the * wildcard symbol in that you can specify the wildcard BEFORE as well as AFTER text to search for. For example, DIR *5*.TXT will display all .TXT files with a 5 in their name. Fast Way to Exit DOS Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Chris Anderson When you restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, when exiting back to Windows 95, there is a quicker way than typing EXIT and having the whole computer restart. Type win, this will bring you right to Windows without restarting the computer. If it says that Windows is running a DOS program, type exit and it will not restart and bring you right to Windows. Find Out What Memory Blocks are in Free Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: March1 Go to your Dos prompt (Windows Dos or normal Dos) and type mem/f and it will tell what conventional segments and upper memory regions are free. You can use this to your gain and optimize your memory for best performance. Finding Files from the Command Prompt Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Biff Use "dir /s (filename)" to locate a file from the command prompt. Grabbing Data from MS-DOS Apps Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To move information between a Command Prompt or MS-DOS-based application, activate the toolbar in the MS-DOS-based application window. This will enable point & click access to copy, cut and paste operations from a Windows-based application to an MS-DOS-based application. MS-DOS App Parameters Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Add a "?" to the end of an MS-DOS application's command line and you will be prompted to add parameters when you start the application. MS-DOS Properties Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you ever set the wrong properties for an MS-DOS box and cannot start it, you can go into the MS-DOS box's PIF directory and edit command.pif, or find the command.com path and edit the properties there. MS-DOS Screen Toggle Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To toggle between a windowed and full MS-DOS screen, press Alt+Enter. Opening Shared Folders Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use the Run command on the Start menu to open shared folders on other computers. Playing with Prompts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Advanced Submitted by: ??? Ok windows is great, but sometimes you need to dive into the dinosar called DOS (Disk Operating System) you know the thing windows was built off of... the bad thing is its black and white and the prompt C:\> REALLY gets old! The default prompt is C>, but most people have thier prompt look like C:\> well you can add MORE you can add: =, $, time, Dates, Drive, Path, MS-DOS version, >, <, | , and three technical ones that are no fun...unless you are a nerd! To begin goto dos prompt in your start|programs menu. Once there you PROMPT, you get C> (WOW), now type PROMPT and you get C:\> pretty cool huh? Well to add more stuff just type PROMPT paramaters. The paramaters are: = $$ $ Current Time Current Date Current Drive and Path MS-Dos Version Current Drive > < | ***** NERDS ONLY ******** Backspace (erases previous char) Escape Code (ASCII code 27) Carriage return and line feed For a really cool one try: PROMPT THE TIME (its cool) Quick Command Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To access the Command Prompt quickly, simply press Start, Run, then type COMMAND and hit OK. Quick Internet Site Access Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Joe MacDonald To go directly to a web site, click on the start button and then run. Type in the web address (such as www.windows95.com) and hit enter. Your default browser will load and open the web site. Run Extensions Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? An easy way to find out a file's DOS extension is to drag the file into the Run dialog. The entire path, including the file extension, will be visible. Run MSDOS Applications in Background Mode Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Aaron C You can run an application in the background from a DOS prompt to save you time.To do this, create a batch file in the c:\windows\command directory (or any other directory in the path) called bg.bat with the following lines:@echo offstart /m %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9:end. For example, to unzip a file in the background, you would run:bg pkunzip foo.zip c:\temp. The DOS prompt will reappear, and the zip file will extract in the background. Running 3.1 Programs in Windows 95 Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Aaron Wilkinson If you are having problems loading a Windows 3.1 program in Windows 95, go to run and type Mkcompat and hit enter. This brings up a dialog box that gives you a few choices, such as "lie about windows version". Go to file, choose program, and choose the install or setup. Shut Down Prompt Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: William Wesson At the screen, IT IS NOW SAFE TO TURN OFF YOU COMPUTER, you can (on most installations of Windows) type "MODE CO80" and it will give you a Command Prompt. You can then type win to start windows again are run any of your DOS programs. Starting Windows Apps from DOS Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can start Windows based applications from a command prompt by simply typing the name of the application you want to run, and specifying any parameters as needed. Starting Windows95 without the StartupBitmap Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Heiko Szendeleit If you don't want to see the Windows95 Startup Logo anymore, you can edit the "msdos.sys" and add the following command-line: Logo=0 The Run Command Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Click on the Start button and choose the Run command. Any application or applet in the computer's path statement will be launched by typing its name. The Start Command Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you are at a DOS command prompt, and want a visual display of a directory, just type "start .", or "start .." and an open folder pointing to that directory will start on the desktop. Using Run Command Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Jorge Valencia García You can use Run command on an advanced way: choose Run from Start menu and then drag and drop folders/applications/archives on the text dialog. In this way you can start autoexecutables zips with switches (like -d, used to reconstruct directory structure) without the long search at command prompt. Or you can drag an application (like pkunzip) and then an archive for that application. You're In Windows prompt Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Fred Harris Every forget you're in a window's shell??? This little addition to your win.bat will make your prompt read like this when you drop to DOS thru Windows: You're In Windows: C:\WINDOWS All you do for this reminder is add the following line in your win.bat file: SET WINPMT=You're in Windows!. This set's the first line of your DOS prompt to You're in Windows. Add Apps to Control Panel Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Leo This is great for all those apps you just seem to head to the Control Panel for. But for this example I will use Quake ;) You will need four things: 1. A copy of "Themes.Cpl" 2. A Hex Editor (Hex Workshop) 3. Regedit 4. A brain :) Open Regedit and go down to this key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths] Add a new key name it something with Six letters ALL CAPS with a .EXE on the end. Then edit the Default value, type in the path of the app you wish to appear in the Control Panel I.e. "C:\Games\Quake\Quake.exe" :) Next add a new string value and name it "Path" give it a value (using the above e.g.) "C:\Games\Quake\Quake;" Open your favorite Hex Editor and open "Themes.cpl" from your System directory, assuming you have Plus! installed. Do a search for the second hexy range: 43006F006E00740072006F006C00. Where it says ."D.e.s.k.t.o.p. .T.h.e.m.e.s" is the name that appears on the icon, Change it to "Q.u.a.k.e" and 00 out the remaining letters. Where it says "P.e.r.s.o.n.a.l.i.z.e. .y.o.u.r. .c.o.m.p.u.t.e.r" this is the status bar text, change it to match i.e. "Q.u.a.k.e" and 00 out the remaining letters. Where it says "T.H.E.M.E.S...E.X.E" this is the what is referred to the registry, change it to match the new key you made in App Paths, in this case its "QUAKEQ.EXE' so change it to "Q.U.A.K.E.Q...E.X.E" save the file as "Quake.cpl" or anything with a .CPL extension in your system directory. Have a look in the Control panel now and Quake should be there. What to do about the Desktop Themes icon, no problem just open up "Quake.cpl" in icon editor (i.e. Microangelo ibrarian/Studio) And replace it with a Quakey icon of choice, then rebuild icon cache with Microangelo Engineer or reboot. Done. Add Help to the Folder's Context Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Gordon Ali Open Regedit (found in C:\Windows\Regedit). Navigate to KEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell. Click on the 'Shell' key. Select 'New' from the Edit menu, and then select 'Key'. Name the new key 'Help' with no spaces and without the quotes. Click on the new 'Help' key. Select 'New' from the Edit Menu, and then select 'Key'. Name the new Key 'Command' without the quotes. Click on the new 'Command' key. In the right pane, double-click on the 'default' value. In the 'Value Data' or the Dialog Box type C:\Windows\Winhlp32.exe | C:\Windows\Help\Windows.HLP' without the quotes. Ensure that you have the pipe symbol between C:\Windows\Winhlp32.exe and C:\Windows\Help\Windows.HLP. Close the dialog box and then close RegEdit. Press F5 to refresh the system. Now, when you right click on any folder, the Context Menu will allow you to launch Window's Help. Adding Commands or Programs to Recycle Bin Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Ricardo Amaral Andrade To add commands or programs to Recycle Bin's Menu (right-click) open REG Editor and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell. Create new key with anything you want and create other key inside this key as "Command". In the right panel, double-click on "(Default)" and put the path of program/command. Hit OK and test. Adjusting the Volume Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? On the Audio page of the Multimedia control panel applet, select the 'Show volume control on Taskbar' option. Once enabled, clicking the speaker icon on the Taskbar will launch the volume control slider. Double-clicking the speaker icon will launch the full volume control applet. Altering the Tip List Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Bryon C. Gloden Click on the Start Button then Run and then type in Regedit. Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then SOFTWARE then Microsoft then Windows then CurrentVersion then explorer and finally Tips. Here you can modify the tips that are displayed when Windows95 starts. If these tips are no longer displayed when you start up your computer, you can click and the Start Button and then Programs then Accessories and then click on Tips and Tours. You can then place a check mark in the box telling it show the Welcome Screen next time you start up Windows95! Change Display Properties Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To quickly change Display properties, Alt+tap on the desktop and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Change the Start Button Icon Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Chris Folsom The Start button icon is found in the file USER.EXE in your \Windows\System directory. You cannot edit this file while Windows is running, so copy USER.EXE and rename the new file something like USER1.EXE. Just for good measure, make another copy and call it USER_OLD.EXE, so if you ever want the original back, you have a copy of it. Color Schemes Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To change the Windows color scheme, use your right mouse button to click the desktop; then click Properties and select the appearance tab. Configuring Explorer For All Drives Left Panel View Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Many of you have large HDD and have partitioned it to many logical drives. Starting Windows Explorer you can see only the contence of drive C: at the left panel. How about viewing all drives, like "My Computer". How can you do this ? Right click Start button and select Explore command, search for your Windows Explorer shortcut in Programs and holding [Alt] key double click on the shortcut. Select the Shortcut Tab and at the Target text box type after the /e switch the /select switch, whitch it should look like this: C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e, /select, C:\ Click OK and that was it! Now when you open Windows Explorer you will see all the drives in left panel an the drive C: will be selected. Cool 3d Screen Saver Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Kris Barton The new version of Windows95 (OSR2) Comes with some Funky OpenGL screen savers. This trick works on both 95 and NT. In screen savers select 3D Text, click on settings. Where it says OpenGL (the text to use), put the word volcano. Now test the screen saver, it will start to name off different Volcanoes in the world! If you have WindowsNT, you can also put Not Evil as the text to see a disply of the NT product team! Create a PC in a PC Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Sean Word To personalize use of your PC if you share it with members of the family, if you wish, you can create your own personalized settings of Windows95 by going to MY COMPUTER, then double-clicking on the CONTROL PANEL icon. Then double-click PASSWORDS. Left-click on the tab "User Profiles". Make sure that the second option, that users can customize their desktop settings, is checked. The next person who logs into Windows95 can change settings without affecting the settings you prefer. When Win95 starts, it will ask for your name. Then once you are in Windows, you may use your own settings! Custom Startup Screens Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Ever get sick of the Windows95 startup and shut down screens? They are just standard bitmaps that can be modified by any graphics program. The wait screen while booting is LOGO.SYS, the wait screen while you shut down is LOGOW.SYS and the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen is LOGOS.SYS. Be creative, and make your system your own. Customize Your Desktop Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can change the look and feel of your Desktop by right clicking any open area on your desktop (not on a file) and selecting Properties. Desktop Color Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? In CE 2.0 - To change the color of the desktop simply make a small bmp file of the color you want, and tile it as a background. Desktop Display Properties Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To quickly adjust your display properties, right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Properties. Desktop Layout Tip! Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Use your favorit paint program to make a image that is the same WIDTH/HEIGHT as your screen is set too and draw box's and give them names according to groups of icons then set it as your wall paper and move the icons into the groups.. this is a real neat custom tip! I enjoy it day after day as will you. Details, Details Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When you view a window's contents in Details mode (select Details under the View menu), you can adjust the width of any column. Just hold the cursor over the line between two column titles, and when it changes to a double-pointed arrow, click and drag in either direction. Changes affect the column to the left of the pointer. You can also adjust a column's width to fit its widest entry. Hold the cursor over the line to the left of the column you'd like to size, and when it changes to a double-pointed arrow, double-click. Easy Icons Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Johannes Hansen You create an icon in Win95, simply select a *.bmp-file that you find suitable. Change the extension from .BMP to .ICO. That is all there is to it. Editing Sounds Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: George Carver To change the startup, exit, aol sounds, etc.. Open the Control Panel Menu, Then open the Sounds folder..Now just select the sound you wish to change. And then choose BROWSE, the just find a sound you wish to replace the old one with. And then press "OK".. Now, be sure to select "OK" again on the Sounds Window. Folder Icons Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To change the icon for a folder, select Options from the folder's view menu. In the Options dialog, select the File Types tab and scroll down the list to the Folder item. With the Folder item selected, click Edit, then click the Change Icon button. Select a new icon. Fresh Wallpaper Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: The_BUG! If you see an image while in your browser that you want as Wallpaper, right click the image and select "set as Wallpaper". Viola! New Wallpaper for your desktop! This works in both IExplorer and Netscape. Get Rid of the Arrows on Icons Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right click on desktop, select properties, select appearance, in the item window select icon, change size to 30, click on apply and the arrows are gone. Getting rid of the Little White Arrows Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Cameron Angus Open Regedit, Search for IsShortcut, and delete any instances of it. Go back to your desktop, press F5, and there you go. No more little white shortcut arrows. Hard Drive Icon Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Want to change the icon that Windows 95 uses to represent your hard drive? Create an .INF file that points to the icon you have in mind. Open Notepad, and type the following: [autorun] icon=PATH,# where PATH is the path of the icon you want to use and # is its number in the file. Okay, let me explain that a little. In any icon file, such as SHELL32.DLL in the Windows\System folder, the icons are numbered from zero to whatever. To view the icons in these files, right-mouse click a folder shortcut, choose Properties, click the Shortcut tab, and click the Change Icon button. The Change Icon dialog box displays all the icons in the SHELL32 file. Click the Browse button and navigate your way to any other icon file, such as C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Pifmgr.dll, if you have it, to reveal its contents in the Change Icon dialog box. So, if you wanted to use the fourteenth icon, the globe, in the c:\Windows\System\SHELL32.DLL file, the line in the Notepad file would read: icon=c:\windows\system\shell32.dll,13 (It's fourteenth in the list, but remember, you have to start with zero.) Once you've named your icon, choose Save As under Notepad's File menu, name the file AUTORUN.INF, and save the file on the root of your hard drive. (This is a must.) Close Notepad. To see the real-life version, open a My Computer window, click the old icon once, then hit F5 on your keyboard. If you aren't happy with your choice, simply change the icon reference in the AUTORUN.INF file. (Note: If you have multiple drives on your system, you can change the icon for each of them. Just follow the steps above, creating an AUTORUN.INF file on the root directory of each drive.) Hidden Icons Available to Use Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Brad The first thing most peopl need to do is make sure they aren't hiding any files from view in their folders. So open a floder (any folder) an click on View in the menu and go down to Options.Then click on the View tab in the new dialog box that comes up and make sure the Show all Files bullet is marked. Click Apply, then Ok to engage the change. You must do this is order to target the file that contains hidden program icons. Now, just to test the process, right-click on your desktop and go to New, then Shortcut. You may get a dialog box that asks you to fill in a command line, but you can just hit Cancel since this is only a test. Now right-click on the New icon and go to Properties. Then click on the Shortcut tab in the dialog box that appears. Then click on Change icon...In this test case it brings up another dialog box which defaults to the icons we're used to. Click on Browse...and locate the file 'pifmgr.dll' in your Windows\System folder. Click on it, Click on Open, and it returns you to the previous dialog box, with your new choices of icons that were previously inaccessible. Find the one you like, click Ok. Then click Apply in the first dialog box, then Ok. You should have your new icon on your desktop. HPC Backgrounds Platform: Windows CE User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: When converting a background image it's best to convert the graphic on your desktop computer to 4 colors/grey scale while using a dithered setting. Then move the file to your windows directory on your HPC. Icon Property Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? One of the properties of a shortcut is its icon. You can change the icon of any shortcut by right-clicking, selecting "Properties", going to the "Shortcut" tab, and pressing the "Change Icon" button. Icon Property, Part 2 Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you want to change a shortcut's icon, and only a few application icons are available to you, simply hit the browse button and find SHELL32.DLL in your Windows System directory. It contains over 70 icons you can use instead. IntelliType Software Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? With the IntelliType 1.1 software installed, these additional features are available: 9 additional Windows logo key shortcut combinations. Generic application key support across old and new applications. Enhancements to the standard Mouse Keys support in Windows 95. Sonar, Screen Wrap, Snap To and Fast Move acceleration. Caps Lock Key Disable. Key Lock states settings. Sound effects. Keeping the Taskbar Visible Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If your screen resolution is 800 x 600 or higher, you should keep the taskbar visible at all times. There are many benefits to doing so. For instance, while you're connected to the Internet you can see the flashing red and green modem icon's lights in the taskbar's system tray. If they're not flashing, there's no data being exchanged. It also lets you instantly see all the other applications you have running at any time. Make Icons 16-bit or 24-bit Color Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Go to RUN in the start menu and then type in [regedit] then go to ---> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\desktop\WindowMetrics go to edit then new string and type in [ Shell Icon BPP ]. After that double click on it and then type in 16 for 16-bit color 24 for 24-bit color and 32 for 32-bit color. Make it Your Own Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Personalize your HPC by renaming My Handheld PC. Highlight the icon, then tap the text once to rename. You might try My Velo, or My HP, or Apollo. Be creative. Making the Taskbar Vertical Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you're a power user with a newfangled PC with tons of memory and acres of screen real estate, you might want to consider moving the taskbar to the right or left of the screen, in a vertical orientation. It may seem a little disconcerting at first, but there are two main reasons for this. First, a screen is 33% wider than it is tall. That means you can spare more room horizontally. Secondly, as a power user you will probably be running several programs at the same time, maybe over a dozen. The vertical orientation allows the programs to line up neat and clean so it's easier to keep track of them. More Icons Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? In Windows95 you can fined more icons in windows/'moricons.dll' Mouse Trails Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? The mouse pointer is easier to see on laptop computers if you turn on pointer trails. Just double-click the Mouse icon in Control Panel, and then click the Motion tab. Moving the Taskbar Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you don't like where the Taskbar is located (by default at the bottom of the screen), you can drag it to one of the other 3 edges of the desktop area. Moving the Taskbar Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can move the Taskbar to any edge of your screen by dragging it with your mouse. Put Dial-up Networking on the Start Menu Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To put a cascading Dial-up Networking Folder on your Start Menu, right-click the Start Menu, select Open, then create a new folder named: Dial Up Net.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} Put the Control Panel on the Start Menu Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To put a cascading Control Panel on your Start Menu, right-click the Start Menu, select Open, then create a new folder named: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} Put your Printers on the Start Menu Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To put a cascading Printers Folder on your Start Menu, right-click the Start Menu, select Open, then create a new folder named: Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} Putting Your Own Items in SendTo Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? There's a folder in the WINDOWS directory called SEND TO. By creating shortcuts in this folder to your favorites applications, you can right click files, select Send To, and send the file to any of the applications on the list. This is a great way to send unknown file types to a default text editor, like Notepad. Quick Screen Saver Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Barry Kortekaas To have instant access to your screen saver, simply create a shortcut on the desktop pointing to the desired .SCR file (usually located in \Windows\System). Recycle Bin Context Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Esat Yilmaz Make the Recycle Bin deletable and renamable from its Context Menu, open REGEDIT and to to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder, double-click on the Attributes value in the right pane and change it from "40 01 00 20" to "70 01 00 20". Removing Arrows on Shortcuts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Taz Use "Find" to locate "piffile" folder as well as "inkfile" folder. When you have found each of these open them and delete the "isshortcut" keys. Restart your computer and you'll be rid of those pesky arrows. Removing Run from the Start Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Gordon Ali Start the System Policy Editor (Poledit.exe) found on your Windows95 CD. Select Open Registry from the File Menu. Double-Click on the Local User Icon. Navigate to Local_User\Shell\Restrictions. Check 'Remove 'Run' Command'. Click OK and select Save from the File Menu. Click on the desktop, and press F5 to refresh the desktop so that this change will take effect. If this does not work restart your system. Do not use this same method to remove the 'Find' command, otherwise this disables the Find command throughout your system! Removing the Clock Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To remove the clock from the Taskbar do the following: 1) Right-click the Taskbar and selection the Properties item. 2) On the Taskbar Options page, uncheck 'Show Clock'. Removing the Little White Shortcut Arrows Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Cameron Angus Open Regedit, Search for IsShortcut, and delete any instances of it. Go back to your desktop, press F5, and there you go. No more little white shortcut arrows. Rename your Recycle Bin Platform: Windows CE User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Are you bored with the standard name of the 'Recycle Bin'? Start a CE registry editor and search for the key 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\{000214A1-0000-0000-C000-00000000046}\DisplayName' and change the string 'Recycle Bin' in something like 'BioTrash'. Saving Windows settings across reboots Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Rob Green If you have different settings for your explorer shortcuts (e.g. you might want a certain directory shortcut to always appear down the left-hand side of the screen) you might find that these settings won't be saved across reboots. To fix this problem, obtain tweakui (32-bit shareware section), go to the explorer tab in tweakui and check 'Save windows settings'. Arrange the window appearance for your icon and be sure to use Close on the File menu. Then go back into tweakui and uncheck 'Save windows settings'. This is useful if say, you have heaps of directories, or use other directories across networks, and find yourself always copying files between the two. Set explorer to take up 2/3rds of your screen, and your shortcut to the other 3rd, (Maybe it could be a shortcut to open C: as opposed to exploring it) Screen Saver Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To change your screen saver, use your right mouse button to click the desktop; then click Properties and select the screen saver tab. Sound Association (1 of 2) Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Windows 95 lets you attach sounds to the events of any application on your system. Just add the applications and their events to the Sounds dialog box first, using the Registry. Open the Registry Editor (after backing it up) and navigate your way to HKEY-CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps. There, you'll see a list of all the applications whose events are currently listed in the Sounds dialog box. (.Default is Windows.) Let's say you want to associate sounds with Microsoft Word events. Right-mouse click the Apps key, choose New, and then select Key. Rename the new key using the name of the program's EXE file (WINWORD.EXE, for Microsoft Word), without the extension or path. With the new key selected, right-mouse click (Default) in the right pane, choose Modify, and on the Value data line, type the application name. Click OK. Now to add specific events. Click the new application key with the right mouse button, choose New and then Key, and rename the key with the name of an event (for a list of possible event names, double-click the .Default key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps). Hit Enter and repeat these steps for each event with which you'd like to associate a sound. Close the Registry Editor when you're done. In our next tip, we'll show you how to associate sounds with your new application events. Sound Association (2 of 2) Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? In our last tip, we showed you how to make new application events appear in the Sounds dialog box: In the Registry Editor, add a new application key (such as WINWORD.EXE, for Microsoft Word) to HKEY- CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps. Then add event keys, such as Minimize or RestoreDown, to this new application key. Once you've used the Registry to add all the applications and events you want to be able to access from the Sounds dialog box, head on over there and associate your sounds. Open the Control Panel and double-click Sounds. Select an event, then click the down arrow next to Name and take your pick of sounds. (If the sound you'd like to use isn't in the list, click Browse, navigate your way to the file you want to use, select it, and click OK.) Repeat these steps for every event with which you'd like to associate a sound, and when you're done click OK. Start Button Change Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: David Change the start button to something other than "Start". Boot into Dos. Edit /70 explorer.exe. Find "S t a r t". Replace each character… spaces must contain a NUM character. You can change the length by doing a "control P", I have yet to get that to work. Taking Out The Starting Logo Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Saúl Suárez Chávez To do this, edit your MSDOS.SYS file and look for the phrase "Logo=1" and correct it to "Logo=0". IMPORTANT: Do not modify the rest of the file, it could make your system crash. To reestablish the logo just do the same thing, just in the other way. Theme Switching on the Fly Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Sheldon Rose MS Plus! themes can be make the desktop more fun but they can also be the wrong thing if you are doing "Real Work" Making a quick change from that favorite fun time theme (In My Case the Rogue High Color Theme) to something more subtle a real snap. Just go into explorer and click the theme you want. This does not restore the defaults it loads a new theme so you have to create the themes you want to use. After a theme has been installed to apply it Just click it and the new theme is applied to the desktop... Viewing Bitmaps Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Microsoft Paint can serve as a bitmap viewer. Simply drag a bitmap icon onto Microsoft Paint window to view it. The current image will be replaced with the new bitmap. Windows95 Logo Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Heiko Szendeleit If you have installed the PLUS! package for Windows95 you will see a new Windows95 Logo while you start your PC. If you like to get back your old Start-Bitmap you only have to delete or remove the "logo.sys" from the root of drive "C:\". Disk Defragmentation Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? A hard drive should be defragmented once a month as a good preventative action. You will find the disk defragmenter under Start, Programs, Accessories, Systems Tools. DriveSpace Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use the DriveSpace utility to compress hard and floppy disks, for added disk space. Faster Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use Defragmenter, in the System Tools folder, to speed up your computer's performance. Finding Disk Utilities Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right-click a drive in My Computer and select Properties. The Tools tab offers the following disk tools: ScanDisk, Backup and Defrag which can be used to optimize your system and protect your data. Freeing Up Disk Space Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To free up disk space, try emptying the Recycle Bin. Hidden IP Utility Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? You can use a little-known utility called WinIPConfig to see information about your TCP/IP network settings. From the Start Menu, press Run, type WINIPCFG, and click OK. Internet Utility Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Windows 95 has a built in Internet utility called IP Configuration that lets you check out all the vital stats of your Internet setup. Go to the Start button, then Run, and type WINIPCFG, then click on the More Info button. Multiple Scandisk Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: louie Anyone who has two hardrives can run Scandisk on both drives with one step. Press shift while clicking on both drives. This will highlight the drives and scan them back to back. Ping Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Gary While connected to the internet via dialup or in a networked environment, open a DOS window, and at the DOS prompt type "ping" and the internet address you wish to check. ie. ping www.windows95.com. Windows95 will tell you how fast the connection is to the address given. Printer Troubleshooting Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? The Windows 95 installation CD-ROM has a printer troubleshooting program that may help in the even of printer problems. Put the CD-ROM in your drive, and browse to the d:\other\misc\epts folder (where d: is your CD-ROM drive). Double click on EPTS.EXE, and follow the instructions that the program gives. ScanDisk Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use ScanDisk, in the System Tools folder, to check your hard disk for errors. Speedy CD's Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? From the System control panel applet, click the Performance Tab, then click the CD-ROM Tab. From here, you can adjust the memory cache size for your CD-ROM drive. Watch Your Defrag Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Avoid using a defragmentation program that isn't aware of long filenames. You can not only destroy your long filename space, you might end up corrupting the drive's data as well, especially on volumes that are 1GB to 2GB in size. A Sign is Given Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Before you "drop" a drag and drop operation, look at the lower left corner of the icon you're moving. This will tell you what the default action will be: a plus means copy, an arrow means a shortcut will be made. Aborting a Drag Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Pressing Esc in the middle of a drag aborts it. Auto Shortcut for Programs Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you're dragging and dropping the icon of a program, the default action is to make a shortcut. If you drag and drop a data file, the default action is copy. Creating Document Shortcuts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right drag a selection from an OLE document (e.g., Word 95) onto the Desktop or folder, then select the 'Create Document Shortcut Here' item, and a shortcut (bookmark) will be created. Opening this document shortcut at a later time will open the original document and return you to the place in the document that the shortcut originated. Drag & Drop From App to App Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you drag an object, and hold it over the tray button for the desired window for a moment, that window will be moved to the top, allowing you to continue without rearranging the open windows. Drag and Print Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Create a shortcut to your printer by clicking on your Start menu, then Settings, then Control Panel, then Printers, and dragging a printer icon to the Desktop. You can then drag documents to the printer icon and print them instantly. Drag to the Run Dialog Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can drag and drop an icon to the Run dialog box. There you can add startup options or modify the launch in any way. Dragging Executables Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Left dragging an executable to a new directory results in a shortcut to that executable. Dragging Files Between Directories Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Left dragging objects from one directory to another on a different drive results in a copy. Ctrl+Left-drag forces a copy. Easy Run Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Drag a document or folder into the Run dialog, and Windows will type that path for you automatically. You can then modify and launch with your changes. File Move Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To move files between folders make sure you have both folders open in separate windows. Then drag your file from its original location down to the button on the taskbar which represents the destination folder. While holding the file over the taskbar, the destination folder will open maximized. Release your file into the destination folder. Group File Selection Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To select a group of files or folder, hold the SHIFT key and click on the files or folders at each end of the group. OLE Scraps Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Left drag a selection from an OLE document (e.g., Word 95) onto the Desktop or folder and a scrap will be created (a scrap is an OLE object that contains the selection). Dropping this scrap onto another document or back onto the original document will insert or render the scrap object. OLE Scraps Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Left drag a selection from an OLE document (e.g., Word 95) onto the Desktop or folder and a scrap will be created (a scrap is an OLE object that contains the selection). Dropping this scrap onto another document or back onto the original document will insert or render the scrap object. Quick Printing Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To print a document quickly, you can drag its icon onto a printer icon. Safe Drag and Drop Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: John Allison When dragging and dropping any file, always use the right mouse button. This will give you a prompt so you can cancel, or choose an alternate operation other than the Windows default. (copy, move, etc.) Shift Key Works Like Left Click Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Hold down the SHIFT key when you drag and drop something with the left mouse button. You will get the same context menu as if you had dragged and dropped with just the right mouse button. Synchronizing Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To synchronize files between portable and desktop machines, drag the documents from your portable to the Briefcase on your desktop machine. Bitmap Showcase Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? To make your bitmap images small versions of themselves, run REGEDIT, then click down to HKEY_CLASSES_Root/Paint.Picture/Default-Icon. Now, double-click on (Default) in the right pane and change the value of Default-Icon to %1. Now all of your bitmaps will be represented by icon versions of themselves in the Explorer. Custom Explorer Root Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To make Explorer open to a specific folder, make a shortcut that points to "C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,C:\". Just change the C:\ to the folder you want opened with this shortcut! Explorer Print Screen Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To print the screen from the Explorer, press your Print Screen (PrtSc) button. Then open Microsoft Paint, select Edit, Paste, and print your screen. Explorer Windows Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If your View Options are set to Browse Folders Using a Single Window for Each Folder, you can open an additional window for the folder by holding Ctrl while you double click. Exploring Folders Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When a folder is open, you can press BACKSPACE to open the folder one level higher. Exploring the Start Menu Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right-click the Start menu and select Open or Explore to view and modify its contents. Putting a new folder in your start menu directory will allow additional hierarchies off of the Start menu. Exploring with My Computer Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Steve Riggs If you use "My Computer" to look at directories, when you hold down the Ctrl key, and double click on the directory you want, it will TAKE OVER the window you are using. (instead of having TWO windows:one being "My Computer", and another being the "C:\" directory. The C:\ directory window will REPLACE the My Computer window). Hidden Icons Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When changing a shortcut's icon, you can find hidden icons at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PIFMGR.DLL. Hiding Directories in DOS and Explorer Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: William Hart To hide a directory in DOS and Windows 95 Explorer. Create a directory using the following method: 1. Type mkdir and space. 2. hold down the ALT key and on the numeric keypad type 0255 and release the ALT key followed directly by the new directory name. This will only work with the numeric keypad. To change to the directory type 1. cd and space hold down the ALT key and on the numeric keypad type 0255 and release the ALT key. Explorer will not display the directories contents. Instant Windows Explorer Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Scott Breger If you like using Windows Explorer you can get at it instantly by using the Shift key in conjunction with opening a folder icon. For Example: Press and hold the Shift key while double clicking on the My Comuter icon. You are now using the Windows Explorer to view the contents. Move by Mistake Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Ever moved a file and wished you hadn't? Simply click the Undo button from the Explorer's Edit menu, and the problem is solved. Moving to a Parent Folder in Explorer Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Pressing Backspace in an open folder takes you back to the parent folder. Old File Manager Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Geoffrey Moore If you don't like win 95 windows explorer and prefer the old windows file manager. click on start, run and type in winfile. Open With Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you want to open an already associated file with a different program than the one it is associated with, hold down the shift key and then right click the file. "Open with" should be added to the menu now so you can open the file with a different program. Quick Double Pane View Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? In Explorer, if you click on a folder once, then hold down the Shift key and double click on it, you will open the folder with a two-pane Explorer view. Right-Mouse Dragging Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use your right mouse button to drag files. Try it and see what happens! Selecting Multiple Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Selecting multiple files in Large Icon View has a different behavior than in List View. To extend your selection, click on the first icon in your selection and hold down the Shift key while you click on the last icon in your selection. To toggle a selection, hold down the Ctrl key while you select the files you want to toggle (between selected and not selected). Sending Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right click on a file you would like to send, choose Send To and select the destination from the drop down menu. Shift Key and Left Click opens Windows Explorer Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Tim Neatrour When you normally double click and object, Windows opens a dialog box. If you hold down the shift key and double click, Windows Explorer will open at that object. Starting Explorer with All Drives in Left-Pane Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Ryan Thomas Ross Normally, when you start Explorer, it opens up with the current drive at the top of the tree in the directory-pane on the left. To start Explorer with "My Computer" as the root, and all drives visible, adjust your shortcuts (right-click, select Properties then go to the Shortcut page) to Explorer by changing the TARGET field to read : C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /e,/n,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} Instead of copying that out by hand, just drag your mouse over it now, right-click, select COPY...and then paste it into the TARGET field later (right-click, then PASTE...you get the idea.) You can also achieve the same result by right-clicking on "My Computer" and selecting Explore OR by holding SHIFT while double-clicking "My Computer" but the above method yields a one-handed, no-keypress solution. Unhideing Hidden Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When at the bottom of Windows explorer it says a certain number of files hidden, simply go to view, then click on options. When you get in there click on the circle that says show all files and click OK. This will reveal all of the hidden files. Use Bitmaps as Icons Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use any BMP file as an icon in the Explorer. When you press the Change Icon button in a Shortcut's properties dialog, simply choose All Files in the drop down list and select the BMP file you want. View Properties of Multiple Files\Folders Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: John Allison To view the properties (ie. total file size) of a group of files and/or folders, drag to highlight the desired files and folders, then right click and choose properties. View the Toolbar Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Make sure the toolbar is always visible in your Explorer by selecting View, Toolbar in any Explorer window. Accessing Disk Tools Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right-clicking a drive's icon in My Computer will let you access a dialog box to run disk tools, and will show you the last time you used them on the drive. Accessing Files Within Programs Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Geoff For programs like QuickTime for Windows you can access certain files quicker rather than clicking open etc... Make a shortcut to the program on your desktop, or Start Menu, after the shortcut is made right click on the shortcut, and click on 'Properties'. Click the shortcut tab, and you'll see where the shortcut is pointing (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\PLAYER32.EXE). After that you can write a file that was designed for that program (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\SAMPLE.MOV) so you get something like "C:\WINDOWS\PLAYER32.EXE" "C:\SAMPLE.MOV". Apply it, and viola! Every time you open that program, that file will open along with it! This works with more than QuickTime, you can do this with NotePad, WordPad, and TONS more applications! Try It! Activating the Fat32 File System in Windows95B Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: To activate the FAT32 file system when upgrading to Windows95B (OEM Release 2) or if your new system came with Windows95B installed without the FAT32 file system activated, back up your system and then run FDISK from the a bootable floppy and follow the instructions. The only unclear part of the instructions is that it is necessary to delete and then re-add the primary partition choosing the FAT32 option as you do this. Follow the remainder of the instructions explicitly. Application Removal Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Andy Stranks Do NOT delete the files associated with an application before removing it using the Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs. Failure to do this will leave the registry entries in place and can cause all sorts of nasties. You'll then have to re-install the app to enable Win95 to remove it properly. Avoid Fragmenting & Optimize Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: John Pertocelli I have found a reasonable performance gain by separating the system drive (C:) from the swap file on drive (d:) which is physically different. I have 3 physical drives and C: is the system, D: is extensions and the Windows swap file, and E: is for the internet temp files and work files. A small drive, 200-300MB, can be had for a cheap price today and can be designated as both the Windows swap drive and internet temp files drive. Just think.. the heads are not constantly moving from program files to swap/temp files. Avoiding AutoPlay CD-ROMs Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can hold down the shift key when you insert a CD-ROM to disable AutoPlay or you can make the following changes: Open any folder and select view, options, file types. Select AudioCD and click Edit. Select Play from the Action listbox, choose Set Default (this actually toggles the default). If Play is bolded, the CD will play when inserted. If it is not bolded, it will not. Avoiding the Recycle Bin Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To delete files without sending them to the recycle bin, select the file or files to be deleted. Right-click the selection and hold the Shift key down while selecting Delete. Back up your emails!! Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Raymond Hicks If you have some important emails that you can afford to lose, you can back them up. But this only works with Outlook (and Outlook Express) for IE 3 through IE 5. Open the find files dialog and search for *.mbx When it's done searching, you will find a number of files. You need to open explorer and navigate your way to that directory. Highlight and copy all the files... all of them (the mbx's are mailboxes and contain the emails while the other files are like an index). Don't be surprised if the files total more than 20 megs. Move them somewhere else. When you're ready to have them back (say after a reinstall), move them back to their original directory. Viola, there they are! Backing Up the Registry Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Ricardo Amaral Andrade Create a Recover or other folder and copy the Hidden files System.Dat (and .Da0) and User.Dat (and .Da0) to this directory. If someday your Windows crash, and the message: "Error in Explorer.exe. You must reinstall Windows" appear, boot to DOS mode (or command prompt only) and replace files with backup. If your damage isn't very big, your Windows will recover. Your changes made after the backup will lost, but you'll safe your Windows... Back up them every month, for example. Backtrack Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Diego Barco To "backtrack" to a folder's parent directory, just press the backspace key while in that folder's window. Repeated performance of thi operation will take you all the way to C:> Box Selections Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Click and drag a box around a group of files to select them all at once. Then you can copy, move, delete, or do any other file operation to them all. Briefcase Backup Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: David N. Fonck To backup items on your desktop, start menu, or any other folder(s) you choose, first create a new briefcase on a floppy. Then Drag any folders onto the briefcase you just created. I prefer to right click & choose make sync copy, but you can left drag & the default will be the same. After copies are done & any time you make changes to any of the chosen files, just insert disk & double click on the new briefcase. When you see all the folders on the list choose update all from the briefcase menu or the tool bar & it will show you all the changes & let you decide which ones to update. CDPlayer and the titles Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Raymond Hicks We all have that nice little cdplayer app that comes with windows. And we all know you can enter the CD Titles and authors and song names. But did you know you can back up that information so you don't lose it and have to enter the information for all your cd's (if you anything like me, that comes close to 100 CD's). Open the find files dialog and do a search for cdplay*,ini. When you find it, go ahead and open it. Of course, windows won't know what to use to open it with so you need to tell it to open it with notepad. It's a text file! But once you find it, you can back it up where ever you like. Changing The Properties Of Forbidden Folders Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Peter Ubriaco Go into the registry editor and type in the name of the folder (or shortcut) that you wish to change. The file should appear under: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\. Now go over to the side, where it should say Default Information and the name of the folder or icon. So if you are looking to change the name of the icon that starts IE, which is on your desktop under the name "The Internet", you would search for The Internet. Then where in the information area, you double click on the icon, and it will bring up a dialog to change the information. Then change it to the name you wish. To change an icon, under where it says "SHELL32.DLL,3" or whatever it says, change it to the name of the DLL or the name of the icon, and if in a DLL, then add a comma, and the number of the icon. (Count from the left, first icon counts as 0). Collapsing Folders Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: VJ If you go to explorer and try to open a folder like 'Windows' which itself contains a lot of subfolders, it could take you a long time to click each one of them to open them. To open all the subfolders all you have to do is click on the main folder (Ex. Windows) and hit the "+" on the numPad, you'll see that all the subfolders will be opened. On the other hand, if you want to close them all together you can click on the main folder and hit "-" on the numpad for a reverse effect. Contiguous File Allocation Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Adam Runions To optimize the file system for running multimedia applications add the following double word value: "ContigFileAllocSize" with a value of:"0x000001F4(500)" to: Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and reboot. Copying to Multipule Floppies Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: David Morgan On the left side of the explorer window select the folder you wish to copy, from the Edit scroll click "select all", again from the Edit scroll click "copy", on the left side of the explorer window click on A:\, and from the Edit scroll, click on Paste. This copies the files to the A: disk and prompts for a new disk when it is needed. The files can then be copied onto a new machine without having to deal with splicing or spanning programs. Creating New Documents Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right click on the desktop, select New, then select the type of file you want to create from the list. Deleting Undeletable Files Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: _-X-_ Want to format your Hard Disk to install newer things but can't delete the command.com or command.dos? Just go to DOS-Prompt and type attrib command.com -r or attrib command.dos -r and they will be deletable. Drop program or batch file Platform: Windows NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Do you have a file that needs to be updated on every workstation in your NT lab? Create a batch file to do the work for you with the net use command. net use z: \\wgnrNT-01\c$\directorynamehere net use y: \\wgnrNT-02\c$\directorynamehere net use x: \\wgnrNT-03\c$\directorynamehere the previous three lines from a batch file map drives x: y: and z: on the host computer as the target directory for the file. When running the batch file, type "Dropfile.bat filenamehere" The filename should be the name of the file you wish to drop on every computer. Include the following lines of text to use that command line parameter: copy %1 "x:" copy %1 "y:" copy %1 "z:" Then if you wish to clear all the mappings include: net use z: /del net use y: /del net use x: /del This can also be done in a nice c++ program, but it serves as a quick fix for somebody who doesn't have time to do his own programming let alone leisure programming. Easy Backups Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To make backups easier, keep all of your data files in a single directory. Organize the information into sub-directories, by project, or whatever other division makes sense to you. Easy Open Folder Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Brandon Kelly To open a folder into the current window, even if you do not have this option selected in your Explorer View Options, hold down control when you double click the window. To make this your default setting for the Windows Explorer, in the explorer menu, goto View, then Options ... then select "Browse folders using a single window." Edit Batch Files Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Iván Vega To edit a batch file with a double-click instead of execute it, just open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\open, now change it to HKCR\batfile\shell\r&un. Next change the binary value EditFlags in HKCR\batfile to 00 00 00 00 (WARNING: DO NOT INCREASE THE LENGHT OF THE VALUE). The final step is to go to the explorer and select File Types tab in 'option' Options in View menu and search MS-DOS Batch File then select Edit. Now as you can see, the three last buttons now are enabled and you can select the Edit Action as the default. False Security with Recycle Bin Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Not everything you delete ends up in the Recycle Bin. Files you delete from network drives, floppy drives, or other external drives (like Zip drives) will be deleted permanently. Filename First Letters Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? In any Explorer Folder, typing a letter will take you to the first file in the folder that starts with that letter. Pressing the letter again will take you to the next file that starts with that letter. Finding Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? To find a file in MS-DOS, use ATTRIB. Type : attrib filename /s. This will list the path your file is in. You can use wildcards and redirection. To find all the jpegs on a PC from MS-DOS and to save the result to floppy disk type : attrib *.jpg /s > a:jpeglist.txt Finding the Context Menu Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right-clicking on top of file, folder, or disk icons will show you a context menu with options available for that item (such as cut, copy, paste, delete, etc.). Hidden Creator Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Dan Karas When creating a directory in ms-DOS, name directory and press ALT255. Directory can be seen in directory but can not be opened without pressing ALT255 at end of directory name. Great security feature to keep people out of your private directroty or directories. Installing to a Subdirectory Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Ben Canant When installing a new program you can put it any number of levels deep in the Start Menu. When it asks you to name the folder, type - (for example) - "Games\LucasArts\XvT". Now, instead of installing XvT into simply "XvT" it installs into subdirectories.(Only newer games or programs work like this) Keyboard File Selections Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Use the CTRL key when selecting files in Explorer to select and deselect multiple files one at a time. Use the SHIFT key to select lists of files. Locate the Location Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To see the full path of any item in Explorer, right click on it, select Properties, and hold the mouse over the info Location field. Not too many windows… Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Diego Barco To change from folder to folder without all the windows that are open staying open, just hold down the Ctrl key while double-clicking the icon of the folder you want to open. The window of its parent directory will be automatically closed and you'll be left only with the window of the desired folder open. NT Disk Tools Platform: Windows NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: William There is no scandisk with Windows NT. There is also no defragmentation utility. The Microsoft Solution for Windowes NT Fragmentation is dependent upon the type of file system in use. If it is NTFS, then you muat perform a backup, blow the data away and then restore it to achive defragmentation. If it is a FAT partition, then they recommend booting into DOS 6.22 and using the DOS 6.22 defrag utility. The disk checking feature with Windows NT is Check Disk. Right-click a drive in My Computer and choose check for errors. If the drive cannot be locked a dialog box will appear asking if you would like to do it the next time NT starts up. One Step Delete Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To delete a file or folder without dragging it to the Recycle Bin, simply hold the SHIFT key while you press the DELETE key. Organize Your SendTo Folder Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you have lots of destinations in your SendTo folder, you may want to organize them into cascading menus. Open the SendTo folder, which is in the Windows folder. Select New, Folder, then place your shortcuts in the new folders. Properties View Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To view the properties of a file or folder, select the item, and then press Alt+Enter. Quick CD Eject Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can open or close your CD-ROM drive by right-clicking your CD-ROM drive icon in My Computer and pressing Eject. Quick Name Change Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Press F2 to change the name of a selected file or folder. Self Help Folder Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Mocha Nelson Make yourself your own help file using WORDPAD. Create a new TXT file in WORDPAD and name it MYINFO or something to that effect. Every time you learn a new trick or proceedure write a new description of it in your MYINFO.TXT file. Things you don't do or use often have a tendancy of getting forgoten, with your MYINFO.TXT file you won't have that problem and spend a lot of time trying to find that "I did this once, but how did I?" thing. Simple Backup Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? For easy backups, keep all of your data files in a single folder. To organize your data, put it in subdirectories by whatever division makes sense to you. Start Menu's Document List Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: William Thomas Ok, you want to get rid of some information on your documents menu, but you also want to keep some of the important shortcut's in there for future use. But the only way you know how to get rid of the shortcut's you don't want your boss or any spying co-workers to see is to clear the entire Documents menu! Well all you have to do is: 1) Go to explorer or my computer, 2) Open the file "Windows" 3) Then Open the file "Recent" 4) and bingo! You have access to every thing you've been working on! The pathway is: C:\WINDOWS\Recent. The realy fast way to do this is go to the find menu in your start menu and type in "Recent" when it finds the file open it and delete what you want to keep and what you don't! Swap Brick Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Advanced Submitted by: The Grub With this trick, you will be able to speed up the swap file access by using a technique I call the Swap Brick. You can implement it in one of two ways. #1 From the control panel go to System Icon, Then to Virtual Memory button. Click the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings", then set the max amount and set it to 50MB, also set the minimum amount to 50 also. Once you hit the ok button it will ask you if you want to restart your computer, hit yes and that's it. This stops the annoying swap file re-sizing every time you go over the minimum. And for you performance geeks out there, including me. #2 Create a 100-250MB partition, and from step (#1) Select the Hard disk drive letter that you created, set the max. and the min. values to use the entire partition. This variation of step #1 prevents the swap file from becoming fragmented. This trick will speed things up for you 8mb and 16mb windows 95 users. :) The Recycle Bin Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Deleted files and folders are saved in the Recycle Bin until you empty it. Unknown files Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Andrew Branson A file of unknown type has a special miscellaneous type in the Windows registry, under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Unknown To make this key editable from the folder options/File Types dialog, simply create a new key in HKCR called .unknown or something. Set the (default) setting to "Unknown". Then open the Unknown key and set the (default) to 'Unknown File Type' or however you want unknown files to be described. Then you can add context menu options such as 'Open with Notepad' or 'Open with PaintShop' just as you would for any other filetype. You may need to reconfirm the 'openas' action as the default. Use Long File Names Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? With 32-bit applications, you can use long filenames when you save documents. You can even use spaces! Viewing DOS File Names Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To view MS-DOS names associated with long file names, right-click the file and select properties - you should see both representations of the file name. Where did it go? Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Manuel Negron Jr Ever wonder where did your last file went after download? Try using the briefcase as your default place for downloads and you will always know where your downloaded files are all of the time! Windows 95 Fibs? Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Steven Lewis Yup! It does! When you go to defrag and Windows says that you only have 4% fragmentation and that you don't need to defrag now, DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT. Even 2% fragmentation can affect system performance and anything above 5% will have a definite affect. Think...4% of 2 GB (2048 mb)=81.92 MEGAbytes (More than an ENTIRE PC/XT hard drive(20-30 meg) of 6 or 7 years ago.) AND... Know that most of that fragmentation is going to be in files and programs that you use the most. So your harddrive is going to be thrashing around the whole disk just to load the stuff that you normally use. Do yourself and your system a favor, run Scandisk and Defrag on a regular basis and don't go over 2% fragmentation. Also.. Check your fragmentation after coming off of the internet. Bet you its around 1-3%! Ace of Hearts Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Launch Solitaire and start playing. When you uncover the ace of hearts, move it to the table as you would normally. Hold the ALT key down, and tap once on the ace. If you want to quit the egg, press ESC and then "No" to resume your Solitaire game. Another Easter Egg Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Peter Ferris 1. While at your desktop, press [F1], to display the Help Topics: Windows Help dialog box. 2. Click on the find Tab. (If you haven't done the mumbo - jumbo before, follow the Wizard along...) 3. Click the Options... button, then select the All the words you typed in any order radio button. 4. In the Show words that dropdown list, make sure the begin with the characters you type options is selected, then click OK. 5. Once you return to the Find tab, select the text box at the top and type Who knows who built this tool? (Make sure you capitalize the W and include the question mark.) 6. Hold down the [Shift][Ctrl] key combination as you click the Clear button. 7. Now, click the Options... button once more, only this time, select the radio buton titled At least one of the words you typed. 8. In the Show words that dropdown list, choose the contain the characters you type option, then click OK. 9. In the Find tab, type The Shadow knows! in the text box at the top. Make sure you capitalize the letters T and S and that you include the exclamation point. 10. Finally, hold down the [Shift][Ctrl] key combination as you click the Clear button. You should now see the Easter Egg in action. Best Shareware on the Net Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Make sure to check www.windows95.com for all your shareware and driver needs! Easter Egg Shortcut Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Wes Sundquist To activate the Easter Egg that displays the Windows95 Product Team, simply create a folder with the following name (without the quotes): "The Microsoft Windows 95 Product Team!. {869DADA0-42A0-1069-A2E7-08002B30309D}" Freecell Fun Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Milt Hull You can force a win with Freecell by holding down the CRTL-SHIFT-F10 together. You will then get a message stating: Choose Abort to win, Retry to Lose, or Ignore to Cancel. Hit Abort and then move a card to the top. It will automatically Win the game for you. Games Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can find fun games to play in the Games folder, which is inside the Accessories folder. How to cheat on Minesweeper. Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Chris In the game minesweeper that comes with Windows, there is a way to stop the clock. First click somewhere to start the clock. Then hold down the left and right mouse buttons and you should see a 3x3 square imprint on the board. Next hit the ESC key while holding down both mouse buttons, and the timer is stopped! Pocket Excel Easter Egg Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Open Pocket Excel. Find the cell AA1000. Type 'credits' (minus the quotes) in the text field. Press enter. After doing these steps a dialog box will pop up displaying the Pocket Excel Credits. See What's Happening Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To see what is going on behind the scenes during the startup sequence, hit the ESC button while the Windows 95 startup screen is visible. Submit your Tip Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you have a good tip for Windows95 or NT, send it to tips@windows95.com. The best tips will be used in the calendar and the Web site. Those Cool Letter§ Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Frank Ever wonder how to make those really cool symbols like the following:§©§¤¡¢£¿ well, there's is 2 ways - go to start, programs, accessories, character map or type this: alt+2 1 just test it out alt+?? Whatever Window 95's Easter Egg Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Windows 95 has a hidden Easter Egg that presents a cute little display of the people who made it all possible. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and select New Folder. You'll have to rename the folder three times to see this Egg: first name it "and now, the moment you've all been waiting for" -- then press F2 and name it "we proudly present for your viewing pleasure" -- then press F2 again and name it "The Microsoft Windows 95 Product Team!" Now double-click on the folder. Ta da! Controlling Windows Access Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: NiteForce To lock anyone out of certain features of Windows 95 including run and settings options in the start menu, or to allow only certain applications to be ran by a particular user, you may do the following: If you haven't already done so, enable Windows passwords in the control panel(details in another tip at Windows95.com). The next step, is to run poledit.exe which can be found on x:\admin\apptools\poledit (where x is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive) on the installation CD. Then, just set up access options for all users of your machine. Voila! Disable Cancel Button in Login Session Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Tito Sugiharta If your Win95 Computer is used in multiple user environt. You can restrict the computer just for authorized user by disabling the Cancel Button in login session. Follow these steps: 1. run REGEDIT. 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-->Network-->Logon. If you can't find it, just create it. 3. Add a DWORD Value named "MustBeValidated" 4. Fill that value by 1 Shutdown your computer and Logon as different user, you will see that the cancel button has been disabled. Hot Key to Explorer Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Raymond Hicks Tired of going to Start,Programs,Windows Explorer just to run Explorer? You can assign a hot key sequence to run it. In Win95, right click on Start and select explore. Double click on Programs and right click on Windows Explorer. Goto the shortcut tab. In the shortcut key field, hit any key and watch what happens. I use Ctl+Alt+Shift+]... it's easier than you think. Left-Handed Mouse Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can switch mouse buttons if you are left-handed. Just double-click the Mouse icon in Control Panel. MouseKeys Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can operate the mouse pointer without using the mouse by turning the MouseKeys feature on, under Accessibility Options in Control Panel. Multiple Keyboard Language Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: WildGod Click "Start" button, "Control Panel", "Keyboard", select the "Language" tab. Click "Add" button to add different keyboard languages such as English, French, Spanish,... which will then appear in the "Language" list box. Select one of those language from the list box, click "Set as default" button. This will then be your default keyboard language. Now when you have 2+ language options you can switch to either one of those by either using a key sequence which is define by the selected "Switch language" radio box. i.e. if defined at CTRL+SHIFT then pressing those keys will switch to the next language. Another way is checking the "Enable indicator on taskbar" which will add a icon to the taskbar which you may right click and select a language. Notify when CapsLock/NumLock is Pressed Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? The Accessibility Options in Control Panel contains the Toggle Keys feature. When turned on, the system will beep when CapsLock or NumLock (and ScrollLock) is pressed. This is handy for fast typists who accidently hit CapsLock when reaching for Shift or Tab. Quick Toolbars Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Kenneth Noland With Windows 95 and the desktop component or windows 98, you can create your own convenient quick launch toolbars. You can either create a folder on your hard drive (i.e. C:\Toolbars\Art Programs) or create them on the desktop. With the first way, right click on the task bar and highlight "Toolbars", "New Toolbar". Browse to the specific folder for the toolbar you want and click ok. You can make the icons small, large, with or without text, title. Don't like it on the taskbar? Drag it by the title to the desktop! You can resize it and even dock it on the other three sides of the desktop. You can make it "Always on top" or autohide by right clicking on it. To create a toolbar the second way, create a folder on the desktop and drag it to an edge of the desktop. It docks as a toolbar. Drag it away again and it becomes a desktop toolbar and not the folder it used to be! Toolbars are very useful for internet connections, art programs, programming programs, and much more. Saving Your Wrists Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When you type, you should keep your wrists elevated or use a wristpad to minimize strain. Battery Status Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? For computers with APM functionality, clicking on the battery icon in the Tray status area brings up a detailed battery meter. Disk Space Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To see how much disk space is free, use your right mouse button to click the icon for the drive in My Computer; then click Properties. Display Disk Information Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Get information in text and graphical form about your disks by selecting them in My Computer, then right-clicking and selecting Properties. Free Space Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To check how much free space you have on your hard drive, look at the bottom of your Explorer window on the right side. It will show you free space in parentheses. Get Battery Info Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Get info about your laptop battery by holding your mouse over the battery icon on the Task bar. Internet Trace-Route Utility Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Scott Kemmerle Windows 95 has a Useful little utility called TRACERT.EXE that will show you the different hops your IP request takes to reach its destination. It also will show you where information is slowing down on the net. Bring up the DOS prompt in a window while online and type TRACERT WWW.SOMEPLACE.COM(or org, net, gov, etc.). Each destination is 'pinged' 3 times and each ping returns a response time. Generally, anything under 200ms is good, 200ms and up may indicate a busy server. If you get a '*' this may indicate a REAL BUSY server(ignore *'s between you and your server). Also, try going to one of the listed IP's instead of www.someplace.com. Properties Abound! Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Just about everything in Windows 95 has properties. Sometimes if you're trying to customize something, try to right-click on it, and see if there's a "Properties" menu entry. The keyboard shortcut is usually Alt+Enter. For instance, in Explorer, you can view a file's properties such as the date and time it was last modified. Put Your Two Cents In Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Windows 95 Help menus are helpful, but they don't always speak your language. You can put in your own two cents by annotating any topic. It's like pasting a sticky note right on it. Right-mouse click the window of an open topic and choose Annotate. Speak (type) your mind in the box that pops up and click Save. From now on, you'll see a little paper clip any time you open that topic. Click the paper clip to read your notes. To get rid of the note, open it and click the Delete button. Quick Properties Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Bring up the Properties dialog quickly by holding down the ALT key and double-clicking on the object of your choice. Taskbar Printer Icon Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When you print a document, a printer icon appears on the Taskbar. Double-click it to see a list of documents waiting to print. Tool Tips Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To learn what any toolbar button is for, you can rest your mouse pointer on the button for a few seconds. Tool Tips in the Task Bar Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Get tool tip info about any minimized item by holding the mouse over the minimized item in the task bar. Use Quick View Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When you right click certain file types, an Quick View option appears. Use this option to take a quick peak at the files contents, without having to wait to launch the file's native application. Viewing Fonts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can see examples of all your fonts by opening the WINDOWS\FONTS folder and double clicking on any of the fonts. You can even print out examples of each font. What's Today's Date? Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Hold the mouse pointer over the Taskbar clock to see the date displayed. Windows 95 Resource Kit Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you are curious about the more intimate workings of Windows 95, you can access the Windows 95 Resource Kit which is hidden on the installation CD-ROM. Put the installation CD in your drive, browse to the d:\admin\reskit\helpfile folder (where d: is your CD-ROM Drive), and double click on WIN95RK.HLP. This will access the resource kit. Cleanup of Windows95 Pre-Installed by OEM Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Andy Hutton Manufactures who pre-install Windows 95 such as Compaq and IBM install unwanted drives in the Registry. PC does NOT have a CD-ROM- Check Registries for CD-ROM driver loaded in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run for MSCDEX.EXE. PC does NOT have a Modem - Remove Dial-up Adapter from the Network under Control Panel. Disable Virus Protection in BIOS Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Frank Gregory When installing W95/NT, be sure to disable the virus protection in your system BIOS if you have it. Not doing so will give the same effect as having a software anti-virus program loaded. First Time Password Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When Windows asks you for a password when it boots for the first time, just enter your user name and skip entering a password. Then, you'll never be bothered by it again. A password in this box won't protect any of the files on your local machine. It's only useful for logging onto network resources on a LAN. IE 4.0 impossible downgrade Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Glenn Eckard It is almost impossible to down grade from IE 4.0 to IE 3.02. I have the solver for the problem. 1. Use the win95 uninstall to uninstall whatever IE version You now have installed. 2. Reboot the computer and press F8 when "Starting Windows 95" is displayed. 3. From the startup menu choose command prompt only. 4. Type the following lines at the command prompt. cd\windows (substitute your Windows directory name if it is not Windows) smartdrv, deltree tempor~1, deltree history, CD system, ren mshtml.dll mahtml.old, ren shdocwv.dll shdocwv.old, ren inetcfg.dll, netcfg.old, ren actxprxy.dll actxprxy.old, ren wininet.dll wininet.old, ren cachevu.dll cachevu.old, ren inetcpl.cpl inetcpl.old, ren shiwapi.dll shiwapi.old, ren url.dll url.old, ren urlmon.dll urlmon.old, ren wsock32n.dll wsock32n.old. Restart Windows 95 and then reinstall whatever version of Internet Explorer you are using. Installing New Programs Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When installing new programs to work with Windows 95, try using the Installation Wizard by going to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, then clicking the Install/Uninstall tab. Installing the Bare Minimum Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When using the Custom Setup option, don't install anything unless you're sure you need it. You can always go back and install the wallpaper, games, additional communications options, or anything else later by clicking on the Add/Remove Program icon in the Control Panel. Installing Win95 from an Upgrade Version Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Benoit Bourgeault To install Windows 95 from an upgrade version, simply create in your root directory (c:\), using an ASCII editor(e.g. DOS edit.exe), these two files : win386.exe and gdi.exe. Modify Registry to Auto-Point to CAB Folder Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Bruce Leypoldt Press Start. Press Run. Key in "Regedit" and press OK. Double-Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder. Double-Click on SOFTWARE folder. Double-Click on Microsoft folder. Double-Click on Windows folder. Double-Click on CurrentVersion folder. Double-Click on Setup folder. Click on "down" arrow key on Right Panel until you see the "SourcePath" entry. Right-Click on SourcePath. Click on Modify. Key in Path that contains folder for CAB files. Click OK. Click on Registry at top, left side of window. Click on Exit. Power on Peripherals Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Make sure that any external devices (like printers, scanners, etc.) are plugged in and turned on before you install Windows 95. This makes it easier for Windows to detect them an install the proper drivers. Quick Install Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you are always installing new software, make it easy on yourself by creating shortcuts on your desktop to A:\SETUP.EXE and A:\INSTALL.EXE. Now when you have a new program, you can now just click on the appropriate short cut. Stop asking me for Win95 disk !! Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Larry Ellison After copying the Cab files to a directory on your hard drive open Regedit.exe and hit Ctrl-F. Type Sourcepath. Regedit should take you to My Computer\HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup. Pick edit, modify and type the path to the Cabinet files. Example; C:\Windows\Win95\. Exit Regedit and restart Windows. Now when you make changes on your computer, Windows 95 will not ask for the Windows disks. Upgrading to Windows 95 Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Even though Windows 95 will install smoothly over a previous version of Windows, your system will run better if you back up your data, reformat your hard drive, and install Windows 95 on a clean hard drive. Using Custom Setup Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Even though Windows 95 gives you different setup options, choose custom setup and verify all the settings it thinks you might want. You'll usually end up selecting a more exact driver for certain hardware devices. Using Local CAB Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? If you change your Windows 95 settings frequently, you can copy all the CAB files from the WIN95 folder on your Windows 95 Installation CD to a folder on your computer (like WIN95CABS). That way, you won't have to search for the Windows 95 CD every time you want to add a new program, driver, etc. The CAB files take up about 34 MB. When Windows 95 looks for the CAB files, simply point it to the new folder! Virus Software and Setup Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Be sure to disable any virus-checking software before you install Windows 95. Virus checking software will sometimes interfere with setup programs that need to create or modify system files. CE Right Click Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Pressing ALT while tapping is the same as right-clicking the mouse in Win95. Cut and Copy Across Many Applications Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Carl Chambers You can use the keyboard shortcuts of CTRL-C to copy, CTRL-V to paste and CTRL-X to cut, across even programs that don't have the option in the menus. If you make any mistakes, you can also use CTRL-Z to undo. Expand/Restore a Window Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Raymond Hicks To easily restore or expand a window without trying to hit that little button in the upper right corner, you can do two things. One is to Hit Alt then Space then N. Or double click on the title bar of the window you want to expand. Fast Keyboard Access Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To make keyboard access faster, rename your menu Shortcuts so each one starts with a unique letter. FAST System Properties Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Edward L. For those of you who like to dabble with individual device managers and hardware profiles, and have a keyboard with the Win key on it, here is a badly documented shortcut to the system properties dialog box. Just hold down the Win key and press Pause/Break. Hey presto, much faster than going to My Computer, Control Panel, System... Help Keyboard Shortcut Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? ALT+H will access Help in most applications or dialog boxes. Key Functions List Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? WINKEY+SPACE will show you a list of key functions. Keyboard Delete Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Use SHIFT+BACKSPACE to Delete something. Keyboard Shortcuts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Use CTRL+C to copy any file to the clipboard. Use CTRL+X to cut it to the clipboard. Then open the folder you want to place it in and press CTRL+V to paste. This is an easy way to move files around! Lock Warning Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Do you ever accidentally hit the Caps Lock or the Num Lick button by mistake, only to realize a few words later that what you have written is not what you wanted? Windows 95 has an option to let you know when either of the buttons have been hit. Open the Control Panel, choose Accessibility Options and select Use Toggle Keys. Click OK, and now every time you hit Caps Lock or Num Lock, you will hear a warning tone. Properties Keyboard Shortcut Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? ALT+ENTER after selecting an item will view its properties. Quick Rename Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Press F2 to rename a file or folder quickly. Quick Top and Bottom Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To get to the top of a folder window quickly, press CTRL+HOME. To get to the bottom, press CTRL+END. Resizing Your Window Using The Keyboard Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Trung Tran To minimise a window press Alt + Space + N, to maximise a window press Alt + Space + X, to restore the window into its default size press Alt + Space + R, or to completely shut it down press Alt + F4. Selecting All Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To select all files in a folder press Ctrl+A Show Popup Menu from the Keyboard Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Sergei Prokopov To quickly see the popup menu, press SHIFT + F10. Start Menu Hot Keys Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use accelerator keys to improve keyboard access to the Start menu or Programs menu on the Start button by placing an ampersand ("&") before a unique letter in the name of items (rename them with an ampersand within the name). Start Menu Keyboard Trick Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can improve keyboard access to the items at the top of the Start menu by numbering the icons there (rename them with a number at the beginning of the name). Then, you can press Ctrl-Esc followed by the number to launch your most commonly used programs. Tab and Enter Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Remember that in Windows dialog boxes, the TAB key moves between fields in the dialog box and the ENTER key executes the default button in the dialog box - usually the OK button. Task Manager Keyboard Shortcut Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? ALT+TAB will open the Windows CE Task Manager, allowing you to switch between applications or view the open windows. Use ALT+TAB Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Here's a Windows 3.1 feature that wasn't lost in Windows 95. Hold down ALT and press TAB to toggle forward between open applications. ALT+SHIFT+TAB will toggle backwards. Using Shift Tab Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Use SHIFT+TAB to move backwards between fields in a dialog box. Win95 Key Secrets Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Marco Koldewijn The windows key on the Win95 keyboard can serve more purposes than just clicking the start button. Hold down the Windows key and press one of the following keys to start the applications: e = explorer, f = find, m = minimize all windows, shift + m = maximize all windows, r = run. Adjust Graphic Settings Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can adjust the graphic settings on your computer to reach optimal performance. To do so, click on Control Panel, then the System tab, then the Graphics button. Move the slider to different settings and see which one works best for you. Better .Wav Playback! Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Shadligh Dale As default Win95 uses SoundRecorder to play back samples, as you may know it takes an age with big wav files as it has to load ALL the sample in and creates a HUGE swapfile!! If you change the Wav File type to open with Media Player it will stream the audio from the hard disk! To do this Select FILE then OPTIONS in the VIEW Menu on and window, then on FILE TYPES. Scroll down to WAVE SOUND and click on EDIT. Click on OPEN then press EDIT and type the following in the box:- C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE. Click OK. Select PLAY and click on EDIT and type the following in the box:- C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /PLAY /CLOSE. This will then associate all WAV files to the media player and you will gain a MAJOR performance increase when playing Wav Files! (Well Large ones anyhow!!) Check your Multimedia Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Chris Kopenec If you have a sound card with wavetable support, it is not enabled as default. You have to go into Control Panel, then Multimedia, click on Midi and then choose the device that you have. The midi files will sound much more realistic and nicer. Eject Your CD-ROM Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can eject your CD-ROM by right clicking on the CD-ROM icon in My Computer and select Eject from the context menu. If your CD-ROM is open, this will close it. Looking for Wave Quality Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: WildGod "Start" button, "Settings", "Control Panel", "Multimedia". In the "Recording" you may specify the "preferred quality" of the recorded sound. (CD Quality being the best) or even customize it if you feel adventurous. Warning: Like in reality, to have the best you must pay the price in which case here it's space. CD Quality recording takes about 8Kb/s to 172Kb/s depending on the frequency and type (mono/stereo). Play multiple .DAT file automatically Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Tito Sugiharta If you want to play multiple .DAT file on VCD (especially Karaoke or Song VCD), just follow these steps: 1. Open NOTEPAD or EDIT to create a batch file 2. If You wish to play 5 file Type: @c:\windows\rundll amovie.ocx,RunDll /play /close %1 @c:\windows\rundll amovie.ocx,RunDll /play /close %2 .. @c:\windows\rundll amovie.ocx,RunDll /play /close %5 3. Save as, VCD.BAT To play files AVSEQ01.DAT to AVSEQ05.DAT, type on MSDOS Prompt: VCD AVSEQ01.DAT AVSEQ02.DAT AVSEQ03.DAT AVSEQ04.DAT AVSEQ05.DAT Then active movie will play the 5 files automatically. NOTE: You must install active movie first, and register the .DAT file as MPEG file to be played by active movie. Playing AVI Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When an .AVI file is playing, you can bring up the Media Player by double-clicking the title bar of the .AVI. Double-clicking the Media Player title bar will make it disappear. Quick WAV File Playback Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Robert Downey Have you ever downloaded a really big WAV file to your hard disk only to have to wait again for it to open? You could reconfigure your system to use Media Player, but here is a better way. Just right click the WAV file, select the preview tab, and play it. This way it opens instantly, streaming the file from the drive, and no reconfig is needed! Video Performance Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If your video performance is slow, make sure that you are not using more colors or a higher screen resolution than you need to. Make sure that you are using the exact make and model of your video card. A generic driver will work, but may not work as well. Call Waiting Shutoff Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When using dial up networking, you can disable call waiting from the Dialing Properties dialog box of your modem in Control Panel. Connect Reliably Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you've installed everything correctly and just can't connect reliably, try starting the HPC Explorer first, then when it says "Waiting to connect" doc your machine. Sometimes this is more reliable than having the machine docked before you start HPC Explorer. Master Browser Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Rick Begeman Win 95 machines logged into a NT network, must have the master browser feature disabled, or they will argue with the NT server over who will maintain the list. Causing delays and extra network traffic. The default setting is "automatic". The Fix --- Go to "Network properties". Highlight "File and printer sharing for MS Networks". Click the "properties" box. Highlight "Master Browser". Select "disabled" from menu on right. Click "OK". Click "OK". Re-boot for changes to take affect. Peer-to-peer Problems w/PCI NIC's Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: Michael Sumerano When doing a clean install of Windows 95 (any version) to a PC that has a PCI network interface card installed, peer-to-peer networking may not work properly after it is installed. Fix this by clicking on Control Panel, Network. Double-click the icon for your PCI NIC and click on the Advanced tab. Select the EXACT PCI slot number the NIC is in, reboot, and peer-to-peer networking should be up and running. Resolve DNS without a Nameserver Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: E. Rydberg You can map a machines IP to any hostname you want by editing the HOSTS file in C:\windows. The File must be called HOSTS with no extension. Be careful not to map an IP to a name that you already use for dial-up networking. EX. Your Computers IP is 123.123.12.3 and you want your computer to be called by myserver.myhost.com. Simply edit the HOSTS file to map like this: 123.123.12.3 - myserver.myhost.com - # my server. Then you can call the server at IP 123.123.12.3 by myserver.myhost.com (ex. http://myserver.myhost.com). Remember you must reboot your computer after you edit this file in order for the changes to take effect. Running Network Resources Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Rather than mapping a drive to a resource, you can run a network resource by typing in the UNC name (like \\computername\resource) and access the resource right away! Sending EXE files with the IR port Platform: Windows CE User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: You know what is really anoying? The fact that you cannot send *.exe files over infra red to another HPC. Windows CE just won't let you do that. I figured out how to get around that. All you have to do is change the file extension! Ex. You want to send the file cascade.exe; 1st-make a copy of the file.; 2nd-change the copy's file extension to .wav. (it becomes unrecognizable); 3nd-send.; 4th-once received on other HPC, change file extension back to .exe (file becomes recognizable); the file was successfully sent! Sharing Hidden Folders Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To make a network share hidden, put a dollar sign ($) on the end of the share name. Only people who know the exact name of the share will be able to access it. A Better Clipboard Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When using the clipboard that installs with Windows95, every time you paste something new to it, you lose the last thing that was there. Windows95 has a ClipBook that you can save clippings and reuse the. To install it, put the Windows95 CD-ROM in your CD drive, and in the resulting window, select Add/Remove Software. Go to the Windows Setup tab, click Have Disk, click, Browse, and move to d:\Other\Clipbook (where d is your CD-ROM drive letter.) The only file that will be in that directory will be the CLIPBOOK.INF file. Double-click it. Check ClipBook Viewer and install it. You will now be able to open ClipBook through your Start menu, under the Accessories heading. Access a Web Site Fast! Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Lee Patterson To access the Internet quickly click on the start button then go to run. At run type in an internet address such as www.windows95.com and you will be there in a flash! Auto-Completion of Commands Platform: Windows NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? To enable auto-completion of a command (similar to that used in tsch in unix) start the registry editor and change the value of the CompletionChar key to 9. (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor) Once this is done you can just hit the tab key to complete your commands. (Ex. type c --> type c:\command.com type c --> type c:\config.sys) But I don't want to open with that! Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Steven Lewis If a file is associated with a program it will launch that program when you double click on it, or right click and select OPEN. If you want to open the file with a different program all you have to do is press the shift key and right click on it. You now have the option Open with..., use that and select the program that you want to open the file with. Clear Out Documents Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To clear your Recent Documents from the Start Menu, right click the Task Bar, select Properties, then choose the Start Menu Programs tab. Press the Clear button down bottom. Close All Apps - Fast Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you don't want to take the time to close all your applications, simply select Shutdown from the Start menu and pick the "Close all programs and log on as a different user?" options. Then just log back on as the same user. Closing All Open Windows Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To simultaneously close all the windows you have opened, simply hold the shift key and click the X button on the right side of the folders title bar. Closing Unwanted Explorer Windows Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Christian Seaman When browsing your computer, you can often end up with a screen full of unwanted folders. To close a folder and all its parent folders, just hold down SHIFT while closing a folder. Try it, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it! Command Line Completion for NT4.0 Platform: Windows NT User Level: Advanced Submitted by: ??? If any of you are like me, and spend 90% of your time in a telnet window using bash, you'll know how nice the command line completion via the TAB key is. Well, somewhere along the lines, I found this great little registry hack, that allows you to do the same thing under NT4.0 Just search for this line : hkey_current_user/Software/Microsoft/Command Processor. Once you find that line, double click it, and change the value from 0 to 9, and you're set! :) Configure Windows 95 Default Mail Program Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Russell Davis This is something that I haven't seem documented anywhere. If you have Netscape and Internet Explorer, there is no way to make Netscape Mail the default mail program (so it will come up when you click on an email link in a help file, program, etc.). To fix this, go to the registry, then to the section HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell\open\command. Under command, enter the full path to Netscape and then %1 (mine looks like this: c:\internet\netscape\program\netscpae.exe %1. That's It! Control Panel Extensions Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Hudson Akridge There are files with the .cpl after the file name are control panel extensions. There may have some floating around on your hard drive, just put them in the C:\windows\system dir and when you access your control panel again you will notice that there is the files icon in there. You can also use this if you want to take an icon out of your control panel that was associated with another program that was deleted... or if you don't want it showing up in your control panel, just move it into another folder for later use. Control Panel in a Menu Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? To put the contents of the Control Panel on your Start menu (or in any folder), create a folder and paste in Control Panel. Copying and Moving Files Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Select the files you want to copy or move, right-click and select Copy or Cut. Open the destination location, right-click and select Paste. Creating a New Folder While Saving Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? When using "Save As" in a Windows 95 common dialog, you can create a new folder simultaneously in which to store the file you are saving. To do this, right-click the dialog list control and choose the New.Folder item to create a new folder. Double-click the new folder to open it and then continue the save process. Creating a Shortcut Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right click on the desktop, choose New from the drop down list, and select Shortcut. After providing the path and Shortcut name, the new desktop Shortcut will be created. Customizing the Right Click Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Ted To customize the right click menu: open any folder. Click on View\Options. Click on the File Types tab. Chose the type of file you wish to edit. Click on Edit. In the actions display click New. The action is what will appear in the menu. Delayed printing Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Brian G.Skinner If you wish to scan several images to be printed, or to send several documents to the printer but not have them print out at that time, do the following. First from the Start button go to settings, then printers. Select your printer. Open up the print manager by clicking on the printer icon. Next drop down the printer menu and click on 'pause printing'. This will cause the printer to pause. Any items sent to the printer will now be spooled and stacked up (the only limit seems to be the size of your hard drive-temp file). When you wish to commence printing just go to the print manager and remove the tick from 'Pause printing'. The printer will then begin to print everything in the print manager. Delete Unwanted Temporary Files Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: DongnoD To delete unwanted temporary files when you startup every time, simply add in this line in C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT "Echo Y|If Exist C:\Windows\Temp\*.* Del C:\Windows\Temp\*.* >Nul" Deleting a Print Job Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you have ever started to print and decided you need to add to the file? Double click the printer icon in the tasp bar at the bottom of the screen. When the printer information screen comes up: click printer; click purge print job. The print job will stop printing, saving ink and paper due to unnecessary printing. Desktop in The Start Button Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Eric Payne If you are like me you hate minimizing or shrinking those windows to get to your shortcuts on the desktop. Well you don't need the hassle anymore, you can simply put the desktop folder in your start menu Programs. All you do is go to settings, then taskbar, then click over to Start Menu Programs and click on the Advanced button in the Customize Start Menu box. You also need to open the My Computer icon, select your hard drive [C:] and find the Windows folder and open it. Now using the right button on your mouse, drag the Desktop folder into the Programs folder in the Exploring - Start Menu window. A window will pop up asking, Move here, Copy Here, or Create Shortcut here; select Create Shortcut here. Now all you need to do is click on the Start button, go to Programs, and there will be a Desktop folder. Desktop Shortcut Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To make a desktop shortcut from a file, Alt+Tap your file and choose Desktop Shortcut from the menu. Dial your ISP automatically on boot-up! Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? To make your computer use Dial-up networking to connect you to the internet every time you boot, go into the dial-up networking directory in "My Computer." Now click on the file that you usually use to connect to the internet and drag it to the desktop; it should appear there WITHOUT asking any questions such as "This file cannot be placed on the desktop, would you like to create a shortcut instead?" At this point, you should "cut" the file off of the desktop and placing it in your startup directory in your start menu. Now reboot your computer. It should automatically connect you to the internet without the "enter information" box appearing, forcing you to click Connect before it continues. If it does come up with the box, do two things... type in your password in the appropriate box when it appears on the boot-up and check the box below it that says "save password." Now you must connect to the internet once by clicking on Connect. The call must go through or else it will not save your password. Now disconnect from that call once it has completed verifying you. Go into dial-up networking in My Computer and click ONCE on the icon that you dragged to the desktop before. Choose "settings" from the toolbar at the top of the window. Uncheck the box in this window stating "Display information box." Now reboot and watch it dial! Easy Control Panel Access Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? If you are always going into the Control Panel to change your settings, drag CONTROL.EXE from your Windows folder to your start button. Control Panel will now show up on your Start Button list. Erase Your Past Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To erase your Start menu's Document list, right-click an empty spot on the Taskbar, select Properties, click the Start menu Programs tab, click Clear, and then click OK. Fast access on Start Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Gary Leavelle Want access to 9 of your favorite shortcuts? They can be just two keystrokes away. 1. Drag and drop your favorite shortcut onto the Start button. This will place it in the C:\WINDOWS\START MENU folder. 2. Rename the shortcuts preceded by a number 1-9. For example, rename a shortcut to "My Computer" to "1 My Computer". 3. To access the numbered shortcut, press Ctrl+Esc (Accesses Start Menu) Number corresponding to the shortcut. (Executes the Shortcut corresponding to the number.) For example, on my Start button menu, I have 1-Shortcut to My Computer 2-Shortcut to Word 3-Shortcut to Excel 4-Shortcut to Network Neighborhood 5-Shortcut to Internet Explorer. If I press Ctrl+Esc, 3, Excel will launch automatically. File Manager Still Exists Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can still access the Windows 3.1 style File Manager by running WINFILE from the Run dialog. Or make a shortcut to \WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE on your desktop. Find File via Keyboard Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? While the desktop is active press the F3 key. This will open the Find File window and allow you to search for a file on the computer. Finding Downloaded Files in IE4 Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Sometimes IE4 seems to put files in strange places and makes them hard to locate after download. Some people have them downloaded to desktop to make them easier to locate but this tends to clutter the desktop after a while. To get around this, create a folder (it can be anywhere on your system) named "Downloads" (you can name it whatever you want) and then create a shortcut to that folder on your desktop. The next time you download a file, put that folder as your destination. IE4 remembers where it last put a file and will put them there next time. This way they are readily available from your desktop but don't clutter it up. Free Microsoft Phone Tips Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Get free Windows phone tips and info from Microsoft at (800) 936-4200. Hot Keys Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Mark Haston Win95 allows hotkeys for applications only if that app is open or minimized on your desktop. You can create hotkeys that work ALL the time (application does not have to be open or minimized) by following the method below: 1) Create a new directory called "Desktop Shortcuts". The path will be: C:\Windows\Start Menu\Desktop Shortcuts. 2) Place or copy any shortcut that you wish to create a hotkey to in this new directory. 3) Right click on each shortcut and choose properties. Click on the shortcut tab. 4) In the "Shortcut Key" field, type the letter you wish to use for the hot key (windows adds "CTRL & ALT). 5) Click OK. You can now press CTRL & ALT and your hotkey and your app will pop up, even if it's not already open. Instant Desktop Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Patrick Wever Need to click an icon/folder on the desktop? But is completely obscured by open Windows and you don't want to have to minimize them all to see the desktop again? Just click the Start-button, choose 'Run...' and type a dot (.) and press Enter. Keep the Internet Connection Alive Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: David Mitchell If you want to keep your Internet connection alive while your awayfrom the computer, but don't want a special program using upyour precious resources without doing anything else useful,Open your E-Mail program, and tell it to check your E-Mailonce every minute under options. This way, it keeps informationgoing back and forth between you and the server, while doing something useful as well. Minimizing All Windows Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can minimize all open windows at once; just use your right mouse button to click an empty area on the Taskbar, and then click Minimize All Windows. Minimizing All Windows Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To minimize all open Windows simultaneously, right click on the Taskbar and choose Minimize All Windows from the drop down menu. More Tips from Microsoft Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Find the TIPS.TXT file in your WINDOWS folder for some tips from the Windows 95 Development Team! Multiple Program Launch Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Bob DeLong If you ever find it necessary to launch two (or more) programs at the same time (say Wordpad and Calculator), select each one using the control key while clicking. Then, moving to an open space in that window, hold down shift and double click. Nice and Refreshing Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Speed up your HPC by deleting the shortcuts that you do not need from your desktop. You can get them back at any time, but your screen will re-draw faster with fewer shortcuts on the screen. Numbers to Words Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Mutaz Maleh As there is no function in Excel to translate numbers to words, you can create a sheet and use the vlookup function to have instantaneous translation. This is very useful and can be used in cheques, bills, invoices, etc. Only Do It Once Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Don't use recurring appointments in Schedule. Instead enter each appointment or event one by one. Using recurring appointments slows Schedule down considerably. Open Site with Different Browser Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Richard Wheeler In order to open a site using the non default browser and the run command. Just type in [Browser Command] URL. For example: IExplore.exe www.windows95.com. Out of Reach Tabs Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Dan While it was mentioned somewhere on winfiles that "card layout" tabs (e.g. Start -> Settings -> ControlPanel -> Accessibility -> Mouse) are inaccessible without a mouse, windows does indeed allow a way to access them via keyboard: Simply press Ctrl-Tab to cycle through tabs. Program Cancellation Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Tired of waiting for a program to load, and your system won't let you do anything else while it is loading? To cancel the loading program, Hit Control+Alt+Delete once, and a menu of open programs will come up. Click on the program that you want to cancel, and hit the End Task button. Program Manager Still Exists Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? You can use the Windows 3.1 style Program Manager by running PROGMAN from the Run dialog. Or make a shortcut to \WINDOWS\PROGMAN.EXE on your desktop. Program Maximize and Minimise Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To maximize or minimize a program or document, tap the taskbar button for that program or document. Quick Access Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Limit your desktop shortcuts to high-priority documents for quick access. Quick Close of All Programs Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To close all applications quickly without having to shut down Windows, simply click Start, Shutdown, then choose "Close all programs and log on as a different user" and log in as yourself again. Quick Desktop Access Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To access your Desktop quickly without having to minimize all your open windows, simply make a shortcut to C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP and place it in your Start Menu. Quick Icon Close Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Double-click the small icon in the upper-left of any window to close it quickly. If you do this in an application, with will prompt you to save any modified information. Quick Password Enter Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Keith Tired of having to re-enter passwords and User IDs on those web pages that require it like link exchange? Just save the e-mail they send you with your info in it (so you know it's correct) as a .txt file. Keep this on your desk top. Now when you visit link exchange or any other site that require your password/etc. just open that text file, select the appropriate password, and select COPY from the edit menu. Now bring up your browser and put the blinking cursor in the prompt and select PASTE from the edit menu. And there ya go! No more wondering if you typed you password/user ID/etc. correct or not. Quicker Delete Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Chris Send your items to the Recycle Bin without confirmation.In Windows Explorer, Scroll the left pane to the bottom and drag the Recycle Bin icon into the "Send To" folder in C:\Windows. When asked to create a shortcut, click "Yes". Go to the Send To folder and rename the item whatever you wish. Then Right-Click the desired file, choose "Send To", then click your Recycle Bin shortcut. Presto! Instant delete to the Recycle Bin without confirmation. Quick-Viewing a Document Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right click on any document and choose quick view from the drop down menu. This feature will allow you to view the item without launching the application it is associated with. Reduce Recycle Bin Disk Utilization Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Mike Young By default, the Recycle Bin can occupy up to 10% of each hard drive on your system. On a PC with a 2 gigabyte hard drive, this represents 200 MEGABYTES of disk space allocated for your most recently deleted files. Unless you want to make your deleted files recoverable for a LONG time or unless you do a lot of file deleting, this is probably a waste of hard disk space. Right click on the desktop Recycle Bin icon and select Properties. Use the slider bar to adjust the Maximum Size of Recycle Bin to something more reasonable, say 2%. On a 2 gig drive, this still lets you keep 40 megabytes of deleted objects available for recovery. Registry Backup Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Some of our tips involve editing the Registry. To be safe, make sure that you back up the Registry before making any changes to it, just in case something goes wrong. Registry Backup, Part 2 Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? In the last tip, we suggested that you backup your Registry before making any changes to it. We will now tell you how to back it up, so you don't have any excuses for not protecting yourself. Open the Registry Editor and pull down the Registry menu. Choose Export Registry File. Decide where you want to store the backup file, type in a name for the file, select All under export range, and click Save. Your Registry file is now backed up. Registry Backup, Part 3 Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: ??? Now that you have backed up your Registry file, we will tell you how to restore it again if you need to. Double-click on the REG file that you created. Choose Import Registry File under Registry, select the REG file, and click Open. Remove Recent Documents Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: DongnoD To remove recent documents in the start menu when you startup every time, simply add in this line in C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT "Echo Y|If Exist C:\Windows\Recent\*.* Del :\Windows\Recent\*.* >Nul". Running Minimized or Maximized Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To run a program minimized or maximized, simply create a shortcut for the item, then in the shortcut's Properties box change the Run option. Save Password in Dial-Up Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Craig Curry When connecting to your Internet Service Providor, if you are not able to check the box next to Save Password, here is the solution. Go into Control Panel/Network. In the box "Primary Network Logon:", select Client for Microsoft Networks. If it is unavailable, then, in the same window, click "Add" then "Client", then "Microsoft", then "Client for Microsoft Networks". You will need your Windows95 disk to complete the installation. After the computer restarts, make sure your Primary Network Logon is "Client for Microsoft Networks. Note: The first time you actually use the Internet after installing this Client, it will ask for a username and password after the initial dial and connect. DO NOT PUT A PASSWORD! Leave it blank, the username field needs a name, but not your Internet id, your first name or handle. Screen-Saver Lockouts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Adding a password protect to your screen saver will keep unwanted people out of your computer. Right click on your desktop, select Properties, click the Screen Saver tab, and select a screen saver. Then check Password protected and click Change to enter a password. Make to make the password not too obvious, but not something that you will forget in a few days. Search Many Drives All At Once Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Roy Snell To search for files on several drives simultaneously, use the "Find Files or Folders" application in Windows95, type the filename to search in the "Named" field and type the drive letters in the "Look in" field but separate each drive with a semi-colon and a space. e.g. C:\; D:\; E:\ will find the requested file on any of these drives. Be sure to separate the drives with a semi-colon and a space. Shortcut to the Taskbar Config window Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: WildGod Tired of having to click the "Start" button then going to "Control Panel" and then "Taskbar"? Simply right click on the "Start" button and select "Explore", which will popup a Windows Explorer window with at the "Start Menu" directory. From there you can manipulate your start menu just like any other directory and/or files. Start Menu Desktop Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Dana LoDico Right-Click your mouse button on an empty spot on your taskbar. Then select PROPERTIES. Go to Start Menu Programs and click the ADD button. Enter in the command line c:\windows\desktop. Click NEXT. Place the shortcut in the START MENU folder. Click NEXT, then click FINISH. You now have access to your desktop shortcuts from anywhere at any time without minimizing dozens of windows. Simply click on your start button, and your Desktop folder will be on it. Start Menu Easy Access Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: David Barry Create a new shortcut call it Start Menu and insert the following in target in shortcut's properties: "C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /e,/n,/root,c:\windows\start menu". Now you can get to the start menu advanced setup from a shortcut. Start Menu Trick Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: Jacob You can right mouse click on the start menu at the lower left hand corner of the windows screen and have access to windows explorer and find and open programs. This is a nice feature instead of opening the start menu and going to the program. Take a Shortcut Platform: Windows CE User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To create your own shortcut, ALT-tap the icon, and then tap "Desktop Shortcut" on the Shortcut menu. Title Bar Trick Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? The title bar of an open windows does more than tell you the name of the window that is open. You can also use it to change the size of your window. If the window is maximized, double-click on the title bar of the window to down size it. In contrast, you can also double-click on the title bar of a down sized window to restore it to a full screen. Top Level Start Menu Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Top level Start Menu programs are the programs that are above the dividing line in the Start Menu. A quick way to open one of these programs is to hit Ctrl+Esc, and then the first letter of the program. Truncate Long Filenames Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Advanced Submitted by: John Wright In Win95 a filename can be up to 255 characters, with as many spaces and periods as desired. Unfortunately, Microsoft's way of converting long names to the short version is bye adding a tilde (~) and a numeric character to the end of a file (e.g. "Web page.txt" would be webpag~1.txt). To get around this: start regedit.exe to open the Registry. Navigate the same way you do in Explorer to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\FileSystem. Right-click in the right pane. On the pop-up menu click New, then Binary Value. Type NameNumericTail and press enter. Double-click the new value and type 0 (zero) as the complete binary value. Click OK and restart Windows. Now, the 8.3 character versions of the filenames will be as close as possible to that of the long name (e.g. Thiscomputer.doc will be thiscomp.doc and not thisco~1.doc). It will only start adding numbers if you have more than one shortname with the same result. Turbo Resart Platform: Windows 95 User Level: Intermed. Submitted by: Douglas J. Balsillie A one step method of "rebooting" your computer via a desktop icon (batch file). Step 1: Open notepad and type (@exit) Step 2 : Save the aforementioned as Restart.bat placing it in the root directory (C:\) Step 3 : Create a shortcut to this file on your desktop in the usual drag and drop manner utilizing the right mouse button. Step 4 : Right-click on the newly created icon and choose properties Step 5 : Click on the Program tab and select the opiton "close on exit". Step 6 : Next, select the Advanced tab and choose "MS-DOS mode" and deselect "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode" Step 7 : Click on OK and OK again. Step 8 : Optional - I used the little red sports car icon, in shell32.dll, and simply named it Doug's Turbo Restart. Turning On Your Screen Saver Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? To immediately turn on your screen saver, select the .SCR file in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder that corresponds to your saver, right-click and drag it to the desktop to create a shortcut. Then double click the new shortcut to turn on the saver! This is also a good way to protect your machine quickly if you use password protection with your screen saver. Underlined Shortcuts Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? The underlined letters in menus are shortcuts. Press ALT + the underlined letter to choose the item. URL from Desktop Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Even if your web browser is not running, you can quickly go to a webpage by typing the URL in the "Run" box from the taskbar. Using Task Bar Items Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right-clicking on any item in the Task Bar will let you minimize, maximize, size, restore, move, or close the item. Using the Title Bar Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Double-click any window's title bar to maximize and restore it. Viewing a Disks Properties Platform: Windows 95/98/NT User Level: Beginner Submitted by: ??? Right click on any drive and choose properties. The properties box will appear allowing you to label the disk, view it's properties or run system optimization tools. < HTML> Text Tips Controlling text in HTML is tough. Because users can set individual text preferences on their browsers, how can you, as a Web designer, make sure the text on your pages appears the way you intend? Fortunately, there are a few things you can do. First, don't forget your basic tags: the - header tags; and to place a word or phrase in bigger or smaller text; and for superscript and subscript; (or ) for bold; and (or ) for italic. You can also specify a lot of information in the tag, such as the color of the basic text and links, while the tag lets you control--to a degree--the size, the color, and even the typeface of individual text elements. Our tips show you how. If you'd like to delve deeper into any of the tags introduced here, go to the W3C's HTML spec for text elements. Set Font SizesFix the Small-Font BugCreate a Custom Color SchemeDesignate Color-Specific Text Name Your ColorsTweak the TypefaceGrab Control With GraphicsUse Codes for More Characters Text Tips Set Font Sizes Setting a type size is simple: just use the SIZE attribute of the tag to state the desired dimension as a value from 1 to 7. These values don't translate to pixels or points or any of the usual text measures, but the type size you're used to seeing on most Web pages is the browser default of 3. To bump the text size to 5 (two notches bigger than usual), just designate it with the SIZE attribute: This text has a font size of 5. You'll get this: This text has a font size of 5. But if you don't know your viewers' default sizes, you won't know for certain whether 5 is larger or smaller than normal. If your goal is to make a certain chunk of text larger or smaller than what you have on the rest of the page, set the font size to a plus or minus value, like so: This text is one size smaller than the browser's default. Voil?: This text is one size smaller than the browser's default. Regardless of the viewers' browser defaults, the text between the tags will now be one size smaller. If you want to control the basic font for the whole document, you can use the tag with its SIZE attribute. For instance, to make the whole document's text size 4, place the following right after the document's tag: All the text in this document will have a size of 4, unless otherwise specified by a tag. Set Font SizesFix the Small-Font BugCreate a Custom Color SchemeDesignate Color-Specific Text Name Your ColorsTweak the TypefaceGrab Control With GraphicsUse Codes for More Characters Text Tips Fix the Small-Font Bug A quirk of HTML is that whenever you make text smaller than the default (whether by assigning a negative value to the tag's SIZE attribute or by using a tag such as , which makes text monospaced and also shrinks it slightly), the browser tends to leave a gap above the last line of text. For instance, check out this code: A quirk of HTML is that whenever you make text smaller than the default, the browser tends to leave an annoying gap above the last line of text--like in this example. The results look like this: A quirk of HTML is that whenever you make text smaller than the default, the browser tends to leave an annoying gap above the last line of text--like in this example. You can fix this bug by adding a tag immediately after the closing tag: A quirk of HTML is that whenever you make text smaller than the default, the browser tends to leave a gap above the last line of text. But when you add a line break, look--no gap! The gap disappears, like so: A quirk of HTML is that whenever you make text smaller than the default, the browser tends to leave a gap above the last line of text. But when you add a line break, look--no gap! Text Tips Create a Custom Color Scheme The tag lets you create background color for a page. Specifying text color follows similar rules: use the tag's TEXT attribute along with a hexadecimal code. Hex codes represent colors in the red/green/blue (RGB) method; the codes take the form of #RRGGBB, where RR equals two values for a red color, GG designates two for green, and BB allots two for blue. Each section has a value that's represented as a number from 0 to 9 or as a letter from A to F; together, the six values create browser-readable colors ranging from white to black. For instance, the hex code for blue is #0000FF, so to set the basic text color to blue for an entire document, you'd add the TEXT attribute and hex code to the tag, like this: We can't stress this strongly enough: when riding a motorcycle, you must always wear a helmet. See it in action Note: this tip uses JavaScript pop-up windows to demonstrate its results (just click "See it in action"). If your browser doesn't support JavaScript, download Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 for Mac, Windows 95, or Windows 3.x or Netscape Navigator 3.0 for Mac, Windows 95, or Windows 3.x. You can also set colors for the document's text links by using the tag. The LINK, VLINK, and ALINK attributes let you specify colors for unvisited links, already visited links, and active links, respectively. (A link is active while the viewer is clicking it.) The following tag, for example, yields lavender unvisited links, dark green visited links, and magenta active links: Click the link to see it change color. See it in action If you do the math, combining 16 values with six hex places creates 166 theoretical choices--almost 16.8 million colors. Don't bother trying to find them all, though, since browsers will dither most of them--that is, approximate the true color by interspersing pixels of different colors, which can result in a spotty look. See Lynda Weinman's Non-Dithering Colors by Hue chart for color codes that work with most browser palettes (use the numbers across the top of the color blocks). Text Tips Designate Color-Specific Text Like the tag, the tag lets you change text colors. This tag overrides instructions in the tag, so if you want to make a few words stand out by coloring them lime green (for example), insert tags around the appropriate words and use the COLOR attribute with the appropriate hexadecimal code, like so: We can't stress this strongly enough: when riding a motorcycle, you must always wear a helmet. The statement will look like this: We can't stress this strongly enough: when riding a motorcycle, you must always wear a helmet. Text Tips Name Your Colors If you'd like to name your text colors in plain English instead of hexadecimal codes, you can replace the hex code with one of the one-word color names recognized by Navigator and Internet Explorer versions 3.0 and above. We can't stress this strongly enough: when riding a motorcycle, you must always wear a helmet. You'll get this result: We can't stress this strongly enough: when riding a motorcycle, you must always wear a helmet. If you're gearing your site toward the broadest possible audience, however, stick with the more universally recognized hex codes. Text Tips Tweak the Typeface This is the one you really want to know about, right? Here's how it works: you can specify a typeface or a series of typefaces with the FACE attribute of the tag. If your viewers' systems have the specified fonts, their browsers will load them in the order you've designated. (If viewers don't have those fonts, their browsers will use their defaults.) For instance, you might choose something like this: This coding forces Courier and Helvetica to load first. Of course, using standard fonts that are likely to be on any computer increases your chances of determining how the page will actually look. Note: the FACE, attribute of the tag is not yet an official part of the HTML 3.2 specification. While it is currently supported by version 3.0 and beyond browsers, this could change down the road. Text Tips Grab Control With Graphics If you want total control over the look of your text, make it an art element. Nobody can change a GIF that you've designed. The obvious drawback is that viewers have to wait for the image to load, just as they do for any other graphical element. And if users turn off image loading on their browsers, they won't see your handiwork at all. (Be sure to include alternative text so those viewers at least know what you're saying, even if they don't get the benefit of your beautifully designed text.) But if your text absolutely, positively has to look a certain way, you don't have any choice. Just try to keep text graphics small--for example, don't put an entire paragraph into an image. Text Tips Use Codes for More Characters Have you hunted in vain for the ‚ (registered trademark) character on your keyboard? Ever wondered how to use a less-than sign (<) without the browser trying to read it as the start of an HTML tag? Character codes are the answer. Check out this ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) Characters List for a list of available characters and the codes needed to create them on an HTML page. There are two sets of codes you can use: numeric and name codes. Both sets are recognized by all browsers, so use whichever you're more comfortable with. For instance, both ® and ® yield the registered trademark symbol (‚), and both < and < yield the less-than sign (<). The list of available characters is quite extensive--you can create everything from a fraction symbol (?) to the Icelandic thorn (?). Perhaps the most useful code character is the nonbreaking space (  or  ). You can use nonbreaking spaces to insert a few blank character spaces on a form without preformatting a whole chunk of text or to indent text, images, or other elements a few spaces. You can also use them as a placeholder inside small table cells. Layout Tips Until recently, HTML has been an extremely poor page-layout tool. Precisely placing text and graphics on the page has always been difficult--and unfortunately, the big browser makers and the HTML standards bodies are still arguing over how HTML should handle layout in the future. Until they get things straightened out, there are a couple of tags that can help. The tag does just what its name suggests: indents text to create a blocked-out look, as is commonly used for quotations. Meanwhile, the tag lets you insert preformatted text into an HTML document. But your best page-layout friend is the tag; you can use it to divide up a Web page and to control the placement of elements within the divided areas. And to hide the table itself, just reduce its borders. To really make tables work, though, you need command over two of their aspects: the layout of the table cells--the areas of the table where you'll place your content--and the alignment of the content within the cells. We'll show you the ropes. Layout Tips Put Text in a Block If you want to indent a block of text on both sides, try the tag. (While the indentation isn't the same in all browsers, Navigator and Internet Explorer both indent the text 40 pixels on each side.) Just enclose the text you want indented in a pair of tags. Inside the blockquote, you can use standard or formatting tags to control line breaks as well as text-control tags such as and . Here's a sample blockquote segment: Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table. --T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The results look like this: Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table. --T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Layout Tips Put Images in a Block Don't limit yourself to putting text inside a blockquote. You can put images inside blockquotes as well. You'll find it's an easy way to indent a graphic about 40 pixels. For instance, try this command: The results look like this: You can also right-align images inside blockquotes by adding the ALIGN attribute to the tag and giving it a value of RIGHT. However, this is not advisable because the two major browsers react in different ways. Navigator right-aligns the image inside the blockquote: Navigator Internet Explorer, meanwhile, pushes it outside of the blockquote: Internet Explorer A better, more consistent way to right-align images within a blocked-out space is to place the image inside a table with hidden borders. Right-aligned images show up inside tables in both Navigator and IE. Layout Tips Nest Blockquotes You can also nest blockquotes inside one another to create larger indents. Nesting a pair of blockquotes creates indents of approximately 80 pixels on each side; nesting three blockquotes creates 120-pixel indents on each side; and so on. Look at this example: You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. --Maya Angelou, Still I Rise You'll get this result: You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. --Maya Angelou, Still I Rise Layout Tips Make a New Kind of List When you learn HTML, you're taught that there are three kinds of lists: unordered lists, which are bulleted; ordered lists, which are numbered; and definition lists, which place a term flush left, then indent the definition on the next line. (If you need a refresher on creating these lists, see CNET's feature "HTML for beginners.") But what if you want an indented list that's not bulleted or numbered? Just set the list up with the tag in the usual way, but don't include any tags. Add tags to separate the items in the list, like so: Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 This gives you a nice indented list without bullets or numbers, like this: Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Of course, this trick goes beyond lists--you can use it to achieve a quick indent for text or an image as well. Note: This use of the tag is not in accordance with the W3C spec. While it works with the recent versions of Navigator and Internet Explorer, readers should be aware that it may be unsupported in other browsers. Layout Tips Preformat Text Normally, HTML ignores non-HTML commands. But the tag lets you insert preformatted text. The tag recognizes hard returns and multiple spaces you type with the space bar, while the text itself appears in a monospaced font. The tags give you more control over how the text will look in a browser. For instance, format a passage like so: But what if you want an indented list that's not bulleted or numbered? Just set the list up with the tag in the usual way, but don't include any tags. Add tags to separate the items in the list, like so: I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machin- ery of night. --Allen Ginsberg, Howl You'll get this: I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machin- ery of night. Layout Tips Preformat Forms You can use the tag in forms to get the little boxes to line up correctly. For instance, a form that has Name and Address boxes as its first two vertical fields might not look very good because Name has four letters, while Address has seven. If you try putting a text box after each word, the box after Address will jut out from the box after Name, like so: Name Address However, you can use tags to make everything come out even: simply add three spaces after Name and before the text box. Name Address The form will look like this: Name Address You can accomplish the same thing without using tags by inserting nonbreaking spaces after Name to bump the text box over. Layout Tips Create a Basic Table Before you can do fancy stuff with table layout, you need to create a table. The and tags enclose all the other elements of a table. Each row in a table is set up with a

(table data) tag for each cell in that row. The following code sets up a simple 2-by-2 table: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents The , , and of a cell. The cell's contents should touch the tags all have various attributes that let you control the look of the table itself as well as the placement of its contents. (Read the rest of our table tips to get acquainted with them.) In the absence of those attributes, the table defaults to fit around the cell contents. Thus, in most browsers, the code above yields a borderless table that looks like this: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents If you want to delve deeper into the mysteries of tables, check out the W3C table spec. Layout Tips Add Borders--Then Take Them Away Tables don't have to contain text only, of course. Most of the complex layouts you see on the Web combine images and text inside various table cells--you just can't see the lines, or borders, between the cells. The BORDER attribute of the tag allows you to assign a thickness (in pixels) to the border lines. To make a table with a border of 2 pixels, just add BORDER="2" to the tag. To make an invisible border, set the BORDER attribute to 0. (Although most browsers default to a table border of 0, specifically stating it ensures that the border will be invisible in all browsers.) Below are two examples of what this looks like. On the left are the codes for one table with a 2-pixel border and another table with an invisible border. The finished products are on the right. see our products find out about us see our products find out about us see our products find out about us see our products find out about us A trick: design the table with a visible border, which will show you just how your elements are broken up. When you have everything in place, change the BORDER attribute to 0. Layout Tips Create Seamless Table Layouts Two of the most useful attributes for laying out table content are CELLPADDING and CELLSPACING. The CELLPADDING attribute controls the distance (in pixels) between the cell's contents and its sides, while the CELLSPACING attribute controls the distance (in pixels) between the cells themselves. (The default for both is 2 pixels.) It might not sound like there's much difference between the two, but there is. The codes for the following tables are identical, except the first one sets CELLPADDING to 10 pixels: see our products find out about us see our products find out about us The second one sets CELLSPACING to 10 pixels: see our products find out about us see our products find out about us Now, if you want to create a perfectly seamless look where the contents of all the table cells touch one another, simply set the table's BORDER, CELLPADDING, and CELLSPACING attributes to 0. The following code sets up a table with four images blending together to look like one: Layout Tips Make Cells the Shape You Want HTML doesn't stick you with plain grids for your table layout. With the ROWSPAN and COLSPAN attributes of the tag, you can make a given cell span the height or width of several other cells. To use these attributes, simply assign them a value based on the number of cells you want to span. For instance, the following table has two rows of three columns each: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents To make the first cell span all three columns, add COLSPAN="3" to its tag and delete the other two tags in that row: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents If you'd like to make that first cell span two rows instead, add ROWSPAN="2" to its tag and delete the first tag from the second row: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Of course, you can make your tables far more complex than these examples. If you choose to do so, it's always a good idea to sketch out your tables before you create them. Layout Tips Make Cells the Size You Want Table cells size themselves to their content by default. But what if you want cells of a different size? Enter the WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes of the tag. Just specify the size in pixels, and you're all set. To make a cell 100 pixels wide and 80 pixels high, for example, you'd do this: Cell contents Cell contents Note that WIDTH and HEIGHT are only suggested attributes. That is, they take effect only if the cell's set width or height doesn't conflict with other cells in the same column or row. Layout Tips Preceisely Place Cell Contents Once you start changing the shape and size of table cells, the cells no longer shape themselves around their contents. Thus, to place elements where you want within such table cells, you need two attributes of the tag: ALIGN, which places objects LEFT, RIGHT, or CENTER within a cell; and VALIGN, which moves them up and down using the TOP, MIDDLE, and BOTTOM instructions. (By default, elements align horizontally to the left and vertically in the middle.) For instance, to align text to the top right in a 100-by-80-pixel cell, you'd use the following code: Cell contents Cell contents Note: when you're placing objects in table cells and you want them to align properly, don't leave space after the opening or before the closing tags to ensure proper alignment, especially when you're working with images. Layout Tips Make Your Table Colorful Sick of having your table blend in with your page? Then change its background color! Just add the BGCOLOR attribute to the tag and assign it a standard hexadecimal color code or a one-word color name. For example, this code creates a simple table with a pale blue background: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Depending on your browser and platform, you may see blank lines between the table cells. To ensure that the lines disappear in all browsers, set the table's BORDER and CELLSPACING attributes to 0, like so: Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Cell contents Layout Tips Use Empty Cells for Page Layout Many times, the best way to control the location of an element on your page is to bump it over by inserting an empty table cell that's just the size you need. But be warned: while most browsers have no trouble with empty cells, Navigator has a tendency to collapse cells that have no content. Never fear, however: there are several ways to fix Navigator's collapsing-cell bug. For example, you can insert a 1-pixel GIF and make its width the same as the table cell's or insert a nonbreaking space. Or you can use Netscape's tag. The tag can ostensibly be used to create blank space anywhere on a page, but since it's Navigator-specific, it's best to avoid in general use. It's perfect for this situation, though, because other browsers (which don't have the collapsing-cell problem) simply ignore it. To use the tag, set its TYPE attribute to "block" and add WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes, both of which take pixel values, like so: Layout Tips Place Your Table on the Page In addition to formatting elements within a table, you can control where your table appears on the page. Two attributes can help you out: · The ALIGN attribute aligns the table LEFT, RIGHT, or CENTER on the page (left is the default). · The WIDTH attribute lets you specify a fixed amount of pixels for the table's width (by using a number, as in ) or lets you make the table occupy a percentage of the browser window's width (by assigning a percentage, as in ). Thus, the following code sets up a table 150 pixels wide and centered on the page: The code below sets up a table three-quarters the width of the browser window, aligned on the right side of the page: Frames Tips Frames create multiple windows in the browser window into which you can place different Web pages. Frames have lots of uses. You can use one frame to display an unchanging item, such as a toolbar, while using another frame to house changing content. Any link in one frame can open a page in another. On the downside, not all browsers support frames, nor are frames part of the HTML spec. Frames can also result in slow load times. But Navigator 2.0 and above and Internet Explorer 3.0 and above do support them, and they're becoming more and more accepted across the Web. Read our frames tips to get started. If you need more help, check out Frames: An Introduction on Netscape's Web site. Frames Tips Set the Frame To create frames on a Web page, you need the tag, which defines the divided areas, and the tag, which brings up the HTML pages that reside within the divided areas. The tags nest inside the tags, which follow the tags. ( tags have no end tag, but tags do.) To set up the number of frames in a frameset, use the ROWS or COLS attribute of the tag. These attributes can take whole numbers (in pixels), percentages of the screen, or relative scaling values; the number of frames is determined by the number of values assigned to the attribute. For example, this command sets up two frames side-by-side: The frame on the left takes up 20 percent of the screen, and the frame on the right takes up 80 percent of the screen, no matter how big or small the screen gets. The following code takes a different approach. The top frame is set with an actual pixel value, while the bottom frame uses the * (asterisk) delimiter, which fills in the remaining space in the browser window: Because you don't know the exact dimensions of your viewers' browser screens, it's much smarter to use the asterisk delimiter than to use pure pixel values. Depending on the content of the frames, this approach may also work better than establishing percentages of the screen. If you've designed the content of one frame to be a certain size (for a graphical toolbar, for instance), it makes sense to ensure its size with a set pixel value. Of course, nothing appears onscreen until you actually set up the frames within the frameset. You need one tag for each frame, and each tag points to its own HTML document or script with the familiar SRC attribute: Frames Tips Name Your Targets Once you've set up your frames, you need to figure out how to use them. One of the best ways to use frames is to make a link in one frame open a page in another frame. You accomplish this by using the NAME attribute of the tag and the TARGET attribute of the tag. The NAME attribute gives each frame an identity as whatever name you choose. Thus, if you have two frames--one for the navigational toolbar and the other for general content--you might name them like this: Within the toolbar.htm document, the toolbar's links would look something like this: Home Products About Us Feedback Frames Tips Control the Borders Frames aren't always the best way to lay out a page: they take a lot of memory to load and can be confusing to viewers. But recent innovations, such as the ability to control borders between frames or to eliminate them entirely, make frames a more flexible layout tool. If you want to place borders around all the frames in a frameset, add FRAMEBORDER="1" to the tag. To make them disappear, give the FRAMEBORDER attribute a value of 0 (the default). If you'd like to control the frame borders individually, use the FRAMEBORDER attribute with the tag. For instance, the following code yields a frameset in which the frame on the left has a border of 3 pixels, but the middle and right frames merge seamlessly. See it in action This seamless look is all the vogue these days, but be warned: large, borderless frames look best when viewed on large monitors. People with smaller monitors will see scrollbars interrupting the seamless look--which is why it's a good design idea to keep frames small and scale your content to fit within them. Frames Tips Fine-Tune Frames In addition to making frames borderless, there are numerous other ways to tweak your frames. Take a look at the following code: See it in action The FRAMESPACING attribute of the tag defines the space (in pixels) between frames, much like the CELLSPACING attribute of the tag. The MARGINWIDTH and MARGINHEIGHT attributes of the tag define the space (in pixels) between the frame contents and the frame borders (much like the CELLPADDING attribute of the tag) to ensure that the pages inside a frame don't smack into the sides. The SCROLLING attribute lets you decide whether a frame should have scrollbars: SCROLLING="yes" makes them appear all the time, SCROLLING="no" turns scrollbars off no matter what happens, and SCROLLING="auto" (the default) lets the browser decide based on the space it has for a frame and the size of the content within that frame. In the example above, the first frame will never show scrollbars, while the second and third frames will scroll only if their content is larger than the frames. Normally, a user can click a frame's border and move it to resize the frame. The NORESIZE attribute does just what you'd expect: it prevents the frame from being resized. In the example above, the last frame has the NORESIZE attribute, which means that the border it shares with the second frame cannot move. The border between the first and second frames, however, can be moved. Frames Tips Offer an Alternative Not everyone has a browser that supports frames, so whenever you use frames, you'll want to supply an alternative. After your closing tag, insert a tag; inside this, you can nest <BODY> tags and a standard, no-frames HTML document: <br> </FRAMESET><br> <NOFRAMES><br> <BODY><br> <H1>Welcome to my site!</H1><br> <P>Home page text goes here...<br> </BODY><br> Browsers that don't support frames ignore all the , , and tags, jumping right to the <BODY> tag and its contents. Browsers that do support frames ignore everything that appears between the <NOFRAMES> tags.<br> Graphics Tips<br> To do Web graphics correctly, you need basic mastery of a graphics program (anything from the high-end Adobe Photoshop to inexpensive commercial applications or shareware). If you want your images to move, you need to know how to use an animation program. <br> None of this has anything to do with HTML tagging, right? Right. But there are a couple of tricks you can perform with the IMG tag to make your pages look better and load faster.<br> Graphics Tips <br> Define Dimensions<br> To give the impression of faster loading, include the width and height (in pixels) of your graphic as attributes of the <IMG> tag, like so: <br> <IMG SRC="mypic.gif" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="170"> <br> This creates a placeholder for the image, which allows the page's text to load before the image has completely downloaded and rendered. The appearance of text gives the illusion that the entire page is loading faster--and that'll make a difference to your readers. For the best effect, also be sure to use the <IMG> tag's ALT attribute.<br> Graphics Tips <br> Offer Alternative Text<br> While you may think your page's images are the coolest thing on the planet, some browsers don't support graphics--and some people turn off automatic loading of images to speed downloads. Providing alternative text for your images with the ALT attribute of the <IMG> tag lets everyone understand what you're showing in your images, even if they can't see the actual pictures. Just add it to the image tag like this: <br> <IMG SRC="mypic.gif" ALT="A portrait of the artist as a young man"> <br> Viewers who have images turned off will see this: <br> <br> An added bonus: the browser inserts the ALT text before it downloads the image. Thus, even users who have images turned on can read your ALT text before seeing the image. And users of Internet Explorer 3.0 and above get to see the ALT text pop up when they pass their cursor over the image.<br> Graphics Tips <br> Get Graphical Navigation<br> Instead of a using a plain text menu bar for your site's navigation, you can group small images together to make a toolbar. The toolbar shown here, for instance, was created by placing small GIFs in a table: <br> <br> <br> Setting the table's BORDER, CELLSPACING, and CELLPADDING attributes to 0 makes the space between the individual images disappear so that they come together as a single seamless image. What's more, the images that make up the toolbar are cached by browsers, so if they appear on multiple pages (as most toolbars do), they are simply loaded from the cache rather than pulled from the server each time--which saves your viewers some download time. <br> A word to the wise: when you're using images as navigational links, make sure it's obvious that they're links. One trick is to make your images look like buttons by beveling the edges. And don't be afraid to put the words click here or go to on the image to be sure.<br> Graphics Tips <br> Control Content Location With GIFs<br> If you want to control--down to the pixel--where elements appear on the page, just use a transparent GIF that's only 1 pixel square. You can use it in one of two ways: first, you can stretch the GIF to the width or height you want it by using the WIDTH or HEIGHT attribute of the <IMG> tag: <br> <IMG WIDTH="10" SRC="cleardot.gif">This text is indented 10 pixels. <br> You'll get this: <br> This text is indented 10 pixels. <br> The other way is to use the HSPACE or VSPACE attribute of the <IMG> tag. These attributes leave horizontal and vertical blank space (in pixels) around the image. So to indent a line of text exactly 11 pixels, you would use the following code: <br> <IMG HSPACE="5" SRC="cleardot.gif">This text is indented 11 pixels. <br> This leaves 5 pixels of padding on either side of the GIF, plus one for the GIF, for a total of 11 pixels, like this: <br> This text is indented 11 pixels. <br> Both techniques add very little to download times, since only one tiny GIF needs to load.<br> General Tips<br> Text, layout, frames, and graphics--what else is there to discover? Don't worry, CNET has a few more HTML tricks up its sleeve. <br> Some are attributes of the <META> tag. This tag goes at the top of an HTML document, either nested within the <HEAD> tags or just after them, but always before the <BODY> tag. The <META> tag contains information about the document that can be used by browsers and search engines. <br> Other tips lay out some basic rules of HTML that apply to all the code you write. As always, you can go to the W3C's HTML spec for more information on HTML coding.<br> General Tips <br> Get Noticed<br> The Web is so big and varied that it's easy for your site to get lost in the clutter. Say you have a great site on the poetry of the 19th-century Russian tsars, but it never seems to show up when you do a Net search. The <META> tag's NAME attribute can give you an edge. If you set "keywords" as the <META> tag's value, you can specify tons of keywords in the CONTENT attribute that robots and spiders (those excellent programs that find Web sites for search engines) will hit. <br> If you want to grab people who are searching for 19th-century Russian poetry, you might use the <META> tag with the following keywords: <br> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="poetry poem literature russia eastern europe tsar czar 19th century 1800s russian history"> <br> Similarly, if you set "description" as the NAME value, you can include a thoughtful outline of the site rather than a string of keywords. Your description will appear in a search engine's results page instead of the first 200 or so words on the page. The poetry site above might have a description that looks something like this: <br> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Well-researched and well-documented site on the poetry of the 19th-century Russian tsars. Includes biographical information and full texts of poems."> <br> Better yet, include keywords and a description. You can have more than one <META> tag on a page, and they don't need to be closed.<br> General Tips <br> Make a Splash Screen<br> Ever go to a site that shows one page and then jumps to another after a few seconds? How do they do that? With the HTTP-EQUIV attribute of the <META> tag, that's how. <br> HTTP-EQUIV instructs the server to take an action--for example, to insert a date onto a page. You can also use the attribute to make the browser call another Web page. First, add the HTTP-EQUIV attribute to the <META> tag and give it a value of "Refresh" so that the viewer's browser knows the page should be reloaded. Next, add the CONTENT attribute. Giving it a value of "5" tells the browser to reload the page every 5 seconds. If we stopped here, the page would just continually refresh itself every 5 seconds. But adding a semicolon and a "URL=" value to the CONTENT attribute tells the browser to call a different page after 5 seconds, like so: <br> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="5;URL=mainpage.html"><br> <BODY><br> <IMG WIDTH="250" HEIGHT="110" ALT="splash screen" SRC="splash.gif"><br> </BODY> <br> General Tips <br> Make a Slide Show<br> Try the splash-screen trick with frames for an even more interesting effect. You can use the HTTP-EQUIV refresh function of the <META> tag repeatedly to load a succession of pages, creating a slide-show effect in one of the frames. <br> Let's say you have four documents you'd like to use as slides: slide1.html, slide2.html, slide3.html, and slide4.html. When you set up your frames, have slide1.html be the document that's called by the frame where you want the slide show. Next, open the slide1.html document, and add this tag near the top: <br> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3;URL=slide2.html"> <br> Next, open slide2.html, and add this near the top, and so on: <br> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3;URL=slide3.html"> <br> If you want the slide show to end with slide4.html, don't insert the <META HTTP-EQUIV> tag there. If you want it to loop back to the first slide, add the tag and send it to slide1.html. This sets up a slide show in one frame that switches to the next image every 3 seconds.<br> General Tips <br> Detect the Browser (Sort Of)<br> The <META> tag's HTTP-EQUIV attribute can perform some rudimentary browser detection. No, it won't return operating system and version information, but it will let you split your viewers into those with modern browsers and those with older versions. <br> Because HTTP-EQUIV isn't recognized by anything before Navigator 2.0, you can set up things so that if someone hits your site with an older browser, they can manually link to a sparer version of your site. <br> It's easy: simply create your splash screen, and add a line that says something like this: <br> If your browser doesn't jump to our site in a few seconds, visit our low-bandwidth site. <br> General Tips <br> Keep It Neat<br> Good housekeeping extends beyond your home. Keep your HTML code clean so that others who want to look at your site's source code won't have any trouble reading and understanding it. (You are scanning other sites' HTML source codes for ideas, aren't you? If you're not, you should be: just select View/Document Source or View/Page Source from your browser's main menu.) <br> Put extra line space between blocks of code, indent nested tags to show their hierarchy, and use the <!--> comment tag to document what the major sections do. It's time-consuming, but it'll help others--and it'll also help you produce the tightest and most logical HTML for your pages. Check out DOWNLOAD.COM, and view its source code for an example of good use of comments. As you scroll down the page, you'll see such helpful identifiers as these interspersed with the code: <br> <!-- AD BANNER --><br> <!--NAVBAR--><br> <!-- MAIN CONTENT --><br> <!-- LEFT COLUMN --><br> <!-- RIGHT COLUMN --><br> <!-- HOT CORNER --> <br> They let you know exactly what you're looking at.<br> General Tips <br> Know Your Audience<br> One thing to remember is that no amount of funky HTML tricks can compensate for not designing for your audience. Part of that is knowing when--and when not to--use HTML tricks. If you're designing for people who are likely to be using the latest, coolest release of a Netscape or a Microsoft browser, then, by all means, use everything available for those. But if you're addressing a lower-level audience that's still on version 2.0 of either product (or on a text-only browser such as Lynx), resist the urge to go wild--concentrate instead on presenting your material clearly and cleanly. If you don't know which type of browser your audience is likely to have or if you have a mix of users, provide an opening page with high-end and low-end branches, and let people choose what they want to see.<br> General Tips <br> Keep It Small<br> Always keep your pages as small as possible, even if you're sure your audience has plenty of bandwidth. Break up long, scrolling pages into clickable chunks by taking advantage of the Web's hyperlinking ability. Don't use frames unless you have good reason. And keep graphics as small as you can. If you don't need sharp resolution, choose GIFs over JPEGs, as GIFs generally load faster. And resist the temptation to create graphics-intensive pages; every object you put on a page forces your browser to call the server and increases loading time, sometimes drastically. The quicker you can get your whole page loaded, the more chance you have of holding your readers' attention and getting them to click to the next page on your site.<br> General Tips <br> Test for Everyone<br> Just because your graphics and layout look great in your own browser on your own computer doesn't mean your site will look wonderful to other people. If you can, test your pages on different platforms, on different browsers, and at different resolutions. You may find that sacrificing the coolest elements for high-end users can improve the experience immeasurably for low-end users. Depending on your audience, that can be a good trade-off.<br> <br> <!--end text_1--> </font> <p> </td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_2--> <!--end heading_2--></b></font><br> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_2--> <!--end text_2--> </font></td> <td><!--begin image_2--> <!--end image_2--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b> <!--begin heading_3--> <!--end heading_3--></b></font><br> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_3--> <!--end text_3--> </font></td> <td><!--begin image_3--> <!--end image_3--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_4--> <!--end heading_4--></b></font><br> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_4--> <!--end text_4--> </font></td> <td> <!--begin image_4--> <!--end image_4--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_5--> <!--end heading_5--></b></font><br> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_5--> <!--end text_5--> </font></td> <td> <!--begin image_5--> <!--end image_5--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_6--><!--end heading_6--></b></font><br> <p> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_6--><!--end text_6--> </font></td> <td><!--begin image_6--><!--end image_6--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_7-->,<!--end heading_7--></h3></font> <p> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_7--><!--end text_7--> </font></td> <td><!--begin image_7--><!--end image_7--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_7-->,<!--end heading_7--></h3></font> <p> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_8--><!--end text_8--> </font></td> <td> <!--begin image_8--><!--end image_8--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_9--><!--end heading_9--></h3></font> <p> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_9--><!--end text_9--> </font></td> <td>&nbsp;</td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_10-->,<!--end heading_10--></h3></font> <p> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_10--><!--end text_10--> </font></td> <td> <!--begin image_10--> <!--end image_10--></td> </tr><tr valign="top"> <td> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><!--begin heading_10-->,<!--end heading_10--></h3></font> <p> <font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <!--begin text_11--><!--end text_11--> </font></td> <td> <!--begin image_11--> <!--end image_11--></td> </tr> </table> <!-- text here --> </font> </blockquote> </td> </tr><tr valign="middle"> <td rowspan="3"><img src="fs_img/builder/builder80/left_cor3.gif" width="29" height="30" alt="" border="0"></td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#003366"><img src="fs_img/builder/builder80/top_strip3.gif" width="581" height="6" alt="" border="0"></td> <td rowspan="3"><img src="fs_img/builder/builder80/rt_cor3.gif" width="30" height="30" alt="" border="0"></td> </tr><tr valign="middle" bgcolor="#003366"> <td><img src="fs_img/builder/builder80/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" alt="" border="0"></td> </tr><tr valign="bottom" bgcolor="#003366"> <td><img src="fs_img/builder/builder80/bottom3.gif" width="581" height="7" alt="" border="0"></td> </tr> </table> </div> <br><br> <div align="center"><ISML TYPE=file SRC=fs_img/search.txt></div> </body> </html> <!-- PrintTracker Insertion Begin --> <script src="/fs_img/js/pt.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <!-- PrintTracker Insertion Complete --> <!-- Google Analytics Insertion Begin --> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', "UA-4601892-3"]); _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'none']); _gaq.push(['_setAllowLinker', true]); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 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