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Win 95 tips PRINT SCREEN PRINTS NOWHERE [Print Screen Command ] If you're used to using Print Screen (or whatever your keyboard calls it) to print what you see and you try to do this with Windows 95, don't expect much. In fact, don't expect anything. It won't work. The good news is, there's still a way to print what you see. It's just not as direct. When you hit Print Screen, Windows 95 copies the screen to your Clipboard. So you can paste the screen into Paint and print from there. After you hit the Print Screen key, open Paint (choose Start, Programs, Accessories, Paint), and choose Paste in the Edit menu. See your screen? Print it! Tip-in-a-tip: To print an open window but not the whole screen, hit Alt+Print Screen. WHAT'S IN A NAME? [ Change the Name of the Recycle Bin ] Wanna change the name of your Recycle Bin to something a little more fun, such as I Love Trash? It's not as easy as using the Rename command, but it can be done. Just replace every instance of "Recycle Bin" in the Registry with a new name. One word of caution: Unless you know what you're doing, don't touch anything else in the Registry. It contains all kinds of nerdy information that lets Windows 95 run properly on your system. OK? 'Nuf said. To open the Registry Editor, choose Run on the Start menu, type 'regedit' and click OK. In the Registry Editor, pull down the Edit menu, choose Find, type `Recycle Bin' and click Find Next. When the finder stops, double-click whatever's highlighted on the right side of the Registry Editor, then in the Edit String dialog box, highlight only the words 'Recycle Bin' on the Value data line (even if they're within a long line of text), and replace them with the new name you want. Click OK, choose Find Next under Edit (or hit F3), and keep repeating these steps until the dialog box pops up saying that it's finished searching the registry (about 11 changes later). Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows 95 to make your change take effect. It's "I Love Trash" all the way! GO FOR THE CLEAN SLATE [ Clear the Documents List ] If you click the Documents line on the Start menu, you'll have instant access to the most recent documents you've opened from the desktop. This list is another great way to get where you need to be fast. You just pick something in the list and you're there. But what if something top-secret ends up on there? That access is a little too easy. Or what if there are so many in the list that it takes forever to find the one you need? Wipe the whole thing out and start with a clean slate. The secret is in one little button. Click the Start menu, choose Settings, then Taskbar. In the Taskbar Properties dialog box, click the Start Menu Program tab. See the Clear button? Click it. Now click the Start button and choose Documents. Clean as a whistle! YOU GOTTA DOS WHAT YOU GOTTA DOS [ Full-Screen MS-DOS Window ] If you want to see your MS-DOS window at full screen, and we mean full screen, click the four-arrowed icon on the toolbar. Yikes! Who turned out the lights? To get out of there, just hit Alt+Enter (same as in Windows 3.x). It'll bring you right back to that beautiful window. (Tip: If you don't see the Toolbar in your MS-DOS window, click the DOS symbol in the upper-left corner of the window and choose Toolbar from the drop-down list.) BIG LITTLE DESKTOP [ Change Your Desktop Resolution ] Want to change the size of your desktop on the fly? Windows 95 will switch your desktop to another size at the click and drag of a mouse. Click the right mouse button on the Desktop, choose Properties and click the Settings tab. See the box called Desktop area? Move the lever toward Less or More and you'll see the dimensions change before your eyes. (Options depend on your monitor, of course). If you like what you see in the preview and want to go through with the change, click OK, then click OK again. You get one last chance to change your mind once the life-size version appears on screen. In the Monitor Settings dialog box, either click No to get back to where you started or Yes to set your change. DCOM WHAT? [ DCOM for Windows 95 ] Microsoft has just released its beta version of Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) for the Windows 95 operating system. DCOM is "a key capability of ActiveX technologies for building powerful Internet and intranet applications." Want to check it out? You can download the DCOM for Windows 95 beta from http://www.microsoft.com/oledev/olemkt/oledcom/dcom95.htm THE BIG TRADE-OFF [ Print Directly to Printer ] What's more important when you print a document: Having the printed copy in your hand sooner, or getting back to work as quickly as possible? If you answered "printed copy," then it's time to change your printer's habits. As long as your printer isn't shared, you can tell Windows 95 to send your document directly to the printer, avoiding the first spooling process (by default, it sends the print job to your hard drive first in order to free up your program sooner). Changing this option will keep you locked out of your program longer while the document prints, but that's the trade-off. You'll have your printed document in hand much faster. Open your Printers folder (choose Start, Settings, and then Printers), click your printer with the right mouse button, and choose Properties. Select the Details tab, click the Spool Settings button, and in the resulting dialog box, choose the last option, Print directly to the printer. (Note: Doing so will prevent you from being able to pause a job, as you could previously.) Click OK, try printing something, and watch your printer get right to business. Who wants to get back to work faster anyway? HOT KEY IS SHORT FOR SHORTCUT [ Hot Key To Start Menu Item ] Is there a shortcut buried a few layers into your Start Menu that you use fairly frequently but not enough to add to your Desktop? Take all those System Tools, for instance. Way too many clicks to get to them, if you ask us. For a much shorter route, set up a hot key to that Start Menu shortcut. From then on, you'll be able to access that program with the press of a keyboard combination. Click the Start Menu with the right mouse button and choose Open to display its contents. Navigate your way to the program to which you'd like hot-key access, click its shortcut with the right mouse button (it has to be a shortcut, not a folder), and choose Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, click anywhere on the Shortcut key line to place your cursor after the word None, and finally, type a letter that you'd like to be used in combination with Ctrl+Alt to access that program (such as D for Disk Defragmenter). When you do, the entire hot-key combination will appear on that line. Click OK, and from now on, pressing that keyboard combo will open the program BACK(UP) TO BASICS [ Making Registry Backups ] If you do a lot of Registry tweaking, back it up to protect yourself in the event of a mistake. You can make full or partial backups of the Registry from inside the Registry Editor. The backup is stored as a.REG file in the location of your choice--a folder on your hard drive, on a network drive, or on a floppy disk (if the file's small enough). To back up the entire Registry, open the Registry Editor: Click Start, choose Run, type "regedit" (without the quotes), and click OK. Pull down the Registry menu and choose Export Registry File. Type in a File name for the backup you're about to create (you don't have to fill in the REG extension), then navigate your way to the folder where you'd like to store the backup (a full backup usually won't fit on a floppy disk--for example, our backup was 1.91M bytes large). Finally, make sure All is selected under Export range, click Save, and wait as the REG file is created. If you're working on only a small area within the Registry, you can back up just that part. With the Registry Editor open, navigate your way to the branch you'd like to back up. (A branch is a key, or entry, in the Registry, and all of its contents.) With the key at the top of the branch highlighted, choose Export Registry File from the Registry menu. In the resulting dialog box, you'll see the highlighted branch listed under Selected branch. Now just follow the same steps as before to create a full backup--name the REG file, navigate your way to the location where you'd like it stored, and click Save. In our next tip, we'll show you how to restore REG files to the Registry. SAVED BY THE REG FILE [ Restoring REG Files ] In our last tip, we showed you how to create full or partial backups (REG files) of the Registry. In the Registry Editor, choose Export Registry File under the Registry menu, then fill in the resulting dialog box (give the file a name and location), and click OK. Just make a mistake during some Registry editing? No problem. Restoring, or importing, a REG file is just as easy as creating one. In the Registry Editor, choose Import Registry File under the Registry menu, then navigate your way to the REG file you have in mind. Select the file, click Open, then wait a few minutes while the Registry refreshes itself. When it finishes, you'll get a message telling you the operation's been a success. (Tip in a Tip: You can also import a REG file without setting foot in the Registry Editor. Just double-click the REG file icon, or click it with the right mouse button and choose Merge.) Oh, one last thing. If you'd like to be able to see the contents of a REG file when you double-click it (to edit it, if you're into that kind of thing) simply change it's extension to.TXT. Then double-clicking the file opens it in Word Pad. Of course, before restoring that file's contents to the Registry, you'll need to change the extension back to.REG. DIS AND DAT [ Where is the Registry? ] You know that to tweak the Registry, you have to go into the Registry Editor, but have you ever wondered exactly where the Registry is stored on your computer? It's actually split up into two files, SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT. Windows 95 creates backups of these files--SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0--every time you start Windows 95 successfully. (That's a zero, not the letter O, on the end of that extension.) To prove the existence of these files, fire up Find (hit F3), click Browse, navigate your way to the Windows folder, and click OK. On the "Files named" line, enter *.DA*. Click Find Now, and you'll see all four files, among others. (If you don't see them, open any Windows 95 window, choose Options under View, click the View tab, select Show all files, and click OK. Now go back to the Find dialog box, and you'll be able to see these "hidden" files.) In our next tip, we'll show you how to replace your SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files with their respective backups in the event of an emergency. REGISTRY MAKE-OVER [ Advanced Users Only ] In our last tip, we told you that the Registry is stored in two files (SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT) on your system, and that Windows 95 keeps backups of these files (SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0) around and up-to-date. In the event of an emergency, you can replace the Registry files with these backups. The first thing you'll need to do is get to a DOS prompt. Turn your computer off and then back on. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press F8 and choose the Command Prompt Only option from the Startup menu. Type "cd windows" (without the quote marks) to get to the Windows directory. The idea is to copy the.DA0 files over the.DAT files. Problem is, these files all have hidden, read-only, and system attributes attached to them (which means DOS won't let you mess with them). To remove these attributes from the SYSTEM.DAT file, type the following at the DOS prompt and hit Enter: attrib -h -r -s system.dat Follow these same steps to remove the attributes from the remaining three files (using a command line identical to the one above, with the proper file name inserted at the end). Once all the attributes are removed, copy the SYSTEM.DA0 file over the SYSTEM.DAT file and the USER.DA0 file over the USER.DAT file, with the following commands (hitting Enter after each): copy system.da0 system.dat copy user.da0 user.dat Turn your computer off, then turn it back on, and the Registry files will have been successfully replaced. Whew! IT'S A WRAP [Word Wrap Option in Notepad ] Have you ever noticed that if you open up Notepad and start typing, the text just keeps going... and going... and going to the right? That's because by default, Notepad's Word Wrap option is turned off. The only thing that will start your text on the next line is hitting Enter. If you'd prefer to have Notepad wrap your text (in other words, move it to the beginning of the next line) whenever you reach the right edge of the window, just choose Word Wrap under the Edit menu before you start typing. Once this option is set, you can size the Notepad window up or down and still see all of your hard work inside it. Notepad adjusts the word wrap to match the size of the window. DO YOU COPY? [ Disk Formatting Options ] In our last tip, we told that you can use the Quick formatting option (after clicking your floppy drive with the right mouse button and choosing Format) to erase files on a floppy disk. Interested in the other formatting options you saw there? Choose Full to prepare a disk for information storage (for example, if you inherited the disk from a friend who uses a Mac). This option also scans the disk for bad sectors, which is why it takes so much longer than the Quick option. Copy system files only--well, that's a horse of a different color. With a preformatted disk in the drive, choosing this option copies system files--COMMAND.COM, IO.SYS, and MSDOS.SYS--to the disk, creating a system disk. (You can use a system disk to boot your computer in the event that your hard drive has a brain cramp.) Or you can choose Full and select Copy system files under Other options to format the disk and copy the system files all in one step. SHELL-AC THOSE NEW FILES [ Remove Item from New list ] Ever wish you could remove an item from your New list--the one you see when you click the Desktop with the right mouse button and choose New? You can, by editing the Registry. (As with all Registry tips, we recommend backing up the Registry before making any changes, in case you make a mistake.) Open the Registry Editor (click Start|Run, type in regedit and click OK), double-click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT to expand it, and scroll down to the extension associated with the file type you'd like to remove from the New list. With this extension selected, hit the asterisk (*) key on your numeric keypad to display its contents, and you'll see that it contains a ShellNew key. Click ShellNew with the right mouse button, choose Delete, and click OK to confirm. Right-mouse click on the Desktop or in any folder window, choose New, and you'll see that the item is erased from the list. Later! NEW ADDITIONS [ Add Item to New list, Part 1 ] In our last tip, we showed you that you could remove an item from the New list: In the Registry Editor, find the extension associated with the file type under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and delete its ShellNew key. As you might expect, you can add items to the New list by adding some settings to the Registry. This process is fairly involved, so we recommend it for advanced Registry users only. (Also, we take no responsibility for incorrect settings!) It's a two-step deal, so we'll show you the first part here, and the second part in our next tip. The first step is to create a blank file of the type you'd like to add to the New list and save it in the C:\Windows\ShellNew folder. Open the application whose file type you'd like to add to the list, and with a blank file open, choose Save As under the File menu. Give the file any name you'd like (with the proper extension, of course), navigate your way to the C:\Windows\ShellNew folder, and click OK. (If you can't access the ShellNew folder from the application's Save As dialog box, save the file in the Windows folder, and then move it to the ShellNew folder using Explorer.) Close the open application. In our next tip, Part II.... NEW ADDITIONS [ Add Item to New list, Part 2 ] In our last tip, we showed you that the first step to adding an item to your New list is to save a blank file of that type in the C:\Windows\ShellNew folder. (We also mentioned that this tip is not for beginners, and that we take no responsibility for incorrect settings!) Now for the second step: Adding a ShellNew key to the file type's key in the Registry. In the Registry Editor (click Start|Run, type in regedit and click OK), double-click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, scroll down to the extension associated with the type you'd like to add to the New list, and select it. Click it with the right mouse button, select New, then select Key in the pop-out menu. Name the new key "ShellNew." Click ShellNew with the right mouse button, choose New, select String Value in the pop-out menu, and name the new value "FileName." Double-click FileName, and on its Value data line, enter the name of the file that you saved in the Windows\ShellNew folder (from yesterday's tip). Click OK, and you'll see this name in quotes under the Data column. Mission accomplished. Close the Registry Editor and go check out your new list! Tip & Trick for Windows 95, Part 3 TEMPLATES, WORD PAD-STYLE, PART 1 OF 2 [ WordPad Templates ] Did you know you can set up templates in WordPad? It doesn't come with the built-in tools to do so, like other word processors have, but you can improvise a little. Just set up a file type for WordPad templates and associate this type with WordPad. From then on, double-clicking a file with this extension (i.e., a template you've designed) will open the file in WordPad where it will work just like one of those fancy word processor templates. To create the new file type, in any Windows 95 window, choose Options under View, and select the File Types tab. Click the New Type button, and in the resulting dialog box, type a description and the extension you'd like to use to represent the WordPad template file type. (We chose. TEM, but you can use anything you want. Just don't use an extension that's already associated with another file type.) Don't click OK yet. Now to add an action to the file type. Click New, and in the New Action dialog box, type the word Open on the Action line, then enter, in quotes, the path for WordPad's.EXE file on the Application used to perform action line. Click OK, then click Close twice to get out of those dialog boxes. Your file type's all set. In our next tip, creating a WordPad template. TEMPLATES, WORDPAD-STYLE, PART 2 OF 2 [ WordPad Templates ] In our last tip, we showed you how to set up a new file type for WordPad templates. (On the File Types tab, click New Type, and type a description and an extension. Click New, type "Open" on the Action line, enter the path for WordPad's .EXE file, and click OK.) Ready to use the new file type? Open WordPad, and design a template. (You know, the basic framework for a document type you produce frequently.) When you're done, choose File|Save, give your template a name with the new extension, and click Save. Your template is complete. (You may want to set up a folder in which to store all your WordPad templates. Just make sure the folder name doesn't include spaces or WordPad won't see it.) Whenever you want to use the template, double-click it (assuming WordPad isn't already open), and it'll open in a WordPad window. As with any template, complete the document, and save it under any name you'd like, with a .DOC, .TXT, or .RTF extension. Tip: To ensure that you don't save changes to a template (overwriting the original), mark it read-only. Click the template icon with the right mouse button, choose Properties, select Read-only in the Attributes section, and click OK. Now if you try to save a file under the same name as the template, you'll get an error message. BUT I DON'T WANT TO LOG IN! [ Get Rid of the Log-In Dialog Box ] If you've set up user profiles in the past but have since gone back to the "All users of this machine use the same preferences and desktop settings" option, you probably find it annoying that the log-in dialog box still appears every time you start Windows 95. Fortunately, you can get rid of it. All you have to do is change the current password to no password. Select Start|Settings|Control Panel, double-click the Passwords icons, and on the Change Passwords tab click the Change Windows Password button. On the Old Password line, enter the current password, then press Tab to move down to the New Password line, and press Enter. That's it. You'll see a dialog box telling you your password has been successfully changed. That Welcome to Windows 95 log-in dialog box won't bother you again. GET A QUEUE [ Cancel Print ] Did you just send a whole bunch of documents to your non-network printer, and now you'd like to cancel one of them? You can cancel a print job from your printer queue, which is the list of everything printing or waiting to be printed. (Note: Sometimes, you can control the activity of a network printer from the queue, but it depends on the individual setup.) Choose Start|Settings|Printers, and double-click your printer's icon to open the queue. Right-click the document whose printing you'd like to cancel and choose Cancel Printing. Poof! The document disappears from the list. If it was in the process of printing, choosing this command stops it in its tracks. If hadn't started printing yet, well, it never will. MULTIPLE PRINTER DISORDER [ Change Your Printer Default ] If you can print to multiple printers from your Windows 95 system, you can set any one of them as your default printer. Choose Start|Settings|Printers to open the Printers dialog box. Right-click the printer you have in mind for the job and choose "Set As Default." NOTEPAD EXTRAS [ Notepad Headers and Footers ] You can insert the file name, date, time, page numbering, or all of the above, in the header or footer of a printed Notepad page. Choose File|Page Setup, and take a look at the Header and Footer options. By default, the setting "&f" next to Header tells Notepad to print the filename at the top of the page. Next to Footer, "Page &p" tells Notepad to print the word "Page", then the current page number in the footer. You can change these settings to anything you want (or delete them altogether) by typing any combination of commands on the Header and Footer lines. For a list of commands, click Header or Footer with the right mouse button and select the What's This button that appears. When you're done typing or deleting, click OK. The changes will affect every Notepad file, until you change them to something else. SIGNED, SEALED, F5-ED [ F5 in Notepad ] Want to time- and date-stamp your Notepad file? In a previous tip, we told you that you could type ".LOG" at the top of a Notepad file to make it time- and date-stamp the file after every entry (after you close and then reopen the file). But if you're just looking for one stamp, hit F5 in any Notepad file. Insta-date. THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM [ Notepad Margins ] If you're printing a Notepad file, don't expect it to print exactly as it appears on screen (unless you have the word wrap option set; then the margins will adjust according to what's visible in the Notepad window). Notepad's print margins are determined by the numbers in the Page Setup dialog box. To adjust Notepad's margins for printing, choose File|Page Setup, and change the measurements under Margins. (At least you get to see their effect on the page layout, even if the text in the preview isn't your own.) Click OK when you're done and print it. FREEDOM OF ICON MOVEMENT [ Auto Arrage, Line up Icons ] If you've got the Auto Arrange option set for your desktop, good luck trying to move icons around. Drag-and-drop all you want--those icons will snap right back to the left side of the screen in perfect formation when you let go. For complete freedom of icon movement, click the desktop with the right mouse button, choose Arrange Icons and deselect Auto Arrange. You can still have all your icons in neat, perfectly spaced rows. Once you've got everything approximately where you want it, click the desktop with the right mouse button and choose Line up Icons. (Tip: This command works best if you line up the icons close to their desired arrangement by hand first.) GET WORLDLY [ International Keyboard Layout ] Windows 95 has a United States-International keyboard that adds new characters to many of the keys on your keyboard. Choose Start|Settings|Control Panel, then double-click Keyboard, click the Language tab, and click the Properties button. Now click the down arrow and select United States-International. Click OK twice. The new layout adds one or two characters to a number of keys on your keyboard. To use these characters keys, press a key in combination with the Alternate Character (AltChar) key (or Shift-AltChar for a second character). The AltChar key is the right Alt key on your keyboard. For example, if you wanted to type the letter E with an accent that goes up to the right, you'd hold down the AltChar key and press the letter E on your keyboard. And for a capital E with the same accent, you'd hold down Shift+AltChar and press E. (Note: It's impossible for us to print a diagram of which characters are added to which keys, so you'll need to play around to find the ones you use frequently.) In our next tip, we'll show you a few tricks this keyboard layout has up its sleeve.... TRICKY, TRICKY [ International Layout Assisting Keys ] In our last tip, we told you how to switch your keyboard layout to the U.S.-International layout, which adds up to two characters to a number of keys on your keyboard: In the Control Panel, double-click Keyboard, click the Language tab, click Properties, select United States-International, and click OK twice. To use the new characters, press a key in combination with the AltChar key (or Shift-AltChar), which is the right Alt key on your keyboard. As you might expect, this layout has a few tricks up its sleeve. There has five keys that, when pressed, don't do anything on screen; what they do is set up another key to make the big character appearance. These five assisting keys are the apostrophe (`), the back quote (`), the circumflex (^), the double-quote ("), and the tilde (~). They assist in making, respectively, an acute accent, a grave accent, a hat over a vowel, an umlaut, and a little squiggly thing, as over the N in the Spanish word senorita. (Sorry, we can't do it here.) For example, to type an A with a grave accent (the one the goes up to the left), press the back quote (`) (nothing happens yet), and then press the letter A. Play around with these five keys a bit, and you'll get the hang of it. In our next tip, some exceptions for these assisting keys.... THERE'S ALWAYS AN EXCEPTION [ Exceptions for "Assisting" Keys ] In our last two tips, we told you how to change your keyboard layout to the U.S.-International layout (in the Control Panel, double-click Keyboard, click the Language tab, click Properties, select United States-International, and click OK twice), and that to use its new characters, you press a key in combination with the AltChar key (or Shift-AltChar), which is the right Alt key on your keyboard. We also told you that there are five "assisting" keys--the apostrophe (`), the back quote (`), the circumflex (^), the double-quote ("), and the tilde (~)--that when pressed in combination with another key, make an acute accent, a grave accent, a hat over a vowel, an umlaut, and a little squiggly thing, respectively. Ready for the exceptions? Try typing "go get `em" on a United States-International keyboard. You get those three words, but without quotes, and with an accent over the E in EM. That's because those assisting keys do what they've been told no matter what. So when you type the apostrophe (`) and then the letter E, you get an E with an acute accent. And when you type double quotes (") and then a letter that would never have an umlaut over it (in this case, G), the international keyboard assumes you didn't really mean it. There is a solution. To type one of the five assisting characters (in a situation where it wants to assist the next key), press it, and then press the Spacebar. (Note: If you're typing something after an assisting key that would never have an accent over it, you don't need to worry about the Spacebar.) TOY STORY--PART ONE OF MANY [Power Toys - Download ] http://www.microsoft.com/windows/common/aa2729.htm Do you have a modem, Internet access, and a few seconds to read this tip? Then you're only minutes away from having all of the Windows 95 PowerToys on your system. The Windows 95 PowerToys were designed by the Windows Shell Development Team because "there can never be enough shortcuts for getting stuff done." Microsoft presents these tools as shareware on their web site. Just point your web browser to the Microsoft site and follow the Download Instructions. Step 4 of the instructions deserves a little explanation. When you right-mouse click each INF file and choose Install, a few of them will present you with a dialog box saying you need to restart your system. Click No. (You'll do it when you're done.) And a few of the INF files will present you with informational dialog boxes when you install them. Read what's there (if you have an hour), but then close them; the installation won't proceed until you do. When you've finished all 14, restart Windows 95. You've officially installed the PowerToys. TOY STORY--PART TWO OF MANY [Power Toys -- DeskMenu ] Now let's look at some of these toys in action. After installing PowerToys, you'll notice three new icons in the tray of your Taskbar, one of which is DeskMenu (the desk icon--the one with the lamp). If you don't want this icon to appear whenever you start Windows 95, you'll need to remove its icon from your StartUp folder. DeskMenu is a popup menu of your desktop items. No matter how many windows you have open, you can access anything on your desktop without minimizing windows. Just click the DeskMenu icon and select the item you need. And if, for some reason, you need to get to the actual desktop, DeskMenu can help you get there faster. Click the icon, choose Minimize All Windows, and every open window shrinks to the Taskbar. To restore them all, click the DeskMenu icon and choose Undo Minimize All. To close DeskMenu, click its icon and choose Exit DeskMenu. To get it back, double-click its icon in the Power folder you placed on your desktop (or wherever you've moved it to), or wait until you start Windows 95 again. TOY STORY--PART THREE OF MANY [ PowerToys--QuickRes ] One of the icons you'll notice in the tray of your Taskbar is Quick Res (the one that looks like a computer screen). If you don't want this icon to appear whenever you start Windows 95, you'll need to remove its icon from your StartUp folder. If you thought you could change your desktop resolution on the fly using the Display Properties dialog box, wait'll you see QuickRes. Click its icon, select one of the resolutions in the popup list, and the change happens right before your eyes. Notice the popup list shows which resolutions your system will allow based on your color palette setting. Assuming you don't want to change your color palette, select any resolution that lists the current palette next to it. To change both the resolution and the color palette, select the right combination in the list. However, when you do, only the resolution will change right then; the color change won't appear until you restart Windows. TOY STORY--PART FOUR OF MANY [ PowerToys--FlexiCD ] One of the icons you'll notice in the tray of your Taskbar is FlexiCD (the one that looks like a CD--if you don't have a CD in your CD-ROM drive, it will be covered by a red circle with a line through it). If you don't want this icon to appear whenever you start Windows 95, you'll need to remove its icon from your StartUp folder. FlexiCD provides you with audio CD control from the Taskbar. Insert an audio CD into your CD-ROM drive, and it starts playing (assuming you have AutoPlay capability--if not, you'll need to right-mouse click the FlexiCD icon and choose Play from Start). Click the FlexiCD icon once with the left mouse button to pause the CD; click it again to resume playing. Right-mouse click the FlexiCD icon to display the other commands it offers. You can switch to the next or previous track, select a track by number, or eject the CD, all from this menu. TOY STORY--PART FIVE OF MANY [ PowerToys--Shortcut Target Menu ] While some of the PowerToys appear on your Taskbar, others reside on the right-mouse popup menus of shortcuts and/or folders. Right-mouse click some items on your desktop, and you'll see these new menu additions. As its name implies, the Shortcut Target Menu is unique to shortcuts. Right-mouse click any shortcut and you'll see that a Target item has been added to its menu. Select it, and an entire submenu appears. All of these commands apply to the shortcut's target, or the icon to which it points. For example, Open Container opens the window holding the target file or folder. Previously, you had to open a shortcut's Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab, and click Find Target to get there. A little faster with this PowerToy, eh? 'Send To' LAN Trickery Category: Windows 95 All If you work on a small network and often e-mail attachments among co-workers, you can streamline the process. Instead of using e-mail, create a Send To item that lets you copy a document directly to your colleague's Desktop (you'll need shared access to that person's PC). Locate your colleague's C: drive in Network Neighborhood, right-click on it and choose Map Network Drive from the pop-up menu. Map it to an available drive and check the Reconnect At Logon box. Next, open your WINDOWS\SENDTO folder, right-click on the background and choose New/Shortcut from the pop-up menu. In the Command Line field, type H:\Windows\Desktop (where H: is your co-worker's drive letter). Now you can right-click on any object, choose Send To from the pop-up menu, and pick the destination PC to copy the file to your co-worker's Desktop. - The Underground Guide to Windows 95, Scot Finnie ...And from Bitmaps Category: Windows 95 All If you have Microsoft Plus!, you can create an icon from any bitmap image. Open Control Panel and double-click on Display. Select the Plus tab, then select the icon you want to change. Press Change Icon, then press Browse. Find a bitmap, click on Open and hit OK for both dialog boxes. 3D Games Need Memory Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance For maximum memory in a DOS session, add the following line to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI: LocalLoadHigh=1. Players of games that use 32-bit DOS extender software will reap the benefit of that much more memory. Data Doggie Bag Category: Windows 95 All Whenever you copy text or graphics using Ctrl+C or another method, the data goes into your Windows Clipboard until the next time you copy something, at which time it's blasted into the ether. If you'd like to hang on to the contents of your Clipboard, simply launch the Clipboard Viewer applet, select Save As from the File menu and name the file. Next time you want the data, lau nch the Clipboard Viewer, select Open, then find and double-click on the file you saved. Once it's in the Clipboard, you can paste away. If you don't have the Clipboard Viewer installed on your system, install it from the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel item. Warning: A saved Clipboard file (CLP extension) is humongous, because the data is saved in multiple formats. A Dialog for All Drives Category: Windows 95 All Here's an easy way to view the properties for multiple hard drives all at once. Open My Computer and select all your hard drives by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each drive. Next, right-click on any one of the drives and choose Properties from the Context menu that appears; Windows will create a single dialog with tabs for each drive. It also works for floppy, removable and mapped network drives. A More Direct Dial-Up Category: Windows 95 All If you don't like pressing Dial-Up Networking's Connect button each time you call your ISP, you can bypass it. Open Programs/Accessories/Dial-Up Networking from the Start menu and click on the Connections menu. Choose Settings and clear the box labeled "Prompt for information before dialing. " As long as you've directed your browser's default dial-up connection to save and reuse your password automatically, you'll be able to initiate a connection just by launching your browser. - Jason Itell A Period Piece Category: Windows 95 All DOS veterans know that typing two periods after the Change Directory command (CD ..) brings you to the parent directory of the current directory. The Win95 MS-DOS Prompt improves on this quick command by letting you use three, four or more periods to move you further up the directory chain to the grandparent and great-grandparent directories. A Quicker Quick View Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Quick View is an underused, under-appreciated feature of Windows; it lets you quickly and safely see the contents of documents without opening their associated applications. To make it even quicker, create a shortcut to it, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VIEWERS\QUIKVIEW.EXE, and then drag and drop a file onto the icon to view it. Accommodating Columns Category: Windows 95 All If you open a folder in Details view, and part of the file/folder information isn't visible because the columns are either truncated or too wide for the window size, here's a quick fix: Press Ctrl and the Plus (+) key on the numeric keypad. The columns will automatically adjust to fit the wind ow or widen to display all the information (if your resolution and screen size are large enough). In an Explorer window, you may need to select the pane first by pressing Tab. Add Your Printer to SendTo Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Print documents without opening them by adding your printer to the Win9x SendTo menu (accessed when you highlight and right-click on any file in a Windows Explorer or My Computer window). Open C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO and create a shortcut there for your printer. Your printer will now appear the next time you access the SendTo menu. And Speaking of DOS... Category: Windows 95 All Under DOS 7.0, type DIR /V within a desired directory. This adds additional information to DIR listings and places long filenames in the left column. Welcome Back" Screen Category: Windows 95 All When you first installed Win95, a Welcome Screen popped up, offering tips, a guided Win95 tour and a few other things. If you deselected the "Show this Welcome Screen next time you start Windows" option, you haven't seen it since. To get it back, select Run from the Start menu, type welcome and click on OK. Assorted Associations Category: Windows 95 All You can associate multiple applications with a single file extension. For example, to associate the DOC extension with Word and WordPad, open any folder window and choose View/Folder Options/File Types. In the Registered File Types box, select the Microsoft Word Document entry. Click on the Edit button and then on the New button. In the Action box, type Open with WordPad. In the Application Used To Perform Action box, enter the following, including the quotation marks, and click on OK (adjust the pathname for WordPad if the location is different on your PC): "c:\program files\accessories\wordpad.exe" "%1" In addition to double-clicking on any DOC file to launch Word, you can now right-click on the file and choose Open with WordPad to open the file with that application. (Note: Some files you create with Word 97 may not open properly in WordPad.) Auto-Launch DOS Category: Windows 95 All If you're a fan of the MS-DOS Prompt, make sure it's always readily available. Right-click on the Start button and select Open. Double-click on the Programs icon, then drag the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut and drop it on the StartUp icon. Now, double-click on the StartUp icon, right-click on the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut and select Properties. Select Minimized from the Run drop-down box. Finally, click once in the Shortcut Key box and type in the hotkey of your choice (say, Ctrl+D). From now on, the MS-DOS Prompt will launch at startup, but minimized. Whenever you want to enter a quick command, just press your shortcut key and it'll come right up. Automate ISP Connections Category: Windows 95 All Some ISPs require lengthy log-in procedures. You can script these procedures to automate the dial-up connection. You can install scripting tools from the ADMIN\APPTOOLS\DSCRIPT directory of the Windows 95 CD. Or you can download the shareware application RoboDUN from http://www.filemine.com. To configure the script, open the Dial-Up Networking (DUN) folder in My Computer. Right-click on the connection for the ISP and select Properties. Click on the Configure button in the Connect Using section and select Options. Check the box labeled "Bring up terminal window after dialing" and click OK. Initiate the connection; after you've dialed, a window will appear, allowing you to type any necessary commands. Write down all the case-sensitive prompts and enter the commands into the scripting utility. Automatic Thumbs Up Category: Windows 95 All Make the icons that represent bitmap images automatically show a thumbnail of the images themselves. Open the Registry, then drill down to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Paint.Picture/DefaultIcon. Now, double-click on (Default) in the right pane and change the value of DefaultIcon to %1. (Note that in order for this to work, you must replace the entire entry with a percent sign followed by the number 1.) Now all your BMP images will be represented in Explorer by icon versions of themselves. Awesome Icons And More! Category: Windows 95 All We've put together an awesome set of icons-plus some other fun goodies-you can use on your Desktop. You'll find them at our Win95 super site: http://www.winmag.com/win95 . Be a Net Watcher Category: Windows 95 All You can easily manage shares by using the NetWatcher utility. This program gives you information on all of your shares, including who's accessing them. You can also create and remove shares with this applet, or disconnect a user from your share. Boost CD-ROM Performance Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance In Control Panel/System/Performance, select File System and the CD-ROM tab. Move the Supplemental Cache Size slider to the right to allocate more RAM for caching data from the CD-ROM drive, or to the left to allocate less. Multimedia programs perform better with a smaller cache because they seldom reuse data. For reading continuous data, such as AVI files, use a higher setting for Optimize Access Pattern. For reading random data, increase the Supplemental Cache Size and decrease the Optimize Access Pattern. Boot Options Category: Windows 95 All Here's how to force Windows to open the Startup menu and give you the option to boot into Normal, Safe, Command Prompt Only and other modes each time you start your computer. Find and open MSDOS.SYS, locate the line BootMenu=0 and change the 0 to a 1. If you don't have the line, simply type BootMenu=1 in the [Options] section. Boot Up Faster Category: Windows 95 All Win95 pauses for about two seconds during boot-up to give you the opportunity to press a start-up key such as F8. To remove the pause and make boot-up faster, open the MSDOS.SYS file in Notepad and add the entry BootDelay=0 to the [Options] section. Bypass the Connect Button Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Bypass Dial-Up Networking’s Connect button when you dial your ISP. Open Programs/Accessories/Dial-Up Networking from the Start menu and click on the Connections menu. Under Settings, clear the “Prompt for information before dialing” box Be sure your browser’s default dial-up connection saves and reuses your password automatically, so you can initiate a connection just by launching your browser. Bypass the Password, Part I Category: Windows 95 All You can disable Windows' log-on password. Open the Passwords Control Panel and click on the Change Windows Password button. Type your old password in the Old Password field. Then tab to the New Password and Confirm Password fields in turn, and press only Enter in each one. If Windows still insists that you must enter a new password, run the System Policy Editor (install this fro m your Windows CD), select File/Open and click on the Open Registry option. Select Local Computer\Network\Password and clear the "Minimum Windows password length" option. Bypass the Password, Part II Category: Windows 95 All Booting up Windows on a system for the first time? When you encounter the log-on screen, press Cancel. On subsequent boot-ups, you'll need to enter only a user name, not a password, and then click on OK to log on. Cache in CDs Category: Windows 95 All You can set performance parameters on practically every computer that comes with a built-in CD-ROM. Go to Control Panel/System/Performance, click on the File System button under Advanced settings and open the CD-ROM tab. You can increase your cache size and inform Windows 95 of your CD-ROM's speed so it can optimize access to the CDs you use. http://wintune.winmag.com/http://wintune.winmag.com/ http://www.winmag.com/tips/http://www.winmag.com/tips/ http://bbs.winmag.com/http://bbs.winmag.com/ http://www.winmag.com/info/default.htmhttp://www.winmag.com/info/default.htm http://www.winmag.com/http://www.winmag.com/Tips by Category New search Category: Windows 95 All423 Tips found Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Cache in CDs Category: Windows 95 All You can set performance parameters on practically every computer that comes with a built-in CD-ROM. Go to Control Panel/System/Performance, click on the File System button under Advanced settings and open the CD-ROM tab. You can increase your cache size and inform Windows 95 of your CD-ROM's speed so it can optimize access to the CDs you use. CD Shortcut Category: Windows 95 All You probably already know creating shortcuts on your Desktop to diskette, network and CD-ROM drives is an easy way to fast access. But Win95 does something special with shortcuts to the CD-ROM drive: The icon changes to reflect the CD you've installed, just as it does in My Computer. Change the default for REG files Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Registry Windows 98 All Windows 98 Registry If you export a Registry key to disk or create a special RegEdit script, double-clicking the file automatically merges its content with the Registry. You can prevent inadvertent merging of REG files by changing the default action to display a REG file in Notepad. Select View/Options/Filetypes (Folder Options in Win98). Then select Registration Entries from the Registered Filetype list and click Edit. Choose Edit and Set Default. When you do want to merge a file into the Registry, right-click it and select Merge from the popup menu. http://wintune.winmag.com/http://wintune.winmag.com/ http://www.winmag.com/tips/http://www.winmag.com/tips/ http://bbs.winmag.com/http://bbs.winmag.com/ http://www.winmag.com/info/default.htmhttp://www.winmag.com/info/default.htm http://www.winmag.com/http://www.winmag.com/Tips by Category New search Category: Windows 95 All423 Tips found Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Cache in CDs Category: Windows 95 All You can set performance parameters on practically every computer that comes with a built-in CD-ROM. Go to Control Panel/System/Performance, click on the File System button under Advanced settings and open the CD-ROM tab. You can increase your cache size and inform Windows 95 of your CD-ROM's speed so it can optimize access to the CDs you use. CD Shortcut Category: Windows 95 All You probably already know creating shortcuts on your Desktop to diskette, network and CD-ROM drives is an easy way to fast access. But Win95 does something special with shortcuts to the CD-ROM drive: The icon changes to reflect the CD you've installed, just as it does in My Computer. Change the default for REG files Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Registry Windows 98 All Windows 98 Registry If you export a Registry key to disk or create a special RegEdit script, double-clicking the file automatically merges its content with the Registry. You can prevent inadvertent merging of REG files by changing the default action to display a REG file in Notepad. Select View/Options/Filetypes (Folder Options in Win98). Then select Registration Entries from the Registered Filetype list and click Edit. Choose Edit and Set Default. When you do want to merge a file into the Registry, right-click it and select Merge from the popup menu. Change the DOS Window Font Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface You can set the type size that appears in the DOS window from the MS-DOS Prompt Properties dialog box. Click on the Font tab and choose a set of font dimensions from the scrolling window. You set the font size for individual MS-DOS Prompt windows, so if you have two or more running, they can use different type sizes. Change the Printing Order Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Utilities Windows 98 All Windows 98 Utilities When you have a number of documents in your printing pipeline, you can rearrange the print queue (except for the document currently being printed). Choose Start/Settings/Printers and double-click on the printer whose queue you want to manage. Change Your Desktop Icons Category: Windows 95 All You can change the Win95 Desktop icons by editing the Registry. Note: Only power users with complete Registry backups should edit the Registry. To change the desktop icons, go to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section of the Registry, find the CLSID Key, right-click on it, Select Find and check the Keys box only. Now enter the specific series of numbers (listed below) in the Find What box for each desktop item. The easiest way to do this is to find the online version of this article on our Web site ( http://www.winmag.com ), then copy and paste the code from the article to the Registry Find dialog box. Click on Find Next to search. Once you've found it, double-click on it and select DefaultIcon. In the right pane, double-click on the word Default. In the Value Data box, type the path to the file containing the icon you want to use. For the Recycle Bin, you can set different icons for empty and full. See the tip " Awesome Icons and More! " for where to find icons. Here are the secret CLSID codes: My Computer 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D Network Neighborhood 208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D Inbox 00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046 Recycle Bin 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E Change Your Drive Icon Category: Windows 95 All You can change the icon in My Computer that represents any hard-drive partition. Open Notepad and type [autorun] . Below that, type icon=c:\icon.ico , replacing c:\icon with the actual path for your chosen icon file. Save the file, name it AUTORUN.INF and place it in the root directory of your drive's partition. If you point to a file that has more than one icon in it, type a comma after the icon path followed by the icon's number (for example, if it's the third icon in the file, then use the number 2 because the first icon is 0) Change Your Identity Category: Windows 95 All Modify Windows' registered user and company info by editing the Registry. Run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion. You'll see the RegisteredOrganization and RegisteredOwner string values in the right pane. Double-click on a value and enter the new information in the Edit String dialog box. Press OK and repeat the steps for the other entry, if necessary. (Note: Any program registration, dial-up connection or log-on you've already created with the previous name will remain intact.) Change Your Installation Location Category: Windows 95 All You can change the directory that Windows 9x taps for installation files. Copy the Setup files to a local directory on your C: drive (C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS, for example). Then launch the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup; locate (or create) the SourcePath entry. Modify it to show the new path Win9x should use to find your installation files. (Don't forget to end with a backslash.) Change Your Name Category: Windows 95 All When you install Windows 95, it asks for your name. From that point on, the computer recognizes the entered name as the official registered owner. Here's how to change it: Launch the Registry Editor. Drill down to and click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windo ws\Current Version. In the right pane, find the RegisteredOwner entry and double-click on it. In the Value Data box of the Edit String dialog that pops up, change the name to whatever you wish and click on the OK button. To change the company name, repeat the procedure for the RegisteredOrganization entry. - George M. D'Auria Cheap and Painless Backups Category: Windows 95 All Yes, backups once were a pain, and that's why no one did them. But new media makes backups too cheap and easy to be left undone: In the past year or so, all manner of inexpensive, ultra-high-capacity mass-storage devices have become available. These range from "Ditto" tape drives through "Zip-"type drives to low-end CD re-recordables, and so on. Whatever your needs, you can find fast, affordable backup solutions that will let you safely archive all your data at a cost of less than a penny a megabyte. Check TCP/IP Configuration Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Windows comes with two helpful network-troubleshooting utilities. WINIPCFG.EXE, a Windows app, displays TCP/IP settings such as your IP address, default gateway, DNS servers and more. IPCONFIG.EXE is a DOS-based application that performs the same functions. Check Your Config Category: Windows 95 All For help troubleshooting your TCP/IP connection under Windows 95, run WINIPCFG from the command prompt or the Run dialog. A window will pop up with lots of information on your TCP/IP configuration, such as your IP address, Default Gateway, DNS Servers, WINS Servers and more. Check Your Graphics Card Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance To find out what type of graphics card you have, right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Device Manager tab and double-click on Display Adapters. The card and vendor will be listed. To check the driver, double-click on the card name and choose the Driver tab. In Win98, open the Components section of the System Information utility (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information). Clear Control Panel Clutter Category: Windows 95 All If your Control Panel is cluttered with icons you don't need, clean it up. In the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, you'll find a corresponding CPL file for each Control Panel item. Move the ones you don't want to a safe place on your hard disk. When you open Control Panel, those icons won't appear. Click (Pause) Click to Rename Category: Windows 95 All If you click once on an icon, wait a second and then click again, you'll be able to rename the icon. ClipBook Maker Category: Windows 95 All Win95's free ClipBook utility lets you store items from the Clipboard and share them across a network. You can view text, graphics or anything else you can copy to the Clipboard in thumbnail view-and copy as many items as you like. To install it, open the OTHER folder on the Win95 CD, then drag the CLIPBOOK folder from the CD to your C: drive. Open the new folder, drag the file CLIPBRD.EXE and drop it into your C:\WI NDOWS\START MENU folder. Close Minimized Apps Category: Windows 95 All Right-click on the Taskbar button of a minimized application and select Close to shut it down quickly. Close Sesame Category: Windows 95 All If you've opened multiple levels of a folder, you can close it and all of its parent windows by holding down the Shift key and clicking the Close button in the upper right-hand corner. Note: Win95 must be set to browse folders using a separate window for each folder. To check this setting, choose View/Options from any folder. The top radio button on the Folder tab must be clicked on. In IE4, select View/Folder Options, click on Custom and then on Settings. Check the option labeled "Open each folder in its own window." Color Control Category: Windows 95 All You may already know how to change colors in Windows: by right-clicking on the desktop, selecting Properties, clicking on the Appearance tab and either selecting one of the existing themes or modifying the elements by clicking on them in the example window and changing the colors below. But you should also note that if you select yo ur own colors, you can click the Save As button and name your own custom theme. You can save as many custom themes as you like. Connect SCSI Devices Without Restarting Category: Windows 95 All SCSI hardware such as scanners and tape backup devices often require you to reboot your system before using them. But sometimes you can force Win9x to recognize such devices right after you plug them in. Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the Device Manager tab, make sure the Computer entry is highlighted and click on the Refresh button. The device should appear under its appropriate heading in Device Manager. Control Panel Handy Category: Windows 95 All If you're always launching Control Panel to fiddle with your system settings, make your life a little easier by putting Control Panel on your Start menu. Drag CONTROL.EXE from your WINDOWS folder and drop it on the Start button. Another way to do this is to right-click on the Start button and select Open. Create a new folder and give it the following name: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} Convert to FAT32 in Win95B Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Open Control Panel/System Properties and look under System. If it reads 4.00.950 B, you can convert to FAT32. There are two ways to convert to FAT32 under Win95: the free way and the easy way. The free way: Move or back up all files off your hard drive. Use your Win95B Emergency Startup Disk to boot to DOS and run FDisk, where you “enable large disk support” and repartition your drive. After that you’ll have to format the disk, reinstall Win95, restore your other files, and reinstall all your apps. The easy way: Buy a product like PowerQuest’s PartitionMagic, which can perform FAT32 conversion without damaging your data or requiring any reinstallation. Cool Close Trick Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface You can close a bunch of open programs, folders and documents all at once in Win98 and IE 4.0: Press and hold the Ctrl key, click on the taskbar icon of each program you want to close, then right-click on any one of them and select Close from the Context menu. Cool Close Trick Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface You can close a bunch of open programs, folders and documents all at once in Win98 and IE 4.0: Press and hold the Ctrl key, click on the taskbar icon of each program you want to close, then right-click on any one of them and select Close from the Context menu. Cool CoolSwitch Tip Category: Windows 95 All The most recently "CoolSwitched" application is always the first choice. That means that by selecting via Alt+Tab item A, then item B, you can toggle between them regardless of how many applications or folders you have open by repeatedly pressing Alt+Tab and letting go. Copy Control Category: Windows 95 All If you press and hold the Ctrl key while you drag and drop a file or folder on the same storage device (say, from one location on your hard disk to another), the object is copied (not moved) to the new location. Copy Some Connections ... Category: Windows 95 All To copy selected connectoids-and not disturb existing ones-export the Addresses key (see the previous tip). On the same system, delete the names of the connectoids you don't want to copy. Export the edited key again, but name it CUSTOM.REG (or similar). Reimport the original Addresses key to restore all the deleted connectoids on this PC. Now, move CUSTOM.REG to the other PC and import it to add only the connectoids contained in the file. Copy Win95 Dial-Up Connections ... Category: Windows 95 All Want to copy your Win95 Dial-Up Networking connection icons (also called connectoids) from one PC to another? The Registry makes it easy. Run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\RemoteAccess\Addresses. Select the Addresses folder, choose Registry/Export Registry File, and give the file a descriptive name and an REG extension. Next, copy the file to the new PC via a network or floppy disk. Open RegEdit on the new PC, choose Registry/Import Registry File and select the REG file (you don't have to navigate to the Addresses key). You'll find all the connectoids in the Dial-Up Networking folder on the second PC. Right-click on each in turn, choose Properties and enter the name of your local modem in the Connect Using field. Next, double-click each connectoid in turn, enter your user name and password (optional), select Save Password and dial the connection. Note: This replaces all connectoids with the same name as those on the other PC; if that's a consideration, see the next tip--Copy Some Connections. Create a New Folder by Keyboard Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface Open a folder in which you want to place a new folder and press Alt+F,Enter,Enter. Create Your Own Internet Shortcuts Category: Windows 95 All The Win95 versions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer let you drag and drop Web links directly to your Desktop. Those links become shortcuts that you can e-mail and share over a network. Both types of links will work with either browser. Here’s something you may not know: These shortcuts are simple text files that you can edit or create with Notepad. To edit a link, open it in Notepad and change the URL to whatever you’d like it to be. To create a new shortcut, open Notepad and type InternetShortcut on the first line, then URL= followed by the URL of your choice on the second line. Save the file and give it a .URL extension. Cursor Keys Category: Windows 95 All If you want to control your mouse with the cursor keys, including single-pixel movements, just open the Accessibility Options applet in Control Panel, and turn on MouseKeys via the Mouse tab. This lets you operate the mouse cursor with the keys on your numeric keypad and still use the inverted-T cursor keys to move the text cursor. Custom DOS Configurations Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance Windows 98 User Interface DOS applications and games can be finicky about system configuration and drivers, so give each DOS program a custom setup. Create a shortcut, right-click on it and select Properties. Choose the Program tab, then Advanced. Click on MS-DOS Mode, then the “Specify a new MS-DOS configuration” button. Now type in whatever AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS commands your DOS program needs; you can launch batch files from AUTOEXEC.BAT Custom Drive View Category: Windows 95 All If you want Explorer to show by default all your drives with none expanded and the C: drive selected in the right pane, then change the shortcut for Explorer to read explorer /e,/root,,/select,c:\. Be sure to type the commas. - Joseph A. Dziedzic via the Internet Custom Windows Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 offers four setup options: Typical, Portable, Compact and Custom. Microsoft says Custom is for the "advanced user or system administrator." But it's also just right for anyone curious about what's going on. Select Custom and make your own choices from among the options; when in doubt, just accept whatever is proposed. Even if you make no changes at all, you'll have a better idea of what's on your system. Customize Win95 Category: Windows 95 All A handy-and free-utility called WinDuh makes it easy to customize system settings that can't be modified in the Control Panel. Add powerful cascading menus to your Start button, speed up menu pop-ups, assign sounds to application events and much more. Download it from WinMag's Free Win95 Software site at http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm . Customize Your Interface Category: Windows 95 All If you’re looking for some great ways to customize Windows 95, try Tweak UI. Make a folder on your desktop called TWEAK, go to the WinMag Free Win95 Software page (http://www.winmag.com/win95.htm) and click on the Tweak UI item to download the file TWEAKUI.EXE to your new folder. Decrease ISP Log-On Time Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Windows 98 Performance Speed up the process of dialing your ISP. Open the Dial-Up Networking folder, right-click the connectoid for your ISP and choose Properties. Choose Server Type, then Advanced Options. Uncheck "Log on to network." Under Allowed Network Protocols, uncheck NetBEUI and IPX/SPX Compatible. Leave the network protocols as they are for remote-access connections. Define DOS Results Category: Windows 95 All An undocumented Win95 command switch eliminates the long filename column in a DOS window directory listing. Simply type the command DIR /Z . Typing DIR /B displays the long filename only and DIR /Z/B displays 8.3 names only. - Jeremy Vandenberg Defrag Often Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance Defrag your hard disk at least once a month for optimum performance. In normal operations, individual files become fragmented or scattered in numerous locations around the disc. Performance slows down as the system waits for the heads to jump to the next position. Defragmenting places individual files all together in contiguous blocks on the disk and erases contiguous blank areas on the disk. You’ll find Defrag in Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools. Defrag Virtual Memory Category: Windows 95 All Defragmenting your hard disk speeds up file access by putting files together at the faster part of the disk. But it doesn’t defrag your swap file, which is the file used as virtual memory in Windows. You can get additional performance gains by disabling your swap file, defragging your disk, then re-enabling the swap file. (Note that this tip works only if you have plenty of physical RAM. If you try it and your system hangs, you don’t have enough.) To disable your swap file, right-click on My Computer and select Properties from the context menu. Click on the Performance tab, then on the Virtual Memory button. Select the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" radio button, then put a check mark in the "Disable virtual memory" box by clicking on it. Click on OK, then on OK again. After defragging your disk, follow the same procedure, but remove the check mar k this time. Defrag Virtual Memory Category: Windows 95 All Although the Disk Defragmenter utility speeds up file access, it doesn't defrag your swap file, which is the file Windows uses as virtual memory. You can get additional performance gains by disabling your swap file, defragging your disk, then re-enabling the swap file. The new swap file will be effectively defragged and therefore faster. To do so, right-click on My Computer and select Properties from the Context menu. Click on the Performance tab, then the Virtual Memory button. Select the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" radio button, then select Disable Virtual Memory. Click on OK, then OK again. After defragging your disk, follow the same procedure above, but this time select "Let Windows manage my virtual memory setting." - James Huckabey Direct Route to Documents Category: Windows 95 All Add a folder to the Start menu that holds all the documents you use frequently. Right-click on the Start button and choose Open. Then right-click on the folder background, choose New/Folder and give the new folder a name, like Hot Docs. For permanent documents in other folders, drag and drop shortcuts into the new folder. Or just copy or create new documents right in the Hot Docs folder. Either way, all you'll have to do is click on Start and open the Hot Doc s folder to access your most important files. - Dave Benedict Disable Call Waiting Category: Windows 95 All If incoming phone calls disconnect you from your online sessions, you probably have call waiting. To disable it, open the Control Panel, double-click on the Modems icon and select Dialing Properties. Choose the code that disables call w aiting on your phone line. Disappearing Drives? Category: Windows 95 All You've added another hard drive or drive partition to your PC, but your system won't recognize one or more of the new drive letters. Here's a fix: Your CONFIG.SYS file (or CONFIG.DOS if you upgraded to Win95 or 98 from Win3x) might contain a command that reads LASTDRIVE=X, where X is the last letter that your system recognizes. If you find this command, edit the file and place REM (including a space at the end) at the beginning of the LastDrive line. That will render the line invisible to your PC at boot-up. Note: This problem typically occurs if you've used the My Computer tab in Tweak UI for Win95 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/download/tweakui.exe) to change the settings that control drive displays. You can also try enabling all your drives in the My Computer tab to fix the problem. - Bruce Genereux Disinfect Your System First Category: Windows 95 All Run a thorough virus-check first, then disable the anti-virus software and reboot without it. Otherwise, the virus-checker will get very upset as Win95 attempts to run its setup procedure. Ditch Office Applets Category: Windows 95 All Office's StartUp and Find Fast utilities boost the performance of various aspects of Office, but they tend to drag down Windows. To remove them, delete their icons from your StartUp folder. Find Fast is also a Control Panel applet, so your best bet is to fully remove it by running Add/Remove Programs and deselecting the option in the Office Tools setup. Reboot your PC. You might also have to remove the FINDFAST.CPL file from your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory to permanently delete the tool after rebooting. Ditch Office Utilities for Speed Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance Office Startup and Find Fast boost performance for various Office tasks, but they tend to drag down Windows performance. To remove them, delete both icons from your StartUp folder. In addition, because Find Fast is a Control Panel applet, your best bet for fully removing it is to insert your Office CD and use Add/Remove Programs to open the Office Setup tool. Find Fast is listed in Office 97 under Office Tools in the Setup program. Uncheck the box beside it, click OK and Continue-Office Setup will take over from there. You might also have to remove the FINDFAST.CPL file from your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory to permanently delete the tool after rebooting your system. Don't Buy the Windows 95 Resource Kit Category: Windows 95 All You already have a copy. It's the WIN95RK.HLP file, and you'll find it on your Windows CD-ROM disc in the ADMIN\RESKIT\HELPFILE folder. Don't Double-Click Category: Windows 95 All Remember not to double-click on any file with a REG extension, unless you're sure you want its contents written into the Registry. To prevent such a file from being used by accident, change its extension to RE_ or something similar. Don't Leave Windows To Its Own Devices Category: Windows 95 All As soon as Setup is finished and Windows opens successfully, select Control Panel/System. Select the Device Manager tab and review the list of devices. If you see a device with a small exclamation mark on a yellow background, highlight that device and click on the Properties button to learn more about the configuration conflict. If you're not sure how to resolve it, click on the Remove button and then restart. Windows will probably get it right the second time. Don't Let ERU Scare You Category: Windows 95 All If you run the Emergency Recovery Utility (ERU.EXE in the \other\misc\eru folder on the Windows 95 CD-ROM disc) and save the recovery files to diskette, the Registry's SYSTEM.DAT won't be saved due to lack of space. Look at ERU's list of Files to Be Saved and then click the Custom button to examine the complete file list. Save SYSTEM.DAT and other unchecked files to a backup directory on the hard drive, so you'll have them when you need them. Don't Overaccessorize Category: Windows 95 All Make a minimalist fashion statement by carefully reviewing the accessories list and not installing anything you don't absolutely need. You can always add something later. Don't Overextend Your Files Category: Windows 95 All If you create a new file in WordPad or Notepad and save it, these applets add a TXT extension regardless of whether you add an extension yourself. You can end up with filenames like REPORT.TXT.TXT. To prevent them from adding the extension, put quotation marks around your filename ("REPORT.TXT") in the SaveAs dialog. Do the same in Word if you've chosen an extension other than DOC. DOS Vanishing Act Category: Windows 95 All If you have a program or batch file that you don’t want lingering on your Desktop after it runs, tell it to go away. Create a shortcut to the program, right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab and select Close On Exit. DOS, Behind-the-Scenes Category: Windows 95 All Click on the toolbar's Background button to set a DOS window to run in background. You can then open a second MS-DOS Prompt and execute commands while the other DOS app runs. Double Vision Category: Windows 95 All You can set a dual-pane view as your default Explorer view by opening any folder and choosing View/Options (or View/Folder Options under IE 4.0 or Windows 98). Under the File Types tab, select the Folder item from the Registered File Types list and click on the Edit button. Highlight Explore in the Actions window, click on the Set Default button and hit OK twice. If you ever want to reverse the setting, follow the same steps, but highlight Open instead of Explore. Double Your Download Speed for Free... Category: Windows 95 All If you access the Internet primarily by dial-up connection, Win95 may be holding you back-way back. That's because, by default, Win95 optimizes some of its internal Internet settings for LANs, and not for modems. For example, Win95 normally sets an MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) packet size of 1500, an Ethernet standard. But standard dial-up Internet connections use a packet size of 576 bytes. The packet-size mismatch can lead to needless slowdowns. If you use your company's Ethernet LAN, leave MTU and its related settings alone. But if you access via modem, grab a free copy of Mike Sutherland's MTU-Speed applet at http://www.mjs.u-net.com/mtuspeed/mtuspeed.htm . This nifty little utility lets you easily adjust MTU and various other Registry settings that can affect dial-up speed. Some users report their download speeds have doubled after using the optimizations suggested by MTU-Speed! Down with Passwords Category: Windows 95 All If you're one of those anarchists who is opposed to passwords, you may like this tip. You can bypass the network log-on dialog when you start up by making Windows log-on your primary network log-on and then removing your Windows password. This causes Windows to use passwords from your PWL file to log you onto Microsoft and NetWare networks. Down-and-Dirty DOS Category: Windows 95 All DOS applications and games can be finicky about system configuration and drivers. Get around this by giving each DOS program a custom setup. Create a shortcut for your programs, then right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab, then the Advanced button. Click on MS-DOS Mode, then the "Specify a new MS-DOS configuration" button. Now type in whatever AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS commands your DOS program needs. Note that you can launch batch files from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Drag-and-DOS I Category: Windows 95 All Here's a shortcut for typing in a long path to a DOS program. From Explorer, a folder or the Desktop, drag any file and drop it into the MS-DOS Prompt window. The path and the filename will appear on the command line. Drag-and-DOS II Category: Windows 95 All A quick way to paste into the MS-DOS Prompt is to click on the Paste button, which is the third button from the left on the toolbar. If the toolbar doesn't appear in the MS-DOS Prompt window, right-click on the title bar and select Toolbar from the Context menu. Drag-and-DOS III Category: Windows 95 All To copy data from the MS-DOS Prompt, right-click on the title bar and select Edit/Mark. In the MS-DOS Prompt window, highlight the area you want to copy by pressing and holding the left mouse button and dragging across the data. Press Enter, and you're ready to paste the information. Dress Up DOS Category: Windows 95 All Set the size of the type that appears in the DOS window from the MS-DOS Prompt Properties dialog. Click on the Font tab and choose a set of font dimensions from the scrolling window. When you select one, the preview window shows what it will look like. You set the font size for individual MS-DOS Prompt windows, so if you have two or more running, they can use different type sizes. Drive Mappings Made Easy Category: Windows 95 All Do you miss Win95's Map/Disconnect Network Drive buttons on the toolbars of folder windows? Add it back to all toolbars from any folder window by selecting View/Folder Options/View and checking the "Show Map Network Drive button in toolbar" option. Dump the Recycle Bin Prompt Category: Windows 95 All If your Recycle Bin prompts you with the Are You Sure? message whenever you put something in it-even after you've unchecked the "Display delete confirmation dialog box" option in its Properties screen-here's a fix: Place a shortcut to the Recycle Bin in your C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder. To send something to the Recycle Bin without receiving the warning, just right-click on the file or folder and choose Send To/Recycle Bin. You can also check the ShellState entry in the Registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Explorer). If the two-digit value in the fifth byte contains a 7, the warning shouldn't appear; change the value to 3, and the prompt will return. -Julian Chitty Dump Ugly Folders Category: Windows 95 All Windows 9x doesn't make it easy to change the look of Desktop folders, but here's a simple solution: Instead of right-clicking on the Desktop and selecting New/Folder, create the new folder somewhere else (My Documents, for example), then right-click on the folder, drag and drop it to your Desktop, and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the Context menu that appears. You can now customize the shortcut's look by right-clicking on it, choosing Properties, selecting the Shortcut tab and clicking on the Change Icon button. Win98 adds an icon palette for added customization options. - Chris Burt Dump Unwanted Autoloads, Part I Category: Windows 95 All You can also permanently prevent programs from autolaunching by removing their program strings from the following Registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServ ices. But remember, any changes you make to the Registry will be permanent, so you may want to back up your settings before you do anything else. Dump Unwanted Autoloads, Part II Category: Windows 95 All Another way to prevent programs from autolaunching is to remove their entries from the LOAD= or RUN= line in the WIN.INI file. Launch the file from the Run command line and delete any unwanted program names you find on either line. You can also place a semicolon at the head of either line to prevent Windows from reading it-a good way to test your changes while preserving previous settings. DUN Remembers Passwords Category: Windows 95 All To get DUN to remember your dial-up password, you'll need to install the client for Microsoft Networks. Open the Control Panel, double-click on Network, then highlight Client for Microsoft Networks. Select Add, Client and Add again, then click on all of the OK buttons. There's a bug in Service Pack 1, so if you're using it, you'll have to upgrade to version 1.2 of Dial-Up Networking. Download it from http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/info/PPTPdown1.htm. Easter Eggs Galore! Category: Windows 95 All Do you like Windows Easter Eggs? If so, check out Mike Elgan's secret basket of the best Easter Eggs, such as the Excel 97 virtual-reality landscape, the secret button in Internet Explorer and many more. You'll find them at http://www.winmag.com/people/melgan/eastereggs/. Easy Come... Category: Windows 95 All Sometimes the setup procedure doesn't find everything in your system. If an installed hardware device is missing, select Control Panel/Add New Hardware and let the Hardware wizard search for whatever it is. To speed up the search, click on the No button and narrow the search to a specific device type. If it's a missing modem, Control Panel's Modem applet may find it faster. Easy Customization Category: Windows 95 All Many of the Win95 customization tips we've printed can be accomplished with point-and-click ease using a free program called More Properties. No more risky editing of the Win95 Registry! Among the dozens of customizations you can perform with this utility: Hide the Network Neighborhood icon, turn off the splash screen and show a thumbnail icon for each bitmap. Download the file from our Free Win95 Software page ( http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm ) Easy Desktop Access Category: Windows 95 All DeskView lets you select any item on your desktop from the Tray (the area in the taskbar where the time is displayed) with a single click. Download DeskView (or all the Power Toys) from our Win95 Software page and double-click on the DESKMENU. EXE file. You’ll now see the Desktop Contents icon in your Tray. Click on it once for one-click access to all your desktop items. Easy Editing of HTML Files Category: Windows 95 All If you edit HTML files regularly, you can add an Edit function to the context menu of Web documents. Selecting that option will launch your favorite HTML authoring tool and load the file you want to edit. To set it up, in Windows Explorer select View/Options and click on the File Types tab. Select Internet Document (or Netscape Hypertext Document if Navigator is your default browser) from the list, and click on the Edit button. Click on the New button, type Edit in the Action box, click on the Browse button and select your favorite HTML authoring tool. Easy File Associations Category: Windows 95 All Here's an easy way to c hange file associations. Click on a document to select it, then hold the Shift key while right-clicking on it; select Open With from the context menu. In the Open With dialog, make sure there's a check mark in the "Always use this program to open this type of file" box, then double-click on an application in the Choose window. Warning: Once you've done this, the box will be checked by default next time the dialog comes up. Edit Docs Menu Category: Windows 95 All The items on your Documents menu (Start/Documents) are really just shortcuts in your C:\WINDOWS\RECENT folder. You can selectively delete items there by opening the folder and deleting the shortcuts you don't want. Enable AutoRedial Category: Windows 95 All By default DUN's AutoRedial is turned off. You can enable AutoRedial by opening the Dial-Up Networking folder and selecting Connections/Settings from the title bar. Then check the Redial option and set your preferences. Enable Thumbnail View Category: Windows 95 All You can view some graphics files in IE 4.0 or Win98 as thumbnails in a folder window; the icon representing the file can show a miniature of the picture inside. Some icon files always show a thumbnail view, but others don't unless you turn it on. Right-click on the icon for the folder containing the items you want to see as thumbnails, select Properties and click on the Enable Thumbnail View check box. Select View/Thumbnails within the folder. Enlarge Your Pointers Category: Windows 95 All It's easy to miss Win95's pointer schemes. But if you want bigger pointers and cursors, here's the easiest way to get them. Just double-click on the Mouse item in the Control Panel, click on the Pointers tab, then click on the drop-down Scheme menu. Choose from 3-D, Animated Hourglasses, Large and Extra Large pointer schemes. Escape Clause Category: Windows 95 All If you’re halfway through a drag-and-drop operation and change your mind, just press the Esc key to bail out. Expand Your View Category: Windows 95 All You can fully expand the folders in the Windows Explorer Folders pane hierarchical view with a single keystroke. Select the drive you'd like to expand, then press the asterisk key on the numeric keypad. Note that if you select My Computer, you'll expand your diskette drive (if there's a diskette in it), all local hard drives and your CD-ROM drive. Select "Desktop" and you'll add all connected network drives too. - Edward Wernich Expand/Collapse the Explorer Tree Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface Select a branch in Explorer and press * (on the numeric keypad). If you select Desktop, all directories expand; if you select the C: drive, all folders on the C: drive expand. Expedite E-Mail Category: Windows 95 All To launch e-mail from your Run dialog, create a batch file (which is just a text file with a BAT extension) called SEND.BAT and type START " mailto:%1 ". Close the batch file and put it in your WINDOWS folder. (If you prefer, create a shortcut to SEND.BAT in the WINDOWS folder, right-click on the shortcut, select the Program tab and "Close on exit.") Now, whenever you want to dash off a quick message, just open the Run dialog (Start/Run). Type Send followed by the e-mail address of the intended person ( send melgan@cmp.com , for example) and hit Enter. If a wizard pops up, fill it in, then send your mail. Explorer Function Key: F4 Category: Windows 95 All If you're a k iller keyboard commando-we're guessing that you are-you should know the three function keys that let you rip through Windows Explorer. The first (you'll find two others in the next two tips) is F4. This function key opens the Address drop-down menu and highlights it so you can quickly use your arrow keys to navigate local or network drives, plus My Computer and Desktop folders. Explorer Function Key: F5 Category: Windows 95 All When you're in Explorer (either dual- or single-pane view), press the F5 key to refresh the contents. Explorer Function Key: F6 Category: Windows 95 All The F6 function key lets you quickly toggle between Explorer's left and right pane and the Address box. Familiar Faces Category: Windows 95 All Print out the fonts on your system. Open Control Panel, double-click on the Fonts icon, select the font of your choice and click on the Print button. Do this for each of the fonts you want to take a good look at. Famous DOS Quotation Category: Windows 95 All Because the default MS-DOS view doesn't show long filenames, you need to enter the abbreviated filename when performing a DOS function (for example, enter cd PROGRA~1 to get to your Program Files folder). If you'd rather enter the actual file or directory name (because it's easier to remember than the abbreviated name), enclose it in quotation marks: cd "PROGRAM FILES". Fast Access to Favorite Files Category: Windows 95 All Here's a great way to get at your most important documents fast: Move them into your C:\WINDOWS\START MENU folder. If you have dozens or even hundreds of documents, keep them in separate subfolders to categorize them. Best of all, the menu changes as the folder's contents change. - Mark Murphy Fast as a Server Category: Windows 95 All Gabe Cheek's tip about changing the role of a network computer to a server (see WinTips , May 1997) works if you have version 9.50b of Windows 95 (otherwise known as the OSR2 release). If you have any earlier version, a bug prevents the tip from working. You can fix it, though, by manually editing the Registry (note that this tip is for advanced users with full system backups). Open the following Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MAC HINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\FSTemplates\Server\. Now edit the Contents pane entries to read: Name: NameCache Data: a9 0a 00 00 Name: PathCache Data: 40 00 00 00 - Dennis McKay Editor's Note: Here's a replay of Gabe's tip. Fast Cache Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, then click on the Performance tab and the File System button. In the box next to "Typical role of this machine," select Network Server and turn the Read-Ahead Optimization indicator all the way up to improve disk performance. Fast Blank Floppy Category: Windows 95 All If you often reformat floppy disks just to erase the contents and make them available for other uses, there's a faster way. Right-click on the desktop and select New/Shortcut. Type deltree /y a: in the Command line box, click on the Next button, type Drive A Zap in the Select a name box, click on Next again and select an icon. Just double-click on the icon when you want to zap everything on the diskette that's currently in your A: drive. - Jason Wellband Fast Browser Startup Category: Windows 95 All Launch your browser at top speed by setting up a start page that's on yo ur hard disk. Better yet, create a page with links to all your favorite Web hotspots. - Lane Rettigvia Update: We ran a tip in the November 1997 issue that said you can type URLs in either Internet Explorer or Navigator without the "http://" part of the URL. Dozens of readers quickly pointed out that you may omit the "www" part as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fast Cache Category: Windows 95 All Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Performance tab and the File System button. In the box next to "Typical role of this machine," select Network Server and turn the "Read-ahead optimization" indicator all the way up to improve disk performance. - Gabe Cheek Fast File Renaming Category: Windows 95 All Rname is a free utility that lets you rename large groups of files in one step. It's highly configurable and very powerful. Download it from http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm . Fast Find Category: Windows 95 All Sometimes simple tricks are the most useful. If you want to search for a file and you know roughly where it is, just right-click on the folder it's in and select Find from the Context menu. Find will search the folder and all the subfolders within, based on the search criteria you specify. Fast Move Category: Windows 95 All When you use Win95's Send To feature (right-click on the item, then select Send To from the Context menu) to place something on a floppy disk or on a drive other than your C: drive, the file is copied. To move it, hold down the Shift key while cl icking on the Send To item. Fast Network Properties Category: Windows 95 All Most people get at their Network Properties by launching Control Panel, then double-clicking on the Network icon. There's a faster way: Right-click on the Network Neighborhood icon and select Properties. Fast Start Menu Scrolling Category: Windows 95 All If your Start menus won't fit on screen, Windows lets you access the excess content with scrolling arrows-but the scrolling is slow. You can dramatically speed up scrolling with an undocumented keystroke: Hold down the Ctrl key while you scroll. Fast, Fresh Restart Category: Windows 95 All Restarting Win95 is a four-step process (Click on the Start button, select Shut Down, click on Restart the Computer, then click on OK). You can make it a one-step process by creating an icon on your desktop that restarts Win95. Open Notepad and type @exit. Close the document and give it a name with a BAT extension. Now stash the file away somewhere on your hard disk. Create a shortcut to the file by using the right mouse button to drag it to the desktop, and selecting Create Shortcut(s) Here. Right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab and select the Close on Exit box. Next, click on the Advanced button and make sure "MS-DOS mode" is selected and "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode" is not. Click on OK and on OK again. Give your new shortcut a unique icon and name. Whenever you double-click on the icon, Win95 will restart, no questions asked Faster Backup Category: Windows 95 All Win95 shipped with a backup utility that wasn't quite ready for prime time. Fortunately, Microsoft now offers a free update that fixes several known bugs in the original utility. It's faster, too. Download Faster Backup from the WinMag Free Win95 Software page at http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm . Faster CD Commands Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows 9x supports up to four periods for moving up the path. For example, from the DOS prompt in Windows, typing CD .... changes the directory to four levels up the path; three periods changes to three levels toward the root and so on. You can use this information to copy and move files, too. For example, if you want to move a file from C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\COLOR to the root directory, the command is MOVE ... substituting for the name of the file you want to move. Faster Dialing Category: Windows 95 All You can pump up your modem's dialing speed. Double-click on the Modems item in the Control Panel and then click on the Properties button. Open the Connections tab and click on the Advanced button. Try entering S11=50 in the Extra Settings field. The number specifies the time, in milliseconds, for each tone and the delay between tones. Lower numbers after the equal sign make the dialing go faster; higher numbers make each tone last longer and slow down the dialing. However, the supported settings depend on your modem; some modems, for example, may support only a range of 50 to 100. Enter the lowest possible value that your modem supports. If you enter a value lower than the supported setting, your modem will default to its lowest value. - Tom Barnash and Pam Lansdowne Faster Document Access Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Keep all your frequently used documents in a folder. Right-click on Start and choose Open. Right-click in the background, choose New/Folder and give it a name like HOT DOCS. For permanent documents, drag and drop shortcuts into the new folder. Or just copy or build new documents right in your HOT DOCS folder. All you have to do is click on Start and hold the mouse pointer over HOT DOCS to open the cascading menu to your most important files. Faster E-Mail Category: Windows 95 All Launch e-mail from your Run dialog. Create a batch file (which is just a text file with a BAT extension) called SEND.BAT and type START "mailto:%1" into it. Close the batch file and put it in your WINDOWS folder. (Optionally, you can create a shortcut to SEND.BAT in the WINDOWS folder, right-click on the shortcut, select the Program tab and "Close on exit.") Now, whenever you want to dash off a quick message, just open the Run dialog (Start/Run). Type Send followed by the e-mail address of the intended person (for example, you could type "send melgan@cmp.com ") and hit Enter. If a wizard pops up, fill it in, then send your mail. - Frederic Jezegou Faster Folders Category: Windows 95 All You can eliminate tedious right-clicks and menu selections when you create a new folder by pressing Alt+FWF instead within any My Computer, Network Neighborhood or Explorer window (press Alt+FNF with IE 4.0's Desktop Update installed). The folder appears instantly, highlighted and ready for naming. Faster Keyboard Category: Windows 95 All You can determine how fast your keyboard repeats characters and moves the cursor in a document by launching the Keyboard item in Control Panel, then experimenting with the speed settings on the Speed tab. Faster Mail Category: Windows 95 All Likewise with the Exchange client. Microsoft fixed bugs, improved speed and added an Internet mail service. Faster Mail is also available at the Free Win95 Software page mentioned above. Faster Setup Category: Windows 95 All Facing another Win95 setup chore? Save yourself some time and toil and enter these Setup switches in either a DOS command line or the Run dialog box before you begin: Setup /is to defeat the automatic ScanDisk check; Setup /id to defeat the disk space check; Setup /iq to disable the test for cross-linked files and folder integrity; Setup /in to skip the network setup module; and Setup /iw to skip the Microsoft legal warnings. Faster than E-Mail Category: Windows 95 All Need to set up a convenient routing system for documents within your small workgroup? Each person in the workgroup should do the following: First, create a folder on the Desktop and label it "In." Then right-click on the In folder; select Properties and then the Sharing tab. Click on the Shared As radio button and put your own name in the Share Name box. Click on the Full Access type button, and then click OK. After all in the group have completed these steps, open Network Neighborhood, find all the shared In folders and create shortcuts to each of them in your C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder. (Use the right mouse button to drag and drop th em from Network Neighborhood and select Create Shortcut Here from the Context menu.) Whenever you want to send a document to a workgroup member, just right-click on it, then select Send To and the person's name. - Adrian Scott Faster Web Shortcuts Category: Windows 95 All The current versions of both Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer create shortcut s on your Desktop to the current page when you right-click on the page and select Create Shortcut. File Manager Is Still Useful Category: Windows 95 All Need to transfer a ton of files from a local system to a network drive? Try using the old Windows File Manager (WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE); in many cases, it's faster than Explorer or even a DOS command. By the way, the Win98 version is slightly updated, but it still doesn't support long filenames. - Erik Toth File Right Category: Windows 95 All If you have some kind of mysterious executable file (EXE, DLL, OCX) on your system, right-click on it in Explorer, select Properties and click on the Version tab. This displays the version resource inside the file (if it has one), which normally includes the name of the company that created the file, the product the file is associated with, and the file's version number. Find a Better View Category: Windows 95 All Most people don't know that the Win95 Find utility (Start/Find) can display results not only in the default Details view, but also in Large Icons, Small Icons and Lists views. These options are listed on the View menu. Find Files Faster Category: Windows 95 All Use Win95's Find utility to search for several files at once. Type in as many filenames as you like in Find's Named box, each separated by a space. Find Missing Windows Category: Windows 95 All Has a folder or program window mysteriously moved o ff your screen? It can happen for several reasons-the most common is that you've recently changed your video resolution. Right-click on the taskbar, select either the Cascade Windows or Tile Windows (Horizontally or Vertically) option, and the window will magically appear (you may need to resize your windows). Find Stuff Quickly, Again and Again Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95's Find utility (Start | Find | Files and Folders) is one of the most useful tools you may have overlooked in the operating system. The fastest way to open Find is to press F3 from any part of Win 95. Once you start using Find, you'll probably think of new uses for it all the time. And you may find that you frequently run the same searches. To make repetitive searches faster, choose Find's Options menu and click Save Results. Next, run the search and, when you're done, choose File | Save Search. This places a small .FND file on your desktop that's automatically named for your search values. To access the same search again, including your previous results, just double click the .FND icon. -Scot Finnie Find the Missing Link Category: Windows 95 All It's wonderful to click a hotlink and be transported somewhere else in an instant or two (or three or four, depending on your browser's mood). But what if someone prints that page and sends it to a colleague? Needless to say, a little something gets lost, and that something is your URL. If you create a page that is likely to be distributed via print, and you want readers to be able to find you, include the URL as part of the page text. Find Your Path, Part I Category: Windows 95 All By default, Windows 95 hides from you the paths of files and folders. If you want the full paths spelled out on your window title bars (the colored area at the top of all open file and folder windows), double-click on My Computer, select View/Options, click on the View tab and select "Display the full MS-DOS path in the title bar." Find Your Path, Part II Category: Windows 95 All If you tried the previous tip, you may find that it's hard to fit the entire path of some documents into the title bar. Here's how to change the font to something more compact. Right-click on your Desktop, select Properties, click on the Appearance tab, select Active Title Bar from the Item menu, then Arial Narrow from the Font menu. - David A. Devonport Find Your Path, Part III Category: Windows 95 All Here's another trick for finding out the path of a file: Launch the Run command dialog (Start/Run), clear the Open box by hitting the Backspace key, and then drag and drop the file of your choice into the Open box. Windows will type the full path of the file into the box. Flip Those Setup Switches Category: Windows 95 All Type SETUP /? at a DOS prompt for a brief summ ary of a few available setup options. Or download Microsoft Knowledge Base paper Q128400 ( http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q128/4/00.htm ) for a more extensive list. (See "When All Else Fails" to find out how to get this paper via fax.) Folder Finder Category: Windows 95 All Type the command START followed by a period (.) at the MS-DOS Prompt to open the current folder. Type the command START followed by two periods (..) to open the parent directory (if there is one) of the directory that you are currently in. For Real Win95 Help... Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Help isn't always helpful. A better place to turn is the Windows Resource Kit (WIN95RK.HLP), which you'll find on the Win95 CD-ROM in ADMIN\RESKIT\HELPFILE. We recommend that you copy it to your hard disk and refer to it often. For That 'UNIX Look' Category: Windows 95 All Here's how to make the most efficient u se of space in Windows: Right-click on the Desktop, select Properties and then the Appearance tab. Put each listed item at the given setting: Active Title Bar-16, Active Window Border-0, Caption Buttons-16, Inactive Title Bar-16, Inactive Window Border-0, Menu-15, Scrollbar-8 and Selected Items-15. If you really crave your space, set your icons to 16! For Your INFormation Category: Windows 95 All If a new application is accompanied by an information file (filename.INF), that file may contain Registry-revision instructions. If so, search it for lines beginning AddReg= and DelReg=. These lines point to the sections of the INF file that contain those instructions. Review the sections to get an idea of what changes are about to be made to the Registry. Forge a New Installation Path Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Registry Windows 98 All Windows 98 Registry When you make modifications to Windows 95 or 98, such as adding new programs or hardware, the OS always looks in the original source path for the CAB installation files. If you copy the files to a new location, you can modify the internal pointer to the directory that contains all of the CABs. Open RegEdit, and use the Edit/Find command to search for the text string Sourcepath, or go directly to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup. Double-click the Sourcepath entry in the right RegEdit pane and enter the new location for the Windows 98 installation files. Forget Your Password? Category: Windows 95 All If you forget your Win95 password, just hit Escape at the password box, launch the MS DOS Prompt and enter dir *.PWL in the WINDOWS directory to find your PWL files. Delete the one with your name in front of it. Restart your system and enter a new password when prompted (Win95 will ask you to verify it). Free Net Utility Category: Windows 95 All Win95 ships with a free Internet utility called IP Configuration that lets you check out all the vital stats of your Internet setup. Launch Start/Run and type WINIPCFG , then click on the More Info button. Free Net Utility #2 Category: Windows 95 All Win95 also ships with a DOS program called TRACERT that traces an Internet connection so you can see where the packets are hopping over the Net. Launch the MS-DOS Prompt window and type TRACERT followed by the Internet location (say, http://www.winmag.com). Free Tips Delivered! Category: Windows 95 All Get a free daily Windows tip delivered right to you via e-mail. Just send a message to our automated listserv at listserv@winlist.winmag.com and type the following: SUBSCRIBE TIPS . Don't use punctuation or put anything into the subject field. Fun, 32-Bit Style Category: Windows 95 All Game players, listen up! For maximum DOS memory in an MS-DOS session, add the following line to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI: LocalLoadHigh=1. Players of Duke Nukem 3D and Quake-or anyone who plays a game that uses 32-bit DOS extender software-will reap the benefit of that much more memory. Get Inside Information Category: Windows 95 All Win95's Device Manager lets you view the list of your PC's assigned interrupt requests, input/output addresses, direct memory access numbers and allocated memory ranges. Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties from the Context menu. Click on the Device Manager tab and then double-click on the entry labeled Computer. - Alex Norris Get It on Paper Category: Windows 95 All Right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties from the context menu. Click on the Device Manager tab, then the Print button. Select the "All devices and system summary" radio button, then click on OK. This will give you more information about your hardware, IRQs, ports, memory usage, devices and drivers than you probably want to know, but it can be handy for future reference or troubleshooting. Get More Free Space Category: Windows 95 All When you use DriveSpace to compress your drive, the software creates a "host drive" that houses the uncompressed portion of your hard disk and the compressed file, which comprises your compressed drive volume. You can gain more space on your disk by increasing the compressed drive's size and decreasing the host drive's. Launch DriveSpace (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/DriveSpace), select the host drive and choose Adjust Free Space from the Drive menu. Use the slider bar to set the relative available space on each drive, then click on OK to reboot. Get More from Your Modem Category: Windows 95 All Some Plug-and-Play modems won't allow you to change or increase the default speed of the modem. To get around this, click on Start/Run. Type sysedit in the Open field, then select WIN.INI and go to the [Port] section. Find the port that connects to your modem and edit it this way: COMx:=921600,n,8,1,p where: x = your modem's COM port 921600 = the maximum bps rate n = non-parity 8 = 8 data bits 1 = 1 stop bit p = hardware flow control Get Off the Network! Category: Windows 95 All Ending a dial-up connection doesn't always mean you're logged off the remote network. The appropriate way to end the session is to click on Start, Shut Down and then select "Close all programs and log on as a different user." Win95 won't reboot, but it will disconnect your Dial-Up Networking connection and log you off correctly. Get Real, but Get Careful, too Category: Windows 95 All If you use the Registry Editor in real mode (that is, from a DOS command prompt), watch out for the dreaded /C switch. That's a "C" as in create, not as in copy, and it replaces the entire Registry with a new one taken from the file you specified. If all you want to do is import a small file into your current Registry, then type REGEDIT filename.REG and leave out all switches. Get Rid of Annoyances Category: Windows 95 All Double-click on the Tweak UI icon in Control Panel and select the Tweak UI Explorer tab. Check Light Arrow in the Shortcut Overlay section, Animated "Click Here to Begin" (If Room) and Tip of the Day in the Startup area and Prefix "Shortcut to" on New Shortcuts boxes in Settings. You’ll like Win95 a whole lot better. Get Rid of Win95's Log-On Screen ... Category: Windows 95 All Tweak UI for Win95 ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads /contents/PowerToys/W95TweakUI /) lets you automate the Win95 log-on screen. Download and install the utility, then launch it from Control Panel. Under the Network tab, type your log-on name and password (if any), and check the "Log on automatically at system startup" option. Get Right to the Point Category: Windows 95 All You probably already know how to create a shortcut to a document. You can also create a shortcut to a specific place in a document. Make sure you can see the desktop from the open document, then simply drag and drop any part of the document (say, a sentence in a word processing document or a range of cells in a spreadsheet) to the desktop using the right mouse button. When you let go, choose Create Document Shortcut Here and close the document. The next time you want to open the document to that place, double-click on the new shortcut. This will launch the document and take you right to the selected text, which will be highlighted. Get Small Fast! Category: Windows 95 All The fastest way to minimize all the windows on your desktop is to press Ctrl+Esc, then Alt+M. Get to the Root of It All Category: Windows 95 All Here's a quick way to open the root directory on your main hard disk: Launch the Run command dialog (Start/Run), type a backslash and press Enter. Get Win95 SR2 or Win98 Category: Windows 95 All The version of Win95 that originally shipped in August 1995 is getting long in the tooth-two years is an eternity in the computer industry. If you're still running Win95 or Win95a (check your Control Panel/System applet), you could benefit from the later software that's become available. Check out my column in the August 1997 issue of WINDOWS Magazine for free ways to upgrade many of the components of Win95 or Win95a to Win95b levels. And grab a copy of Win98 as soon as it becomes available late 1997 or early 1998! Get with the Program Category: Windows 95 All If the object you're dragging and dropping is a program file, Windows will create a shortcut in the new location by default. Getting Around Category: Windows 95 All Instead of opening Control Panel and clicking on the Network icon, just right-click on Network Neighborhood and choose Properties. Instead of opening Control Panel and clicking the System icon, just right-click My Computer and choose Properties. Instead of opening Control Panel and clicking the Display icon, just right-click the desktop and choose Properties. To quickly access the Properties information for any object (except the desktop), hold the Alt key while double-clicking it. Give Win95b a DMA Boost Category: Windows 95 All If you have Windows 95b (or OEM Service Release 2), you can boost performance by turning on DMA (direct memory access). DMA lets your PC access CD drives, hard disks and removable drives without tapping your processor. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on Device Manager, expand the Disk Drives (or CD-ROM) item and double-click on the entry for your disk. Click on the Settings tab and check the DMA option. Repeat the process for your other drives, then restart your PC. (Note: This only applies to IDE- or EIDE-type devices, and the Windows 95b default bus mastering drivers must be installed.) Give Your PC a Mini Tune-Up Category: Windows 95 All Keep your system in shape by practicing a little preventative maintenance on your hard drive. At least once a month, perform these steps, in this order: 1. Delete all files and folders with dates older than one week from C:\WINDOWS\TEMP . 2. Run ScanDisk (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools) with the Standard radio button selected and the Automatically Fix Errors option enabled. Click on the Advanced button, and under Log File pick the Replace Log option; for Cross-linked Files, select Delete; click Free under the Lost File Fragments heading; check the option labeled "Invalid dates and times" under Check Files For, and disable the "Check host drive first" option, unless you've compressed your hard drive. 3. Empty the Recycle Bin. 4. Run Disk Defragmenter. Good Memory Category: Windows 95 All To see how your system is using its memory, select Start/Run and type MEM. Hail a CAB Category: Windows 95 All Hard disk space permitting, create a Win95 folder and copy all the CAB files into it. Next time you need a new file, you won't have to dig out the CD-ROM disc to get it. If you're not sure which CAB contains the file you want, locate it with the Find option. Search all files named *.CAB and enter the name of the desired file in the Containing Text box. Hail a CAB Category: Windows 95 All Copying all the CAB files (Windows 95 installation files) from the Win95 CD to your hard disk is a great way to save time when reinstalling individual components or the whole shebang. First, copy all the CAB (Cabinet) files from the CD's Win95 folder to a Win95 folder on your hard drive. Make this process even quicker by modifying the Registry to point to the new location. Open the Registry Editor (Start/Run/Regedit), drill down to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion key and highlight the Setup subkey. Right click on the SourcePath item and select Modify from the Context menu. Enter the path of the folder that contains your CAB files and click on OK. - Joao Valverde Hard-Disk Help Category: Windows 95 All Win95 Help sports some cool hand-holding videos for beginners. But those videos take up about 7MB of hard-disk space. If you don't need them, go to the C:\WINDOWS\HELP folder and delete all the AVI files. Hardware Housecleaning Category: Windows 95 All Sometimes Win95 thinks you have more hardware than you do. This can lead to problems. Here's how to troubleshoot: First, make sure you have a good backup. Restart Windows and press F8 at the beginning of the boot cycle to bring up the Mode menu. Select Safe mode and open the Device Manager by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties and clicking on the Device Manager tab. Expand all the categories and look for hardware that shouldn't be there. If you find duplicates within a single category, delete them all and restart; let Win95 identify and reinstall the drivers. Remember, don't delete hardware from the list unless you're sure it shouldn't be there. Hardware Troubleshooting Tip Category: Windows 95 All Sometimes Win95 thinks you have more hardware than you do. This can lead to problems. Here's how to troubleshoot: First, make sure you have a good backup. Restart Windows and press F8 at the beginning of the boot cycle to bring up the Mode menu. Select Safe mode and open the Device Manager by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties and clicking on the Device Manager tab. Expand all the categories and look for hardware that shouldn't be there. If you find duplicates within a single category, delete them all and restart; let Win95 identify and reinstall the drivers. Remember, don't delete hardware from the list unless you're sure it shouldn't be there. - Lyle Caldwell Have a Cleaner Control Panel Category: Windows 95 All If your Control Panel is cluttered with icons you don't need, here's how to clean it up. In the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, you'll find a CPL file that corresponds to each Control Panel item. Move the ones you don't want to a safe place on your hard disk. Now, when you open Control Panel, those icons are gone. - Shaun Lyle via the Microsoft Network Heaven Sent Category: Windows 95 All If you’ve put lots of destinations into your SendTo folder, you may want to organize them into cascading menus. Open the SendTo folder, which you’ll find in the Windows folder. Select New/Folder, then place your shortcuts in the new folders. Here's a Wild DOS Tip Category: Windows 95 All DOS 7.0 (the version that underpins Win95) lets you add advanced wildcards to the DIR command. For example, typing either DIR *T.* or DIR *T*.* under previous versions of DOS simply displayed all the files in the directory. Under DOS 7.0, DIR *T.* shows only the files or folders that end in the letter T. And DIR *T*.* shows only the files or folders that contain the letter T anywhere in the first part of their names. Note: This tip only works when you launch DOS using Win95's MS-DOS Prompt icon. - Samantha Embrey Hide Share Names Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking By simply hiding your Win9x resources, you can share them with others on the network without making all of them visible to everyone. All share names ending in $ will not appear in a Network Neighborhood view. Users must know their UNC name to access the share, and password protection can also be added for extra security Hot, Hot, Hotkeys Category: Windows 95 All Assign hotkeys to your most frequently used programs. Right-click on a program and select Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab; in the Shortcut Key field type in the hotkey combination you want to assign, then click on OK. Assigning a hotkey this way will allow you to switch to the program if it's already running on your Desktop. Hotkey Secret Category: Windows 95 All A shortcut's hotkey combination will launch a program only if it's on the Start menu or the Desktop. How to Restore Your Previous Registry Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 keeps one backup copy of your System Registry, created each time you launch Windows. If you install software or hardware that creates a problem on your PC, you may need to restore this backup. Follow these step s to accomplish that: Click the start button, and then click Shut Down. Restart The Computer In MS-DOS Mode so you won't create a backup over the backup you need. From DOS, change to your Windows directory. For example, if your Windows directory is C:\Windows, you would type the following: cd c:\windows . Type the following DOS commands, one after another, pressing Enter after each one: attrib -h -r -s system.* copy system.dat system.bak copy system.da0 system.dat attrib -h -r -s user.* copy user.dat user.bak copy user.da0 user.dat attrib +h +r +s system.* attrib +h +r +s user.* Now restart your computer. - Pam Lansdowne If One Hard Drive Is Good... Category: Windows 95 All Two may be better. Hard drive prices are at all-time lows now, and almost every PC made in the past few years can easily accommodate a second hard drive. It's just a matter of opening the case, plugging in a couple of cables, turning a few bolts and replacing the cover: The whole operation can be done in minutes. Besides the obvious benefits of having more space for your data, you can also use the second drive for live, online backups of your most important files. Install Tweak UI Category: Windows 95 All Open the Tweak UI folder on your desktop and double-click on the EXE file to auto-extract its contents. Right-click on the file TWEAKUI.INF and select Install from the context menu. A Help file will come up during installation. After you close this file, Tweak UI will be installed. You can then delete the entire TWEAK folder. Is Your Setup Validated? Category: Windows 95 All If you run Setup over an existing copy of Windows 95, you have the option to restore files that have changed or copy all files again. Both options take about the same time, because both check the validity of all currently-installed Win95 files. In either case, damaged files are restored to their original condition. Keep the StartUp Folder Lean Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance Windows launches slower the more programs run automatically on start-up. Move programs out of your StartUp folder into a new folder named StartUp Holds. Or remove entries you may find on the LOAD= or RUN= line in the WIN.INI file. (Open WIN.INI from your WINDOWS folder using Notepad.) You can also place a semicolon at the head of either line to prevent Windows from reading it while preserving your previous settings. Keep Your Desktop on Top Category: Windows 95 All You can gain easy access to your Desktop by creating a folder containing all your Desktop items, and then creating a single-click shortcut to that folder. First, create a shortcut in your StartUp folder and specify this target: C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /root, . This will show a folder with all the default icons on the Desktop, as well as any items you've added. Make the folder automatically minimize on the taskbar by choosing Run: Minimized in the shortcut's Properties dialog box. Whenever you want to access your Desktop's items, simply click on the shortcut in the taskbar. Keyboard Selection Category: Windows 95 All When a window or dialog box has more than one button, one of the buttons always has a darker outline or shadow. The Enter key will always activate that highlighted button. If the button you want to click isn't highlighted, use the Tab key to switch the highlighting between buttons. Shift+Tab lets you go backwards. - Ruben Lopez Kill DriveSpace Category: Windows 95 All If you don't use DriveSpace to compress your drive, you can free up lots of space by getting rid of it. From any Explorer window, select Options from the View menu, then click on the View tab. Make sure Show All Files is selected. Launch Find and type DRVSPAC*.* in the Named box, then go ahead and delete all the files it finds. Warning: Before you try this tip, make sure you're not using DriveSpace! - George Gombos Kill the Arrow Category: Windows 95 All Here's how you can remove shortcut arrows without editing the Registry or installing Tweak UI. First, right-click on the Desktop, and bring up the Properties dialog box. Then select Appearance and choose Icon from the Item box. Select a size of 30 or less, click on OK and voila, they're no longer there. Set a size of 31 or bigger and poof, they're back. - David R. Officer via the Internet Know Your Computer Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 comes with a utility called MS-Info that tells you more about your computer than you'll ever want to know. It lists detailed information on all your DLLs, drivers, fonts, memory, hardware and much more. Just launch the Find utility (Start/Find/Files or Folders) and search for the executable: MSINFO32.EXE. Know Your File Types Category: Windows 95 All Power users, it's time to get really familiar with your File Types dialog. This is where you can turbocharge Windows and customize the way it works for you. Launch My Computer, select Options from the View menu and click on the File Types tab. Scroll down the list of file types, highlight a file that you use a lot (an HTM file, text file or e-mail file, for example) and click on the Edit button. In the dialog box that comes up, you can change the icon for that file type, add extensions of the same file type, put items on the Context menu, enable QuickView and much more. Last-Ditch Effort Category: Windows 95 All If Win95 crashes and Ctrl+Alt+Del fails to bring up the Close Program dialog, try hitting Ctrl+Esc. The Start menu may come up, letting you perform a graceful and safe reboot. Launch Control I Category: Windows 95 All Some programs tell Windows to launch them at start-up by placing a shortcut in the StartUp folder. To remove start-up programs, right-click on the Start button and select Open. Double-click on the Programs folder, then the StartUp folder. Delete shortcuts to programs you don't want to run at start-up. Or just drag the shortcut out to the Desktop to temporarily remove it from the StartUp folder. You can drag it back later or delete it. Launch Control II Category: Windows 95 All Other programs tell Windows to launch them at start-up by editing the Windows Registry. (This tip is for the advanced user with a backed-up Registry.) To remove these programs, open the Registry Editor, and then open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Delete any programs from the Name column that you don't want to run at start-up. - Cody Robbins Launch Control III Category: Windows 95 All To temporarily abort all StartUp folder launches, hold down the Shift key as Windows opens. Programs listed in the StartUp folder won't open this time, but will be there next time. To selectively launch these unopened programs, open the StartUp folder and double-click on any icon. Launch Explorer Windows Faster Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface Did you know you can open any folder icon as a two-paned window with a navigation tree? Just right-click on the folder and choose Explore. You can launch any folder as an Explorer window by holding down the Shift key and double-clicking on the folder. If you really just prefer the two-paned Explorer windows, you can make that type of window open by default: Open any folder and choose View/Options (or Folder Options under IE4/IE5/Win98/NT). Choose the File Types tab. Select Folder and click on Edit. Under Actions, highlight Explore. Click on Set Default. The Explore entry becomes bold, making it the default operation for a double-click. If you want to reverse the setting, follow the same steps, but highlight Open instead of Explore. Leaning Toward the Left Category: Windows 95 All You already know that when you drag an object to or from the desktop using the right mouse button, you're given the option to Move, Copy, Create Shortcut or Cancel when you release the button. If you don't want to use the right mouse button (or you don't have one), you can accomplish the same thing by pressing and holding Ctrl+Shift, and using the left mouse button. Lessen Your Packet Load Category: Windows 95 All A simple shareware application can dramatically improve the performance of your Internet connection via Dial-Up Networking. MTU-Speed works by applying tweaks to the Win95 Registry and increasing the transmission packet size. More data can fit into a frame, resulting in fewer packets to download and better performance. Download MTU-Speed from http://www.mjs.u-net.com/mtuspeed/mtuspeed.htm. Let This Be a Warning Category: Windows 95 All If you frequently hit the Caps Lock key by accident, open Control Panel's Accessibility Options applet and put a check in the Use ToggleKeys box on the Keyboard tab. Then select the General tab and clear the check box next to "Turn off accessibility features." From now on your computer will beep if you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys. Let Your CD-ROM Drive Be Last Category: Windows 95 All If the MSCDEX.EXE line in your current AUTOEXEC.BAT file specifies a drive letter, delete that switch (/L:x, where x is some letter beyond the actual last physical drive letter) and then reboot. Otherwise Win95 may "forget" its instructions midway through setup and let the CD-ROM disc drop down to the next available drive letter. Then it can no longer find what it wants on drive x, and you'll have to redirect it to the new drive letter. Letter-Perfect Selection Category: Windows 95 All In any open folder, type the first letter of the name of the file you want to select, and you'll go right to the first file in the folder that begins with that letter. Type the letter again, and you'll go to the next file and so on. Press Enter, and the file will open. Little-Known Keyboard Commands Category: Windows 95 All - To refresh the Desktop (including Active Desktop Web pages), press F5. - To expand all the subfolders of a selected drive in Windows Explorer, press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad (this could take a while if the directory has lots of folders in it). But watch out-there's no easy way to collapse them again. - To restore the default column widths in the Details view of any folder window and many program or applet windows, press Ctrl and the plus sign (+) key on the numeric keypad. - To select the Address toolbar (if it's enabled) and open its drop-down list in any folder window or in IE 4.0, press F4. Locate Your Desktop Category: Windows 95 All Use the Run command line to get fast access to your Desktop. Select Start/Run, type a period in the command line and hit Enter. Your WINDOWS\DESKTOP folder will open instantly. - Nancy Claxton Lower Internet Access Costs with NAT Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking It is possible for two PCs to share the same dial-up connection through a method known as Network Address Translation (NAT). Using NAT routing software on a PC that is connected to the Internet will allow all other networked PCs to independently share the same connection and IP address at the ISP without requiring separate dial-up accounts or multiple connections. Lower Your Phone Bills Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Many organizations have 800 numbers with extensions that lead to dial-up access lines. Navigate to the dial-in modem line by using commas in your dial string. For example, 1-800-111-2222,,,,,3542 will call the corporate main menu. It will take several seconds to pick up and patch you through to the correct modem extension. The number of commas depends on the speed of your system. Experiment to find out how many will work: Five is a good starting point. Lurk in the Background Category: Windows 95 All If you want documents and programs you double-click on to open in the background, rather than in the foreground, hold the Ctrl key when you double-click. Make a Clean Start Category: Windows 95 All Why is it so important to "cascade" from Programs-to-Accessories-to-Games when it's time t o play FreeCell? If you don't know, then move the Games folder up one level. Next, do the same thing with all the other folders that sit in the Accessories folder. To do so, open the C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories folder and drag each sub-folder up to the Programs folder. Follow the same general procedure to clean up the rest of the Start Menu\Programs folder system. Make a Minimum-Impact Erasure Category: Windows 95 All If you attempt to delete a folder and get a message that "This change may impact one or more registered programs," consider that a warning. The Registry still thinks you need some of its contents-often a symptom of an uninstall operation that didn't clean up properly. Before proceeding, search the Registry for the name of the executable file(s) contained in that folder, then delete the key structure that contains the reference to that file. But first, search the key structure for pointers to other keys that may also need to be erased. This can be a tedious operation, so refer to the August Optimizing Windows column if you need further details or help. Make a Start-Up Disk from DOS Category: Windows 95 All You may already know how to create a start-up disk: Open Add/Remove Programs from Start/Settings/Control Panel, then click on the Startup Disk tab and click on the Create Disk button. But sometimes you need a start-up disk when you can't get to Windows. Here's how to create one from DOS. First, make sure you've got a disk in your floppy drive, then type cd windows\command and press the Enter key. Then type bootdisk a: and press Enter again. Windows will format the disk, then copy the system and other required start-up files. Make DOS Apps Ask for Input Category: Windows 95 All You can run a DOS program from a Windows 95 shortcut even if it requires variable parameters each time it's run. Create a shortcut for the DOS program, right-click on the shortcut and pick Properties from the Context menu. Click on the Program tab and add a question mark to the end of the path in the Cmd Line field. When you run the program from the shortcut, it will open a parameter window where you can type the variable information. Make DOS Cooperate Category: Windows 95 All Create a shortcut for a DOS program by right-clicking on the shortcut icon and selecting Properties. Select the Program tab, click on the Advanced button and select the MS-DOS Mode check box. Windows 95 will run the application in real DOS, quitting all current Windows and DOS-box applications. Windows will automatically restart when you exit the DOS application. Make Icons from Cursors... Category: Windows 95 All To use a mouse cursor file as an icon, right-click on the document or shortcut and select Properties from the Context menu. Click on the Shortcut tab, then the Change Icon button. Use the Browse button item to navigate to the C:\Windows\Cursors folder. Select All Files from the Files of Type drop-down menu. Select the cursor file of your choice and click OK. Make Windows Settings Stay Put Category: Windows 95 All If you want to make sure Windows remembers how you've sized your windows, try this after making a change: From an Explorer window you've customized, select Options (or Folder Options, if you have IE4 and Web View installed) from the View menu, make any change and then change it back (that activates the Apply button). Click on Apply and then OK. The next time you open a window, it should retain the size you set. Maximize and Restore Category: Windows 95 All Double-click on the title bar of any application, document or folder window to toggle between maximized and restored states. Minimize All Windows-Fast Category: Windows 95 All Press Ctrl+Esc, followed by Alt+M, and all open windows will be instantly minimized. Modems, Modems Everywhere Category: Windows 95 All After you install a new modem, sometimes one or more incorrect modems appear in Control Panel’s Modems item. Just remove the modem(s) from the list and restart Windows. If Windows doesn’t tell you it detected new hardware, go back into Control Panel and double-click on Add New Hardw are. Follow the instructions and have Windows search for the hardware. When the search is complete, click on Details and see if it detected the right modem. If not, correct it. Monochrome Is Dead Category: Windows 95 All You wouldn't work on a monochrome monitor. Then why are you still working with monochrome output? Color printer prices have been in near-freefall for months, and you can now pick up an excellent ink-jet color printer for just a couple of hundred dollars. Once you work in color, you'll never go back. More BMP Icons Category: Windows 95 All Any bitmap file can serve as an icon without moving, resizing or renaming. From within any shortcut's Change Icon dialog box, click on the Browse button, select All Files from the Files of Type box and double-click on the BMP file of your choice. More Famous Quotations Category: Windows 95 All By default, WordPad saves a file with a DOC extension, and Notepad saves a file with a TXT extension-unless you assign an extension that's registered with Windows via the File/Save As dialog box. But if you try to save a WordPad or Notepad file with an extension that Windows doesn't recognize, it will tack the default extension onto the end of the file's name, which is how you end up with filenames like BUDGET.JUN.DOC. The workaround is to save the file and new extension in quotation marks ("BUDGET.JUN" for example). More Glass Is Good Category: Windows 95 All Spend some time with a 17-inch or 19-inch monitor, and you won't want to go back to something smaller. You'll appreciate both the extra eye-ease afforded by the larger screen and the ability to work with more than one application at a time. More Swap File Secrets Category: Windows 95 All Last month, we showed you how to optimize your swap file; here are some more ways to boost its performance. First, if possible, move any files off your your second drive; that places the swap file at the beginning of the disk and minimizes seek time. Defrag the drive using full optimization (even if Disk Defragmenter indicates that you don't need to) to eliminate pockets of free space that could fragment the swap file. Next, right-click on My Computer, choose Properties, select the Performance tab and click on the Virtual Memory button. Check the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" option. Select your second drive and set both the minimum and maximum virtual memory sizes to 2.5 times your installed RAM. (For example, if you have 16MB of RAM, set both the minimum and maximum sizes to 40MB.) - R. Brines More Than One Find Is Fine Category: Windows 95 All When you need to search for more than one file, speed up the process by running more than one instance of Find at a time. This is especially useful for searching for multiple items in the background. - Andrew Germishuys More Tweak UI Tips Category: Windows 95 All Click on the Mouse tab, then the Tips button for more Tweak UI tips in Windows Help format. More Ways to Send E-Mail Category: Windows 95 All Once you've implemented the previous tip, add the shortcuts to the IE 4.0/Win98 Quick Launch toolbar or to your WINDOWS\SENDTO folder for more ways to send a message. Adding them to your SENDTO folder will let you attach files to a message simply by selecting them from a window, right-clicking on them, selecting Send To and then choosing the recipient's e-mail shortcut. Mouseless Context Menus Category: Windows 95 All To open an item's Context menu without a mouse click, select the item and press Shift+F10. Mouseless Moves Category: Windows 95 All You can move or resize open Windows applications using only your keyboard. First, press Alt+Spacebar to bring up a menu. Press S, then use the arrow keys to resize the window. Press M and move the window using the arrow keys. Press Enter to keep the window change or Esc to return the window to its previous state. Mouseless Moves Category: Windows 95 All You can move or resize open Windows applications by using only your keyboard. First, press Alt+Spacebar to bring up a menu. Press S, then use the arrow keys to resize the window. Press M and move the window using the arrow keys. Press Enter to keep the window change or Esc to return the window to its previous state. Mouseless Shutdown Category: Windows 95 All Instead of clicking on Start/Shut Down to exit Win95, try this: Hit Alt+F4 and press Enter when you're prompted with the Shut Down dialog box. Move Desktop Icons Category: Windows 95 All Tweak UI lets you move any of the desktop items into other folders. Click on the Desktop tab, click on the icon you want to move, then click on the "Create As File" button. Move the Start Button Category: Windows 95 All Here's a neat, undocumented trick for moving your Start button to another place on the taskbar: Click on the Start button, then hit the Esc key. Press Alt+ - (the Alt key and, at the same time, the hyphen key), and then let go of bot h. Click on Move from the menu, and then use your right- and left-arrow keys to move the button. When the button is where you want it, press the Enter key. Note that when you restart Windows, the Start button will be back in its original location on the far left of the taskbar. - Sulaiman Alireza Moving Day For Your StartUp Files Category: Windows 95 All After Win95 has been up and running for a week or so, open your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files in any text editor. You'll probably discover Win95 has disabled quite a few items by inserting REM at the beginning of the lines. If you don't see anything important on the other lines, move the entire file into a C:\TEMP folder for a few days. If Windows does n't miss them, neither will you. Multiple File Associations Category: Windows 95 All Normally, when you double-click on a document type, the syste m tells Windows to open the document in a specific application. Here's how to expand your options. Double-click on My Computer, select View/Options and click on the File Types tab. Choose the document type you'd like to open in other applications in the Registered File Types list. Click on Edit, then on New. Click on the Browse button to choose an application. Type something like Open in name of application in the Action field. Click on OK, Close, then Close again. Now, whenever you right-click on that document type, you'll be able to see the option you typed in. Multiple Floppies Maneuver Category: Windows 95 All Sometimes you want to store a file that's too big for a single floppy. You can store it on more than one with Win95's Backup utility. (Note: You may need to first install the utility with the Add/Remove Programs option in the Control Panel. Click on the Windows Setup tab, then highlight Disk Tools and click on Details. Check the box next to Backup, click on OK and then Apply.) When you're ready to transfer your file, ins tead of copying it, choose Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup from the Start menu and follow the wizard to back up a file to floppy disks. Once the backup is stored on your disks, you can use Backup's Restore feature to place the backed-up copy on another system. Unless the directory structure of the new machine is identical to the original, you'll need to change one restore setting: Choose Settings/Options, click on the Restore tab and select the Alternate Location radio button. - Randall Chiu Near Perfect File Management Category: Windows 95 All Ever wish you could make Windows 95 show a two directory view similar to the way the old Windows for Workgroups File Manager? You can. Open to folders you want to drag and drop from. Then right-click on the Taskbar and choose "Tile Vertically" from the context menu. Near-Perfect File Management Category: Windows 95 All Ever wish you could make Win95 show a two-directory view similar to the way the old Windows for Workgroups File Manager did? You can. Open two instances of Explorer, navigate to the folders from which you want to drag and drop, then right-click on the taskbar and choose Tile Vertically. New DOS DIR Category: Windows 95 All Type the DIR command in an MS-DOS Prompt window to see a new variation on an old theme. In addition to the standard DOS 8.3 filenames displayed on the left, the Windows 95 long filenames are displayed on the right. No Go on the Logo Category: Windows 95 All If you'd prefer not to have any StartUp splash screen at all, find the LOGO= line in your MSDOS.SYS file and change the value to 0. No More Cloudy Days Category: Windows 95 All So you hate those clouds hovering on your screen as you launch Windows 95? Just add the line: logo=0 to the [options] section of the hidden system file MSDOS.SYS in your boot drive's root directory, and Windows 95 won't display its cloud logo at boot time. No More Space Warning Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Constant warnings about low disk space on your Win98 PC can be annoying, especially if they refer to your host drive on a compressed disk. To get rid of the warning, open Disk Cleanup (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools) and click on the Settings tab. Deselect the check box labeled "If this drive runs low on disk space, automatically run Disk Cleanup," then click on OK. No More Space Warning Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Constant warnings about low disk space on your Win98 PC can be annoying, especially if they refer to your host drive on a compressed disk. To get rid of the warning, open Disk Cleanup (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools) and click on the Settings tab. Deselect the check box labeled "If this drive runs low on disk space, automatically run Disk Cleanup," then click on OK. No Questions Asked Category: Windows 95 All If you use the ERASE *.* command in an MS-DOS Prompt window, it asks you if you’re sure, and you have to answer Y or N. Here’s an undocumented Win95 feature: By omitting the period and simply typing ERASE ** , it deletes the contents of the folder—no questions asked. Not-So-Private Properties Category: Windows 95 All You can access Control Panel's Network, System and Display Properties from the Desktop. Right-click on the Network Neighborhood or My Computer icon and select Properties to access the Network or System settings, respectively. Right-click on the Desktop itself and select Properties to access the Display Properties. To quickly access the Properties for any object on the Desktop, hold the Alt key and double-click on the object. One-Minute Life Saver Category: Windows 95 All Prepare for possible PC catastrophes by regularly copying the following files to a second hard drive, removable hard disk or diskette-especially if you frequently install and uninstall applications. From your root directory (you may find only some of these), back up AUTOEXEC.BAT, AUTOEXEC.DOS, CONFIG.SYS, CONFIG.DOS and MSDOS.SYS. From your Windows folder, back up CONTROL.INI, SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI, as well as the SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT Registry files (SYSTEM.DAT probably won't fit on a floppy disk). Open a Registry Warehouse Category: Windows 95 All If you go into the import/export business full-time, create a dedicated Registry folder to store your REG files. Then create a shortcut to the REGEDIT.EXE file and type that location into the Start in box (D:\Registry, for example). Otherwise the REG files wind up in the C:\Windows folder, which is probably crowded enough already. This is also a convenient location to store your own backup SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files. Open Current Folder From DOS Category: Windows 95 All Here's how to open the Windows folder that corresponds to the DOS directory you're working in. Select Start/Run, type Explorer or whatever program you want and click on OK. - Kevin Draper Open Dialog Category: Windows 95 All Right-click on the command line of any dialog box and you'll get a handy context menu with options to Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Select All. Open In the Back Category: Windows 95 All Make your documents and programs open behind the currently active window by pressing and holding the Ctrl key while you double-click on its icon. Then click on any open title bar to return the focus to that window. - Joao Valverde Optimize Digital Video Playback Category: Windows 95 All Make playback of digital video files from a CD-ROM smoother by optimizing your CD-ROM drive's cache. First, determine whethe r you're using real-mode or protected-mode drivers to access the drive: Open the System Control Panel and click on the Device Manager tab. If a CD-ROM branch is listed, you're using protected-mode drivers; otherwise, you're using real-mode drivers. Next, switch to the Performance tab; click first on the File System button and then on the CD-ROM tab. If you found a CD-ROM branch in Device Manager, click on your drive's appropriate speed in the Optimize Access Pattern box. (Selecting a faster-than-appropriate speed for your hardware does not increase performance.) Make sure that the Supplemental Cache Size slider is set all the way to the right and click on OK. If you didn't find a CD-ROM branch, select No Read-Ahead in the Optimize Access Pattern box. Organize Your Desktop Category: Windows 95 All By default, Win95 places all your "permanent" Desktop items (My Computer, Network Neighborhood and so on) on the left-hand side of your screen. But if you put them on the right-hand side, any new files-those you'r e working on or files you download-will show up on the left by default. It's a great way to keep them separated. OSR2... Free! Category: Windows 95 All You may have heard about the latest version of Windows-9.50b, or the "OSR2 release." It's packed with file updates, utilities and other enhancements. You can't buy it in stores unless you buy a new computer to go with it, but you can get most of the updates free. You'll find them at the Win95 Free Software page ( http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm ) Out of Control Color Category: Windows 95 All There are some window elements you can't change in the Desktop Properties item; you have to edit the Registry. Since the Registry understands colors only as combinations of RGB (red, green and blue) numbers, you'll need a color key to find out what numbers to enter. Fortunately, Windows has one. You'll need to go back to the Appearance item using the instructions in the "Color Control" tip. Once there, click on Colors, then Other. Near the bottom right corner of the dialog box, you'll see three boxes labeled Red, Green and Blue, respectively. Here's where you'll get your numbers. Use the four-point color identifier and the sliding rule to choose the color of your choice. When you've got it, write down the three numbers in the RGB boxes. Repeat for each additional color you want to use. Now open the Registry editor and drill dow n to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Colors. Here you'll find all the screen elements. To change one, double-click on it and replace the current value with one of your sets of numbers. When things look the way you want them to, go back to the Appearance item and Save As a new scheme. Out with the Old Category: Windows 95 All If you upgraded over Windows 3. x and saved your old system files as part of the Windows 95 setup procedure, here's how to reclaim some disk space if you don't want to go back again. Select Control Panel/Add/Remove Programs, highlight the Old Windows 3. x /MS-DOS line and click on the Remove button. Out with the Old Category: Windows 95 All Win95 could very well be loading your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files unnecessarily. It will do so if it thinks you still need them. To find out if you do, make backup copies of each, and make sure you have an emergency boot diskette handy. Change the name of CONFIG.SYS to CONFIG.OLD . Shut down your system and restart. If everything works, then do the same with your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Out, Out Temp Files! Category: Windows 95 All Win95 cr eates a lot of "temporary" files when it opens documents. It puts these files in the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP folder and intends to close them when the application is finished with them. But sometimes, temp files can become permanent. Open the folder periodically (after you shut down all your apps) and delete these files. Play Favorites with Programs Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Maintenance Windows NT All Windows NT Maintenance Do you have a few programs that you use far more than any others? If so, you can make those programs more quickly accessible. The improved Disk Defragmenter in Windows 98 can gather the program files you use most often and move them to the faster parts of your hard disk. To run Disk Defragmenter, click Start and select Programs/Accessories/System Tools and then select Disk Defragmenter. Click on the Settings button and make sure that the option labeled "Rearrange program files so my programs start faster" is selected. Click OK twice to begin defragmentation. Play Ping-Pong Category: Windows 95 All The PING utility will come in handy if you're having trouble connecting to remote hosts over TCP/IP. From the command prompt, type PING to find which hosts you can reach. If you can communicate with all hosts, try PING . If this doesn't work, then DNS resolution is your problem. Plug That Registry (Book) Category: Windows 95 All For still more Registry tips, pick up a copy of The Windows 95 Registry: A Survival Guide for Users by WINDOWS Magazine consulting editor John Woram (1996, MIS: Press, ISBN 1-55828-494-X, .95) Prime Time Category: Windows 95 All To gain instant access to your favorite Web sites, put a shortcut to your C:\WINDOWS\FAVORITES folder on your desktop or Start menu. - David Buchin Print That Category: Windows 95 All The Device Manager can send a system summary report directly to the printer. Better yet, send it to a file, as follows. Open the Printers folder, double-click the Add Printer icon and select Local Printer. Scroll down the Manufacturers list to Generic and install the Generic/Text Only printer. When you get to the Available Ports box, select File and follow the prompts to finish the installation. Now click on Device Manager's Print button, but do not check the Print to File box. Instead, click the Setup button, then click the radio button next to Specific Printer. Choose "Generic/text only on FILE:", then click the OK button twice, name the file and click OK one more time. Open the file in your word processor, remove the extraneous page breaks and spaces, and you can now print the complete report on about two pages instead of the six or so it would otherwise require. Print That (Not!) Category: Windows 95 All A hard-copy printout of the entire Registry can run to 1,000 pages or more. Before you hit the Print button, make sure you select just the section of the Registry that you want to study. Better yet, export that section and view it in your word processor. Search the file for whatever you’re looking for, and then print only what you need. Probe Print Problems Category: Windows 95 All The Win95 Help system's troubleshooting wizards include one for identifying printing problems (Start/Help/Troublesho oting/Printing Problems). There's an even better printing troubleshooter on the Win95 CD; you can launch it by drilling down to the CD's \OTHER\MISC\EPTS folder and running EPTS.EXE. Program Group Therapy Category: Windows 95 All When you install Win95 over Win3. x , a utility called GRPCONV.EXE (in the WINDOWS folder) converts all your Program Manager program groups into cascading menus on your Start menu. You can use this utility to restore the default configuration of cascading menus by clicking on Start/Run, then typing GRPCONV /S and clicking on OK. You can also manually convert Win3. x program groups by typing RPCONV/ M , picking the program group files and clicking on Open. Put ALL Programs Together Category: Windows 95 All Most well-behaved 32-bit Windows 95 applications install by default into your Program Files folder. Since the folder uses a long filename, you can't install 16-bit Windows 3.x applications there-or so it seems. You can do it by using the truncated name, which is C:\PROGRA~1, during the installation. - Matthew Olson Put Favorites Back Where They Belong Category: Windows 95 All Do you sometimes create shortcuts to Web sites by right clicking a Web page displayed in your browser window and choosing the Create Shortcut context menu item? That places a bookmark on your Windows desktop, which is handy for a while, but gets messy not too much later. To make clean up no sweat, create a standard shortcut to Favorites (C:\Windows\Favorites) and place it in your Send To folder (C:\Windows\SendT o). Now you can just right click any URL shortcut on your desktop, choose Send To on the context menu, and select Favorites to tuck it away in a place where you can find it again. Put Recycle Bin on a Diet Category: Windows 95 All By default, Recycle Bin can occupy up to 10 percent of your hard disk space, which means it has files so old you can't remember them. To determine a reasonable size, open it and click twice on the Date Deleted button to sort the deleted-files list in reverse chronological order. Scroll down to the first file that's more than a month old. Select it, then scroll to the bottom of the list. Hold down the Shift key and select the last file, thereby highlighting all files older than one month. Press the Delete key to permanently remove them. Now open Explorer and highlight the Recycle Bin icon. Note the amount of space o ccupied by the remaining files, as reported on the Status Bar at the bottom of the window. That's how much space your Recycle Bin really needs to hold one month's worth of discarded files. Convert it to a percentage of your total drive space, then move the Recycle Bin's Maximum size slider to that value. Put Things in Context Category: Windows 95 All By right-clicking on folders, documents, programs and desktop objects, you can bring up the Context menu for that item. Using the Context menu, you can invoke the Properties dialog, as well as do file management tasks. Put Your Printer on Your Desktop Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Place a shortcut to your printer right on your Desktop. Right-click on the printer you want in your Printer folder and drag it to your Desktop, choosing the Create Shortcut Here option. Then drag and drop documents to the shortcut to print them. Put Your Screen Saver on Hold Category: Windows 95 All Here's the fastest way to temporarily disable your screen saver (if you're defragmenting a drive or doing something similar). Click on the Start button and bring up the Start menu. When the menu is up, your screen saver won't launch. - Jason Paluszak via the Internet Quick (and Safe!) View Category: Windows 95 All Quick View lets you look at many do cuments without actually opening them. One advantage of this is speed. Another is safety, especially for MS Word documents. Reading Word documents in Quick View reduces your chances of contracting one of the Word viruses. To enable Quick View for a given file type, you must install the option. Launch Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs applet, click on the Windows Setup tab, select the Accessories component from the list, and click on the Details button. If Quick View is checked, you've got it. If not, check it! Then, select View/Options from Explorer, click on the File Types tab, the document type you'd like to see in Quick View and the Edit button. Now select Enable Quick View and click on OK twice. Now when you right-click on a file of this type, Quick View will appear in the context menu. Quick Access to Quick Launch Category: Windows 95 All If you regularly add programs to the Quick Launch toolbar in IE 4.0 and Win98, place a shortcut to it in your Send To folder. Open C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO and create a shortcut to C:\WINDOWS\APPLICATION DATA\MICROSOFT\INTERNET EXPLORER\QUICK LAUNCH. Add a shortcut to your Quick Launch bar by right-clicking on an item and selecting Send To/Quick Launch. Quick Close Category: Windows 95 All If you’ve installed Win98 or Internet Explorer 4.0, the quickest way to close all your running programs is to select Start/Log Off . That will close and relaunch Windows without rebooting your PC. Quick Fix for Registry Problems Category: Windows 95 All If you receive a Windows Protection Fault error in DOS when booting Win95, your problem could be a corrupt Registry. To remedy the problem, use the DOS version of RegEdit to export and then recreate your Registry. Start by booting your system to DOS (press Shift+F5 when you see "Starting Windows 95 ..." on your screen, or boot to your Win95 boot floppy disk if necessary). From the boot directory of your primary hard disk, type: regedit /e reg.reg and press Enter. Go to your Windows folder and type these commands to make your Registry files visible: attrib -h -s -r system.dat and attrib -h -s -r user.dat . Rename the SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files to SYSTEM.BUP and USER.BUP . (Delete these files later when you're sure Win95 is working properly.) Navigate back to your boot directory and then type regedit /c reg.reg . Finally, reboot and see if your problems have disappeared. Note: All your applications and devices should work as they did before, because the new Registry imports the ol d one. Quick Keys Category: Windows 95 All You can determine how fast your keyboard repeats characters and moves the cursor. Launch the Keyboard applet in Control Panel, then experiment with the speed settings on the Speed tab. Quick Network Directories Category: Windows 95 All Shortcuts can greatly reduce the time and effort it takes to access network resources. While browsing Network Neighborhood, drag a computer or share to your Desktop and Windows 95 will automatically create a shortcut. Alternately, you can manually create a shortcut using the object's UNC name. Quick! Put It on a Diskette Category: Windows 95 All The quickest way to put a file or folder on a diskette is to right-click on it, select Send To from the context menu and choose "3 1/2 Floppy (A)." Quick-Close Trick Category: Windows 95 All If you give Win95 the ol’ three finger salute (Ctrl+Alt+Del) you’ll get the Close Program dialog, which gives you the option to close running applications one at a time. Task Manager, a holdover from Windows 3. x , lets you close any number of running applications—or all of them—at once. To launch Task Manager, select Start/Run and type TASKMAN and press Enter. From the resulting Task dialog, hold the Ctrl key as you click on each of the programs you’d like to close and then select Windows/End Task. To close all your running applications, press and hold the Shift key, click on the first application, then the last and select Windows/End Task. Rapid Dial-Up Access Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Place a shortcut to your Dial-Up Networking profile on the Start menu by dragging your Dial-Up connection icon from the DIAL-UP NETWORKING folder to the Start button. Real Hard-Disk Help Category: Windows 95 All Win95 Help sports some cool hand-holding videos for beginners. But those videos take up about 7MB of hard-disk space! If you don't n eed them, go to the C:\WINDOWS\HELP folder and delete all the AVI files. - Coley Couture Reboot the Taskbar Category: Windows 95 All If you change a Registry setting that affects the taskbar or Start menu, here's how to enable the new setting without restarting Windows. After making a change, press Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Close Program dialog. Select Explorer and click on the End Task button. In the Shut Down Windows dialog that pops up, click on No (or Cancel if you have IE 4.0 installed) Recycling Hazards Category: Windows 95 All The Win95 Recycle Bin can give you a false sense of security. You know you can retrieve items you move there, so you might dump stuff there without a second thought. But beware! Items from other drives (say, the network or floppy disk drives) you place in the Recycle Bin are permanently and instantly deleted, not stored. Previous 10 tips Next 10 tips Relief for Printing Pains Category: Windows 95 All If you're having a printer problem, your Win95 CD offers help in the form of the Enhanced Printer Troubleshooter. Double-click on the file EPTS.EXE in the \OTHER\MISC\EPTS folder of your CD and follow the instructions. Remove Read-Only Category: Windows 95 All We've run tips in the past that involved editing the MSDOS.SYS file. Some readers sent mail saying the file is "read-only" so they couldn't edit it. Here's how to remove the read-only and other attributes of MSDOS.SYS. Open Explorer, select View/Options and click on the View tab. Select "Show All Files" and then OK. Now, use Find to search for the MSDOS.SYS file. When you find it, right-click on it and select Properties from the Context menu. When the Properties dialog appears, remove all the check marks in the Attributes section at the bottom. Then use the instructions above to "Hide these types of files." Remove the Remover Category: Windows 95 All If an uninstalled application is still listed on the Install/Uninstall list in Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs applet, drill down to the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsCurrentVersion\Uninstall key and open the subkey whose name identifies that application. Make sure the DisplayName entry matches the one shown on the Install/Uninstall list, then delete the key to remove that application name from the list. Remove the Start Button Category: Windows 95 All Follow the steps outlined in the "Move the Start Button" trick, but instead of selecting Move from the Context menu, select Close. The button will come back when you restart Windows. Reset Telnet Defaults Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking The Windows 95/98 Telnet application automatically saves its last window size and Desktop location in the Registry. Unfortunately, it can sometimes disappear from the Desktop, particularly if you switch screen resolutions. To reset its default screen coordinates, open RegEdit and scroll to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Telnet. In the right RegEdit pane, delete the WinPosLeft and WinPosTop values. Restore the Registry Category: Windows 95 All Here's how to restore Win95's backup copy of the Registry in the event of a system error: Select Start/Shut Down and click on the "Restart in MS-DOS mode" option. From DOS, go to your Windows directory and enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each one (select Yes when you're prompted to overwrite SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT), and then restart your computer. attrib -h -r -s system.* copy system.dat system.bak copy system.da0 system.dat attrib -h -r -s user.* copy user.dat user.bak copy user.da0 user.dat attrib +h +r +s system.da? attrib +h +r +s user.* - Pam Lansdowne Resurrect Your Speaker Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Did you lose the yellow speaker on your taskbar? To reinstate it, open the Multimedia control panel and click on Audio. Check "Show volume control on the taskbar." Revise the Run List Category: Windows 95 All You can edit the list of previously executed commands found in Run's drop-down box. Launch Regedit and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU. In the right-hand pane, double-click on the letter that corresponds to the item you want to delete or modify, and make your changes in the Edit String dialog box that pops up. Be careful not to delete the M RUList items. Right-Click Backup Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Registry Windows 98 All Windows 98 Registry Add a right-click command that performs a quick file backup on any selected folder. Open RegEdit to the HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\Directory\shell\ key. Create a key under Shell called Backup. Create a subkey under Backup called Command. To back up the folder to a hard disk directory or floppy drive, modify the default value for the Command key to read COMMAND.COM /C XCOPY /S %1 C:\BACKUPS or COMMAND.COM /C XCOPY /S %1 A:. You can append XCOPY parameters to customize a backup by date, reset file attributes and so forth. Running Start Category: Windows 95 All You can use the Run command on the Windows 95 Start menu to view a networked drive, or even an entire disk. Select Run and type in the server name or server and share name, as in \\sue_smith\c_drive. Safe Steps to a Smaller Registry Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Registry Windows 98 All Windows 98 Registry Here is a safe technique that can reduce the size of the Registry up to 10 percent. Make a backup of the current Registry. Under Windows 95, use the ERU program located on the Windows 95 CD. Under Windows 98, run ScanReg by entering SCANREGW.EXE in the Start/Run menu. In Windows 95/98, open the Registry Editor and export the current Registry to a REG file, such as C:\MYREG.REG, by selecting the Registry/Export Registry File command with the All button highlighted. Restart Windows in an MS-DOS Mode session. Or reboot, press Ctrl at boot time and select Command Prompt from the Windows 98 Startup menu. Enter SMARTDRV at the C: prompt to load the DOS disk cache. After the successful creation of the MYREG.REG export file, run RegEdit once more from C: as follows: REGEDIT /C MYREG.REG This will recreate a new compact version of the Registry in the \WINDOWS directory. Save a Little Disk Space Category: Windows 95 All Here's an easy way to win back some hard disk real estate in Win95: If your system has a C:\PROGRAM FILES\ONLINE SERVICES folder, delete it. It could be taking up as much as 14MB of space, and the included versions of America Online and CompuServe aren't even current. You can also delete the Online Services program group and Desktop icon. If you want to install one of the services later, download the latest versions from the Web sites: http://www.aol.com/tryaol for AOL and http://www.compuserve.com/crpjoin.asp for CompuServe. - Marshall McKinney Save Your Searches Category: Windows 95 All If you frequently run the same search query within Win95's Find utility, here's how to automate it. Open the Options menu and put a check next to Save Results. Run your search and select File/Save Search. Thi s places a small FND file icon on your Desktop that's automatically named for your search values. To access the same search again-including your previous results-double-click on the FND icon. Save-As Trick Category: Windows 95 All If you're using real Win95 applications, you can do some neat things in the Save As dialog box (File/Save As). Right-click in the dialog's white space, and you'll get the familiar context menus for the folder you're working in. Right-click on individual files to cut, copy, delete, rename and see properties. ScanDisk-Ouch! Category: Windows 95 All The Windows 95 Resource Kit contains the following gem: "To remove long filenames from removable disks, include the drive letter with the command; for example, scandsk /o a:" However, it doesn't mention that this will automatically strip long filenames from the hard drive as well. Screen Test Category: Windows 95 All Change your screen resolution and color depth on the fly (without rebooting) with a free utility called QuickRes. Download it from the WinMag Web site . Scrutinize Your Setup Category: Windows 95 All Right-click on your My Computer icon and select Properties. This tabbed dialog is your hardware’s Rosetta Stone. By exploring the various tabs and items, you c an find out about all the devices installed on your system, as well as your memory and port settings. Searching for Domains In All the Wrong Places Category: Windows 95 All A bug in Win95 4.0.953 and SR2 causes an occasional error message when dialing into a Microsoft Domain Network. The message reads, "No domain controller was available to validate your logon." Download one of these patches to resolve that problem for your version of Win95: For SR2 release of Win95, pick up http://www.microsoft.com/kb/softlib/mslfiles/ras2upd.exe; for 4.0.953 release of Win95, get http://www.microsoft.com/kb/softlib/mslfiles/rasupd.exe. Selection Shortcut Category: Windows 95 All You can select a bunch of files by clicking near them and dragging the mouse pointer over them. If you do that with the right mouse button, however, you automatically get a context menu that offers the Open, Send To, Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename, Create Shortcut and Properties commands. - Andrew Clelland via the Internet Selection Shortcut Category: Windows 95 All You can select a bunch of files by clicking near them and dragging the cursor over them. If you do that with the right mouse button, however, you automatically get a context menu that offers the Open, Send To, Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename, Create Shortcut and Properties commands. Send It to My Desktop Category: Windows 95 All You can also use the previous tip to hasten objects to your own Desktop. Follow the same steps above, but point the new shortcut to your local WINDOWS\DESKTOP directory. Then click on the Next button in the Create Shortcut Wizard dialog box, name the shortcut Desktop and click on Finish. (Note: By default, this Send To operation moves items; if you're using it from a different drive than the one your Desktop is stored on, Windows 9x copies the objects.) Send TO Can Do Category: Windows 95 All If you often copy or move files to particular directories or networked drives, add a shortcut to each destination in your C:\Windows\SendTo folder. This way, when you right-click on a file in Explorer, those items will appear on the Send To submenu. Share from Anywhere Category: Windows 95 All Navigating through Network Neighborhood can be extremely time-consuming. If you know the exact location of the shared resource you wish to access, then it may be wise to use its UNC name. The format for the Universal Naming Convention is \\server\share. Simply type the UNC name in the Start/Run dialog box or type START \\server\share from the MS-DOS command prompt; an Explorer window will appear with a listing of all files within the share. Sharing in Private Category: Windows 95 All Improve the security of shared drives, folders and printers on a peer-to-peer network by making your shared devices invisible to hackers. Set the last character of your share name to $ Note: This won't prevent users from accessing resources they know exist. Sharing Your Secrets I Category: Windows 95 All If you would like to share some of your resources, but don't want them to be accessible to everyone, you can password-protect them. In My Computer, click the folder you want to share, then choose File/Properties/Sharing. You'll find three radio buttons pertaining to passwords. They are Read-Only, Full and Depends on Password. Select the desired button and specify your password. Sharing Your Secrets II Category: Windows 95 All Another way to share your resources, without making them accessible to the whole network, is to hide them. If the share name ends in a $, it will not appear in the Network Neighborhood browse windows. Hidden shares can only be accessed via their UNC names. Shrewd Moves Category: Windows 95 All When you drag and drop a file, you're moving, copying or making a shortcut to that file, depending on where you're dragging it from and dropping it to. Look at the lower right corner of the icon you're dragging, right before you let go of the mouse button, to find out what it's going to do. A plus sign means t he file will be copied. An arrow means you'll create a shortcut. If you see nothing, the file will be moved. Silence the Speaker Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface Need silence from your PC? Click on the little yellow speaker on your taskbar and check the Mute box. Skip Scandisk Category: Windows 95 All The Win95b or SR2 version of Windo ws runs the DOS version of Scandisk automatically during boot up if the system didn't properly shut down after it last ran. You can modify this feature by making a minor change in the MSDOS.SYS file. First, open a DOS window, log onto the C:\ root directory, type ATTRIB MSDOS.SYS -S -H -R and press the Enter key to clear its attributes. Then open the file and edit or add the following line to the [Options] section: AutoScan=x.Make x 0 if you do not want to run ScanDisk; 1 if you want ScanDisk to prompt you before running (default); or 2 if you don't want ScanDisk to prompt you before running, but to prompt you before fixing errors. Save the file, then reset the attributes by typing ATTRIB MSDOS.SYS +S +H +R. Skip the Shut Down Dialog Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface You can skip the Shut Down Windows dialog that pops up each time you choose Start/Shut Down. First, create a new shortcut and add C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE User,ExitWindows to the command line. Name, save and store the shortcut in an easily accessible location (your QuickLaunch bar is a good place). When you launch the shortcut in the future, Windows will shut down, no questions asked. (If an application is open, you will be asked if you want to save any open files.) Skip the Shut Down Dialog Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface You can skip the Shut Down Windows dialog that pops up each time you choose Start/Shut Down. First, create a new shortcut and add C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE User,ExitWindows to the command line. Name, save and store the shortcut in an easily accessible location (your QuickLaunch bar is a good place). When you launch the shortcut in the future, Windows will shut down, no questions asked. (If an application is open, you will be asked if you want to save any open files.) Smooth Fonts Category: Windows 95 All A utility that makes screen fonts look much better was included in the Microsoft Plus add-on bundle. Now the utility is free. Download it from the WinMag Web site . (Note the utility works only if you're using the English-language version of Win95 and your system is set to 16-bit color.) Sort Your Recycling Category: Windows 95 All The Recycle Bin lets you view items you've tossed in the same way as an ordinary Windows folder. If you're looking for something in the Recycle Bin, select Details from the View menu and click on the bar of your choice (Name, Original Location, Date Deleted, Type or Size) to sort by that category. Sound Off Category: Windows 95 All Did the little yellow speaker that controls audio volume disappear from your taskbar's system tray? If so, open the Multimedia Control Panel. Under the Audio tab, check the "Show volume control on the taskbar" option in the Playback section (in Win98, the option is at the bottom of the dialog box). Click on OK, and the yellow speaker should return. If not, try reinstalling your audio driver and then repeat these steps. Space Saver Category: Windows 95 All If you're really tight on disk space under Windows, display the folder C:/Windows/Temporary Internet Files in Explorer and delete all the files. You won't be getting rid of anything important-these are the cached files from your Internet Explorer browsing sessions. Speed Up Menus Category: Windows 95 All Click on the Mouse tab and slide the Menu speed slider all the way to the left to make menus appear instantaneously. Speedier CD Category: Windows 95 All You can speed up your CD-ROM by telling Windows the drive is more capable than it really is. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Performance tab, the File System button and then the CD-ROM tab. Move the Supplemental Cache Size sliding bar all the way to the right (toward Large) and select "Quad-speed or higher" from the "Optimize access pattern for" drop-down menu, regardless of your particular drive's speed. This tells Windows to create a larger cache for your CD, so it will run faster. - Dennis McKay Squeeze More from Your Hard Drive Category: Windows 95 All Why doesn't DriveSpace get more respect? There's no better way to avoid wasted disk space-in some ways, it even surpasses the new FAT32 system in Win95 SR2 and in Win98. Here's why: Standard Windows (using FAT16) will dice a large hard drive into 32KB chunks, so that saving even a 1-byte file will consume 32KB of disk. The new FAT32 can use 4KB chunks, but that's still wasting a lot of space. DriveSpace dices a disk into 0.5KB chunks, then optionally lets you compress your data. (If you don't want compression, you can turn it off.) Check out DriveSpace in the Accessories/System Tools menu. Start Changes Category: Windows 95 All An easy way to make a change to items you've placed in the Start menu is to right-click on the Start button and choose Explore. A dual-pane Explorer view will open, letting you navigate through the directory tree in the left pane and open the contents of the folder you want in the right pane. To produce the same view for a folder, you can either right-click on the folder and choose Explore, or hold down the Shift key and double-click. Start with A Clean Slate Category: Windows 95 All After a while, you’ll probably end up accumulating a bunch of unnecessary stuff in your WINDOWS folders and Registry that could slow things down. When you first buy a PC and every year thereafter, you should reformat your hard disk and start over. But before you do, make sure you have a full system backup and all your application installation diskettes or CDs, plus a Win95 boot disk that contains your CD driver (if you don’t have the CD Driver, you can’t install Win95 from a CD). It’s also a good time to visit your PC vendor’s Web site and grab all your hardware’s updated drivers. But before you do any of this... Start-Menu Reform Category: Windows 95 All Installing a new application creates a cascading menu off your Start menu and loads it with a bunch of junk. Eventually, the menu gets way out of hand. To simplify, open the Programs menu by right-clicking on your Start button, selecting Open from the context menu, then double-clicking on the Programs folder. In the folder window, create new folders for your streamlined categories. Move all the program shortcuts you want to keep i nto the new folders by right-clicking on each in turn and selecting Cut, then right-clicking on the appropriate new folder and selecting Paste. Delete the rest. Stop Modem Time-Outs Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking If the modem times out during long delays, file transfers or Web downloads, you can reset the timeout variable. From RegEdit, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Class/Modem/(Modem Number)/Settings. Double-click on Inactivity Timeout and change the number in the brackets to the amount of minutes you want the inactivity time to allow. For example, enter S19=<25> for a 25-minute toleration before timing out. Streamline DOS Programs Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Create a shortcut for a DOS program by right-clicking on the shortcut icon and selecting Properties. Select the Program tab and Advanced, then check the MS-DOS Mode box. Win95 will run the app in real DOS, quitting all current Windows and DOS-box apps and restarting automatically when you exit the app. Stuff Your Start Menu Category: Windows 95 All When you "add a folder" to your Start menu by dragging and dropping it onto the Start button, you're really just adding a shortcut to the folder. It's usually better to put the actual folder there instead of a shortcut. The Start menu is just a special folder in the Windows folder cal led, unsurprisingly, "Start Menu." If you put folders that contain your documents into this folder, you gain three advantages. First, what you see on the Start menu is always correct; delete a folder, for example, and it disappears from the Start menu as well, while a shortcut would remain. Second, actual folders appear on the Start menu as cascading menu items, whereas shortcuts to folders just open the folder on your Desktop when selected. And finally, the Start menu is always available, even if your Desktop is packed with clutter. Supercharge Your Menus Category: Windows 95 All You can adjust the pop-up speed of your menus by opening REGEDIT and going to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop. Double-click on the MenuShowDelay string (if you can't find MenuShowDelay, create it by right-clicking in the right-hand pane of REGEDIT and choosing New and then String Value). Place your desired delay time in the Value Data field (the default is 500 milliseconds) Supercharge Your System Category: Windows 95 All WinTune 98, the latest version of WinMag's exclusive online PC test and tune-up kit, is now available as a standalone download, so you can install and run it locally at any time. To get it, point your browser to http://www.winmag.com/wintune98. Surf Your CD-ROM Category: Windows 95 All The setup procedure finds what it wants in the \Win95 folder, but that's only a small corner of this world. Open some of the other folders and see what's in them. You may find something interesting. Survey Your Properties Category: Windows 95 All Bring up the Properties dialog fast by holding down the Alt key and double-clicking on the object of your choice. Swap File Secret Category: Windows 95 All If you have two physical hard drives in your system, you can boost performance by placing your Windows swap file on the second drive. Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the Performance tab, then on the Virtual Memory button. Select "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings," click on the Hard Disk drop-down list and select your second hard drive. (Note: If there's less free space on the second drive, either leave things as they are or clear up some space there.) Click on OK to restart Windows; after booting, check the virtual memory screen to make sure Windows is managing virtual memory again. Swift Apps Switcher Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface Although the taskbar has a great design, Task Switcher, available in all Windows versions, is still the fastest way to switch among running programs or open windows. Just hold down the Alt key and press Tab repeatedly to cycle through running programs. The selector box shows an icon for each program or window; a square outline around an icon makes it active when you release the Alt key. System Chronicles, Part I Category: Windows 95 All Want to keep a hard-copy log of your System Properties? Right-click on My Computer, choose Properties and select the Device Manager tab. Click on the Print button. You'll have the option to print a three-page system summary, a detailed 13-page system report or information about a selected class or device. System Chronicles, Part II Category: Windows 95 All You can also save your System Properties to a text file-helpful if you're troubleshooting a system problem and want to e-mail the data to a technical support representative. First, install the Generic/Text Only printer driver from the Win95 CD-ROM by opening Control Panel/Printers and double-clicking on Add Printer. Follow and complete the Printer Wizard, and make sure you select Generic from the Manufacturers list. Then repeat the same steps in the previous tip, but before you click on the Print button, check the Print To File option and click on Setup to select the Generic/Text Only printer format. System Properties Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface To activate the System control panel quickly, hold down Alt and double-click on My Computer. You can also right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Take a Sneak Peek Category: Windows 95 All The next version of Windows will sport a cool new browser-like user interface based on Microsoft Interne t Explorer 4.0. Download a beta copy of IE 4.0 at the WINDOWS Magazine Free Win95 Software page ( http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm ) Take Device Manager Express Category: Windows 95 All If you're a frequent visitor to the Device Manager, create a shortcut with this string in the Shortcut tab's Target box: 8CONTROL SYSDM.CPL,,18 Note the two commas before the number. This line directly opens the System applet and selects tab 1, which is the Device Manager (2 is for Hardware Profiles and 3 is for Performance). Although you can use CONTROL filename .CPL to quickly access some other CPL file in the C:\Windows\System folder, the tab selection (, , x ) does not work with all such Take Inventory Category: Windows 95 All Chances are, you have useful programs on your computer you didn't even know were there. And just as likely, you have programs you don't want that are eating up valuable hard disk real estate. The solution? Take an inventory! It's easy. Just create a folder on your desktop called PROGRAM SHORTCUTS, launch the Win95 Find utility (Start/Find/Files or Folders), type *.EXE *.COM in the Named box, then click on the Find Now button. After Find is finished with the search, choose Select All from the Edit menu and drag and drop all the files in the Find window into your new desktop folder. Now you have a folder with shortcuts to every program on your Windows PC. (Before proceeding, make sure you have a good backup.) Now, one at a time, double-click on each shortcut to find out what it is. Once it's identified, you can find and delete the program if you don't want it or move the shortcut to another folder if you do. Remember, if you're not absolutely sure, don't delete it. Talk Can Be Cheap Category: Windows 95 All You can use any "Sony Walkman" style headphone set as a microphone. Just plug them into your sound card’s microphone plug, and talk into the speakers. TASK SHORTCUTS Category: Windows 95 All TASK SHORTCUTS General: Windows Help F1 Go to menu mode F10 Switch active DOS program between full screen and window operation Alt+Enter Save with a new name Alt+F+A Quit current program Alt+F4 Print file in current program Alt+F+P Minimize all windows Alt+M (when taskbar is selected) Put the active window on the clipboard Alt+Print Screen Control menu Alt+Spacebar Minimize active window Alt+Spacebar+N Reduce window size Alt+Spacebar+R Enla rge window Alt+Spacebar+X Switch among active programs on Taskbar Alt+Tab Select all Ctrl+A Reboot or end task Ctrl+Alt+Delete Go to end of document Ctrl+End Open the Start menu Ctrl+Esc Go to beginning of document Ctrl+Home Move forward through tabs in dialog box Ctrl+Tab Close current and its parent folders Shift+File/Close Bypass auto-run Shift while inserting CD Selected Objects: Displays Properties dialog box Alt+Enter Bold Ctrl+B Copy Ctrl+C Italics Ctrl+I Underline Ctrl+U Paste Ctrl+V Cut Ctrl+X Displays an alternate context menu Ctrl+Right Click Places in Recycle Bin Delete Rename selected file F2 Delete immediately without putting in Recycle Bin Shift+Delete Context menu for selected item Shift+F10 Managing Folders in Explorer: Select all Ctrl+A Find F3 Refresh F5 Switches between panes F6 Go to the parent folder Backspace Go To Folder Ctrl+G Undo Ctrl+Z Explorer Tree: Scroll without moving selection Ctrl+Arrow key Expand everything under selection Num Lock+Asterisk (on numeric keypad) Collapse selection Num Lock+Minus sign (on numeric keypad) Expand selection Num Lock+Plus sign (on numeric keypad) Expand current selection if it's collapsed, otherwise select first subfolder Right Arrow Collapse current selection if it's expanded, otherwise select parent folder Left Arrow Accessibility Options:(Shortcut keys must be enabled. See "Accessibility, shortcut keys" Help.) Toggles StickyKeys on and off Tap Shift 5 times Toggles FilterKeys on and off Hold down Right Shift for 8 seconds Turns ToggleKeys on and off Hold down Num Lock for 5 seconds Toggles MouseKeys on and off Left Alt+Left Shift+Num Lock Toggles High Contrast on and off Left Alt+Left Shift+Print Screen Taskbar Positioning Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface By default, the taskbar runs along the bottom of your screen. To move it to another edge, click on a blank area of the taskbar and drag it toward the edge you have in mind. When the mouse pointer gets close enough, the taskbar will automatically move into its new spot. Tell Docs Where to Go Category: Windows 95 All A well-behaved Windows 95 application lets you pick the folder your documents are dumped into by default. You can do the same thing for all other documents as well. Just give each application a shortcut, right-click on the shortcut and select Properties from the context menu. Select the Shortcut tab and type in the path to the folder of your choice in the Start In box. Tell Your Apps Where to Go Category: Windows 95 All Here's how to tell any application where to look for documents and where to save them by default: Find the shortcut to the app on your Desktop or Start menu (for Start menu shortcuts, right-click on the Start button and select open, then drill your way to the shortcut). Right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab. Now type the path to the folder of your choice in the Start In box. Temporarily Defeat StartUp Category: Windows 95 All During an isolated Win95 boot, it's possible to prevent the programs in your StartUp folder from automatically launching-this is helpful for troubleshooting or fast boot-ups. Start your PC, and when you see the Windows splash screen, hold down the Shift key until Win95 completely finishes loading. If you're on a network and you're prompted for a password, hold down the Shift key after you've clicked on OK in the network log-on dialog box. Terrific Troubleshooting Category: Windows 95 All And speaking of boot options, if you're having trouble at startup and want to find out what's going on, check your boot log. Once your PC starts up, find and launch the hidden BOOTLOG.TXT file. It will tell you what loaded and whether each file was successful. When you're sure your system is functioning properly, make a copy of BOOTLOG.TXT and rename it (to BOOTLOG1.TXT, f or example). If you experience startup problems again, compare your BOOTLOG.TXT file to your backed-up, "clean" copy to help pinpoint problems. Text File Trickery Category: Windows 95 All Here's an easy way to always open TXT files in WordPad rather than Notepad. Click once on any TXT file, then hold down the Shift key and right-click on the file. Choose Open With from the pop-up menu, scroll through the list of programs and choose WordPad. Check the box labeled "Always use this program to open this type of file" before you click on OK. Text Tips Category: Windows 95 All Launch Find and search your WINDOWS folder for all text files (*.TXT). Among those you'll find are FAQ.TXT, PROGRAMS.TXT, MOUSE.TXT, README.TXT and GENERAL.TXT. These files contain tons of help and trouble-shooting tips for very specific Win95 problems. The Bigger Picture Category: Windows 95 All You can't enlarge BMP files using Paint, but you can use WordPad or Exchange to do it. Just copy the bitmap image from Paint and paste it into a new document or Inbox message. Grab the edge of the image with the cursor and stretch it to the size and proportion you want. Hit the PrintScrn key to copy, then paste into a new Paint document. It's not pretty, but it works. - Russ Bomhof The CD-ROM Explorer Category: Windows 95 All If you frequently search through folders on a CD-ROM disc, create a Desktop shortcut and type the following string into the shortcut tab's Target box: EXPLORER /e , /root , x: / where x is the CD-ROM drive letter. This opens a two-pane Explorer view that shows the contents of the current disc. If you simply drag the CD-ROM drive icon from a regular Explorer window onto the Desktop, the resulting shortcut will launch the disc's AutoPlay feature (if present) or open a single-pane Explorer window. The Ol' Switcheroo Category: Windows 95 All When tiling open windows on your desktop (right-click on the taskbar and select either Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically), Win95 decides which windows go where. Here's how you decide: If you're tiling horizontally, w hichever window is selected will go on top. When tiling vertically, whichever window is selected goes on the right. Click once on the title bar to select a window. - Bob Cook The Perfect Power Prompt Category: Windows 95 All Graphical computing is better than working from a command prompt. But you can still have the command line in Windows 95 and the graphical interface. Right-click on the Start button and select Open. Double-click on the Programs folder and then the StartUp folder. Right-click anywhere in the window, select New/Shortcut, and a wizard will open up. Click on the Browse button, navigate to the Windows directory and double-click on the file DOSPRMPT. Finish the wizard, launch the MS-DOS Prompt and place the command line window where you want it on the Desktop. The next time you start Windows, it’ll open in the same location. The Skinny on FAT32 Category: Windows 95 All Although most disks won't have trouble converting to FAT32, there are two size parameters you need to be aware of: Your hard disk must be at least 512MB and the boot partition cannot be larger then 7.8GB, even though FAT32 supports drives up to 2 terabytes The Sound and the CPU Fury Category: Windows 95 All It's fun to whistle while you work, but running an audio CD on your computer sops up CPU time, especially on older computers. If you've got a standalone CD player around, use that instead (you'll probably also en joy better playback quality). The Ultimate System Checker Category: Windows 95 All Check out the all-new, all-Web WinTune 98 at http://www.winmag.com/WinTune98/ . You run it right from the Web-you don't have to download anything. WinTune 98 clocks everything on your system and gives you every detail about your hardware. The X Files Category: Windows 95 All If you want to keep files-or even folders full of files-from prying eyes, just right-click on each file and select Hidden in the Attributes box at the bottom of the Properties dialog. To see the files you've hidden, double-click on My Computer, select View/Options, click on the View tab and select Show All Files. There Goes The Neighborhood Category: Windows 95 All If you have no use for it, the Network Neighborhood icon on the Desktop can be a real nuisance. You can get rid of it using system policies. First, install the System Policy editor from the Windows 95 CD-ROM. Open Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel and choose the Windows Setup tab. Select Have Disk and browse down to the ADMIN\APPTOOLS\POLEDIT directory on your CD-ROM. Once it's installed, you can run it from the Programs/Accessories folder on the Start menu. Select File/Open Registry, and double-click on Local User/Shell Restrictions. Check the Hide Network Neighborhood box, click OK and Save. Once you reboot, the icon will be gone. There's Just No Comparison Category: Windows 95 All At least, not in the Registry Editor itself. But if you export before and after versions of the same key structure, you can open them in the Norton Utilities File Compare applet (or similar) to see what has changed. Or use your word processor's revisions option for the same task. They're Tools, Not Toys Category: Windows 95 All It sounds like a silly collection of games, but "Power Toys" is actually a set of free tools that no serious user should be without. There's a tool to make Win95's "CD AutoPlay" work on any non audio CD; a taskbar audio CD control; a way to change your screen's resolution and bit depth without rebooting; customized Find menus; and lots more, including Tweak UI 1.1. Tweak UI is a great way to adjust your Windows user interface. It's worth a download just by itself. (Incidentally, many of the Power Toy tools also work on NT.) Grab a copy at http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/powertoys.htm . Tile Your Windows with Taskman Category: Windows 95 All Stop resizing multiple windows by hand to make them tile horizontally or vertically. Let Task Manager do the job. Launch this Win3.x leftover by selecting Start /Run and typing Taskman at the prompt. In the dialog box that appears, choose the windows you want to tile by clicking on their corresponding tabs while holding down the Ctrl key. Select Windows/Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically. Time for Refreshment Category: Windows 95 All If you power up an external SCSI drive after Windows opens, its drive letter will remain among the missing in any Explorer window. Of course you can exit and restart, but it's faster to double-click Control Panel's System icon and then click the Refresh button on the Device Manager tab. To Err Is Human; to Undo, Divine Category: Windows 95 All If you change a file-by renaming, copying, moving or deleting-and wish you hadn't, you can undo it, even if you've done other things in the interim. Open any folder and select Edit/Undo to reverse the most recent file action. Repeat that to undo the second most recent action and so on. Top TweakUI Tips Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance Windows 98 User Interface Double-click on the Tweak UI icon in Control Panel and select the Tweak UI Explorer tab. Check Light Arrow in the Shortcut Overlay section. Deselect the animated "Click here to begin (if room)" and "Tip of the Day" items in the Startup area. And get rid of the prefix Shortcut To on New Shortcuts items in Settings. Click on the Mouse tab and slide the Menu speed slider all the way to the left to make menus appear instantaneously.Then click the Tips button for more Tweak UI tips in Windows Help format. You can make windows snap rather than zoom when you minimize, maximize or restore them. Select the General tab and deselect the Window Animation box under Effects. Trace Network Problems Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Troubleshoot your ISP connection with a powerful utility called TRACERT.EXE (it installs with Win9x). Tracert traces every hop (router on the Internet) a packet takes to reach its destination, giving the path and amount of time taken between each. Track Conventional Memory Category: Windows 95 All Conventional Memory Tracker lets you track conventional memory. You can download it free from WinMag’s Win95 Software page ( http://www.winmag.com/win95.htm ). Tres Cool Tray Category: Windows 95 All You can customize the Win95 tray (the indented area on the right side of your taskbar that holds the clock and small icons) using a utility called the Tray applet. You can download it from our Win95 Free Software page ( http://www.winmag.com/win95 ) Troubleshoot Video Problems Category: Windows 95 All Video problems that occur when Windows is started normally-but not in Safe Mode-are usually related to an outdated display driver, especially if you've upgraded from Win3.1. Open SYSTEM.INI from your WINDOWS folder. Under the [boot] heading, find the display.drv= line. If you see anything other than display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv on this line, the driver is probably outdated. Try adding the driver from your Win9x CD in Display Properties; if that doesn't work, check your video card vendor's Web site for a driver update. Troubleshooting to Boot Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Utilities Windows 98 All Windows 98 Utilities If Windows fails to boot properly, press F8 for the Windows StartUp menu, and pick the Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) option. It attempts a normal boot but records the status of every step Windows takes during the process. You can use this option to log a failed boot. Then, reboot to Safe mode if necessary and use a text editor to open BOOTLOG.TXT (in your root directory). Search for "fail" to find the boot steps Windows had trouble with. Failed steps are often excellent clues to the cause of the problem. Troubleshooting to Boot Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Installation If Windows fails to boot properly, press F8 for the Windows StartUp menu, and pick the Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) option. It attempts a normal boot but records the status of every step Windows takes during the process. You can use this option to log a failed boot. Then, reboot to Safe mode if necessary and use a text editor to open BOOTLOG.TXT (in your root directory). Search for "fail" to find the boot steps Windows had trouble with. Failed steps are often excellent clues to the cause of the problem. Truth About USB Support For Win95 Category: Windows 95 All Win95 users need to look before they leap when it comes to USB. There are three main reasons why USB devices might not work on your system. First, you must have Windows 95B OEM Service Release (SR) 2.1 (it says "with USB support" on the Windows 95 CD) or later. Not all Windows 95B machines came with the SR 2.1 patch; some had the 2.0 version that did not contain USB support. Next, installing and configuring USB support on a Windows 95B SR 2.1 system is complex and counterintuitive; we've encountered some PCs that just never worked with the SR 2.1 patch. The third reason is the killer: Many of the newest and best USB devices fundamentally require Windows 98. This is doubly confusing because some USB devices say on the box "Requires Windows 98" when in fact you can make them work under Windows 95B SR 2.1. But others really do require Windows 98. There's only one surefire cure: Upgrading to Windows 98 solves all the problems we've found. Try to Remember Category: Windows 95 All Win95 has trouble retaining default folder and Explorer window settings-such as size, position, sort order, toolbar status and display type (large icons, details and so on). Here's a temporary workaround. Open the folder for your C: drive, and without opening any other folders, arrange and configure it exactly as you'd like all your folders to appear. When you're ready to set the default, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift while you click the close box in the upper right-hand corner of the window. There's a limit to the number of specific folder instances Win95 can remember, so eventually your setting may roll off the list. Repeat the steps to restore your settings. Tuck Away the Taskbar Category: Windows 95 All If the taskbar gets in your way, there are a few ways to move or hide it. You can move it to the top or sides of your screen by dragging and dropping it on the appropriate edge. Wherever the taskbar is, right-click on it, choose Properties and check the Auto Hide option to make it disappear until you mo ve the mouse pointer to the screen edge where it hides. To hide it permanently, turn off Auto Hide and drag the taskbar off the screen. Its edge will stay visible so you can drag it back again. Turbocharge the Start Menu Category: Windows 95 All To launch folders quickly, open My Computer and find the programs you use most. Drag the programs' executables onto the Start button. This puts your most frequently used programs on the Start menu. Turn Off Call Waiting Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking Those background beeps caused by call waiting are enough to bounce you from a connection. Turn call waiting off by typing *70 before the number you wish to call (in some areas, the turn-off code is 1170). Call waiting is restored when you disconnect. Uncover Secret Win95 Tips Category: Windows 95 All In your WINDOWS folder, you'll find a text file called TIPS.TXT full of tips and tricks written by the Microsoft's Windows 95 development team. Uninstall IE First Category: Windows 95 All Reinstalling Win95 can cause all kinds of problems if you have Internet Explorer 4.0 installed. That's because the IE 4.0 installation replaces several key Windows system files with new ones. The solution is to uninstall IE 4.0, reinstall Win95, then reinstall IE4. Upgrade Without Previous Version Category: Windows 95 All If you're installing Win95 on a system without a previous version of Windows installed, Win95 asks you to prove you have installed a previous version of DOS or Windows. If you don't have your old diskettes handy, here's how to get around the dialog: Open Notepad and save a document as WIN.CN_ (the final character is an underline). Put your new WIN.CN_ file on a diskette-your boot diskette or Win95 Startup disk will do. When you reach the point in the installation where Win95 asks you to show it a prev ious version, put in the diskette with the WIN.CN_ file on it. The installation program will accept it as proof of a previous version. Use Long Filenames in DOS Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface To launch Win9x programs or folders with long filenames from the DOS command prompt, enclose the file or folder name you want to launch in quotation marks. For example, type Start "My Favorite Folder" and press Enter. Use Long Filenames in DOS Category: Windows 95 All There's a trick to launching Win95 programs or folders with long filenames from the MS-DOS command prompt. Enclosing the file or folder name in quotation marks should allow you to open a file this way. For example, to open a folder called My Favorite Folder from the command prompt, type Start "My Favorite Folder" and press the Enter key. Use Only What You Need Category: Windows 95 All If you are using Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking to connect to an ISP, you've probably noticed that the modem has already established a connection but Dial-Up Networking is still plodding along. You can reduce the lag time by removing what you don't need. From the Dial-Up Networking folder, right-click on the ISP connection and select Properties. Click on Server Types and uncheck Netbeui, IPX/SPX Compatible from the Allowed Network Protocols section. Then uncheck "Log on to network" from the Advanced options section. Use ScanDisk Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Performance Windows 98 All Windows 98 Performance Data fragments, bad sectors and other disk anomalies accumulate with surprising speed. Run ScanDisk’s Standard Inspection once a week to correct these deficiencies before they become major problems. You’ll find it in Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools. Occasionally run the Thorough Inspection to look for physical defects on the surface of the drive. ScanDisk will be able to repair many problems. Use the HOSTS file Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Networking Windows 98 All Windows 98 Networking You can map a machine’s IP to any hostname you want by editing the HOSTS.SAM file in your WINDOWS directory. The file must be renamed HOSTS with no extension, and you must reboot for the changes to take effect. Use Your ClipBook Category: Windows 95 All There's a free utility that comes with Windows 95 called ClipBook. It lets you store items from the Clipboard and share them across the network. You can view text, graphics or anything else that can be copied to the Clipboard in thumbnail view-and you can copy as many items as you like. To install it, open the OTHER folder on the Win95 CD, then drag the CLIPBOOK folder from the CD to your C: drive. Open the new folder, drag the file CLIPBRD.EXE and drop it on your Start menu. Version Control, Part I Category: Windows 95 All Check which version of Windows 9x you have by right-clicking on My Computer, choosing Properties and checking under the General tab's System section. The original version of Windows 95 is 4.00.950. When the letter A follows, it indicates that Service Pack 1 or OEM Service Release 1 (SR1) was installed; the letter B indicates Win95 OEM Service Release 2.0 (SR2) or 2.1 (SR2.1); the letter C indicates OEM Service Release 2.5. Version Control, Part II Category: Windows 95 All You can also get the Windows version number by typing ver at a DOS prompt. You'll see 4.00.950 if you have the original release of Win95, 4.00.1111 if it's SR2 or 4.00.1212 (or higher) if you have an update to SR2, such as SR2.1. Win98 shows 4.10.1998 on both System Properties and at the DOS prompt. View Master Category: Windows 95 All Your Win95 CD contains a utility called LOGVIEW.EXE. You'll find this utility in \OTHER\MISC\LOGVIEW. LOGVIEW lets you view and e dit your SCANDISK, CALLLOG, MODEMDET and NDISLOG files. These files can be helpful when you're troubleshooting some parts of your system. You can move LOGVIEW onto your hard disk, or just leave it on the CD. Wall Painting Category: Windows 95 All If you're bored with the opening and closing bitmaps Windows 95 displays, you can edit them. The files are bitmaps in the Windows folder, named LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS. You can edit them with the copy of Microsoft Paint that comes with Windows 95. Wallpaper Hanger Category: Windows 95 All A neat utility called Panorama 32 changes your Win95 or NT wallpaper as often as you like. Instead o f using just BMP files, it supports JPG, GIF and PNG files as wallpaper, too. The utility is packed with neat surprises, such as fully customizable attributes (tiling, scale to screen, background color and so on) for each image. Download Panorama at the WINDOWS Magazine Free Win95 Software site ( http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm ) What's the Holdup? Category: Windows 95 All Has your network been running a bit slower recently? The TRACERT utility will help you identify the bottlenecks. From the command prompt, type TRACERT . You will get a list of all hosts that your packets pass through enroute to their destination, as well as the number of milliseconds it took to do so. What's the Password? Category: Windows 95 All If you don't want to use a password, leave that entry blank when you're prompted for a user name and password, and you won't be asked again. To get rid of a password you' ve already entered, select Control Panel/Passwords, click on the Change Windows Password button, enter your current password in the Old password box and click on OK. When All Else Fails, Call Tech Support Category: Windows 95 All No, that's not a gag. Microsoft's FastTips service is open 24 hour s. Call 1-800-936-4200 and follow the automated instructions to order a faxed tip sheet that addresses a specific setup issue. Step 1 is to order a list of what's available. Or enter the corresponding six-digit number to order up to five of the following papers: 125480 Boot Sector Protection Causes Windows 95 to Hang 128730 Error Message: "Invalid System Disk" After Setup Reboots 123096 Error Message: Setup Error G1. Windows Setup Cannot Run from MS-DOS 136415 Error Message: SUWIN Caused a General Protection Fault in Module SUWIN.EXE 137340 Error Message: The File C:\W95UNDO.DAT Is Missing or Invalid 138349 Installation Requirements for Windows 95 123876 Installed Components for Typical, Compact, or Portable Setup 132274 Installing Microsoft Plus Does Not Prevent Windows 95 Uninstall 118579 MSDOS.SYS File, Contents of 128920 Setup Hangs on First Boot Configuring Plug-and-Play Devices 128400 Setup Switches for Windows 95 129260 Setup, Description and Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 95 138127 Uninstall Windows 95, How to When What's New Is Old Category: Windows 95 All Some applications add themselves to the Context menu's cascading New menu that appears when you right-click on the Desktop or within a folder. You may find that even after you've deleted a particular application, it stays on the New menu. If you want to remove it, launch My Computer, select Options from the View menu and click on the File Types tab. Find the offending application on the list, select it and click on the Remove button. Click on Yes when it asks for confirmation. Where's the LOGO.SYS File? Category: Windows 95 All We've mentioned before that LOGO.SYS is the Wait screen you see when you boot Win95, LOGOW.SYS is the Wait screen you see after you shut down Win95, and LOGOS.SYS is the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen. Although each has a SYS extension, these files are standard bitmaps you ca n modify with the Paint applet to create custom StartUp and Shutdown screens. Some readers wrote back and told us they couldn't find the LOGO.SYS file. Some systems don't have a LOGO.SYS file and instead grab the StartUp logo from the hidden IO.SYS file. If you'd like to change the StartUp screen, create a LOGO.SYS file (whether you already have one or not) and put it in your root directory. For more information on how to create your own Win95 system logos, check our Customize Your Desktop! home page ( http://www.winmag.com/windows/cd/ ) and click on the link labeled "Click here for tips on how to customize your desktop!" Win Tunnel Category: Windows 95 All Tunneling enables remote users to use the Internet as a secure "virtual private network." This feature has been available in NT for a while, and now Microsoft has a version for Windows 95. Download Microsoft's point-to-point tunneling protocol utility at the WINDOWS Magazine site: http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm . Win95 Etiquette Category: Windows 95 All It's enough to miff Miss Manners! Sometimes Win 3. x apps just don't mind their manners in Win95. Fortunately, Win95 comes with a handy utility that forces good behavi or. Select Start/Run and type MKCOMPAT. Rein in rogue apps by selecting File/Choose Program, then clicking on the behaviors you'd like to induce. Win95 Has Your Number Category: Windows 95 All Someday you may need to do a complete reinstallation of Win95. Do you have your registration number, which Win95 requests during installation? If not, right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Write the registration number (the last number under Registered To:) on a piece of paper and keep it with your startup disk. - Randy Watts Windows Desktop/Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface TASK SHORTCUT View an item's properties Alt+Enter or Alt+double-click Delete an item without placing it in Recycle Bin Shift+Delete Rename an item F2 Select all items Ctrl+A Copy a file Ctrl while dragging a file Create a shortcut Ctrl+Shift while dragging a file Refresh a window's contents F5 Bypass AutoPlay when inserting a CD Shift while inserting the CD Open Find: All Files F3 Windows Key Display Find: All Files Windows Key+F Display Find: Computer Ctrl+Windows Key+F Display Help Windows Key+F1 Display the Run command Windows Key+R Display the Start menu Windows Key Display the System Properties dialog box Windows Key+Pause Display Windows Explorer Windows Key+E Minimize or restore all windows Windows Key+D Minimize all open windows Windows Key+M Undo minimize all windows Shift+Windows Key+M Cycle through buttons on the taskbar Windows Key+Tab Open an item's Context menu Application Key Windows Explorer Folder Keyboard Shortcuts Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface TASK SHORTCUT Close the selected folder and all parent folders Shift while clicking on the Close button (My Computer only) Move backward to a previous view Alt+Left Arrow Move forward to a previous view Alt+Right Arrow View the folder one level up Backspace Collapse the current selection if it's expanded Left Arrow Select the parent folder Left Arrow Collapse the selected folder Num Lock+- (minus sign) Expand the current selection if it's collapsed Right Arrow Select the first subfolder Right Arrow Expand all folders below the current selection Num Lock+* (asterisk) Expand the selected folder Num Lock++ (plus sign) Switch among left and right panes and menu bars F6 Windows General Keyboard Shortcuts Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 User Interface Windows 98 All Windows 98 User Interface Windows NT All Windows NT User Interface TASK SHORTCUT Activate the menu bar in programs F10 Close the current window in Multiple Document Interface (MDI) programs Ctrl+F4 Close the active window or program Alt+F4 Display the current window's system menu Alt+Spacebar Minimize active window Alt+Spacebar+N Maximize active window Alt+Spacebar+X Restore active window Alt+Spacebar+R Close active window Alt+Spacebar+C Display the Context menu for a selected item Shift+F10 Display the Start menu Ctrl+Esc Display the system menu for MDI programs Alt+ -(hyphen) Display the Properties dialog box for a selected item Alt+Enter Minimize all windows Alt+M (when taskbar is selected) Select a menu item or dialog option containing underlined letter Alt+[underlined letter] Cycle through taskbar programs or windows Alt+Esc Use Task Switcher to cycle through open programs or windows Alt+Tab Reverse direction of cycle through Task Switcher Alt+Shift+Tab Open a selected folder or program Ctrl+Enter Open a selected folder as a two-paned Explorer window Ctrl+Shift+Enter Display Close Program dialog box Ctrl+Alt+Del Dialog Box Display Help on a selected dialog box item F1 Cancel the current task Esc Click on a highlighted button Spacebar or Enter Select or clear a highlighted check box Spacebar Click on a highlighted option Spacebar Move forward through options Tab Move backward through options Shift+Tab Move forward through tabs Ctrl+Tab Move backward through tabs Ctrl+Shift+Tab In a "Save as or open" dialog box, open a selected folder one level up Backspace In a "Save as or open" dialog box, open Save In or Look In F4 Refresh the "Save as or open" dialog box F5 Windows Shutters Category: Windows 95 All To make windows snap rather than zoom when you minimize, maximize or restore, select the General tab and deselect the Window Animation box under Effects. WinKey Cheat Sheet Category: Windows 95 All If your keyboard includes a WinKey (it's got the Win95 logo on it and is usually located near the Alt key), you probably already know that pressing it once opens the Start menu. But did you know it also offers shortcuts to several system functions when used in combination with other keys? Here are a few: TASK SHORTCUT Open an Explorer window WinKey+E Open the Run dialog WinKey+R Open the System Properties WinKey+Pause Find: All Files WinKey+F Find: Computer WinKey+Ctrl+F Minimize all open windows WinKey+M Undo minimize all open windows WinKey+Shift+M Cycle through taskbar program buttons WinKey+Tab Open Windows Help WinKey+F1 Wipe Out Temp Files Category: Windows 95 All Win95 creates a lot of "temporary" files when i t opens documents. It puts these files in the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP folder and intends to close them when the application is finished with them. But sometimes, temp files can become permanent and eat up a lot of hard-disk space. It's a good idea to periodically open the folder and delete these files. Make sure no applications are running when you do it. - Bill Keesing Yet Another One-Minute Life Saver Category: Windows 95 All Windows 95 Troubleshooting Windows 98 All Windows 98 Troubleshooting The One-Minute Life Saver (OMLS)-a tip we previously published for Windows 95 (see August 1998)-is a simple way to back up key system files. The OMLS batch file was written so it can run on either Win95 or Win98, but we recommend minor changes for Win98 users. The lines below should be included in the OMLS batch file to specifically tailor it for Win98. Remember to replace each instance of e:\vault with whatever drive, path and folder name that points to the destination folder you created. copy c:\autoexec.bat e:\vault copy c:\autoexec.dos e:\vault copy c:\config.sys e:\vault copy c:\config.dos e:\vault copy c:\windows\control.ini e:\vault copy c:\windows\system.ini e:\vault copy c:\windows\win.ini e:\vault attrib -r -h -s c:\msdos.sys attrib -r -h c:\windows\user.dat attrib -r -h c:\windows\system.dat copy c:\msdos.sys e:\vault copy c:\windows\system.dat e:\vault copy c:\windows\user.dat e:\vault attrib +r +h +s c:\msdos.sys attrib +r +h c:\windows\user.dat attrib +r +h c:\windows\system.dat You're Not in Kansas Category: Windows 95 All If you're working in a dual- or multiple-boot environment, rename My Computer on each Desktop to reflect its operating system version. It'll serve as a visual aid to keep you from getting confused about which OS you've booted into. Your Disk Toolbox Category: Windows 95 All Most of us use the Start menu to find ScanDisk, Disk Defragmenter or Backup. But there's a better way. In My Computer, right-click on a drive and select Properties. Click on the Tools tab. Here you'll get in formation on the last time you performed each operation, with launch buttons for each. Zap! You're Dead! Category: Windows 95 All You've invested thousands of dollars in your system and even more in the data it contains. But chances are you're relying on some cheesy power strip to protect your system from electrical problems. It's time to get serious . For less than you can get a basic uninterruptible power supply that will let you sail through brief brownouts or blackouts. Some of the better UPSes can also protect your modem and LAN connections, and even automatically perform a safe, proper system shutdown in the event of an extended outage.