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I would like to
thank the many (too many to name) contributors to this list of tips.
You can easily search for others
here. |
| It's easy to change shortcut icons. Although
this tip applies to Win95, it works better in Win98, because Microsoft added to and
refined its icon library. To change the icon for a specific shortcut, right-click on it,
choose Properties, then click on the Change Icon button in the Shortcut tab. Enter
C:WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL in the File Name box, and select an icon from those in the
palette. You can also use the Browse button to search through ICL, DLL, ICO and
other files on your hard drive that may contain icons. Click on OK to change to the new
icon. |
| 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. |
| If you don't use the number keys on the numeric keypad, you can use them
as single-click keyboard shortcuts for launching your 10
favorite apps. Start by pressing the Num Lock key if it isn't already on. Next,
right-click on an existing program shortcut and choose Properties. Open the Shortcut tab.
Click once inside the Shortcut Key field, press the number key that you want to associate
with the program, then click on OK. Repeat the steps for each app. For Internet Explorer,
you'll have to make a shortcut to the Desktop icon first, then follow the same steps using
the new shortcut. If your Num Lock key isn't turned on by default, check your system's
BIOS setup for a Num Lock default setting. |
| Safe Mode is great for troubleshooting system problems,
but you normally can't access your CD-ROM drive this way. Here's the secret: Restart your
PC and hold down the Ctrl key to get to the Startup menu. Choose Command Prompt Only, type
win /d:m at the prompt and press Enter; Windows will start in Safe Mode with the CD-ROM
drivers. If you still can't access your CD-ROM drive, it means your real-mode CD-ROM
drivers aren't installed. For installation instructions, send an e-mail message to mshelp@microsoft.com with Q190303 in the Subject
line and nothing in the body of the message. Microsoft's automated help system will send
back the instructions. |
| Here's a secret tip for creating a shortcut to the Device
Manager: Right-click on the Desktop and choose New/Shortcut. Type
C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE SYSDM.CPL,,1 in the Command Line box and click on Next. Name it
Device Manager (or another name of your choice), then click on the Finish button. Assign a
new icon to the shortcut as you would any other. |
| If you're always launching Control Panel to
fiddle with your system settings, simplify your life by putting the Control Panel applet
right on the initial Start menu. Drag CONTROL.EXE from your WINDOWS folder and drop it on
your Start button. |
| If the Windows Update item on your Win98 Start
menu stops working, here's how to fix it. First, delete the Windows Update entry on the
Start menu by right-clicking on it and choosing Delete. Now replace it with a shortcut to
C:\WINDOWS\WUPDMGR.EXE. Name the shortcut Windows Update. |
When you perform an upgrade to Win98 on a Win95
machine that has or had Tweak UI for Win95 installed, you may see error messages that say
Windows can't find TWEAKUI.CPL. If so, uninstall all instances of Tweak UI and reboot.
Next, run
Start/Find/Files or Folders and search for tweakui*.* across your entire hard disk. You
should find no instances of the program, except for any setup files that might be on your
hard disk. If you find Tweak UI files in your C:\WINDOWS
folder or its subfolders, delete the files. |
You can disable the Documents submenu on Win98's Start menu.
Tweak UI's Paranoia tab can automatically clear the Documents menu each time you boot, but
a quick Registry edit removes the Documents menu and the C:\WINDOWS\RECENT folder
altogether. First, back up your Registry files - C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT
- before making any changes. Next, launch RegEdit and go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
In the right pane, right-click on the background and select New/Binary Value. Type
NoRecentDocsHistory and press Enter. Double-click on the new icon and enter 01000000
in the Edit Binary Value dialog box. (Note: RegEdit automatically inserts three spaces
into the value). Click on OK. Add a new NoRecentDocsMenu binary value entry and follow the
same steps. Close RegEdit and restart Windows. To reverse the tip, delete the two
new binary values you added, or change both values to 00000000. |
You can also follow the same steps in the previous tip to remove the Start
menu's Favorites menu. First, back up your Registry files -
C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT - before making any changes. Next, launch RegEdit and
go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
policies\Explorer.
In the right pane, right-click on the background and select New/Binary Value. Type
NoFavoritesMenu and press Enter. Double-click on the new icon and enter 01000000 in
the Edit Binary Value dialog box. (Note: RegEdit automatically inserts three spaces into
the value). Click on OK. Close RegEdit and restart Windows. To reverse the tip, delete the
new binary value you added, or change it to 00000000. |
If you liked either of the last two tips but
don't want to dive into the Registry, you can implement them using Tweak UI for Win98.
Install Tweak UI from the Win98 CD's
\TOOLS\RESKIT\POWERTOY folder. (Right-click on TWEAKUI.INF and choose Install to launch
the setup process.) Then open the Tweak UI Control Panel, click on the IE4 tab and uncheck
the "Show Documents on Start menu" option to remove the Documents menu and the
RECENT folder. Uncheck the "Show Favorites on Start menu" option to remove the
Favorites menu. Click on OK and reboot. (NOTE: You can also download Tweak UI for
Win98 from WINDOWS Magazine's Web Site at http://www.winmag.com/win98/software.htm.)
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| Win98 needs a different version of Tweak UI than Win95.
If you purchased your Win98 upgrade in a store, you'll find Tweak UI in the
\TOOLS\RESKIT\POWERTOY folder on the CD. But if you got your copy of Win98 with a new PC,
you may not have gotten a CD or the CD you got doesn't have Tweak UI on it. If either is
true, download Tweak UI 98 from our Web site: http://www.winmag.com/win98/software.htm.
Windows 95 users can download the Win95 version of Tweak UI from http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm. |
| To determine which version of DirectX is
installed on your Win9x PC, look for DXTOOL.EXE or DXINFO.EXE in your C:\PROGRAM
FILES\DIRECTX\SETUP folder. If you can't find them, use Start/Find/Files or Folders to
search your hard drive. When you double-click on either one of these programs, you'll get
version info; the DXTOOL.EXE file makes the info easier to read, but the other file gives
more info. Older versions of DirectX may not include these tools, but all recent versions
(4.x and newer) have them. As of this writing, DirectX 6.0 is available. Win98 users can
snag the newest version from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
DirectX can also be obtained from Microsoft's web site at http://www.microsoft.com/directx/default.asp.
|
| Sometimes you need to get basic BIOS information fast:
Open the Registry and drill down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\*PNP0C01\0000. Your BIOS
name, version and date will all be listed. |
| 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
ever wanted to know. Keep this printout handy for future reference. |
Right-click on your My Computer icon and select Properties. This
tabbed dialog box is your hardware's Rosetta stone. By exploring the various tabs
and items, you can get the
scoop on all the devices installed on your system, plus memory and port
settings. |
| To turn down the volume on your modem (or
silence it completely), open the Control Panel and double-click on Modems. Select your
modem, click on the Properties button and adjust the Speaker Volume slider bar to the
desired setting. (Some modems offer on and off settings; others provide intermediate
levels.) |
| The easiest way to create a full-screen capture in Win95, 98
or NT 4.0 is still by pressing the Print Screen key. That action sends a
copy of the screen to the Clipboard. To view the capture, select Start/Run, type mspaint
and press Enter. Once Paint opens, select Edit/Paste to paste the image from the Clipboard
into the Paint window. Choose File/Save As to name and save it as a BMP file. (If Paint
isn't installed on your PC, you can use another image program, or install Paint from the
Add/Remove Programs applet. Open the Windows Setup tab, double-click on Accessories,
select Paint and click on OK.) |
Here's how to add items to your Win98 Start button's
Context menu. As an example, we'll add an item that opens a two-paned Explorer view of
your WINDOWS\FAVORITES folder. Launch RegEdit and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell.
Right-click on shell and select New/Key to add a new subkey. Name it according to the
label you want for the new Start Context menu item (for example, Explore Favorites). Next,
add a new subkey under Explore Favorites (or whatever name you used) called command.
Select the new command key in the left pane, then double-click on the (Default) string
value in the right pane. Insert this command, then click on OK:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /e,root,c:\windows\favorites
Close RegEdit, and the new Explore Favorites option will appear on your Start button when
you right-click on it. (NOTE: This tip was submitted by Oren Fedler.) |
| Take any .BMP file, rename it to give it an .ICO extension, and voila!
Instant icon. You access the file in the normal way: Right-click on the
current icon for a shortcut, select Properties from the Context menu, select the Shortcut
tab and click on the Change Icon button. Now use the Browse button to find your new one. |
| Wish you could make your icons just right?
Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties, then the Appearance tab, then the Item
menu. Scroll down and select Icon from the list, and then choose the font and size you
wish from the pick lists. |
| If you forget your Win95 password, just press
Escape at the password box, bring up the MS-DOS Prompt and enter dir *.PWL at the WINDOWS
folder 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. |
| Restarting Win9x is normally a four-step
process (click on the Start button, select Shut Down, click on the "Restart the
computer?" button and then click on OK). You can make it a one-step process by
creating an icon on your desktop that restarts Win9x. Open Notepad and type @exit. Close
the document and give it a name with a .BAT extension. Now stash the file somewhere on
your hard disk. Create a shortcut to the file by using the right mouse button to drag it
to the Desktop and then 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. Now click on
the Advanced button and make sure "MS-DOS mode" is selected and "Warn
before entering MS-DOS mode" is not selected. Click on the OK button twice. Give your
new shortcut a unique icon and name. From now on, whenever you double-click on the icon,
Win9x will restart, no questions asked. |
| Sometimes you don't want to make Windows easy to shut down.
In those cases, you can disable the Start menu's Shut Down option. (Note: It will
still be visible - it just won't work.) Here's how: Launch RegEdit and go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Right-click
on the NoClose entry, select Modify and type 1 in the Value data box. (If the entry isn't
there, add it by right-clicking in the Contents pane and selecting New/String Value. Name
it and enter a value of 1.) Exit RegEdit and reboot; Shut Down should be disabled. To
restore it, change the value to 0 (you could also just delete the entire entry), press
Ctrl+Alt+Delete, highlight Explorer and click on the End Task button. Cancel any dialogs
that open, and the Shut Down option should work again. (NOTE: This tip was submitted by
Marc Sims.) |
The most efficient way to reboot Windows 9x is the old standard-choosing
Restart from the Shut Down Windows dialog box. But there are other ways to
reboot if you want to
temporarily extend a session before rebooting. You can press Shift while clicking on OK on
the Shut Down Windows dialog box for a slightly quicker reboot. If you're networked, you
can use the "Close all programs and log on as a different user" entry. Under
Win98, that's the Log Off (Your Computer's Name) option on the Start menu. Another
shutdown method is to press Ctrl+Alt+Del (once), select the Explorer item in the Close
Programs box and click on End Task. You may immediately see the Shut Down Windows dialog
box, and if you do, choose Cancel. Wait for a few more moments; a confirmation dialog box
should come up. Click on End Task. The Windows shell will quickly close and then
relaunch. |
| If your PC doesn't shut down properly, Windows will run
ScanDisk the next time you boot. If it finds lost fragments, it will delete
them for you. Before doing that, however, it asks if you want to save them as files.
Unfortunately, it doesn't say where it puts them or what the new files are called.
Here's how to find them. Open Tools/Find/Files or Folders and search the root
directory for file*.CHK. Typically, the files are named FILE0000.CHK, FILE0001.CHK,
FILE0002.CHK and so on. If you're looking to free up disk space, you can delete any
old files you find. If you suspect one of these files contains critical data, open it in a
text editor. If you see anything that looks important, copy and paste into a new
document for safekeeping. |
| You can create a shortcut icon that will automatically reboot
Windows. In the Command line, or Target field, type: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE
user.exe,exitwindowsexec Name the new shortcut Restart Windows. Warning: This
shortcut restarts your system without confirmation, so only double-click on it when
you're sure that's what you want to do. |
| Yes, you can print a list of the files and folders
contained in any Windows folder, but you should seek outside help-free help, of course.
When we tried several directory-printing freeware and shareware programs, a clear winner
emerged: PrintFolder 1.1, from No Nonsense software (http://no-nonsense-software.com/freeware).
The small-sized PrintFolder doesn't try to do too many things and works from a Context
menu item. The 525KB PrintFolder download includes a README file, Windows setup and
uninstall. PrintFolder can print files, subfolders or both, and it includes several other
adjustable options. This utility isn't fancy, but it does the job both locally and on
networks. |
When you drag and drop a file, it is either
moved or copied, depending upon whether or not you're moving it from one drive to another.
Unless, that is, the file is a program. Whenever you drag and drop a program file, Windows
will create a shortcut in the new location by default.
If you right click on items when you "drag & drop", you'll be given the
option to copy or move. |
| Use the Find Files or Folders utility on the
Start menu to search for the largest files on your PC. Click on the utility's Advanced
tab, choose At Least beside the Size Is selector, and type 2000 in the KB field. You can
make deletions right in the Find window. But be careful-don't delete anything if you don't
know what it is. Be especially wary of files in the Windows folder and its sub-folders or
your root directory. |
You already know that clicking on the maximize button
(the middle square in the upper-right corner) in an Explorer window opens the window
full screen. But if you're running Win98, try pressing F11. The
window will go truly full screen, covering even the taskbar, and shrinking the
buttons and toolbars of the open window. Press F11 again to toggle back to the
original window size. (Note: This won't work in most application windows.)
(NOTE: This tip was submitted by Bill Wolf.) |
| You can quickly add the Open With command to the right-click
Context menu of all or most icons in Windows 9x. In the Registry Editor, go
to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects and make a new key called shell. (Do this by
right-clicking on the AllFilesystemObjects folder and choosing New/Key from the pop-up
menu.) In the shell key, make the new key openas. In the openas key, make a key called
command. Now double-click on the Default icon in the command key and, in the Value data
field, enter C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1 and click on OK. Close
the Registry Editor. You'll now find the Open With menu item on the pop-up menus of most
file and folder objects. |
| Win95 and Win98 don't refresh your view of files and folders
as often as you might like. Here's how to make Windows refresh constantly
(make sure you back up your system before editing the Registry). Launch the Registry
Editor by selecting Start/Run, typing REGEDIT in the Run dialog and pressing Enter. Click
on the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE, then on the plus sign next to System, and
then on CurrentControlSet. Select Control, then Update. In the right pane, right-click on
UpdateMode and select Modify. Select the 01 reading and change it to 00. Click on OK, exit
the Registry Editor and restart. |
If you give the ol' three-finger salute
(Ctrl+Alt+Del), Win95 shows you the Close Program dialog, which gives you the option to close
running applications--one at a time. A secret program (a holdover from
Windows 3.x) called the Task Manager shows you all your running applications and lets you
close any number of them--or even all of them--at once. To launch the Task Manager, bring
up the Run dialog (Start/Run), type TASKMAN in the Open box and press Enter. To
select a bunch of running applications to close, press
and hold the Ctrl key, go to the Task dialog and click on each of the programs you'd like
to close, and select End Task from the Windows menu. |
| If you prefer the dual-pane Explorer view, make
it the default. In Windows 95, click on My Computer and select Options from the View
menu. Click on the File Types tab, then scroll down and find the Folder item in the
Registered File Types box. Click on the Folder item, then the Edit button. Click on the
Set Default button so Explore comes before Open on the list. For Win 95: click on OK,
then on OK once again.
For Win 98: click on Close, then on Close once again. |
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