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Explorer Tips

Removing Right-Click Items


Added 11/12/02 When you right click on a folder or file with the Explorer, a list of options is available. As more applications get installed, this list may get too large for you. To remove items from the list: 1. Note the text of the item you want to remove 2. Start Regedit 3. Go to the following sections in the Registry and delete the subkey with the string you noted in Step 1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\file HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell

Changing the Default Sound in Explorer


Added 11/17/01 You can change the default sound heard when navigating to folders in the Explorer. 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ AppEvents \ Schemes \ Apps\ Explorer \ Navigating\ .current 3. Change the default value to the wav file you want to use. 4. Leaving it blank will turn off the sound. 5. This also changes the default sound when opening a page in the Internet Explorer.

Running the Explorer in Separate Process (NT/XP Only)


Added 11/17/01 By default, the Windows Desktop, Taskbar, and Explorer run in a single process using multiple threads. You can modify the registry so that the Taskbar and Desktop will run in one process with each instance of Explorer in a separate process. 1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer 3. Create a DWORD value called DesktopProcess 4. Give it a value of 1

Changing Drive Icons in Explorer


Added 9/14/01 To change the icon used for specific drives in Explorer 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer 3. Create a key called DriveIcons 4. Within DriveIcons, create another key with the drive letter you want to change (..\DriveIcons\K) 5. Create another key within the drive letter key called DefaultIcon 6. Set the default value equal to the icon you want to use. 7. If you have a file that has more than one icon in it, such as a DLL file, use the standard C:\full_path\icon_file.dll,x where x is the number of the icon within the file icon_file.dll.

Changing Drive Labels in Explorer (Windows2000 and XP)


Added 9/14/01 Normally the Explorer shows drive labels as "Compact Disk", "Removable Disk" ect. To change the name of this label for specific drives: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer 3. Create a key called DriveIcons 4. Within DriveIcons, create another key with the drive letter you want to change (..\DriveIcons\K) 5. Create another within the drive letter key called DefaultLabel 6. Give the Default Value for this key the label you want to appear for that drive letter. (Jazz Drive etc.) 7. Restart the computer

Resetting Graphics PreView in Explorer


Added 3/13/01 For Windows98, ME or Windows 2000, if you have View as Web Page enabled but do not see a picture preview in Explorer: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to Registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ file type \ ShellEx \ {BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1} 3. Make sure the Default Value "{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC}"

Keeping Filenames in the Case You Want


Submitted 12/20/00 To stop Windows from changing the case of your filenames to upper or lower case: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced 3. Double-click DontPrettyPath (or create this key with a type of REG_DWORD if it doesn't exist) 4. Set the value to 1 to keep the case as you type it or 0 to adjust the case as Explorer requires 5. Click OK 6. Close Regedit Submitted by Paul Brown

Changing the Explorer's Web View Background


Added 12/21/99 If you use Web View for your Internet Explorer, you can change the background that appears. Edit or recreate the file >C:\Windows\Web\Wvleft.bmp Make sure you keep the file dimensions the same 182x237 pixels

Moving Up and Down Directory Levels


Submitted 3/28/99

To go one directory deeper, key RIGHT ARROW To back out one directory level, key LEFT ARROW

Submitted by Ron Baron

Hiding the File Menu in the Explorer


Added 10/16/98 To hide the File Menu in Explorer: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policie s\Explorer 3. Create a new Binary Value 4. Name it NoFileMenu 5. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00 6. Reboot the computer

Explorer Session from the Start Menu


Added 3/29/98 To open the Explorer with a session on the Start Menu, you can just right click on the START button and choose EXPLORE Submitted by OBS Added 1/26/97 Most avid windowers know that "Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu Programs | Advanced..." will start an Explorer session focused on the Start Menu directory. This allows you to easily and quickly add/modify your Start menu. To immediately access this Explorer session from the Start menu itself, 1. Open Explorer and open the Windows directory. 2. Right-drag EXPLORER.EXE to the desktop, then select "Create shortcut here."

3. Open the properties to this shortcut, select the Shortcut tab and add the following switches to the command line in Target: "/e,/root,c:\windows\Start Menu". 4. Double-click on the title of the shortcut and change it to "Configure Start Menu." 5. Open "Start | Settings | Taskbar | Start Menu Programs | Advanced..." and drag the shortcut just created into the window on the right. 6. This will place a configuration item in the first level of the Start Menu. These command-line options will allow a similar Explorer session to be started with any folder as the root. Submitted by Bruce Carothers

Automatically Adjusting Right-Panel Column Widths


Added 1/24/98 The column widths in the right hand panel of the Explorer might not be the correct sizes to display all the file information. To automatically adjust all the columns at once to show all the information, 1. Click somewhere on the right-hand panel 2. Simply press the Ctrl-+ key. 3. The Name, Size, Type and Modified columns will automatically adjust themselves to display all their information. Note: The + is the one on the numeric keyboard

Inserting the Name of a File into a Document


Submitted 8/23/97 When you need to insert the exact name of a file into a document: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open the Explorer Right click on the file you want to reference Select Rename. You can either right click and select Rename or press the F2 key. Instead of renaming it, right click on it again, and select Copy. Then you can paste the exact file name into your document

Submitted by David Jastram

Added Non-Expanded Explorer when Right Clicking on a Folder


Submitted 8/9/97 Adding a second Explorer to the menu that pops up when right clicking on any folder or the Start Button. This is handy to be able to open Explorer non-expanded and also for being able to open a second Explorer (non-expanded) while already in Explorer. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Open My Computer Choose View-Options-File Types Select the File Folder file type Click Edit For ACTION, type EXPLORER2 For APPLICATION USED, type C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,/select,C:\ 7. Click OK and close all windows 8. Run REGEDIT 9. Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT 10. Locate and expand DIRECTORY 11. Locate and expand SHELL 12. Locate and expand EXPLORER2 13. Select COMMAND 14. On the right window RIGHT CLICK on DEFAULT 15. Select MODIFY 16. Remove the space and %1 at the end of the line 17. Click OK and close REGEDIT EXPLORER2 will show up and launch a non-expanded view of Explorer whenever you right-click on the START BUTTON or any folder, even if you are already in Explorer. The whole procedure can be done in REGEDIT, but this may be safer for users not experienced with REGEDIT Submitted by Michael Lohry

Finding Files from Explorer


Added 7/8;97 To find files from a particular directory: 1. Start the Explorer 2. Go to the directory you want to search 3. Press the F3 key

4. The Find File dialog box will come up with the initial directory being the one you highlighted

Printing a Directory from Explorer


Submitted 7/4/97 To make a Print Directory option from a right-click in Explorer: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. In Explorer, choose View / Options / File Types Highlight Folder (not File Folder) Click on the Edit button Click on the New button In the Action box, type &Print Dir In the Application use to perform action box type C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM /C DIR %1 /S /A /O:N > PRN

You can use other switches for COMMAND.COM (COMMAND.COM /?) or DIR (DIR /? | MORE) to customize to your preference. Submitted by Ray Whitaker

Opening a DOS Prompt in the Directory You Want


Submitted 4/25/97 You can use the Explorer to easily open up a DOS window to a specific directory. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. From Explorer Option Menu select File Types Highlight the object for Folder - NOT File Folder Click the Edit button From the 'Edit File Type' panel click the 'New' button Action is '&Goto DOS Prompt' Application used is C:\windows\command.com /k cd %1 Select OK, then Close and Close. Now from Explorer secondary (right) click the folder you want to go to in DOS From the menu select 'GotDOS Prompt' (or hit G) and you are in that directory with a DOS windows 10. For Win NT 4.0 same tip, but substitute cmd.exe for command.com) Submitted by Eric Sandoz

Starting Explorer with No Drives Expanded


Normally when you start the Explorer, it expands the folders on the root of the C: Drive. For those computers with multiple hard drives plus CD ROM Drives, this might not always be what you want. If you want it to start without expanding any drives, use the following switches: EXPLORER /n, /e, /select, c:\ This will work with NT 4.0 as well

Opening Explorer and System Properties from My Computer


Submitted 1/3/97 By holding Shift key and double-clicking My Computer you get anExplorer view of My Computer. By holding down Alt and key and double-clicking My Computer you get the System Properties of Control Panel. Submitted by Paul Alderson fusion@cyberhighway.net

Opening Explorer from My Computer


Submitted 12/18/96 To open an explorer view of "My Computer", in "My Computer" or an Explorer window, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Select the View menu, Options. Click the File Types Tab Highlight the Folders entry Click the Edit button Highlight the action you wish (Open, Explore, Explore From Here) Click the Set Default button.

This is much easier than editing the registry and easily changeable. Submitted by Ted King tqking@lovelace.com

Undo Last Command in Explorer


Added 11/29/96 When you use the Explorer to Copy, Move, Rename or Delete Files or Folders, you can Undo your last action by pressing Ctrl-Z

File Copying in Explorer Without Opening Two Sessions


Added 7/27/96 There was a previous tip regarding opening two Explorer sessions, tiling them, and drag and dropping files from one to the other. An another way to copy files without needing to open a second Explorer session is to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Highlight the file(s) you want to copy Right click on the mouse Select Copy In Explorer, move to the target directory Right click on the mouse Select Paste The files will now be copied

Easier File Copying with Explorer


Added 5/15/96 One difference between Explorer and File Manager is that with File Manager you could open up two windows to more easily copy files between drives. To do the same thing with Explorer: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Close all running applications Start two copies of Explorer Press Ctrl-Esc to bring up the task bar Right click on an open space Select Tile Horizontally or Vertically depending on your preference

Your two Explorer sessions will now split the screen and you can copy between them by dragging files like before.

Expanding All Subfolders in Explorer


Added 3/30/96

To quickly have Explorer expand all subfolders for a selected drive or folder, simply press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad.

Starting Explorer when opening a Folder


Added 2/6/96 To have an Explorer window be the default when you open up a Folder: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Open up any folder. Select View / Options Select File Types Go down to Folder Click on Edit Highlight Explore Click on Set Default Click on Close Click on Close again

Now when you open a folder, you will get an Explorer window with the programs or shortcuts in the right panel and the regular explorer window in the left panel.

Explorer Shortcut Keys


Added 9/26/95

F4 - Displays the Combo Box F5 - Refresh the display Ctrl+G - Go to a specific directory Ctrl+Z - Undo last action Backspace - Go up one directory

Starting the Explorer from the Current DOS Directory


Submitted 9/20/95 To start Explorer from whatever subdirectory you are in when shelled out in DOS: 1. 2. 3. 4. Type "Start .\" The Explorer will start in that very same directory "Start ..\" will start the Explorer one directory above the current one. "Start \" will start the Explorer at the root of the drive.

Submitted by Christopher J. Pirillo gnome@stic.net

Changing the Sort order in Explorer


Submitted 8/29/95 To change the sort order of the right window of MS Explorer simply double click on the Name button underneath the toolbar to change the sort order from ascending to descending, a single click after that will toggle. The same works for Size, Type and Date Modified. Submitted by Timothy Hurita woodcom@teleport.com

Using the Explorer's SEND TO Feature


When you right click on a file, SEND TO is one of the options. To add other directories or programs, simply drag them to the SEND TO folder that is directly under the directory where you installed Win95. This will allow you to quickly move files to commonly used areas. For example, you can SEND TO applications like WinZip.

Keyboard Tips
Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
Added 7/26/02

Viewing and exploring Web pages


F1 F11 TAB SHIFT+TAB Display the Internet Explorer Help, or when in a dialog box, display context help on an item Toggle between Full Screen and regular view of the browser window Move forward through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar Move back through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar

ALT+HOME ALT+RIGHT ARROW ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE SHIFT+F10 CTRL+TAB or F6 SHIFT+CTRL+TAB UP ARROW DOWN ARROW PAGE UP PAGE DOWN HOME END CTRL+F F5 or CTRL+R CTRL+F5 ESC CTRL+O or CTRL+L CTRL+N CTRL+W CTRL+S CTRL+P ENTER CTRL+E CTRL+I CTRL+H CTRL+click

Go to your Home page Go to the next page Go to the previous page Display a shortcut menu for a link Move forward between frames Move back between frames Scroll toward the beginning of a document Scroll toward the end of a document Scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments Scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments Move to the beginning of a document Move to the end of a document Find on this page Refresh the current Web page only if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are different Refresh the current Web page, even if the time stamp for the Web version and your locally stored version are the same Stop downloading a page Go to a new location Open a new window Close the current window Save the current page Print the current page or active frame Activate a selected link Open Search in Explorer bar Open Favorites in Explorer bar Open History in Explorer bar In History or Favorites bars, open multiple folders

Using the Address bar


Press this ALT+D F4 CTRL+LEFT ARROW CTRL+RIGHT ARROW CTRL+ENTER To do this Select the text in the Address bar Display the Address bar history When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to the next logical break (. or /) When in the Address bar, move the cursor right to the next logical break (. or /) Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar

UP ARROW DOWN ARROW

Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches

Working with favorites


Press this CTRL+D CTRL+B ALT+UP ARROW ALT+DOWN ARROW To do this Add the current page to your favorites Open the Organize Favorites dialog box Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box

Editing
Press this To do this CTRL+X Remove the selected items and copy them to the Clipboard CTRL+C Copy the selected items to the Clipboard CTRL+V Insert the contents of the Clipboard at the selected location CTRL+A Select all items on the current Web page

Remap the Right-Alt Key to be the Windows Key


Submitted 11/10/01 Create a Scancode entry in the Registry as follows: 1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout 2. Create a new binary entry called Scancode Map with the following values 3. 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 5B EO 38 EO 00 00 00 00 4. Reboot the computer Submitted by Julian Toler

Disabling the Windows Key with NT or Windows2000


Added 5/14/01 To disable the use of the Windows Key for the two operating Systems,

1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Keyboard Layout 3. Add a Binary Value called Scancode Map 4. Give it a value of 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000 5. Reboot the computer

Outlook 2000 Shortcut Keys


Added 2/2/00 Go to the Inbox Go to the Outbox Check for New Mail CTRL+SHIFT+I CTRL+SHIFT+O F5 or CTRL+M

Start a New E-mail CTRL+SHIFT+M message Open the address book CTRL+SHIFT+B

Start a New CTRL+SHIFT+A appointment Start a New CTRL+SHIFT+C contact Start a New meeting CTRL+SHIFT+Q request Start a New CTRL+SHIFT+K a task Make the Find a F11 Contact box active Open the Advanced Find dialog CTRL+SHIFT+F

box Mark an email message as read

CTRL+Q

Delete an email message, CTRL+D contact, calendar item, or task

Front Page 2000 Shortcut Keys


Added 1/10/00 Front Page has quite a few shortcut keys. My favorites are: Center a CTRL+E paragraph Left align a CTRL+L paragraph Right align a CTRL+R paragraph Display CTRL+ / HTML tags Apply the Heading 1 CTRL+ALT+1 style (ect.) Apply the CTRL+SHIFT+ Normal style N Not listed in their help is: Cycle through Normal / Ctrl-PgUp/ HTML / Down Preview If you are at the last row in a table, the TAB key will add a new row below the current one.

Fast Access to the Desktop


Submitted 7/19/99 To get an Explorer view of the Desktop 1. Press Ctrl-Esc or click the Start button 2. Press R to go to Run. Note: If you are using a Win keyboard, you can get to this point by pressing Win+R 3. Type in a period Submitted by Travis Place

Opening Up the Task Manager in NT 4


Submitted 7/24/98 In Windows NT 4, to quickly bring up the task manager, press Ctrl-Shift-Esc Submitted by Trevor Heppler

MS-Natural Keyboard Shortcuts


Toggles between minimizing/restoring Win+D all windows Submitted by
Vinamra Chandra

Open the start menu - Submitted by Win Daniel F. Display the pop-up menu for the selected Win+F1 object - Submitted by Daniel F. Start Explorer Win+E Find Files or Folders Win+F Find computer Ctrl+Win+F Minimizes all Win+M windows Undo Minimize All Shift+Win+M Display Run Dialog Win-R

box Cycles through taskbar buttons Displays System Properties

Win+Tab Win+Break

Getting to My Computer from the Control Panel Submitted 3/8/98 If you're in Control Panel, hitting the Backspace key will switch you into the My Computer folder. Submitted by Eric Brown

Undo
Submitted 2/18/98 Press CTRL + Z to undo things like renaming a file in Explorer Submitted by Melissa Gaugert

Minimizing All Windows


Added 2/15/98 To minimize all windows: 1. Press Ctrl-ESC to bring up the Task Bar 2. Press Alt-M This makes it a lot easier to minimize windows when all your open applications are full screen. Submitted by Imar Spaanjaars Note from Bob: With the Microsoft Keyboard, you can accomplish the same thing by pressing the Window-M key.

Shortcut to System Properties


Submitted 2/4/98 To access the System Properties screen quickly, simply hold down the ALT key while double clicking on the My Computer icon. Submitted by Stuart H Submitted 11/2/97 While holding the windows key, press the Pause / Break key. This will open up the System Properties box. From here you can easily get to the Device Manager Submitted by Emperor

Duplicating the Right Mouse Click


Submitted 1/21/98 Pressing the Shift-F10 key will be the same as clicking the right-mouse button. Submitted by Roberto Magistrelli

Accessing Programs from the Start Button


Submitted 9/13/97 To access your programs more quickly from your start button, with out aid of a mouse, hit ctrl+esc to open your start menu. Then, type the letter for the directory you are looking for. For example, to access the ever popular game of solitaire, CTRL+ESC, then "P" for programs, "A" for accessories, "G" for games, then "S" for Solitaire. If there is more than one entry for the letter, keep hitting the letter until you reach your desired location. Then, hit enter. Submitted by Derek Wittstruck

Quickly Starting Explorer


Submitted 7/29/97

You can quickly start an explorer session by holding down the Windows key on a Microsoft Keyboard and pressing the E.key Submitted by David Thorne

Internet Explorer Shortcuts


Added 9/28/96 Here are a few IE keyboard shortcuts: Go Back to the previous Alt+Left Arrow page Go Forward Alt+Right to the next Arrow page Add to Favorites on Ctrl+D the current web page Open the Ctrl+H History folder Open the Organize Ctrl+B Favorites window Lets you open a new web Ctrl+L page Open a new browser Ctrl+N window Reload the Ctrl+R current page Close the active Internet Ctrl+W Explorer window

Bringing up the Properties Window


Submitted 7/27/96 While holding the ALT key double click on an icon to bring up the properties. Submitted by Jayme Johnston Jayme@excalibur.net

Resizing and Moving a Window


Added 7/21/96 To Resize or Move a window: 1. Press Alt-Space 2. Press the S key - To Resize 3. Press the M key - To Move You can now use the arrow keys to resize or move the window

Key stroking is faster than mouse moving


Submitted 1/23/96 1. In desktop you can press "m", "My Briefcase is highlighted, press "enter" will open this applet. 2. If you do not press "enter", 3. The next "m" key stroke will highlight "My Computer". 4. "Ctrl"-"Esc", press "P" for Programs, "enter","M""enter", you get to the first program or folder that starts with "M" 5. Other applets will also be opened the same way. Submitted by Cao Gengyu gengyucao@cuhk.hk

Explorer Shortcut Keys


Added 9/26/95

F4 - Displays the Combo Box F5 - Refresh the display Ctrl+Z - Undo last action

Backspace - Go up one directory

Quickly Search for Files


Added 9/24/95 To quickly open up the Find all Files window 1. Press Ctrl+ESC ESC 2. Press F3

To copy a file with a Mouse/Keyboard combo


Submitted 9/23/95 Drag the file while holding down the CTRL key - A + will appear on the icon

To move a file with a Mouse/Keyboard combo


Drag file while holding down SHIFT key - Nothing appears on the icon If moving a icon with the mouse and an arrow appears, it will create a shortcut. You can press shift or ctrl at anytime during the drag and it will change this little part of the icon.

Desktop Tips
Easy Access to Folders from the Toolbar
Added 9/9/01 You can quickly access commonly used folders from your Toolbar 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Right click on an open area of the Toolbar Select Toolbars / New Toolbar Browse to the directory you want to add Now on the toolbar you will see the name of that folder displayed. Click on the >> to open any sub-folders as well.

Organizing the Start / Programs Listing


Added 5/29/01 As you add more and more programs, the listing of them in Start / Programs can get fairly long. One solution is to categorize your programs into several groups, create a folder for those groups, and move the shortcuts to those folders. For example: 1. Start the Explorer 2. Go to Windows / Start Menu / Programs 3. Create new folders with the categories you want (e.g. Graphics, Utilities, Internet etc.) 4. Now move the shortcuts to those programs in Windows / Start Menu / Programs to whichever category you decide. This can greatly reduce clutter and make it a lot easier to find your programs. Note: Windows2000 and WindowsXP Users will need to go to the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs directory

Restoring a Lost Desktop


Submitted 3/15/00 If you ever lose the Desktop but Explorer is still running with the Start Button, you can do this to bring back your Desktop in a Windows box. 1. 2. 3. 4. Click Start Click Run Type a period " . " Then press Enter

Submitted by John Crossland

Creating a New E-Mail Shortcut


Added 1/31/00 To create a shortcut that will open your default e-mail program starting a new e-mail, 1. Right click on an open area of the desktop

2. 3. 4. 5.

Select New / Shortcut For the Command Line, enter mailto: For the title enter something like New E-Mail When you click on this your default e-mail program should start with a new email form.

Creating 3D Window Effect


1/8/00 You can create a nice 3D effect for your windows 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Colors 3. Make sure the following setting are there:

ButtonHilight=128 128 128 ButtonShadow=255 255 255

Creating Shutdown, Restart and Logoff Icons


Added 1/8/00 To create the icons, create a shortcut on the desktop. For Shutdown, the command is C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows For Restart, the command is C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindowsexec For Logoff, the command is C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 0

Having your Favorites and Start Menus Sort Alphabetically


Added 11/9/99 If your Start Menu Program or Favorites are not sorting alphabetically, it is easy to fix this: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explor er/MenuOrder

3. 4. 5. 6.

Under here is are Favorites and Start Menu folders In each there is a value called Order Simply delete (or rename this) and restart Winodws Your Favorites or Start Menus should now sort alphabetically

Increasing the Icon Cache


Submitted 10/30/99 1. Run Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explo rer 3. Create a new string called Max Cached Icons 4. Give it a value of 10000 5. This will increase response time in windows and give the Shellicon cache file more elbow room. Submitted by Paul Barker

Make Icons 256 Color 16-Bit


Submitted 7/19/99 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Open the Registry Hit Ctrl+F Type Shell Icon BPP When found, right click the Shell Icon BPP icon Click Modify Change the value from 4 to 16 Click Ok Close the registry Restart your computer

Submitted by Wes

Removing Shortcut Arrows


Submitted 3/28/99 An easy way to remove those irritating arrows from your desktop shortcut icons and not change their properties

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Right click the Desktop / Properties / Appearance tab Select Item Scroll for Icon The default size is 32 Change this to 30 Clicking Apply

Submitted by Larry McDonald

Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu


Added 10/17/98 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Open up the Explorer Go to \WINDOWS\Start Menu Right click in the right-hand panel Add a new folder Name it Control Panel.{21ec2020-3aea-1069-a2dd-08002b30309d} This makes getting to the Control Panel items a little easier

Making Desktop Changes Permanent


Added 10/16/98 To make changes to the Desktop like window size, positon after rebooting: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policie s\Explorer 3. Create a New Binary Value 4. Name it NoSaveSettings 5. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

Easy Shortcuts on the Desktop


Submitted 8/14/98 Here is an easy way to put shortcuts on the Desktop where they can easily be moved to other group icons. 1. Using the Explorer, create a SHORTCUT to the \Windows\Desktop directory in your \Windows\SEND TO directory.

2. 3. 4. 5.

Now whenever you want to make a shortcut and move it to the desktop: Just make the shortcut you want using Explorer Right click on that shortcut In the pop up menu select the Send To and Desktop shortcut.

Submitted by Jerry Airaudi

Changing a Folder's Icon


To change the icon of a Folder on desktop: 1. Using the Explorer, move the folder from the Desktop directory to another directory on the hard drive 2. Right click on the new folder and select "Create Shortcut" 3. Move the shortcut to the Desktop 4. Right click and select a new icon Submitted by Kim Schmidt

Full Window Drag ( Without Plus! )


1. Start Regedit 2. Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER /ControlPanel /Desktop /DragFullWindows 3. On "DragFullWindows" properties change 0 to 1 Submitted by Fatal III

Fixing Corrupted Desktop Icons


Updated 5/25/98 Easier way to reset icons then deleting SHELLICONCACHE. There's no need to exit Win95 and delete the SHELLICONCACHE file in order to reset icons that you may have changed (like Network Neighborhood). 1. 2. 3. 4. Go to Control Panel, Display, Appearance Tab. Select Icon from the Item drop down list. Change the Size up or down one and apply. Change the Size back to your original and apply.

Submitted by Duane Anderson

Submitted 2/28/98 If your Start Menu is slow or your icons are black for some reason, it means your Shelliconcache file is corrupt and should be deleted. Delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE It will be recreated the next time you start Win95 Submitted by Tim Berger

Getting Screen Shots


Submitted 4/12/98 If you need to get a screen shot, and you do not have a screen capture program, try this: Hit the Print Screen key. This copies a bitmap of the full screen into the Windows clipboard. Start up a graphics editor and paste it in. Alt + Print Screen will capture only the active window.

Submitted by V. Sahker

Increasing the Size of the Scroll Bar


Submitted 1/11/98 How to adjust the width of the scroll bar: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Select Properties Select the Appearance tab Go to the item list and find scrollbar. Increasing the value in the Size field will increase the scrollbar width.

Submitted by Scott K. Ibara

Unable to Create Shortcuts on the Desktop


Added 1/3/98 If you can't create shortcuts on your Desktop, you might have a corrupted registry. 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew\Command

3. Make sure it has a value of: 4. RunDLL32 AppWiz.Cpl,NewLinkHere %1 if you don't have IE 4 5. or RunDLL32 AppWiz.Cpl,NewLinkHere %2 if you have IE 4.0 or IE 4.01

Removing the InBox from the Desktop


Submitted 12/29/97 A faster way to remove "Inbox" from the Deskop is to 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Right mouse click on "Inbox" Select delete It will then tell you "you cannot store the inbox in the recycle bin. . .etc" Click "Yes" Wait 2 secs and it's gone.

Submitted by Mark Weber

Customizing Individual Folder Icons


Submitted 11/22/97 To change a folder's icon: 1. Open Notepad and enter two lines, [.ShellClassInfo] IconFile=file name,number (e.g. IconFile=C:\Icon\CustomFolder.ico,0) 2. Save the file as DESKTOP.INI in the folder you wish to change. 3. Click Start -> Run, type in the command line, ATTRIB +S "folder name" (e.g. ATTRIB +S "C:\Custom Folder") 4. Open Explorer or My Computer and refresh (press F5 key). This tip only work Windows 95/NT 4.0 + IE 4.0 with shell integration, or Windows 98/NT 5.0. Submitted by Nariaki Ogami

Removing the Recycle Bin


Submitted 11/16/97 To remove Recycle Bin from the desktop: 1. Run REGEDIT. 2. Find NAMESPACE key in left pane (HKEY_Local_Macine \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Explorer \ Desktop \ Namespace) 3. Expand NAMESPACE (click '+' box) 4. Delete the value RECYCLE BIN in right pane Submitted by Jeff Pilch

Adding Send To the Recycle Bin


Submitted 10/11/97 Add a SHORTCUT TO THE RECYCLE BIN in your SEND TO folder. That way you can just right click on a file you want to delete, and send it to the recycle bin without having to confirm each time. Submitted by Roger Hinton

Having Icons with No Name


Updated 9/28/97 Normally you have to have a name for an icon, just spaces are not allowed. To create an icon with no name attached: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Make sure NumLock is on Highlight the Icon you want to change Right-Mouse click and select Rename While holding down the Alt key, type 0160 Now the icon will have no name below it.

To Create Multiple Icons with No Name - From John R. 1. Follow directions detailed above 2. With the second icon simply add one space-bar character AFTER the 0160 number.

3. Each successive icon gets an additional space-bar character at the end (to prevent a duplicate naming error). Submitted by John R

Moving the Start Button


Submitted 7/4/97 How to move or close the start button! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Click on the Start button Press the Esc key Press the Alt and the - keys together This will give you a menu, you can move or close But if you move it you need to use the arrow keys and not the mouse.

Submitted by Mick Jones

Aligning Drop-Down Menus to the Right


Submitted 4/25/97 All dropdown menus can be aligned to the right. This features becomes useful when trying to access menus with submenus that appear directly to the right. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open the Registory editor (e.g. regedit.exe) Goto \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop Create a string entry called "MenuDropAlignment" Set its value to 1 Reboot

Note: Will not work under NT 4.0. Submitted by Maki Ishizaki

Repositioning a Background Bitmap


Added 4/6/97 Normally, you only options for displaying a background bitmap are tiled, centered, or stretch to fit (with the Plus Pack).

You can edit the registry and have a third option which is to place the bitmap anywhere on your screen by specifying the X and Y coordinates. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Control Panel / Desktop Create new Strings called WallpaperOriginX and WallpaperOriginY Give them values to position them around your desktop The bitmap must be smaller than your desktop size

Changing Drive Icons


Added 4/6/97 To change a drive's icon when you open My Computer 1. Create a file called AUTORUN.INF on the root of your hard drive 2. Enter the lines [autorun] ICON=Name of the ICON file For the name of the icon file you can either specify the path and name (e.g. ICON=C:\WINDOWS\ICONS\MY_ICON.ICO) or a specific icon in a library (e.g. ICON=ICONFILE.DLL,2)

Adding AnyFolder and Mail to SendTo


Submitted 3/7/96 Previous examples of adding items to the SendTo usually require editing the Registry. An easy way around this is to use the following methods. To add ANYFOLDER: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open the Explorer Go to \Windows\SendTo Right click in the right hand panel Select New / Text Document Name it anything with a .otherfolder extension

When you want to send files to another folder: 1. Select the files with Explorer 2. Right Click

3. Select Send to and the name you just created 4. You them have the option of copying or moving the file to a folder of your choice To add Mail: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open the Explorer Go to \Windows\SendTo Right click in the right hand panel Select New / Text Document Name it anything with a .MapiMail extension (ignore any warnings about the file extension)

When you want to Mail files as attachments: 1. 2. 3. 4. Select the files with Explorer Right Click Select Send to and the Mail name you just created This allows you to easily mail multiple files

Submitted by Will Raresheid

Adding Shortcuts to Desktop Without "Shortcut To" text


Submitted 1/24/97 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to:HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer 3. Add binary value to Explorer:link="00,00,00,00" 4. Now You can make Shortcuts to desktop without Shortcut To" text. Submitted by Janek Kivisild janeki@et.ee

Easier User Interface


Submitted 1/24/97 Add a menu item named "Open THIS folder!" to each of your cascading menus off of the Start menu. This makes it easier to put items wherever you want them! 1. Go to Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs \ (etc.) in the Explorer 2. Start right click/dragging folders to the desktop, one by one.

3. Rename them and left click/drag them back to the same folder. It takes a little while, but when you are finished you have a much easier interface to work with. Submitted by Gordy Robbins Utility_Oper@communityonline.net

Removing the Start Button


Submitted 11/24/96 1. Click on the start menu button twice, so there is a dashed line around the button 2. Press Alt and the minus sign 3. Choose Close to make the start button disappear, or move to move it to the right! Submitted by Justin Nachod Note from Bob: - You have to re-boot to get it back again, or: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete Highlight Explorer Click on the End Task button Select No to doing a full shutdown Wait a few seconds and the click on the End Task button

Changing the clock to 24-Hour Time


Added 10/20/96 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To change the display of the clock on the taskbar to 24-hour format: Open the Control Panel Double-click on the Regional Settings icon Click on the Time tab In the Time style section select H:mm:ss

Removing the InBox and Recycle Bin Icons from the Desktop
Added 9/8/96 To remove the InBox from your desktop, without needing to run the Policy Editor: 1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Desktop \ NameSpace 3. Below that should be a few keys 4. Rename the key {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}. I usually put another character before or after the curly braces. 5. Restart Windows and the InBox icon should be gone 6. You can do the same for any other items you don't to show such as the Recycle Bin or The Internet icons

Changing or Removing the Start Menu Icons


Submitted 6/29/96 1. Download Microangelo and install it. 2. Create a blank.ico file. 3. Put it in a directory (C:\Windows. Then double click on the Microangelo Engineer to run it. 4. When you get it up on the screen click on the "start" tab. You will see a list of all the icons in the start menu. 5. Highlight the first one (programs) and select "Change". It will bring up a dialog box - select "browse". 6. Go to the directory that contains the blank icon and select it. Hit OK until you get back to the main 7. Engineer window and do all the rest exactly the same way. 8. When you have finished changing them all to the blank icon, Hit "Apply". 9. Hit your start button and look to see if all the icons are invisible. (They should be.) 10. Close out Micro Engineer and you're finished. Submitted by Kristy Shanks

Adding Drive to the SendTo List


Submitted 6/29/96

I have recently found that if you want to send something from A: drive or from any where to any drive, you can just make a short cut of that drive in subdirectory SENDTO. For example I have two hard drives, a Floppy Drive, and a CDROM After I have make a copy of each of my drive I will be able to send a whole directory of E:\XXX from the CDROM drive to A: drive or any other drive that i have had made the short c t in the SENDTO subdir of WINDOWS.

Submitted by Robo tttran@acs.itd.uts.edu.au

Adding a Protected Briefcase


Submitted 6/23/96 You can make your briefcase a shortcut on the on desktop so if you have multiple users on your PC and you don't want to have a password for your briefcase, you can at least protect it from inadvertent deletion by just making the briefcase a hidden file or in a different location other than \Windows\Desktop\My Briefcase, then send a copy or shortcut to the desktop. Submitted by Tony Stewart tonys@awnet.com

Customizing the Start Button's Name and Icon


Added 5/28/96 To change the name of the Start button: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Copy EXPLORER.EXE in your Windows directory to another directory Start a hex editor (I've been using Diskedit from Norton) Edit EXPLORER.EXE Search for the string 53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74 This is the word Start with the letters separated by a null character The section you are in should also have the words "There was an internal error..." also separated with the null character immediately following 7. Now just replace the Start letters with any of your choice (up to 5 characters only) 8. Exit Windows 9. Boot to DOS 10. Copy your new Explorer file over the original To change the Start button icon: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Copy USER.EXE in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory to another directory Use an icon editor that can replace icons in executable files Edit USER.EXE and replace the flag icons with the icon of your choice Boot to DOS Copy the new USER.EXE

The same can be done with NT 4.0, just the offset will be different but the location to just before "There was an internal error..." is the same.

Adding the Device Manager to your Desktop


Added 5/27/96 This allows you to quickly see all the devices attached to your computer. I use it a lot to select Refresh when I add new external SCSI devices that were not powered up at startup. This way you do not need to restart the computer. To add the Device Manager Icon: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Right click on an open area of your desktop Select New / Shortcut Type in C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL SYSDM.CPL, SYSTEM, 1 Replace C:\WINDOWS with whatever directory you installed Windows95 Click on the Next box At the next dialog box type in Device Manager Click on the Finish when you are done

Note: Replacing the 1 with a 3 will bring up the Performance Status

Adding Options to the Right-Click of the Start Menu


Submitted 5/20/96 To add an option to the Right-Click of the Start button: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Go to Control Panel, View, Options Click on the File Types Tab Scroll down until you see File Folder Click on Edit Click on New Type in the Name you want to in the Action box Type in the Application you want to use

A good option to add is an MS-DOS Prompt: Try this c:\command.com /k cd %1 It also puts the shortcut on a regular folder. This command will open a DOS window with that folder as the current directory. Submitted by Paul Alderson image@primenet.com

How to make the task bar autohide


Added 5/15/96 1. 2. 3. 4. Click the right button on a blank area of the task bar Select Properties Select Autohide Click OK

This will make the task bar slide off the screen when the cursor moves away from it, and it will slide back on when the cursor is moved near it again. The same can be done for the MS Office task bar. The "sliding" effect is nice, and can free up some desktop space.

More Removing Shortcut Arrows


Submitted 3/12/96 'lnkfile', 'piffle' and 'internetshortcut' are the three places that I have seen the isshortcut arrow. The best way to deal with this is to rename the 'isshortcut' to 'isshortcutbak' by right clicking on the 'isshortcut' then select rename and add 'bak' to the end. Submitted by Charles Muckle c_muckle@msn.com

Closing Nested Folders


Added 2/28/96 If you have several nested folders (folders within folders) and want to close them all, simply, hold the Shift key while closing the last folder This will close all previous ones as well.

Changing Application Icons


Submitted 1/21/96 To have a wider choice of application icons: 1. Right click on the icon shortcut

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Chose Properties Click on the Program tab Chose Change icon Click on Browse Select Files of type All Files Browse to the directory where your icon files are kept You can even use some bitmap files for you icons

Submitted by Cengiz Lugal cengiz@dircon.co.uk

Moving and Resizing the Taskbar


Submitted 1/21/96 You can move the taskbar by pointing on a corner panel and dragging it It is easier to move if you close all your windows first You can also resize it by moving the mouse to the edge and dragging it larger or smaller. Submitted by Adrian Aisemberg - Israel insane@datasrv.co.il

Correcting Corrupted Fonts


Submitted 1/11/96 If you have a problem with your non-true type fonts, here's what you do: 1. 2. 3. 4. Open the Control Panel Double click on Fonts Search for the "Monotype Sorts" font Delete this Font

Submitted by Leslie Mayo lesliem@quicklink.com

Changing Desktop Folders - With No Registry Changes


Submitted 12/14/95 1. From the Explorer, create a folder somewhere OTHER than the desktop, and call it something like "Desktop Folders."

2. Move all your desktop folders into that folder. 3. Create shortcuts to all of those folders on your desktop. 4. Now, you are free to change the icons of each shortcut individually, to anything you like! Submitted by Jim Andrews jimndrws@serv.net Win95 Page

Updating the Desktop


Submitted 11/28/95 If you want to update the desktop, for example after you've been changing the registry. 1. Right-Click anywhere on the desktop 2. Press F5 jonas.almeling@frn.se

Adding the Desktop to your Start Menu


Submitted 11/17/95 Create a shortcut to the Explorer on your Desktop 1. 2. 3. 4. Right click on the Start button Choose Open Go into the Programs Folder Drag the Windows Explorer Icon on your Desktop using the RIGHT Mouse button 5. Choose copy here Change the command line switch 1. 2. 3. 4. Right click on the Shortcut you created Choose Properties Choose Shortcut Type in following command line as target: o C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /root, o The last "," is vital! 5. If you want the two pane Explorer view ad the switch ,/e 6. Then rename the Shortcut to "Desktop" or whatever you choose and drag the icon onto the start button.

Submitted by Christine Koch

Removing shortcut arrows


Submitted 11/5/95 One problem when removing shortcut arrows is that if you delete a desktop item, it will remove it. If it is a shortcut it will just remove the icon. If it is not a shortcut, then it will remove the program. Having the little icon arrow is one way to tell the difference Submitted by KJ King

Getting rid of Click Here to Continue


Added 11/4/95 1. Start the Registry Editor 2. Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer 3. Create a binary value and call it NoStartBanner 4. Double-click on it and give it a value of 01 00 00 00 5. You will need to repeat the same steps for HKEY_USERS / .Default / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer

Changing the Desktop and Explorer Folder Icons


Added 10/24/95 The following steps will change the icon that is displayed as the default Folder icon. 1. Start the Registry Editor. 2. Search for "Shell Icons". 3. This will bring you to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / explorer / Shell Icons. 4. Double-click on the one has the value name of "3" in the right pane. 5. Type in the new icon you want to use. 6. If you have a DLL file specified, you need to count for the location of the particular icon you want to use, starting at 0. 7. To reset the icon cache, use a program such as Tweak with comes with the PowerToys from Microsoft.

Note: I haven't experimented with too many of the other icon changes possible.

Adding Control Panel Icons to the Desktop


Added 10/2/95 This is an easy one.. 1. 2. 3. 4. Simply open up the Control Panel. Right Click and Drag the icon you want to your desktop or folder. This will create a shortcut for that icon. It could come in handy if there are always certain items you need to get to quickly.

Create a Control Panel menu directly below the Start Button


Added 10/2/95 1. Click the Start Button once with your right mouse button. You should see a rightbutton menu (called a context menu because it offers different choices in different contexts). 2. You should see the items Open, Explore, and Find on the context menu. Click Explore with your left mouse button. 3. An Explorer file management window should open. A directory tree should appear in the left pane, with the right pane displaying the contents of the Start Menu folder. 4. Right-click any empty space within the right pane. A context menu should appear. Click New and then Folder. 5. The Explorer will create a highlighted icon called New Folder. Type in the following string, all on one line, replacing the words New Folder with this new line. You must type the period, the curly braces, all four hyphens, and the hexadecimal numbers exactly as shown. After the closing curly brace, press Enter.
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Other Folders can be added following the same instructions.


Dial-Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} Inbox.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} Desktop.{00021400-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

Briefcase.{85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D} Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

Minimizing All Windows


Added 9/24/95 To minimize all windows: 1. Press Ctrl-ESC ESC to bring up the Task Bar 2. Right Mouse Click on an open area of the Task Bar 3. Select Minimize all Windows This makes it a lot easier to minimize windows when all your open applications are full screen. With the Microsoft Keyboard, you can accomplish the same thing by pressing the Window-M key.

Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows


Submitted 9/18/95 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Open REGEDIT.EXE Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Open the Key LNKFILE Delete the value IsShortcut Open the next Key PIFFILE Delete the value IsShortcut Restart the Win95

Submitted by David Wysinger ZeroCool@FishNet.net

Turning on AutoArrange for Folders


Added 9/13/95 To make all folders keep AutoArrange turned on: 1. Open up an existing folder 2. Select View / Arrange 3. Arrange the Icons the way you would like, (e.g. Name, Size,etc.)

4. 5. 6. 7.

Select View / Arrange again Select AutoArrange Press the Ctrl-key while you close the window. This folder should now have AutoArrange always selected.

This should allow you to create new folders that have AutoArrange selected by default. You only need to specify by Name, Size, etc. if you want to change it from the default you set above. Note: I have only tested this on a few computers. Please give me feedback regarding any problems.

Creating Document Scraps


Submitted 9/13/95 If you are using Microsoft Word 7.0, you can highlight a section of the document then drag and drop the highlighted area to your desktop. Windows will create a file for you with a name something like "Document Scrap From..." followed by the first few words you selected Submitted by Charlie Williams ctw@reston.btna.com

Quick Access to Your Desktop


Submitted 9/3/95 How do you access your darn desktop when you have a ton of applications open? Well you could right click on the taskbar and do a minimize all, but that can be slow. Instead: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open a browser window (double-click on "My Computer") If there is no toolbar, select View from the menu and select Toolbar. Then from the dropdown list-box in the toolbar select desktop. Now minimize it and forget about it. The next time you want to access your desktop just click the desktop window on the taskbar. 6. As long as you don't close the window when you shutdown, it will reopen when you start windows again. Submitted by Tim LaDuca laducat@winnie.fit.edu

Additional Note from Bob: You can also drag the Desktop folder to the start menu. Then you just press Ctrl-ESC and click on Desktop

Restoring Corrupted Icons


If you use a graphic Card and you change the resolution, sometimes the icons are bad. End Win95 and restart. When you see the starting message press F8 then type standard. After this start of Win95 exit and restart. Change back to your Resolution and restart. The icons should be corrected.

Submitted by Thomas Lange CYBERBAR@pan-net.de

Turn Off Window Animation


You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows. This tip makes navigating Windows 95 a lot faster especially for those that don't have super fast video cards. 1. Open Regedit 2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER 3. Control panel 4. Desktop 5. WindowMetrics 6. Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane. 7. Select new/string value. 8. Name the new value MinAnimate. 9. Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify" 10. Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit 11. Close Regedit and all programs then reboot. Submitted by Jim Asikis jimas@cybercom.net

Renaming the Recycle Bin


1. 2. 3. 4. Start the Registry Editor Type Ctrl-F to bring up the Find Menu In the Find What box type Recycle Double click on the Recycle Bin in the right pane

5. Type in the new name under Value Data 6. Restart Win95

Turning off Desktop Icons


If you want to turn off all the icons on your desktop: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start the System Policy Editor Select File / Open Registry Select Local User Select Shell / Restrictions Select Hide all items on Desktop

All Icons will now be hidden. Note: One side effect is the your CD will no longer automatically play when it is inserted. Submitted by Carl Robinson carlr@netcom.com

Adding in Old Windows Groups


If you are setup to dual boot between your old Win 3.x and want to add in the old groups, just click on the *.GRP file in your old windows directory. The programs will be added to your list under Programs in the task bar. Note: Any DLL's the programs require will need to be copied. Submitted by KJ King

Miscellaneous Tips

Determining Your Processor's Speed


Updated 11/23/02 You can also The tool can be accessed directly by executing WINREP.EXE Submitted by Corner Dude Submitted 2/20/01 To find out how fast the processor is, while in Win95/98, 1. 2. 3. 4. Go to Accessories / System Tools / System Information Click on Tools Select Windows Report Tool Click on the blue Change System File Selections towards the bottom of the window

This will perform a short scan of your system files Your processor speed, memory, hard drives will then show up Submitted by Jason Graine

While initializing device vkd error


Added 6/22/01 If you get the error: While initializing device vkd -- Windows Protection Error -- You need to restart your computer while booting your computer, try replacing the keyboard

Swapping the Mouse Buttons for Left Hand from the Command Line
Added 6/17/01 If you want to swap the mouse buttons for a left handed person, you can do this from the command line. Win9x: RUNDLL user.exe,SwapMouseButton

Win2000: RUNDLL32 user32.dll,SwapMouseButton To swap it back again to a right-hand mouse, you need to run the mouse icon from the Control Panel.

Using the Wheel Mouse to Control the Font Size


Submitted 5/12/01 Try using the Control key with the mouse wheel. This works a zoom function. I know you do this for Office 2k apps as well, but in IE it just works on the text, so the page stays somewhat the same. Submitted by Bruce Miller

Creating a Directory That is Not Accessible From Windows


Submitted 4/8/00 1. To create the directory, type md, then a space, then holding down your ALT button type on number pad only 255. 2. To access cd\ALT+255 from DOS 3. When you try to access this from the Explorer you get an Access Denied error. Submitted by Paul Burcham

Creating Custom Boot Floppies


Added 3/15/00 If you have custom drivers or files you want to always have when you create boot disks, copy them to the \Windows\Command\EBD directory. Then when you want to create a new floppy, run \Windows\Command\Bootdisk.bat This will format the floppy and copy all the files in the EBD directory. I like this since I usually add a lot more files than the normal StartUp disk Windows creates.

Deleting the TEMP Directory at Bootup


Submitted 2/21/00 Normally your TEMP directory can fill with .tmp files, files left over from installs etc. An easy way to delete it each time you boot is to add the following lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: @C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DelTree /Y C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ Submitted by Bob S.

Saving File Searches


Added 2/21/00 If you want to review the results of a file search at a later time: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. While on the Desktop or with the Explorer, press F3 to start the search Click Options / Save Results Do the search After the search select File / Save Search An icon will be placed on the desktop with the search results.

Searching for Files In All Drives


Submitted 2/12/00 If you want to search for files across all drives, including mapped network drives: 1. Press F3 to start the search 2. In the Named box, enter file or folder you want to search for 3. In Look in select My Computer 4. This will search all drives including mapped network drives. Easier than using the comma's. Submitted by Gerald Norman

Renaming CD ROM Drive Letter


Submitted 2/12/00

Rename the drive letters of your CD drive(s) from the back of the alphabet, eg, Z, Y. This way, if you add extra hard disks, your CD drives do not get re-lettered. Submitted by Stephen Lee Note from Bob: 1. 2. 3. 4. You can do this from the Device Manager. Open up the CD ROM section Open the CD ROM you want to change Under Settings, change the Start Drive Letter to higher in the alphabet.

Changing the Colors of the Blue Screen of Death


1/27/00 You can change the normal colors of the background and text when you get a Blue Screen of Death. Edit the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory In the [386Enh] add the entries: MessageTextColor=X MessageBackColor=X Where X is replace by the number for each of the following colors: Black = 0 Blue = 1 Green = 2 Cyan = 3 Red = 4 Magenta = 5 Yellow/Brown = 6 White = 7 Gray = 8 Bright Blue = 9 Bright Green = A Bright Cyan = B Bright Red = C Bright Magenta = D Bright Yellow = E Bright White = F

Powering on the Computer With Your Mouse


Submitted 11/9/99 If you have ATX Main Board, ATX case Award Bios, or any Bios that supports PS/2 Mouse Power On, then you can power on your computer with a double click. To activate this feature: 1. Restart your computer 2. Then press Del when the BIOS message appears to enter your CMOS configuration 3. Select Integrated Peripherals from main menu 4. If PS/2 mouse power on disabled, activate it by press page up/ page down key it will became Double-Click 5. Press Esc key to exit 6. Press F10 to save and exit Power off your PC 7. Now double-click the left mouse button,.. Your PC will turn on Submitted by Ziad Dabash

Removing Programs from the Control Panel


Submitted 8/14/98 Easier way to remove control panel programs. 1. 2. 3. 4. Edit your control.ini file in your Windows directory. Under the section [don't load] add the appropriate .cpl file. For example to get rid of Network add netcpl.cpl=no This will disable users from accessing the network control panel.

Submitted by Dennis Riddick Submitted 3/29/98 1. You can remove seected icons in your Control Panel by simply moving, deleting or renaming the *.cpl file in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSETM directory. 2. The icon or file will still work even if it is not on the control panel screen. At list of the CPL files can be found in this section at Control Panel CPL Files Submitted by Joseph T. de Leon

Not Loading DriveSpace or DoubleSpace Drivers


Submitted 8/12/98 1. Even if you never use DriveSpace or DblSpace, Win95 automatically loads the drivers. While the drivers are not huge, they do consume some resources. To keep Win95 from loading them all you need to do is: 2. Find the MSDOS.SYS file in the root directory of your boot drive. 3. Right click on the file, clear the read-only attribute then edit the file. 4. Add these two lines to the Options section. 5. Dblspace=0 6. Drvspace=0 7. Be sure to save the changes, reset the read-only attribute, then reboot. This does save a significant amount of memory but more importantly, it will reduce the number of threads running in the background. Submitted by CrashMaster

Increasing Performance
Updated 8/11/98 This concerns the "Network Server" option ... You already know about the screw up in Win95 release prior to OSR2 but, did you know you can also customize the settings in the registry? 1. Open Regedit 2. Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ FS Templates" 3. Add a new key called "Custom". 4. Then add two new binary values under that key with the names "NameCache" and "PathCache", just as with the other entries. 5. I would recommend using values somewhere in-between what the standard values are for "Desktop" and "Network Server". The values I have found to be the best compromise are "00 08 00 00" and "30 00 00 00" respectively, your milage may vary. (2048 filenames and 48 pathnames) 6. Close Regedit 7. Right click on "My Computer" 8. Select Properties then the Performance tab. 9. Select "File System" and you will now find the "Custom" option in the drop down box. 10. Select it and click on OK then be sure to reboot.

While this doesn't save a lot of memory, at least your name caches aren't using more than they need. Submitted by CrashMaster Added 11/19/96 If you have 24 Megs or more of RAM, you can increase your performance 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Right Click on My Computer Select Properties Click the Performance tab Click on File System button Select Network Server with Full Read-ahead Optimization

If you do not see a performance increase, occasionally the NameCache and PathCache values are written to the registry incorrectly for the Network Server. To fix the problem: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ FS Templates\Server 3. Make sure the following values are being used:

PathCache=40 00 00 00 NameCache=a9 0a 00 00

To rename the labels Desktop Computer, Mobile or docking system, or Network Server, see Renaming the File System Profiles

Increasing Disk Performance


Ever wonder why Windows 3.1 was noticeably faster than Windows 3.11? It has to do with something called Synchonous Buffer Commits, this tells Windows whether or not to lie to an application and tell the application that it's writing data to the drive when Windows is actually caching the data in memory. With Windows '95 they give you the option to disable this, thus increasing disk intensive application performance but there are some caveats to consider. If you lose power the data in cache will NOT be written to disk this will be BAD so I'd only recommend using this on a machine with an UPS. Well, Here how you do it. 1. Go to Start \ Settings \ Control Panel \ System \ Performance \ File System \ Troubleshooting

2. Check the box Disable synchronous buffer commits. Expect about a 10% speed increase in disk intensive applications. Submitted by Matthew Arnold

Clearing the Documents Folder


Submitted 6/7/98 To clear the contents of your Documents Folder 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Click the Start menu Point to Setting Click Taskbar Click the Start Menu Programs tab Click Clear.

Submitted by Ziad Dabash

Opening a File with Application that is Different than its Registered One
Submitted 3/29/98 To open a file with a different program: Right click a folder while holding down the SHIFT key This will open the dialog box that includes "Open with" to change what program will open the file Submitted by Scott Tobkes

Fixing VMM32 Memory Leak


Added 2/12/98 Over time, real-mode drivers which are added to VMM32, might not be releasing memory . To see if this is a problem on your system, run MEM /C /P and check the size allocated to VMM32. It should not be much more that 2K or at least not growing over time.

If it is: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Rename both your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file Reboot Rename them back again Reboot again Run MEM /C /P again to note any change is size.

Removing One Document File from START / DOCUMENTS


Submitted 12/29/97 To remove one document file on START - DOCUMENTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Run Explorer Go to Windows directory Select View and then Options Select View Tab Select show all files and then OK Back to Windows Directory Select Recent Folder Delete the File you want to remove or display on Documents Folder

Submitted by Victor C. Arceo

Finding Files with Specific Text in Them


Submitted 12/29/97 To find all associations with any name/word that exists in your computer. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Click on Start button Select find Then Files and Folders Go to the Advanced tab Type in text in the "Containing text" field

This is helpful when you get an error message that tells you something can't be run because the file can't be found. You can find the file that is calling the "non-existent" thing. Submitted by Scott Ibara

Creating a Support Information Button


1. Create or edit the OEMINFO.INI file in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder 2. Enter or edit the lines, 3. [General] Manufacturer=your favorite strings Model=your favorite strings [Support Information] Line1="your favorite strings" (require double quotes) Line2="your favorite strings>" Line3="your favorite strings>" etc. 4. Open System Properties dialog box, you'll see a Support Information button. Click on this will display the information you entered Note from Bob: This can be extremely useful if you want to include support personnel and their phone numbers Submitted by Nariaki Ogami

Create (or replace) the Manufacture's logo in System Properties


1. Create a 210x105 pixels (max.) bitmap. 2. Save the file as OEMLOGO.BMP in Windows\System folder 3. When you open the System Properties box, you will see "Manufactured and supported by:" with your logo Note from Bob: You need to have the OEMINFO.INI file in place noted above. Submitted by Nariaki Ogami

Adding printers to the Add Printer Dialog Box


Submitted 10/11/97 The details of all printers shown by the add printer dialog when installing a new printer reside in two files, MSPRINT.INF and MSPRINT2.INF. These files can be edited so that additional printers are listed. It is rather more complicated than editing CONTROL.INF as with Windows 3.1 but by using the OEM95.INF file provided with new printer drivers as a guide a little experimenting should get you there. Of course any new or updated files must be copied to the correct locations.

If you want to apply these changes to a NetSetup Windows 95 distribution point you must specify that the MSPRINT files are precopied using CUSTOM.INF, otherwise standard CAB extracted versions will be used and the additions will not be available. Using this method also allows the added printers to be auto installed from MSBATCH.INF. Submitted by Bruce Ronning

Device Problems with Removable Hard Drives


Submitted 10/11/97 If you get a yellow exclamation mark in windows 95 device manager under "Hard disk controllers", and you are using one hard drive plus a Zip or Syquest drive, try editing the Windows/System.ini file. Go to the [386Enh] section and add the following line: REMOVABLEIDE=TRUE Evidently, if you use a removable drive, Windows 95 does not recognize it as being removable, so you have to tell it that it is. Submitted by Mark Gill

Deleting Files Without Sending Them to the Recycle Bin


Submitted 9/13/97 You can delete your files without sending them to the recycle bin Just shift-right click the file icon and choose delete from the menu that comes up. The file when deleted will not go to the recycle bin. BEWARE: The deleted file can not be restored Submitted by Sudip Kumar Bhattacharya

Changing the Recycle Bin Size


Submitted 9/13/97 You can change the size of the recycle bin for any drive. Just right click the recycle bin icon on the desktop. Make sure that the 'configure each drive independently' option is on.

Then move to the tab for the drive that you want to configure and specify the size as the percentage of the drives space. Submitted by Jagan Philip Thomas

Displaying Last File Searches


Submitted 9/13/97 Once inside the "Find|File" dialog box, in order to display the last several searches you tried: Hit F4 (a drop down box will display showing the last several searches you conducted.) Submitted by Gary Reilly

Associating Several File Extensions to the Same Program


Submitted 8/23/97 It's easy in Explorer to create a file type for a give extension. But what if you want several extensions to identify the same file type? Example- I want BMP, GIF, JPG, JPEG to all be passed to the same program when I double-click them. You can make a file type for each all using the same program, but then you install some other editing program (for one effect) or worse! a new browser, and it rudely associates each type with itself. The trick is to make one file type (Image File) which you configure to set your preferred graphics viewer. Then to associate multiple file extensions with that type, run WINFILE.EXE, the old Win 3.1 File manager. Use File Associate, and you can quickly associate each extension with that file type. Submitted by Graham Hill

Fast Open of the Start Menu


Submitted 7/4/97 Fast open of Explorer view of the Start Menu: 1. Right click on a blank area of the Taskbar 2. Select options

3. Select the Start Menu Tab. Submitted by Mocha Nelson

Getting Item Properties


Submitted 4/19/97 To get to the properties screen for just about anything, hold the ALT key down while double clicking on it's icon. Submitted by Matt Neville

Starting Win95 Without Running Apps in the Startup Folder


Submitted 4/5/97 To start Win95 without loading anything in the startup group, just hold down the shift key (either one) when Win95 is loading. Keep holding it down until the desktop is complete with a pointer. If any application is still loading, it's because it's in registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Submitted by Marc Lanman

Removing a program from the Control Panel


Submitted 3/12/97 Run the Windows Explorer and go to the Windows/System directory. Find the appropriate CPL file (file with the extension CPL) and delete it. Note from Bob: If you want them still available but not showing up in the Control Panel itself, you can also move them to another directory. To invoke them, type CONTROL \path\cpl_file where path is the full path where they are located and cpl_file is the name of the CPL file. For example, if you don't want users to see the Network icon in the control panel but still want to be able to make changes, you could move the NETCPL.CPL file to another directory. Then type CONTROL \path\NETCPL.CPL. A listing of all the CPL files can be found later in this section at: Control Panel CPL Files

Submitted by Neil Ragone

Using FIND to Search Across Multiple Drives


Added 2/19/97 When you use Find from the desktop (F3), you can normally only search on one drive. To search across multiple drives and directories, separate your searches with a semicolon (;) For example, to search from the root of C: and the root of D:, you would enter C:\;D:\ as your look in location To search from different directories, you can enter them as well

RUNDLL Error Message


Submitted 1/28/96 If when you start your computer you get a RUNDLL error message in a dialog box here is what you do. First use RegEdit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / MICROSOFT / WINDOWS / CURRENT VERSION / RUN and delete the string that appears in the dialog box this will remove the string and everything will be groovy!! Shannon N Leka

Automatically Delete Files Sent to Recycle Bin


Submitted 11/29/96 To automatically delete files sent to the recycle bin, do the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. Right click on the recycle bin icon Choose Properties Choose Global Check the Remove files immediately upon delete

Submitted by Don Hunter hunter62@lightspeed.net

The Simplest Multi-Boot


Submitted 11/24/96 Forget about "restart in ms-dos mode" Use DOS=SINGLE In your CONFIG.SYS put: [menu] menuitem WIN95, Windows 95 menuitem NORMAL, DOS - Normal menudefault WIN95, 3 [WIN95] [NORMAL] DOS=SINGLE [common] Submitted by Adam flot@geocities.com

Enabling Telephony Controls


Submitted 11/3/96 If you are using telephony based modems (unimodem) you can enable the telephony controls in control panel by renaming TELEPHON.CP$ to TELEPHON.CPL in the SYSTEM directory. This will allow you to do diagnostics as well as configure your modem. Submitted by Rick Munday pcdoc@earthlink.net

Disabling CDs AutoRun


Added 10/20/96 If you want to disable Windows95's ability to automatically start CD's when they are inserted: 1. Open the Device Manager 2. Open CD ROM 3. Double-click on your CD Player

4. Click on the Settings tab 5. Un-check Auto insert notification

Control Panel CPL Files


Added 10/19/96 The following are the files that display icons in the Control Panel. The reside in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory They can be run individually by typing Control followed by the CPL file. If you are missing any icons in the Control Panel, you want to make sure the CPL file is in the SYSTEM directory. Access.cpl - Accessibility properties Appwiz.cpl - Add/Remove Programs properties Desk.cpl - Display properties FindFast.cpl - FindFast (included with Microsoft Office for Windows 95) Inetcpl.cpl - Internet properties Intl.cpl - Regional Settings properties Joy.cpl - Joystick properties Main.cpl - Mouse properties Mlcfg32.cpl - Microsoft Exchange Service properties Mmsys.cpl - Multimedia properties Modem.cpl - Modem properties Netcpl.cpl - Network properties Odbccp32.cpl - Data Sources (32-bit ODBC) Password.cpl - Password properties Sysdm.cpl - System properties Themes.cpl - Desktop Themes (available with Microsoft Plus!) TimeDate.cpl - Date/Time properties

Reserving Resources from Plug and Play Devices


10/6/96 If you want to make sure Windows95 doesn't assign certain resources (IRQ, I/O etc.) to you Plug and Play Devices 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Open up the Device Manager Double click on Computer Click on the Reserve Resources tab Click on the Resource you want to reserve Click on the Add button Enter the value

7. Click on the OK button

Viewing System IRQ, I/O, Memory and DMA Utilization


Added 10/6/96 To view what resources are currently being used by your system. Open up the Device Manager

Right click on My Computer Select Properties Click on the Device Manager tab

Double click on Computer You can now see what IRQ, I/O, Memory and DMA addresses are in use.

Installing with an INF File


Added 9/1/96 By default, when you double click on an INF file, Windows95 opens it with Notepad. To change that so it will install the INF file: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Open any folder Click on View / Options / File Types Scroll down the Registered File Types to Setup Information Pressing the S key will start you off faster Click on the Edit button In the Actions box, highlight Install Click on the Set Default button

Automatically Deleting Files in the Recycle Bin


Submitted 8/5/96 An economical way to use the Recycle Bin is to use it as normal but insert the lines: CD\Recycled Echo Y | Del *.* CD\

in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This way every time you restart your computer your recycling bin is cleaned. Submitted by Michael Gilligan giggs@hare.net.au

Easy way to open up DOS prompt in a specific directory


Added 6/20/96 With the advent of long directory names, it can be difficult to open up a DOS box and CD to the directory you want particularly if it is several layers of long names deep. An easy way is to: 1. Open up Explorer and highlight the directory you want to be in 2. Select Run / Command from the Start Menu 3. Your DOS prompt will now be in the directory you highlighted in Explorer

Increasing your Sound Card's Bass and Treble


Added 6/8/96 If you want to boost your sound card's bass or treble: 1. Double click on the speaker icon on your task bar 2. Click on the Advanced button 3. Move the slider bars to the right

ATI Video Cards and COM4 Conflicts


Submitted 5/3/96 ATI cards use I/O address 02e0 -02ef & 03b0-03bf. This is in conflict with the default for COM4. Submitted by Marty Roth marty@absolutesolutions.com

System Policies when logging on to an NT Domain


Submitted 4/28/96 CONFIG.POL, when copied to winnt35\system32\repl\import\scripts, is then offered in the share netlogon. This files is the only file needed to establish policies for users in an NT user accounts data base or SAM. Set up a default user and default computer plus any more restrictive setting for specific users, groups or computers and Microsoft 95 system policies will be in place. In addition, if you force a logon by the client and disable a DOS session, this will be a very tight security scheme. Submitted by Bob Rapp brapp@ariscorp.com

Changing to Win 3.x Shell


Submitted 4/28/96 Do you miss Program Manager? If so, edit the SYSTEM.INI file in the \WINDOWS directory. Under [Boot] change: shell=c:\windows\explorer.exe to shell=c:\windows\progman.exe Submitted by Brad Hedlund bhedlund@isd.net

Quickly Opening Text Files


Submitted 4/23/96 To speed up opening files, if you know the file contains text, but it it has an extension that isn't recognized, here's what you do: 1. Open up Windows Explorer 2. Change directories to C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO 3. Create a shortcut to Notepad or drag its shortcut to this directory. Now you'll have an easy way to open documents! Another helpful thing to do is to do the same thing with the recycle bin. Submitted by Anthony Keller amfernee@cs.montana.edu

Changing your Modem's Initialization String


Added 4/9/96 1. Start REGEDIT 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init 3. Change the settings to the values for your modem

Saving Memory by adjusting your CD Cache


Added 3/30/96 If you don't use your CD player that often, your system might be assigning memory for it's cache which you could reclaim. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Right click on My Computer Select Properties Select Performance Select File System Select CD ROM Note how much memory you are assigning to the CD cache and adjust as you would like

Easy File Deletes


Hate deleting files out of the Recycle Bin in Windows 95. Hold the shift key down then drop the file on the icon then its gone. Submitted by Brian West ccanpic@netvoyage.net

Update on DTC 2278 D Controller Card


Submitted 2/15/96 They do have a beta driver out now for 95 but it will not work with a CD-ROM on the secondary port. The work around is: 1. Load the new DTC driver for the Primary IDE 2. But load the original 95 Standard IDE/IO for the secondary port

3. Then you can play music CD's etc.. 4. Then you can remove the DOS Driver and the old Win3.1 driver from the SYSTEM.INI 5. The performance does seem a little faster after doing all of this. They also have a web site at http://www.datatechnology.com Submitted by Jeff Pennington Jeff@cbsinet.com

Hewlett Packard Printer Failures


Added 1/27/96 If you attempt to print a document that contains complex graphical images to a nonPostScript Hewlett-Packard Laser Jet 4 or Laser Jet 5 printer, the document may not be printed due to lack of memory installed in your printer. According to Microsoft, this problem is known to occur with the Hewlett Packard Laser Jet 4, 4M, 4 Plus, 4M Plus, 4L, 4ML, 4P, 4MP, 4Si, 4Si MX, 4V, 4MV, 5P, 5MP. The work-around: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. In Control Panel, double-click the Printers icon. Right click on the printer Select Properties On the Details tab, click Spool settings, and then select RAW in the Spool Data Format box. On the Graphics tab, click the Use Raster Graphics option. On the Fonts tab, click the Print True Type As Graphics option. On the Device Options tab, move the Printer Memory Tracking slider all the way to the right (to the Aggressive setting). Verify that the Printer Memory setting matches the amount of memory installed in the printer. If the Page Protection check box is not unavailable, click the check box to clear it if it is selected, or click the check box to select it if it is cleared. The check box may be unavailable, depending on the printer model you are using and the amount of memory installed in the printer.

Eliminate banner page from printing when running HP 4 & 5printer


1. 2. 3. 4. Rename file to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\LPT.VXD to LPTOLD.VXD Go to MS/Dos prompt Put in Win 95 CD Go to D:\DRIVERS\PRINTER\LPT and copy lpt.vxd to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

5. Save it also to a floppy if you have to reload system 6. Info banner page glitch starts with "%-12345x@PJl and then 5 more lines of info The readme file points out that this is typically on Compaq Prolinea or Deskpro models Submitted by Sid Lieberman wa2fxb@ix.netcom.com

Designating Drive letters for CD ROMs and removable media


Added 1/20/96 If you want to specify the drive letter for your CD ROM, Zip Drive, Bernouli, or Syquest drive: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Right click on My computer Select Properties Click on the Device Manager tab Click on the + by Disk Drives Double click on the drive you want to set Click on Settings Type the Start and End letter you want to use for this drive. Reboot when requested

Pro Audio Spectrum Cards


Submitted 1/16/96 When upgrading from Win 3.1, remove or rename all .386 and .drv's related to the sound card BEFORE installing Win 95. Leaving the drivers in place will prevent he new drivers from running properly. The drivers are:

vpasd.386 mvproadu.drv mvmixer.drv mscdex.exe

Submitted by Andy McConnell andym@qnet.com

Bypass Windows95 Startup


Submitted 1/14/96 To bypass starting Win95 at startup without pressing F8, modify the line in the hidden C:\MSDOS.SYS file:

BootGUI=0

The next time the computer is started, You will return to the DOS prompt after the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files load. It's useful when you hate waiting for your slow computer to start Windows 95 every time you turn on your computer. Submitted by Keith Lau klau@sac.on.ca

Quick Erase Floppy Disks


Submitted 1/13/96 1. 2. 3. 4. Select My Computer Right click on floppy you wish to use Select Format Select Quick Erase or Format

Submitted by George Neill gneill@benedictine.edu

Creating a Boot Menu


Submitted 12/27/95 1. Go to the DOS prompt. 2. Type: ATTRIB MSDOS.SYS -r -a -h -s 3. Edit MSDOS.SYS, adding the following lines under [Options] o BootGUI=1 (If you have it set to 0) o BootMenu=1 o BootMenuDefault=5 (1=GUI 5or6=DOS Prompt) o BootMulti=1 (Allows you to boot to your old Operating System) o BootMenuDelay=2 (# of seconds before default is chosen) 4. Type Alt-F then S to save your file. 5. Close the editor 6. Type: ATTRIB MSDOS.SYS +r +a +h +s

7. Reboot. Note: BootGUI needs to be set to 1 if you have the menu running, otherwise even if you select 1 (Normal), it will not go to the GUI. P.S. Supposedly Drvspace=0 nd Dblspace=0 under the Options section saves on RAM, but I haven't been able to confirm this. Submitted by Stephen Gipson

Modem Selection
Submitted 12/25/95 When Win95 doesn't recognize your modem Don't use "Standard 14400 bps modem" or "Standard 28800 bps modem" Why %3F because this doesn't enable hardware data compression and correction. (In other words, your modem doesn't work at full speed) Solution : choose any other modem in the list that's compatible with you modem and has about the same specifications (speed, V32, V34, ...). Hayes is very likely to be compatible, as it is used as a standard Submitted by Pedro Tytgat Pedro.Tytgat@ping.be

Creating PRN File Type


Submitted 12/13/95 If You often print *.PRN files, you can associate it with batch file like this: @copy %1 LPT1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Open any directory window Select View/Options Select the File Types tab Define nw file type. In desecration put "Printer file" or something. In extensions of course PRN with Open as default action. It will speed up your print jobs

Submitted by Waldek Golebski bebop@frantic.um.krakow.pl

Refresh SCSI Devices


Added 11/28/95 If you had any SCSI devices that were powered off during the booting of Win95 they will not show as available, even after turning them on. For example, I often forget to turn on my Zip drive before starting Win95. In order to use them, without restarting Win95: 1. 2. 3. 4. Turn on your SCSI device(s) Open the Device Manager Highlight SCSI Controllers Click on the Refresh button

The SCSI device(s) should now be available for use.

DTC 2278E I/O Controller Problems


Submitted 11/18/95 When using the DTC 2278E I/O controller card, beware of how it sets up your drives. When you install the Win 95 drivers, Win95 will set up all of your drives in a SCSI format. This may disable your ability to play music on your IDE CD-ROM drive if you are using it off the secondary port. I had multiple problems with my Mitsumi 4X until i discovered this. Go to System in the Control Panel, click on your drive type, click on the drive itself and disable the SCSI options in the drive settings section. This I/O card will not allow me to use my Iomega Zip drive (parallel port interface) with the CD-ROM as well. I haven't figured out how to fix this problem yet. Submitted by Bob Frenz rfrenz@alaska.net

Removing Programs listed from the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section
Added 11/4/95

If you remove an installed program and its files by deleting the files, it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list through the control panel. In order to remove it from the list (so you don't need to re-install in order to just remove it again). 1. Start the Registry Editor 2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall 3. Delete any programs here. This will only delete them from the list, not delete the actual programs. Only programs designed for Windows95 will show up here in the first place.

Using Drivespace
Added 11/1/95 If you are using Drivespace, check if Windows is wasting 109K of conventional memory. In graphical windows, type 'mem/c/p' in a Dos box if you see 'drvspace.bin' or dblspace.bin' you are wasting memory. That is the *real mode* driver and it is supposed to be unloaded when the GUI starts. See MS Knowledge base article #Q134364 for how to fix it. Even if you fix the driver unloading in the GUI, if you boot to Dos, it will happen again if you start windows by typing 'WIN'. Submitted by Travis B. Jennings jenningt@db.erau.edu

Booting to DOS
Added 10/28/95 I have a phone controlled switch I use to turn on my computer and have it boot a DOS version of qmodem in host mode. The switch shuts the computer off 5 mins after I hang up. When I moved into Win95 I need a way to do this without going into Windows. Answer, The MSDOS.SYS in Win95 is a text file. Change the BootGUI=0 to BootGUI=1 and you boot into DOS. You can always type WIN to start Win95 from there. Submitted by Jim Crosson a064@amug.org

Turning off Numlock


Added 9/13/95 By default, Win95 has the Numlock key turned ON To have it be OFF, simply add the line: numlock=off to the CONFIG.SYS file.

Quickly Restarting Windows 95


Added 9/12/95 1. 2. 3. 4. Select Shutdown Click the Restart Computer option While holding down the SHIFT key, click YES Windows 95 will now restart without executing a complete warm boot

Submitted by Jim Blazevski jim.blazevski@icacomp.com In addition to the tip regarding the ability to avoid a warm boot while restarting windows by shift-clicking the yes button, the same method can be used to avoid a warm boot when restart in MS-DOS mode is selected. The result is an exit to DOS much like win 3.11. However, regardless of click or shift click. The result is still a DOS Shell, not true DOS. Submitted by Michael Reach michael_reach@hotmail.com

S3 Video and COM 4


Added 9/9/95 If you are using a S3 video accelerator card, I believe the Windows 95 documentation says DO NOT INSTALL YOUR MODEM ON COM PORT 4. The modem will appear to work fine in DOS mode but will not respond in Windows. The only two solutions are to change the COM port and IRQ for the modem or get a new video card.

Submitted by Robert Frenz rfrenz@alaska.net

Potential problems leaving 16-bit winsock.dll's


Submitted 9/1/95 If you re having problems getting some of your winsock applications to work under Win95, make sure you delete any old 16-bit winsock.dll's. If this file is in the directory were the application resides, it could cause problems. Programs that could have problems like this are:

Ewan.exe (Telnet app) WSIRC.exe (IRC app) WSGopher.exe (Gopher app) NX.Exe (NewsXpress) Netscape v.1.0

We found that if the software listed above is in the same directory as the Trumpet Winsock.dll file, then they will NOT work under the MS-TCP/IP stack. Submitted by Ken D. Walters support@sunbelt.net

Speed up your Double Speed CD ROM


Submitted 8/31/95 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Go into control panel Click on System Go to Performance tab Under Advanced settings click on the File System button Click on the CD-ROM tab Set the Cache to max Set Optimize Access pattern for Quad-speed or higher Your CD ROM reacts much faster. You can now play the high quality video clips on your Win95 CD-ROM without interruptions in video and sound. Used on 486DX40 Vesa with 8 mb ram and normal IDE hard drive.

Submitted by John Knappers j_knappers@pi.net

Copying Graphics
You can copy graphics from a DOS box as well as you can text. For example, while running a graphics game, you can press 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Alt-Enter to make a DOS window Click on the upper left hand corner Select Edit/Mark Select a region with the mouse Select Edit/Copy or press the Enter key You can then paste it into another program

Thomas tried it on Heretic. I tried in on DOOM2. Everything worked fine Submitted by Thomas Kadlec tmk1@ra.msstate.edu

TIPS.TXT
There is a file TIPS.TXT in the directory where Win95 is installed. There are a lot if little hints and shortcuts there.

Registry Tips
Disabling the F3 Search Key
Added 1/20/03 If you want to disable the ability to use the F3 key from either the Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions 3. Create a Dword value called NoFindFiles 4. Give it a value of 1 5. Reboot

Preventing Changes to File Associations


Submitted 9/18/02 You can prevent users from changing associations via Windows Explorer's Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab. 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explore 3. Create REG_DWORD data type NoFileAssociate 4. Give it a value of 1 Submitted by Paul Barker

Locking File Associations


Submitted 9/18.02 If you have your file associations the way you want for a particular file type, you can remove it from the list that gets displayed in the Folder Options / File Types screen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Scroll to the file association you want to lock. In the right panel, create a new Binary value Call it EditFlags Give it a value of 01 00 00 00 Now when you go to the Folder Options / File Types screen, you won't see that file type listed.

Submitted by Paul Barker

Turning off System Beeps


Added 9/10/01 If you want to turn off all system beeps (like the ones that go through your computers' internal speaker): 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound 3. Edit the key Beep and give it a value of No

Download reg file

Changing the Location Of Special Folders


Added 9/10/02 You can modify the registry to change the location of special folders like:

My Documents Favorites My Pictures Personal

1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explor er\User Shell Folders 3. Double click on any locations you want to change and alter the path 4. Logoff or restart for the changes to go into effect Note: TweakUI from Microsoft will allow you to make these changes from a dialog box as well

Deleting Specific Registry Value


Submitted 12/22/01 In a previous tip, Automatically Deleting a Registry Key, it was mentioned how to remove an entire registry key. If you want to simply remove a specific value within a key, use the syntax below: [Registry Key] "value"=For example: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "MSConfig"=would delete the value MSCONFIG. Submitted by Brent Towsley

Setting the Recycle Bin to Always Delete


Added 11/17/01 You can set the recycle bin to always delete items (like holding down the shift key when dragging files to the recycle bin) 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ BitBucket 3. Set the key NukeOnDelete to 1 Download reg file

Setting the Internet Explorer Home Page


Submitted 9/4/01 If you want to set the home page used by Internet Explorer through the registry 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main 3. Give the Start Page key the string value you wish set as homepage Submitted by Austin Henderson

Preparing to Move Hard Drive to Another Computer


Submitted 12/20/00 To remove the devices from device manager when taking a HD from one computer to another, simply: 1. Run Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ and delete the Enum section 3. This removes all of the hardware specific settings Submitted by Lee Berry

Comparing Registries
Added 2/21/00

While working with changes to your system, you might want to see what is changing in your Registry. Since you can export it to a text file, the steps are fairly easy 1. Start Regedit 2. With the very top level select - My Computer, on the Toolbar select Registry / Export Registry File 3. I usually save it to the root of the C: drive with the name before (you don't need to add an extension) 4. Make the change to your system 5. Go back to Regedit 6. Press F5 to update it 7. Export the Registry like step 2 8. Name the file after and have it go in the same directory 9. Open up a DOS window 10. Go to the directory where the two exported files are 11. Enter FC before.reg after.reg > diff.txt 12. Then you can edit diff.txt with your favorite text editor. Note: I do the last steps so often I have a simple batch file already set up.

Setting Excel 2000 High-Contrast Cell Selection


Added 2/2/00 If you want to increase the contrast in selected cells: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options 3. Add a DWORD value call Options6 4. Give it a value of 16 5. Now when you select cells, they will be white on black.

Changing Common Icons


Updated 1/31/00 You can change many of the common Windows icons. 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons 3. The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40

4. Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below. 5. Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file. Note: The numbering starts with zero. 6. If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0. 7. e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0. 8. Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE 0-13 Are the Drive and Application Icons 0 - To change the Unknown Application Icon 2 - To change the Default Application Icon 3 - To change the Closed Folder Icon 4 - To change the Open Folder Icon 5 - To change the 5 1/4" Floppy Icon 6 - To change the 3 1/2" Floppy Icon 7 - To change the Removable Disk Icon 8 - To change the Hard Drive Icon 9 - To change the Network Drive Online Icon 10 - To change the Network Drive Offline Icon 11 - To change the CD Drive Icon 12 - To change the Ramdrive Icon 13 - To change the Entire Network Icon 19-27 Are the Start Menu Icons 19 - To change the Programs Icon 20 - To change the Documents Icon 21 - To change the Settings Icon 22 - To change the Find Icon 23 - To change the Help Icon 24 - To change the Run Icon 27 - To change the Shutdown Icon Other Icons 33 - To change the DUN Folder Icon 34 - To change the Desktop Icon 35 - To change the Control Panel Icon 37 - To change the Printer Folder Icon 40 - To change the Audio CD Icon 43 - To change the Favorites Icon 44 - To change the Logoff Icon

Prevent Changes to the Start Menu


Added 1/31/00

To prevent any changes to the Start Menu, even a right click: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Add a DWORD called NoChangeStartMenu 4. Give it a value of 1 Download reg file

DOS Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00 There are restrictions you can make to the ability to execute DOS programs 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies 3. Create a new key under Policies called WinOldApp 4. You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys 5. To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0

Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS

Networking Restrictions
Updated 1/31/00 There are general restrictions you can make in Networking 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies 3. Create a new key under Policies called Network 4. You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys 5. To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0

DisablePwdCaching = Password Caching HideSharePwds [hex] =Shared Passwords NoEntireNetwork =Entire Network NoNetSetup =Network applet NoNetSetupIDPage =Network Identification tab

NoNetSetupSecurityPage =Network Access tab NoFileSharing =Network File Sharing button MinPwdLen = set Minimum Password Length (integer number: 0 - 99) NoPrintSharing =Network Print Sharing button NoWorkgroupContents =Network Workgroup

Control Panel Restrictions


Updated 1/31/00 There are many general restrictions you can make to the Control Panel 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies 3. Create a new keys under Policies called System 4. You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys 5. To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0

NoDispCPL - Disable Display Control Panel NoDispBackgroundPage - Hide Background Page NoDispScrSavPage - Hide Screen Saver Page NoDispAppearancePage - Hide Appearance Page NoDispSettingsPage - Hide Settings Page NoSecCPL - Disable Password Control Panel NoPwdPage - Hide Password Change Page NoAdminPage - Hide Remote Administration Page NoProfilePage - Hide User Profiles Page NoDevMgrPage - Hide Device Manager Page NoConfigPage - Hide Hardware Profiles Page NoFileSysPage - Hide File System Button NoVirtMemPage - Hide Virtual Memory Button

Restricting the Start Menu, Explorer and the Desktop


Updated 1/30/00 There are many general restrictions you can make to the Start Menu, the Explorer and to the Desktop itself. 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies 3. There should already be at least a Explorer section there already

4. Additional keys that can be created under Policies are WinOldApp 5. You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys 6. To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0

ClearRecentDocsOnExit = Clear of Recent Documents on Exit NoAddPrinter = Adding new printers NoClose = Computer Shutdown NoDeletePrinter = Delete Installed Printers NoDesktop = Doesn't show Desktop items as well as and Desktop right-click menu NoDevMgrUpdate = Windows 98/ME web Update Manager NoDrives [hex] = Hides Drives in my computer NoFind = Find command NoInternetIcon = Internet Icon on Desktop NoNetHood = Network Neighborhood NoRecentDocsHistory = Recent Documents in Start Menu NoRun = Run command NoSaveSettings = Save Settings on exit NoSetFolders = Folders in Start Menu -> Settings NoSetTaskbar = Taskbar in Start Menu -> Settings NoSMMyDocs = My Documents folder in Start Menu NoSMMyPictures = My Pictures folder in Start Menu NoWindowsUpdate = Windows web Update

Changing Office 2000's Excel Undo History


Added 1/27/00 By default, Excel has only approximately 16 undo's you can perform. To increase that number: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options 3. Add a dword called UndoHistory 4. Give it the value you want for the amount you want.

Changing the Title on Windows Media Player


Added 1/27/00 You can change the title bar for the Windows Media Player

1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_USERS \ .DEFAULT \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsMediaPlayer 3. Create a string value of TitleBar 4. Give it a value of whatever you want to appear in the title bar

Eliminating the Right Click on the Taskbar


Added 1/10/00 To eliminate the right click on the taskbar: Start Regedit 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoTrayContextMenu 4. Give it a value of 1 5. Reboot Download reg file

Eliminating the Right Click on the Desktop


Added 1/10/00 To eliminate the right click on the desktop: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoViewContextMenu 4. Give it a value of 1 5. Reboot Download reg file

Turning Off the Help on Min, Max, Close Icons


Added 1/8/00

When the mouse goes over the minimize, maximize and close icons on the upper right hand side of a window, you normally get a display telling you want those are for. To disable that display: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop Create a String Value called MinMaxClose Give it a value of 1 Reboot

Download reg file

Adding Open With to the Right Click in the Explorer


Added 12/28/99 To add the option Open With when you right click on a file in the Explorer: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ CLASSES \* \ shell \ openas \ command 3. If this key isn't there then just create it 4. Give it the value of C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1

Automatically Deleting a Registry Key


Added 12/20/99 Normally you cannot automatically delete registry keys from reg file. But there is a way... Simply include a minus sign inside the left bracket before the main key. For example. If you want to delete the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 8.0 \ Common \ Assistants, your regfile would simply look like: REGEDIT4 [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Common\Assistants] This would delete that key and any below it.

Fixing no AutoRun for CDs


Added 11/9/99 If your CDs have stop starting automatically, and you have checked everything else: 1. Go to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E xplorer 2. The value for NoDriveTypeAutoRun should be set to 95 00 00 00 Download reg file

Renaming the File System Profiles


Added 4/20/99 In the Control Panel / System / Performance / File System, you can select either Desktop Computer, Mobile or docking system, or Network Server. You can change these labels to something more descriptive: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version / FS Templates 3. You can change the text that appears under each key

Sticky Menus
Added 4/20/99 Normally when you move the mouse over the Start Menu / Programs, it will automatically cascade and show the submenus. If you want them to open only when you actually click on them: 1. 2. 3. 4. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop If if it not already there, create a string called MenuShowDelay Give it a value of 65534

Download reg file

Automatic Shutdown with Windows NT


Submitted 3/28/99 Most laptops allow the operating system to turn off the hardware after shutdown, instead of displaying the message telling you it's now safe to turn off your system. You can take advantage of this capability by enabling the Power Down After Shutdown feature. To enable this feature, simply add a REG_SZ value named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\PowerdownAfterShutDown and set it to 1. Next, tell NT to shut down and see if the machine turns itself off after shutting down. If it doesn't, change the value back to 0 to restore normal operation. Download reg file Submitted by D Puffer

Kill Hung Processes When Logging Off in Windows NT


Submitted 3/28/99 When you tell NT to shut down, it first sends shutdown requests to any running processes. Most 32-bit applications honor these requests and shut down, but older 16-bit apps running in the Virtual DOS Machine often won't. When this occurs, the operating system prompts you with a dialog box asking if you want to kill the task, wait for the task to die on its own, or cancel the shutdown. By modifying the Registry, you can automate this process. You can force NT to kill all running processes on shutdown by adding a REG_SZ value named HKEY_USER\\ControlPanel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks and set the value to 1. You can also add this value to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT so that all new accounts will shut down the same way. Submitted by D Puffer

NT Crash Log File


Submitted 3/28/99

In addition to the crash log file, you can also enable two other methods of crash notification and logging. You can enable an administrative alert by changing the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl\SendAl ert to 1. The next time the system crashes, an administrative alert will be sent that may provide the first sign of the crash. You can also make NT log the crash in the event log by changing the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\CrashControl\LogEvent to 1 instead of its default 0. Now, the exact time of the crash will be permanently recorded. Submitted by D Puffer

Changing the Location of Outlook Express Data Files


Added 1/16/99 Normally Outlook Express keeps its data files in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express directory. To change this: 1. 2. 3. 4. First copy those files to the new location Start RegEdit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Outlook Express Change the Store Root key to the directory where you moved the files

Disabling the Blinking Cursor


Added 10/17/98 To stop the cursor from blinking in applications such as Word: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop Add a String Value Name it CursorBlinkRate Give it a value of -1 Reboot the computer

Download reg file

Re-Enabling DHCP Error Messages


Added 9/20/98 If you got a DHCP error message, selected to not see DHCP errors, and now want to see them again; 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ DHCP 3. Change the value of PopupFlag from 00 to 01

Getting Rid of Schemes


Updated 6/7/98 1. A safer way would be is to go to the Control Panel / Display / Appearance tab 2. Go to the Scheme drop down box 3. Select the one you don't want and click on the delete button Submitted by obs When you right click on your desktop and pick properties your Display Properties screen appears. Under Appearance tab / Schemes, determine if you want all those wild schemes. If not they can be deleted and clear approximately 45K. Before you delete them, choose or create at least 1 Scheme and "Save As" (in my case Bud 1). 1. Open Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Appearance \ Schemes 3. Highlight every String and Value on the right side and delete. DO NOT DELETE "Default" Submitted by Bud Allen bwil@erinet.com

Hiding Any Combination of Drives


Submitted 2/15/98 If you want to stop a drive or any combination of drives appearing in Explorer/My Computer

Add the Binary Value of 'NoDrives' in the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explo rer Give it a value from a combination of the table below: A 1 00 00 00 B 2 00 00 00 C 4 00 00 00 D 8 00 00 00 E 16 00 00 00 F 32 00 00 00 G 64 00 00 00 H 128 00 00 00 I 00 1 00 00 J 00 2 00 00 K 00 4 00 00 L 00 8 00 00 M 00 16 00 00 N 00 32 00 00 O 00 64 00 00 P 00 128 00 00 Q 00 00 1 00 R 00 00 2 00 S 00 00 4 00 T 00 00 8 00 U 00 00 16 00 V 00 00 32 00 W 00 00 64 00 X 00 00 128 00 Y 00 00 00 1 Z 00 00 00 2 Where (for eg) you want to hide Drives {C,E,J,O,R,U,Y,Z} you would give 'NoDrives' the value 14 42 12 03 Where C+E = 14, J+O = 42, R+U=12 and Y+Z = 03 Please NOTE: The Numbers are to be added in HEXadecimal ie: ABCD = 0F, not 15 All Drives Visible is 00 00 00 00 All Drives Hidden is FF FF FF 03 Submitted by Ramon Buckland

Creating a Legal Text Notice Before Logon


Added 2/15/98

You can create a banner that will come up just before you logon to the computer: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKeyLocalMachine \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ WinLogon 3. Create a new string value called LegalNoticeCaption and give it a value you want to see in the menu bar 4. Create a new string value called LegalNoticeText and give it a value you want to see in the dialog box Now before anyone logs into that computer, this banner will come up on the screen. This can be useful for any legal warnings you want to give regarding the use of the computer.

Removing the Hand Icon from Shared Resources


Submitted 2/11/98 When you share a local resource, Windows95 normally puts a hand in from of that resources icon. To remove hand icon from your shared resources: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start Regedit. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / Network Open SharingHandler. Clear it's default value Restart Windows. To restore set Default value "msshrui.dll".

Submitted by Guntars Revelins

Enabling the Middle Mouse Button on Logitech Mouse


To enable the middle mouse button on Logitech Mouses to act as a double-click button by only pressing it once: 1. Run Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LOGITECH\MOUSEWARE\CURR ENTVERSION\SERIALV\0000 3. Change DoubleClick to equal 001 Submitted by Jason Maruniak

Easily Opening a File with Notepad


Submitted 10/25/97 This will enable you to right click on any file and have the option to open it with notepad. Also if a file has no association and you try to open it it will open with notepad 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Run 'regedit.exe' Expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" Inside "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT", expand "*" Inside "*", create a key called "shell" Inside "shell" create a key called "open" Inside "open" edit the string "(default)" to say "open (notepad)" Inside "open" create a key called "command" Inside "command" edit the string "(default)" to say C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE "%1"

Submitted by EIBON

Displaying Hi-Color Icons without the Plus Pack


Submitted 10/19/97 1. 2. 3. 4. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ desktop \ WindowMetrics Add or edit Shell Icon BPP=16 where the number is the color depth. The default is 8 (bit or 256 colors).

Submitted by Frank Lolli

Backing Up the Registry


Submitted 9/13/97 There are many backup programs for the registry but if the computer goes down and you can't fire off Win95 because of the registry problem. Backup to a directory the following files:

SYSTEM.DATA SYSTEM.DA0 (Yes seem to be the same size) USER.DAT USER.DA0 (Same size likely) WIN.INI

CONTROL.INI SYSTEM.INI

These files can be copied to the windows directory from Win95 or DOS to help correct problems. Submitted by George Harper

Removing Unwanted Items from the RUN Menu


Submitted 8/23/97 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start the REGEDIT program Search for the word RUNMRU Delete the ones you don't want Rename so they are all in alphabetical order again Close and restart windows

Submitted by Graham Orchard

Opening a DOS Window to either the Drive or Directory in Explorer


Submitted 8/9/97 Add or Edit the following Registry Keys [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew] @="Dos Prompt in that Directory" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew\command] @="command.com /k cd %1" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\opennew] @="Dos Prompt in that Drive" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\opennew\command] @="command.com /k cd %1" These will allow you to right click on either the drive or the directory and the option of starting the dos prompt there will pop up Submitted by James Doss

Compacting the Registry


Submitted 4/5/97 How to compact the registry? 1. Got to true DOS, not a DOS window 2. Run Regedit and then export the entire Registry to COMPACT.REG. 3. Then exit regedit and run it again with the following switch. REGEDIT /C COMPACT.REG Submitted by Ian Buda

Changing Exchange's Mailbox Location


Added 3/29/97 When you create a mailbox in Exchange for e-mail, you specify the file where you want to mail to go. You cannot change this in Exchange afterwards. If you want to change the file name or location:: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsMessaging Subsystem \ Profiles 3. Go to the profile you want to change 4. Go to the section that has the file location for your mailbox (*.PST) file in the right hand panel 5. Make the change to file location or name 6. Restart Exchange

Removing Sound Events from Control Panel / Sounds


Added 3/16/97 When you view what events you can assign sounds to from Control Panel / Sounds, you cannot delete the events themselves. In order to do that: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / AppEvents / Schemes / Apps 3. From here you can delete any items you don't want to show or no longer need.

Changing the Registered Owner


Added 2/6/97 1. Starting Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion 3. From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key

Adding an Application to the Right Click on Every Folder


Added 1/30/97 Here is how to add any application to the menu when you right click on any Folder. This could be useful if there is an app you always want available and don't want to go through the Start menu 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell 3. Add a key Name_of_Your_App 4. This can really be any label, just use one that makes sense to you 5. Give it a default value of Name_of_Your_App 6. Putting a & in front of a character will allow you to use the keyboard 7. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ Name_of_Your_App 8. Add a key command 9. Give it a default value of the application you want to run 10. For example: c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe 11. Include the full path Now when you right click on any folder, you can have access to that application This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0

Adding Explore From Here to Every Folder


Added 1/30/97 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell Add a key rootexplore Give it a default value of E&xplore From Here Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ rootexplore Add a key command Give it a default value of Explorer.exe /e,/root,/idlist,%i

Now when you right click on any folder, you can open up an Explorer window of that folder. This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0

Saving Desktop Settings


Submitted 1/11/97 When I would go to Control Panel or Start Menu Programs, or any other Desktop window setting; meaning size, position, icon arrangement, they would never be as I set them. I found an answer: At [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Expl orer] There is a "NoSaveSettings" key. I deleted it and now my all my stuff stays where I tell it. The same key shows up at: [HKEY_USERS\bwil\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] (where bwil is your password profile) Just thought I'd share this with you all. Submitted by Bud Allen bwil@erinet.com

Getting Rid of Tips


Remember those "Tips of the day" that appeared when you first install Win95? If you don't want them any longer and want to clear yet more Clutter, approximately 5K, you can delete them at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips Submitted by Bud Allen bwil@erinet.com

Changing the Location of Windows95's Installation Files


Added 12/18/96 If you need to change the drive and or path where Windows95 will look for it's installation files: 1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ SourcePath 3. Change the location from there

Creating a Network Logon Banner


Submitted 12/7/96 If you want to create a Network Logon Banner: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go To HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Winlogon 3. Create a new String called LegalNoticeCaption 4. Enter the text for your banner Submitted by Frank Tanner

Creating a Default File Opener


Added 11/29/96 If you have a un-registered file type and want to view it with Explorer's Right-click you can add your program to the right-click options by: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Starting Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASS_ROOT / Unknown Highlight the Shell Folder below it Right click on Shell and create a New Key Name it anything you want (For example NOTEPAD) Create a New Key under that named command Highlight the Command key Double click on the Default value in the right hand panel In Value Data, enter the path and filename of the program you want to use to open the file type 10. For example: C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE %1 11. Click on OK In this example, when you right click on a file in Explorer, NOTEPAD will show up as an option.

Deleting Registry Keys from the Command Line


Added 11/3/96 With the OEM Version of Windows95, a new switch, /D, is added to Regedit. This enables you to delete items from Registry. The syntax is: REGEDIT /L:system.dat_location /R:user.dat_location /D Reg_Key where Reg_Key is the key you want to delete There are two requirements: 1. That you have to boot to the same OEM version of Windows95 as the REGEDIT.EXE file. 2. You cannot be in Win95 at the time you use this switch.

Automatic Screen Refresh


Added 10/24/96 When you make changes to your hard drive and use Explorer, the changes are not usually displayed until you press the F5 key To make the updates automatic: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Control / UpdateMode 3. Edit the DWORD value to be between 1 and 7 4. Restart Windows

Disable Password Caching


Added 10/19/96 As in Windows for Workgroups, when logging on to an NT Domain, it is preferable to disable password caching. This allows for the single NT Domain login and eliminates the secondary Windows logon screen. It also eliminates the possibility of the respective passwords to get out of sync. To disable password caching on the workstation, a one-line addition to the registry needs to be made. To make the change, create a ASCII text file called DISABLE.REG with the following lines:

REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\Network] "DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001 Open up a DOS box and type REGEDIT DISABLE.REG You can also download the DISABLE.REG file. If you need to re-enable password caching, download ENABLE.REG and repeat the process just with the different file name

Changing the MaxMTU and other Network Settings


Added 10/19/96 There are four network settings that can be configured so when dialing to an ISP, you should get somewhat greater throughput. They are the MaxMTU, MaxMSS and DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL MaxMTU and MaxMSS 1. Start REGEDIT 2. Go to Hkey_Local_Machine / System / CurrentControlset / Services / Class / netTrans / 000n (where n is your particular network adapter binding.) 3. Right click on the right panel 4. Select New / String Value 5. Type in MaxMTU 6. Double click on it and enter then the number you want. The usual change is to 576 7. Similarly, you can add MaxMSS and give it a value of 536 DefaultRcvWindows and DefaultTTL 1. Start REGEDIT 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ MSTCP 3. Add a new string DefaultRcvWindow and give it a value of 2144 4. Add a new string DefaultTTL and give it a value of 60-64

Adding Items to the Start Button


Added 10/17/96 To add items when you right-click on the Start Button: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Start Regedit Go to HKey_Classes_Root / Directory / Shell Right-click on Shell and select New / Key Type in the name of the key and press the Enter key In the Default name that shows in the right hand panel, you can add a title with a & character in front of the letter for a shortcut Right-click on the key you just created and create another key under it called command For the value of this command, enter the full path and program you want to execute Now when you right click on the Start Button, your new program will show up. You do not need to reboot first. For example, if you wanted WinWord, you would add that as the first key, the default in the right panel would be &WinWord so when you right click on the Start Button, the W would be underlined and you could just press that key. The command would be something like C:\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\WINWORD.EXE

Removing Open, Explore & Find from Start Button


Added 9/15/96 When you right click on the Start Button, you can select Open, Explore or Find. Open shows your Programs folder. Explore starts the Explorer and allows access to all drives. Find allows you to search and then run programs. In certain situations you might want to disable this feature. To remove them: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Start Regedit Search for Directory This should bring you to Hkey_Classes_Root \ Directory Expand this section by clicking on the "+" Under shell is Find Delete Find Scroll down below Directory to Folder Expand this section under shell Delete Explore and Open

Note: - When you remove Open, you cannot open any folders. If you need to undo any of the changes, you can download the registry settings before the changes.

Removing Items from NEW


Added 7/27/96 When you right-click on the desktop and select New, a list of default templates you can open up are listed. To remove items from that list: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Start Regedit Search for the string ShellNew This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root For the items you want to remove, simply rename the ShellNew command Renaming is safer that deleting it Continue searching for the items you want to remove You do not need to reboot for the change to take effect

Changing the Telnet Scroll-Back Buffer Size


Added 7/27/96 By default, the Telnet session has a window size of 25 lines. To increase this so you can scroll back and look at a larger number on lines: 1. 2. 3. 4. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Telnet Double-click on the entry Rows in the right hand panel Increase the decimal value to one that suits your needs.

Changing the Tips of the Day


Submitted 7/27/96 You can edit the Tips of the day in the Registry by going to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips Submitted by Jayme Johnston jayme@excalibur.net

Disabling Drives in My Computer


Added 7/24/96 To turn off the display of local or networked drives when you click on My Computer: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Add a New DWORD item and name it NoDrives 4. Give it a value of 3FFFFFF 5. Now when you click on My Computer, none of your drives will show

Not Saving Setting on Exit


Added 7/21/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD 4. Name it NoSaveSettings 5. Give it a value of 1 6. Logoff or Reboot the computer Download reg file

Not Displaying the Network Neighborhood


Added 7/21/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD 4. Name it NoNetHood 5. Give it a value of 1 6. Logoff or Reboot the computer Download reg file

Disabling Run or Find from the Start Menu


Added 7/21/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD 4. Name it NoFile or NoRun 5. Give it a value of 1 6. Logoff or Reboot the computer Download reg for no_file Download reg for no_run

Hiding All Icons from the Desktop


Added 7/21/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD 4. Name it NoDesktop 5. Give it a value of 1 6. Logoff or Reboot the computer 7. Now all icons are hidden on the desktop. Download reg file

Get Your Folders to Open the Way You Want Every Time
Submitted 7/7/96 To get your folders to open the way you want every time: 1. Set up all your folders the way you want (auto arrange, view, etc.), 2. Start RegEdit 3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policie s\Explorer. 4. Go to NoSaveSettings 5. Modify and change Value to 1

Submitted by Dan Poplawski dan@together.net

Modifying Default Desktop Icons


Added 7/1/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons 3. The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40 4. Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below. 5. Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file. Note: The numbering starts with zero. 6. If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0. 7. e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0. 8. Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE Below is a reference for the icons I've been able to figure out: 0 - Default Icon 1 - Default Document 2 - Application 3 - Closed Folder 4 - Open Folder 5 - 5 1/4 Drive 6 - 3 1/4 Drive 7 - Removable Drive 8 - Hard Drive 9 - Network Folder 10 - Network Offline 11 - CD 12 - RAM Drive 13 - Entire Nertwork 15 - My Computer 16 - Printer 17 - Network Neighborhood 18 - Network Workgroup 19-27 are the Start Menu icons 19 - Programs 20 - Desktop 21 - Settings 22 - Find

23 - Help 24 - Run 25 - Suspend 27 - Shutdown 28 - Share 29 - Shortcut 31 - Recycle Bin (Empty) 32 - Recycle Bin (Full) 33 - Folder, Dial-Up Networking 34 - Desktop 36 - Program Group 40 - Audio Card In addition, you can change:

My Computer - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069A2D8-08002B30309D} Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000000000000046} Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}

Clearing the Documents Menu Automatically


Added 6/2/96 The Documents Menu displays the last file and programs you used. You can clear item manually but only through editing the Registry can you turn this off automatically. This can be useful on computers that are used by multiple people. The same settings can be also used in NT 4.0 1. Set the properties on the Recycle Bin to delete files immediately. 2. Start Regedit 3. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders 4. Right click on the right panel 5. Select New / String Value 6. Rename it to Recent - Only if it is not already there 7. Give it the value of C:\RECYCLED 8. Set your Recycle bin to Automatically delete files 9. Log off and back on again.

Your Documents Menu should now be blank. This will be for all subsequent users who logon as well.

Disabling the Right-Click on the Start Button


Added 6/29/96 Normally, when you right button click on the Start button, it allows you to open your programs folder, the Explorer and run Find. In situations where you don't want to allow users to be able to do this in order to secure your computer. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Start Regedit Search for Desktop This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ Directory Expand this section Under Shell is Find Delete Find Move down a little in the Registry to Folder Expand this section and remove Explore and Open

Now when you right click on the Start button, nothing should happen. You can delete only those items that you need. Note: - On Microsoft keyboards, this also disables the Window-E (for Explorer) and Window-F (for Find) keys. See the section on Installation to see how to do this automatically during an install.

Disabling My Computer
Added 6/29/96 In areas where you are trying to restrict what users can do on the computer, it might be beneficial to disable the ability to click on My Computer and have access to the drives, control panel etc. To disable this: 1. 2. 3. 4. Start Regedit Search for 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D This should bring you to the HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID section Delete the entire section.

Now when you click on My Computer, nothing will happen. You might want to export this section to a registry file before deleting it just in case you want to enable it again..

See the section on Installation to see how to do this automatically during an install.

Changing Desktop Icons


Added 5/28/96 You can change many of the icons that are located on your desktop. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start Regedit Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D Expand that key Highlight Default Icon Double click on the Default in the right panel Enter the name of the program with the icon you want to use followed by and command and then the number of the icon (starting with 0)

Some of the additional items that can be searched for are:


Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000000000000046} Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}

Additional icons can be found in:


\WINDOWS\MORICONS.DLL \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PIFMGR.DLL \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL

Opening Explorer from My Computer


Added 5/28/96 By default, when you click on the My Computer icon, you get a display of all your drives, the Control Panel etc. If you would like to have this open the Explorer: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start Regedit Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID Expand the key {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} Right click on Shell Select New / Key and type Open and press the Enter key

7. Right click on Open 8. Select New / Key and type Command and press the Enter key 9. Double click on the Default for Command and type Explorer.exe for the value 10. Now when you click on My Computer, the Explorer will start 11. If you want to return to normal, simply delete the Open key

Fixing Corrupt Registry


Added 5/12/96 If your registry has gotten corrupted, and re-installing Windows95 over your existing version does not fix the problem, there is a hidden, read-only, system file on the root of your boot drive called SYSTEM.1ST. This is the initial system registry created when you first installed Windows95. To use this file: 1. Go to your Windows directory 2. Un-Attrib your current SYSTEM.DAT file (attrib -r -s -h system.dat) 3. Copy your current SYSTEM.DAT to something like SYSTEM.BAD file (just in case) 4. Move to your root directory 5. Un-Attrib the SYSTEM.1ST file 6. Copy SYSTEM.1ST to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT 7. Re-start your system You will need to install your 32-bit apps and any other programs or changes that modified your system registry but you will not need to go through a new again. Your 16-bit apps should not need to be re-installed since they do not modify the registry. You will also retain your current desktop configuration.

Recycle Bin Edits


Submitted 5/2/96 Fooling with the recycle bin. Why not make the icon context menu act like other icon context menu's. Add rename to the menu: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20

Add delete to the menu: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:60,01,00,20 Add rename and delete to the menu: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:70,01,00,20 Restore the recycle bin to win 95 defaults including un-deleting the icon after deletion: ... Restore the icon. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explore r\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}] @="Recycle Bin" ... reset win 95 defaults . [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20 Other edits to the recycle bin icon: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:40,01,01,20 ... standard shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,02,20 ... another shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,04,20 ... and another shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,08,20 ... make it look disabled (like it's been cut) I added the above edits for fun. But it gets you thinking. Note: Adding rename and delete to the context menu takes effect instantly. To restore the icon after deletion requires screen refresh (F5). Have fun.... Tom Submitted by Tom Temple temple@earthlink.net

Setting the Minimum Password Length


Added 4/29/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network 3. Add a new Binary Value 4. Rename it to MinPwdLen

5. Assign it a value equal to your minimum password length Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation.

Disabling File and Print Sharing


Added 4/29/96 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network 3. Add a new DWord Value 4. Rename it to NoPrintSharing or NoFileSharing 5. Assign it a value of 1 Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation.

Specifying programs to run every time Windows95 starts


Added 4/21/96 If you want to start programs every time Windows95 runs, but would like to hide them from users by not having the listed in the Startup folder or the WIN.INI file, you can have them load through the registry. 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run or RunOnce 3. Right click on the right panel 4. Select New / String Value 5. Type in any name 6. For the value, enter the path and executable for the program you want to run.

Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows


Added 4/21/96 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open REGEDIT.EXE Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Open the Key LNKFILE Delete the value IsShortcut Open the next Key PIFFILE

6. Delete the value IsShortcut 7. Restart the Win95

Turn Off Window Animation


You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows. Added 4/21/96 1. Open Regedit 2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER 3. Control panel 4. Desktop 5. WindowMetrics 6. Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane. 7. Select new string value. 8. Name the new value MinAnimate. 9. Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify" 10. Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit Enter 11. Close Regedit and all programs then reboot. Download reg file

To speed up the Start Menu


Added 4/21/96 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Start the REGEDIT program Search for the word desktop This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400... Right Click on the right panel Pick NEW / String Value. Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word. Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest. Exit REGEDIT Restart Windows

Changing your Modem's Initialization String


Added 4/21/96 1. Start REGEDIT 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init

3. Change the settings to the new values

Increasing the Modem Timeout


Added 4/21/96 If your modem it timing out during file transfers or loading Web Pages, you might try increasing the timeout period. To change it: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Services / Class / Modem / XXXX / Settings Where XXXX is the number of your modem 3. Move to the right panel and double click on Inactivity Timeout 4. The number of minutes for a timeout should be entered between the brackets. 5. For example, a US Robotics Sportster could have S19=<30> to set it to 30 minutes.

Removing Programs listed from the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section
Added 4/21/96 If you remove an installed program and its files by deleting the files, it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list through the control panel. In order to remove it from the list (so you don't need to re-install in order to just remove it again). 1. Start the Registry Editor 2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall 3. Delete any programs here. This will only delete them from the list, not delete the actual programs. Only programs designed for Windows95 will show up here in the first place.

DOS Tips

Showing Long and Short Filenames


Added 1/8/00 There are two additional switches that can be used when doing a DIR 1. /B - Shows only the long filename, no details 2. /Z - Shows the short filename, with details 3. /B /Z - Shows only short filename, with no details

DOS Command History


Added 12/21/99 If you use DOSKEY in either your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or as part of the properties of your DOS Window, you can show and recall the history of commands you enter and the DOS prompt.

To recall previous commands, use the up arrow key. A complete list of previous commands can be shown if you press the F7 key To use one, press F9 and the number of the command you want to use To clear the cache, press Alt+F7

Changing a File's Date and Time Stamp


Added 12/21/99 You can change the Date and Time stamp of a file to the current setting. Type: COPY filename /B + ,, /Y

Removing the Microsoft Copyright from a DOS Prompt


Added 10/16/98 By default, when you open a DOS window, the Microsoft Copyright notice shows. To disable it, add the /K switch in the Program tab For example: C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM /k

Setting the Number of Lines in a DOS Window


Submitted 9/19/98 To set the number of lines displayed when you open up a DOS window: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Create a shortcut for the MS-DOS Prompt Right click on it Select Properties Click on the Program tab In the Batch file:, line enter mode con: lines=xx (where xx is the number of lines you want displayed) 6. Valid numbers for xx are 25 or 43 Submitted by John Karwoski

Starting DOS Fast


Want to start DOS fast outside of the START button? Drag it to your desktop. Want to start it even FASTER without the mouse? 1. Change the shortcut properties of the DOS icon to something unique, like CtrlAlt-Z. 2. Then to start DOS from within Win95/98?/NT just enter C-A-Z and poof! it's there. 3. If you toggle away, and hit the shortcut sequence again, you'll get the "old" DOS box, not a new one. Submitted by Carra Bussa

Long Filenames in a DOS Box


Submitted 4/12/98 More long filenames in DOS paths... You don't need the close double quote when entering long folder names in DOS. CD "\program files works as well as CD "\program files" Submitted by Patrick Knoll

Submitted 2/19/96 You can use long file names in a MS DOS Box. All you have to do is pu the long file name in quotes. Example: cd "program files" Submitted by Simon Story story@interlog.com

Expanding Full Path or File Name


NT 4.0 Only Submitted 8/30/97 Expand full path/file name with defined char using Command Prompt in Win NT 4.0 You can expand the full name of a file or directory using a character of your choice. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Close all Command Prompts Start the Registry Editor Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor If not present, add Key: CompletionChar If you like to use TAB-Key for expand: set value (REG_SZ): "9"

You can test it: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open up a DOS window Type: CD (followed by TAB) The first available directory will appear Press TAB again, the next one will appear The same can be done with the DIR command

Submitted by Uwe Beierlein

Adding DOSKEY to your DOS Window


Added 4/6/97 One way to have DOSKEY available when you open a DOS window would be to have it in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

This takes away conventional memory, even when you don't have a DOS window open. To only use DOSKEY when you open a DOS window:

Right click on your DOS shortcut Select Properties Click on the Program tab Add DOSKEY > NUL to the Batch File field You can also add /INSERT if you prefer

Showing DOS Error Codes


Added 4/6/97 If you want to see what error codes are being generated by DOS programs, start your DOS session with the addition of a /Z parameter to the COMMAND.COM program.

Changing Directories in DOS


Added 1/26/97 Normally, you can move up one directory level by typing CD .. The DOS with Windows95 allows you to continue moving up beyond the first directory by simply adding more periods For example, to move up two levels, type CD ...

Entering Long Paths in a DOS Window


Added 1/26/97 If you have to enter a long path and program name in a DOS window, 1. 2. 3. 4. Open up the Explorer Go to the folder you want Drag it to the DOS window The path will be inserted into the window

This can come is useful with the long path names and all the ~'s you would normally need to type. If you need to change directories, type in the CD before you drag the directory.

Having DOS Programs Prompt for Input


Added 1/26/97 When you normally create a shortcut for a DOS program, it does not prompt you for any input and just runs the program To change that, simply add a ? after the program name in the CMD field. For example: C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\EDIT.COM ? will start the DOS editor and prompt you for a file name to edit.

Verbose Directory Listing


Submitted 10/24/96 To see your free memory and other useful info in detail: 1. Open a DOS box 2. Go to the directory that you want to get specific info about, or if you just want to see memory info go to any directory (I use the root). 3. Type DIR /V 4. The /v argument stands for "verbose". 5. All sorts of good information comes up. Submitted by Brian Cohen bcohen@interserv.com

Easy way to open up DOS prompt in a specific directory


Added 6/20/96 With the advent of long directory names, it can be difficult to open up a DOS box and CD to the directory you want particularly if it is several layers of long names deep. An easy way is to: 1. Open up Explorer and highlight the directory you want to be in 2. Select Run / Command from the Start Menu 3. Your DOS prompt will now be in the directory you highlighted in Explorer

Windows98 Tips
Removing Unchecked MSCONFIG Startup Entries
Added 11/18/04 When using MSCONFIG to uncheck programs that you don't want starting, they still remain in the list. This is generally a good idea since if you make a mistake, you can easily add them in again. But if you are sure you want them removed and not displayed: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to the follow registry keys and remove any items you don't want displayed 3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run-

Finding the Win9X Product Key


Added 9/24/04 C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductKey" C:\Windows\System.dat

Assigning WAV Files When You Open a Folder


Submitted 7/9/00 You can assign a different .wav file to play when you open any folder in windows explorer. 1. You must know a litle html 2. Create a .wav or midi file or use one you already have.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Save the file to the C: drive in any directory. Go to Windows Explorer and highlight the folder Click View on the toolbar and choose Customize this Folder. Click Create or edit an HTML document. Click next and click next again. Now just insert your html code for your file and then save. Go to your folder and it should play your file.

Submitted by Bill Kriner

Helping to Reduce Modem Timeouts


Added 2/21/00 If you are experiencing a lot of modem timeout with you system, you can change the SLOWNET value in the Registry 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net\0000 (0001 etc) 3. Change the SLOWNET value from 01 to 00

Hardware Information Utility


Added 2/12/00 There is a hardware diagnostics utility that is installed with Windows98 that lets you view your hardware, registry, conflicts etc. From the Run box, enter HWINFO /UI You can view the hardware you have, what portion of the registry is pointing to it, conflicts, drivers used, I/O, IRQ, DMA # usage, and more. The results are somewhat color coded.

File attributes are magenta Registry entries are green Configuration Manger info is brown Warnings are blue Error messages are red

Changing the Version Displayed on the Desktop


Added 2/4/00 If you display the version number of Windows98 on the desktop, you usually get something like Windows 98 4.10.1998 or whatever the release date was in the lower right-hand corner of the desktop. You can change that to any other 20 characters (11 for "Windows 98 " and 9 for "4.10.1998") "Windows98 " is in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KRNL386.EXE file. "4.10.98" is in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE file. 1. Make copies of both files - KRNL386.EXE.ORG and USER.EXE.ORG - this is to have a backup just in case 2. Copy C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KRNL386.EXE to KRNL3861.EXE 3. Copy C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE to USER1.EXE 4. Use a hex editor (I like Ultra-Edit) to edit both files 5. For KRNL386.EXE search for the first instance of "Windows 98 ". It should be just before Debug Windows 98 6. Change this to whatever 11 characters you want 7. For USER.EXE search for the first instance of the version number (4.10.1998 or whatever yours displays). It should be just before Monitor%d 8. Change this to whatever 9 characters you want 9. Boot to DOS. 10. Copy USER1.EXE to USER.EXE 11. Copy KRNL3861.EXE to KRNL386.EXE 12. Restart the computer Note: While I haven't had any problems with this for the past several days, I take no responsibility if this does have some issue at some future date.

Enabling Fast Shutdown


Added 1/30/00 To turn on this feature: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Shutdown 3. Create a string called FastReboot 4. Give it a value of 1

Showing the Windows Version on the Desktop


Added 1/20/00 To show the version of Windows you are using on the desktop 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop Create a new String Value called PaintDesktopVersion Give it a value of 1 Reboot the computer

Download reg file

Restoring the Column Display to the Start Menu


Added 11/9/99 Normally with Win98, the Start Menu keeps added additional programs to the bottom on a long list. To get it to display in multiple columns: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Expl orer\Advanced 3. Right-click an unoccupied area in the right pane. 4. Click New / String Value. 5. In the name box that appears, type StartMenuScrollPrograms 6. Double-click this and give it a value of false Download reg file

Restoring the Explorer's Attrib Column in Win98 SE


Added 10/2/99 With a clean install of Win98 SE, the Attrib column in the Explorer is no longer there. To restore it, download and install Restore Attrib Column in Explorer Submitted by James A. Eshelman

Adding the URL History to the Start Menu


Added 4/20/99 If you browse the web a lot and want fast access to recent sites you visited, you can put your history list on the Start Menu. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Right click on the Start button Choose Explore Right click on the right pane Choose New / Folder Name it URL History.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000} The label isn't critical. The period, braces and CLSID number are.

If you want to search for the string to enter: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start Regedit Search for URL History Folder Right click the CLSID key Choose Rename Press Ctrl-C to Copy In the Explorer window, press Ctrl-V to paste it in.

Removing or Changing the Windows Update Feature


Added 4/20/99 To remove the Windows Update icon from the Start / Settings group: 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Polic ies\Explorer 3. If it is not already there, create a new string value NoWindowsUpdate and give it a value of 1 4. Log off and back on again To remove the Windows Update icon from the Start menu (top group): 1. From the command line run Wupdmgr.exe -shortcut. No restart of the computer is required. To redirect the Remote URL: 1. Start Regedit

2. NoWindowsUpdate should remain 0 3. Either create or go to the following registry key string value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Update 4. Create a string value called Remote URL 5. For the value, enter the appropriate remote web address. To redirect the Local URL To replace the Windows Update local page (WUM.htm) with some other local page and have the appropriate local URL point to it: 1. Start Regedit 2. NoWindowsUpdate should remain 0 3. Either create or go to the following registry key string value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Update 4. Create a string value called Local URL 5. For the value, enter the appropriate local web address.

Putting the Desktop Back on the Quick Launch Bar


Added 4/11/99 1. Create a shortcut targeting: C:\Windows\System\Show Desktop.scf 2. Drag it to a toolbar. 3. Then delete the residual shortcut from the desktop. Submitted by Paul Garavaglia Added 8/1/98 If you should delete the the Show Desktop icon from the Quick Launch toolbar, you can easily get it back again. 1. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch 2. Create a Text file called ShowDeskop.SCF with the following contents: [Shell] Command= IconFile=explorer.exe,3 [Taskbar] Command=ToggleDesktop 3. This will put the shortcut back on your Quick Launch toolbar.

Backing Up and Restoring the Registry


Added 4/11/99 You can backup the registry in one of two ways: From the Command Prompt 1. Boot to Windows98's DOS 2. Go to the \WINDOWS\COMMAND directory 3. Run SCANREG /backup While within Windows98 1. Run SCANREGW /autoscan Backups are located in the \Windows\Sysbckup folder in the RB0xx.CAB file. Where xx is replaced by the different backups. The default setting is to keep 5 versions. See the next section, ScanReg.INI Settings, for how to change several of the default settings. To restore a backup, you need to be in Windows98 DOS. 1. Go to the \Windows\Command directory 2. Run SCANREG /restore 3. From here you can select which one you want to restore

ScanReg.INI settings
Added 4/11/99 Both ScanReg and ScanRegW use the settings in the Scanreg.INI file located in the \Windows directory. You can change several of the default settings Backup=1 - Run ScanReg at startup and make a backup automatically. Registry backup is skipped altogether if this is set to 0 Optimize=1 - Run ScanReg to optimize the registry, reducing its size to improve performance. Registry automatic optimization is skipped if this is set to 0 MaxBackupCopies=5 - The number of backups to store. Valid entries are 0-99 BackupDirectory - Backup directory where the cabs are stored. The default is C:\Windows\Sysbckup

Additional system files to backup - Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3, Filenames are separated by a comma ',' ; The Dir Code can be:

10: windir (ex. c:\windows) 11: system dir (ex. c:\windows\system) 30: boot dir (ex. c:\) 31 : boot host dir (ex. c:\)

Disabling Web View in the Win98 File Explorer


Submitted 4/11/99 If you want to disable Web View you can either delete or rename the \Windows\Web directory. Now when you click on Web View in the Explorer, nothing will happen. Submitted by Stephen H. Smith

Removing Log Off Username from the Start Menu


Added 1/16/99 To remove the Log Off line on your Start menu 1. Start RegEdit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer 3. Create a new DWORD Value 4. Name it NoLogOff 5. Give this entry and add the value 1 6. Logoff and back on again to reset the registry Download reg file

Link Wizard
Added 1/16/98 The Link Wizard scans all of the link files on your system. If the associated program is not found, the Link Wizard will give you the option of removing it. You can find the Link Wizard in the RESKIT / DESKTOP directory of your Win98 CD. The file name is CHKLNKS.EXE

Restoring Your Registry


Submitted 12/31/98 Has your registry recently been damaged? To determine whether your registry was recently damaged, restore the registry from the previous day's backup. To restore the registry from the previous day's backup: 1. Hold down the CTRL key as you restart your computer. 2. On the Startup menu, select Safe mode command prompt only. 3. Type C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANREG /RESTORE, and then press ENTER. 4. When you are prompted, select Previous Day's Registry. Note: If you restore a previous registry, you may need to reinstall any programs that were installed after the registry backup was made. Submitted by Lisa

Power Management Troubleshooter


Added 11/15/98 If you are having a problem with setting your power management, there Power Management Troubleshooter tool available either on the Win98 CD or on the web. This a program that can help you determine the device or driver that might be interfering. It is on the CD at \Tools\Mtsutil\Pmtshoot\Pmtshoot.Exe or the web at Power Management Trouble Shooter (158 K) See Microsoft's site for More Information.

Bypassing the Need to Register Win98 to get the Automatic Upgrades


Submitted 10/25/98 There talk about hacking the Windows 98 Registry to bypass the obligation of register them into Microsoft, in order to be eligible to get Automatic upgrades. 1. Run Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Welcome\ 3. Select the CurrentVersion folder

4. Double click the RegDone entry on the right side and set the value to 1 5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Welcome\ 6. Select the RegWiz folder 7. Right click at right panel and add a new string 8. Set the string name to @ 9. Double click this new entry and set the value to 1 Submitted by Jorge Oliveira

Using Windows98's Disk Cleanup


Added 10/25/98 Windows98 has a built-in utility called Disk Cleanup. You can run it from either the Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup or directly run CLEANMGR.EXE Select the drive you want to clean From here you can delete:

Temporary Internet Files Downloaded Program Files The Recycle Bin Temporary Files Non-Critical Files

You can also view the files before they are deleted If you have the Plus Pack for Windows98, you can install the Disk Cleanup addition. It will build a index of several other file-types. They are:

Archives (Zip) Backup Clipart Icons and Cursors Empty Folders Fonts Help Files Lost Cluster Files Multimedia Files Screen Savers Setup Files

Temporary Files Text Files Wallpaper Files Zero-Byte Files

You can then delete any individual files you want. You can also sort by name, type, size, date or location. Note: If you want to run this last program directory, it is \ PROGRAM FILE \ PLUS! \ CLEANUP \ FILECLN.EXE This program will also run on Win95, NT 4 and NT 5 without the Plus Pack being installed.

Hiding the Windows98 Version on the Desktop


Added 10/17/98 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop Add a String Value Name it PaintDesktopVersion Give it a value of 0 Reboot the computer

Download reg file

Disabling the Active Desktop


Added 10/16/98 1. Start Regedit 2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policie s\Explorer 3. Create a new Binary Value 4. Name it NoActiveDesktop 5. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00 Download reg file

Running the Windows Update Manager


Added 9/26/98

To run the Windows Update Manger, connect to the Internet and run WUPDMGR.EXE

Disabling the Windows Update Manager


Added 9/26/98 To disable the Windows Update Manager, make the following registry edit 1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Polic ies\Explorer 2. Add ad DWORD entry called NoWindowsUpdate 3. Give it a value of 1 Download reg file

Disabling Automatic Private IP Addressing


Added 9/20/98 A Windows98 computer on a LAN and configured for DHCP will first try to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server. If that fails they will assign themselves an IP address from the 169.254.x.x range. This range is only for small, private networks. This is a advantage for those users setting up a small local LAN. They don't need to worry about assigning IP addresses for their computers. However, there are situations where you might want to disable this feature. For example, a laptop user that has a network adapter installed but is not connected to their local LAN. If you don't want this feature, you can disable it by: 1. Starting Regedit 2. Go to Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ DHCP 3. Add a DWORD entry with the name IPAutoconfigurationEnabled 4. Give it a value of 0x0 5. Restart the computer This will disable Automatic Private IP Addressing but not DHCP Download reg file

Adding Shortcuts to the Desktop


Added 9/20/98 An easy way to add a shortcut of a program to the desktop is to: 1. Right click on the icon 2. Select Send To / Desktop as Shortcut

Adding Shortcuts to Menus


Added 9/20/98 If you drag a shortcut to the Start Menu and drop it, you will get a shortcut on your Start Menu. To add it to a Program group below the Start Menu, hover it there for a second or two and the group will expand. You can then insert the shortcut into that Program Group. A divider line will be displayed to let you know where you will be placing the shortcut. To move a shortcut, left-click on it and move it to the new location.

Gradient Fill Title Bars


Added 9/20/98 If you have Win98 and are using at least 16 bit color, you can have a gradient fill for your title bars. The effect is that your title bar gradually changes color from left to right. To enable this: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Right click on an open area of the Desktop Right-Click Select Properties Click on the Appearance tab Pull down the Item list Select Active or Inactive Title Bar You can select Color and Color2 (only if you have 16 bit or higher color saturation)

Now your title bars will have a gradient fill

Installing the OEM Version Over Win95


Submitted 9/5/98 Normally you can't install the OEM Version of Windows98 if you have an existing Win95 on your system. To get around this problem: 1. Boot the PC with the Windows 95 Emergency Startup Disk to the MS-DOS prompt but make sure your CD ROM drivers are loaded on the disk and have access to the CD_ROM drive. 2. Run the MS-DOS editor EDIT and create a dummy file NTLDR (no extension) in the root dir C:\ 3. In the Windows95 directory (usually C:\WINDOWS), rename the file WIN.COM. 4. Start the Windows 98 Setup with: SETUP.EXE /NTLDR 5. You will be prompted for the directory to load Windows98 into, by default if you already have Windows95 loaded and are upgrading, it will have c:\windows.000 make sure you change it to c:\windows or it will load Win98 in another directory. Submitted by Angelo D'Elia

Adding Microsoft Fax or Windows Messaging


Added 8/28/98 If you want to install Microsoft Fax or Windows Messaging, these don't normally show up as options. They are on the Win98 CD in the Tools\Oldwin95\Message\US directory. Run WMS.EXE to install Windows Messaging Run AWFAX.EXE to install Microsoft Fax

Right Mouse Click and the Start Menu Programs


Added 8/14/98 A new way you can use the Right Mouse click with Win98 are with the programs listed in the Start Menu and the menus below it. You can now Delete, Rename, Cut, Copy, Sort, Drag Shortcuts to the desktop and more. You can even move them to different parts of the Start Menu.

Changing the Names of the Programs on the Quick Launch Toolbar


Submitted 8/11/98

In case you want to change the name that gets displayed when you hover your mouse over the icons in the Quick Launch Toolbar, the icon names can be changed in c:\windows\application\microsoft\internet explorer\quick launch Submitted by obs

ScanReg
Added 8/1/98 Windows98 has a DOS mode registry scanning program Several switches can be used with this program /BACKUP - Backup the registry and related system configuration files. /RESTORE - Choose a backup to restore. /OPT - Optimizes the Registry by removing wasted space. This will be done automatically by Win98 if there is more than 500K of wasted space /FIX - Repair the registry. /COMMENT="<comment>" :- Adds the specified comment to the CAB file while backing up.

Installing the Resource Kit


Added 8/1/98 From the CD in the \TOOLS\RESKIT directory, you can install the Windows98 Resource Kit. The following is an excerpt from a document included on the CD that lists all the programs that can be installed. 1. BATCH.EXE: Microsoft Batch Setup utility. Creates files for automated installation of Windows 98 and components. 2. CHDOSCP.EXE: Code Page Changer. Changes the Code Page used for MS-DOS-based programs to match Windows 98 Regional Settings. 3. CHECKLINKS.EXE: Link Check Wizard. Finds and eliminates dead links and shortcuts. 4. CLIPTRAY.EXE: Clip Tray. Optimizes and manages the Clipboard. 5. FAT32WIN.EXE: Fat32 Conversion Information Tool. 6. INFINST.EXE: Windows 98 Inf installer Utility. 7. LFNBACK.EXE: Long Filename Backup Utility.

8. MINITEL .TTF Files. Minitel font emulation files for HyperTerminal. 9. NETMON: Network Monitor. Service for remote monitoring of network performance on Windows 98 client machines. 10. QUIKTRAY.EXE: Quick Tray. Organizes the icons in the Windows 98 system tray. 11. POLEDIT.EXE: System Policy Editor. Sets administrative policies to define configuration settings for individual users, individual computers, or groups of users. 12. PWLEDIT.EXE: Windows 98 Password List Editor. 13. REMOTREG: Microsoft Remote Registry. Service for remotely viewing and editing the Registry on Windows 98 client machines. 14. RPCPP: Remote Procedure Call Print Provider. Service for administering network printers from Windows 98 machines. 15. SNMP Agent: Windows 98 SNMP network protocol agent. 16. TEXTVIEW.EXE: Text file viewer. Quickly displays the contents of text files. 17. TIMETHIS.EXE: Time This. Scripting tool that times how long it takes for the system to execute a given command. 18. TWEAKUI.EXE: Power Toy. Enhances and customizes the Windows 98 desktop. 19. TZEDIT.EXE: Time Zone Editor. Creates and edits time zone entries for the Date/Time icon in Control Panel. 20. USBVIEW.EXE: USB Viewer. USB Device information and troubleshooting tool. 21. WAITFOR.EXE: Scripting tool that causes the computer to wait for a signal sent over the network. 22. WHERE.EXE: Command-line tool that reports the location of a specified file on the hard disk. 23. WINDIFF.EXE: File and Directory comparison. Compares the contents of files or directories and reports differences. 24. WINSET.EXE. Command-line/scripting tool that sets global environment variables for Windows 98. 25. WSHADMIN.HLP: Windows Scripting Host Administrator's Guide. Guide to running scripts and designing applications for Windows Scripting Host.

Increasing Drive Performance


Added 8/1/98 You can likely increase your Hard Drive or CD ROM performance by: 1. Opening up the Device Manager 2. Double click on the CD or Hard Drive

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Click on the Settings tab If you have a DMA box that is not grayed out, check that box Reboot when prompted When Win98 starts again, see if that box is still checked. This is especially beneficial with the newer UDMA drives which are supported by Win98 8. This will also greatly reduce CPU utilization during hard drive activity.

Configuring for Single Click


Added 8/1/98 One of the configuration changes you can make with Win98 is to have the mouse only need a single click to open programs or shortcuts. To make this change: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open any folder, the Explorer or My Computer Select View / Folder Options Check Custom, based on settings you choose Click on the Settings button The last section, Click items as follows allows you to configure Win98 for single click

Running the System File Checker


Added 8/1/8 To check the integrity of key system file, you can run SFC.EXE in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory It can restore corrupted files, check for changed or deleted system files, as well as restore default settings

System Information Utility with Win98


Added 8/1/98 To check on various system configurations such as:

Hardware Resources and Conflicts System File Checker Registry Checker Version Conflict Manager Hardware Components and more

Save System Settings

Run the System Information utility from Start/Accessories/System Tools/System Information

System Configuration Utility with Win98


Added 8/1/98 There is a program called MSCONFIG.EXE located in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. With it you can configure your

Startup Options CONFIG.SYS AUTOEXEC.BAT SYSTEM.INI WIN.INI Programs that are starting from the Registry

You can then easily check or uncheck any of the items in each section

Adding Programs to Windows98 Quick Launch Bar


Added 7/24/98 With Windows98, you can have programs on the tool bar where they can be quickly launched. This area of the toolbar is right next to the start button. To add a program, simply right-click and drag it there When prompted, select Create Shortcut To access the program, press Ctrl-Esc to bring up the toolbar and click on the program's icon

Installing Pinball with Win98


Added 7/24/98 Normally you can't install Pinball from the original Win95 Plus Pack if you are running Win98. To get around this: 1. Insert your Win98 CD

2. Go to the \Tools\Mtsutil folder 3. Copy the PINBALL.INF to your hard drive 4. If your CD is in other than the D: drive, edit the file by changing the line layoutfile = d:\pluslayt.inf to reflect the location of your CD. 5. Insert the Plus Pack CD for Win95 6. Right-click the PINBALL.INF and select Install. 7. If you receive a dialog box requesting FONT.DAT, simply type in the correct drive letter. 8. It will automatically copy the Pinball files to your hard drive. 9. You can find the Pinball game by going to Start / Programs / Accessories / Games, and then clicking Space Cadet Table

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