Win95 Tips & Tricks
Basic
| IE
4.0's Easter Egg |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Select
"Help" from the main menu. You'll see "About Internet Explorer," and a
dialogue box will pop up. While holding the Ctrl and Shift keys, left-click
on the the IE logo and then drag it all the way to the left. Next, while
still holding the keys down, move the logo to the right, going over the
"Microsoft IE 4.0" black text. A button will then be revealed that says
"Unlock." Click it. If the IE logo is not already over the earth, it will
merely rumble, but if it is moved over the Earth or is already there, it
will open a new window, revealing a long list of credits about the makers
of IE 4.0, as well as a few inside jokes. |
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|
| Change
your Cursors |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| To
change your cursors, go to Control Panel -> Mouse -> Pointers. Select the
pointer you want to change, and browse to the folder where you store your
cursors. The default folder is c:\windows\cursors. |
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| View
files' extensions |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Most
of the time, icons are all you need to recognize a file's type; but sometimes
you want to see that extension in plain black and white. That's why Windows
95 allows you to view files with and without their extensions. Go to Windows
Explorer, choose Options in the View menu. Click the View tab and, assuming
you want to display extensions, de-select the option, "Hide MS-DOS file
extensions for file types that are registered." Click Apply or OK. |
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| Change
the associations of files |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Want
to open a file in an application other than the one with which it's associated?
(In Windows 95, each file type is associated with a particular application.
For example, when you double-click a .TXT file, it automatically opens
in NotePad.) Hold down Shift as you right-mouse click the file, and you'll
notice a new item in the context menu--Open With. Select this option, and
in the resulting dialogue box choose the application you'd prefer to use.
Click OK and the file opens in your application of choice. |
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| Drop
In on your Start Menu |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Need
to add an application to your Start menu? You could right-mouse click Start,
choose Open, and then click and drag the application icon into the Start
Menu window, but there's an easier way. From an Explorer or My Computer
window, drag and drop the application's .EXE file on the Start button and
let go. (Or, drag and drop an application on the Start menu.) Click Start,
and there's your new shortcut! |
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| Don't
unZip Windows 95 files with a 16-bit unZipper |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Don't try and
extract Zipped files designed for Win95 using a DOS-based unZipper (such
as PKUNZIP) or a 16-bit program. Both will truncate long file names. If
any of the files have names longer than 8+3, they will be truncated, and
the setup program will be unable to find them. Use a 32-bit unZipper like
the WinZip instead. |
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| Closing
Related Windows All At Once |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Do
you often end up with a lot of related windows together on screen -- for
example, after double-clicking a folder, then double-clicking one inside
of that, and so on? When you're ready to close them all, don't waste time
clicking each and every X caption button (the one in the upper-right corner
of each window). Just hold down Shift as you click the X of the last window
you opened. Doing so closes that window and all of its "parents" in one
fell swoop. |
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| Installing
Win3.1x Software under Win95 |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| Many
programs designed for Windows 3.1 do not install correctly on Win95. Frequently,
icons are not created, and you may see an error message along the lines
of "Cannot establish DDE communication with the desktop." Avoid this problem
by installing Windows 3.1 programs using . . . Program Manager! Yes, good
old Program Manager from 3.1 is right there in your Win95 directory (c:\windows\progman.exe)!
Double-click on it and choose File\Run (it will bring back memories.) |
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| Avoiding
the Recycle Bin |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| To
temporarily avoid sending deleted files to the Recycle Bin, select the
file or files to be deleted and hold the Shift key as you delete them.
To permanently avoid sending deleted files to the Recycle Bin, you Right-Click
the Recycle Bin folder and select File | Properties. Check the "Do not
move files to the recycle bin. Remove files immediately on delete." |
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| Remove
The Volume Control From The Taskbar |
| Platform:
Win95/NT |
User
Level: Beginner |
|
| To
remove the volume control from the tray area of the taskbar, go into Control
Panel --> Multimedia --> Audio --> uncheck the "show volume control on
Taskbar" option and click OK. |
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I am not responsible for any problems you may experience using
any of this Software
Use At Your Own Risk.
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