Win95 Tips & Tricks
| Command
Line Multi-tasking |
Sometimes I resort
to the command line to do things quickly and "the old way". Its really
handy to be able to multitask on the command line, and for that I've written
this small batch file.
-- listing for bg.bat ---start /m command /c %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9--- end listing ----
By putting this batch file on
my path, I can run any dos (or windows) command or program in the background.
For example,
bg pkunZip data.Zip c:\datadir
-d
will unZip my data in the
background. It's very handy and I use it often. Anybody that uses UNIX
or OS/2 will be used to this feature. |
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|
| Make
an Open New Folder Context Entry |
| Sometimes I want
to open a new folder so I can copy or move files around.
Open your notepad and copy
this exactly into it.
---REGEDIT4[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew]@="Open New &Window"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew\command]@="explorer %1"---
Do not copy the '---', just the
text between them. Now save the document as Open New Folder.reg. You can
call it anything you want, just be sure to put the .reg extension after
it. I usually allow it to save on the desktop to find it quickly. Now double
click on the new icon that has appeared. The registry hack will update
automatically.Now right click on a folder and you will see a new option
called 'Open New Window' |
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| Changing
default from 'Open' to 'Explore' |
|
| Here is a useful
tip and you need not edit the registry to do it! If you always want explorer
to come up when you click on something and not just the ever-useful "My
Computer" Window, here's how:Click on the View Menu/Options/file types/
and then choose "Folder" from the list. Click on the "Edit" button and
then click the "Set Default" button to change the default action from "Open"
to "Explore". It is much better this way! |
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| Converting
from Netscape to Microsoft's Internet Explorer? |
|
| Migrating from
Netscape Navigator to Microsoft's Internet Explorer? If you've made your
mind to do that, try to save your bookmarks by drag them from tree view
of bookmarks to the 'Favorites' folder. |
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| Changing
the Fonts in MS Internet Explorer |
|
If you ever wanted
control over the fonts used by Microsoft's Internet Explorer, here's how.
-
Start the Registry editor
-
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software
/ Microsoft / Internet Explorer /Styles
-
A list of all the possible combinations
will come up
-
On the right panel is the Style
Name on the left, followed by its value on the right.
-
Double click on a Style Name and
change its font, size, or weight.
-
Repeat this for all the fonts
available for the style you would like.
-
There are 13 settings to change
which only takes a few minutes.
-
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software
/ Microsoft / Internet Explorer /Styles
-
Change the Default_Style_Sheet
to be the one you just edited.
-
Restart the Internet Explorer
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| Enhance
the Start Menu |
|
| Create a new folder
on your desktop.. Rename it - call it:
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Now it should look like a normal
Control Panel icon you see in My Computer (not a shortcut). Now right click
on the Start button,click on open. Move the new folder we just created
to the start menu folder. Close the Start Menu folder. Now when you click
on Start, you should see Control Panel on it. Click on it and it will expand
to show all the items, fast! You can do the same thing with Printers and
Dial-Up Networking - here's the names you need:
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Dial Up Net.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} |
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| Fix
Broken Start Menus |
|
| Sometimes people
experience the problem of having a Start menu which is empty and cannot
be modified. One possible cause: If the c:\windows\"Start Menu" directory
is modified (particularly if anything is deleted) from the MSDOS prompt,
Windows 95 will decide that the start menu is invalid. The Start Menu is
empty,and if you try to add anything to it, you get "Unable to add to Start
Menu" or a similar message.
Solution:
-
If there are still Sub folders
and links in c:\windows\"Start Menu" that you can access from the Explorer,
copy these to another folder as backup.
-
Restart the Computer, and when
you see "Starting Windows95..." press F8 to get to the startup menu. Choose
"Command Prompt Only."
-
At the c:\ prompt, change to the
windows directory and "deltreestartm~1". Reboot the computer.
-
When Windows 95 reloads, it will
find that rather than being invalid, the Start Menu simply isn't there.
It will then create a valid (but empty) Start Menu.
-
At this point you can go to Start
/ Settings / Taskbar / Start Menu / Advanced and start copying back in
the shortcuts you backed up in step one, or you can run GRPCONV.EXE to
get your basic icons back, and reinstall or create the other links by hand
to get your icons back.
-
You're done. You have a Start
Menu again.
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| Keep
Fonts from Disappearing |
|
| If you install
a generic Text mode Printer into Windows 95 and choose it as default you
will not see any of your TrueType Fonts in programs like Word 6.0 or Wordpad.
Delete the Printer or Install
another one like HP Deskjet and make it the default printer to regain access
to your fonts. |
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| Customize
MS-DOS Mode |
|
| If you want to
be able to completely control the settings used when you choose 'Restart
Computer in MS-DOS Mode,' use Explorer to go to your Windows directory
and find a file called 'Exit To DOS.' (It might or might not show the extension
.PIF depending on your settings for Explorer). Right-click this file, choose
properties, and go to the Program tab. Click the Advanced button,and you
can enter custom CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT commands to be executed. Save
your changes, and they will go into effect whenever you reboot into DOS-mode
from the Shut-Down menu. |
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| Make
Windows 3.1 Programs Behave |
|
| If you're having
compatibility trouble with old Windows 3.1 programs try using mkcompat.exe.
Start it using the Run command. Just choose a file in the file menu that
you want to fix compatibility with and begin selecting options such as:
Lie about Windows
version #
Delay comm handshake
Increase Stack Size
etc. |
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| Tired
of a GUI Interface? |
|
If you want Windows
95 to boot up like a regular MS-DOS session,do the following:
-
Edit your msdos.sys file
-
Add the line "BootGUI=0"
to the file.
This will bring a regular DOS
session up upon reboot. |
|
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| For
the Multi-boot Users |
|
Tired of hitting
"F8" every time you boot to change your settings?
-
If you edit your msdos.sys file
-
In the "Options" section
-
Add the line "BootMenu=1"
This will always present you with
a boot menu, removing the need to hit F8 every time. |
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| Turn
off the Windows 95 Logo When Booting |
|
To remove the
Windows 95 logo on startup, you can do the following:
-
Open file msdos.sys in
Notepad.
-
Find the [Options] section.
-
Add this line in the Options section:
Logo=0
Reboot your machine and there
should be no logo on startup. |
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Permanently
Turn Off the Recent Documents Menu  |
|
The Documents
Menu is a clever idea (Click "START" and scroll down to "Documents") -
it displays a list of the last dozen-or-so programs and files opened on
your computer. You can clear the menu temporarily; the only problem is
that there's no way to turn it off. This is not only a hole in security,
but a major irritation, and the the lack of a way to turn this feature
off is embarrassing. Microsoft calls this a "feature," and claims that
there is no way to disable it - but I have come up with a way disable it: 
To disable the Documents menu
permanently, follow the following directions:
OR Download
this Registry patch and Skip steps 4 - 10
INSTALLATION:
Microsoft Internet Explorer:
Click on the Download link and select "Open it" and it's installed.
Netscape Navigator:
Click on link, Save file to your hard drive and double-click on the saved
file.
Other Browsers: Most
Browsers will follow the Netscape Instructions.
-
Right-click on the Recycle Bin
on the Desktop, and select Properties from the menu.
-
Under the "Global" Tab, select
the "Use one setting for all drives".
-
Turn on the option labeled "Do
not move files to the recycle bin".
-
Next, run the Registry Editor
(Click START go to RUN and type REGEDIT and then press ENTER).
-
Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ explorer\ Shell Folders.
-
At the right side of the window,
there should be a list containing one or more of your "special" folders.
-
If an entry named Recent doesn't
already exist, select New from the Edit menu, and then select String Value.
Rename the new item to "Recent."
-
Next, double-click on Recent,
and under Value Data, type c:\recycled. Press OK when finished.
-
Important: Next, in the key named
User Shell Folders, just below Shell Folders, add a new entry, duplicating
the one you just changed (or added).
-
Close the Registry Editor when
finished. You will probably have to restart Windows for this change to
take effect. At that time, you can safely delete the Recent folder.
-
Note: In order for this to work,
you must set the Recycle Bin so it deletes files instantly, or you'll have
a bunch of deleted files in your Documents menu. (Refer to 1 - 3.) If you
still can't get this to work, you probably didn't add the new entries to
the User Shell Folders key as described above (see "Important").
-
Now Completely shut your computer
OFF. (Rebooting will not work.)
Leave your computer OFF for
at least 30 seconds then turn your computer back on.
Your "Recent Documents Menu"
should be permanently disabled
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| Not
so fast |
Don't
you hate it when you hit the Caps Lock or Num Lock key by mistake? Windows
95's Accessibility options can keep them from sneaking up on you.
Open the Control Panel, choose Accessibility
Options and select Use Toggle Keys. Click OK, and now if you hit Caps Lock
or Num Lock, you'll hear a warning tone. |
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| Good
storage with clipbook |
| There's
some amazing, little-known stuff on the Windows 95 CD-ROM--for instance,
a better version of Clipboard. When you copy or cut something to the usual
Clipboard, you lose the last thing that was there. Few people know it,
but Windows 95 also has a ClipBook where you can save clippings and reuse
them. To install it, insert the Windows 95 CD-ROM, and in the resulting
window select Add/Remove Software. Go to the Windows Setup tab, click Have
Disk, click Browse, and navigate your way to d:\Other\Clipbook (where d
is your CD-ROM drive letter). With the clipbook.inf file the only thing
in the file name box, click OK twice. Check ClipBook Viewer, then click
Install. You'll now be able to open the program by selecting Start*Programs*Accessories*ClipBook
Viewer. |
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| Backup
registry |
| All
sorts of installation programs mess with the Windows Registry, so it's
a good idea to make regular backup copies of the two files, user.dat and
system.dat. Unfortunately, you can't use Explorer or DOS to copy these
files. Buried on the Windows 95 installation CD-ROM is a program that lets
you make up to nine backups of your Registry. Just copy Cfgback.exe from
the CD-ROM's \Other\Misc\Cfgback folder to c:\Windows, and then copy the
Cfgback.hlp file to c:\windows\help. To make a backup, double-click Cfgback.exe
and follow the detailed instructions.
The user.dat and system.dat cannot
be backed up from windows.
YOU CAN BACK THEM UP FROM DOS AS FOLLOWS:
c:
cd \windows
xcopy system.dat system.rr /h
xcopy user.dat user.rr /h
change the rr to match whatever you
like, such as your initals.
to restore these files, you have to
boot up in safemode-command-prompt-only, attrib them -r -s -h, replace
them, and re-attrib them +h +s
This Update courtesy of Randy Ransier,
Sr. |
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| Keep
policy editor off your hard disk |
| Don't
want someone else changing your Windows environment? Use the System Policy
Editor, located on the Win 95 installation CD-ROM. Don't put the Policy
Editor on your own hard drive or you'll make it too easy for others to
change your configuration. When you need it, pop in the CD-ROM, select
Start*Run, and run the command d:\admin\appTools\poledit\poledit.exe, where
d is your CD-ROM drive. |
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| Naked
Pages Explorer |
If
your Wininet.dll file is missing or you have the wrong version, something
strange may happen to your IE window--it will be transparent! The problem
may be caused by the Auto-Update program in many Sierra games, which replaces
the Wininet.dll file and causes the problem.
To fix the problem, make sure that
the Wininet.dll file exists only in the Windows\System folder, and that
it is the correct version. To do this, click the Start button and choose
Find|File or Folders. On the "Named" line, type Wininet.dll. Click the
arrow next to the "Look in" line and select the root directory of your
hard drive, then click Find Now. In the list that appears, right-click
on the Wininet.dll file and select Properties. Then check out the Modified
date on the General tab and the File Version number on the Version tab.
If you're running IE 3.0, the file should say version 4.70.1157 with a
Modified date of 8/24/96. If you're running IE 3.01, the file should say
version 4.70.1215, with a Modified date of 10/15/96.
If you've got the wrong version, try
running Sierra's Auto-Update program, which links to Sierra and downloads
the correct version of the Wininet.dll file. |
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| Emergency
recovery utility |
| If
you use the Emergency Recovery Utility found on the Windows 95 CD-ROM to
create an emergency boot disk, be aware that some of the configuration
files can be huge, making it impossible to fit them all on a floppy (and
ERU can't handle multiple floppies). When ERU shows the files it will back
up, click Custom to see the files it will skip. You can choose to skip
other files,or you can make a note of the ones not being copied and back
them up manually. |
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| Go
to the source |
| If
you're tired of the useless and read-only View Source screen, select Options,
General Preferences, click the Apps tab, and specify an application such
as Notepad or WordPad for viewing (and even editing locally) any page's
source HTML code. |
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| Rest
your mouse |
| When
reading a long Web page, save your wrists and use keyboard shortcuts to
navigate: Page Up and Page Down take you up and down one screen full at
a time. Ctrl+Home takes you to the very top of the page, and Ctrl+End takes
you to the bottom. |
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| Put
your two cents in |
Windows
95 Help menus are helpful, but they don't always speak your language. You
can put in your own two cents by annotating any topic. It's like pasting
a sticky note right on it.
Right-mouse click the window of an
open topic and choose Annotate. Speak (type) your mind in the box that
pops up and click Save. From now on, you'll see a little paper clip any
time you open that topic. Click the paper clip to read your notes. To get
rid of the note, open it and click the Delete button. |
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| Out
with the old, in with the new |
If
you're viewing the contents of a floppy disk, and then insert another disk
into your floppy drive, how do you view the new disk's contents?
We hope not by opening My Computer
and double-clicking the Floppy Drive icon. There's a much faster way. Simply
hit F5 to refresh the open floppy disk window's contents. The contents
of the old disk will disappear from the window, replaced by those of the
new one. |
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| Take
all the extensions you need |
| 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. With any
Windows 95 window open, 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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| Clearing
the "Run" Menu. |
To
remove items from the Run menu, open up the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
Choose the values of the entries that
you want to delete, then press delete.
NOTE:Do not delete the (Default) or
RunMRU values. |
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| Expanding
All Sub folders in Explorer |
| Simply
press the asterisk key (*) on the numeric key pad to expand all the Sub
folders for the selected drive. |
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| Register
to Note |
Make
it easier to open unrecognized file types by making them all default to
Notepad. Create a new document on your desktop (right-click and select
New/Text Document) and double-click on it.
Then type the following lines into
the file:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\ open]
@="Notepad"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\ open\command]
@="Notepad. exe %1 " Next, save the file with a REG extension, rather than
TXT. Finally, double-click on the file to add an entry into your Registry
file (to see the actual changes, open up the Registry and look under
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell). Now, all
file types will have a Notepad option in their right-click menus, and unregistered
files will open with Notepad by default. |
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| Deleting
Files Immediately |
| Holding
down (and keep pressing) the shift key will cause items you are deleting
to be immediately deleted, instead of being moved to the 'recycle bin' |
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| You
Know Where to Send That |
| When
you right-click on most objects, you'll usually see a Send To option. This
offers you a number of locations you can send the item you've selected.
The default locations are useful, but why not throw your own favorites
in there? Just open the SendTo folder in the Windows directory, or select
Run from the Start menu and type sendto. Anything you put in the SendTo
folder (preferably shortcuts) will then appear on the Send To menu. |
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| Return
to Send To |
| If
you keep finding yourself adding new items to the Send To menu, save some
time by creating a shortcut in the menu that points to the Send To menu.
Just open the Send To folder, located in the Windows directory. Right-click
in the folder and select Create New Shortcut. For the shortcut pathname,
just type sendto. This seemingly recursive action lets you add in your
favorite folders on the fly. |
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| More
memory |
If
you are not using DoubleSpace or DriveSpace, delete 'drvspace.bin' and
'dblspace.bin'from both the C:\ and C:\Windows directories.
This will free additional DOS memory
and speed system startup.
Freeing Memory in DOS Windows
In the [386Enh] section of 'System.ini',
add 'LocalLoadHigh=1'
Removing DriveSpace |
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| Adding
Actions |
| Each
file type in Windows 95 has its own actions. If you right-click on an EXE
file, for example, the actions on the Context menu are Open and Quick View.
You can add actions to the context menu of any file type. Here's how to
do it. Open Explorer, select View/Options, and click on the File Types
tab. Find the file type you want and click on Edit. If the file type isn't
listed, click on New Type, enter a description and extension. Click New
to add an action. Type in a description and the command line to execute.
If you want to change the action that executes when you double-click on
the icon, click on the Action and then on Set Default. |
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| Whoops! |
| If
you rename a file and change your mind, press Alt+Backspace. |
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| The
Name of the Recycle Bin |
| Here's
how to change Recycle Bin's name. Launch the Registry Editor by selecting
Run from the Start menu. Type REGEDIT in the Run dialog and click on the
OK button. Drill down the following path: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
and change Default value from Recycle Bin to the name of your choice. |
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| Kill
the Recycle Bin |
| If
you don't use the Recycle Bin, you can kill it. Launch the Registry Editor.
Click on the plus signs to drill down the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace. Click on each of the strings
of characters in this folder until you see "Recycle Bin "in the right pane.
Press the Delete key, then say good-bye to the Recycle Bin. |
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| Get
in control with the explorer! |
Don't
let Explorer tell you where you want to start when you load it up....YOU
decide. Create a shortcut to the Explorer with the following command line
to open it at the root of C:
c:\windows\explorer.exe /e,root,c:\
where the syntax is: explorer [/e][,root,] |
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We Are not responsible for any problems you may experience using
any of this Software .
Use At Your Own Risk.
|