Tips & Tricks

For

Windows 95

______________________________Version 2.0______________________________

Last Updated 1995-08-27

Windows 95 Tips, Tricks and Undocumented Feature

Here it is …. The FIRST Win95 Tips & Trick .hlp file on the scene…

If u have a tip or a trick for Windows 95 that is not included in this file, please send it to eneuman@haddock.cd.chalmers.se and you will be added to my mailing list and receive a update of this file as soon as there is one ;)

I DONT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT THEES TIPS & TRICKS MIGHT DO TO YOUR COMPUTER.

If you have any suggestion or FeedBack please email eneuman@haddock.cd.chalmers.se

Here we go …..

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Tip No #1

Escaping from a hang:

If you get hung up in win95 and the usual ctrl-alt-delete does not respond, press ctrl-escape. This may bring up the START menu from which you can shut down the system.

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Tip No #2

Right-Clicking in Save File dialog boxes:

Try it! If you are saving a file, and right-click in the dialog box, you can change your view, arrange the icons, or create new folders prior to saving the file.

This is great if you suddenly decide while saving that you want to save the file in a folder that doesn't currently exist.

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Tip No #3

Expanding all Subfolders in Explorer:

To quickly expand the Explorer tree view to show all subfolders for a highlighted drive or folder, simply press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad.

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Tip No #4

Quickly Seeing Properties:

To quickly access the Properties information for any object, hold the ALT key while double-clicking it.

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Tip No #5

Opening an associated file with a different program:

Hold the SHIFT key while right-clicking on the file in Explorer. The Open With can

now be selected, and you can choose a different application to open the file with.

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Tip No #6

Avoiding Windows 95 Logo at startup:

Either press ESCape during bootup, or edit MSDOS.SYS and add the line LOGO=0 to the Options section.

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Tip No #7

What .DLL's are being used in a .EXE?:

Right-click on the application's name, and select Quick View.

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Tip No #8

AutoPlay Disable:

To disable Autoplay from automatically playing a music cd, hold the SHIFT key for a few seconds after you close the CD-ROM drive door.

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Tip No #9

Soundcard Volume:

Single click on the speaker icon in the tray to bring up the master volume control. Double-click that icon to bring up the full mixer controls.

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Tip No #10

Desktop Properties:

A shortcut is to right-click anywhere on the desktop, then select properties.

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Tip No #11

Windows 95 Backup:

The backup program included apparently runs 15-25% faster if you keep it minimized during the backup.

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Tip No #12

MSInfo Program:

Windows 95 comes with a little-known program that shows a lot of system info, called MSINFO. It can be found in the windows/msapps/msinfo folder, and shows information on DLL's, and much more.

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Tip No #13

Clock/Calendar:

Double-click the time in the taskbar tray to see a calendar, and to change the system date/time.

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Tip No #14

Right-click on an empty part of the taskbar and select Properties for a list of options including auto-hide, always on top, and others.

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Tip No #15

You can change the location of the taskbar to be the bottom, top, or either side of your screen by simply dragging it to where you want it.

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Tip No #16

For maximum DOS memory in an MS-DOS session, add the line LocalLoadHigh=1 to the [386Enh] section of system.ini.

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Tip No #17

To get Explorer to show a two directory view similar to File Manager just open two instances of the Explorer, right-click on the Task bar, and select "Tile Vertically". Win95 will retain both if you leave them running when you shut down so that they're instantly available the next time you boot up.

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Tip No #18

You can have the icon of all your BMPs a small picture of the actual bitmap.

Open regedit

Find Paint.Picture (or whichever program BMPs are registered to)

Add a New Key under Paint.Picture        DefaultIcon

In the right pane,change the Default Value (by Double Clicking it) to %1.

%1 tells windows the default icon for this file type is in the file itself-since there is no icon in a BMP file, Windows 95 makes a small preview image of the BMP for the icon.Makes sorting and viewing BMPs super easy.

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Tip No #19

To speed up the Program tree accessed from the START button ,open the Registry Editor, expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and then Control panel.Inside of Control Panel you'll find Desktop, highlight it w/o expanding it.

In the right pane make a right click and choose New-String value.

The name of the string is "MenuShowDelay" w/o the quotes, give it a value of 10 or less.

This value is the time in milliseconds that the popup will wait before showing.

When you restart WIN95 you'll see that the Start menu opens it's popups almost instantaneously.

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Tip No #20

If you hold down shift while dragging items into the Recycle Bin they will be DELETED immediately rather than being placed in the bin. Just be careful not to accidently multi-select more files than you wanted.Similarly, pressing Shift-Del gives you the same effect.

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Tip No #21

I installed Win95 into a new directory. Is there a way, now,to get back my WfW 3.11 groups?

I copied all the .grp files to the win95 directory, but how can I now tell Windows to use or convert these files?

-Run the program grpconv.exe in your Windows directory. It will allow you to convert your Program Manager groups to Win95 foldersin the Start Menu.

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Tip #22

Even if Win95 recognises your video card it often requires an entry in AUTOEXEC.BAT to set the correct refresh rates.For instance a Stealth 64 card requires a ref to S64MODE in AUTOEXEC.BAT.

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Tip #23

Have you played with the SENDTO feature in Explorer?It's a hidden folder in   C:\WINDOWS. You can add folders to it and be able to quickly move things around(right click on file - use Send To).

You can also put WINZIP in there to make quick ZIP files.

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Tip #24

In Explorer you can set up different actions to be performed on a document in addition to just the standard 'open' command that will be available to you when you right click on your icon.Go to an Explorer window and choose View | Options and then the tab 'File Types'.

In the list you see, find the association for the file type you want to add an action to, e.g BMP. Double click on it to bring up the edit window.

You should see that there is already at least one action here, probably Open, maybe Print, etc. Click on the New . . . button and type in a new command, like Edit or View or whatever you want. Then select the application you want to use to Edit your Bitmap, as opposed to just viewing it. Then when you right click on a BMP file you will see your new command there and you can easily choose to View, Edit, Open, Print . . . .whatever you want with whatever app

you want to do it with.

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Tip #25

There's a magical little program that is automatically installed by Win95 that you can use to make Win 3.x programs more compatible under 95.It is called MKCOMPAT.EXE and is in the Windows\System directory.

Just run MKCOMPAT.EXE - Select File/Open - Open the EXE file that you are having problems with - Start highlighting things that seem like they may make a difference. - Select File/Advanced for more control options - Select File/Save to save the new configuration There is no online help - so some trial and error is in order

until you find the optimal settings.

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Tip #26

To turn off the Auto Load feature of Windows 95 Put the following in your

CONFIG.SYS -or- MSDOS.SYS...

[options]

BootGUI=0

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Tip #27

To have the option of booting your old DOS everytime you boot up put this in

your CONFIG.SYS -or- MSDOS.SYS...

[options]

BootMenu=1

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Tip #28

I always forget my PIN code to my creditcards. Now i use Schedule+ from Office for Windows 95, where i put them in as an "TO DO" that never will be checked, Then they, or it, will automatic be transfered to my Timex DATA LINK Watch for Windows, when i daily update my calender. That means, when I have my watch and my creditcards, I can always use the cash dispensers if needed. You can put in the digits in reverse order, or scramble them in another way. Simple - but very usefull   :-)

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Tip #29

Ever have too many programs open, and the taskbar has a bunch of "icons" that you can't read the title in?  Make it bigger!

This should have been obvious, but I just came across it one day. Just move your mouse cursor to the top of the task bar (if it's on the bottom) and drag it up. Win95 remembers position as well.

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Tip #30

Here's a simple trick that saves a bit of time.

When you want to rename a file, folder or desktop item do you find it a hassle to right click the item, choose Rename etc, etc before you can type in the new name?

Well, try this ....

1) LEFT click on the file, folder, or desktop item as you

normally would to select it.

2) Wait a moment, long enough for Windows to know that you aren't

double clicking it, and LEFT click again.

3) The file, folder or desktop item is now ready for a name change.

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Tip #31

You can drag icons into your documents...  This will create a static link to that icon, just drag 'My Computer' onto a new Wordpad doc, and double Click to see!

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Tip #32

I just stumbled to this one on my hard drive.  With release 490, there is a wonderful file called Tips.Txt in the windows directory! If you're running 490 (or above) and installed Win95 in your C drive, read the file.

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Tip #33

Want to make your single or double speed drive perform like a quad+ speed drive in Win '95 ?  It's easy..

Go to My Computer / Properties / Performance / File System / CDROM

and set the supplemental cache speed to its maximum and the access pattern to 'Quad speed or higher'.  I was shocked to see my little 'ole single speed drive play the previously choppy avi's on a Bugs Bunny CDROM I have.

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Tip #34

Spell Checking in Exchange

If you can't understand why there is no spell check in MS Exchange then read on.  It is

because MS Exchange requires a 32bit Spell Checker.  MS Word's 16 bit spell checker won't cut it with MS Exchange.  This is what you do to get a 32bit Spell Checker, call MS and ask for MS Office NT sidegrade.  (Assuming you already have MS Office).  The CD-ROM sidegrade will cost about 15 bucks.  This will allow you to sidegrade your current MS Office to NT MS Office (Which is 32bit).  Not only will your spell checking now work in Exchange, but Word will now support long file names....all for 15 bucks!  If you don't want to install the whole sidegrade and are just interested in the spell checking....just install Word and select spell check as the only option to install.  This will only add Spell Check to your system rather than the whole Word package.

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Tip #35

Windows 95 allows you to do some strange things with audio CDs.  Try some

of the following:

(1) Go into Explorer and click on your CD drive with an audio CD in it.

(2) In the right panel you will see Track01.cda throuhg Track??.cda.

(3) If you right-click on a track, you can play it automatically by choosing Play from the Quick Menu.

(4) If you double-click on a track, it will play automatically.

(5) Try dragging a track onto your desktop (you can copy it or create a shortcut, it doesn't matter).  Rename the track's copy/shortcut to the song's real name.  Whenever you have the CD in the drive, you can now double-click on it on the desktop to play it.

(6) You can also drag tracks to your hard drive and put them in your Start Menu, or create a directory with CD tracks in it.

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Tip #36

Try this tip if you are using The Internet Explorer that comes with Plus!

The Explorer has it's favourites (bookmarks) menu. Click on open favourites then a window will appear with all your favourites.

Right click, then select "New" then "Folder" now you can create several folders and name them accordingly to your links! This is one easy way categorizing your links into several groups or folders.

The folders will appear in the menu when you click on "Favourites" with your links within them..

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Tip #37

If you hate going through the NetHood to find a computer or hate searching through

My Computer or explorer when you know right where you want to go, here is a solution.

Click on Start...Run... and then type in your path.

i.e

Start... Run...C:\win95 > will open a window of the Win95 directory.  This works great with UNC's.  Like Start... Run... \\<server name>\<share name> or you can just use the server name by itself.  If you're looking for a computer, this is a lot faster.

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Tip #38

I use this one all the time.  A real saver...

Right click in a Win95 application's file open box for new, copy, delete, arrange, etc. Most of Explorer's functions except half the toolbar and no pull down menus.  Try it.

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Tip #39

I wanted to have a directory named "New Downloads" in Win95, but have the short file name be just "DOWNLOAD" instead of "NEWDOW~1" which is less than helpful.

The only time short filenames are relevant is in a mixed computing environment, when you're planning to share files with other users whose systems do not support LFNs. In that case, why not try two things:

1. Train users to start LFNs with the short version they plan to use. In your case, that

would mean naming the folder DOWNLOADS-NEW, which would resolve to Downlo~1.

2. You can get rid of the tildes with a simple registry hack. Add the value NameNumericTail = 0 in the following Registry key:

Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

and the above example (assuming there wasn't already a DOWNLOAD directory) would resolve to the correct eight-character name.

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Tip #40

The "Send To" quick menu shows only the floppy drives as a destination. You can any other disk area or folder as a destination by adding short cuts to the "Send To" folder.  You must add a short cut or a ".LNK" file to that folder; ie:  a short cut to to

"Recycle Bin" is great as it will avoid the prompt dialogue "Do you want to send to Recycle Bin?".

Alternatively, any other directory such as a temp directory.

Here is a bonus, if you have different places to send file to but are

related such as:

        "Customers"

                  Customer1

                  Customer2       etc...

You can place in the Send To folder an additional "folder" (not a short cut) called "Customers", then open that folder and place short cuts to all your customer's individual folders and name them appropriately.  Then when you right click a file icon, your "Send To" quck menu will show the new "Customers" "Sub menu" and then move to it and you will see a submenu of all your customer's short cuts.

(You may want to remove the "short cut to" text from the icons in the "Send To" folder).

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Tip #41

Windows 95 with SyQuest Drives:

More and more people are asking about using SyQuest IDE drives under Win95.

The following information may be helpful.

The support for SyQuest IDE drives as removable drives started with build 431.

In order to enable the support, one has to put:

RemovableIDE=True in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file.

If this line is not there, then Win95's protected mode IDE driver will not load.

In addition, one may find an entry in the IOS.LOG file in the Win95 subdirectory

in which there will be messages such as:

"ESDI punting due to removable hard disk.Unit number xx going through real mode drivers."

When the line mentioned above is added to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI,

the IOS.LOG file will disappear and the Win95 file system will be 32-bit.

The other requirements for this support are that the SyQuest drive MUST have a

formatted cartridge inserted when Win95 starts and there must not me another

32-bit module loaded in SYSTEM.INI such as the one provided  by DTC for their

IDE boards.

There is another setting called "Virtue Memory" in Win95. This will be in

"MS-DOS compatibility mode" if C: drive is a removable drive, SCSI or IDE.

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Tip #42

Dual Boot Setup for Win95/Win 3.1-WfWG

  A text file describing a step-by-step procedure I developed to install a

  dual-boot menu function for my DOS 6/Win 3.11 and Win95 systems.   This

  way, I can choose which system I want to use at boot-up.   Doublespace and

  Drivespace drives can also be handled with this  configuration.  Use this

  method to continue running your critical  programs under your old DOS/Win

  system while you're testing Win95.

*********************************************************************

I wanted to install a dual boot with Win95 & WFWG 3.11 so I could try

out Win95 without sacrificing my old system setup.   Here are the steps

you can take to duplicate my dual boot installation:

*********************************************************************

1.  Copy (duplicate) the whole Windows directory and all it's sub directories to another directory, like \WIN31.  Copy the \DOS directory to another one as well, like \DOS6 .

2.  Edit all the INI files in the WIN31 directory and change all references from \WINDOWS to \WIN31.  The "find and replace" command in most word processors makes this easier, but be sure you save them as text files.

3.  Boot up your PC and install Win95 SETUP through windows program

manager "FILE-RUN".  As you install WIN95 it will rename your CONFIG.SYS AND AUTOEXEC.BAT files to CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS.  (When you dual boot it renames them back to CONFIG.SYS AND AUTOEXEC.BAT....and then

backups the WIN95 versions as .W40).

4.  After Win95 finishes installing and you are on the desktop, use notepad with "select all files *.*"  to edit the CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS files and change all \WINDOWS references in them to \WIN31, and all \DOS references to \DOS6 .

5.  In order for the dual boot menu to work, the following lines must appear in the [Options] section of your MSDOS.SYS file:   (If you use Doublespace or Drivespace disk compression you must change both MSDOS.SYS files - one on the boot drive and one in the compressed drive)

  [Options]

  BootGUI=1

  Network=0

  BootMulti=1

  BootMenu=1

  BootMenuDefault=7  (original DOS as default.  Use 1 for Win95 default)

  BootMenuDelay=5    (number of seconds to select something else)

  ;

To add these lines, first, open "My Computer" and use the menu bar to

VIEW - OPTIONS - VIEW - Show All Files, and also unclick "hide MS-DOS

file extensions".  Then double-click on the MSDOS.SYS icon and look.

If it doesn't have all the above lines, you'll need to edit this file

and put them in.

Since the MSDOS.SYS file is "read-only-hidden" you'll need to first

change the file attributes and then use the notebook editor to insert

the new line(s).  Then you'll have to change the attributes back to

their original states when done to protect the file.

To change the attributes, click on the MSDOS.SYS icon using your RIGHT

mouse button.  Select Properties and uncheck the attribute blocks.

Exit and make your text changes, then save the file.  Then put the

attribute check marks back where they were.

 7.  Now, exit Win95 and re-boot.  You should now see the boot menu and

be able to select which mode you want to boot into.

Remember, any programs you install after this will only appear in the

system you were running at install time.   For example, if you install

MS Word under Win95 you will have to install it again under old

DOS/Windows if you want to run it both ways.  You can install the

program to the same directory both times and you'll simply overwrite

the files and avoid having two sets of the new program on your hard drive.

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Tip #43

Here is a little tip on how to install PC Speaker on a computer with Win95.

Go to Control Panel, then "Add New Hardware", then "Sound, Video, Game Controller."

Don't let Win95 search for new hardware.  Select "Have Disk".  Browse to where

you have your PC Speaker .drv file.  Install !!!

Presto...your mute PC will now have sound.

To modify the settings for PC Speaker go to Control Panel, Multimedia,

Advanced Tab, In Audio devices you will see PC Speaker.

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Tip #44

If you want to have another start-logo place a file named logo.sys in your root directory.  logo.sys must have the same format as logow.sys and logos.sys

(320 x 400,256) bitmap.

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1. Drag and drop files or desktop objects with the RIGHT mouse button instead of the left, and when you drop them on the target, you get a little pop-up menu giving you options like Move Here, Copy Here, Create Shortcut Here.

2. Also, to drag a file from one folder to another, using only one explorer window, drag the icon near the top or bottom of a scrolling pane, and "nudge" to scroll.

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Tip #45

Do you have a Logitech mouse?  This hack will let you use the middle mouse button as a doubleclick!  Save this as "midclick.reg" and double click it!

**start of midclick.reg**

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Logitech\MouseWare\CurrentVersion\SerialV\0000]

"DoubleClick"="001"

**end of midclick.reg**

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Tip #46

Create a new folder on your desktop...  rename it, call it

"Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"

Now is should look like the normal Control Panel icon you see in My Computer (not a shortcut). Now do a right click on start (taskbar), click on open.  Move the new folder we just created tothe start menu folder.  Close the start menu folder.Now when you click on start, you should see conrol panel on it... click on it and it will expandand show all the items!  You can do the same with the printers folder and dial-up networking...here are names that you need to name your folders..

Dial Up Network

Dial Up Net.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}

Printers

Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

If you're browsing through folder windows, it's usually nicest to have Windows 95 set so that it uses a single window that changes when you open a new folder. However, if you want to copy or move files around, it's nice to be able to quickly open a separate window for a folder.

This can be done by holding "CTRL" as you double-click, but it would be nice to have this option on the right-click menu, next to "Open" and "Explore".

To add this to the menu, you need to change the registry a bit. Run the Registry Editor and find the entry for "Directory" under the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" branch.

Under, "Directory", you'll find "Default Icon", "shell", and

"shellex". The one we want is "shell."

Under "shell", add a new key called "opennew". Modify its (Default) value to say "Open New &Window". Then, add another key under "opennew". Call this one "command", and set its (Default) value to "explorer %1".

And that should do it. One side effect is that "Open New Window" now also appears when you right-click on the Start Button, which is completely pointless because it does that anyway. Oh well.

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Tip #47

Ever want to open an object with a different application than the

one it is already associated with and the right mouse menu no longer

let's you choose Open With...?

Just hold down the SHIFT key when you right mouse click over the object, and the Open With... command will now appear in the menu.

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Tip #48

Object dragging with SHIFT and CONTROL: Hold down the following keys for different actions:

NO SHIFT, NO CTRL

Same Drive:      Move

Different Drive: Copy

Unless the objects selected are *ALL* .COM's or .EXE's in which case:

Same Drive: Create Link

Different Drive (Non-Removable Storage): Create Link

Different Drive (Removable Storage):     Copy

SHIFT, NO CTRL: Always Moves

NO SHIFT, CTRL: Always Copies

SHIFT, CTRL:    Always Creates Link

Certain folders do no allow objects to be dropped (i.e. Control Panel,

and Printers), others always Move To regardless of SHIFT/CTRL status

(i.e. Recycle Bin).

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Tip #49

Want to "Explore" a folder instead of it's icon view? You could open Explorer, click here, click there, finally get to where you want. A quick solution: Hold down the shift key and double click on the folder/drive.

This will bring up an Explorer window of that folder.

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Tip #50

Here's how to add file types to the New submenu on the mouse menu.

To add file types to the New menu item on the mouse menu you must edit the Registry.  First, find the extension of the data file for the program in question

(i.e. .doc for Word) under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.  Below the files extension you need to add a new key with the value 'ShellNew'.

Once that key is in place you have two options:  One is to start with a null file

(one with no preset styles, etc.), the other is to start from a template file.

For a null file, in the ShellNew key insert a new string value named 'NullFile' and

leave the value blank. To use a template file, insert a new string value named 'FileName' and set the value equal to the path of the template document.  The default is in the hidden ShellNew directory beneath your windows directory.

When you use the New feature of the button menu, Win95 either copies the template file or creates a null file.

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Tip #51

Do you hate that you can't control the directory or even the drive where Explorer opens?

You CAN control it.  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,<object>]

Actually there is even more to this ... you can use subobjects, but I don't want to type it all out.  Perhaps you have this info anyway.

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Tip #52

Start Explorer FAST!  Right click on the Start menu and choose Explorer.

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Tip #53

You can change those lovely screens you see as you exit Windows95!  Simply start up paintbrush and load up the files LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS and change them to whatever you want...they're just bitmaps with a different extension!

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Tip #54

You can drag scraps from your documents to the desktop or to folders and create Document Scraps. With these Scraps, you can archive bits and pieces of your documents to use later or to share with another person.

To try it:

Open Wordpad

Type some text

Select the text

Put the cursor over the highlighted text and drag to the desktop

It creates a scrap with some of the actual text in the name of the scrap.

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Tip #55

Did you know that FONT SMOOTHING and FULL WINDOWS SIZE/MOVE are available on the preview version?

In the win.ini file, add the following line to the [WINDOWS] section (really!):

ILOVEBUNNY32=1

Restart Windows 95, then right click on the desktop.  Choose properties, then settings.  You will notice 2 new check boxes!

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Tip #56

Windows Setup Switches

Windows 95 has several switches you can use when executing Setup:

   * /is - Ignores the check of your system check

   * /id - Ignores the check for whether there is enough disk space

   * /iq - Ignores the test for cross-linked files and file directory

      integrity

   * /in - Runs setup without the Network Setup Module

You can also specify a filename (.inf) with setup, that contains

information on exactly what to set up.

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Tip #57

Printing to a File

It's easy to set up a special 'printer' to print documents to a simple text

file:

   1. Open the Printers folder in Control Panel

   2. Double-click on Add Printer

   3. Select Local Printer and click on Next

   4. Select Generic from the manufacturer list, and Generic/Text Only from

      the printer list, then click on Next.

   5. Select File from the available ports list, and click Next a couple

      times to add the printer.

   6. Highlight the new icon, right-click it and select Properties, then the

      Paper tab, and change the paper setting to 'continuous, no

      page-breaks.'

You can now select this printer from any Windows application, sending the

output in text format to a file. You'll be prompted for the filename when

you print.

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Tip #58

Cascading "Control Panel" on Start menu

In the Start Menu folder in your Windows 95 folder, create a new folder and

name it, exactly:

Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

(All on one line, must include the ".", the curly braces, all four hyphens,

and the hex numbers exactly as shown.) After doing this, you'll get a

folder in your Start Menu that's called Control Panel with a cascading menu

that has all of the Control Panel contents in it.

By placing a '.' after the folder name and putting the sequence of numbers

in brackets, it associates that folder with a registry entry. You can run

the regedit program and do a search for the file you want to get the number

sequence if you want to create other such cascading menus.

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Tip #59

Microsoft Natural Keyboard and Windows 95

Windows 95 has built-in support for the Microsoft Natural Keyboard, using

the special keys as follows:

   * WIN + R = Display the Run dialog box.

   * WIN + M = Minimize all windows currently open.

   * WIN + F1 = Start Help

   * WIN + E = Start Explorer

   * WIN + F = Start Find Files/Folders dialog box.

   * CNTL+ WIN + F = Start Find Computer dialog box.

   * WIN + TAB = Cycle through taskbar buttons.

   * WIN + BREAK = Display Systems Properties panel.

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Tip #60

Selecting "Command Prompt Only" during bootup doesn't work

After a failed bootup attempt, or if you hit F8 while Win95 is starting up,

you'll get a menu of bootup options. One of the options is Command Prompt

Only.

If you select this option, but find that your system still boots into

Windows, check your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and make sure you don't have a

command in it that starts Windows. Many people do (I did!). When you select

Command Prompt Only, Win95 still executes your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS,

but skips the automatic load of Win95 afterward. However, if you have a

command in AUTOEXEC.BAT that starts Windows, it will execute it!

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Tip #61

Startup Folder: Where is the Windows 95 equivalent of the 'STARTUP' folder?

If you click the START button, then Settings/Taskbar, you will see the

panel to modify the taskbar. Select the other tab option at the top, then

click on 'advanced'. A mini-version of the Explorer will pop up, showing

the heirarchy of your START menu. One of the items listed is 'startup'.

This is the equivalent of your Windows 3.1 startup folder. If you click on

that, in the right side of the panel you'll see all the things that are

automatically run at startup. Right click on each item and select 'delete',

or drag it to somewhere other than the startup area if you want to remove

any of these items.

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Tip #62

Interrupt settings (IRQs) - where is a list of my settings?

Control Panel/System/Devices, in this area there is an option to print a

detailed or summary report. The detail report is huge - 18 pages on my

system! The summary report is two pages, and contains a list of all the

interrupts currently assigned in the system, and what they are assigned

for. This report also lists DMA channel assignments and port addresses.

Another method is to simply right-click on the My Computer icon, and select

Properties. This will bring up the System control panel. Select the Device

Manager tab, and double-click on Computer within the scrollable window.

From here you can view IRQs, DMA channel usage, I/O assignments, and Memory

settings.

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Tip #63

Interrupt settings (IRQs) - where can I change them?

Windows 95 assigns IRQs automatically, but if you need to change them to a

specific value, you can. Select Control Panel/System/Devices, then find and

double-click on the device you want to change the IRQ for, or highlight it

and select properties. A panel for that device will appear. If you select

the Resources tab, a 'Resources' window will pop up. One of the choices in

the window is 'Interrupt Request' with the current value listed. If you

click on that to highlight it, the change setting button will become

usuable. If you click on that button, you will get the 'Edit Interrupt

Request' panel that will allow you to change the interrupt, and will

immediately tell you if your new choice conflicts with other equipment.

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Tip #64

Music CDs and Autoplay

By default, Windows 95 is set up to automatically start the CD Player

applet and begin playing a music cd as soon as it is inserted into the

CD-ROM drive. This is set up in Windows 95 much like a file extension

association. To change this, start Explorer, and select View/Options/File

Type. Scroll through the list until you find a listing for Audio CDs.

Highlight it, and select the Edit button. You'll see a panel showing the

option 'play'. Select that, then click on the Edit button on this panel.

You'll see the command that is invoked for that option. It is by default

set to execute CDPLAYER.EXE with a command parm of '/play'. If you delete

the entire line, then when an audio cd is inserted, nothing will happen. If

you delete just the '/play' parm, then when an audio cd is inserted, the CD

Player applet is started, but it does NOT immediately begin playing the cd.

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Tip #65

Uninstalling Windows 95

What? Are you crazy???

If you really find you need to uninstall, here are some steps that I've

heard work:

  1.  Boot with dos boot floppy that has the DOS system files on it.

  2.  Execute a 'sys c:' command.

  3.  Delete the Windows directory and all its subdirectories (deltree

      works great for this if you have it on the boot floppy).

  4.  Delete all the hidden files in the root directory that don't match

      the files from the floppy

  5.  Reboot, and you should be back to a DOS system.

  6.  Check the root directory for hidden files with names that do not

      match those on the bootable floppy. These files should be deleted.

Microsoft reports that a full Uninstall utility will be included in the

production package when it ships.

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Tip #66

Clean Install of Win95 Preview

Boot from a floppy, and run the SETUP program from diskette #1 or from the

cd-rom (you'll need your cd-rom drivers on your floppy to do this). The

Preview is actually an upgrade, and will search for an existing copy of

Windows. If it doesn't find one, you'll have to tell it to look on drive

a:, and insert diskette #1 from some previous version of Windows.

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Tip #67

Turning off the Exploding Windows Animation:

Dont like how windows seem to grow out of the taskbar, then shrink down

to it? You can turn this animation off through a Registry setting.

Follow these instructions:

   * Start RegEdit by clicking Start/Run, and entering regedit

   * Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER

   * Expand Control Panel under HKEY_CURRENT_USER

   * Expand Desktop under Control Panel

   * Double-click on the WindowMetrics folder under Desktop

   * Choose "string value" from the Edit/New menu, and create a new string

     called MinAnimate

   * Double-click the new entry, and enter "0" for the value.

   * Exit RegEdit, and reboot.

That's it! The window animation should be gone from now on.

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Tip #68

Adding a File Type to the "NEW" Menu:

  1. First, in the program that creates the file type you are adding,

     create a "blank" document. To do that, enter the program, start a new

     file, and save it right away (note that you could save any normally

     used preferences here - useful for programs that don't support

     templets).

  2. Copy this file to the \windows\ShellNew folder (it's a hidden folder).

     Remember the filename!

  3. Now enter the system registry. Under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, find the

     extension for that filetype.

  4. Add a new key called ShellNew.

  5. Under this new key, add a new string value called "FileName".

  6. Modify the value of this string (double-click it to bring up a Modify

     panel) to be the filename of the blank templete file you created. You

     need to include the extension, but the path is not necessary (the

     /windows/ShellNew folder is the default).

And Presto, your New file menu contains an option for your new file type.

Note that there are some applications that do their registry entries a

little different, so you may have to modify the procedure a little...of

course most of those programs are Windows 95 programs, so they should

probably appear anyway on the menu (if they set up a ShellNew entry as they

should). Note that depending on the application, this may not work.

That All for Now …. But Remember … If you have a tip & trick DONT hesitate to email me.. The more emails I receive, the faster update will be out … Cya !

eneuman@haddock.cd.chalmers.se