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From: gordonf@intouch.bc.ca
Subject: Win95 FAQ Part 9 of 14: Maintanence
Message-ID: <19980107.8D7D740.13AF6@ras2com20.reelwest.bc.ca>
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 98 21:56:33
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Archive-name: windows/win95/faq/part09
Last-Modified: 1998/01/07
Posting-Frequency: Every two months
URL: http://www.orca.bc.ca/win95/faq9.htm

9. Maintaining a clean installation of Windows 95, and annoyances

   (Details at the Win95 Annoyances FAQ)

     * 9.1. How do I remove (this desktop item)...
          + 9.1.1. ...Inbox?
          + 9.1.2. ...Network Neighborhood?
          + 9.1.3. ...My Computer?
               o 9.1.3.1. How do I rename My Computer? 
          + 9.1.4. ...Recycle Bin?
               o 9.1.4.1. How do I rename the Recycle Bin? 
          + 9.1.5. ...The Microsoft Network (tm) ?
     * 9.2. How do I remove (this annoying startup program)...
          + 9.2.1. ...programs in the StartUp group in the Start Menu?
          + 9.2.2. ...programs that don't seem to be in the StartUp group?
          + 9.2.3. ...programs that aren't even listed in WIN.INI or
                   The Registry!
     * 9.3. How do I remove Start Menu entries?
          + 9.3.1. ...on computers using User Profiles on networks?
                   (They keep coming back!)
     * 9.4. How do I de-activate that dumb "Documents" menu?
     * 9.5. How do I completely remove...
          + 9.5.1. ...Windows 95 components?
          + 9.5.2. ...programs "Designed for Windows 95"?
          + 9.5.3. ...drivers for unused hardware and printers?
          + 9.5.4. ...Internet Explorer (tm) ?
          + 9.5.5. ...The Microsoft Network?
          + 9.5.6. ...dumb Windows 3.x programs? (How to use third
                   party un-installers)
          + 9.5.7. ...old DOS and Windows 3.x files?
          + 9.5.8. ...Windows 95? 
     * 9.6. How do I stop the constant hard drive access?
          + 9.6.1. Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory?
          + 9.6.2. More on memory and disk cache tuning
     * 9.7. Does RAM compression really work? (no.)
     * 9.8. How do I stop the constant floppy drive access?
     * 9.9. How do I stop the constant CD-ROM access when there's no
            disk in the drive? 
     * 9.10. How do I set up user profiles so I can keep my own
             desktop clean?
          + 9.10.1. Why user profiles is a really cool and useful
                    feature, even for stand alone computers!
     * 9.11. What are .gid files? Are they safe to remove?
     * 9.12. What are "mscreate.dir" files? Are they safe to remove?
     * 9.13. Can I remove the "failsafe.drv" directory?
     * 9.14. Can I remove the "~mssetup.qt" directory"
     * 9.15. Top ten mis-conceptions about removing annoying items
          + 9.15.1. How to back up your Registry before you goof it up
   
   OK, so you don't want the Net Neighborhood cluttering your desktop
   because you only have an Internet connection, or your Win95 takes up
   too much hard drive space, or whatever. Maybe your system runs too
   slow and you want to speed it up. Maybe you heard about some cool
   utility that'll speed up your computer. Read about it here.
   
   More important, read the Win95 Annoyances FAQ for more details, if
   you think I'm missing something. This is where most of this info came
   from. BE WARNED: I do not recommend Registry hacking via REGEDIT to
   clean up your system! All my tips here demonstrate methods without
   using REGEDIT; rather they use Policy Editor. POLEDIT works with
   stand alone computers to directly edit the Registry, as well as
   creating policy files. Current versions of TweakUI
   (http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/powertoys.htm) also do the
   job of removing annoying items without too much damage.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.1. How do I remove this desktop item...

     * 9.1.1. ...Inbox? 
       
   If you don't have MS Exchange installed, you can remove this icon
   by just right-clicking it and selecting "Delete". If you don't use it
   but it's in your computer, run Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup, and
   de-select all the MS Exchange and MS Fax components. The next time you
   re-start the Inbox icon will not be there.
   
   If you want to keep Exchange but still remove the Inbox, you'll have
   to resort to a registry hack or TweakUI.
   
     * 9.1.2. ...Network Neighborhood? 
       
   If all you use is Internet access and don't use any other Win95
   networking, you can run Network Control Panel, and remove all network
   components but the Dial-up Adapter and TCP/IP. This will remove the
   Net Neighborhood and all other Win95 clients from your system. NOTE:
   This will also disable password caching!
   
   If you use Win95 clients as well, you can hide it with Policy
   Editor in Default User/Shell/Hide Network Neighborhood. You can also
   hide individual components of Net Hood. NetWare NDS networks have
   additional Net Hood restrictions you can enforce as well.
   
     * 9.1.3. ...My Computer? 
       
   You can't hide the icon itself, because it still points to Control
   Panel, Printers, and Dial-up networking. You can hide the drives
   themselves, however, from Policy Editor; Default User/Shell/Hide
   drives in My Computer.
   
   According to Annoyances, you can also make up a "blank" icon
   (using any freeware icon editor) and use MS Plus to change the icon to
   it. Also, rename the "My Computer" to a single space. The icon's still
   there, but no one will see it. You might also want to drag this
   invisible icon to an inconspicuous place on your desktop.
   
   The Zero Administration Kit
   (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/zak/)also contains tools to hide My
   Computer and a host of other icons.
   
     * 9.1.3.1. How do I rename My Computer? 
       
   Right-click on it and hit "Rename".
   
     * 9.1.4. ...Recycle Bin? 
       
   This requires a Registry Hack. The Zero Administration kit also
   does this.
   
     * 9.1.4.1. How do I rename the Recycle Bin? 
       
   This also requires a Registry Hack but Norton Utilities for Win95
   allows you to rename it. Other Recycle Bin hacks (such as Desktop
   Toilet) do the job as well.
   
     * 9.1.5. ...The Microsoft Network (TM) icon? 
       
   I would just say Don't Use MSN, but you can right-click on the icon
   and delete it; it's just it will re-appear whenever you log in to MSN.
   If you choose not to use MSN (Good for you!) you can remove it from
   Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup. The MSN icon won't go away until
   the next reboot, but it will go away. TweakUI will let you remove it
   too.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.2. How do I remove...

     * 9.2.1. ...programs in the startup group in the Start Menu? 
       
   The Start Menu (And desktop as well) are just directories with
   shortcuts inside. You can right-click on the Start Menu and hit Open,
   then find the startup folder and delete the shortcuts in it. You can
   also right-click on the Taskbar, get Properties, and in Start Menu
   Items tab, hit "Remove".

     * 9.2.2. ...programs that don't seem to be in the startup group? 
       
   Some Win 3.1 thinking programmers (like at ATI) put their programs in
   WIN.INI's load= line in the [boot] section. Don't they trust
   themselves with the Registry yet? You can run SYSEDIT.EXE and delete
   the offending load= line from WIN.INI.
   
   Programs that insert themselves in the Registry, using the
   CurrentVersion\Run key, run before WIN.INI gets touched. You can
   remove these using Policy Editor; Default Computer/System/Run.
   
   Interesting note: "Run Services" shows programs that run even before
   you get a log in prompt. Some anti-virus software may insert
   themselves here (Some viruses could insert themselves here too!)

     * 9.2.3. ...programs that aren't even listed in WIN.INI or The
       Registry! (IE: Norton Anti-Virus) 
       
   Programs can actually start in one of a few places. Check all of
   these:
     * The Startup group in the Start Menu (Right-click on the Start
       button and hit Open or Explore)
     * WIN.INI (Start / Run / SYSEDIT.EXE, look in WIN.INI for load= or
       run= lines)
     * System Agent (If you have MS Plus you can cause programs to start
       on bootup regardless of user profiles)
     * The Registry part 1
       (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or
       RunServices)
     * The Registry part 2 (HKCU\
       Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run / this one can vary
       for each user if you have User Profiles)
       
   You can access the Registry parts using POLEDIT as well as REGEDIT. If
   it's not in one of these you can always run that program's uninstaller
   (provided they included one).
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.3. How do I remove Start Menu entries?
   
   Right-click on the Taskbar and get Properties, get Start Menu
   Programs, and hit "Remove". Then pick and choose.
   
   You can also right-click on the Start button and hit Open. Then pick
   and choose the shortcuts you want to delete.

     * 9.3.1. ...on computers using User Profiles on networks? (They keep
       coming back!) 
       
   Yes I know. Win95's supposed to update the network copy of the
   shortcuts on log-out, but sometimes they just keep coming back. Delete
   them from your Home directory or MAIL directory as well to keep them
   from coming back.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.4. How do I de-activate that dumb "Documents" menu?
   
   Normally you can right-click on the Taskbar, hit "Start Menu
   Programs", and hit "Clear Documents Menu" to clear it. But it will
   just fill up as you work with Win95.
   
   MS has a Power Toy that clears this folder on exit. Try that
   before you try any of the hacks below.
   
   There's a Registry Hack that relocates the Documents menu (the
   RECENT folder) to the Recycle Bin, and if you have "Remove
   immediately" turned on it will keep that menu clean, but there IS a
   safer way.
   
   In AUTOEXEC.BAT include this line:

DEL %WINDIR%\RECENT\*.*

   An even more effective way to keep the documents menu clean, and still
   enjoy its functionality during a single Win95 session, is to insert a
   command into System Agent, if you have MS Plus! installed. Write a
   batch file with the above command in it, then add it into System
   Agent. Schedule it to run "On Startup". This method won't work if you
   use User Profiles, but there's a work-around for that if you used
   WINSET to copy the %USERNAME% variable. Use this style of batch
   file instead:

DEL %WINDIR%\PROFILES\%USERNAME%\RECENT\*.*

   NOTE: DOS programs run from System Agent should have "Background:
   Always Suspend" turned OFF! Also, instead of inserting the program
   itself into System Agent, insert its PIF file instead.
   
   Additional NOTE: You can run PIF files from the Registry, from load=
   in WIN.INI, or in the startup group as well, in case you don't have
   System Agent.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.5. How do I completely remove...

     * 9.5.1. ...Windows 95 components? 
       
   All the OS components are in Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup. You
   can add and remove them from there, and Win95 deletes the required
   files from your hard disk as well.
   
   Other additional components you add in this requester (like dial-up
   scripting) are removable from the main Install/Uninstall tab.

     * 9.5.2. ...programs "Designed for Windows 95"? 
       
   All programs Designed for Win95 have an uninstaller you can access
   from Add/Remove Programs/Install/Uninstall. If not, complain to the
   publisher of the program. If that doesn't work, complain to Microsoft,
   who awarded the logo to them.
   
   A program's uninstaller will remove its components and Registry
   entries, if properly written. If the program included extra
   subsystems, such as DirectX or QuickTime, their uninstaller will
   usually leave them for other programs to use. These extra subsystems
   should also have their own uninstaller.

     * 9.5.3. ...drivers for unused hardware and printers? 
       
   Printers are rather conveniently removed; if Explorer realizes you
   removed a printer and no other printer uses its drivers, it will offer
   to delete the offending files.
   
   Other hardware drivers will remain, however. So, if you want to remove
   files used by a given piece of hardware, run Device Manager and
   bring up that device's properties. Bring up the "Driver" tab, copy
   this list where the driver files are, and delete them after you remove
   that device. You have to look BEFORE you remove the device, and not
   AFTER, or the list disappears with the device entry.

     * 9.5.4. ...Internet Explorer (TM) ? 
       
   If you use MS-Plus you need to remove Internet Explorer from Plus'
   uninstaller. IEXPLORE 2.0 will have its own uninstaller, but the
   uninstaller will keep the Internet Setup Wizard and its control
   panel entry in tact. You can always re-run the setup wizard even if
   you installed a different browser to replace IEXPLORE. It also keeps
   the Internet Mail client for MS-Exchange installed, which won't
   disappear unless you remove Exchange.
   
   NOTE: According to Win95 Annoyances, IEXPLORE will keep many pieces of
   itself in the system after you uninstall it this way. IEXPLORE 2.0
   does a better job of uninstalling itself, but it still keeps the Setup
   Wizard, mail client for Exchange, and auto-dialer in tact. You should
   keep these really, but you can delete the "Program
   Files/Plus!/Microsoft Internet" folder afterwards.
   
   To keep the file type registrations in tact, you should re-install
   your browser of choice after you uninstall Internet Explorer.
   IEXPLORE's uninstaller will destroy any changes you made to .HTM and
   .HTML file type entries.

     * 9.5.5. ...The Microsoft Network? 
       
   Remove the BillNet icon from the Desktop, then remove BillNet from
   Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup,. This will remove the main MSN
   control program and the Exchange mail client, but it will install a
   "Set up the Microsoft Network" installer in its place. You can simply
   delete the Program Files/The Microsoft Network folder completely
   afterwards, even though it says "This will impact one or more
   registered programs." Big deal.
   
   Win95 Annoyances says the BillNet icon's Delete option goes away after
   you remove it from Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup. I found,
   however, that the icon will go away by itself after you re-start.
   There's always TweakUI as well.

     * 9.5.6. ...dumb Windows 3.x programs? (How to use third party
       uninstallers) 
       
   Get a decent Designed for Win95 uninstaller if you want the
   flexibility of removing Win 3.1 apps cleanly.
   
   The only uninstaller which actually works (that I saw, anyway) is
   CleanSweep 95 from Quarterdeck, but it only works if you install
   the Win 3.1 program AFTER you install CleanSweep.
   
   To use CleanSweep, just try running any program called "SETUP" or
   "INSTALL" or any number of variants. The CleanSweep monitor kicks in
   and asks you if you want to monitor the installation. On occasion, a
   Setup program might not like this (and crash the install monitor), in
   which case you can manually start logging (by clicking on the Install
   Monitor in the Taskbar) before running the setup program, and manually
   stop it.
   
   Also available now is Remove-IT 95 by Vertisoft. This program does a
   great job of completely nuking The Microsoft Network, including all
   Registry entries.
   
   My Boss, Jim Farewell, firmly believes you should use a "Professional
   Uninstaller" to monitor all app installations, including Designed
   for Win95 ones. OK, have it your way. Just be prepared.

     * 9.5.7. ...old DOS and Windows 3.x files? 
       
   Win95 Setup will maintain your old DOS and Windows, if you chose to
   install on top of your existing Windows setup. Later on, you can
   remove the old DOS and Windows files from Add/Remove
   Programs/Install/uninstall.
   
   If you installed Win95 in a different directory, you can also simply
   delete the old DOS and Windows folders in Explorer. Win95 Setup
   would've included your old DOS directory in your path, however, so
   maybe leave that one alone until you decide you don't need the old DOS
   utilities anymore.

     * 9.5.8. ...Windows 95? 
       
   You can also uninstall Win95 from Add/Remove
   Programs/Install/uninstall, if you installed on top of your existing
   Windows. If you installed in a different directory, however...
    1. Re-boot the computer with your old DOS disk
    2. From the DOS prompt, type SYS C: (This restores the original DOS
       system files)
    3. Rename CONFIG.DOS to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.DOS to AUTOEXEC.BAT
    4. Re-boot off the hard drive
       
   Then you can remove your Win95 directory, PROGRA~1 directory, and any
   hidden or system files you don't recognize. The easiest way to do this
   is run Win 3.1 File Manager, and have "Show Hidden/System Files"
   turned on in View/File Types".
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.6. How do I stop the constant hard drive access?
   
   Win95 is always swapping between its RAM and the hard drive's swap
   file, especially on 8 MB systems or systems with several programs
   running at once. To ease the swapping:
   
   1. Edit SYSTEM.INI; add this to the [vcache] section:

[vcache]
maxfilecache=1024 (on 16 MB systems, or 512 on 8 MB systems)

   2. Right click on My Computer, hit Properties, hit "Performance", and
   go through these settings:
     * File system/hard disk: read ahead size: 16 KB (Any smaller will
       make Win95 unstable)
     * File System/CD-ROM caching: reduce to around 250 KB, no less, and
       pick the "right" type of read-ahead access for your speed of
       CD-ROM (Making a double-speed drive use a quad-speed read-ahead
       doesn't always work!)
     * Virtual memory: Let Windows manage VM; it keeps the swap file as
       %WINDIR%\WIN386.SWP which you can erase in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Remove
       any swap file-related entries in SYSTEM.INI also.
       
   You will find these settings give the quietest hard drives, even with
   disk compression used!
   
   NOTE: Norton Navigator will cause additional disk swapping, because it
   maintains more shortcuts in the Start Menu which will verify that
   their targets exist.

     * 9.6.1. Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory? 
       
   If you let Win95 manage virtual memory, it will try to grow/shrink the
   swap file as required. On systems with low disk space this is actually
   a GOOD thing, because it doesn't instantly eat hard drive space. On
   systems with large hard drives this will become an annoyance, and the
   swap file will fragment, slowing down swapping.
   
   Others (many others) suggest letting the swap file grow is a GOOD
   thing on big systems, because large programs can "Bottom-out" on fixed
   swap files. If you choose to let Win95 manage virtual memory, include
   this line somewhere in AUTOEXEC.BAT:

DEL C:\WIN95\WIN386.SWP

   So when your computer re-starts Win95 will re-build the swap file
   unfragmented. While you're at it, you can kill the contents of the
   TEMP directory the same way (DELTREE /Y C:\WIN95\TEMP\*.*).

     * 9.6.2. More on memory and disk cache tuning
       
   Alex Nichol explained a few things to me about the "Typical role of
   this machine" setting in My Computer / Properties. He explains that
   the "Typical Role" affects two special caches; the path cache
   (Directory cache?) and filename cache. Since a machine designated as a
   "Network Server" often has several different files open at once, it
   has larger filename and path caches. "Notebook Computer" also sets
   aside larger path and filename caches so you're using less battery
   power accessing the filenames and directories.
   
   This setting does not affect the main file cache (VCACHE) however, nor
   would it affect any real mode disk caching such as SmartDrive for
   devices driven with DOS drivers. You can adjust VCACHE in SYSTEM.INI,
   and if you use SmartDrive at all you can specify two parameters for
   file cache size as you always could in DOS.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.7. Does RAM compression really work? (No.)
   
   Those programs were for Win 3.1 apps that ate ridiculous amounts of
   GDI memory (System Resources), where they fixed inadequacies in the
   operating system. Win95 has larger resource limits, and properly
   written Win32 programs won't use them... as much.
   
   Please save your money and effort, and stay away from this bogus
   software. If you really need to run 500 programs at once, get Windows
   NT Workstation. Or get an Amiga.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.8. How do I stop the constant floppy drive access?
   
   This is evidence of shortcuts and PIF files pointing to files on
   floppy disks.
   
   When Win95 builds its Start Menu, it checks all the shortcuts to see
   that they point to something intelligent. This will lead to floppy
   access when you view the Documents menu, for example.
   
   Whenever you run a DOS program, Win95 builds a PIF file for it. If the
   program ran from a removable disk (like a floppy or CD-ROM) it will
   store the PIF in %WINDIR%\PIF.
   
   To stop the constant floppy access from these shortcuts, right-click
   on the hard drive with Win95 in it and hit "Find...", then in the
   search space, type "*.lnk;*.pif", then hit the Advanced tab and in the
   "Containing Text" box, type "A:". Hit Find.
   
   That search should generate a list of shortcuts pointing to drive A,
   including those in your RECENT, and PIF folders. Delete them from this
   window. Don't delete any shortcuts in the "SendTo" folder, but you
   should be able to safely delete the rest. The random floppy access
   will stop once you do.
   
   To avoid getting this random disk access again, avoid launching
   documents and programs off floppy disks. Instead, open documents from
   the program they came from, and run DOS programs by opening a DOS
   prompt first, then switching to A: and running it from there.
   
   Also see how to Delete the Documents menu on startup.
   
   NOTE: Norton Navigator will cause even more floppy access, because it
   maintains more shortcuts at a time, especially floppy file shortcuts!
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.9. How do I stop the constant CD-ROM access when there's no disk in
   the drive? 
   
   Win95's CDFS auto-detects disks when inserted, so Explorer can
   properly update the drive and folder windows. It also looks for an
   AutoPlayer on the disk (autoplay.inf) and will launch it. Because of
   this continuous checking, the CD-ROM drive light will flash. If it's
   an IDE drive, your HD light will flash along with it.
   
   You could use real mode CD-ROM drivers and MSCDEX instead, but this
   leads to very pathetic performance. I would say ignore it and don't
   worry, because this auto-detect takes about 0% processor time. But if
   you insist on being annoyed by it:
   
   Bring up My Computer/Properties and select Device Manager. Bring up
   properties for the CD-ROM drive, and turn off "Auto-Insert
   Notification". This is also advisable for CD-ROM changer owners,
   otherwise it will scan all of your platters when you insert the
   cartridge. Maybe turn it on for the first platter and leave it off for
   the rest; CD-ROM changers show up as multiple drives, because each
   platter has its own SCSI LUN ID.
   
   TweakUI also lets you turn off autoplay, but it does not stop
   auto-insert notification, so it won't have any effect on this
   annoyance.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.10. How do I set up user profiles so I can keep my own desktop
   clean? 
   
   User Profiles go a long way in keeping your computer clean, if you
   have several users using it.
   
   Go to Passwords Control Panel (which is always there even for
   non-networked machines) and in the User Profiles tab, select "Each
   user has their own settings". Also turn on the Custom Desktop and
   Custom Start Menu.

     * 9.10.1. Why user profiles is a really cool and useful feature,
       even for stand alone computers! 
       
   Read all about it in Page 7 here. You can keep custom settings
   for every Win32 app, not just for the desktop and start menu. It's
   also good if you destroy your Registry by accident; at least half of
   it is saved.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.11. What are .gid files? Are they safe to remove?
   
   .GID files are help index files. They include word lists for the
   matching help file.
   
   Yes they're safe to remove, but when you access the help file next
   time, WINHLP32 will re-build the .GID file. Also, some Win32 programs
   require the .GID file be present. To re-build a deleted .GID file,
   open the help file from Explorer.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.12. What are "mscreate.dir" files? Are they safe to remove? 
   
   These are directory index files that MS Office "Fast Find" makes when
   you first access a directory. You can remove these, but FastFind will
   re-create them when you access the folder again. To keep them from
   coming back, remove the Fast Find shortcuts from your Startup group.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.13. Can I remove the "failsafe.drv" directory?
   
   If you don't use disk compression you can remove this. Otherwise
   don't. Win95 uses the programs here to undo interrupted compression
   tasks. The programs in here are actually Win 3.1 programs, that run in
   the special DOSX environment, to do compressed drive conversions and
   such.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.14. Can I remove the "~mssetup.qt" directory"
   
   I don't know why MS Office 95 leaves this thing there, but yes, you
   can remove it. It only contains another directory called ~pp.t which
   is equally useless.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   9.15. Top ten misconceptions about annoying items
   
   10. Microsoft blatantly put them there as ads
   
   9. Microsoft blatantly put them there to take up disk space
   
   8. You have to use REGEDIT to remove them
   
   7. You need a RAM compression program to run Win95 (NOT!)
   
   6. Letting Win95 manage virtual memory is a good thing (heh heh...)
   
   5. Win95 removes competing programs (nonsense! I use WP 6.1 and it
   doesn't disappear, though Win95 Annoyances claims that programs can
   disappear)
   
   4. You need third-party uninstallers for Win95 programs (Get the Win95
   programs fixed!)
   
   3. You can happily delete DLLs etc not listed in WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI
   (But what about the Registry?)
   
   2. You can delete SYSTEM.DAT (Not unless you want to re-install
   Win95... heh heh)
   
   1. Win95 scans your hard drive and reports its contents to Microsoft
   (Big Brother is watching you... not)

     * 9.15.1. How to back up your Registry before you goof it up 
       
   Yes, you will probably try one of the registry hacks you read about in
   Win95 Annoyances. Well, before you do so, boot to "Command prompt
   only", and do this:

CD %WINDIR%
ATTRIB -H -S -R *.DAT
COPY SYSTEM.DAT SYSTEM.BAK
COPY USER.DAT USER.BAK

   Then you can re-boot and happily tweak away using REGEDIT and POLEDIT.
   If you do screw up and you can't re-start Win95, then go back into
   command prompt only and re-copy SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT.
   
   SYSTEM.DAT is more critical than USER.DAT; the distinction is more
   important when you use User Profiles, because each user has their
   own USER.DAT.
     _________________________________________________________________

--
==============================================================================
= I am Gordon of Winterpeg. Junk mail is futile.          Post MakeMoneyFast =
= Find out why: http://spam.abuse.net/           Or eat pink meat from a can =
= World's best computer: http://www.amiga.de/          they're both the same =
= Win95 FAQ: http://www.orca.bc.ca/win95/ http://www.clark.net/pub/rolf/mmf/ =
==============================================================================

