Windows 95 Tips & Tricks (and more...)
Windows 95 Tips & Tricks (and more...)
TIP1
COMPLETE REFFERENCE TO MSDOS.SYS PARAMETERS, [Options] SECTION:
[Options] (1) Default Nondefault
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BootDelay =2 Initial startup delay (seconds)(2)
BootGUI =1 Automatic Windows 95 startup Start command prompt
BootKeys =1 Startup keys F4, F5, F6, F8 enabled
BootMenu =0 Hide startup menu (press F8 to display) Show startup menu(3)
BootMenuDefault =1 Indicated menu option is highlighted (4)
BootMenuDelay =30 Delay (seconds) before running highlighted
menu item (only if BootMenu=1): 1-99
BootMulti =1 Startup key F4 enabled F4 disabled(3)
BootSafe =1 Safe mode startup available
BootWarn =1 Display safe mode startup warning & menu
BootWin =1 Enable Windows 95 as operating system Enable previous OS
DblSpace =1 Load DBLSPACE.BIN (if present)
DoubleBuffer =1 SCSI controller needs double-buffering
DrvSpace =1 Load DRVSPACE.BIN (if present)
LoadTop =1 Load COMMAND.COM or DRVSPACE.BIN at top of
640K memory
Logo =1 Display animated logo as Windows 95 opens(5)
Network =1 Networking enabled(6)
(1) Default action is taken if a line doesn't appear in the [Options] section.
Except as noted, nondefault action is opposite to default.
(2) Delay allows time to press the function key. Default is 0 if BootKeys=0.
(3) If BootKeys=0, then BootMenu=1 and BootMulti=0 don't change default action.
(4) Menu option 3 is highlighted if a previous Windows 95 load failed.
(5) Logo=0 may solve 3rd party memory management conflicts.
(6) Network=1 must be present or Safe Mode with network support doesn't appear
as option 4 on Startup Menu.
To edit MSDOS.SYS in DOS mode, create a batch file named SYS95.BAT, with
following lines:
@ATTRIB +A -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
@ATTRIB -A +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
and run "SYS95" at any DOS prompt (under Win95 OS ONLY !).
I assumed that your bootup drive is drive C, and you have the directory
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND (Win95 users) mentioned in your path, in AUTOEXEC.BAT.
EDIT.COM should also be in a directory in your path.
Some prefer to dual-boot: keep the ol' DOS (and Windows 3.x) and install
Win95 in a separate directory. That's when you have the choice, at bootup
time, to boot in your new Win95 configuration, or chose to boot to your old
version of DOS (and eventualy use Windows 3.x, if you kept it on your hard
disk).
If you reboot with your old DOS version, MSDOS.SYS is renamed MSDOS.W40, so
the appropriate batch file would be:
@ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.W40
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.W40
@ATTRIB +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.W40
Run this batch file ONLY under MS-DOS 6.xx OS !
TIP2
You might need, at some point, to exit Win95 to plain ol' DOS (version
7.00), to play a stuborn DOS game or to start a weird DOS application. That's
because Win95 takes over all your system memory resources (even if releases
some for DOS programs, but not enough for some of them).
Example: a DOS game like TIE Fighter, by Lucas Arts; Magic Carpet 1 by
Bullfrog; or the new Star Trek Next Generation "A Final Unity" by Spectrum
Holobyte, CANNOT BE PLAYED FROM INSIDE WIN95, AT A DOS PROMPT (Tie Fighter
works from inside win95, but with impaired performance, and with eventually
system hangups on some systems!).
TIE Fighter requires 540kb of low RAM and 2400KB of expanded memory to run
with the sound features turned on!
Falcon 3.0 flight simulation on CD-ROM requires 608KB of low memory to start!
So you have 2 solutions: create custom autoexec.bat and config.sys for each
of your DOS programs/games, and reboot your computer with that particular
configuration, or try to get as much memory as you can, out of the Win95
operating system and JUST EXIT WIN95 and start your DOS program, without
rebooting. When you're done playing Magic Carpet 1, you can return to Win95
by typing 'WIN'.
Good news: Bullfrog released the new 'Magic Carpet 2' that can be played
from within Win95, at a DOS prompt. Just make sure to allocate at least 8MB
of extended RAM to the game's .PIF file.
To make sure you CAN exit Win95 to DOS prompt, move the file LOGOS.SYS from
your Win95 directory (folder) to any other directory, and exit Win95 (choose
the "Shutdown" option and click "Yes").
Also add/modify the following lines in the [Options] section of your
MSDOS.SYS file:
[Options]
BootGUI=1 -> Boots with Win95 as current OS
BootKeys=1 -> Startup keys enabled: F4-F8
BootMulti=1 -> Allows you to boot with the ol' OS (DOS 6.xx)
BootWin=0 -> Doesn't load Win95 registry module in memory (boots straight to
DOS 7.0)
BootMenu=1 -> Shows menu options
BootMenuDefault=1 -> Boots with Win95 as default OS (choose option 7 to boot
with the old DOS, if no network detected)
BootMenuDelay=30 -> Delay in seconds until keypress if no option change
BootSafe=0 -> Disable safe mode startup
When you bootup with all these MSDOS.SYS options, you will be presented with
the following startup screen:
Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu
=================================
1. Normal
2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
3. Safe mode
4. Step-by-step confirmation
5. Command prompt only
6. Safe mode command prompt only
7. Previous version of MS-DOS
Enter a choice: 1
F5=Safe mode Shift+F5=Command prompt Shift+F8=Step-by-step confirmation[N]
"Normal" (choice 1) allows you to boot into Win95 OS, and if you want to boot
with your ol' DOS version, choose option 7.
Put all your DOS mode drivers that you were running in the ol' DOS (5.xx and
up) back in your AUTOEXCEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files (load them HIGH with
'DEVICEHIGH' in CONFIG.SYS and 'LH' in AUTOEXEC.BAT), and reboot. You can
also create startup files with multiple bootup choices (in MS-DOS 6.xx
fashion).
You will notice a difference, after booting stright to DOS mode with the
new msdos.sys, when you run "MEM /C /P": the module "WIN" is not in memory
anymore, and you have only one instance of "COMMAND" loaded (therefore you
have more low RAM available (with a little luck you can have up to 623KB)!
I found out that in this configuration, I can start ANY dos/windows
program/game, and NOT run out of memory (623KB of low RAM!), with ALL the
drivers/devices/TSRs loaded in upper memory (above the 640KB limit), using
Win95's EMM386.EXE to alocate all extended RAM memory as expanded.
TIP3
Dual Boot Setup for Win95(+ DOS 7) / WfWG311(+ DOS 6):
This is the step-by-step procedure to install a dual-boot menu function for
DOS 6/Win 3.11 and Win95/DOS 7 systems. It gives you the choice of OS to boot
with. Doublespace and Drivespace drives can be handled with this setup.
Use this method to continue running your critical programs under the old
DOS6/Win31 system while testing Win95:
1. Copy (duplicate) the whole Windows directory and all its subdirectories
to another directory, like \WIN31. Copy \DOS to another one, like \DOS6.
2. Edit all the INI files in the WIN31 directory and change all references
from \WINDOWS to \WIN31.
3. Boot up and install Win95 SETUP through Win31 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 TIP.TIP" to edit CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS and
change all \WINDOWS references in them to \WIN31, and all \DOS references to
\DOS6.
5. 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: the one on the boot drive and the one on the compressed
drive):
[Options]
BootGUI=1
Network=0
BootMulti=1
BootMenu=1
BootMenuDefault=7 (original DOS as default. Use 1 for Win95 default)
BootMenuDelay=30 (default number of seconds to select another option)
To add these lines, first, open "My Computer" and use the menu bar to
VIEW - OPTIONS - VIEW - Show All Files, and also uncheck "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-system" 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, make your text changes, then save the file. Now put the attribute check
marks back where they were.
6. Exit Win95 and reboot. You should now see the boot menu and be able to
select which mode (OS) you want to boot into.
Any programs you install after this will only appear in the system you were
running at install time. Example: if you install MS Word under Win95 you have
to install it again under old DOS/Windows 31 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 to avoid having 2 sets of the new program on your
hard drive.
TIP4
If you make changes to the Registry, and you end up not being able to
restart/load/work with Win95, there is still a chance: reboot your computer
in DOS mode, and type:
REGEDIT
and press enter. You will be presented with this screen:
Imports and exports registry files to and from the registry.
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] filename1
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] /C filename2
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] /E filename3 [regpath]
/L:system Specifies the location of the SYSTEM.DAT file.
/R:user Specifies the location of the USER.DAT file.
filename1 Specifies the file(s) to import into the registry.
/C filename2 Specifies the file to create the registry from.
/E filename3 Specifies the file to export the registry to.
regpath Specifies the starting registry key to export from.
(Defaults to exporting the entire registry).
which means YOU ARE SAVED! (only if you BACKED UP the registry beforehand!).
Microsoft designed a DOS mode for editing the registry, when everything else
fails. To make it work, load Win95, run Regedit, click Registry, click
Export Registry File, choose your backup folder, type in a name for the
exported file and save as Registration File. The file will be saved with the
.REG extension. Now go ahead and mess with the registry. If Windows doesn't
restart/load/work after your newly made changes, go to DOS mode, and type:
REGEDIT /C C:\BACKUP\OLDSYS.REG
and press enter to recreate the Registry from the file OLDSYS.REG.
Restart Win95.
If you didn't back up the registry, so there is no saved file to recreate the
Registry from, there is still a last chance: in your boot drive's root
directory, you can find the hidden file SYSTEM.1ST (contains all the
original registry settings you first started Win95 with, when you installed
it). Copy it as SYSTEM.DAT to your Win95 folder:
ATTRIB -H C:\SYSTEM.1ST
COPY /V C:\SYSTEM.1ST C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H C:\SYSTEM.1ST
WIN
and press enter after each of the above lines.
You will now have to start customizing Win95 again from ground up (but at
least it's working).
TIP5
To go to DOS from Win95, there are 2 ways:
1. Click Start, Programs, MS-DOS prompt, starts a DOS prompt session inside
Win95. Type "EXIT" to return to Win95.
To know that you are still running Windows, add/change these lines in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET PROMPT=Outside Windows 95 DOS Prompt!$_$P$G
SET WINPMT=Type EXIT 2 return 2 Windows 95!$_$P$G
That's what you'll see as prompt, during your DOS session, and you won't
forget to go back to Win95 when you're done.
2. To go to the real DOS (version 7.0, called MS-DOS mode), click Start,
Shut Down, choose "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode", and click Yes.
Your PC will perform a warm reboot, loading the DOS real mode drivers
specified in DOSSTART.BAT, located in your Win95 folder (Win95 will rename
it AUTOEXEC.BAT).
To boot to DOS with different configurations, if you need to run different
(weird) programs/games with weird requirements, make as many desktop
shortcuts to MS-DOS prompt as you want, give them different names (similar
to your DOS program/game), and right click on each one of them, choose
Properties, to create custom CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to load your real
mode drivers/TSRs for each time you go to the ol' DOS.
TIP6
If, for any reason, you decide to choose a different "temp" directory for
storing Windows 95/Windows 31 temporary files (like a RAM disk), you will
need to add these 2 lines to your CONFIG.SYS:
SET TMP=D:\TEMP
SET TEMP=D:\TEMP
considering D:\TEMP the new "temp" directory on your RAM drive, created by
loading this device driver in your CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICEHIGH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\RAMDRIVE.SYS <parameters>
To create the new directory D:\TEMP, add this line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MD D:\TEMP
Then delete the Win95 default "temp" directory: C:\WINDOWS\TEMP. Reboot
your PC and restart Win95. If the "temp" variable is not mentioned in your
config.sys, Win95 automaticaly creates the default "temp" directory at
startup.
TIP7
For maximum DOS memory in an MS-DOS session, add the line:
LocalLoadHigh=1
to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, found in the Win95 folder.
If you run DOS mode TSRs/drivers loaded high in your CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files (loaded with 'DEVICEHIGH' and 'LH'), and have an upper
memory configuration (on bootup, before launching Win95) of less than 16KB
of free upper RAM, make sure you have the line:
LocalLoadHigh=0
added to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, located in the Win95 directory.
If this line has a numeric value of "1", you won't be able to start Win95!
Same applies to Windows 3.x (enhanced mode only).
TIP8
To change cursor blinking rate to NON BLINKING:
open Registry, 'Edit', 'Find', type in "Find what" box:
CursorBlinkRate
(in the left column), change numeric value to "-1" and close Registry.
TIP9
To adjust (decrease) spacing between desktop icons, open Registry,
'Edit', 'Find', type in the "Find what" box:
WindowMetrics
look for "IconSpacingFactor" (in the left column), change numeric
value to "100" (or something that suits you: 900-16) and close Registry.
TIP10
Undocumented! Speed-up Start menu delay: open the Registry and create a
new string (key) under:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop
and name it:
MenuShowDelay
Give it a value from 1 (fastest) to 10 (slowest).
The values are the time in milliseconds that the popup will wait before
showing. Restart win95 to see the Start menu open its popups instantaneously.
TIP11
To have Win95 Defrag run unattended every time you start it, create a
shortcut for Defrag with this command line:
C:\WINDOWS\DEFRAG.EXE C: /F /U /NOPROMPT
meaning: defragments drive C:, performs full, unconditional defrag and it
won't prompt you when it's done (automatic exit when job is done).
Same for Win95's ScanDisk: to run Scandskw unattended, type in the Scandskw
shortcut command line box:
C:\WINDOWS\SCANDSKW.EXE C: /A /N
to scan drive C:, performing a standard scan and to exit upon completion,
without prompting you for confirmation.
If you installed System Agent that comes with Plus!, you can schedule Defrag
and ScanDisk to do periodic unattended "runs" on your hard drive(s) using
the above switches.
TIP12
To get Explorer to show a 2 directory view similar to File Manager just
open 2 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 they're instantly available next time you boot up.
TIP13
To have the icon of all your BMPs a small picture of the actual bitmap:
Open Registry, 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 win95 that 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. Sorting and viewing BMPs is now easy.
TIP14
Hold down SHIFT while dragging items into the Recycle Bin to DELETE them
immediately rather than being placed in the bin. Careful not to accidently
multi-select more files than you want! Same if you press SHIFT-DEL.
TIP15
Play with the SENDTO feature in Explorer! It's a hidden folder in
\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.
TIP16
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 there is already at least 1 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. Now when you right click on
a BMP file you'll see your new commÿand there and you can choose to View,
Edit, Open, Print... whatever you want with whatever app you want.
TIP17
There's a program automatically installed by Win95 used to make Win 3.x
programs more compatible under 95: MKCOMPAT.EXE, in \Windows\System.
Run MKCOMPAT - Select File/Open - Open the EXE file you have 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.
TIP18
To rename a file, folder or desktop item it's a hassle to right click the
item, click Rename etc, etc... before you can type in the new name. 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 name change.
TIP19
Drag icons into your documents. This creates a static link to that icon.
Drag 'My Computer' onto a new Wordpad doc and double click it to see!
TIP20
Want to make your double speed drive perform like a quad+ speed drive in
Win95? 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'.
TIP21
Win95 allows you to do some strange things with audio CDs:
(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 through 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 plays 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 folder with CD tracks in it.
TIP22
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.
TIP23
To have a directory named "New Downloads" in Win95, but have the short file
name be "DOWNLOAD" instead of "NEWDOW~1":
The only time short filenames are relevant is in a mixed computing
environment, to share files with systems that don't support LFNs:
1. Start LFNs with the short version. That means naming the folder
DOWNLOADS-NEW, which would resolve to Downlo~1.
2. Get rid of the tildes: 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) would
resolve to the correct eight-character name.
TIP24
The "Send To" quick menu shows only the floppy drives as a destination.
You can chose 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 "Recycle Bin" avoids 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).
TIP25
How to install PC Speaker on a Win95 PC:
Go to Control Panel, "Add New Hardware", "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 now has sound.
To modify settings for PC Speaker go to Control Panel, Multimedia,
Advanced Tab. In Audio devices you'll see 'PC Speaker'.
TIP26
To change startup and closing screens in Win95: start Paintbrush and
load the files LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS and change them to whatever you
want... they're just bitmaps with a different extension!
To have another startup-logo place a file named LOGO.SYS in your root
directory. LOGO.SYS must have the same format as logow.sys and logos.sys
(320x400x256) bitmap (.BMP).
TIP27
Drag and drop files or desktop objects with the RIGHT mouse button 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.
Also, to drag a file from 1 folder to another, using only 1 Explorer
window, drag the icon near the top or bottom of a scrolling pane, and "nudge"
to scroll.
TIP28
To use a Logitech middle mouse button as a doubleclick:
Save this as "Midclick.reg" and double click it:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Logitech\MouseWare\CurrentVersion\SerialV\0000]
"DoubleClick"="001"
TIP29
Click on Start, Shut Down, Restart computer. Hold down SHIFT and click Yes.
This only restarts Windows 95, NOT the computer (warm boot).
TIP30
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). Right click on start (taskbar), click on open. Move the new
folder 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...
You can do the same with the printers folder:
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
TIP31
If you're browsing through folder windows, it's usually nice to have Win95
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, you should 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, open the registry and find the "Directory" entry
under "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT".
Under, "Directory", you'll find "Default Icon", "shell", and "shellex".
The one you 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". A 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.
TIP32
Ever wanted to open an object with a different application than the 1 it is
already associated with and the right mouse menu no longer lets you choose
Open With...? Hold down SHIFT when you right mouse click over the object,
and the Open With... command will now appear in the menu.
TIP33
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 TIPALLTIP .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 not allow objects to be dropped (i.e. Control Panel,
and Printers), others always Move To regardless of SHIFT/CTRL status
(i.e. Recycle Bin).
TIP34
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 SHIFT and double click on the folder/drive.
This will bring up an Explorer window of that folder.
TIP35
To add file types to the New menu item on the mouse menu, edit the
Registry. 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 2 options: 1 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 subdirectory beneath your Win95
directory.
When you use the New feature of the button menu, Win95 either copies the
template file or creates a null file.
TIP36
To control the directory or even the drive where Explorer opens:
Create a shortcut to the Explorer with the following command line to open
it at C:\ root:
c:\windows\explorer.exe /e,root,c:\
where the syntax is: explorer [/e][,root,<object>]
TIP37
To drag scraps from documents to the desktop or to folders and create
Document Scraps: with Scraps, you can archive bits and pieces of your
documents to use later or to share:
Open Wordpad
Type some text
Select the text
Put the cursor over the highlighted text and drag it to the desktop.
It creates a scrap with some of the actual text in the name of the scrap.
NOT A WIN95 TIP
For PKZIP/PKUNZIP users there is a PKZIP command that formats the floppy
disk (thereby erasing it), spans multiple disks for large (or large amounts
of) files, zips all the stuff up and copies it to disk:
PKZIP -&f A:\<zip_filename>.zip <file1> <file2> ...
Example:
PKZIP -&f A:\DOCS.ZIP C:\STUFF\TIP.DOC C:\WORD\TIP.DOC
In this example PKZIP formats the floppy in the drive, compresses all files
with extension .DOC in C:\STUFF directory, compresses C:\WORD\TIP.DOC files
with the other DOCs, and spans this zip file (DOCS.ZIP) over as many
floppies as necessary.
Place PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE in a directory in your path and add these 2
lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET PKTEMP=C:\TEMP
SET PKTMP=C:\TEMP
TIP1
COMPLETE REFFERENCE TO MSDOS.SYS PARAMETERS, [Options] SECTION:
[Options] (1) Default Nondefault
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BootDelay =2 Initial startup delay (seconds)(2)
BootGUI =1 Automatic Windows 95 startup Start command prompt
BootKeys =1 Startup keys F4, F5, F6, F8 enabled
BootMenu =0 Hide startup menu (press F8 to display) Show startup menu(3)
BootMenuDefault =1 Indicated menu option is highlighted (4)
BootMenuDelay =30 Delay (seconds) before running highlighted
menu item (only if BootMenu=1): 1-99
BootMulti =1 Startup key F4 enabled F4 disabled(3)
BootSafe =1 Safe mode startup available
BootWarn =1 Display safe mode startup warning & menu
BootWin =1 Enable Windows 95 as operating system Enable previous OS
DblSpace =1 Load DBLSPACE.BIN (if present)
DoubleBuffer =1 SCSI controller needs double-buffering
DrvSpace =1 Load DRVSPACE.BIN (if present)
LoadTop =1 Load COMMAND.COM or DRVSPACE.BIN at top of
640K memory
Logo =1 Display animated logo as Windows 95 opens(5)
Network =1 Networking enabled(6)
(1) Default action is taken if a line doesn't appear in the [Options] section.
Except as noted, nondefault action is opposite to default.
(2) Delay allows time to press the function key. Default is 0 if BootKeys=0.
(3) If BootKeys=0, then BootMenu=1 and BootMulti=0 don't change default action.
(4) Menu option 3 is highlighted if a previous Windows 95 load failed.
(5) Logo=0 may solve 3rd party memory management conflicts.
(6) Network=1 must be present or Safe Mode with network support doesn't appear
as option 4 on Startup Menu.
To edit MSDOS.SYS in DOS mode, create a batch file named SYS95.BAT, with
following lines:
@ATTRIB +A -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
@ATTRIB -A +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
and run "SYS95" at any DOS prompt (under Win95 OS ONLY !).
I assumed that your bootup drive is drive C, and you have the directory
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND (Win95 users) mentioned in your path, in AUTOEXEC.BAT.
EDIT.COM should also be in a directory in your path.
Some prefer to dual-boot: keep the ol' DOS (and Windows 3.x) and install
Win95 in a separate directory. That's when you have the choice, at bootup
time, to boot in your new Win95 configuration, or chose to boot to your old
version of DOS (and eventualy use Windows 3.x, if you kept it on your hard
disk).
If you reboot with your old DOS version, MSDOS.SYS is renamed MSDOS.W40, so
the appropriate batch file would be:
@ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.W40
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.W40
@ATTRIB +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.W40
Run this batch file ONLY under MS-DOS 6.xx OS !
TIP2
You might need, at some point, to exit Win95 to plain ol' DOS (version
7.00), to play a stuborn DOS game or to start a weird DOS application. That's
because Win95 takes over all your system memory resources (even if releases
some for DOS programs, but not enough for some of them).
Example: a DOS game like TIE Fighter, by Lucas Arts; Magic Carpet 1 by
Bullfrog; or the new Star Trek Next Generation "A Final Unity" by Spectrum
Holobyte, CANNOT BE PLAYED FROM INSIDE WIN95, AT A DOS PROMPT (Tie Fighter
works from inside win95, but with impaired performance, and with eventually
system hangups on some systems!).
TIE Fighter requires 540kb of low RAM and 2400KB of expanded memory to run
with the sound features turned on!
Falcon 3.0 flight simulation on CD-ROM requires 608KB of low memory to start!
So you have 2 solutions: create custom autoexec.bat and config.sys for each
of your DOS programs/games, and reboot your computer with that particular
configuration, or try to get as much memory as you can, out of the Win95
operating system and JUST EXIT WIN95 and start your DOS program, without
rebooting. When you're done playing Magic Carpet 1, you can return to Win95
by typing 'WIN'.
Good news: Bullfrog released the new 'Magic Carpet 2' that can be played
from within Win95, at a DOS prompt. Just make sure to allocate at least 8MB
of extended RAM to the game's .PIF file.
To make sure you CAN exit Win95 to DOS prompt, move the file LOGOS.SYS from
your Win95 directory (folder) to any other directory, and exit Win95 (choose
the "Shutdown" option and click "Yes").
Also add/modify the following lines in the [Options] section of your
MSDOS.SYS file:
[Options]
BootGUI=1 -> Boots with Win95 as current OS
BootKeys=1 -> Startup keys enabled: F4-F8
BootMulti=1 -> Allows you to boot with the ol' OS (DOS 6.xx)
BootWin=0 -> Doesn't load Win95 registry module in memory (boots straight to
DOS 7.0)
BootMenu=1 -> Shows menu options
BootMenuDefault=1 -> Boots with Win95 as default OS (choose option 7 to boot
with the old DOS, if no network detected)
BootMenuDelay=30 -> Delay in seconds until keypress if no option change
BootSafe=0 -> Disable safe mode startup
When you bootup with all these MSDOS.SYS options, you will be presented with
the following startup screen:
Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu
=================================
1. Normal
2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
3. Safe mode
4. Step-by-step confirmation
5. Command prompt only
6. Safe mode command prompt only
7. Previous version of MS-DOS
Enter a choice: 1
F5=Safe mode Shift+F5=Command prompt Shift+F8=Step-by-step confirmation[N]
"Normal" (choice 1) allows you to boot into Win95 OS, and if you want to boot
with your ol' DOS version, choose option 7.
Put all your DOS mode drivers that you were running in the ol' DOS (5.xx and
up) back in your AUTOEXCEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files (load them HIGH with
'DEVICEHIGH' in CONFIG.SYS and 'LH' in AUTOEXEC.BAT), and reboot. You can
also create startup files with multiple bootup choices (in MS-DOS 6.xx
fashion).
You will notice a difference, after booting stright to DOS mode with the
new msdos.sys, when you run "MEM /C /P": the module "WIN" is not in memory
anymore, and you have only one instance of "COMMAND" loaded (therefore you
have more low RAM available (with a little luck you can have up to 623KB)!
I found out that in this configuration, I can start ANY dos/windows
program/game, and NOT run out of memory (623KB of low RAM!), with ALL the
drivers/devices/TSRs loaded in upper memory (above the 640KB limit), using
Win95's EMM386.EXE to alocate all extended RAM memory as expanded.
TIP3
Dual Boot Setup for Win95(+ DOS 7) / WfWG311(+ DOS 6):
This is the step-by-step procedure to install a dual-boot menu function for
DOS 6/Win 3.11 and Win95/DOS 7 systems. It gives you the choice of OS to boot
with. Doublespace and Drivespace drives can be handled with this setup.
Use this method to continue running your critical programs under the old
DOS6/Win31 system while testing Win95:
1. Copy (duplicate) the whole Windows directory and all its subdirectories
to another directory, like \WIN31. Copy \DOS to another one, like \DOS6.
2. Edit all the INI files in the WIN31 directory and change all references
from \WINDOWS to \WIN31.
3. Boot up and install Win95 SETUP through Win31 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 TIP.TIP" to edit CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS and
change all \WINDOWS references in them to \WIN31, and all \DOS references to
\DOS6.
5. 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: the one on the boot drive and the one on the compressed
drive):
[Options]
BootGUI=1
Network=0
BootMulti=1
BootMenu=1
BootMenuDefault=7 (original DOS as default. Use 1 for Win95 default)
BootMenuDelay=30 (default number of seconds to select another option)
To add these lines, first, open "My Computer" and use the menu bar to
VIEW - OPTIONS - VIEW - Show All Files, and also uncheck "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-system" 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, make your text changes, then save the file. Now put the attribute check
marks back where they were.
6. Exit Win95 and reboot. You should now see the boot menu and be able to
select which mode (OS) you want to boot into.
Any programs you install after this will only appear in the system you were
running at install time. Example: if you install MS Word under Win95 you have
to install it again under old DOS/Windows 31 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 to avoid having 2 sets of the new program on your
hard drive.
TIP4
If you make changes to the Registry, and you end up not being able to
restart/load/work with Win95, there is still a chance: reboot your computer
in DOS mode, and type:
REGEDIT
and press enter. You will be presented with this screen:
Imports and exports registry files to and from the registry.
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] filename1
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] /C filename2
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] /E filename3 [regpath]
/L:system Specifies the location of the SYSTEM.DAT file.
/R:user Specifies the location of the USER.DAT file.
filename1 Specifies the file(s) to import into the registry.
/C filename2 Specifies the file to create the registry from.
/E filename3 Specifies the file to export the registry to.
regpath Specifies the starting registry key to export from.
(Defaults to exporting the entire registry).
which means YOU ARE SAVED! (only if you BACKED UP the registry beforehand!).
Microsoft designed a DOS mode for editing the registry, when everything else
fails. To make it work, load Win95, run Regedit, click Registry, click
Export Registry File, choose your backup folder, type in a name for the
exported file and save as Registration File. The file will be saved with the
.REG extension. Now go ahead and mess with the registry. If Windows doesn't
restart/load/work after your newly made changes, go to DOS mode, and type:
REGEDIT /C C:\BACKUP\OLDSYS.REG
and press enter to recreate the Registry from the file OLDSYS.REG.
Restart Win95.
If you didn't back up the registry, so there is no saved file to recreate the
Registry from, there is still a last chance: in your boot drive's root
directory, you can find the hidden file SYSTEM.1ST (contains all the
original registry settings you first started Win95 with, when you installed
it). Copy it as SYSTEM.DAT to your Win95 folder:
ATTRIB -H C:\SYSTEM.1ST
COPY /V C:\SYSTEM.1ST C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H C:\SYSTEM.1ST
WIN
and press enter after each of the above lines.
You will now have to start customizing Win95 again from ground up (but at
least it's working).
TIP5
To go to DOS from Win95, there are 2 ways:
1. Click Start, Programs, MS-DOS prompt, starts a DOS prompt session inside
Win95. Type "EXIT" to return to Win95.
To know that you are still running Windows, add/change these lines in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET PROMPT=Outside Windows 95 DOS Prompt!$_$P$G
SET WINPMT=Type EXIT 2 return 2 Windows 95!$_$P$G
That's what you'll see as prompt, during your DOS session, and you won't
forget to go back to Win95 when you're done.
2. To go to the real DOS (version 7.0, called MS-DOS mode), click Start,
Shut Down, choose "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode", and click Yes.
Your PC will perform a warm reboot, loading the DOS real mode drivers
specified in DOSSTART.BAT, located in your Win95 folder (Win95 will rename
it AUTOEXEC.BAT).
To boot to DOS with different configurations, if you need to run different
(weird) programs/games with weird requirements, make as many desktop
shortcuts to MS-DOS prompt as you want, give them different names (similar
to your DOS program/game), and right click on each one of them, choose
Properties, to create custom CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to load your real
mode drivers/TSRs for each time you go to the ol' DOS.
TIP6
If, for any reason, you decide to choose a different "temp" directory for
storing Windows 95/Windows 31 temporary files (like a RAM disk), you will
need to add these 2 lines to your CONFIG.SYS:
SET TMP=D:\TEMP
SET TEMP=D:\TEMP
considering D:\TEMP the new "temp" directory on your RAM drive, created by
loading this device driver in your CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICEHIGH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\RAMDRIVE.SYS <parameters>
To create the new directory D:\TEMP, add this line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MD D:\TEMP
Then delete the Win95 default "temp" directory: C:\WINDOWS\TEMP. Reboot
your PC and restart Win95. If the "temp" variable is not mentioned in your
config.sys, Win95 automaticaly creates the default "temp" directory at
startup.
TIP7
For maximum DOS memory in an MS-DOS session, add the line:
LocalLoadHigh=1
to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, found in the Win95 folder.
If you run DOS mode TSRs/drivers loaded high in your CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files (loaded with 'DEVICEHIGH' and 'LH'), and have an upper
memory configuration (on bootup, before launching Win95) of less than 16KB
of free upper RAM, make sure you have the line:
LocalLoadHigh=0
added to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, located in the Win95 directory.
If this line has a numeric value of "1", you won't be able to start Win95!
Same applies to Windows 3.x (enhanced mode only).
TIP8
To change cursor blinking rate to NON BLINKING:
open Registry, 'Edit', 'Find', type in "Find what" box:
CursorBlinkRate
(in the left column), change numeric value to "-1" and close Registry.
TIP9
To adjust (decrease) spacing between desktop icons, open Registry,
'Edit', 'Find', type in the "Find what" box:
WindowMetrics
look for "IconSpacingFactor" (in the left column), change numeric
value to "100" (or something that suits you: 900-16) and close Registry.
TIP10
Undocumented! Speed-up Start menu delay: open the Registry and create a
new string (key) under:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop
and name it:
MenuShowDelay
Give it a value from 1 (fastest) to 10 (slowest).
The values are the time in milliseconds that the popup will wait before
showing. Restart win95 to see the Start menu open its popups instantaneously.
TIP11
To have Win95 Defrag run unattended every time you start it, create a
shortcut for Defrag with this command line:
C:\WINDOWS\DEFRAG.EXE C: /F /U /NOPROMPT
meaning: defragments drive C:, performs full, unconditional defrag and it
won't prompt you when it's done (automatic exit when job is done).
Same for Win95's ScanDisk: to run Scandskw unattended, type in the Scandskw
shortcut command line box:
C:\WINDOWS\SCANDSKW.EXE C: /A /N
to scan drive C:, performing a standard scan and to exit upon completion,
without prompting you for confirmation.
If you installed System Agent that comes with Plus!, you can schedule Defrag
and ScanDisk to do periodic unattended "runs" on your hard drive(s) using
the above switches.
TIP12
To get Explorer to show a 2 directory view similar to File Manager just
open 2 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 they're instantly available next time you boot up.
TIP13
To have the icon of all your BMPs a small picture of the actual bitmap:
Open Registry, 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 win95 that 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. Sorting and viewing BMPs is now easy.
TIP14
Hold down SHIFT while dragging items into the Recycle Bin to DELETE them
immediately rather than being placed in the bin. Careful not to accidently
multi-select more files than you want! Same if you press SHIFT-DEL.
TIP15
Play with the SENDTO feature in Explorer! It's a hidden folder in
\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.
TIP16
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 there is already at least 1 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. Now when you right click on
a BMP file you'll see your new commÿand there and you can choose to View,
Edit, Open, Print... whatever you want with whatever app you want.
TIP17
There's a program automatically installed by Win95 used to make Win 3.x
programs more compatible under 95: MKCOMPAT.EXE, in \Windows\System.
Run MKCOMPAT - Select File/Open - Open the EXE file you have 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.
TIP18
To rename a file, folder or desktop item it's a hassle to right click the
item, click Rename etc, etc... before you can type in the new name. 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 name change.
TIP19
Drag icons into your documents. This creates a static link to that icon.
Drag 'My Computer' onto a new Wordpad doc and double click it to see!
TIP20
Want to make your double speed drive perform like a quad+ speed drive in
Win95? 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'.
TIP21
Win95 allows you to do some strange things with audio CDs:
(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 through 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 plays 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 folder with CD tracks in it.
TIP22
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.
TIP23
To have a directory named "New Downloads" in Win95, but have the short file
name be "DOWNLOAD" instead of "NEWDOW~1":
The only time short filenames are relevant is in a mixed computing
environment, to share files with systems that don't support LFNs:
1. Start LFNs with the short version. That means naming the folder
DOWNLOADS-NEW, which would resolve to Downlo~1.
2. Get rid of the tildes: 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) would
resolve to the correct eight-character name.
TIP24
The "Send To" quick menu shows only the floppy drives as a destination.
You can chose 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 "Recycle Bin" avoids 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).
TIP25
How to install PC Speaker on a Win95 PC:
Go to Control Panel, "Add New Hardware", "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 now has sound.
To modify settings for PC Speaker go to Control Panel, Multimedia,
Advanced Tab. In Audio devices you'll see 'PC Speaker'.
TIP26
To change startup and closing screens in Win95: start Paintbrush and
load the files LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS and change them to whatever you
want... they're just bitmaps with a different extension!
To have another startup-logo place a file named LOGO.SYS in your root
directory. LOGO.SYS must have the same format as logow.sys and logos.sys
(320x400x256) bitmap (.BMP).
TIP27
Drag and drop files or desktop objects with the RIGHT mouse button 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.
Also, to drag a file from 1 folder to another, using only 1 Explorer
window, drag the icon near the top or bottom of a scrolling pane, and "nudge"
to scroll.
TIP28
To use a Logitech middle mouse button as a doubleclick:
Save this as "Midclick.reg" and double click it:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Logitech\MouseWare\CurrentVersion\SerialV\0000]
"DoubleClick"="001"
TIP29
Click on Start, Shut Down, Restart computer. Hold down SHIFT and click Yes.
This only restarts Windows 95, NOT the computer (warm boot).
TIP30
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). Right click on start (taskbar), click on open. Move the new
folder 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...
You can do the same with the printers folder:
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
TIP31
If you're browsing through folder windows, it's usually nice to have Win95
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, you should 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, open the registry and find the "Directory" entry
under "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT".
Under, "Directory", you'll find "Default Icon", "shell", and "shellex".
The one you 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". A 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.
TIP32
Ever wanted to open an object with a different application than the 1 it is
already associated with and the right mouse menu no longer lets you choose
Open With...? Hold down SHIFT when you right mouse click over the object,
and the Open With... command will now appear in the menu.
TIP33
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 TIPALLTIP .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 not allow objects to be dropped (i.e. Control Panel,
and Printers), others always Move To regardless of SHIFT/CTRL status
(i.e. Recycle Bin).
TIP34
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 SHIFT and double click on the folder/drive.
This will bring up an Explorer window of that folder.
TIP35
To add file types to the New menu item on the mouse menu, edit the
Registry. 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 2 options: 1 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 subdirectory beneath your Win95
directory.
When you use the New feature of the button menu, Win95 either copies the
template file or creates a null file.
TIP36
To control the directory or even the drive where Explorer opens:
Create a shortcut to the Explorer with the following command line to open
it at C:\ root:
c:\windows\explorer.exe /e,root,c:\
where the syntax is: explorer [/e][,root,<object>]
TIP37
To drag scraps from documents to the desktop or to folders and create
Document Scraps: with Scraps, you can archive bits and pieces of your
documents to use later or to share:
Open Wordpad
Type some text
Select the text
Put the cursor over the highlighted text and drag it to the desktop.
It creates a scrap with some of the actual text in the name of the scrap.
NOT A WIN95 TIP
For PKZIP/PKUNZIP users there is a PKZIP command that formats the floppy
disk (thereby erasing it), spans multiple disks for large (or large amounts
of) files, zips all the stuff up and copies it to disk:
PKZIP -&f A:\<zip_filename>.zip <file1> <file2> ...
Example:
PKZIP -&f A:\DOCS.ZIP C:\STUFF\TIP.DOC C:\WORD\TIP.DOC
In this example PKZIP formats the floppy in the drive, compresses all files
with extension .DOC in C:\STUFF directory, compresses C:\WORD\TIP.DOC files
with the other DOCs, and spans this zip file (DOCS.ZIP) over as many
floppies as necessary.
Place PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE in a directory in your path and add these 2
lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET PKTEMP=C:\TEMP
SET PKTMP=C:\TEMP
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