Windows 98 Tips and Tricks

Desktop

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1 If you make a mistake dragging and dropping files on your desktop you can easily rectify this by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing Undo.
2 Move your icons from the desktop to the Taskbar by right-clicking it and choosing Toolbars, Desktop.
3 Transform My Computer or Network Neighborhood icons into toolbars by dragging them to the edge of the screen and releasing the mouse button.
4 Move the Quick Launch toolbar by dragging it from the Taskbar on to your desktop instead. You can now position it wherever you want.
5 Hold down [Shift] as you drag a file to move it rather than copy it between drives, or vice versa between folders on the same drive.
6 Make sure you can always see the Quick Launch toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Always on top.
7 Restore the Quick Launch toolbar to its original default position by dragging it on to the Taskbar.
8 To choose a different icon, right-click on it, choose Properties, click on Shortcut then Change Icon.
9 If you like the look of an image you see on the Internet then right-click on it and choose Set as wallpaper.
10 Click on Start, Run, and enter a full-stop and click on OK to display its contents in a folder.
11 Leave the Start menu open as a way of disabling the screensaver to stop it cutting in.
12 Place shortcuts in a folder on the Start menu. Right-click on Start, select Open, click on File, New Folder and drag your shortcuts into the new folder.
13 Reduce the size of your icons. Right-click on the desktop and select Properties. Select the Appearance tab then click on the Item menu, select Icon and adjust the figures.
14 Use the right mouse button to drag a file. A menu will appear enabling you to choose whether or not you want to copy, move or create the file.
15 Remove underlined folders on the desktop by clicking on Start, Settings then Folder Options. Select the General tab, check Custom then click on Settings. Check the Single-click to open an item [point to select] and Underline icon titles only when I point at them’ is selected options.
16 Shut down your PC quickly by closing all open windows and pressing
[Alt] + [F4].
17 If you find you can’t move icons on your desktop, right-click on the desktop and choose Arrange Icons, then untick the Auto-Arrange option.
18 Remove the Documents folder from the Start menu. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Right-click a blank area in the right-hand pane and select New, DWORD Value, call it NoRecentDocsMenu, double-click it and type 1 as the value.
19 Hide all desktop icons from view. Go to the same key as in the previous tip, click on Edit then choose New, DWORD Value and name it NoDesktop. Double-click on it and enter a value of 1. To restore the icons change the value back to 0.
Menus
20 Sort your Start menu alphabetically by right-clicking on any item and choosing Sort by name.
21 To get an Explorer-type view of your Start menu items, right-click on the Start button and select Explore.
22 Copy files quickly to the floppy disk. Right-click on a file and select Send To, 3 ½ floppy (A).
23 To add applications to the Start menu, drag an item on to the Start button and just drop it in to place.
Taskbar and System Tray
24 Expand the Taskbar so you can see the buttons of all Quick Launch apps. Move the cursor over the Taskbar and drag it up to double its size.
25 Alternatively, if you need more space right-click the Taskbar, select Properties and choose Auto hide.
26 To discover the date, hover the mouse over the clock in the System Tray.
27 If you would rather see a calendar in full then double-click on the clock to see the Date and Time properties.
28 Remove the volume icon by clearing the Show Volume Control option in the Sound Control Panel.
29 Add programs and files to the toolbar. Right-click on it and choose Toolbars, New Toolbar. Find the file and click on OK.
30 The QuickTray tool in the System Tray gives makes it easy to add other applications to your Taskbar. Click on QuickTray to launch it, and use the Add button to add any program.
31 After making a change to the Taskbar in the Registry don’t restart. Press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete], then double-click on Explorer. Click on Yes to close Explorer, but don’t shut down.
32 To keep the Taskbar on view all the time, click on Start, Settings, choose Taskbar and Start Menu. Check Always on top in Taskbar Options.
33 Create new Quick Launch icons by simply dragging shortcuts on to the Quick Launch toolbar.
Folders and Shortcuts
34 Hold down [Shift] when you open a folder to open it in Explorer.
35 Avoid desktop clutter with My Computer. Click on View, Folder Options and Custom. Click on Settings and elect to display new folders in the same window.
36 You can still open a folder in a new window. Hold down [Ctrl] as you double-click on it.
37 Minimise all open windows straight away by clicking on Show Desktop.
38 Exit a minimised application quickly by right-clicking on it on the Taskbar and choosing Close.
39 When viewing a folder, right-click on the toolbar and you’ll be able to customise any button on the toolbar.
40 Use shortcut keys to open a shortcut. Right-click on a shortcut icon, select Properties, and click on the Shortcut tab. Click in the Shortcut key box and choose any key, such as [A]. Click OK, then when you press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [A] in future, Windows will launch that shortcut.
41 Reset Explorer columns to their default sizes by pressing [Ctrl] + [+] on the numeric keypad.
42 To copy, say, 95 files out of 100 in a folder, select the five files that you don’t want to use by holding down [Ctrl] and clicking on each one. Then click on Edit and choose Invert Selection.
Right-Click Trickery
43 Quickly map or disconnect a network drive by right-clicking on the Network Neighborhood icon.
44 Get quick access to System Properties by right-clicking My Computer and choosing Properties.
45 Access Internet Options by right-clicking IE and selecting Properties.
46 To access the Properties information for any file or folder just hold down [Alt] when you click on it.
Maintenance
47 If you run ScanDisk and you have multiple drives installed just hold down [Ctrl] and select all the drives.
48 Make a custom shortcut for ScanDisk. Create a new shortcut, entering ScanDSKW in the Command Line box. Right-click on the new icon and choose Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, and make sure the Target parameter reads C:\WINDOWS\SCANDSKW.EXE /n.
49 Running Disk Defragmenter once a month is adequate for most users, not daily or weekly.
50 See when you last ran Defrag. Right-click on the drive in My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Tools tab to see the date.
51 If Defrag keeps restarting because of other running applications then press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] to open Close Programs. End Task every program except Explorer and Systray.
52 Free up disk space by clicking on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and Disk Cleanup.
53 If you can’t bring up the Close Program box when your PC crashes try [Ctrl] + [Esc] to bring up the Start menu. You can then shut down.
54 If you get an error message on startup referring to a missing device file with a .VXD extension, then try
re-installing the driver that it relates to. This should cure the problem.
55 If ScanDisk finds errors you can save the files and they are given a .CHK extension. They will be in the root directory. Use Notepad to open them, then delete any that aren’t important.
56 Always make sure you have an emergency boot disk available. Launch Add/Remove Programs and select the Startup Disk tab and create one.
57 Always make sure your Windows\
Temp folder is empty as this can affect the performance of Windows and cause problems when installing software.
58 Check for the latest drivers for your hardware online. This can help to speed up your system and get rid of bugs.
59 Printer problems? Windows 98 users can use the Enhanced Printing Troubleshooter guide. Access it via Start, Help. Win95 users will need to launch it directly from the Win95 CD.
60 If you find your PC freezes and locks up, don’t hit the reset button. Press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete] to bring up the Close Program dialog. End Task those that are ‘Not Responding’.
61 It’s rare, but not unheard of for the Recycle Bin icon to disappear. In Regedit, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Desktop\NameSpace. In the left-hand pane, right-click the NameSpace key and select New, Key. Type the following, exactly, (all on one line with no spaces): {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and press [Return]. In the right-hand pane, right-click on (Default) and select Modify. In the Edit String dialog, in Value data type Recycle Bin, click OK then close Regedit. Click the desktop and press [F5] to refresh it.
62 Your PC may refuse to boot because of ‘missing’ files. Run Setup.exe from your Windows CD, then choose Verify when you are prompted.
63 Make sure you can see all the files on your system. Open My Computer and click on View, Folder Options. Select the View tab, scroll down and make sure Show all Files is checked.
64 Set files to read only to avoid accidental deletion. Right-click a file and choose Properties. Select the General tab and check the Read only box.
65 If ScanDisk says you have cross-linked clusters but after you’ve fixed them and rebooted the whole process repeats itself, don’t worry. Next time Windows starts press [F8], select Command Prompt only from the menu. Type scandisk and this will resolve the problem.
66 Avoid virus infections by being careful when opening attachments. Use Quick View to preview any attachments before opening them.
67 Create a partition on your hard drive that will act as a storage area for all your backed up data.
68 Windows doesn’t always remember how you’ve positioned or sized a folder. The way around this problem is to open it, size it, then hold down [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Shift] and close it.
Searching
69 Find out which files are taking up all the space by clicking Start, Find, Files or Folders and searching for files that are at least 5,000Kb in size.
70 Search for several file types at the same type by separating each with a semicolon (*.txt; *.html, for example).
71 Get better search results by using the Named box for the file name and the Containing box to search for words contained in the document.
72 Search more than one drive by separating each one with a semicolon (c:; d:; e: and so on).
73 Use the same search criteria again in Find. Click on File, Save Search. You’ll see a new desktop icon named after your search criteria. Double-click this icon the next time you need to perform the same search.
74 Save your Find results for future reference. Click on Options and select Save Results, then choose File, Save Search. Then when you double-click on your icon the criteria and results will both appear.
Diagnostics
75 Keep a record of your system by running System Information from Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools. Click on File, Save As to store your PC’s details.
76 Dr Watson can tell you about problems with your PC, click on Start, Run and type drwatson. Double-click the icon in the System Tray to see his brief report.
77 The helpful chap will also give you information about your PC. Click on View, Advanced to see the details.
78 Track down problems with IE by clicking on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools. Open the Internet Explorer tree and click on File Versions.
79 Find out detailed information about the hardware on your PC by clicking on Start, Run and typing hwinfo /ui.
80 If you’re on a network find out who’s browsing your system by running Windows Net Watcher. You may have to install it from the Windows CD.
81 If you’re experiencing graphics problems then run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Click on Start, Run and type dxdiag.
82 Back up your Internet connections by dragging them from the Dial-Up Networking folder to a back-up folder
or device.
83 Use System Information to scan your Registry for errors by clicking on Tools, Registry Checker.
84 A backed up Dial-Up Networking file can be viewed in Notepad, making it easy for you to compare connections.
85 When you’ve uninstalled a program, check its folder in Program Files and delete any left-over files and the folder itself to avoid your system becoming cluttered.
86 Keep your PC up to date with the latest Windows patches and updates by clicking on Start then Update.
87 We recommend installing any Windows Security updates as well.
88 Monitor what’s loading when Windows starts. Press [Pause/Break] to keep the information on screen and give yourself long enough to read it.
89 Find out which version of DirectX you have by finding the folder, Program Files\DirectX\Setup. Double-click on DXTOOL.exe or DXINFO.exe to see the version number.
Set-up and System Tweaks
90 Before you install a new version of Windows, make sure you have all applications closed including anti-virus software. Use [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del].
91 Before you upgrade your version of Windows, make sure you have enough free space as up to 1.5Gb can be required for an upgrade to XP.
92 The Windows installation has several different set-up options. To find out what they are click on Start, Run and type d:\setup.exe /? (where d: is the letter of your CD drive).
93 When installing software (including Windows) always choose Custom installation to give you more control over what’s going on your hard drive.
94 If some of your Windows programs appear to be missing then go to the Add/Remove Programs, Windows Setup tab and re-install them.
95 Adjust Windows for daylight savings by opening Date/Time in the Control Panel and checking Automatically adjust clockÉ
96 Change the way Windows 98 looks by using Themes. Windows 95 users can use Desktop Architect from www.desktoparchitect.com.
97 Open up Fonts in the Control Panel and delete any you don’t need.
98 Internet Options in the Control Panel enables you to manage the settings for any Internet connection. Choose a default, plus enable or disable Internet programs to dial out automatically, via the Always dial my default connection option.
99 Adjust your keyboard’s responses by opening Keyboard in the Control Panel and adjusting the repeat rate of the keys.
100 To bypass the Recycle Bin and permanently delete files, right-click on it, choose Properties and check the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin box.
101 Change file associations by holding down [Shift] when you right-click a file. Choose Open with and select an application.
102 Test your modem by opening Modems in the Control Panel and clicking on Diagnostics. Select the port that it’s using and click on More info to carry out the test.
103 If you can connect to your ISP but not log on then double-click on Network and choose Dial-Up Adapter. Click on the Properties button, followed by Advanced. Set Record a log file to Yes and try connecting as normal. You can then view exactly what’s happening in the \Windows\Ppplog.txt file.
104 You can change the default date or time format in an application by opening Regional Settings and modifying it to whatever you need.
105 Remove the navigation chime by opening Sounds and removing any sounds linked to Start Navigation or Complete Navigation.
106 Windows gives you a registration number during the installation to quote if you ever need to contact Microsoft. As you didn’t write it down, find out what it is by going into System Properties and looking at General under the Registered tab.
107 Stop a CD from auto playing by holding down [Shift] when you insert the disc.
108 If have a large amount of data on the clipboard you can free up some RAM by deleting it. Run the Clipboard Viewer (Clipbrd.exe) and select Edit then Delete.
109 Re-installing Windows 95 can cause problems if IE 4.0 or later is installed. The way around this is to uninstall IE 4 first, then re-install Windows 95 and finally re-install IE4.
110 If you’re hungry for even more tips then take a look at TIPS.TXT in your Windows folder.
111 Create a shortcut to Device Manager on your desktop. Right-click on the desktop and select New, Shortcut. In the Command line box, type C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE SYSDM.CPL,,1. Label the shortcut, Device Manager.
112 Use Quickview to view the contents of any file quickly by making a shortcut to C:\WINDOWS\
SYSTEM\VIEWERS\QUIKVIEW.EXE on the desktop. To view a file just drag it on to the icon.
113 Speed up your operations by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing Properties. Select the Effects tab and clear all the boxes.
114 WinAlign in Windows 98 speeds up application launches by placing key files on the fast part of the disk during a defragmentation. Only programs that have been designed to work with WinAlign are supported. Find out which of your files are using WinAlign by looking at Winali.ini in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.

Control Panel shorts
Create a shortcut icon to run any program that appears in the Control panel. In the Command line box just enter the details for example, Control.exe Desk.cpl to make it work.
115 Accessibility Control.exe Access.cpl
116 Add/Remove Programs Control.exe Appwiz.cpl
117 Date/Time Control.exe Timedate.cpl
118 Desktop Themes Control.exe Themes.cpl
119 Display Control.exe Desk.cpl
120 Fonts Control.exe Main.cpl Fonts
121 Game Controllers Control.exe Joy.cpl
122 Infrared Control.exe Infrared.cpl
123 Internet Control.exe Inetcpl.cpl
124 Keyboard Control.exe Main.cpl Keyboard
125 Modems Control.exe Modem.cpl
126 Mouse Control.exe Main.cpl Mouse
127 Multimedia Control.exe Mmsys.cpl
128 Network Control.exe Netcpl.cpl
129 Passwords Control.exe Password.cpl
130 Power Management Control.exe Powercfg.cpl
131 Printers Control.exe Main.cpl Printers
132 Regional Settings Control.exe Intl.cpl
133 System Control.exe Sysdm.cpl
134 If you get an error message on startup about a missing file, search for it on your hard drive and Windows CD. If you find it then copy it to your Windows and System directories.
System Properties
135 Check the resources you have free by looking at the Performance tab in System Properties. If it’s under half then reboot to avoid a system crash.
136 Speed up your hard disk. Go in to System Properties and under the Performance tab click on File System. On the Hard disk tab, set Read-ahead optimisation to Full.
137 Try switching to the Removable disk tab and checking Enable write-behind caching. Remove the disk before Windows completes writing and files could be corrupted, but if you’re careful you could be rewarded by significant performance increases.
138 The CD-ROM tab in File System Properties only enables you to optimise your drive up to 4x speed. You can increase this in the Registry. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\
Control\FileSystem\CDFS.
Change the CacheSize and PreFetch entries to read d6040000 and 80030000 respectively.
139 View the properties of all your hard drives at once. Double-click My Computer and select all your hard drives by holding down [Ctrl] and clicking on each drive. Right-click on any of the drives and select Properties. A dialog will then appear with a separate tab for each drive.
Miscellaneous
140 Use long file names in a DOS box by enclosing them in quotes. For example, type cd “\program filesÓ to change to the Program Files directory.
141 There’s more to the Windows calculator than meets the eye. Click on View, Scientific for more functions.
142 For information on your PC’s TCP/IP settings, click on Start, Run, type winipcfg and click on OK.
143 To minimise all open windows without using the mouse, just press [Ctrl] + [Esc], then press [Esc] followed by [Alt] + [M].
144 Create a new folder with a key combination in Windows 95. Type [Alt] + [F] + [W] + [F]. In Windows 98, type or [Alt] + [F] + [N] + [F].
145 To add special characters and accents to your documents click on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and select Character Map. Choose the font you’re using in your document and find the character you want. Double-click it and then go back to your document to paste it in.
146 If you have IE 5 on a Windows 95 PC and want to free some space you can delete the Windows Update directory. This will clear around 10-20Mb of disk space.
147 The Windows 98 disc is packed with useful tools. To install them run Setup.exe from the Tools\Reskit folder. You can then access them by clicking on Start, Programs, Windows 98 Resource Kit, Tools Management Console.
148 Resize the text in Windows 98’s Help pages. Double-click on Internet Options in the Control Panel and click on the Accessibility button. Check the Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages box and click on OK. Next click on the Fonts button and choose your size from the Font Size menu.
149 Record the time and date every time you open a Notepad file. Create a new Notepad document and type .LOG in the first line. Each time you open this file, the time and date will be logged automatically.
150 Create your own icons using MSPaint. When you save your file, select All files and give it an extension of .ICO.

Keyboard shortcuts
151 Go to menu mode [F10]
152 Switch active DOS program between full screen and window view [Alt] + [Return]
153 Save with a new name [Alt] + [F] + [A]
154 Quit current program [Alt] + [F4]
155 Put the active window on Clipboard [Alt] + [Print Screen]
156 Minimise active window [Alt] + [Space] + [N]
157 Go to end of document [Ctrl] + [End]
158 Go to beginning of document [Ctrl] + [Home]

Managing folders in Explorer
159 Find [F3]
160 Refresh [F5]
161 Switch between panes [F6]
162 Go to the parent folder [Backspace]
163 Go To Folder [Ctrl] + [G]
164 Undo [Ctrl] + [Z]

Explorer tree
165 Scroll without moving the selection [Ctrl] + [Any cursor]
166 Expand everything under the selection [Numlock] + [*] (numeric keypad)
167 Collapse the selection [Numlock] + [-] (numeric keypad)
168 Expand the selection [Numlock] + [+] (numeric keypad)
169 Expand current selection if collapsed or select first subfolder [Right Cursor]
170 Collapse current selection ifexpanded or select parent folder [Left Cursor]

171 Change the size of the Recycle Bin so that it takes up more or less hard-drive space. Right-click on it and choose Properties. Adjust the slider to the percentage level you require.
172 You can access Device Manager in two ways. Hold down [Win] + [Pause/Break], or create a shortcut with C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE Sysdm.cpl, System,1 in the Command Line box.
173 Clear the Start menu Documents list with a batch file. Enter the following two lines in Notepad:
ECHO OFF
ECHO Y|DEL C:\WINDOWS\
RECENT\*.* (all on one line.)
Save the file and create a shortcut to it on the desktop. Right-click this, choose Program and select Close On Exit. Then under Run, select Minimised and click on OK.
174 If you make a mistake, try undoing it with [Ctrl] + [Z].
175 Run your screensavers instantly from a shortcut. Use find to locate them - they have a .SCR extension.
176 If the Desktop shortcut is missing from the Send to menu then open C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO and right-click a blank area. Select New, Text Document and name the file Desktop as Shortcut.DESKLINK.

Start menu shorts
Add some useful folders to your Start menu (Windows XP too). Right-click
on Start and select Explore . In the right-hand pane right-click and
choose New , Folder and then rename is as follows…
177 Control Panel
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
178 Dial-Up Networking*
Dial Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
179 Fonts*
Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}
180 Internet Cache
Internet Cache.{7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
181 Network Neighbourhood*
Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
182 URL History
URL History.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
183 Printers
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
184 Recycle Bin
Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
*indicates the folder is empty when created –you must manually add items to it.

185 Check that a program has been totally uninstalled by looking at Start, Programs and making sure nothing has been left behind in Program Files.
186 If programs have been removed but remain in the Add/Remove Programs list, get rid of them by going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. In the left-hand pane, right-click on the rogue program and choose Delete.
187 Press [F5] to add the date and time to a Notepad document.
188 Press [*] on the numpad to open all the folders in Windows Explorer.
189 Press [Alt] + [Tab] to toggle open programs. You can also move between items on the Taskbar by holding down [Alt] and pressing [Esc].
190 You can rename a file quickly by clicking on it once and pressing [F2].
191 You can delete selected files permanently by holding down [Shift] key when you hit [Delete].
192 Windows scrollbars too small to get hold of? Right-click the desktop and choose Properties. Select the Appearance tab and in the Item box choose Scrollbar and then adjust the Size accordingly.
193 View two windows side by side without having to resize them. Right-click on a blank area of the Taskbar and select Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically. Now, all open windows will line up as per your selection. To revert back to normal right-click on the Taskbar and select Undo Tile.
194 Remove CDs quickly by going into My Computer and right-clicking on your CD drive letter and choosing Eject.
195 Don’t worry about expanding folders before you drag and drop files in Windows Explorer. Select the items you want to copy, then drag them over the unexpanded folder and hold them there for a second or two. The folder will then expand, enabling you to drop your files in.
196 Can’t see thumbnail previews of JPEGs in Windows 98? This is because JPEGs come in two types, RGB and CMYK. Windows 98 can read only RGB JPEGs. Use an image editor to convert your CMYK images to the RGB format.
197 Find out more about a particular file by right-clicking on it and choosing Properties. Select the Version tab and go through the various options to get more details.
198 Add annotations to a topic in Windows Help. Right-click a blank area of a topic and select Annotate. Enter your notes and then click Save. When you open that topic next time, click the paper clip to read your notes.
199 Use the Start, Run command to display folders by entering the file path. Also, enter a Web address to launch your browser.
200 Delete your Windows Media Player history files you’ve played recently. Open the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentFileList and delete the entries there.