To quickly access Windows 95's Find utility without going through the Start menu maze, simply click once in a blank spot on your taskbar and then press [F3]. When you do, you'll immediately see the Find window and can quickly initiate your search.
Philippe Proteau
No matter what installation type you chose when you installed Windows 95, chances are good you didn't install every optional component available. When you want to add one of the components you didn't previously install, Windows 95 makes it easy. Likewise, Windows 95 makes it easy to remove optional components that you installed but never use. Begin by opening Control Panel (accessible from the Settings folder on the Start menu). Next, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon to open the corresponding property sheet. Then, click the Windows Setup tab.
The Components list shows you each category of optional Windows 95 components. If the check box next to a category already contains a check mark, you've installed components in that category. If the check box is gray, you've installed only some of the components in that category. To see which components a category contains, double-click the category name (not the check box). A dialog box similar to the Windows Setup page will open, listing the category's components with a check box beside each. If you double-click Accessories, for example, you'll find components like Briefcase, Document Templates, and Quick View. The Description section explains the function of the highlighted component and a check mark indicates an already installed component. Clicking a check mark removes it and indicates that you want to uninstall the component. Clicking an empty check box adds a check mark to indicate that you want to install the component. For instance, you can click the Briefcase check box to add the Briefcase accessory to your desktop.
After choosing the component(s) you want to add or remove, click OK to return to the Windows Setup page. At this point, you can double-click another category and choose more components to add or remove, or you can click OK to start the addition/removal process. If necessary, Windows 95 will prompt you for a particular installation disk or the installation CD containing a component's files. Insert the requested disk and then click OK. Windows 95 will copy the required files, set up the component, and close the Add/Remove Programs property sheet.
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Did you know that Windows 95 comes with another text editor besides Notepad? This other text editor has features similar to those in Notepad, yet it offers other features the Notepad doesn't have-such as the ability to work with multiple text files and to change the background and text colors. Of course, the text editor that we're talking about is the MS-DOS Editor, which is commonly referred to simply as Edit. While Edit is a DOS-based application, you can easily configure it to work just like a Windows application. To do so, use My Computer or Windows Explorer to locate the Edit.com file in the \Windows\Command folder. When you do, right-click the file, drag it to your desktop, and select the Create Shortcut(s) Here command from the context menu. Once Windows 95 creates the shortcut, right-click the shortcut icon and select the Properties command from the context menu. When, the properties sheet appears, select the Program tab and choose the Close on exit check box. To finish, click OK. Now, you can simply double-click the shortcut to launch Edit and when you're done using it, you can close it simply by clicking the close button in the upper right corner or by using the Exit command on the File menu.
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Recently you ran a tip that explained how to remember the Windows key shortcuts by creating a bitmap image that lists all the shortcuts and then using that image as your desktop wallpaper. If you have Internet Explorer 4.x or Windows 98, there's an even better way to put shortcut reminders on your desktop. Rather than saving the image as a BMP file, save it as a GIF or a JPG file and use the Active Desktop to display your reminder in a window.
To do so, right-click the desktop and select Active Desktop/Customize my desktop. Then, select the View my Active Desktop as a web page check box. Next, click the New button. If you see the New Active Desktop Item dialog box, click No. When the New Active Desktop Item wizard appears, locate and select your GIF or JPG file. You should now have a little window on your desktop with the shortcut image in it. You can use another image for your desktop wallpaper.
Gareth Marshall
If you're working in Windows Explorer or My Computer and want to select all but a few files in the current folder, there's a quick way to do it. Instead of selecting the majority of files one by one, simply select the files you don't want included in the selection by holding down the [Ctrl] key and clicking each one. Once you've selected the files you don't want, choose the Edit menu's Invert Selection command. Now the files you initially selected will be deselected, and the rest of the folder's files will be highlighted.
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When you're using the Details view in either My Computer or Windows Explorer, some of the information in the columns can be partially obscured because the column width is too narrow to display all the information. To automatically change all columns to the optimum size, press [Ctrl] and the numeric keypad's "+".
John Cullen
As you know, it's easy to move and copy files in Windows 95 by simply dragging and dropping. But what do you do if you change your mind in mid-drag? Try to drop your file back exactly where it came from? Drag it to a place where the no entry icon appears and drop it there? Actually, the easiest solution is to just press [Esc], and then you're back where you started.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
If you've been using the keystroke combination [Alt]F+W+F for quickly creating folders in either Windows Explorer or My Computer and then installed Internet Explorer 4.0, you may have been surprised to discover that that keystroke combination doesn't work anymore. Unfortunately, when you install Internet Explorer 4.0 it changes the Access keys on Windows Explorer and My Computer's menus.
The keystroke combination is now
[Alt]F+N+F
In this keystroke combination, [Alt]F activates the File menu, N selects the New submenu, and F selects the Folder command. To use this shortcut, just press [Alt]F, then N, and then F again. While it may sound awkward, it's really handy once you get used to it.
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As you probably know, the Documents menu can display up to 15 documents. When the Documents menu contains this many items, however, it can be difficult to quickly find the one you're looking for. To remedy this situation, you can remove all items from the Documents menu to start fresh. To do so, click the Start button and select the Taskbar... command from the Settings menu. When the Taskbar Properties sheet appears, select the Start Menu Programs tab, and then click the Clear button.
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When you want to close an application in Windows 95, you're not limited to the close button in the upper right corner of the windows. While the close button is easy to use, you should be aware that you can also double-click the Control-menu icon in the upper left corner of the window to close an application. The Control-menu icon for each application is unique and reflects a program's specialty. For example, in WordPad the Control-menu icon is a notepad while in Paint it's a bucket of paint and brushes. If you single-click the Control-menu icon, you'll see a menu of basic commands for sizing and positioning the window in addition to the Close command, which also has a key stroke shortcut of [Alt][F4]. In the Windows 3.x days, this area was known as the Control Menu Box.
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When you're working on an extremely long proposal, you may often have to refer back to a specific section of the document. Fortunately, there are several ways you can make easy work of this without having to open Microsoft Word and scroll through to find the information you're looking for. One of these ways is by making a shortcut to the section of your document and placing it on your desktop. To do this, you must first resize the Microsoft Word window so that you can see a portion of your desktop. Next, select the section of the document that you want to quickly access and drag it onto your desktop using the right mouse button. Release the mouse button and select Create Document Shortcut Here on the shortcut menu. Now, all you have to do is double-click on the shortcut and voila! You're right where you want to be.
Inside Microsoft Windows 95
If you want to be able to quickly and easily delete files, you can create a shortcut to the Recycle Bin and then move it to the SendTo folder. To do so, right-click on the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and select the Create Shortcut command from the shortcut menu. Now, open either My Computer or Windows Explorer and locate the \Windows\SendTo folder. Then, move the shortcut to the Recycle Bin from the desktop to the \Windows\SendTo folder. Now, you can easily delete any file by right-clicking on it and selecting the SendTo\Recycle Bin command.
ZD Tips
As you know, all the icons on the desktop have a title underneath them that describes the task or application associated with the icon. However, if you think that the icon represents the task or application so well that the title is redundant, you may have wished that you could remove the title so that the icon stands alone on your desktop. Fortunately, we've discovered that if you right-click the icon, select Rename from the shortcut menu, and while holding down the [Alt] key, type 0160 and press [Enter] you can replace the title with a special blank character. The only standard desktop icon you can't use this technique on is the Recycle Bin.
ZD Journal
Many people routinely jot down important notes on scraps of paper that end up lying around on their desks indefinitely. If you're one of those people, you may want to consider an alternative to this chancy "organizational" method. Wouldn't it be nice if you could quickly create a note on your desktop that you could easily edit, print, or delete? Well, you can if you use the following technique.
Let's suppose you're hard at work when you remember that you need to pick up some things at the grocery on the way home. Instead of writing a reminder on the back of your hand, right-click an empty space on your desktop and select New and then Text Document from the resulting context menu. When you do, a document named New Text Document will appear on your desktop. The document's name will be highlighted, so just type "pick up groceries tonight" in the name field and press Enter. Now if you double click the document icon, Notepad will open the text file and allow you to enter your grocery list or any other information. You can edit the list at any time, and at the end of the day you can print the list by right-clicking the file's icon and selecting the Print command from the context menu.
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If you're connected to a network, chances are good that you have shortcuts to various network resources on your desktop. However, you can cut down on desktop clutter and keep your network shortcuts more organized if you place them in the Network Neighborhood. Keep in mind that you can't copy the existing network shortcuts from your desktop to the Network Neighborhood--you must create new network shortcuts. To do so, connect to a network resource, use the right-mouse button to drag a folder, file, computer, or even a printer icon to the Network Neighborhood icon. When you drop the icon, Windows 95 displays the Shortcut dialog box. To continue, click Yes. Now, when you need to quickly connect to a network resource, you can easily find them in the Network Neighborhood. Then, you can easily rename the shortcuts with a more descriptive title.
ZD Tips
When you save a large file on your hard disk, Windows 95 divides it into small pieces, or clusters, and then stores each cluster in a different area. Windows 95 keeps a master list of all the clusters, which is fine most of the time. However, this storage method isn't so good when Windows 95 has to search for clusters that are scattered all over your hard drive. When a hard drive becomes too fragmented, your system will slow down while Windows 95 scurries to put together the scattered clusters. Windows 95 includes a built-in program called Disk Defragmenter, which groups the scattered clusters in one place, thereby speeding up your system. You should run Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis--say, once every month or two for moderate PC use, and more than that if your hard drive is nearly full.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
When you double click on a file to open it and it's not currently associated with an application, Windows 95 launches the Open With dialog box so that you can choose the program that you want to use to open the file. Unfortunately, if you select the wrong program and the Always Use This Program To Open This Type Of File check box was selected, Windows 95 has now associated that file type with the incorrect program. To correct the problem, press and hold the [Shift] key while right-clicking on the file and select Open With from the shortcut menu. You now have a second chance to pick the right program. If you're not positive which program should be associated with the file type, make sure that the Always Use This Program To Open This Type Of File check box is not selected.
Inside Microsoft Windows 95
If you're fond of keyboard shortcuts, you're certainly familiar with using the Alt-Tab shortcut to cycle through the open applications in Windows. For those of you who cringe at the thought of moving your hands from the keyboard to accomplish such a simple task as switching documents, Visual InterDev offers a similar shortcut. By pressing Ctrl+Tab, you can cycle through the open Visual InterDev windows, as well as any other Developer Studio application windows you have open.
Active Server Developer's Journal
When you're searching for files on your hard disk, you can use the options on the Find: All Files' Date Modified tab to narrow your search to a specific range of time. Suppose you need to locate all the reports you wrote for the week of January 8-January 12. Locating all the reports individually could take awhile. However, by using the advanced search capabilities of the Find utility, you can narrow the task. To begin, click the Start button and select Find|Files or Folders.... On the Name & Location tab, use the Look in dropdown list to select the network drive on which the files are located. To narrow the search even further, use the Browse... button to locate the highest level folder that's common to all the pertinent folders. Next, select the Date Modified tab, click the between radio button, and fill in the date range by typing 1/8/97 in the first text box and 1/12/97 in the second text box. Now, to modify the search even further, select the Advanced tab, then select Microsoft Word Document from the Of type dropdown list. Finally, click the Find Now button to begin your search. In a few seconds, the Find: All Files properties sheet will expand to reveal the results of your search.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
If you've installed Office 97 on your system, you may notice your hard disk burst into a frenzy of activity at regular intervals and perform slowly. The activity is generated by the Find Fast utility. This feature creates and manages an index that Office applications such as Word and Excel use to launch full-text searches from the File Open dialog box. By default, Find Fast is configured to run every two hours, which is usually too often for most casual Office users. To set a less frequent schedule, first open Control Panel and double-click the Find Fast icon. Then, pull down the Index menu and select the Update Interval... command. Now, enter a more reasonable time span, such as every 24 hours.
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If your company has added Windows 95 PCs one at a time over the last couple of years, you have a support nightmare on your hands. Do you know which ones are still running the retail release? Has Service Pack 1 been installed on all the systems? What about the essential kernel, OLE, and password-list updates? To determine which updates are installed on a given system you can use the Windows 95 Update Information Tool, QFECHECK.EXE. QFE stands for Quick-Fix Engineering. When you run this tool, it searches through the Registry and the Windows and Systems folders, and reports its findings. If an updated file is missing, or if a mismatch occurs between the version stored on the disk and the information in the Registry, the Update Information Tool will let you know. This simple tool is a must-have for any system administrator. You can download the tool from the Microsoft Support Online site at:
http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/QFECHKUP.EXE
For more detailed information, see the Knowledge Base article "Windows 95 Update Information Tool" at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q145/9/90.asp
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
How many times have you created a file and then couldn't remember what you called it. When this happens to you, you can use Windows 95's Find utility to locate your file. To do so, click the Start button and select the Files or Folders... command from the Find menu. Windows 95 will display the Find All Files dialog box. The Find utility is initially set to look for files by a certain name and location. However, this won't do you much good if you can't remember what you called the file in the first place. If you know approximately when you last modified the file, you can click on the Date Modified tab. The Find utility then allows you to search for all files that were last modified between certain dates or within a specified number of days or months. Simply enter your search criteria and click the Find Now button. If you're not sure when the file was last modified, click the Advanced tab. The Advanced tab allows you to search for a certain string of text within a file or search for a file of a specific size. Again, enter your search criteria and click the Find Now button to begin the search.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
If you accidentally associate a particular file extension with the wrong application, you can try fixing this problem by using Windows Explorer's File Types dialog box. However, you'll soon discover that Windows Explorer won't let you remove a single extension from a registered file type without deleting the entire entry and starting over. Fortunately, you can use Windows 3.x's File Manager to fix the problem quickly and easily. To begin, open the Run dialog box, type winfile, and press [Enter]. Once File Manager opens, pull down the File menu and select the Associate... command. Then, in the Files with Extension text box type the extension that's associated with the wrong application. When you do, you'll see the errant file association appear in the Associate With text box. To remove the file association, scroll to the top of the list of file types and select (None). Then, click OK to completely remove the association from your system.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Have you assigned a password to a screen saver to prevent snoopers from investigating your computer when you're away from your desk, only to discover that you're never prompted for a password when you move the mouse or touch the keyboard? If so, chances are that you've assigned a password to your screen saver that's too long. If a screen saver password contains more than 14 characters, Windows 95 simply ignores it due to a glitch in an internal buffer. There are two solutions depending on the severity of the glitch.
The first solution involves deleting the password and then disabling the screen saver password. Then, restart your system and reconfigure the screen saver password using a password that's 14 characters or less.
If you still experience the same problem, then you'll need to get a copy of the updated Password.cpl file version 4.00.952. Because of problems with this update, Microsoft hasn't made the updated file generally available and doesn't recommend using the update unless you're experiencing this specific problem. As such the update is only available upon request. You can contact Microsoft Technical Support at
http://support.microsoft.com/support/contact/default.asp
ZD Tips
If you have questions about Windows 95, you can get answers quickly by calling Microsoft Support Network's toll-free automated FastTips service. Using this service, you can have Microsoft's fax machine call your fax machine and deliver the information you order. When you call this service, you'll be prompted through each step by an automated voice system and will use the keypad on your Touch-Tone phone in order to enter responses. The first thing you should do is order a catalog of all the available documents. Once you receive the catalog, you can order the documents you need. To contact the FastTips service, call (800) 936-4200. FastTips is available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
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If you have a large hard disk, chances are that you've partitioned it into several drives. When you double-click the My Computer icon, you see a list of all the drives on your hard disk, which is very convenient because you can easily access any of your drives. However, when you launch Windows Explorer, it opens with the contents of drive C displayed in the right pane. Wouldn't it be nice if Windows Explorer displayed a list of drives like My Computer? Fortunately, doing so is easy. Just hold down the [Shift] key while you double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.
Basit Lodhi
As you may know, when you connect to you Internet Service Provider via Dial-Up Networking, your computer is dynamically assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address. If you've ever wanted to know what IP address you've been assigned, you'll be happy to know that Windows 95 comes with an undocumented utility called WINIPCFG.EXE, that can help. To use this program, choose the Run command from the Start Menu and type WINIPCFG.EXE in the Run dialog box and click OK. When you do, the IP Configuration dialog box will appear, displaying your computer's IP address.
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Have you ever wished that you could see what was in the Clipboard at any time? If you have, you need to install the Clipboard Viewer utility. To do so, insert your Windows 95 CD and when the Windows 95 Autostart screen appears, click the Add/Remove Software link. When he Add/Remove Programs Properties sheet appears, double-click the Accessories icon and select the Clipboard Viewer check box. To continue, click OK twice. Once the Clipboard Viewer is installed, you can easily launch it from the Programs/Accessories menu any time you want to see what?s in the Clipboard.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 Journal
If you'd like to spice up your documents with interesting symbols, don't forget about Windows 95's Marlett, Symbol, and Wingdings fonts. You can view these characters by using Character Map, which you can find on the Accessories submenu. If you don't find Character Map on your Accessories menu, you can add it easily using the Add/Remove Programs utility in Control Panel.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Is it time for your college reunion, but you're having a hard time locating people? Want to send a resume to a professional contact, but you don't know their email address? You're in luck! Internet Explorer 4.0's new Find People feature is designed for that exact purpose--locating people. To use this new feature simply click Start and then from the Find menu select People. Next, from the Look In dropdown list box select the directory service that you'd like to use, such as WhoWhere. Enter the persons first and last name in the Name text box on the People tab and click Find Now. If the directory service you selected doesn't locate the person you're looking for, you can either select another service, or click the Web Site button to do a more advanced search.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 Journal
Do you sometimes have to make several attempts at double-clicking to launch your favorite program? If so, you'll be interested to know that you can adjust your mouse's double-click speed to your personal taste. The setting is found under the Mouse applet in Control Panel. Here's how you change it.
First, click the Start button and select Settings, then click Control Panel. In the resulting window, double-click the Mouse icon to bring up the Mouse Properties window. Now, just click and drag the pointer on the Double-click speed slider bar, as shown below, to adjust the double-click speed to suit you. You can test your changes before you exit by clicking on the animated icon in the Test area. When you're satisfied with the double-click speed setting, click the OK button to exit the Mouse Properties dialog box, then close Control Panel.
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Are your window scroll bars too wide or too narrow? If they're too wide that take up valuable space. If they're too narrow they may be hard to use. Fortunately, you can easily adjust the width of your scroll bars. To do so, right-click on the desktop and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. When the Display Properties sheet appears, click the Appearance tab, and then click the click on the scroll bar in the example window. You can now easily adjust the size of the scrollbar by using the Size spin button.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Recently, you ran a series of tips concerning the Windows key and it reminded me of another shortcut feature that is often overlooked--creating shortcut keystrokes to desktop icons. Each shortcut on your desktop can be modified so that you can launch the application by pressing a keystroke (Ctrl+Alt+letter) rather then having to double-click the icon.
To do so, right-click on the desktop icon to which you want to create a shortcut keystroke and select the Properties command from the shortcut menu. Once the Properties sheet appears, select the shortcut tab. Then, simply type a letter in the Shortcut key field. The "Ctrl+Alt+" automatically gets added in the field. Click on OK. Now whenever you want to start that application, just press the keystroke Ctrl+Alt+[letter]-you don't even need to "see" the desktop for this to work.
Marc F. Loomer
In the recent tip titled "Moving and copying files with the drag- and-drop technique" we showed you how to use the [Ctrl] and [Shift] keys to control copying and moving files with drag and drop. If having to remember to hold down either the [Ctrl] or [Shift] key as you drag files is not your idea of fun, you can move and copy files, and even create shortcuts, by using the right mouse button. When you drag a file with the right mouse button and drop it, Windows 95 displays the shortcut menu, which allows you to select the operation you want to perform.
ZD Tips
Have you ever turned the volume control on your speakers all the way down to mute the sound? While turning the control on the speaker is easy enough, there's another way to quickly mute the sound: Just click the speaker icon in the taskbar and when the pop-up volume control window appears, select the Mute check box. Now, click anywhere on the desktop to close this pop-up window. When the sound is muted, you'll see that the speaker icon has a red circle around it and a slash through it to indicate that the sound is turned off.
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When you create shortcuts to executable files, folders, or network drives, you may want to customize the icons Windows 95 uses for those shortcuts. Maybe you want to use an icon that more accurately represents the task performed by the shortcut. For example, you might create a Windows Explorer shortcut to your second hard drive using the command line.
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,d:\
When you do, Windows 95 assigns a computer icon to the shortcut. However, suppose you'd rather use a hard disk icon.
Fortunately, changing a shortcut's icon is a snap. To assign a new icon to a particular shortcut, simply right-click the shortcut and select the Properties command from the context menu. When you see the shortcut's properties sheet, click the Shortcut tab. Then, click the Change Icon... button, as shown below. (If the shortcut is to an MS-DOS program, you'll find the Change Icon... button on the Program tab.)
Once the Change Icon dialog box appears, as shown below, you can select any one of the icons in the Current icon list. To see all the icons in the file, simply use the scroll bar.
As you can see, the icons in the Current icon list come from the SHELL32.DLL file. (If the shortcut is to an MS-DOS program, the icons in the Current icon list come from the PIFMGR.DLL file.) If you don't see an icon in the list that catches your fancy, you can click the Browse... button to open other files, such as ICO, EXE or DLL files, that contain icons. The table shown below, lists some of the Windows 95 EXE and DLL files that contain a selection of icons.
File name Location Awfxex32.exe C:\Windows\System Cool.dll C:\Windows\System Defrag.exe C:\Windows Gnaapp.exe C:\Windows\System Moricons.dll C:\Windows Pifmgr.dll C:\Windows\System Progman.exe C:\Windows Shell32.dll C:\Windows\System Systray.exe C:\Windows\System User.exe C:\Windows\System Winpopup.exe C:\Windows
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Have you ever wanted to be able to see all the folders on your hard drive? If so, open Windows Explorer, select the drive icon, and press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad. When you do, every folder on the drive will open. To close all the open folders, double-click the drive icon, to close the tree press [F5].
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If you use Windows 95's Find tool to search for files, you'll love to know that you can easily access the folder containing the file. Once you track down and select the file that you were looking for, pull down the file menu and select the Open Containing Folder command. When you do, Windows 95 will open a new My Computer window showing the folder that contains the file.
Inside Microsoft Windows 95
By default, WordPad saves any file you create using the DOC extension, and Notepad saves any file you create using the TXT extension unless you specify a different registered extension. For example, if you're using WordPad and decide to name a file DOOM.INI, WordPad will save it as DOOM.INI because INI is an extension Windows 95 recognizes. However, if you call the file DOOM.ZAP, WordPad will save it as DOOM.ZAP.DOC (unless you've registered the ZAP extension). However, there is a way around this. When you want to save a file with an extension other than the default, just enclose the filename in quotes in the Save As dialog box.
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When you insert a music CD into your CD-ROM drive, Windows 95's CD Player automatically launches and begins playing the CD. If you're like most computer users, once the CD begins playing, you minimize CD Player and listen to the music and never open the CD Player again. When you do so, the CD Player continues to occupy precious system resources. However, you can avoid wasting system resources by configuring CD Player to continue playing music CDs after you close it. To do so, once you have CD Player up and running, pull down the Options menu and select the Preferences command. When you see the Preferences dialog box, clear the Stop CD Playing On Exit check box.
ZD Tips
As you may know, when you're troubleshooting a problem in Windows 95, Device Manager is invaluable. If you need to access it often, there's a quick way to open Device Manager from the desktop--simply hold down the [Alt] key, double-click My Computer, and choose Device Manager from the shortcut menu.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Windows 95 is a true multitasking environment. Your overly cluttered taskbar is a confirmation of this fact. Although being able to have multiple programs open at once increases your productivity it can become a drag when you need to quickly access a shortcut on your desktop. Having to close or minimize several programs in order to access your desktop tends to defeat the timesaving purpose of using shortcuts. However, you can quickly access your desktop and shortcuts simply by right-clicking a blank area of your taskbar and selecting Minimize All Windows.
ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 newsletter
Recently we ran a tip on how to quickly access your desktop by right-clicking a blank area of your taskbar and selecting Minimize All Windows. Many of you wrote in to remind us that there are now more efficient ways of quickly accessing your desktop. For example, if you have a Windows 95 keyboard with its [Windows] key, you can minimize all open windows simply by pressing [Windows] M. If you've installed Internet Explorer 4.x, you can use the Show Desktop button on the Quick Launch toolbar to instantly minimize all open windows. If you're not using Internet Explorer, you can get a tool similar the Show Desktop button by downloading the Desktop Menu PowerToy for Windows 95. Rather than minimizing all open windows, the Desktop Menu PowerToy, which appears as an icon on the notification area of the taskbar, presents you with a pop-up menu that displays all of the items on the desktop.
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When you want to see the Properties dialog box for an icon, you know that you can right-click on an object and select the Properties command from the shortcut menu. However there's a quicker way to access the Properties dialog box. To do so, hold down the [Alt] key while you double-click on the object.
Steve Bush
Did you know that you can use Internet Explorer to create shortcuts on your desktop that link directly to an Internet site? First, pull down Internet Explorer's File menu from the site you want to create a shortcut to and select the Create Shortcut command. You'll see a message telling you that the shortcut will be placed on your desktop. Click the OK button, and a shortcut to the current URL will appear on your desktop. From now on, you can launch Internet Explorer and connect to the site simply by double-clicking your shortcut.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Have you ever been perusing your hard disk from a folder window and suddenly wished you were using Windows Explorer instead? When this happens, chances are that you close the folder window, go to the Start menu, and launch Windows Explorer. However, you can easily launch Windows Explorer right from within your folder window. To do so, simply right-click on a folder and select Explore from the context menu. When you do, Windows Explorer will open and display the contents of the folder you right-clicked on in its right windows pane.
ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
When you want to quickly open folders, you might want to use the Run dialog box. For most local files, you need the full DOS path, but you can skip that step when opening a folder under the Windows hierarchy. For example, you can open the SendTo, System, or Start Menu folder by typing just the name in the Run dialog box and pressing [Enter]. (Use quotation marks if the name includes a space.) To instantly open a folder view of everything on the desktop, open the Run dialog box and type desktop. To browse the root directory of your C: drive, type \. If you have a Windows key on your keyboard, just press [Windows]-R to quickly open the Run dialog box.
ZD Tips
If you're system is connected to a large network with many servers and you need to quickly locate a specific server, you don't have to open Network Neighborhood and scan through the list. Simply right-click on the Network Neighborhood icon and select the Find Computer... command on the shortcut menu. When the Find Computer dialog box appears, just type in the name of the server in the Named text box and click the Find Now button. In a moment, you'll see the server you need to access. Best of all, your search will be saved, so next time you can use the pull-down list to select the same server instead of typing in the name.
Miriam Haber
If you're left-handed, this tip is for you! When you select a dropdown menu, by default the menu drops down from the left. If you'd rather have the menu dropdown from the right, launch the Registry Editor by typing Regedit in the Run dialog box and open the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Next, pull down the Edit menu, select the New | String Value command, and name the value MenuDropAlignment. Now, press [Enter] twice to enable the new name and to open the Edit String dialog box. Once the Edit String dialog box appears, type 1 in the Value Data text box, click OK and close the Registry Editor. To complete the operation, restart your system.
ZD Tips
If you're like most computer users, you use the [Windows] key shortcuts when you remember them. However, chances are that you don't remember them as often as you'd like. To help you to remember the [Windows] key shortcuts you could write them on a stick note and put it on your monitor. However, an even better technique is to create a bitmap image that lists all the shortcuts and then use that image as your desktop wallpaper. The easiest way to do so is to copy the table of [Windows] key shortcuts from last week's tip to the clipboard. Then, launch Paint, click the text button, create a large text box, and paste the table of [Windows] key shortcuts into the text box. Then, pull down the File menu and select the Set as Wallpaper (Centered) command.
ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
If you accidentally delete the My Briefcase icon on your desktop, you can restore it easily. To do so, right-click anywhere on the desktop. When the desktop shortcut menu appears, select Briefcase from the New submenu. You'll then see a New Briefcase icon on your desktop. You can rename the icon as My Briefcase.
ZD Tips
Have you ever maximized an MS-DOS Prompt window to full screen and then wanted to restore it to a window? While it might appear to be an impossible task, you can do so by pressing [Alt][Enter].
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 newsletter
If your desktop icons become distorted, fuzzy, or even turn black, it's time to reset Windows 95's icon cache. There are actually two ways to reset the icon cache. The first method involves restarting Windows 95 in MS-DOS mode, changing to the Windows folder, and deleting the SHELLICONCACHE file. The second method involves accessing the Display Properties sheet, selecting the Appearance tab, and then selecting Icon in the Item dropdown list. Now, adjust the icon size up or down one notch and click Apply. Then, change the icon back to the original size and click OK.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
If you frequently find yourself opening documents just to print them, you may find it more productive to create a shortcut to your printer right on your desktop. You can easily create a printer shortcut by clicking Start/Settings/Printers. Next, right-click on the icon for your default printer and drag it to your desktop. When you release the icon select Create Shortcut(s) here from the shortcut menu. Now to use the shortcut for printing, simply open Windows Explorer, locate your document, and drag the file on to the printer icon.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 Journal
If you need to free up a few megabytes of hard disk space, you can gain about 7MB by deleting the animated Help files. These animated Help files are stored as AVI files in the C:\Windows\Help folder.
Inside Microsoft Windows 95
Do you frequently use the Windows 95 Find feature to search for certain types of files? If you repeatedly search for the same file types, you may find it helpful to save your search criteria your desktop. Then, when you need to perform the search again, you can simply double-click the shortcut and, with no additional input, your results will appear.
For example, suppose that you frequently search for .MID and .WAV sound files. To do this, you'd usually click the Start button, select Find and then click the Files or Folders' command. When the Find: All Files dialog box appears, you type the criteria for your search *.MID and *.WAV in the Named text box. You'd then click the Find Now button, and the results will appear at the bottom of the dialog box. At this point, pull down the File menu and select the Save Search command. This will create a shortcut on your desktop named All Files.fnd (you can rename the file if you want). Now when you double-click the shortcut, Find will automatically perform a new search for .MID and .WAV sound files.
ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
By default, Windows Explorer opens at the root of drive C, but you can change it to open (and expand) any drive and folder you want. For example, if you want Windows Explorer to open at the My Documents folder:
1. Right-click the Start menu and click Open.
2. Double-click the Programs icon.
3. Right-click the Windows Explorer shortcut and click Properties.
4. Click the Shortcut tab.
5. In the Target text box, add My Documents to the end of the default
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,C:\ leaving no space, and click OK.
The Cobb Group
If you select one or more files in either My Computer or Windows Explorer, you'll find the SendTo command on the File menu. This means that you won't have to fumble around trying to right-click the group of files in the list and then select the SendTo command from the shortcut menu.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
Did you know that most 32-bit Windows 95 applications support the same right-click file-management tools that you use in Windows Explorer? To see an example of this right-click capability, launch Microsoft Word, pull down the File menu, and select the Open... command. Now, right-click a filename in the Open dialog box, and a familiar context menu will appear. Using this context menu, you can cut, copy, delete, rename, and perform additional file-management operations. Remember, Word isn't the only application that has right-click functionality. You'll find this feature in most applications designed for Windows 95.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
The Go To Folder dialog box allows you to quickly navigate to a specific folder on your hard disk. You can only access this dialog box from within Windows Explorer. To do so, select a drive letter in Windows Explorer's left pane, pull down the Tools menu, and select the Go To... command. You can also access the Go To Folder dialog box by pressing [Alt]TG. Once the Go To Folder dialog box appears, you simply type the name of the folder whose contents you want to display in Windows Explorer's right pane. Keep in mind that while the Go To Folder dialog box is a handy feature, you have to know the exact location and spelling of the folder you want to access. If you don't know either of these pieces of information, you'll be better served by using the Find utility to access the folder.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 newsletter
If you frequently move and copy files between multiple drives, you definitely need to get your hands on the Send To X Power Toy and its flagship component: the Any Folder command. While it's been a while since Microsoft's Windows 95 Shell Development team released this free Power Toy, we've discovered that very few of you are taking advantage of this extremely useful tool.
The Send To Any Folder command, which allows you to move or copy files and folders you want with a simple right-click, is definitely a time saver. The utility even keeps a log of the folders to which you've sent files in the past, so the task becomes easier each time you use the tool.
To learn all about the Send To X's Any Folder command, see the FREE article "Expediting file management with Send To X's Any Folder command" on the Inside Microsoft Windows 95 Web site at http://www.zdjournals.com/w95/9812/w9598c8.htm.
As you read through the article, keep in mind that the location from which you can download the Send To X Power Toy has changed to
http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95PwrToysSet/Default.asp
ZD Tips
As you probably know, you can run most any program by selecting Start|Run and typing the path and filename of the program in the Open text box. What you may not know is that the Address toolbar that's a feature of the IE 4 Active Desktop provides the same functionality. To add the Address toolbar to your desktop, right-click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars|Address from the shortcut menu. Depending upon the program's location, all you may have to do is type the executable name in the Address text box and press [Enter]. For example, to quickly launch Microsoft Word, type Winword and press [Enter].
ZD Journal
If you liked Windows 3.x's File Manager, you probably miss not being able to open two windows in Windows 95's Windows Explorer so that you can easily copy and move files by dragging and dropping.
Fortunately, there's a way that you can emulate this behavior in Windows 95. To do so, just open Windows Explorer twice and then position your cursor over a blank section of the taskbar. Then, right click and select either Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically from the shortcut menu according to your preference. Now, Windows Explorer looks just like File Manager.
Andrew Donnelly
If you've lost the Windows 95 cardboard envelope that had the CD Key on the back of it and need to reinstall Windows 95, you can track down your CD Key by peering into the Registry. To begin, select the Run command on the Start menu and launch the Registry Editor by typing Regedit in the Open dropdown list box. Once you have the Registry Editor up and running, locate and double-click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key. When this subtree is visible, open each of the following subkeys in succession:
Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion
Now, locate the ProductId value in the CurrentVersion subkey.
Here, you'll find a copy of the entire certificate number in four groups of five, three, seven, and five numbers. The CD key number you need to install Windows 95 is made up of the second and third group. Simply write down this number and close the Registry Editor.
If you don't have access to the Registry, you can create your own counterfeit CD Key from a special sequence of alphabetic characters and numbers. You can use any three characters for the first part and any seven numbers for the second part, which, when added together, equal a sum that's evenly divisible by 7. For example, you could use ABC-1111111 or XYZ-1234567.
ZD Tips
Troubleshooting problems in Windows 95 can be a real pain in the neck. As you may know, Windows 95 maintains seven log files that keep track of many of the system's key operations. These log files can be very helpful for troubleshooting problems if you know where to find them. Fortunately, Microsoft provides you with a tool called the Logview utility that allows you to quickly and easily locate and view all Windows 95's log files. You can find the Logview utility hidden on the Windows 95 CD in the \Other\Misc\Logview folder. Simply copy the Logview.exe file to your Windows folder. Then, create a shortcut to Logview.exe and place it in an appropriate location on your Start menu.
If you want to learn more about Windows 95's Logview utility, see the Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal article "Using the Logview Utility as a Troubleshooting Tool." To access this FREE article, just point your browser to
http://www.zdjournals.com/w95/9902/w959923.htm
ZD Tips
Although Windows 95 supports long filenames for 32-bit applications, there are still areas in the operating system shell that do not recognize all of the long filename characteristics. One such area is the Run dialog box that you open by selecting Run... from the Start menu. When you try to run a program from this dialog box that contains a space in its long filename, Windows 95 will report that it can't find the file. To solve this problem, simply place quotation marks around the command line string. For example, suppose you wanted to run a program called C:\MY NEW PROGRAM.EXE. At the Run prompt, you'd enter "C:\MY NEW PROGRAM.EXE" and click OK.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 newsletter
Keeping track of error messages makes it much easier to troubleshoot problems, and having screen shots of error message dialog boxes makes the process even more efficient. Fortunately, Windows 95 provides you with everything you need. When an error message appears onscreen, press [Alt][Print Screen]. Then, click the Start button and select a word processing program such as WordPad. Once WordPad launches, pull down the Edit menu and select the Paste command. When you do, Windows 95 places an image of the error message dialog box in Paint and can save it as a bitmap for future reference. You can also easily add annotations that describe the situation that caused the error dialog box as well as any other information that would make it easier to troubleshoot the problem.
Elizabeth Top
Last week we told you that you could minimize all open windows by pressing [Windows] M. However, there are several other [Windows] key shortcuts that you can use to simplify various operations. Here's a list of all the [Windows] key shortcuts.
Shortcut Effect ------------------------------------------------------------ [Windows] Displays taskbar and Start menu [Windows] [E] Starts Windows Explorer [Windows] [F] Finds files or folders [Ctrl] [Windows] [F] Finds a computer [Windows] [M] Minimizes all windows [Shift] [Windows] [M] Undoes Minimize All Windows [Windows] [R] Displays the Run dialog box [Windows] [Tab] Cycles through the taskbar buttons [Windows] [Break] Displays the System Properties sheet
ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 journal
In addition to using Windows 95's taskbar to switch among running applications, you can use the Cool Switch. So named in the Windows 3.x days when it was the only way to switch among running applications, the Cool Switch still exists in Windows 95. To use it, press [Alt][Tab]. When you do, you'll see a window in the center of your screen showing all the applications currently running on your system. If you press [Alt][Tab] while the window is open you'll advance to the next application in the list. When you release the keys, the program that was selected will come to the foreground. If you press [Shift] [Alt][Tab] while the window is open you can move backwards in the list.
Inside Microsoft Windows 95
If you have WinZip installed, you can use Windows 95's Find tool, to locate files contained in ZIP files.
To do so, just specify *.ZIP in the Named field on the Name & Location tab and specify the file name (or partial file name) in the Containing text field of the Advanced tab. The search results will contain a list of Zip files containing the desired file.
This tip is based on a technique sent to us by Tim McGill
When you see the splash screen appear, press [Esc]. The splash screen will disappear for a moment and the reappear. When it does, just press [Esc] again.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 newsletter
If you'd like can see everything that's being executed during Windows 95's boot sequence, all you need to do is change a setting in the Msdos.sys file.
To begin, use the Find utility to locate the Msdos.sys file in the root folder. Then, disable the Read-only attribute so you can edit the file. To do so, right-click the file, select Properties from the shortcut, deselect the Read-Only check box, and click OK.
Now, with the Find window still open, launch Notepad and drag the Msdos.sys file from the Find window to Notepad. Next, locate the [Options] section and add the setting LOGO=0. (Changing this setting allows you to launch Windows 95 without the splash screen.) Then, save the file and close Notepad.
To complete the operation, return to the Find window, access the Msdos.sys file's properties sheet again, select the Read-Only check box, and click OK.
Tim Coombes
Did you know that in many applications you can drag scraps of text or graphics to the desktop for later use in their original or another application? For example, let's say that you're working on a report in Microsoft Word and you decide to cut a paragraph. However, you may want to use that paragraph later in the document or even in another file. To create a scrap, select the text you wish to use and then drag it onto the desktop with the right mouse button. When you release the button, select the Move Scrap Here command from the context menu (dragging with the left mouse button will automatically copy the scrap). Now when you want to copy the scrap into a document, just drag it from the desktop into the text.
The Cobb Group's Inside Microsoft Windows 95 newsletter