If yours is a job where time is valuable and every second counts, then waiting for Windows 98 to boot must seem like an eternity. Fortunately, you can trim a few seconds off the boot process by configuring the file system to bypass the floppy disk check on start up. To do this, right-click on My Computer and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Next, select the Performance tab and then click the File System button. When the File System Properties dialog box appears, select the Floppy Disk tab and deselect the Search For New Floppy Disk Drives Each Time Your Computer Starts check box. Click OK to close the File System Properties dialog box and then click OK once more to close the System Properties dialog box. Restart your computer to see the difference.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

Recently, we sent out a tip regarding speeding up the Windows 98 boot process by turning off the Search For New Floppy Disk Drives Each Time Your Computer Starts setting. We received many reader emails expressing concerns that following this tip would remove the ability to boot with a Windows 98 Startup Disk--an obvious setback. However, our Windows 98 experts found that this is not the case. When you turn off the setting, Windows 98 will start faster simply because the floppy driver uses the previous settings for drive information rather than checking for new drives every time Windows starts. Therefore, unless the settings for your floppy disk drive have changed, you'll have no problems booting to a Windows 98 Startup Disk. If you're still unsure--take it for a test run! Right-click on My Computer, select Properties from the shortcut menu, and then click the Performance tab. On the Performance sheet click the File System button and then the Floppy Disk tab. Deselect the Search For New Floppy Disk Drives Each Time Your Computer Starts check box. Click OK twice and then restart your computer with a Windows 98 Startup Disk in the disk drive.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

As you know, when you pull down the View menu in either Windows Explorer or My Computer, you can choose any one of four default view options for displaying your files (Large Icons, Small Icons, List, Details). However, there is fifth view option in Windows 98 called Thumbnail view. As its name implies, this view will provide you with a miniature representation of each document in a particular folder. Before we show you how to enable the Thumbnail view, we should warn you that not all file formats are supported and that this view format is best suited for use on folders that contain graphic image files. Furthermore, you must enable the Thumbnail view on a folder by folder basis.

To do so, locate a folder in Windows Explorer or My Computer and right-click on it and select the Properties command. When you see the Properties sheet for the folder, select the Enable Thumbnail View check box. Now, open that folder using either My Computer or Windows Explorer and pull down the View menu. When you do, you'll see Thumbnails listed on the View menu. Once you select the option, you'll see thumbnail views of all the files in that folder.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

If you've configured Internet Explorer 4.0 to display the Links toolbar (View/Toolbars/Links) you know that it provides you with quick access to several of Microsoft's Web sites. However, did you know that you could easily add links to your own favorite Web sites to the Links toolbar? Doing so is easy and you can either delete the existing links or simply add your links to the Links toolbar. When you're connected to your favorite site, simply drag the Web site's URL from the Address box and drop it on the Links toolbar. You can also pull down the Favorites menu and drag various Internet shortcuts to the Links toolbar.

ZD Journal

If using your own images for your desktop isn't enough fun for you, Windows 98 now lets you add background images to individual folders! Here's how you do it. Open a folder and choose Customize this Folder... from the View menu or right-click in the folder and choose the same option from the pop-up menu. Click the radio button labeled Choose a Background Picture and click Next. Then, the system will search your hard drive and display a list of GIF, JPG, BMP and other graphic files. Just select an image file and click Next. The last dialog box will display the full path for the image file you chose. Click Finish, and then you'll get a brand-new background for this folder. If you later want to remove the background image, choose Customize this Folder... from the View menu and select the Remove Customization option. Click Next twice, and click Finish to confirm the change.

ZDTips

As you may know, backing up your hard disk is something you should do on a regular basis. However, few of us are that diligent. Even so, before you insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM in your drive, you really should take the time to do a full backup of your hard disk. While chances are that the upgrade will go smoothly without any problems, there is the possibility that something could go wrong and your system could get trashed. If that happens, you can easily pick up the pieces with your backup.

ZDTips

You can easily change the icons of the four main items on your desktop. To do so, access the Display Properties dialog box by right clicking on the desktop and selecting the Properties command from the shortcut menu. When the Display Properties dialog box appears, click the Effects tab. You can then select an icon in the Desktop icons box and click the Change Icon button. When you do, the Change Icon dialog box will appear and you can simply select an alternative icon and click OK.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0's Links toolbar to provide quick access to your most often accessed Web sites, you know that each link shows the same icon. Fortunately, you can spice up your Links toolbar by assigning custom icons to each item. To do so, simply right-click on the existing icon and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Then, click the Change Icon button and use the Browse button to locate a file that contains the icon you want and double-click on it.

ZD Journal

One of Windows 98's handiest utilities is the Disk Cleanup tool, which is designed to help you free up hard disk space. While Disk Cleanup automatically starts when the available free space falls below a 3% threshold, you can run it at any time. To do so click Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup. When Disk Cleanup launches you'll see a Files To Remove list box that contains four check-boxes: Temporary Internet Files, Downloaded Program Files, Recycle Bin, and Temporary files. (You may find other check boxes on your particular system.) Simply select the check boxes you want and click OK.

If you click the More Options tab, you'll see two more choices-- Windows setup and Installed program --that allow you to easily remove unneeded Windows components or application programs.

ZD Tips

When you're done working on your computer for the day, you probably close each open application one-by-one. If so, chances are that you've wished that you could close all you open applications at the same time. Fortunately, we recently unearthed a hidden technique that will allow you to do so. To begin, hold down the [Ctrl] key and click on each application button on your taskbar. When you do, you'll notice that each button remains selected. Once you've selected all the application buttons on the taskbar, right-click on any one of them and select the Close command from the shortcut menu. When you do, all your applications will close. If you have any application in which an open file hasn't yet been saved, that application will prompt you to save the file.

ZD Tips

If you have a Microsoft mouse with a wheel, you know that you can use the wheel to easily scroll up and down Web pages. To do so, you click in the middle of the page with the wheel to anchor the wheel pointer and then move the mouse up and down to scroll. However, if you move the mouse too much, the page will scroll by at lightning speed. You then have to scroll back up the page to read it. Fortunately, we've discovered a cool technique that will give you much more control over the scroll speed. Once you anchor the wheel pointer on the screen, let go of your mouse and use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll.

For example, to scroll down a page, press the down arrow key once to start the screen scrolling. Press the down arrow key again to increase the speed of the scrolling. To slow the scrolling down, press the up arrow key. To stop the scrolling, press the up arrow key once more.

ZD Tips

If you want to be able to quickly create an email message without having to launch Outlook Express, right-click on the desktop and select New | Shortcut from the pop up menu. When you see the Create Shortcut wizard, type "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\Msimn.Exe" /mailurl:%1 in the command Line text box and click Next. Then, name the shortcut Quick Message and click Finish. You can then drag the shortcut to the Quick Launch menu. Now, when you want to quickly create a new message, just click the Quick Message icon.

If you want to differentiate the Quick Message icon from the Outlook Express icon, right-click the Quick Message icon and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Now, click the change Icon button and select one of the other email icons in the Change Icon dialog box.

ZD Tips

Did you know that the Windows 98 CD-ROM contains a program that you can run to quickly create a Boot Disk that's capable of creating and reading FAT32 partitions? The program is called Fat32ebd.exe and it's located in the Tools\Mtsutil\Fat32ebd folder on the CD-ROM. Just place a disk in the floppy drive and double-click on the Fat32ebd.exe file. Then follow the on-screen instructions to create the bootable disk. When finished, we recommend write-protecting the disk to protect it from viruses.

ZD Journal

If you would prefer a larger view of your Favorites menu, why not turn it into Web page? To do so, pull down the File menu and select the Import and Export command. Then, use the Import/Export Wizard to export your Favorites menu to an HTML file. To load the file into Internet Explorer, pull down the File menu, select the Open command, and use the Open dialog box to locate the file.

ZD Tips

As we you may know, you can connect to Microsoft's Search the Web site by selecting the On the Internet command on the Find menu. However, if you'd rather use another search site, you can customize the On the Internet command so that it connects to your preferred site. Doing so involves editing the Registry, which can be dangerous, so make sure that you back up your system before you attempt this tip. To begin, launch the Registry Editor by typing Regedit in the Open dropdown list box of the Run dialog box. Once the Registry Editor is up and running, open the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Main key. Now, double-click on the Search Page entry in the right-hand pane. When the Edit String dialog box appears, type the URL to the search site you'd rather use in the Value Data text box. To activate your change, click OK, close the Registry Editor, and restart Windows 98.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

When you use Windows 98's 3D screen savers you may notice that when you dismiss the screen saver by moving the mouse, the colors used to display certain items on the screen are distorted--for example, title bars in windows and dialog boxes and, many times, the icons in the system tray. Sometimes these items appear almost Day-Glo. The reason for this is that Windows 98's 3D screen savers use the OpenGL technology, which can temporarily overload your display adapter. Let's take a closer look.

This advanced graphics technology in OpenGL allows programmers to create high-quality three-dimensional color images. If you use the 3D Pipes screen saver, you'll see that OpenGL allows such graphic effects as shading, lighting, and texture mapping. However, this complex technology comes with a price--it really taxes your display adapter and CPU. There are times when you'll dismiss the screen saver right in the middle of a complex calculation. When you do, the system doesn't have a chance to completely recover the color scheme as it redraws the screen. Hence, some of the colors may appear distorted.

If this happens on your system, there are two solutions: a quick fix and a permanent fix. The quick fix simply involves maximizing any open window and then restoring it. Doing so forces Windows 98 to redraw the screen and, without the pressure of the OpenGL screen saver, restore the colors accurately. However, some applications may not respond to this, and you'll have to close and reopen them.

The permanent fix may or may not work for you depending on your system's video display adapter. Basically, this fix involves increasing the Colors setting to a setting higher than 256 Colors, such as High Color or True Color. To do so, open the Display Properties sheet by right-clicking the desktop and selecting Properties from the context menu. Then select the Settings tab and choose a setting higher than 256 Colors.

ZD Tips

If you've ever experienced a shutdown problem in Windows 95, which you probably have, the cause was most likely a problem with the device drivers uninitializing. Microsoft has resolved this problem in Windows 98 by creating a fast shutdown where the drivers aren't uninitialized. This feature is enabled by default. However, if you're experiencing shutdown problems with Windows 98, it may be necessary to disable this feature so you can troubleshoot.

To disable fast shutdown in Windows 98 you must first launch the System Information tool by clicking Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information. Once the System Information tool launches, select System Configuration Utility from the Tools menu. Next, select the General tab and click the Advanced button. Select the Disable Fast Shutdown check box and click OK. Click OK once more to close the System Information tool. Restart your computer when you're prompted to do so.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

If you've set up a dual monitor configuration on your Windows 98 system, you can create a new toolbar and anchor it at the bottom of the secondary monitor just like the taskbar. To do so, simply right-click on the taskbar and select Toolbars/New Toolbar from the shortcut menu. You can then place shortcuts on the new toolbar and quickly and easily access frequently used applications or drives. For more information on how to set up and configuring new toolbars see the September 1998 Inside Microsoft Windows 98 article, "Expediting drive access with the Drives toolbar technique." Also, stay tuned for the February 1999 issue of Inside Microsoft Windows 98 when we explain in detail how to set up a dual monitor configuration in Windows 98.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

In order to take advantage of Windows 98's built-in DVD, your system must meet Microsoft's PC 97 Hardware Guide specifications. These specifications require at least a 120MHz Pentium system with 256KB cache, 16MB of RAM, and a monitor capable of displaying 800 by 600 resolution. For more detailed information on these requirements, point your browser to:

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/pc97.htm

ZDTips

In order to uncover Windows 98's Easter Egg you'll need to have on hand a world atlas. To begin, double-click the clock display in the system tray. When the Date/Time Properties sheet appears, select the Time Zone tab. Now, hold down the [Ctrl] key and click your left mouse button on the approximate location of Memphis, Egypt. Next, while still holding down the [Ctrl] key, imagine that you're dragging an object across the ocean and drop it on approximate location of Memphis, Tennessee. Don't release the [Ctrl] key. Then, click on the same imaginary object and drag it across the United States and drop in on Redmond, Washington. You can now release the [Ctrl] key. When you do so, a dialog box will appear containing a list the Microsoft Windows 98 developers. You'll also see a slide show of pictures from the Microsoft campus accompanied by the great music from the Welcome to Windows 98 screen you saw after you installed Windows 98. Be patient, you'll probably have to repeat the steps again several times to get it right.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

As you know, among Windows 98's many impressive features is its built-in support for DVD, which is an acronym for either digital versatile disk or digital video disc--the verdict on this one is still being decided. Regardless of the acronym, DVD is a new technology that was designed from the ground up specifically for multimedia applications. In the June issue of Inside Microsoft Windows 98, we'll take a look at Windows 98's DVD support features and explain how they work. As we do, we'll look at some products that exemplify DVD's possibilities. Don't miss this issue!

ZD Journal

Thinking of converting your hard disk over to Windows 98's FAT32? If so, you're probably wondering how much hard disk space you'll gain by doing so. Fortunately you can find out by downloading and installing a special utility called FAT32 Conversion Information. To download the utility, point your browser to Microsoft's Web site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/contents/admintools/win98fat32

When you run the utility on a Windows 98 system, it scans your data and file structure and displays an estimate of how much extra hard disk space you'll gain. If you're not satisfied with the gain, you can exit the utility. However, if you're satisfied with the results, you can easily launch Windows 98's Drive Converter Wizard and convert your hard disk to FAT32.

ZDTips

Have you ever left your system turned on for several days and then wondered how long it's been on? If so, you can find that information in Windows 98's System Information utility. You'll find the System Information utility on the Programs|Accessories|SystemTools menu. Once System Information is up and running, look for the Uptime value in the right-hand panel.

ZD Tips

When you install Windows 98, you'll see a new and welcome addition to the top of your Start menu--Windows Update. This link connects you to a Microsoft Web page where you can find the latest drivers and update information, as well as technical support information for Windows 98. If you click the Update Wizard, you'll be prompted to register your copy of Windows 98 (if you haven't already), and then the Wizard will scan your system, identifying and listing any updates your system needs. None of the updates are automatic, so you can decide whether and when to update your system.

ZDTips

If you're like most people in today's Internet-centric world, you probably keep your Internet browser running in the background on your work PC all day long. That way it's ready and waiting when you want to quickly access your favorite Web site. Unfortunately, your browser is also sucking up valuable system resources and slowing down the other applications that you need to perform your daily tasks. So, rather than bog down your system by having your browser running when you're not using it, why not create an Address toolbar that you can place anywhere on your desktop? Doing so is easy: just right-click on your taskbar and select Toolbars|Address from the shortcut menu. The Address toolbar instantly appears on your taskbar, but you can move it to any place on your desktop by clicking and dragging it. If you want the Address toolbar to always be in view, right-click on it and select Always On Top from the shortcut menu.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

As you surf the Web, there are occasions when it's convenient to have more than one Internet Explorer window open at the same time. For example, when you're investigating the results of search engine, you can leave the search results in one instance of Internet Explorer and investigate each site in a separate instance of Internet Explorer. To do this, hold down the [Shift] key as you click links on the search results page. When you do, a separate Internet Explorer window will instantly launch and connect to that site. To investigate the results quicker, use the [Shift]/click technique to launch three or four separate instances of Internet Explorer. Then, while the second, third and fourth pages are loading, return to the first one, which should be done loading, and investigate the contents. You can then access the second page and so on.

ZD Tips

Have you ever been working in Windows Explorer and realized that the task you're performing could be done more easily in a My Computer style folder window? If so, chances are that you've closed Windows Explorer and then launched My Computer. However, why go to all that work when you can easily transform Windows Explorer into My Computer? It's easy to do! Just click the close button in the top right corner of the All Folders pane. You can then reverse the transformation by pulling down the View menu, opening the Explorer Bar submenu and selecting the All Folders option.

ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

One of the most important things that you can do to keep your system running at peak performance is to regularly defragment your hard drive with the Windows 98 Disk Defragmenter utility. This utility performs two major tasks. Of course, it reorganizes your hard drive such that the pieces of your files are in contiguous order so that they can load faster. In addition, Windows 98's Disk Defragmenter utility will move the files that you use most frequently to the beginning of the hard drive where they'll load faster. You can assure that Disk Defragmenter runs regularly by configuring the Maintenance Wizard to run the utility.

ZD Tips

If you don't happen to be one of the lucky ones who own a nice 17" monitor, seeing what's on your desktop can be a challenge. However, it doesn't have to be if you take advantage of Windows 98's new Magnifier accessibility tool. The Magnifier displays a magnified view at the top of your screen of the area where your mouse pointer or insertion point is located. To use the Magnifier select:

Start|Programs|Accessories|Accessibility|Magnifier

If the Accessibility menu doesn't appear on your Start menu, you need to install the Accessibility Tools through Add\Remove programs.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

If you've enabled Windows 98's Active Desktop feature, chances are that single-click mode is configured such that the items on your desktop and in your file management tools are always underlined. While the single-click mode is a nice feature, always having items underlined can be distracting. Fortunately, you can easily disable this. To do so, open My Computer, pull down the View menu and select the Folder Options... command. When the Folder Options properties sheet appears, select the Custom, Based On Settings You Choose option (if it isn't already selected by default). Then, click the Settings... button. Once you do, you'll see the Custom Settings dialog box. Now, select the Underline Icon Titles Only When I Point At Them option in the Click Items As Follows panel. When you do, your icons retain their original appearance until you position your mouse pointer over them.

ZDTips

With Windows 98 it's a breeze to set global view options for all open folders because you can do so from any open folder window. Just open a folder window and select the viewing options that you want to apply to all folders. Then, select Folder Options from the View menu and click the View tab. In the Folder Views panel click the Like Current Folder button, click Yes to confirm, and then click OK to close the Folder Options dialog box. You'll see the changes the next time you open a new folder window.

ZD Journal

As you probably know, you can adjust the width of the Name, Size, Type, and Modified columns in Windows Explorer's Details view using your mouse. To do so, you first position your mouse cursor over the column border. When the mouse pointer turns into a doubled-headed arrow, just drag the pointer to enlarge or shrink the column.

To quickly set the optimal column width, when the mouse pointer turns into a doubled-headed arrow, double-click the column border. When you do, the column width will be set to a size large enough, or small enough, to display all the data in the column.

This tip will work in any window that allows you to use the Details view.

Inside Microsoft Windows 98

By now, you've probably heard about the leak in Windows 98's Registration Wizard that compromises your privacy by exposing unique ID numbers that identify you and your PC. The ID numbers are only supposed to be available to Microsoft and were designed help Microsoft identify registered users of their products. However, it has been determined that the numbers are also attached to files created with Office applications, and even more alarming, that the numbers are available via Internet Explorer to any Web site developer who knows how to access the ID number. For more information on the Registration Wizard leak, follow the links at the bottom of the page.

To see the leak in action, point your browser to Phar Lap Software's Windows 98 RegWiz privacy leak demo page at

http://security.pharlap.com/regwiz/index.htm

While Microsoft is working on a solution to this Registration Wizard leak, you may want to plug the leak immediately. Fortunately, you can do so simply by disabling the Registration Wizard. To begin, select the Run command on the Start menu. When the Run dialog box appears, type the command

regsvr32.exe -u c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll

in the Open text box and click OK. You'll then see a dialog box containing the text string ``DllUnregisterServer in c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll succeeded'' that informs you that the operation was a success. (To reenable the Registration Wizard, you'll use the same command, but substitute a -c for the -u.)

Now, return to Phar Lap Software's Windows 98 RegWiz privacy leak demo page and click the Refresh button. When you do, you'll see that the demo page can no longer access your ID numbers.

The Registration Wizard also creates an easily identifiable document on your hard disk called Reginfo.txt that can leak information about you. To prevent this, simply rename, move, or delete the Reginfo.txt file.

Stories about the Registration Wizard leak **********************************

Associated Press: Microsoft admits Windows software transmits unique ID number

http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,25591-41382-304399-0,00.html

C|NET: Microsoft admits privacy problem, plans fix

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,33413,00.html?st.ne.160.head

Microsoft: Profile Center

http://register.microsoft.com/regwiz/forms/Pic.asp

Microsoft: Microsoft Addresses Customers' Privacy Concerns

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/03-08custletter2.htm

Microsoft: Information About Privacy on microsoft.com

http://www.microsoft.com/misc/privacy.htm

(The Phar Lap discussion of this problem is at

http://security.pharlap.com/regwiz/index.htm).

ZD Journal

If you're on a network that's patched directly into the Internet, you probably keep Internet Explorer minimized on your Taskbar all day long so that you can quickly and easily access the Web when you need something. However, the whole time that Internet Explorer is running in the background, it's using valuable system resources that could be put to better use enhancing the performance of other tasks, such as calculating spreadsheet formulas in Excel. A better solution to this Internet need is to create an Address toolbar, by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Toolbars/Address from the context menu. Then, move the Address toolbar to the top of your desktop and configure it to use the Auto Hide and Always on Top features. Now, when you need something on the Internet, just move your cursor to the top of the screen and type in the address and Internet Explorer will launch.

ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

Creating shortcuts on the desktop is easy in Windows 98. Simply right-click on the item that you wish to create a shortcut to and when the shortcut menu appears, select the Send To / Desktop command.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

When you create and save a file that you only intend to keep temporarily, chances are that you save it to the Desktop, so that you can quickly and easily delete it when you're finished with it. You can expedite this procedure by using the View Desktop button in the Save As dialog box. Once you create the file and click the Save button, you'll see the Save As dialog box. At this point, simply click the View Desktop button, name the file, and click the Save button.

ZD Tips

As you know, when you install Windows 98 on your system, the installation procedure install several starter files that allow you to easily connect to and sign up for a nationally provided online service. Once you've selected an online service, you can save about 1MB of hard drive space by removing these starter files. To do so, open Control Panel, double-click on the Add/Remove Program icon, and select the Windows Setup tab. Then, select Online Services, click Details and then clear the check boxes of the services you don't want. To complete the operation, click Apply, and then click OK.

ZD Tips

If you like to like to keep your desktop free from unnecessary clutter, you may have wondered if you could remove the Internet Explorer icon from your desktop. After all it's much easier to launch Internet Explorer by clicking its icon in the Quick Launch tool bar.

To remove the Internet Explorer icon from your desktop, launch Internet Explorer, pull down the Tools menu, and select the Internet Options command. When you see the Internet Options dialog box, select the Advanced tab. Then, scroll though the Settings list until you locate the Show Internet Explorer On the Desktop check box. Now, click the check box to clear it. Finally, click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.

ZD Tips

If you're the only one who uses your computer and you're not on a network, you can reduce the clutter on the Start menu by removing the Log Off item from the Start menu. To do so, launch the Registry Editor by typing Regedit in the Run dialog box and open the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer folder. Next, pull down the Edit menu, select the New | DWORD Value command, and name the value NoLogOff. Now, press [Enter] twice to enable the new name and to open the Edit DWORD Value dialog box. Once the Edit DWORD Value 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

When you hover your mouse pointer over the icons on the Quick Launch Toolbar, you see the names assigned to the items as pop up tool tips. If you've added items to the Quick Launch Toolbar using drag-and-drop, the tool tip box will say Shortcut to [item]. You can remove the words "Shortcut to" and replace them with "Launch" or simply delete them altogether. When you do, the tool tip is cleaner and takes up less space. To make this change, launch Windows Explorer or My Computer and access the c:\windows\application\microsoft\internet explorer\quick launch folder. You can then easily rename the shortcuts.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

If you want to quickly and easily search the Internet, you can open the Find menu and select the On the Internet command. When you do, you immediately connect to Microsoft's Search the Web site. Once you connect to this site, you can easily conduct your search by selecting from five main search engines and dozens of specialized search sites.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.x or 5.0, you can close your browser window using the secret keystroke [Ctrl]-W. This secret keystroke can also be used to close Windows Explorer and My Computer windows.

ZD Tips

Do you have one or two people that you find yourself constantly sending email to, perhaps a friend or a colleague? If so, you can now save yourself some time by creating a desktop shortcut that will open your email client with a preaddressed message. Creating the shortcut is simple. Just right-click on a clear area of your desktop and select New and then Shortcut from the shortcut menu. In the Command Line text box type mailto: and then the email address of your coworker, leaving no spaces. Click the Next button and type a name in the Select A Name For The Shortcut text box. Click Finish and a new shortcut will appear on your desktop. Double-click on the icon and your email client, such as Outlook Express, will open with your coworker's address in the To: text box. Now, you can create and send your message as you normally would.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

If you have a large hard disk, you can speed up your Windows 98 installation by copying the Win98 folder from the CD to your hard disk and then running Setup from there. Your hard disk is faster than the fastest CD-ROM drive available, so the installation procedure will run quicker.

When Windows 98 asks for the CD-ROM to load device drivers, etc., just browse to the location on your hard disk where you copied the Win98 folder. Having the Win98 folder on your hard disk will also reduce the amount of time it takes to add and remove components--something you'll probably do a lot of during your first few months with the new operating system. If you later need the hard disk space, you can always delete the Win98 folder and go back to using the CD-ROM.

ZDTips

Does your Dial-Up Networking connection take a long time to actually connect to your ISP? If so, you probably have an unnecessary option called "Log on to Network" selected in your Dial-Up Networking connection. To see if this is the case, right-click on your Dial-Up Networking connection and select the Properties command from the shortcut menu. Then, select the Server Types tab. Now make sure that the Log on to Network check box is not selected. You should also clear the NetBEUI and IPX/SPX Compatible check boxes.

ZD Tips

Have you ever wondered what goes on in the background when you start Windows 98? If you're curious as to what programs and utilities are starting each time you boot Windows 98[RW1], you need to investigate the System Configuration Utility. This utility contains a series of tabs that show you the contents of several major files including the Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, System.ini, and Windows.ini. The last tab is titled Startup and contains a complete list of all the items that load automatically from the Startup folder, the Win.ini load= and run= lines, and from the Registry each time Windows 98 starts. To access this utility, you can launch System Information, pull down the Tools menu and select the System Configuration Utility command. You can also access the Run dialog box from the Start menu and type the command C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSCONFIG.EXE in the Open text box.

ZD Tips

Have you ever wondered how many minutes a MID or WAV file will play? Fortunately, you can find out easily. To do so, just right-click on the file and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Once the file's properties sheet appears, click the Details tab and check out the Media Length field. You can then click Preview tab and listen to the sound clip.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

You may have noticed a bunch of 0-byte hidden files called Mscreate.dir in various folders on your system and wondered what these files and where they come from? You probably also have wondered if you can safely delete them. Here's the scoop:

Mscreate.dir files are special files that let Microsoft applications remove all appropriate folders during an uninstall operation. When you install a Microsoft application, such as Office 97, the Setup program creates one of these innocuous files in each folder it places on your hard disk. If you later run Setup in maintenance or uninstall mode, it looks for the Mscreate.dir files to determine whether it can delete the folder.

If you delete these files now and someday run Setup in uninstall mode, Setup won't delete the empty folder. Since these hidden files don't take up any hard disk space and are important to the uninstall procedure, we suggest you leave them where they are.

ZD Tips

If you have a hard disk larger than 512MB, when you begin the Windows 98 upgrade procedure, Setup will ask if you want to enable large disk support (that is, FAT 32). The biggest benefit of using FAT 32 is its ability to more efficiently manage storage space on today's large hard disks. To do so, FAT 32 uses a 4KB cluster size for all hard disks under 8GB. This reduces the amount of slack, or wasted, space on your hard disk when you save small files. For example, on a 1GB hard disk using FAT 16, a 1KB file takes up 32KB of space while on the same hard disk using the FAT 32 system, a 1KB file takes up only 4KB of space--that's a savings of 28KB. While this may sound trivial, when you look at an entire hard disk with thousands of small files, the savings is dramatic. In fact, Microsoft guarantees that you'll see at least 10 to 15 percent more efficient use of disk space on the average large hard disk. However, in some cases, we've determined the space savings to be even larger--reaching for the 50 percent range. Of course, the results vary depending on the number of small files on the hard disk.

ZDTips

If you're using Web view to view your folders, you've encountered what we call the childproof lock that Windows 98 places on the Windows folder. This lock shows up in the form of a warning message in the Windows folder when you attempt to access it. To bypass this, all you need to do is click the Show Files link. When you do, you can see all the files and subfolders contained in the Windows folder.

This feature is designed to prevent novice users from accidentally deleting crucial system files. However, if you're confident that you're not going to be accidentally deleting files, you can disable the childproof lock.

To do so, from the Start menu, select Find/File Or Folders to launch the Find utility, then search for the file folder.htt. When Find returns the results, select the folder.htt file in the Windows folder and rename it folder.out.

To create a standard Web view file for the Windows folder, pull down the View menu and select the Customize This Folder command. When you see the Customize This Folder wizard appear, simply click the Next button twice to create a default Web view file. When Notepad opens and displays the contents of the new, standard Web view file, simply close Notepad and then click the Finish button to end the Customize This Folder wizard.

ZD Tips

Sometimes when you change screen resolutions in Windows 98, your application icons on the taskbar can get scrambled. When this happens, place your mouse pointer on the vertical bar just to the right on the Start button and, when your cursor turns into a double-headed arrow, right-click. When the shortcut menu appears, select the Refresh command. Your application icons on the taskbar will then return to normal.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

Would you like to use like to use all uppercase letters for some of your folder and file names? If so, you've noticed that when try to name a folder or file with all uppercase letters, Windows 98 renames it using only an initial uppercase letter. To change this behavior, launch My Computer, pull down the View menu, and select the Folder Options command. When the Folder Option dialog box appears, select the View tab. Now, locate the Files And Folders branch in the Advanced Settings list box and select the Allow All Uppercase Names check box. Once you click OK, all the folders and files that were originally named with all uppercase letters will immediately be displayed as such. You can now use any combination of upper- and lowercase letters for all new folders or files that you create.

ZD Tips

If you used the Microsoft Fax feature of Windows 95's mail program, Microsoft Exchange or Windows Messaging, you were probably surprised to learn that Microsoft Fax doesn't appear in Windows 98's mail program--Outlook Express. However, you'll be glad to know that if you want to be able to use Microsoft Fax in Windows 98, it's available on the Windows 98 CD. To use it you must locate the \tools\oldwin95\message\us folder on the Windows 98 CD. Then, double-click on Wms.exe to install Windows Messaging. Once you've installed Windows Messaging, double-click on Awfax.exe to add Microsoft Fax to Windows Messaging.

ZD Journal's Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal

Use the Notepad feature in Windows. Click on Start, Run, then type "notepad" (without the quotes) and click on OK. In Notepad type ".LOG" (all caps, no quotes) as the first line of the text and press Enter two or three times. Save this Notepad file in your C:\Windows\Desktop folder using any filename you choose. Now, whenever you want to make a note, just double-click on the shortcut to this file on your Desktop, and Notepad will automatically add a time and date stamp.

ZDNet

When you're reading information on a long Web page, there are several ways that you can scroll through the page:

* You can use your mouse and the scroll bars * You can use the [Page Down] and [Page Up] keys * If you have a mouse with a wheel, you can use the wheel

However, there's another way to scroll through a long Web page. You can use the [Spacebar] to scroll down a page and [Shift] [Spacebar] to scroll up the page. This alternate method is nice for touch typists.

ZD Tips

When you need to make a copy of a floppy disk, you probably use Windows 98's Copy Disk utility. To access the Copy Disk utility, you launch My Computer or Windows Explorer, right-click the floppy disk drive icon, and then select the Copy Disk... command from the shortcut menu. When you do, you'll see the Copy Disk dialog box.

Unfortunately, the Copy Disk utility is actually limited when compared to its DOS counterpart--the Diskcopy command. Windows 98's Copy Disk utility is fine for making quick, single copies of disks. However, if you need to make more than one copy of a disk, the utility forces you to copy the original each time it makes a duplicate. In contrast, DOS's Diskcopy command lets you make multiple copies of the same disk without having to recopy it over and over again. Therefore, if you want several copies of a disk, you'll save time by using Diskcopy instead of Copy Disk.

To do so, simply open an MS-DOS Prompt window and type the command

Diskcopy A: A:

You can also make a shortcut to this command and put it on your desktop for easy access.

ZD Tips

As you probably know, you can use the [Shift] key to simultaneously select multiple adjacent files in both My Computer and Windows Explorer. To do so in Windows Explorer, you simply click on the first file in the group, then hold down the [Shift] key as you click on the last file. Windows Explorer will select those two files and all the ones in between.

Well, did you know that you could make the same selection without using the [Shift] key--or touching your keyboard? A lesser-known alternative allows you to select a group of adjacent files by clicking and dragging a box around them with your mouse. When you release your mouse button, Windows Explorer selects all files within the box. We call this the lasso technique.

ZD Tips

A typical Windows 98 installation requires about 195MB of hard disk space. However, depending on your system configuration and the options you choose to install, the installation could use as a little as 120MB or as much as 295MB of hard disk space. Furthermore, once you begin installing 32-bit applications, your Windows folder can easily expand to 400MB or more.

On the bright side of this picture is the fact that if your hard disk is larger than 512MB, you'll be able to use the new FAT 32 file allocation system. This new system will provide you with at least 10 to 15 percent more efficient use of disk space on the average large hard disk.

Of course, if you have a small hard disk, you can use the Portable or Compact installation options and fit a Windows 98 installation on your disk. However, you won't get all of the extra goodies in the Windows 98 package.

If you have a small hard disk and really want to take advantage of all Windows 98 has to offer, you might want to consider adding a second hard disk to your system before you upgrade to Windows 98. You can figure on spending roughly $100 per gigabyte of hard disk space. Check with your local computer store for more information-they might even install the second hard disk for you.

ZDTips

The Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal is designed to pick up where the Windows 98 Upgrade Guide leaves off. Inside Microsoft Windows 98 is a monthly journal devoted solely to providing you with detailed, informative, yet easy-to-read articles on Windows 98. In this journal, we'll cover the full Windows 98 product with articles designed to appeal to users of all levels, from novice to advanced. Go to:

http://www.cobb.com/forms/w98/cuvw79.htm

ZDTips

To customize your display with a screen saver and other features, you right-click on the desktop and choose the Properties option to display the Windows 95 Display Properties dialog box. That dialog box's Screen Saver tab has a Settings button that opens the Power Management Properties dialog box, which lets you decide when, if ever, your system shuts down power to your monitor and hard drive.

Suppose you've set the Turn Off Monitor and Turn Off Hard Disks options to Never, and you've gotten used to working with that setup. If you upgrade your system to Windows 98, you'll probably find that the installation changes your Power Schemes settings and turns off your monitor after 15 minutes and your hard disks after 30 minutes. If you don't change the settings back to Never, you may come in one morning, discover your system in sleep mode, and reach for the power button. If that happens, the incorrect shutdown may cause lost data or other disk errors. If you find your machine in sleep mode, just move the mouse to wake the system back up.

ZDTips

While Microsoft is saying that the minimum system requirements for Windows 98 are a 66MHz 486DX with 16MB of memory, you really should consider a Pentium-class system with at least 16MB of RAM as the minimum acceptable configuration. Such a machine will let you comfortably run the operating system and several applications without a lot of disk swapping. However, keep in mind that the more applications you want to run at one time, the more memory you'll need.

By itself, Windows 98 will devour from 8MB to 16MB of RAM, while each typical 32-bit application needs several megabytes apiece. To be on the safe side, you can figure about 4MB per application.

That's why we consider the optimal platform for Windows 98 to be a 200MHz MMX system with at least 32MB of RAM.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the 16MB of RAM requirement is a firm one. We recently attempted to install Windows 98 on a 66MHz 486DX with 8MB of memory, and Setup immediately halted the installation procedure and informed us that Windows 98 couldn't be installed on a system with less than 16MB of RAM.

ZDTips

If you've used Microsoft Office 97, you may be familiar with the Microsoft System Information tool and wondered why such a tool didn't come with the operating system. This terrific utility is designed to help you provide pertinent information to technical support people when you're having problems with your system. Fortunately, Microsoft enhanced this utility and included it in Windows 98. The new version includes many helpful system tools, such as the System File Checker, which checks your system files to make sure that they're all correct, the Registry Checker, which scans Windows 98's Registry for errors and then makes a backup, The System Configuration Utility, which is an update of the old Windows 3.x SysEdit utility, and many other useful tools. You'll find the Microsoft System Information tool on the Programs/Accessories/System Tools menu.

ZDTips

Have you visited the Windows Update site yet this month? If not, you should do so. It's a good idea to visit the Windows Update site regularly in order to keep your Windows 98 system running in tip-top shape. Simply click the Windows Update link at the bottom of the Settings menu. For more detailed information on Windows Update, stay tuned for the article "Keep Windows 98 in shape with Windows Update" coming in the December 1998 issue of the Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal.

ZD Journals' Inside Microsoft Windows 98 journal