Windows 95/98 Extra Tips!
Shortcuts.
PLEASE note that the tips you read are to the best of my knowledge, from what I have learnt BUT I will not be held responsible for anything that may go wrong.As I always say, ALWAYS BACKUP before you change anything! Latest TIPS added January 2000 * To see if your computer has any problems with it's hardware. It will tell you anything you need to know about your system. Go to Start and click on Run and type in "hwinfo /ui" Be sure to leave the space between o and / or it will not work. * I have a line in my Autoexec.bat ( del \windows\win386.swp )to delete my swap file every time I boot up. * "Is there any way to have Outlook Express say 'You've got mail,' just like in the movie?" It's no problem to have any WAV file announce your mail. We suspect that the sound byte played in the movie is copyrighted by America Online. Even so, you can probably find a suitable sound on the Internet. Try searching for wav and see what you find. Once you locate a sound you want to use, click Start, Settings, Control Panel. When Control Panel opens, double-click the Sounds icon. When the Sounds Properties dialog box opens, scroll down through the Events list and click New Mail Notification. Now, click Browse and locate your new sound file. Double-click its icon to select it as your new mail notification. Finally, click OK to close the Sounds Properties dialog box and apply your selection. The next time you have new mail, you'll hear your new announcement--like in the movie. * Tired of that boring My Computer icon? Then by all means, change it. If you have Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 installed, all it takes is a few quick clicks. If not, you can make the change by editing the Registry. Plus! Users can right-click the desktop, select Properties, and click the Plus! tab. Under Desktop Icons, select My Computer, then click the Change Icon button. Select the icon you want to use and click OK (or click Browse, navigate your way to another icon file, such as c:\Windows\System\Pifmgr.dll or c:\Windows\System\shell32.dll, click Open, select an icon, and click OK). If you don't have Plus!, you'll need to edit the Registry. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files in your Windows folder--before proceeding.) Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing regedit and clicking OK. Then navigate your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\ DefaultIcon. In the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. On the Value Data line, type the path and number of the icon you want to use in the format path, ## For example, if you were using the fourteenth icon in the \Windows\System\shell32.dll file, you would type (remembering that the numbering in an icon file starts with zero) c:\Windows\System\shell32.dll, 13 Close the Registry Editor, click the desktop, press F5 to refresh, and My Computer has a brand new look! * CHANGING A LINK'S ICON "I drag some of my most often used URLs to the Links bar. The problem is that all the icons are the same. Is there a way to change a link's icon?" There certainly is. To change a link's icon, run MSIE4 and right-click the link you want to change. When the menu is open, choose Properties. In the Properties dialog box, click Internet Shortcut (if necessary). Now, click Change Icon. When the Change Icon dialog box opens, select a new icon and click OK. If you don't see an icon you like, click Browse. Now, locate the icon you want to use and double-click it to close the dialog box. When you get back to the Change Icon dialog box, click OK. In the Properties dialog box, click OK to save your changes and dismiss the dialog box. The new icon will appear the next time you run Microsoft Internet Explorer 4. * CHANGE BITMAP THUMBNAILS BACK TO ICONS Previously, we showed you how to display icons used to represent .bmp files as tiny versions, or "thumbnails," of the actual bitmaps. Of course, as with any graphics-intensive setting change, following this technique could slow down performance on certain, shall we say, "not-so-state-of-the-art" systems. So, in response to the letters we've received asking for the technique to undo this change, here it is. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files in your Windows folder--before proceeding.) Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing regedit and clicking OK. Then navigate your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Paint.Picture\DefaultIcon. In the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. On the Value Data line of the Edit String dialog box, change %1 to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\cool.dll,41 Click OK, close the Registry Editor, and your .bmp file icons will return to their old selves. And just in case you missed the original tip, to display your .bmp file icons as bitmaps, follow the above steps in reverse (change C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\cool.dll,41 to %1). A CUSTOM TITLE BAR FOR OUTLOOK EXPRESS Reader Pao L. sent in this Outlook Express question: "I would like to change the name in my Outlook Express title bar to my company name. Is there a way to change this title?" Yes, you can change the title, but you will need to edit the Windows 95/98 Registry with RegEdit. Before you start, you should back up your Registry files. To do this, run Windows Explorer and navigate to \Windows. Locate user.dat and system.dat and copy them both to a new location. Now, click Start, Run. When the Run dialog box opens, type regedit and press Enter. Now, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express Right-click the right pane and choose New, String. Name the new string WindowTitle Double-click the WindowTitle icon and enter your company name. Click OK to close the dialog box and continue. You can now choose Registry, Exit to close RegEdit. The next time you run Outlook Express, your new title will appear in the title bar. * "Since we have the Quick Launch bar with MSIE4, I decided that would be a good place to keep shortcuts to my floppy disk drive and my CD-ROM drive."This is no problem to do. All you have to do is open My Computer, then click drive A:. Now, press Ctrl and click your CD-ROM icon. Next, drag them both to the Quick Launch bar and release the mouse button. You'll get a dialog box asking if you want to create a shortcut. Click Yes to continue. "Now, you can easily access your CD-ROM or a floppy disk from the Windows 95/98 taskbar." * Need to get to your favorite Web site--quickly? If you don't have a shortcut or link handy, try this: Select Start, Run, and in the box next to Open, type the URL you want to go to. Click OK, and bada-boom, bada-bing--your browser opens and takes you directly to that site. * "Is there any way to add programs to the Links bar? I know I can open Notepad from the Start menu, but it would be so much easier if I could just click an icon on the Links bar." You can add almost anything to the Links bar. Since Notepad is what you want, let's look at how to add Notepad. Run MSIE4 and choose Favorites, Organize Favorites. When the Favorites window opens, double-click Links. Now, right-click in the Links window and choose New, Shortcut. This opens the Create Shortcut wizard. Click Browse and navigate to C:\Windows. Next, find notepad.exe and double-click its icon to close the Browse dialog box and set your command line to Notepad. Click Next to continue. Now, type a name for the new shortcut--Notepad--minus the EXE part--should do fine. Click Finish to complete your new shortcut. Back in the Organize Favorites window, click Close. You will now have the Notepad icon in your Links bar, ready for quick use. * "I now use Windows 98 with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and with Active Desktop. I have finished a Web page in FrontPage Express that I would like to use. I created links to all the files and folders I need, and now I would like to get rid of all the standard desktop folders. I know this is possible, but I don't know how to do it. " To use a Web page as your desktop, you'll need to activate the Active Desktop. To do this, right-click the desktop and choose Active Desktop, View As Web Page. Right-click the desktop again and choose Properties. When the Display Properties dialog box opens, click the Background tab and select your new page. If it isn't in the current list, click Browse and locate the file. Double-click its icon to set your new background. To eliminate the standard desktop icons, click the Effects tab. Now, select the check box labeled "Hide icons when the desktop is viewed as a Web page" and then click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box and apply your selections. At this point, the only thing you will see on your desktop is what you added to your Web page. * APPLY VIEW OPTIONS GLOBALLY We can't tell you the number of people who ask if there's a way to apply viewing options, such as Large Icons, to every folder. The answer is yes, but only if you have IE 4.x or beyond installed. (Sorry--them's the breaks.) Open any folder window and set your ideal viewing options. For example, you might select View, Large Icons, and then View, Arrange Icons, Auto Arrange. In that same window, select View, Folder Options, and click the View tab. Click Like Current Folder, click Yes to confirm, then click OK. From that point forward, any folder window you open will display the same View options. (Note: Toolbars don't apply.) * Did you know you can "right-click" an item without ever lifting your fingers off the keyboard. With that item--folder, file, whatever--selected, hold down the Shift key and press F10. While you're at it, use your keyboard's up and down arrow keys to select the command you want, then press Enter. * "I sometimes need to print a Web page. I was wondering if there is a way that I can get MSIE 4 to print personal notes in the header of footer when I print a page. This would help me file these printed pages." Yes, we sure can. You can put personal notes into the header (or footer). Run IE 4 and navigate to a Web page. Now choose File, Page Setup. When the Page Setup dialog box opens, you will see entry boxes for both the header and footer. Just click in the entry box and add your note there. If the note is all you want to appear, delete the default entry and type it. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your additions. Your changes remain in effect until you change them. Therefore, you need to change your note for each Web page you want to print. * FAST ROUTE TO SYSTEM PROPERTIES. Instead of clicking your way through the My Computer icon to get to System Properties, an easier way is the Windows key + Pause. * Shortcuts to INSTANTLy close down windows in 3 different ways: Hint.. right click on an open space on your desktop and click NEW then SHORTCU and copy and past the command. Do it three times for each command and name them as you go so you know what the do: Close All: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx (Closes ALL programs and prompts you to log onto windows again.) Reboot: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 2 Total Shutdown: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 5 * I find it's much faster and easier to click Start / Run and type in the folder I want to open... compared to running windows explorer. Here are a couple tips that will work when you do that... or if you use My Computer to open folders, or if you simply type the location in Internet Explorer. (Note: If you browse your hard drive with IE you have to include the drive letter. If you click Start / Run you can simply type "\windows" (without quotes) to open in c:\windows. Putting in a period will open your desktop folder... and a \ will open the root directory. Press BACKSPACE to open the folder one level higher. Hold CTRL and double click on a folder and it will open the folder in a NEW window. Hold Shift and double click on a folder and it will open the folder in a NEW window, BUT this will be in Explorer style with the tree structure in a window on the left. Hold ALT and double click and it will show the properties. Alaska Joe reminds us that Ctrl + Esc at the same time is a faster way to activate the Start menu. RECONNECT IE 5 TO HTML FILES Occasionally you may install a program that associates itself with your HTML files. It might be an HTML editor or a browser add-on. If you find yourself in this situation, try this simple fix: Press the Shift key and right-click an HTML file (any one on your computer will do). From the pop-up menu that appears, choose Open With. The Open With dialog box appears. From the list, select iexplore. Select "Always use this program to open this type of file". Click the OK button to finish. Another way to Dos: While surfing the Net, need a quick way to DOS from your browser? Just type in the location box of your browser `c:\command.com` To put the Control Panel, Dialup Networking, and Printers in the Start Menu** Right-click the Start button and select Open. Inside the Start Menu window, right-click a blank area and select File, New, Folder. Type ONE of the following lines, depending on the folder you want to create. `Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} DUN.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}` then press Enter. If you type it wrong you will see a folder with a plain yellow icon and a very long name. NOTE that there is no space between the period and the open bracket. To bring up the Properties dialog fast. Hold down the Alt key and double-click on the object of your choice.
The Registry.
If you screw up your Registry or even think you may have damaged it - there's still hope. Windows 98 backs up your registry the first time you boot each day, and keeps the five most recent backups. To restore from one of the backed-up copies: Restart Windows in MS-DOS Mode Change to the `C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND` directory Type `scanreg /restore` Choose the backup from which to restore When finished, reboot and Windows will load with the restored registry. If you'd like to increase the number of backup copies, find the file `SCANREG.INI`, open it in Notepad and change the `MaxBackupCopies =` value from 5 to the number of your choice. To do Registry backups: Open the Registry Select Registry, Export Registry File Navigate to wherever you'd like to store the backup file Type a name for the file Select All or Selected Range under Export Range And click Save. Now let's suppose you've made a mistake while editing the Registry or you've made a change you want to undo. Rather than messing around trying to correct your mistake, simply restore the backed up information from the `.REG` file. Double-click the `.REG` file Click Yes to confirm that you want to restore this information Click OK when the operation is complete. Or, if you're already inside the Registry Editor, Select Registry, Import Registry File Select the `.REG` file Click Open "How do I get rid of program names in my Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box?"* There are two ways to remove programs from the Install/Uninstall tab (the one that appears when you open the Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs). One way is using the Tweak UI PowerToy: Open the Control Panel, Double-click Tweak UI Select the Add/Remove tab Select an item you'd like to remove Click the Remove button Then click Yes to confirm If you do not have Tweak UI you can still clean out the Install/Uninstall list, but you'll need to do a little Registry editing. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files (`SYSTEM.DAT` and `USER.DAT`, hidden files in `C:\WINDOWS\`) before proceeding) Open the Registry Editor (Select Start, Run, type `regedit` and click OK Navigate your way to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall` Expand the Uninstall key In the left pane, right-click the desired item and select Delete. Click Yes to confirm And that item is officially off the list. Repeat these steps for each item you'd like to remove, then close the Registry Editor.
Kids installed a game that stopped the computer booting.......
One important simple little/big annoyance I must mention, that irritates the everyday person, especially those with kids and/or play games!...... That is, if you install a game, then all of a sudden for some unknown reason your computer, when you reset, just keeps rebooting, with messages on the second DOS screen like, `Trying to load a mouse` or some other configuration, plus something like `Press any key to continue`, or it may say `Your computer is running in MS-Dos mode, do you want to change to normal settings to be able to enter Windows?` As I mentioned before, this is all happening in the second DOS screen when you first start up your computer. And all this is happening because of that game you loaded, has had the cheek, to put itself in the Config.sys file, or should I say 'Has used it's own system file and sometimes forgets to put things back as they were.What is written below is what I did to solve this problem, BUT to be more technical and to understand it all much better, take a look at Why Games Do This. This is what you do: Open the C drive folder (Start, Run, `C:\`) Check that `CONFIG.WOS` and `AUTOEXEC.WOS` are there Delete the `CONFIG.SYS` and `AUTOEXEC.BAT` files Rename `CONFIG.WOS` to `CONFIG.SYS` And rename `AUTOEXEC.WOS` to `AUTOEXEC.BAT` I used to think that you could just remove some lines from the `CONFIG.SYS` and `AUTOEXEC.BAT` files, but as I have recently found out, these files have no relation to what was there before the game made its changes. Now To Go Back Home Windows Everyday Help To Go To Commonly Asked Questions Commonly Asked Questions Or To Go To My Windows 95/98 Extra Tips Or To Who Is Michelle?
Favourite links.
Tech Advice Heaps of info for Win95/98, Apps, Hardware, pick your topic and click! 98 Lite Excellent page for extracting IE from Win98. Bootlog Failures! Shows what your file Bootlog.txt is trying to tell you about what is wrong withyour PC. Email me at: [email protected]

Windows 95/98 Extra Tips!

Shortcuts.

PLEASE note that the tips you read are to the best of my knowledge, from what I have learnt BUT I will not be held responsible for anything that may go wrong.As I always say, ALWAYS BACKUP before you change anything!

Latest TIPS added January 2000

*** To see if your computer has any problems with it's hardware. It will tell you anything you need to know about your system. Go to Start and click on Run and type in "hwinfo /ui" Be sure to leave the space between o and / or it will not work.

*** I have a line in my Autoexec.bat ( del \windows\win386.swp )to delete my swap file every time I boot up.

*** "Is there any way to have Outlook Express say 'You've got mail,' just like in the movie?" It's no problem to have any WAV file announce your mail. We suspect that the sound byte played in the movie is copyrighted by America Online. Even so, you can probably find a suitable sound on the Internet. Try searching for wav and see what you find. Once you locate a sound you want to use, click Start, Settings, Control Panel. When Control Panel opens, double-click the Sounds icon. When the Sounds Properties dialog box opens, scroll down through the Events list and click New Mail Notification. Now, click Browse and locate your new sound file. Double-click its icon to select it as your new mail notification. Finally, click OK to close the Sounds Properties dialog box and apply your selection. The next time you have new mail, you'll hear your new announcement--like in the movie.

*** Tired of that boring My Computer icon? Then by all means, change it. If you have Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 installed, all it takes is a few quick clicks. If not, you can make the change by editing the Registry. Plus! Users can right-click the desktop, select Properties, and click the Plus! tab. Under Desktop Icons, select My Computer, then click the Change Icon button. Select the icon you want to use and click OK (or click Browse, navigate your way to another icon file, such as c:\Windows\System\Pifmgr.dll or c:\Windows\System\shell32.dll, click Open, select an icon, and click OK). If you don't have Plus!, you'll need to edit the Registry. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files in your Windows folder--before proceeding.) Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing regedit and clicking OK. Then navigate your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\ DefaultIcon. In the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. On the Value Data line, type the path and number of the icon you want to use in the format path, ## For example, if you were using the fourteenth icon in the \Windows\System\shell32.dll file, you would type (remembering that the numbering in an icon file starts with zero) c:\Windows\System\shell32.dll, 13 Close the Registry Editor, click the desktop, press F5 to refresh, and My Computer has a brand new look!

*** CHANGING A LINK'S ICON "I drag some of my most often used URLs to the Links bar. The problem is that all the icons are the same. Is there a way to change a link's icon?" There certainly is. To change a link's icon, run MSIE4 and right-click the link you want to change. When the menu is open, choose Properties. In the Properties dialog box, click Internet Shortcut (if necessary). Now, click Change Icon. When the Change Icon dialog box opens, select a new icon and click OK. If you don't see an icon you like, click Browse. Now, locate the icon you want to use and double-click it to close the dialog box. When you get back to the Change Icon dialog box, click OK. In the Properties dialog box, click OK to save your changes and dismiss the dialog box. The new icon will appear the next time you run Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.

*** CHANGE BITMAP THUMBNAILS BACK TO ICONS Previously, we showed you how to display icons used to represent *.bmp files as tiny versions, or "thumbnails," of the actual bitmaps. Of course, as with any graphics-intensive setting change, following this technique could slow down performance on certain, shall we say, "not-so-state-of-the-art" systems. So, in response to the letters we've received asking for the technique to undo this change, here it is. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files in your Windows folder--before proceeding.) Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing regedit and clicking OK. Then navigate your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Paint.Picture\DefaultIcon. In the right pane, right-click (Default) and select Modify. On the Value Data line of the Edit String dialog box, change %1 to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\cool.dll,41 Click OK, close the Registry Editor, and your *.bmp file icons will return to their old selves. And just in case you missed the original tip, to display your *.bmp file icons as bitmaps, follow the above steps in reverse (change C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\cool.dll,41 to %1).

*** A CUSTOM TITLE BAR FOR OUTLOOK EXPRESS Reader Pao L. sent in this Outlook Express question: "I would like to change the name in my Outlook Express title bar to my company name. Is there a way to change this title?" Yes, you can change the title, but you will need to edit the Windows 95/98 Registry with RegEdit. Before you start, you should back up your Registry files. To do this, run Windows Explorer and navigate to \Windows. Locate user.dat and system.dat and copy them both to a new location. Now, click Start, Run. When the Run dialog box opens, type regedit and press Enter. Now, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express Right-click the right pane and choose New, String. Name the new string WindowTitle Double-click the WindowTitle icon and enter your company name. Click OK to close the dialog box and continue. You can now choose Registry, Exit to close RegEdit. The next time you run Outlook Express, your new title will appear in the title bar.

*** "Since we have the Quick Launch bar with MSIE4, I decided that would be a good place to keep shortcuts to my floppy disk drive and my CD-ROM drive."This is no problem to do. All you have to do is open My Computer, then click drive A:. Now, press Ctrl and click your CD-ROM icon. Next, drag them both to the Quick Launch bar and release the mouse button. You'll get a dialog box asking if you want to create a shortcut. Click Yes to continue. "Now, you can easily access your CD-ROM or a floppy disk from the Windows 95/98 taskbar."

*** Need to get to your favorite Web site--quickly? If you don't have a shortcut or link handy, try this: Select Start, Run, and in the box next to Open, type the URL you want to go to. Click OK, and bada-boom, bada-bing--your browser opens and takes you directly to that site.

*** "Is there any way to add programs to the Links bar? I know I can open Notepad from the Start menu, but it would be so much easier if I could just click an icon on the Links bar." You can add almost anything to the Links bar. Since Notepad is what you want, let's look at how to add Notepad. Run MSIE4 and choose Favorites, Organize Favorites. When the Favorites window opens, double-click Links. Now, right-click in the Links window and choose New, Shortcut. This opens the Create Shortcut wizard. Click Browse and navigate to C:\Windows. Next, find notepad.exe and double-click its icon to close the Browse dialog box and set your command line to Notepad. Click Next to continue. Now, type a name for the new shortcut--Notepad--minus the EXE part--should do fine. Click Finish to complete your new shortcut. Back in the Organize Favorites window, click Close. You will now have the Notepad icon in your Links bar, ready for quick use.

*** "I now use Windows 98 with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and with Active Desktop. I have finished a Web page in FrontPage Express that I would like to use. I created links to all the files and folders I need, and now I would like to get rid of all the standard desktop folders. I know this is possible, but I don't know how to do it. " To use a Web page as your desktop, you'll need to activate the Active Desktop. To do this, right-click the desktop and choose Active Desktop, View As Web Page. Right-click the desktop again and choose Properties. When the Display Properties dialog box opens, click the Background tab and select your new page. If it isn't in the current list, click Browse and locate the file. Double-click its icon to set your new background. To eliminate the standard desktop icons, click the Effects tab. Now, select the check box labeled "Hide icons when the desktop is viewed as a Web page" and then click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box and apply your selections. At this point, the only thing you will see on your desktop is what you added to your Web page.

*** APPLY VIEW OPTIONS GLOBALLY We can't tell you the number of people who ask if there's a way to apply viewing options, such as Large Icons, to every folder. The answer is yes, but only if you have IE 4.x or beyond installed. (Sorry--them's the breaks.) Open any folder window and set your ideal viewing options. For example, you might select View, Large Icons, and then View, Arrange Icons, Auto Arrange. In that same window, select View, Folder Options, and click the View tab. Click Like Current Folder, click Yes to confirm, then click OK. From that point forward, any folder window you open will display the same View options. (Note: Toolbars don't apply.)

*** Did you know you can "right-click" an item without ever lifting your fingers off the keyboard. With that item--folder, file, whatever--selected, hold down the Shift key and press F10. While you're at it, use your keyboard's up and down arrow keys to select the command you want, then press Enter.

*** "I sometimes need to print a Web page. I was wondering if there is a way that I can get MSIE 4 to print personal notes in the header of footer when I print a page. This would help me file these printed pages." Yes, we sure can. You can put personal notes into the header (or footer). Run IE 4 and navigate to a Web page. Now choose File, Page Setup. When the Page Setup dialog box opens, you will see entry boxes for both the header and footer. Just click in the entry box and add your note there. If the note is all you want to appear, delete the default entry and type it. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your additions. Your changes remain in effect until you change them. Therefore, you need to change your note for each Web page you want to print.

*** FAST ROUTE TO SYSTEM PROPERTIES. Instead of clicking your way through the My Computer icon to get to System Properties, an easier way is the Windows key + Pause.

*** Shortcuts to INSTANTLy close down windows in 3 different ways: Hint.. right click on an open space on your desktop and click NEW then SHORTCU and copy and past the command. Do it three times for each command and name them as you go so you know what the do: Close All: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx (Closes ALL programs and prompts you to log onto windows again.) Reboot: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 2 Total Shutdown: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 5

*** I find it's much faster and easier to click Start / Run and type in the folder I want to open... compared to running windows explorer. Here are a couple tips that will work when you do that... or if you use My Computer to open folders, or if you simply type the location in Internet Explorer. (Note: If you browse your hard drive with IE you have to include the drive letter. If you click Start / Run you can simply type "\windows" (without quotes) to open in c:\windows. Putting in a period will open your desktop folder... and a \ will open the root directory. Press BACKSPACE to open the folder one level higher. Hold CTRL and double click on a folder and it will open the folder in a NEW window. Hold Shift and double click on a folder and it will open the folder in a NEW window, BUT this will be in Explorer style with the tree structure in a window on the left. Hold ALT and double click and it will show the properties. Alaska Joe reminds us that Ctrl + Esc at the same time is a faster way to activate the Start menu.

RECONNECT IE 5 TO HTML FILES Occasionally you may install a program that associates itself with your HTML files. It might be an HTML editor or a browser add-on. If you find yourself in this situation, try this simple fix: Press the Shift key and right-click an HTML file (any one on your computer will do). From the pop-up menu that appears, choose Open With. The Open With dialog box appears. From the list, select iexplore. Select "Always use this program to open this type of file". Click the OK button to finish.

Another way to Dos: While surfing the Net, need a quick way to DOS from your browser?
Just type in the location box of your browser
c:\command.com

To put the Control Panel, Dialup Networking, and Printers in the Start Menu
Right-click the Start button and select Open.
Inside the Start Menu window, right-click a blank area and select File, New, Folder.
Type ONE of the following lines, depending on the folder you want to create.

Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} DUN.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

then press Enter.

If you type it wrong you will see a folder with a plain yellow icon and a very long name.
NOTE that there is no space between the period and the open bracket.

To bring up the Properties dialog fast.
Hold down the Alt key and double-click on the object of your choice.

The Registry.

If you screw up your Registry or even think you may have damaged it - there's still hope. Windows 98 backs up your registry the first time you boot each day, and keeps the five most recent backups.

To restore from one of the backed-up copies:

Restart Windows in MS-DOS Mode
Change to the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory
Type scanreg /restore
Choose the backup from which to restore
When finished, reboot

and Windows will load with the restored registry. If you'd like to increase the number of backup copies, find the file SCANREG.INI, open it in Notepad and change the MaxBackupCopies = value from 5 to the number of your choice.

To do Registry backups:

Open the Registry
Select Registry, Export Registry File
Navigate to wherever you'd like to store the backup file
Type a name for the file
Select All or Selected Range under Export Range
And click Save.

Now let's suppose you've made a mistake while editing the Registry or you've made a change you want to undo. Rather than messing around trying to correct your mistake, simply restore the backed up information from the *.REG file.

Double-click the *.REG file
Click Yes to confirm that you want to restore this information
Click OK when the operation is complete.

Or, if you're already inside the Registry Editor,

Select Registry, Import Registry File
Select the *.REG file
Click Open

"How do I get rid of program names in my Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box?"
There are two ways to remove programs from the Install/Uninstall tab (the one that appears when you open the Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs).
One way is using the Tweak UI PowerToy:

Open the Control Panel,
Double-click Tweak UI
Select the Add/Remove tab
Select an item you'd like to remove
Click the Remove button
Then click Yes to confirm

If you do not have Tweak UI you can still clean out the Install/Uninstall list, but you'll need to do a little Registry editing. (Note: As always, back up your Registry files (SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT, hidden files in C:\WINDOWS\) before proceeding)

Open the Registry Editor (Select Start, Run, type regedit and click OK
Navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Expand the Uninstall key
In the left pane, right-click the desired item and select Delete.
Click Yes to confirm

And that item is officially off the list. Repeat these steps for each item you'd like to remove, then close the Registry Editor.

Kids installed a game that stopped the computer booting.......

One important simple little/big annoyance I must mention, that irritates the everyday person, especially those with kids and/or play games!......

That is, if you install a game, then all of a sudden for some unknown reason your computer, when you reset, just keeps rebooting, with messages on the second DOS screen like, Trying to load a mouse or some other configuration, plus something like Press any key to continue, or it may say Your computer is running in MS-Dos mode, do you want to change to normal settings to be able to enter Windows? As I mentioned before, this is all happening in the second DOS screen when you first start up your computer. And all this is happening because of that game you loaded, has had the cheek, to put itself in the Config.sys file, or should I say 'Has used it's own system file and sometimes forgets to put things back as they were.What is written below is what I did to solve this problem, BUT to be more technical and to understand it all much better, take a look at Why Games Do This.

This is what you do:

Open the C drive folder (Start, Run, C:\)
Check that CONFIG.WOS and AUTOEXEC.WOS are there
Delete the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
Rename CONFIG.WOS to CONFIG.SYS
And rename AUTOEXEC.WOS to AUTOEXEC.BAT

I used to think that you could just remove some lines from the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, but as I have recently found out, these files have no relation to what was there before the game made its changes.

Now To Go Back Home Windows Everyday Help

To Go To Commonly Asked Questions Commonly Asked Questions

Or To Go To My Windows 95/98 Extra Tips

Or To Who Is Michelle?

Favourite links.

Tech Advice
Heaps of info for Win95/98, Apps, Hardware, pick your topic and click!
98 Lite
Excellent page for extracting IE from Win98.
Bootlog Failures!
Shows what your file Bootlog.txt is trying to tell you about what is wrong withyour PC.

Email me at:
[email protected]

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