Windows '95

What's the Password?
If you don't want to use a password, leave that entry blank when you're prompted for a user name and password, and you won't be asked again. To get rid of a password you've already entered, select Control Panel/Passwords, click on the Change Windows Password button, enter your current password in the Old password box and click on OK.

Boot Up Faster
Win95 pauses for about two seconds during boot-up to give you the opportunity to press a start-up key such as F8. To remove the pause and make boot-up faster, open the MSDOS.SYS file in Notepad and add the entry BootDelay=0 to the [Options] section.

Get Small Fast!
The fastest way to minimize all the windows on your desktop is to press Ctrl+Esc, then Alt+M.

Clear Control Panel Clutter
If your Control Panel is cluttered with icons you don't need, clean it up. In the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, you'll find a corresponding CPL file for each Control Panel item. Move the ones you don't want to a safe place on your hard disk. When you open Control Panel, those icons won't appear.

Out, Out Temp Files!
Win95 creates a lot of "temporary" files when it opens documents. It puts these files in the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP folder and intends to close them when the application is finished with them. But sometimes, temp files can become permanent. Open the folder periodically (after you shut down all your apps) and delete these files.

Fast, Fresh Restart
Restarting Win95 is a four-step process (Click on the Start button, select Shut Down, click on Restart the Computer, then click on OK). You can make it a one-step process by creating an icon on your desktop that restarts Win95. Open Notepad and type @exit. Close the document and give it a name with a BAT extension. Now stash the file away somewhere on your hard disk. Create a shortcut to the file by using the right mouse button to drag it to the desktop, and selecting Create Shortcut(s) Here. Right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab and select the Close on Exit box. Next, click on the Advanced button and make sure "MS-DOS mode" is selected and "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode" is not. Click on OK and on OK again. Give your new shortcut a unique icon and name. Whenever you double-click on the icon, Win95 will restart, no questions asked.

Get It on Paper
Right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties from the context menu. Click on the Device Manager tab, then the Print button. Select the "All devices and system summary" radio button, then click on OK. This will give you more information about your hardware, IRQs, ports, memory usage, devices and drivers than you probably want to know, but it can be handy for future reference or troubleshooting.

Turbocharge the Start Menu
To launch folders quickly, open My Computer and find the programs you use most. Drag the programs' executables onto the Start button. This puts your most frequently used programs on the Start menu.

Uncover Secret Win95 Tips
In your WINDOWS folder, you'll find a text file called TIPS.TXT full of tips and tricks written by the Microsoft's Windows 95 development team.

Your Disk Toolbox
Most of us use the Start menu to find ScanDisk, Disk Defragmenter or Backup. But there's a better way. In My Computer, right-click on a drive and select Properties. Click on the Tools tab. Here you'll get information on the last time you performed each operation, with launch buttons for each.

View Master
Your Win95 CD contains a utility called LOGVIEW.EXE. You'll find this utility in \OTHER\MISC\LOGVIEW. LOGVIEW lets you view and edit your SCANDISK, CALLLOG, MODEMDET and NDISLOG files. These files can be helpful when you're troubleshooting some parts of your system. You can move LOGVIEW onto your hard disk, or just leave it on the CD.

Forget Your Password?
If you forget your Win95 password, just hit Escape at the password box, launch the MS DOS Prompt and enter dir *.PWL in the WINDOWS directory your system and enter a new password when prompted (Win95 will ask you to verify it).

Behind the Curtain
Temporarily remove the Win95 screen that pops up during boot-up by pressing the Escape key. You'll see what's going on behind the Win95 curtain.

Familiar Faces
Print out the fonts on your system. Open Control Panel, double-click on the Fonts icon, select the font of your choice and click on the Print button. Do this for each of the fonts you want to take a good look at.

Free Net Utility
Win95 ships with a free Internet utility called IP Configuration that lets you check out all the vital stats of your Internet setup. Launch Start/Run and type WINIPCFG, then click on the More Info button.

Disable Call Waiting
If incoming phone calls disconnect you from your online sessions, you probably have call waiting. To disable it, open the Control Panel, double-click on the Modems icon and select Dialing Properties. Choose the code that disables call waiting on your phone line.

Don't Buy the Windows 95 Resource Kit
You already have a copy. It's the WIN95RK.HLP file, and you'll find it on your Windows CD-ROM disc in the ADMIN\RESKIT\HELPFILE folder.

Let This Be a Warning
If you frequently hit the Caps Lock key by accident, open Control Panel's Accessibility Options applet and put a check in the Use ToggleKeys box on the Keyboard tab. Then select the General tab and clear the check box next to "Turn off accessibility features." From now on your computer will beep if you press the
Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys.

Wall Painting
If you're bored with the opening and closing bitmaps Windows 95 displays, you can edit them. The files are bitmaps in the Windows folder, named LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS. You can edit them with the copy of Microsoft Paint that comes with Windows 95.

Space Saver
If you're really tight on disk space under Windows, display the folder C:/Windows/Temporary Internet Files in Explorer and delete all the files. You won't be getting rid of anything important-these are the cached files from your Internet Explorer browsing sessions.

Win95 Has Your Number
Someday you may need to do a complete reinstallation of Win95. Do you have your registration number, which Win95 requests during installation? If not, right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Write the registration number (the last number under Registered To:) on a piece of paper and keep it with your startup disk.

If Win95 crashes and Ctrl+Alt+Del fails to bring up the Close Program dialog, try hitting Ctrl+Esc. The Start menu may come up, letting you perform a graceful and safe reboot.

Booting Up Isn't Hard to Do
Create a bootable diskette by opening Control Panel and choosing Add/Remove Programs. Select the Startup Disk tab, and click on Create Disk

Where's the LOGO.SYS File?
We've mentioned before that LOGO.SYS is the Wait screen you see when you boot Win95, LOGOW.SYS is the Wait screen you see after you shut down Win95, and LOGOS.SYS is the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen. Although each has a SYS extension, these files are standard bitmaps you can modify with the Paint applet to create custom StartUp and Shutdown screens. Some readers wrote back and told us they couldn't find the LOGO.SYS file.
Some systems don't have a LOGO.SYS file and instead grab the StartUp logo from the hidden IO.SYS file. If you'd like to change the StartUp screen, create a LOGO.SYS file (whether you already have one or not) and put it in your root directory. For more information on how to create your own Win95 system logos, check our Customize Your Desktop! home page (http://www.winmag.com/windows/cd/) and click on the link labeled "Click here for tips on how to customize your desktop!"

No Go on the Logo
If you'd prefer not to have any StartUp splash screen at all, find the LOGO= line in your MSDOS.SYS file and change the value to 0.

Quick Fix for Registry Problems
If you receive a Windows Protection Fault error in DOS when booting Win95, your problem could be a corrupt Registry. To remedy the problem, use the DOS version of RegEdit to export and then recreate your Registry. Start by booting your system to DOS (press Shift+F5 when you see "Starting Windows 95 ..." on your screen, or boot to your Win95 boot floppy disk if necessary). From the boot directory of your primary hard disk, type: regedit /e reg.reg and press Enter. Go to your Windows folder and type these commands to make your Registry files visible: attrib -h -s -r system.dat and attrib -h -s -r user.dat. Rename the SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files to SYSTEM.BUP and USER.BUP. (Delete these files later when you're sure Win95 is working properly.) Navigate back to your boot directory and then type regedit /c reg.reg. Finally, reboot and see if your problems have disappeared.

Change Your Name
When you install Windows 95, it asks for your name. From that point on, the computer recognizes the entered name as the official registered owner. Here's how to change it: Launch the Registry Editor. Drill down to and click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version. In the right pane, find the RegisteredOwner entry and double-click on it. In the Value Data box of the Edit String dialog that pops up, change the name to whatever you wish and click on the OK button. To change the company name, repeat the procedure for the RegisteredOrganization entry.

Upgrade Without Previous Version
If you're installing Win95 on a system without a previous version of Windows installed, Win95 asks you to prove you have installed a previous version of DOS or Windows. If you don't have your old diskettes handy, here's how to get around the dialog: Open Notepad and save a document as WIN.CN_ (the final character is an underline). Put your new WIN.CN_ file on a diskette-your boot diskette or Win95 Startup disk will do. When you reach the point in the installation where Win95 asks you to show it a previous version, put in the diskette with the WIN.CN_ file on it. The installation program will accept it as proof of a previous version.

The Ultimate System Checker
Check out the all-new, all-Web WinTune 98 at http://www.winmag.com/WinTune98/. You run it right from the Web-you don't have to download anything. WinTune 98 clocks everything on your system and gives you every detail about your hardware.

Know Your Computer
Windows 95 comes with a utility called MS-Info that tells you more about your computer than you'll ever want to know. It lists detailed information on all your DLLs, drivers, fonts, memory, hardware and much more. Just launch the Find utility (Start/Find/Files or Folders) and search for the executable: MSINFO32.EXE.

Don't Double-Click
Remember not to double-click on any file with a REG extension, unless you're sure you want its contents written into the Registry. To prevent such a file from being used by accident, change its extension to RE_ or something similar.

Save a Little Disk Space
Here's an easy way to win back some hard disk real estate in Win95: If your system has a C:\PROGRAM FILES\ONLINE SERVICES folder, delete it. It could be taking up as much as 14MB of space, and the included versions of America Online and CompuServe aren't even current. You can also delete the Online Services program group and Desktop icon. If you want to install one of the services later, download the latest versions from the Web sites

System hangs
Q: Windows 95 won't install properly on my Pentium. When installation is completed and my PC restarts, I get Microsoft's ethereal blue sky and then my system hangs. What's wrong?

A: Judging from the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files you've sent me, I suspect several DOS-level device drivers are causing the problem. Since Windows 95 provides most of its own drivers for common hardware devices, boot up with a "clean" configuration. In CONFIG.SYS, only load HIMEM .SYS, EMM386.EXE, DOS=HIGH, and your CD-ROM driver. In AUTO EXEC.BAT, leave only your SET PATH statement; the SET TEMP=C:\TEMP command; and the line that loads MSCDEX, the DOS extension that recognizes your CD-ROM drive. Forego drivers for sound cards, scanners, and the like; Windows 95's hardware wizard should find these and install them.

Check for hardware conflicts. Run a DOS-based diagnostic program (such as MSD.EXE in the \WINDOWS subdirectory) to uncover any hardware conflicts. If you find any, reconfigure the involved peripherals.

Remove all nonessential hardware such as a CD-ROM adapter, a sound card, and so on. If Windows 95 installs and runs, add back each device and restart Windows 95. When Windows 95 hangs, you will have found your culprit. Check with the motherboard or BIOS vendor and see if different settings or a new BIOS chip will make the difference.

Error message
Q: While booting up my PC, Windows 95 stopped at the Safe Mode prompt and issued an error message that said, "HIMEM.SYS, DBLBFF.SYS, and IFSHLP.SYS are corrupted or missing. Error reading Drive C Abort, Retry or Fail." What the heck happened?

A: It appears that drive C: has experienced some massive data corruption problems. The cause could be almost anything, from two conflicting programs messing up during a file-write operation to an electronic glitch to an outright mechanical failure in the drive. The solution could be as simple as running ScanDisk, as ugly as reinstalling Windows 95, or as expensive as buying a new hard drive. First, boot up off a system floppy in drive A:. Then see if you can run ScanDisk by typing C:/Windows/Command/Scandisk C: and pressing Enter. This may straighten out some problems on the drive. Next, remove the floppy disk, and try booting the PC off the C: drive. You may not get all the way into Windows, but you should have made some progress. If Windows does load, ScanDisk fixed the problem for now, but don't get complacent. Back up all your vital data now and run ScanDisk often to make sure the drive is OK.

If Windows won't load, it's time to reinstall Windows 95 from scratch. If you're using the Windows 95 CD-ROM, you'll have to find and install the DOS-level drivers for your CD-ROM drive and properly reference them in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT so the drive is accessible.

Freeze
Q: Ever since I upgraded my PC, it locks up at the darnedest times. It seems to freeze most when I'm using the mouse while the hard disk is being accessed or when I'm online. I think all the IRQs are set right, but how can I tell?

A: Opening the System control panel and clicking the Device Manager will reveal the messy details. Look for any item with a bright yellow dot and exclamation point; that indicates a potential hardware conflict. Click the item, then the Properties button, and then the Resources tab for the suspect device. Note the resources used (addresses, IRQs, and DMA settings).

My guess is you have some kind of addressing or resource conflict between two or more devices. Since the lockups happen while using the mouse, hard disk, or modem (when you're online), check the resources for your mouse, hard disk controller, and modem or dial-up adapter.

If you still can't get answers, turn to a diagnostic program like Watergate's PC-Doctor (www.ws.com) or Doren Rosenthal's Conflict Resolver (www.slonet.org/~doren). Once you know where the conflict is, reconfigure your
system with the following settings.

The first/primary hard drive controller should be at the starting address (shown in Windows 95 as the Input/Output Range) of 1F0, using IRQ 14. A second hard drive interface should be at address 1F0 using IRQ 15. A PS/2 mouse port should be at address 64 and IRQ 12. COM port 1 should be at address 03F8 and IRQ 4, and COM port 2 should be at address 02F8 using IRQ 3. Sound cards are usually set up at address 220, IRQ 5, and DMA 0, 1, or 3. The parallel port should probably use address 0378 and IRQ 7. You can't access or change the settings of components built into the motherboard (such as clock chips).

How you change any of these items depends on your motherboard and peripherals, so I hope you kept those manuals.

Change start-up Logo
Q: After two years, I'm pretty sick of the fluffy clouds that greet me when I start Windows 95, and I'm equally bored with the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" message at shutdown. Is there any way I can change these?

A: You can indeed. Windows 95's opening screen, LOGO.SYS, is stored in your hard disk's root directory. (This is actually a bitmap file that Microsoft renamed to be tricky.) Rename LOGO.SYS. Then create or modify a BMP file for your opening screen and name it LOGO.SYS. Just remember the file has to match the old logo's size and resolution: It must be 127K and 320 pixels by 400 pixels in 256 colors (16-bit). The easiest editing tool to use is Windows' own MS Paint program. (To resize a BMP, for example, select Image*Attributes.) You can replace Windows shutdown screens (LOGOW.SYS and LOGOS.SYS stored in C:\Windows) using the same procedure.

Q:: How to Determine the Version of Windows 95 in Use
A: 1.In Control Panel, double-click System.

2.Click the General tab.

3.Locate the version number under the System heading and then see the following table:

                Version number   Version of Windows 95
                -----------------------------------------------------------
                4.00.950         Windows 95

4.00.950A Windows 95 plus the Service Pack 1 Update,
or OEM Service Release 1.

4.00.950B OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2)

4.00.950C OEM Service Release 2.5 (OSR2.5)

Windows 95 may have been preinstalled on your computer. These installations are referred to as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) installations. To determine whether you have an OEM installation of Windows 95, follow these steps:

1.In Control Panel, double-click System.

2.Click the General tab.

3.Locate the Product ID number under the Registered To heading. This number typically contains 20 digits. If digits 6, 7, and 8 contain the letters "OEM," you have an OEM installation of Windows 95. For example, the following sample Product ID number indicates an OEM installation:

12345-OEM-6789098-76543

If you are using an OEM installation of Windows 95, you should contact your computer's manufacturer for Windows 95 support.

To determine the language version of Windows 95 you are using, follow these steps:

1.Click the Start button, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.

2.In the Named box, type "winver.exe" (without quotation marks), and then click Find Now.

3.When the file is located, use the right mouse button to click the file, and then click Properties on the menu that
appears.

4.Click the Version tab.

5.In the Item Name box, click Language. The language version is then displayed in the Value box.

Start button Win
I would like some assistance on removing a startup function when I right click on the "start button". I downloaded and installed a freeware program and it added a "zip" function to my start button, how can I remove this?

Q: Click on the Start button | Run | type Regedit and press enter (or click on OK). Click on the plus-box before KEY_CLASSES_ROOT | pull the elevator down until you see Folder | click on the plus-box |click on the plus-box for Shell that contains the items in the folder's context menus.

Windows Disappearing Icons
Q: I think my computer is getting ready for Holloween!! I'm running Windows 95 on a 200mmx/128mg ram. Sometimes but not all the time, my desktop icon does a ghost act by disappearing when clicked on. This just started the last few days. And NEVER have had this problem before.

A: a. Right-click an open area on the desktop and select "Properties" from the context menu to bring up the "Display Properties" dialog. (or Start | Settings | CP and double-click the "Display" icon.)

b. Click the "Appearance" tab.

c. From the "Item" list near the bottom of the dialog, select "Icon". Use "Size" field's
spin button to increase the setting by one. For example, the default is usually 32, so
change it to 33.

d. Click the "Apply" button to apply the new settings without closing the dialog.

e. Restore the "Size" field's original setting to its previous setting (e.g., 32).

f. Click the "OK" button to apply the new setting and close the dialog.

g. Restart the system.

Win386.swp file
Q: This file is almost 100MB at times; seldom less than 70MB. Can you explain what this file is for and do I have any control over it?

A: This file is the virtual memory wile used by all versions of Windows since 3.1 (or even earlier). The huge operating system uses way more memory than you RAM chips provide, likewise it's not very effective to keep everything in the (scarce) RAM, so things are swapped to the hard disk.

Getting rid of this file (which can be done) is not adviseable. You can control the size of the file by going to Control Panel - System - Performance - Virtual Memory and selecting suitable min & max file sizes for it. However you should be guided by the widely implemented idea that the size of the swapfile should be no less than 2.5 to 3 times the amount of your physical memory (RAM) unless you have 128mb, when new principles step into play.

Easy Start Menu Editing!
ZDNET: Have you ever opened the Programs menu on the Start menu and suddenly realized that changes needed to be made? Perhaps the name for a shortcut was too long and needed to be shortened or perhaps folders needed to be consolidated or maybe you just wanted to copy a shortcut. The Microsoft solution to this problem is to close the menu and edit the Start menu through the Taskbar command inside the Settings menu! Not exactly intuitive! Fortunately, there is no need to exit the Start menu to edit the items in the Programs menu or other folders you have created above or within the Programs menu. Simply go into My Computer and create a shortcut to the Programs folder or other folder and place that shortcut within the same folder! At first this may sound ridiculous. Why create a shortcut to a folder within the same folder when you are already looking at the folder? But that view only makes sense when looking at the shortcut within My Computer and overlooks the fact that the shortcut will also appear within the Start Menu where its presence makes all the sense in the world!

To demonstrate, open My Computer to C:\windows\Start menu\programs and create a shortcut to the Programs folder. Name it something like EDIT FOLDER with uppercase letters so it will be easy to spot within the Programs menu. If you wish, name it 1 EDIT FOLDER so it will appear first in the list. Now drag this shortcut into the Programs folder. You now have a shortcut to the Programs folder within the Programs folder! Note: Use My Computer rather than Windows Explorer to create the shortcut because Windows Explorer "hides" shortcuts to folders by placing them up one level in the hierarchy.

Now, when you want to edit the Programs menu, just click EDIT FOLDER within the Programs menu. This is so simple, fast, logical and intuitive that I have never understood why Microsoft did not do it. I have placed this same EDIT FOLDER shortcut in all my folders on the Start Menu such as Favorite Programs and Favorite Folders as well as within frequently accessed folders within the Programs menu. Editing these folders (which I do frequently) is now a breeze and pasting shortcuts into folders is especially easy.

Since the decision to edit shortcuts or create other folders normally occurs when moving through the Start menu, what could be easier or more intuitive than opening the necessary folder without exiting the menu? The same principle applies to the Run menu, Document menu and also the Find menu. Menus and drop down lists should contain commands to edit the items contained within them.

Place EDIT FOLDER shortcuts into your Start menu folders for a few days and you will never remove them!
NOTE: There is one folder where the EDIT FOLDER shortcut should NOT be placed and that is the Startup folder. If a shortcut to the Startup folder is placed within the Startup folder, a My Computer view of the Startup folder will load each time you turn on your computer!

How can I restart Win 95 without rebooting the hardware?
ZDNET: Windows 95 has built-in support for shutting down and restarting a computer. The restart process actually involves resetting the system just as if the reset button had been pressed after a system shutdown. But in many situations, this may be overkill. Perhaps all you need is to reinitialize Windows, maybe after installing a piece of software or after a serious program crash. Here's how to restart Windows 95 without going through the entire cold reboot process.
Run Notepad and type just "@exit" on a line, then save the document as RESTART.BAT in any folder you want. Open that folder or find the file using Explorer, right-click on RESTART.BAT, and select Properties from the menu.
Click on the Programs tab and check the "Close on exit" box. Press the Advanced button and check the "MS-DOS mode" box. Press OK, then press Change Icon... if you want to use a meaningful icon for this little utility.
Now you can double-click this program to restart Windows 95 quickly. Better yet, drag it onto the Start button to put it on the Start menu.

PC MAGAZINE: On some systems (mine included), the restart accomplished by this minuscule batch file isn't visibly different from the restart accomplished by choosing Shut Down... from the Start menu, selecting "Restart the computer," and pressing PK. Still, it has the virtue of fast access. To further speed the process of restarting with RESTART.BAT, open its Properties again, press the Advanced button on the Program page, and remove the check next to "Warn before
entering MS-DOS mode." Right-click on RESTART.BAT again, select Create Shortcut from the menu, and drag the resulting shortcut onto the desktop. Now restarting Windows 95 is as quick as double-clicking an icon on the desktop.
You need a true Windows restart when you've changed certain system settings or when a crashed program has left the system in an unstable state, perhaps by leaving a copy of a single-use support DLL loaded in memory. If what you really
want is simply to shut down all running programs, there's a faster way. Select Shut Down from the Start menu, choose "Close all programs and log on as a different user," and press OK. You'll be prompted to enter a user name and password. If you've defined a password, enter it. Press OK and you're back in Windows 95 with no programs open.

Enlarge Your Pointers
WINDOWS MAGAZINE: It's easy to miss Win95's pointer schemes. But if you want bigger pointers
and cursors, here's the easiest way to get them. Just double-click on the Mouse item in the Control Panel, click on the Pointers tab, then click on the drop-down Scheme menu. Choose from 3-D, Animated Hourglasses, Large and Extra Large pointer schemes.

Change the size of icons
WINDOWS MAGAZINE: Are those icons that are cluttering your desktop getting you down? Bring
them down to size and give yourself more room. Right-click on the Desktop and select Properties. Click on the Appearance tab, then the Icon drop-down menu. Select Icon, then pick a size of 16 (the default is 32). Click on OK. (This works best if you make the words under the icons as short as possible).

get a Microphone without buying one?
WINDOWS MAGAZINE: Instead of buying a microphone for your PC, you can use any available "Sony Walkman" style headphones instead. Just plug them into your sound card's microphone plug, and talk into the speakers.

What can I delete to get more space on my 1GB hard drive?
There are several things that you can do. First, go to the start button and use find to locate all of the following files: *.tmp *.bak *.000,001 etc, *.old. Once located, use control-A to highlight the list and delete it. This should free a good amount of space on your drive.

Next, if you don't particularly care about all the movie files that come with Windows, run a find on *.avi and *.mpeg(mpg). These are movie files and usually are only for the tutorials which come with windows. They can be deleted, and they consume a huge amount of space. Fonts also take a large amount of space. Every font on your machine is loaded every time you reboot, thus using computer resources which you could use elsewhere. Look at all your fonts through the Control Panel and delete those that you don't need or use. You will find a lot of fonts that are used in foreign languages like Greek and Japanese and you will most probably never need them. Delete them, don't just uninstall them. Deleting is an option you will get when working with the fonts. Last, but not least, you can use the disk compression agent to compress the data on your drive. You will get a huge return on this and recover maybe half of your HD space. Go to Start, Programs, Accessories and System Tools. Select compression and follow the directions. Make a backup of all your data files first and be sure you have a Start disk for Windows95 handy in case you should need it.

What is the best way to make a physical back up of the Registry? I understand the machine maintains a copy of the last
sucessful start. Also, where do I find the system.1st that is susposed to be the original installation.
No Wonder replies: There are several ways to back up the registry. The easiest way I have found is to right click and drag the files to a different location.

(To SEE these files, which are Read-only, Hidden, System files, you need to open Windows Explorer, go to View | Options | Show all files (select). Also de-select Hide Extensions... Otherwise they do not show up.) The files are: SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, SYSTEM.DA0, USER.DA0, all in the C:\Windows folder. The first two are the current registry files, the second two are backups created when Windows starts successfully.

SYSTEM.1ST is also Read-Only, Hidden, System file and is found in C:\. For the most part, do not use this file except in dire emergency, as it contains very minimal information, and no user info at all. It can be backed up the same way.
There are utilities on the Win95 CD that help with backing up these files - CFGBACK is one of them - but Microsoft and others have found problems with them - I'd suggest not using them.

Can I create a shutdown shortcut?
ZSNET Expert Answer: Exit by double clicking! Do the following to make an icon on your desktop:
1) Using a text editor (such as Notepad), type the following by itself: @EXIT
2) Save the file somewhere on your hard disk (call it whatever you like). After you close the file, you have to save it as a batch file. Notepad defaults to saving as a .TXT file, you have to change the extension to .BAT.
3) Make a shortcut to the batch file, and place it on your desktop (or wherever you want).
4) Right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, click the Program tab, and make sure the Close on Exit option is turned on.
5) Then, click Advanced, and make sure MS-DOS mode is selected, and Warn before entering MS-DOS mode is turned off.
6) Click Ok twice, and double-click on the icon to use it. If you've exited Windows to DOS before, then a shortcut exists in your Windows folder named "Exit To Dos". Copy or move that shortcut to the desktop. Double-clicking it will close Windows and take you to a Dos prompt. From there you can either continue working or shut off your computer. It's the fastest exit that I know. Or go to Microsoft. They have free downloads for Windows 95, one of which is Fast Exit. It puts an icon in the task bar for shut down.

Quick! Put It on a Diskette
The quickest way to put a file or folder on a diskette is to right-click on it, select Send To from the context menu and choose "3 1/2 Floppy (A)."

Hardware Housecleaning
Sometimes Win95 thinks you have more hardware than you do. This can lead to problems. Here's how to troubleshoot: First, make sure you have a good backup. Restart Windows and press F8 at the beginning of the boot cycle to bring up the Mode menu. Select Safe mode and open the Device Manager by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties and clicking on the Device Manager tab. Expand all the categories and look for hardware that shouldn't be there. If you find duplicates within a single category, delete them all and restart; let Win95 identify and reinstall the drivers. Remember, don't delete hardware from the list unless you're sure it shouldn't be there.

Mouseless Moves
You can move or resize open Windows applications using only your keyboard. First, press Alt+Spacebar to bring up a menu. Press S, then use the arrow keys to resize the window. Press M and move the window using the arrow keys. Press Enter to keep the window change or Esc to return the window to its previous state.

Good Memory
To see how your system is using its memory, select Start/Run and type MEM.

Defrag Virtual Memory
Defragmenting your hard disk speeds up file access by putting files together at the faster part of the disk. But it doesn’t defrag your swap file, which is the file used as virtual memory in Windows. You can get additional performance gains by disabling your swap file, defragging your disk, then re-enabling the swap file. (Note that this tip works only if you have plenty of physical RAM. If you try it and your system hangs, you don’t have enough.) To disable your swap file, right-click on My Computer and select Properties from the context menu. Click on the Performance tab, then on the Virtual Memory button. Select the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" radio button, then put a check mark in the "Disable virtual memory" box by clicking on it. Click on OK, then on OK again. After defragging your disk, follow the same procedure, but remove the check mark this time.

Fast Blank Floppy
If you often reformat floppy disks just to erase the contents and make them available for other uses, there's a faster way. Right-click on the desktop and select New/Shortcut. Type deltree /y a: in the Command line box, click on the Next button, type Drive A Zap in the Select a name box, click on Next again and select an icon. Just double-click on the icon when you want to zap everything on the diskette that's currently in your A: drive.

Freeze
Q: Ever since I upgraded my PC, it locks up at the darnedest times. It seems to freeze most when I'm using the mouse while the hard disk is being accessed or when I'm online. I think all the IRQs are set right, but how can I tell?

How you change any of these items depends on your motherboard and peripherals, so I hope you kept those manuals.

Change start-up Logo
Q: After two years, I'm pretty sick of the fluffy clouds that greet me when I start Windows 95, and I'm equally bored with the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" message at shutdown. Is there any way I can change these?

Temp files
Q: Can you tell me in plain English what a temp file is? And can I go ahead and empty all of the files in Windows' Temp folder safely? If not, which files can I delete?

A: A temporary file is indeed temporary. Think of it as scratch paper that an application uses while it's working on something. Temp files are usually created by programs (including Windows) for a short time, although their life spans and functions vary.

Installation routines create temporary files as they install and set up new applications. Microsoft Word and other Office applications create temporary files to track changes made to documents while they're being edited. Typically these files have no meaning or value once the application and the data file you were working on are closed and no longer active. Before an application shuts down, it should delete its temp files, but sometimes this doesn't happen.

To delete temp files, first close all your applications. Then fire up Windows Explorer (or go to the DOS prompt), open the Temp folder, and delete all those files without remorse. If you can't delete a file, it may still be in use or "locked" with the read-only file attribute. Select the file with Explorer, right-click it, select Properties, uncheck the read-only box, and delete the file. If that doesn't work, you may need to reboot the system.

Zip drive bootable
Q: I've heard that you can make a special Windows 95 rescue disk with Iomega Zip drives. Is this true? What can it do for me?

A: It's true, but you can only use it if you have an installed and active Zip disk drive and a copy of Norton Utilities 3.0. The Norton Utilities Rescue Disk application is the key to the entire operation. First, go to Start*Programs*Norton Utilities*Rescue Disk. In the Rescue Disk dialog under Choose Rescue Type, you have the choice of "Norton Zip Rescue" or "Basic Rescue."

If you select Norton Zip Rescue, you need a blank diskette in the A:\ drive and a blank Zip disk in the Zip drive. When you select Create, the program creates a bootable diskette with all of the necessary and basic DOS boot files, drivers to
access the Zip drive, and Norton rescue utility programs. Next, it copies as many of the necessary files to run Windows 95 as will fit onto the 100MB Zip disk. In most cases, this is your entire C:\WINDOWS directory structure and all of the supporting files.

You can boot from the diskette and run Windows 95 from the Zip disk. That lets you recreate the original partitions on your hard drive (a normal function of the rescue recovery process) and put Windows 95 back in running order.

The process may seem a little sluggish when running from a diskette and Zip disk. It also can't store or recover any application installations or data files you had before a drive crash. However, it is easier to work with and more comprehensive than trying to restore the system by reinstalling Windows 95. At the least the backup disk can get your system running well enough for you to restore the whole system from a larger backup medium (such as a tape archive).

SOURCE: Zdnet and Computer Currents