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Speed up the Start-Menu.

Create a new string value under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop (of the Registry) named MenuShowDelay and set it's value to a number from 1 to 10. (1 is the fastest).

My city isn't on the time zone map.

Highlight the section on the world map that contains your city. Write down the string of or whatever other wording.Example "Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney" Open Registry Editor, and search for that string Edit that string. You have very easily edited a string that was not meant to be edited, but of course with Windows 95 you are given the option to edit nearly all strings.

You can edit those tips, and add you own tips. It is under the H_KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\explorer\ Tips key of the Registry Editor. Here's how to add new User Tips to the Welcome to Windows 95 Dialog Box that appears at Windows 95 system start-up:

1. Go to the above referenced Key in the Registry Editor.

2. Go to the very end of the list of existing User Tips. "Win95 comes with 50 Tips pre-loaded"

3. To add a new String Value, right click with your mouse at the end of the list.

4. Select NEW.

5. Type the next highest number from what's listed directly next to the ab.

6. Press ENTER.

7. Right click again on the number value just created.

8. Select MODIFY.

9. In the box marked VALUE DATA, type whatever new User Tip you prefer.

10. When you are 100% positive that what you just typed is what intended, select OK.

You have just customized Windows 95, Now close the Registry Editor, and restart Windows 95. You will see your new Tips the next time the Welcome to Windows 95 dialog box appears. At the very beginning of your VALUE DATA, you might want to begin the Tip with something like "Mikes Win95 Tips:" This way, you'll remember which Tips you added to the originals.

One of my favorite features of Windows 95 are the Long File Names. At last, we can leave eight-dot-three in the dust, One problem though. I have Microsoft Office Professional 4.3, which is the 16-bit short file name edition. So, when I am in Explorer, I can save a file such as "myworddocument". But, when I return to Word to open that file, I will find something like "mywo~1.dat". Now, if you wanted to save several files with the prefix "myworddocument" you would have a mess on your hands in a hurry, not to mention that you wouldn't be able to decipher the short names.

Complete the following steps:

1. Open up the Registry Editor.

2. Open the following SubKey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\ Control\FileSystem

3. Right-Click the right-hand pane of the Registry Editor window. On the context menu, select NEW, Binary Value.

4. Type in NameNumericTail and press ENTER.

5. Double-Click the entry you just created, and then type zero (0) as the complete binary value.

6. Click OK, close the Registry Editor, and restart Windows.

Now, this undocumented technique will assure that the short file names will resemble the long file names as much as it is possible. Windows 95 will make sure that no two files will have the same long or short name.

1. Open up the Registry Editor.

2. Go to the following SubKey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors

3. There you will find a list of various system items, such as buttons, and active title bar, etc. Actually, it adds to the information that is editable in the Control Panel's Display Properties dialog Appearance tab.

4. The information is presented as RGB data, which means that each color is represented by three values to simulate the various colors that will be displayed on your screen. The three values are Red, Green, and Blue. Each of the three can have values between zero (0), which represents black, and 255, which represents white.

EXAMPLE: 0 0 0 represents black 255 255 255 represents white all other colors are somewhere in between

5. The RGB Color Model is an additive model that is used to determine how colors are displayed on computer monitors.

6. RGB values for the various colors can be found in the following place on your system:

Control Panel, Display, Properties, Appearance, Color, Other In this dialog, the RGB values are found in the lower right corner. Be sure to write down the values of your favorite colors, so they can be changed easily.

7. Knowing all this, you are ready to further customize the shadows and inverse colors of 3-D objects in the Windows 95 system.

If after several editing sessions in the Registry Editor, you suddenly discover that several entries and values that you deleted seem to be reappearing, it is NOT a problem with the Registry, the Editor, or your mind. To keep that data from respawning, simply remove the offending items from your WIN.ini file!

By now you should all realize that you can add sounds to quite a few system events. Those can be located in the Control Panel Sounds dialog. If you haven't been there yet, I'll wait a minute while you return. But, did you realize that with the Registry, you can also add sounds to APPLICATION events?

1. Open up the Registry Editor.

2. Go to the following SubKey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps

3. You will find two SubKeys .Default and Explorer.

4. Right-Click on the SubKey APPS, choose NEW KEY.

5. The new value should be the name of the application that you wish to create event sounds for.

6. Right-Click on the SubKey you just created, and select NEW KEY.

7. An example to get you started: Key: Open Then, create another SubKey called Close.

8. Go to the Control Panel Sounds, and the Application Event SubKeys you just created will now appear in the list that is displayed in the Sounds tab.

9. Add whatever sound files you wish for these events.

1. The very next time that you Open and/or Close that particular application, the sounds will play.

11. For each and every application on your system, you can add sounds to all these standard events:

Close Open

G.P. Fault Restore Down

Maximize Restore Up

Menu Command System Asterisk

Menu Popup System Exclamation

Minimize System Question

There may be other events possible, but that depends on the particular application events that are used in any given Windows application.

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