Internet Explorer in Windows 98 Miscellaneous

Internet Explorer 4.0 also adds a Shell update that places little MS "Quick Launch" icons next to your Start Button. It adds View Desktop, Explorer, Outlook Express, and IE Channels (personally I don't like channels) icons. The only one of value is View Desktop. You may want to remove that IE Channels icon? Well, the shortcuts here are located in:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch. They are shortcuts and you can add anything you like here - and delete anything that you might not like.

I also did not like The Microsoft Network being on my desktop. There are also several others that are on your desktop when you first use Windows (Inbox, Recycle Bin, Network Neighborhood, etc.). To remove everything except System and Network Neighborhood, all you must do is go to C:\Windows\Desktop and delete what you don't want. However, Network Neighborhood can be removed by using an app called TweakUI (63.9K). Execute the file in a new folder (called whatever you want, i.e. c:\program files\tweakUI). From Windows explorer, find the file tweakUI.inf, right click, and choose Install from the menu. This places TweakUI in Control Panel. Execute it from there - you'll find it to be a powerful tool for having more control over what your computer displays.

Another thing that you might like to do is clean up the start menu. Every application creates a new group that makes a big unorganized mess (especially if you have a lot of software installed). You can change the structure of the Start menu by editing the folders and shortcuts in the C:\Windows\Start Menu\ directory. In the first 'Programs' menu, have only four or five main categories (i.e. Applications, Accessories, Games, and Start Up). Start Up cannot (or should not) be removed, but anything else is free to go. Under the application sub menu, divide all of your software into more categories (i.e. video, audio, development, office, finance, etc.). For each application, you only need a shortcut to the actual executable file. Delete all of the help, readme, and uninstall files - they can be accessed if need be in Windows Explorer.

We'll get into more in-depth details about all the above and more

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Customize The Mail Toolbar

To customize the Mail toolbar, right-click the toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar. When the Customize Toolbar dialog box opens, the icons that are currently displayed are in the right pane. To eliminate an icon, click it and then click Remove. Repeat this process for each icon you want to remove and then click Close when finished.

To retrieve the icons, right-click the toolbar. When the dialog box opens, look in the left pane and click the icon you want to add. Click Add and then Close.

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Monitoring Internet Connection Speed

This is the speed at which the computer communicates with the modem and has little to do with actual transfer speed.
A speed monitoring utility we like is called DU Meter Version 2.0.0. You'll find the file at
http://www.pcworld.com/fileworld/file_description/frameset/0,1458,4702,00.html
You can use DU Meter free of charge for 30 days. If you like the program and want to keep it, the charge is $10.

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Making and Printout of yout Favorites Folder's URL's

There's no way to print a folder's contents using either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Windows 95/98/NT 4.0. However, there are outside programs that will do the job for you. Here's a program we recently recommended to Windows NT 4.0 users:

To print the contents of your Favorites folder (or any folder), you can download ExpPrint from JD Design to do the job for you. You'll find the file at
http://www.pcworld.com/fileworld/file_description/frameset/0,1458,4316,00.html

After you download the file, unzip it and right-click ExpPrint.inf. When the menu opens, choose Install. Now, run Windows Explorer and right-click your Favorites folder. Choose Print Directory Listing to open the ExpPrint dialog box. Select the printing parameters you want to use and click Print. When you're finished with the dialog box, click Close. Note that the Save Settings function won't work until you register the program.

ExpPrint needs MFC42.DLL, version 4.21.7022 and MSVCRT.DLL, version 5.00.7022. If you don't have these versions (or later) in your Windows\System folder, you can get them from Microsoft. The registration fee for ExpPrint is $10.

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Put Your Mail In a Private Folder

Use Inbox Assistant to move some of your mail to a private folder?

To create a new folder, choose File, Folder, Create. When the Create New Folder dialog box opens, type in a name for your new folder and click OK. Now choose Mail, Inbox Assistant. When the dialog box opens, click Add and then type in your conditions.

Let's say you want to move all mail addressed to you into your new folder. In the To entry box, type your complete e-mail address. Click the arrow at the right side of the Move To list box and select your new folder from the expanded list. Click OK and then, back in the Inbox Assistant dialog box, click OK again.

Though this is a good way to keep mail separated, the security offered is minimal. Anyone with any Mail experience will know how to view your new folder. If you're really concerned about security, don't leave Internet Mail open for others to see and always use a password to open the mail.

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Security Patches

Microsoft was notified of a security issue affecting the way Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.1 and 4.01 SP1 handles JScript scripts downloaded from web sites.

"Window.External" JScript Vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4. (For more Information see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q191200.

The following software is affected by this vulnerability:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 SP1 on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0

Microsoft Windows 98

Internet Explorer 4 for Windows 3.1, Windows NT 3.51, Macintosh and UNIX (Solaris) are not affected by this problem. Internet Explorer 3.x is not affected by this problem.

Microsoft has made this patch available as a "Critical Update" for Windows 98 customers through the Windows Update (Select Start > Windows Update).

Although not a direct IE4 security issue, we'll report it here anyway:

Updates available for Security Vulnerabilities in Microsoft PPTP.

Microsoft has released a set of patches that fix several security issues with implementations of the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) used in Microsoft Virtual Private Networking (VPN) products.

Customers using affected software listed below to secure communications over a public network (i.e. the Internet) should download and apply these patches as soon as possible.

Customers who are not using PPTP for network security are not affected by this issue.

Affected Software Versions:

The following software is affected by this vulnerability:

Microsoft Dialup Networking 1.2x and earlier on Windows 95

Microsoft Remote Access Services on Windows NT 4.0 (both client and server)

Microsoft Routing and Remote Access Services on Windows NT Server 4.0

Microsoft Windows 98 Dialup Networking

Fixes:

Windows NT 4.0 RAS Users:

Download the patch from: ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/NT40/
hotfixes-postSP3/pptp3-fix/

Windows NT 4.0 RRAS Users:

Download the patch from: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/NT40/
hotfixes-postSP3/rras30-fix/

Windows 95 Users:

Download the patch from: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/msdun13.exe

Windows 98 Users

Download the patch from: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/dun40.exe

Microsoft has published the following Knowledge Base (KB) articles on this issue:

1. Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade Release Notes
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q154/0/91.asp
2. RRAS Hotfix 3.0
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/5/94.asp
3. Windows NT 4.0 PPTP Security Update
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/5/95.asp
4. Windows 98 PPTP Security Update
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/7/71.asp

Thanks much to "Arie Slob, Windows-Help.NET"

Added: Internet Explorer keeps telling me "New version of IE available"
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/troub-20.shtml

Added: News: Add "X-No-Archive: Yes" Header
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/oe-24.shtml

Added: Mail: Adding multiple attachments
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/oe-23.shtml

Updated: Security Patch
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/oe-22.shtml

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When IE4 Doesn't Ask You To...

When IE4 doesn't ask you to save or open a Midi file do the following:
If you have the New Media Player:
1. Open regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
3. Then to SOFTWARE and then to CLASSES
4. Find--> MediaPlayer.mediaPlayer.1
5. DELETE the hole string on the right hand side of the screen! and that's it!

If you want to Register Win98 without actually register with microsoft:
1. Run regedit.exe
2. Search for the word "regdone" in the registry
3. Double click on that string and put in the data value "1"
4. You are registered!!
More coming!!!

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Bookmark Converter

If you've switched your browser from Microsoft Internet Explorer to Communicator (or are contemplating doing so), you'll need to convert your Favorites into Bookmarks. There's a handy tool called IEConverter that will help you do this.
Go to http://home.sprynet.com:80/sprynet/jae/
When the page loads, click the IEConverter link in the left-hand frame.

E-mail Address Conversions

If you are converting from IE to Communicator, you'll probably also find it handy to convert your mail address book to Netscape Messenger format. To do this, check out Interguru's Email Address Conversions tool, which you can find at

http://www.interguru.com/msieall.htm

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Did You Forget You Content Advisor Password?

This is one of those questions asked so much we decided to write a REG file to take care of the problem. That means we're going to modify the Windows Registry, so this isn't for the faint of heart. Before we get started, we must remind you that making any changes to your Registry is potentially dangerous.
Although the REG file we'll show you here has been tested on our systems, we can't guarantee that it will produce the same results on your system.
To write the REG file, run Notepad (click Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad). Then enter the following exactly as shown here, including a blank second line. (Don't type "Blank line goes here.")
1 REGEDIT4
2 Blank line goes here
3 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Policies\Ratings]
4 "Key"=hex:a9,2e,4b,d6,70,22,d6,f8,d2,41,d1,56,78,fd,28,49

Choose File, Save As and name the new file Content.reg. Locate an appropriate folder to save the file in and click Save.
So, how to restore that forgotten password? Close Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and locate Content.reg. Double-click its icon and click Yes when the warning dialog box opens. Click OK when the Registry Editor dialog box opens. Then restart the computer.
After restarting, run Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and choose View, Internet Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Content tab. Click Settings and type in

nada

This is the password supplied by Content.reg. Now, click the General tab and then click Change Password. Enter nada as your old password and then enter a new password. Click OK and your password will be accepted. Click OK to close the dialog box and record your changes. Back in the Options dialog box, click Enable or Disable (whichever is visible) and then click OK to continue. Close Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and then restart it. Your new password will be active.

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Content Advisor locks you out of unrated sites by default

Is there a way to lock out the sites I want to keep from my children without having to enter a password for almost every site I visit?"

The problem with Content Advisor is that it locks you out of unrated sites by default. Even though an unrated site may not contain any undesirable information, it is nevertheless unacceptable to Content Advisor.

Try this: Choose View, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the security tab. Click Settings and type in your password. Now, in the Content Advisor dialog box, click the General tab, Select the check box labeled "Users can see sites which have no rating" and click OK to close the dialog box. Back in Options, click OK to dismiss the dialog box and save your changes.

Now you can visit those unrated sites without having to enter the password. But (here's the catch-22), your children will be able to visit unrated sites that you may consider undesirable--and there are some pretty rough unrated sites out there.

Perhaps the easiest approach to your problem is simply to disable Content Advisor when you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 and then enable it again when you finish a session. This way, you can block unrated sites when your children are browsing without having to enter the password when you're browsing.

How do I get IE not to launch when I connect?

From within IE click Tools, Internet Options, Connections and uncheck "dial the default connection when needed" box.

Internet Explorer 5.5 Minimal, Typical, and
Full Install Options in Windows 95/Windows 98

I wish I knew the ARTICLE NUMBER FOR THE FOLLOWING. I found it, copied it and now can't find the link.  As soon as I do find it I'll post it.

This article discusses a Beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice.

No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this Beta product. For information about obtaining support for a Beta release, please see the documentation included with the Beta product files, or check the Web location from which you downloaded the release.

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 for Windows 98
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 for Windows 98 Second Edition

SUMMARY

This article lists the components that are installed with the Minimal, Typical, and Full installation options in Internet Explorer 5.5 for Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition.

MORE INFORMATION

Windows 95

Minimal

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Internet Explorer Help
Internet Connection Wizard
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Visual Basic Scripting Support

Typical

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Internet Connection Wizard
Internet Explorer Core Fonts
Dynamic HTML Data Binding
Internet Explorer Browsing Enhancements
MSN Messenger Service
Microsoft Outlook Express
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player Codecs
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML)
AOL ART Image Format Support
Macromedia Flash Player
Visual Basic Scripting Support
Language Auto-Selection

Full

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Microsoft virtual machine
Internet Connection Wizard
Internet Explorer Core Fonts
Dynamic HTML Data Binding
Internet Explorer Browsing Enhancements
MSN Messenger Service
Microsoft NetMeeting
Microsoft Outlook Express
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player Codecs
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML)
AOL ART Image Format Support
Macromedia Flash Player
Web Folders
Visual Basic Scripting Support
Additional Web Fonts
Language Auto-Selection

Windows 98

Minimal

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Visual Basic Scripting Support

Typical

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Internet Explorer Connection Wizard
Internet Explorer Core Fonts
Dynamic HTML Data Binding
Internet Explorer Browsing Enhancements
MSN Messenger Service
Microsoft Outlook Express
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player Codecs
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML)
AOL ART Image Format Support
Macromedia Flash Player
Visual Basic Scripting Support
Language Auto-Selection

Full

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Microsoft virtual machine
Internet Explorer Connection Wizard
Internet Explorer Core Fonts
Dynamic HTML Data Binding
Internet Explorer Browsing Enhancements
MSN Messenger Service
Microsoft NetMeeting
Microsoft Outlook Express
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player Codecs
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML)
AOL ART Image Format Support
Macromedia Flash Player
Web Folders
Visual Basic Scripting Support
Additional Web Fonts
Language Auto-Selection

Windows 98 Second Edition

Minimal

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Visual Basic Scripting Support

Typical

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Internet Connection Wizard
Internet Explore Core Fonts
Dynamic HTML Data Binding
Internet Explorer Browsing Enhancements
MSN Messenger Service
Microsoft Outlook Express
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player Codecs
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML)
AOL ART Image Format Support
Macromedia Flash Player
Visual Basic Scripting Support
Language Auto-Selection

Full

Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser
Offline Browsing Pack
Internet Explorer Help
Microsoft virtual machine
Internet Connection Wizard
Internet Explore Core Fonts
Dynamic HTML Data Binding
Internet Explorer Browsing Enhancements
MSN Messenger Service
Microsoft NetMeeting
Microsoft Outlook Express
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player Codecs
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML)
AOL ART Image Format Support
Macromedia Flash Player
Web Folders
Visual Basic Scripting Support
Additional Web Fonts
Language Auto-Selection