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Keep Your System Clean |
This is very simple.
If you have about $60.00 and either a large Hard Disk Drive, or two
Hard Disk Drives, you simply install
PowerQuest's Drive
Image.
I test software almost everyday. Some of these new overblown applications
very inconsiderately over-write some of your vital system files. I've finally
found the Foolproof backup
method.
With PowerQuest's Drive Image you simply Scandisk and Defrag your good
working C: Drive, then make an image of that drive to another partition.
Then if something goes whacky with the software you have installed,
you just re-boot with the Boot Floppy created by
PowerQuest's Drive Image and choose "Restore".
Bingo. In about 5 minutes you complete 2 or 3 gigabytes of your good
working C: Drive's Image is put right back as if it had never seen the
offending software.
I thank my good friend Dennis Waldron for turning me on to Drive Image.
See more of Dennis at "Denny's System Tips"
Well, nothing is Foolproof, but this works for me-:)
Take 5 extra minutes on installations and you will always have a uncluttered
system; and maybe prevent yourself from having to format your harddrive
and reinstall Win95.
NOTE: This is for Windows 95. Do not use WRP with Windows 98.
Utilities Needed:
1. Get WRP, free.
WRPV3.ZIP is the Best and easiest Registry Backup/Restore
I've Seen. Download HERE
It's a well written batch file operation that saves your,
AUTOEXEC.BAT
SYSTEM.DAT
USER.DAT
PROTOCOL.INI
SYSTEM.INI
WIN.INI
CONFIG.SYS
MSDOS.SYS
And will restore all to there original state if needed.
This has save my tail on many occasions.
2. ExamDiff.
http://www.nisnevich.com/examdiff/examdiffpro.htm
PURPOSE :
ExamDiff lets you place the filenames of two directories in side-by-side
windows, and then shows you which files are the same and which are different.
It will also delete, copy or move files.
OK. 1st thing to do is make a new directory, I call mine A-win, then a subdirectory called A-sys. Putting these on a separate drive is preferable, but if you don't have a separate drive, the new directories will do just fine.
Now, open two instances of you file manager side by side.
Highlight all the files [not folders] in C:\Windows and Drag them to
A-win, thus copying them.
Then do the same with C:\Windows\Systems.
Highlight and drag all files to Subdirectory A-sys.
Now you have a easy to get at backup of the important files.
For instance in this case A-win A-sys
3. Monitor your Installation with "inctrl4.zip" Download HERE
inctrl4.zip
Everyone should have this freeware Or
This is a real MUST HAVE for testing software. Small and easy.
(I
use ArkoSoft System Snapshot 2.0 now instead of inctrl4. Reason is I don't
know that inctrl4 is Y2K ready, but ArkoSoft System Snapshot 2.0 is. Plus
while it's basically the same, it makes a nicer report.)
You can get it at http://www.arkosoftech.com/files/snapshot.html
It's only $9.95
4. Cleansweep, or another good Installer/Uninstaller monitor that records
changes to ALL system records.
Including C:\Windows files, C:\Windows\System files, System.ini, Win.ini,
Config,sys, Autoexec.bat, Protoco.ini, and most Important, your Registry.
OK, the installation begins:
1. Run Inctrl4 in two Phase Mode.
2. Run Wmatch and make sure that there are no "Different" files between
C:\Windows and A-win, nor C:\Windows\System and A-sys.
3. Run WRP backup for a fresh copy of your important system files.
4. Close all running applications; you must leave Explorer in your
Task Manager/Ctrl+Alt+Del on.95 won't run without it.
5. Start your Cleansweep Monitor.
6. Click Start.....then Run.....then type or browse to the setup program and run your installation.
7. If the program says to reboot, go to your Cleansweep Monitor 1st
and Stop the
Monitoring, save the report to a text file, name it the name of the
"program.txt".
Close the Monitor then reboot.
Not all programs need rebooting on installation.
OTHERWISE, After the installation of your new software you should run
it once before you stop Cleansweep Monitor.
Most of the programs store their settings not only during the installation
but during the first start. To log these modifications too, it is recommended
to start the program once, open some windows before you stop and save your
Cleansweep Monitor log.
8. That's it. You now have all changes recorded and the ability to completely uninstall it if you don't like it.
9. If you're going to keep it, run Wmatch.exe and copy all new files
to their corresponding directories; A-win and A-sys.
If you want to uninstall it. Run Cleansweep remove. That takes care
of everything in most cases. If your removing the application either right
away or soon, when you do, re-boot to Real Dos Mode and CD to WRP, EXAMPLE:
C:\WRP>RESTORE [enter] and it will put your registry and other system
files right back in the exact shape they were in before the installation.
10. Run Wmatch to see that it shows no differences in your windows files or your windows\system files periodically.
11. This sounds like a lot more work than it really is.
It's about 5 extra minutes on installations and you will always have
a uncluttered system.
12. I just added this.
How to print a directory listing from Explorer Window
This tweak lets you right-click on any folder icon and tell Windows
to print a list of all the files and subfolders it contains.
1. Make a .bat file like so:
dir/s/oe %1 /o:gn > "%temp%\Dir Listing"
cd\
if not exist dirlist\NUL md dirlist
if exist c:\dirlist\Dirlist.txt goto Two
move "%temp%\Dir Listing" c:\dirlist\Dirlist.txt
goto End
:Two
move "%temp%\Dir Listing" c:\dirlist\Dirlist2.txt
:End
cd dirlist
call nextfile Dirlist txt
cd\
c:\dirlist\%Highest%
This batch file will let you run before and installation creating "Dirlist.txt".
Then, again after an installation creating "Dirlist2.txt".
Then use a good file compare utility like I use, ExamDiff Pro. You
can get the freeware version or the Pro version at
http://www.nisnevich.com/
2. Open Windows Explorer, choose View, Options (or Folder Options), and click on the File Types tab. Select File Folder, then click on Edit and New. Fill in the New Action dialog box (put in any name you want, example "Print Directory Listing" and it will appear on right click) and save your changes.
3. Right-click on any folder icon and choose Print Directory Listing to send a detailed directory list to the newly created Dirlist directory/folder.
NOTE:
You can modify this .bat file to you liking, for instance:
The very first Dir command can be just [dir]
The /s shows you the sub-directories
The /oe tells it to arrange the files in acceding order by the extensions.
This is a great for before and after installation comparison.
Thank You Scott Pearce for re-writting this file for me.
You can download it Here
For those of us who regularly install Shareware programs, only to find after a day that the don't bring what we expected, this is a great way to keep the registry clean. Before you install a new piece of software, run ScanReg (click Start > Run and type scanreg in the Open dialog box. Windows will scan your registry, and when it doesn't find any errors, will prompt you to back-up your registry. At this stage you would choose Yes.
Now if you find after a day that you don't like the program you installed, just uninstall the program in the normal way (see the help- or readme file accompanying the program) and restore the registry you made just before you installed the program, using the method described above.
If you receive an Out of Memory error message when you try to run Scanreg with the /restore (or /fix) switch, you need to free conventional memory. ScanReg needs 340KB or more conventional memory, depending on the size of the registry and the amount of damage.
To increase the amount of free conventional memory, restart your computer, press and hold down the Ctrl key until the Windows 98 Startup menu appears, and then choose Safe mode command prompt only. Then, run Scanreg.exe with the /fix or /restore switch.
ScanReg Command-Line Switches
These are the command-line switches supported by ScanReg:
Switch
Description
/autoscan
Automatically scans the registry and backs it up without displaying any
prompts if there is already a backup for that date.
/backup Backs up the registry and related files without displaying any prompts.
"/comment=<text>" Enables you to add a descriptive comment to the registry backup.
filename Scans the registry file specified and displays a message indicating whether or not any errors were found. This switch does not back up the registry.
/fix Repairs any damaged portions of the registry, and optimizes it by rebuilding it without unused space.
/restore Displays a list of available backup files, sorted by the date and time the backup was created.
/scanonly
Scans the registry and displays a message if any errors are found. This
switch does not back up the registry.
The "/comment=<text>" switch can be used by itself or with the /backup
switch.
For example, you can type either of the following commands at a command
prompt:
scanreg.exe "/comment=registry backup 5 June"
scanreg.exe /backup "/comment=registry backup 5 June"
The first command line starts the Registry Checker tool graphical user
interface (GUI) and prompts you to create a registry backup. The second
command line creates a backup copy of your registry and adds your comment
without starting the
Registry Checker tool GUI.
A lot of the files you don't need are hidden. To see them in Windows Explorer, select View, Options (or Folder Options). On the View tab, select Show all files, then click OK.
Also, when in doubt about deleting a file, move it to another folder or drive, or zip it. If its absence hasn't caused any problems after three months--for instance, if no program has displayed an error message or refused to load because the file wasn't there--get rid of it. Of course, have an an emergency start-up disk handy in case you move a file needed to boot your PC.
The following is a list of some kinds of Windows files you may want to get rid of::
UNWANTED WINDOWS FEATURES.
Select Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Click the
Windows Setup tab. For each component with a check in its box, click its
name and then the Details button, scroll through and uncheck features you
don't want, and click OK to move to the next checked component. If the
Details button is grayed out and you know you don't want the component,
simply uncheck it. If you've upgraded Windows and you're sure that you
don't want to go back to the older version, click the Install/Uninstall
tab and then look for Old Windows 3.x and MS-DOS
Think about this.
I do this all the time.
With Drive Image, you make an exact image file of you C: drive (you
can compress it as I do, then burn that image/file to a CD.
If you have another partition or hard drive, you can store the image/file
there and restore from there.
I just finished testing a bunch of software. needless to say, that wrote
files all over the place and my registry was drastcally changed.
So, before I started testing, i made an Image; about a 5 minute backup.
When done testing, rather than trying to uninstall everything and put
my system back the way it was manually, I simply restored it with Drive
Image, another 5 minute process.
Modifying the File System Properties
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, double-click the System Icon. The System Properties dialog box appears.
3. Click the Performance tab and check that both the File System and
Virtual Memory report "32-bit." If the Performance tab shows "MS-DOS compatibility,"
SEE MS-DOS Compatibility Mode Problems,
MS-DOS Compatibility Mode on Hard Disks
and
More MSDOS Compatibility Solutions
4. Under Advanced Settings, click the File System button.
5. In the File System Properties dialog box, click the Hard Disk tab.
6. If necessary, select the appropriate setting for what your computer typically does.
--The Desktop setting caches folders (directories) and files in memory and gives priority to the active application.
This setting uses about 10K.
--The Network setting uses 40K and distributes priorities equally. Thus, if you normally use only one application at a time, use the Desktop setting. If you normally work with multiple applications simultaneously, then the Network setting is more advantageous.
7. Move the Read-Ahead Optimization slider to none. This setting retrieves cached data and can actually interfere with high data rates. In short, less is more.
8. Click the Troubleshooting tab and check "Disable write-behind caching for all drives." When this setting is enabled (unchecked), the disk cache flushes continually, which erodes performance.
Note:
This option does ensure greater data integrity at a performance price.
One way around this tradeoff is to create multiple user profiles for the
different operations you want to perform ("Multitasking: Using Profiles
for Flexibility and Control").
9. Click OK.
====================
2. Multitasking: Using User Profiles for Flexibility and Control
If you have used User Profiles, you know that they are a way to create different configurations for multiple users of one computer. In this section we will discuss how to use Profiles to create different configurations for multiple tasks. This gives a whole new meaning to the idea of multitasking. For a more detailed explanation of Profiles, consult your Windows documentation.
Creating Profiles for every need
If you really want to tweak your system, use Profiles to create different configurations for the many ways you use your computer. Rather than have to decide between configurations, such as having to choose between performance and greater data integrity (as mentioned in the previous section), use Profiles to create as many specialized configurations as you want. Using Profiles lets you take charge and get your computer to do what you want it to do when you want to do it rather than become all things for all people and all situations. For example, one configuration profile could be a basic one where only Windows loads and nothing else, and another could be configured to run just your favorite game.
To create a Profile:
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, double-click the Passwords icon. The Passwords Properties dialog box appears.
3. Click the User Profiles tab.
4. Click "Users can customize their preferences."
5. Select "Include Desktop Icons and "Include Start Menu and Program groups."
6. Click OK and click Yes to restart your computer.
Log on as usual. If the Welcome to Windows dialog box appears, either log on as usual or enter a new name and password to create a new account. After you are logged on, open the Control Panel and double-click the Users icon to create new user accounts. Create as many accounts as you want. The User Wizard will walk you through the process step-by-step.
Now that you have multiple profiles you can begin customizing them or even experimenting with different startup configurations. The next section, "Configuring how Windows starts up," gives you some information about how to go about creating different system configurations.
Configuring how Windows starts up
The more applications that you install, more "stuff" loads and runs every time you start up your computer. The good news is that installation or setup programs configure everything for you. The bad news is that programs seldom tell you what all they are adding to your startup routine or where they are adding these items. The following sections show you where these files are and how to change or modify them. To configure how Windows starts within a particular Profile, just logon with that Profile and then make the changes you want.
Windows 98
If you have Windows 98, tracking down most of these items is as easy as running the Microsoft System Configuration utility.
To launch the Microsoft System Configuration utility:
1. Click Start and then click Run.
2. Type MSCONFIG and click OK. The System Configuration Utility opens.
3. Click the Startup tab.
From here you can load or unload items by simply checking or unchecking a box. You can also configure your other startup files from this utility (AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, and SYSTEM.INI). Note that not all changes you make and apply will be unique to the Profile you are in when you make the changes because of the way Profiles use the system registry. For example, changes that prompt you to restart your computer will affect all Profiles. For more information, see "Editing the registry" in the Windows 95 section below.
Windows 95
If you have Windows 95, tracking down startup items is not as easy because there is no MSCONFIG utility. What you'll have to do is edit the system startup files individually and manually edit the system registry. What makes it difficult is that startup information is stored in a variety of places.
--Editing the system startup files
To access and edit the configuration information in the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, and SYSTEM.INI startup files, run the Microsoft System Editor (SYSEDIT). SYSEDIT opens all four system startup files (you'll need to modify each of these files for each custom Profile).
To launch SYSEDIT:
1. Click Start and then click Run.
2. Type SYSEDIT and click OK. The System Configuration Editor opens and displays the four startup files. (It may display other files; you can ignore these.)
3. Click the window of the file you want to edit.
*To disable a line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file, type REM (the REMove command) at the beginning of a line. For example:
rem c:\windows\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:OEMCD001 /L:Z
*To disable a line in the WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files, type a semi-colon
(;) at the beginning of the line.
For example:
;load=
4. Save your changes and exit the editor.
--Editing the registry
Need I say backup your Registry 1st?
98 Users: See Dennys
Tips
The other place where startup configuration commands are stored is in the Run keys of the system registry. The registry consists of two files: USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT. The tool to use for modifying registry keys is the Microsoft Registry Editor (REGEDIT)
To launch REGEDIT
1. Click Start and then click Run.
2. Type REGEDIT and click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
When you look at the registry through an editor, no distinction is made between the parts that belong to USER.DAT and those that belong to SYSTEM.DAT. Only one key in the registry is contained in SYSTEM.DAT and that is the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key. All of the other keys belong to USER.DAT. In terms of startup configurations, the two keys to modify are:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Note that Windows Profiles create and use a unique copy of the USER.DAT portion of the registry. The SYSTEM.DAT portion of the registry is shared across all profiles. The first key listed above belongs to the USER.DAT file, which means that you can customize Run for each of your Profiles. The second key belongs to SYSTEM.DAT; changes to this Run key will affect all Profiles.
Editing system files and in particular, editing the registry, can be intimidating. This kind of "under the hood" system manipulation is not for everyone.
It has been my experience that users of "Regedit" either already know a lot about how computers work or that they are the kind of person that wants to know more. There is no better way to take charge of how your computer works than learning about the registry and how it works. It is the key to just about everything.
If you are careful and if you always give yourself a "fallback position," you can explore and experiment with a minimum of risk. Consequently, whenever you are working with system files or the registry, it is always a good idea to make backup copies. Using Profiles is extremely cool because it already is a backup of AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, and USER.DAT startup files. You only need worry about changes to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ key in the SYSTEM.DAT file, which is not backed up with each Profile. In th e case of SYSTEM.DAT you need to make a backup copy of the file or use the export function in the registry editor to make a backup of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\.
To backup this key, perform the following steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
2. Type REGEDIT and click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
3. Click once on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.
4. From the menu choose Registry, Export Registry File.
5. Verify or add the following items in the Export Registry File dialog
box:
a) Save in: (pick any location other than the Desktop)
b) File name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Registry Backup
c) Save as type: Registration Files d) Export range: Selected branch
6. Click Save.
7. Exit the Registry Editor.
8. Verify that an icon labeled HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE REGISTRY BACKUP.REG is in the location you selected Step 5a.
To restore this backup you can either double-click the file, which will import the information directly into your registry or you can use the import function in the Registry Editor.
Enabling and using Profiles gives you added security and flexibility. True, it does take some work and it is not the easiest of tasks. But it's a good feeling when you begin to understand how computers work and start taking charge. Once you have taken the trouble to create multiple profiles, those benefits are just a restart away. Each time you start Windows it will start with the same user profile it was using last. To change to a new one is a simple matter of typing the name and the password.
===========================
3. Hard Drives: How big will they get?
I can remember when 40 MB was a big hard drive (I know that dates me). Nowadays, 8 GB seems to be the norm and I have even seen 36 GB hard drives. One wonders where it will all end. If you are just planning to use what already came in your computer then you don't need to worry about hard drive sizes and types until you start running out of room. On the other hand, if you are in the market for a new hard drive, then there are a few things you should be aware of.
What do those terms mean
To begin with, it may be helpful to define what MB and GB mean in terms that those not fully indoctrinated into geekdom can understand. The easiest way to understand this is to think of a byte as a single character like the letter "a". The letter "a" occupies a single byte. A MB or MegaByte is equal to a million bytes. A GB or GigaByte is equal to 1,000 MB or 1 Billion bytes. Offhand, I don't know how many characters there are in the Encyclopedia Britannica, but I suspect it would all fit in less than a billion bytes.
SEE "How Big is a Byte, and Other Binary Stuff"
Of course, computer hard drives store more than just characters. There are programs, graphics, pictures, sound files, and more. Generally, when you look at a file with Windows Explorer it is listed in K, which is short for Kilobytes or 1,000 bytes. Most file viewers drop the K and just assume you know this. If you right click a file and choose Properties from the little menu, you can see the actual size in bytes. You will notice that the K number is rounded and is therefore not exact.
I suppose before continuing I should note to those experienced readers (so I don't get a bunch of mail) that in truth computers are binary base two systems and not base ten, which is what we humans are used to (ten toes and ten fingers). Thus, 1,000 is really 1024 in computer speak. For practical purposes we can just round down to 1,000 and it is close enough. Confused? In that case, just disregard what I said.
Without going too deeply into the arcane world of drive configurations, BIOS updates, and various DOS interrupt extensions, one does need to be aware that buying just any drive no matter the size or type and plugging it into your existing computer not is a simple matter. In many cases it can be as simple as plugging it in, but in other cases, it is not.
Size limitations
Hard drives store information and they come in two flavors - SCSI and IDE. Most systems use IDE because they are less expensive. The following the size limits or thresholds you need to be aware of for IDE types are:
512 MB
2.1 GB
4.2 GB
8.4 GB
For SCSI the issue is not so much size as it is things such as Double-Wide, Fast, Ultra, and more. I'll cover SCSI drives at another issue. For now, I'll stay on the more common IDE devices.
Really I don't know SCSI that well, so when I feel confident about that
I'll write about it right here.