Potpourris: Miscellaneous Tips #7

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If a new application is accompanied by an information file (filename.INF), that file may contain Registry-revision instructions. If so, search it for lines beginning AddReg= and DelReg=. These lines point to the sections of the INF file that contain those instructions. Review the sections to get an idea of what changes are about to be made to the Registry.

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FORCE FILE TO OPEN IN DESIRED PROGRAM

Don't want to open a file in the application with which it's associated (the one that appears if you double-click the file)? As long as you know how to invoke the Open With command, you can open that file in any application you want.

Highlight the file you're about to open, then hold down the Shift key as you right-click it. In the resulting menu, select Open With. Select an application, make sure Always Use This Program To Open This Type Of File is deselected (unless that's what you want), then click OK.

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RIGHT-MOUSE KEYBOARD EQUIVALENT

Tired of having to reach for your mouse? You can do just about anything without it--even "click" something with the right-mouse button.

The next time you need to right-click the desktop, an active window, or a highlighted shortcut, press Shift-F10 instead. Magic.

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SHORTCUTS WITH "F" KEYS

If you don't use the number keys on the numeric keypad, you can use them as single-click keyboard shortcuts for launching your 10 favorite apps. Start by pressing the Num Lock key if it isn't already on. Next, right-click on an existing program shortcut and choose Properties. Open the Shortcut tab. Click once inside the Shortcut Key field, press the number key that you want to associate with the program, then click on OK. Repeat the steps for each app. For Internet Explorer, you'll have to make a shortcut to the Desktop icon first, then follow the same steps using the new shortcut. If your Num Lock key isn't turned on by default, check your system's BIOS setup for a Num Lock default setting. -Charles Davis

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DISABLE WINDOWS' LOG-ON PASSWORD

You can disable Windows' log-on password. Open the Passwords in Control Panel and click on the Change Windows Password button. Type your old password in the Old Password field. Then tab to the New Password and Confirm Password fields in turn, and press only Enter in each one.

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ADJUST KEYBOARD REPEAT DELAY

Have you ever noticed that when you press an arrow key to move your cursor in one direction or another, the cursor thinks about it for a second and then goes? Hel-LO! Can we shake a leg here?

Light a fire under that cursor by adjusting your keyboard delay. Open the Control Panel (Start, Settings, Control Panel), double-click Keyboard, and on the Speed tab, move the Repeat Delay all the way right, to Short. While you're at it, adjust that Repeat Rate to Fast, if it isn't already. Now take your cursor for a test spin in the white text box.

That's more like it. Click OK to keep the change.

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LAUNCH STARTUP APPLICATION MINIMIZED

Is there an application you'd like to launch when Windows 98 starts, without it being a total desktop hog? Instruct the application to open minimized. All it takes is a quick trip to its Properties dialog box.

Right-click the Start button, select Open, double-click Programs, and double-click Startup. Inside the Startup folder, right-click the shortcut of the program you want to open minimized and select Properties. Click the Shortcut tab, and on the Run line, select Minimized. Click OK. The next time you start Windows 98, that application will open and then shrink to the Taskbar.

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PASSWORD-PROTECT YOUR SCREEN SAVER

Don't want nosy neighbors meddling in your business when you step away from your computer? A screen saver will stop the passers-by (unless they can get close enough to bump your mouse), but a password-protected screen saver is even better.

Right-click the desktop and select Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box. Click the Screen Saver tab, select Password Protected, then click the Change button and enter a password twice. Click OK and you'll see a dialog box telling you the password has been changed. Click OK two more times.

The next time your screen saver kicks in and anyone (including you) tries to get past it, it'll be a no go without the password. So make sure you don't forget your password!

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Win9x has trouble retaining default folder and Explorer window settings-such as size, position, sort order, toolbar status and display type (large icons, details and so on). Here's a temporary workaround. Open the folder for your C: drive, and without opening any ot her folders, arrange and configure it exactly as you'd like all your folders to appear. When you're ready to set the default, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift while you click the close box in the upper right-hand corner of the window. There's a limit to the number of specific folder instances Win9x can remember, so eventually your setting may roll off the list. Repeat the steps to restore your settings.

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If you want to keep files-or even folders full of files-from prying eyes, just right-click on each file and select Hidden in the Attributes box at the bottom of the Properties dialog. To see the files you've hidden, double-click on My Computer, select View/Options, click on the View tab and select Show All Files.

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UNDO LAST ACTION

Did you just move, copy, rename, or delete something you shouldn't have? Not a problem. Windows allows you to undo your most recent action. Right-click the desktop or window (wherever you made the mistake) and select the Undo command. Alternatively, press Ctrl-Z, or, from inside a window, select Edit, Undo.

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REFORMATTING THE HARD DRIVE--FOR EXTREMISTS ONLY

A TipWorld reader named Pete writes in with the biggest hassle we've seen this month:

"I am running Internet Explorer 5 on my 486 DX2-66 computer, which has 32MB of RAM. I notice slow performance, and although my computer is very slow to begin with, my question is this: Since I have been running Windows 95 for a long time on the same installation, would it be wise at this point to reformat my hard drive and do a clean install of Windows again? Would that help IE 5 run more smoothly once I reload it? I ask this because I have also noticed slow performance across the board in Windows, which leads me to believe it's time to clean things out."

Too true. Starting from scratch can breathe new life into a system, although a 486 will obviously be a little sluggish running any more recent Microsoft applications.

It's no small feat to clean house, but it can be rewarding. Reformatting a drive and installing Windows again is beyond the scope of these tips. However, you'll find an excellent explanation of how to go about it in the following article from PC World:

http://www.pcworld.com/current_issue/article/0,1212,3967,00.html

It's a serious commitment of time, and you must be very careful to back up all your data before proceeding (for instance, don't forget to export your mail before you start, an often overlooked item).

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BOOTLOG.txt

If Windows fails to boot properly, press F8 while it boots for the Windows StartUp menu, and pick the Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) option. It attempts a normal boot but records the status of every step Windows takes during the process. You can use this option to log a failed boot. Then, reboot to Safe mode if necessary and use a text editor to open BOOTLOG.TXT (in your root directory). Search for "fail" to find the boot steps Windows had trouble with. Failed steps are often excellent clues to the cause of the problem.

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DUAL-PANE

You can set a dual-pane view as your default Explorer view by opening any folder and choosing View/Options (or View/Folder Options under IE 4.0 or Windows 98). Under the File Types tab, select the Folder item from the Registered File Types list and click on the Edit button. Highlight Explore in the Actions window, click on the Set Default button and hit OK twice. If you ever want to reverse the setting, follow the same steps, but highlight Open instead of Explore.

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CHANGE ICON ASSOCIATED WITH FILE TYPE

Tired of the boring "text-on-a-page" icon next to your *.txt files? Then change it. In most cases, you can assign a new icon to a file type.

From any Explorer window, select View, Folder Options, and click the File Types tab. Select a type in the Registered File Types list--in this case, Text Document--click Edit, and in the Edit File Type dialog box, click Change Icon. (If this command is grayed out, you can't change the icon for this type.) Pick a new icon (or click Browse and find one you like, then click Open), then click OK. Click Close twice.

ALWAYS SHOW EXTENSION FOR A FILE TYPE

Worried that the icon you chose will keep you from recognizing that type in the future? No problem. Windows 98 includes a foolproof way to recognize a file type, regardless of its icon. It's called Always Show Extension.

In any Explorer window, select View, Folder Options, then click the File Types tab. Select a file type under Registered File Types, click Edit, then select Always Show Extension. Click OK twice, and from now on, every file of that type will display an extension (even if you've selected the Hide File Extensions For Known File Types option on the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box).

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If you have some kind of mysterious executable file (EXE, DLL, OCX) on your system, right-click on it in Explorer, select Properties and click on the Version tab. This displays the version resource inside the file (if it has one), which normally includes the name of the company that created the file, the product the file is associated with, and the file's version number.

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TURN OFF WINDOW ANIMATION

Ever notice that when you minimize or restore a window, you actually see the window-shrinking (or reverse) process? If you're looking to increase performance, remove this "window animation." Your windows will grow and shrink faster than ever.

(Note: This technique involves editing the Registry. As always, we recommend backing up your Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files on the root of your hard drive--before proceeding.)

Open the Registry Editor--select Start, Run, type

regedit

and click OK--and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics. In the left pane, right-click the WindowMetrics key and select New, String Value. Type

MinAnimate

(to name the new value) and press Enter. In the right pane, right-click MinAnimate and select Modify. In the resulting Edit String dialog box, type

0

on the Data Value line. Click OK, close the Registry Editor, and restart Windows 98.

Tip-in-a-tip: If you want your window animation back, delete the MinAnimate string (right-click it, select Delete, then click Yes to confirm), or change its data value to 1 (right-click it, select Modify, type 1 on the Value Data line, then click OK).

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INSTALL ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS

Ever hear of Accessibility options? In case you aren't familiar with them, they're a group of settings that make Windows 98 easier to use. Although these settings were designed for people with disabilities, such as sight or hearing impairments, they can be useful to everyone. There's even a wizard to help you decide which Accessibility options are right for you. In today's tip, we'll show you how to install this wizard and the newest Accessibility option, Microsoft Magnifier. Then, over the next three tips, we'll show you how to use the wizard and this new tool.

Open the Control Panel--select Start, Settings, Control Panel--and double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Windows Setup tab and wait as Windows 98 checks your system for installed components. (Depending on your system, this may take a few minutes.) Under Components, select Accessibility, then click the Details button. Select Accessibility Tools, click OK twice, and insert your installation disk when asked. Click OK again, and wait until Windows 98 finishes copying the files it needs.

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RUNNING ACCESSIBILITY WIZARD

In our last tip, we showed you how to install the Accessibility Wizard and the newest Accessibility option (Microsoft Magnifier): Open the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Programs, click the Windows Setup tab, and select Accessibility. Click Details, select Accessibility Tools, click OK twice, insert the installation CD, and click OK. Now, we'll show you how the Accessibility Wizard can determine which Accessibility options are right for you.

Select Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Accessibility Wizard. In the resulting dialog box, click on the smallest text you find comfortable to read. Click Next twice (assuming you don't want to change any of the options along the way--if you do, go ahead and change them). In the Set Wizard Options box, select each statement that applies to you. Click Next, and the wizard will ask you some questions, depending on which of the statements you selected. For example, if you indicated that you have a hard time using the keyboard or the mouse, you'll be asked if you want to press each key in a keyboard combination one at a time. Continue clicking Next until you've answered all the questions, and at the end of the wizard, click Finish. The wizard will now apply the appropriate settings.

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FAT32 CONVERSION UTILITY

Does your hard drive still use the FAT16 file system? That means you aren't taking full advantage of your hard disk space, and you should consider converting the drive to FAT32. This new and improved system stores data in smaller clusters, resulting in less wasted space.

If you aren't sure whether to convert, run the FAT32 Conversion Utility, which is available on the Windows 98 installation CD. It'll tell you exactly how much space you'll regain upon conversion.

With the installation CD in your CD-ROM drive, click Browse This CD and then navigate your way to the tools\reskit\config folder. Double-click the Fat32win.exe file, and when the utility opens, select a drive and click Scan. (If you see a dialog box telling you the drive is already a FAT32 drive, you're all set.)

CONVERT DRIVE FROM FAT16 TO FAT32

This new and improved system stores data in smaller clusters, resulting in less wasted space. We also pointed out that you can run the FAT32 Conversion Utility (Fat32win.exe, located in the tools\reskit\config folder of your Windows 98 installation CD) to determine exactly how much space you'll regain upon conversion. Assuming the numbers convince you to convert, here's how to perform the operation.

First, find a time when you won't be using your system for a while--say, three hours. Close any open programs, then select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Drive Converter (FAT32). Click the Details button, read all the pertinent do's and don'ts (for example, don't try to convert a compressed drive), then click Next. Select the drive you're about to convert, click Next, and wait as the wizard makes sure you don't have any incompatible programs installed. Click Next again, and you'll be asked if you want to back up your files before proceeding. If so, click Create Backup and so on (Microsoft Backup will help with the operation); otherwise, click Next. One last Next, and the converter is off and running.

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To put all scheduled tasks on hold without disabling the scheduler entirely, right-click on the Task Scheduler icon in the system tray and select Pause Task Scheduler. This will remain in effect until you reboot or right-click and select Continue Task Scheduler.

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Windows launches slower the more programs run automatically on start-up. Move programs out of your StartUp folder into a new folder named StartUp Holds. Or remove entries you may find on the LOAD= or RUN= line in the WIN.INI file. (Open WIN.INI from your WINDOWS folder using Notepad.) You can also place a semicolon at the head of either line to prevent Windows from reading it while preserving your previous settings.

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CHANGE EXPLORER'S FOCUS

When you select Start, Programs, Windows Explorer, Explorer always opens to your C:\ drive's contents. Is there another folder you'd rather start in? You can tell this, or any Windows Explorer shortcut, to open to your folder of choice.

Right-click Start, select Open, and double-click Programs to reveal the Windows Explorer shortcut. Right-click the shortcut, select Properties, and in the resulting dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.

In the Target line, after the last comma, you'll see your root directory, C:\. Add the name of any folder to the end of that line (for example, it might now read C:\MYFILES or C:\MYFILES\LETTERS after the last comma), then click OK. Now take it for a test spin--select Start, Programs, Windows Explorer.

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KEYBOARD ACCESS TO CONTROL PANEL

We suggested that you create a Control Panel shortcut on your desktop for quick access: Open My Computer, click and drag the Control Panel icon out to the desktop, release the mouse button, and click Yes to confirm that you want to create a shortcut. Would you prefer to access this oft-used window with a simple keyboard combination? If you've already created a shortcut, you're halfway there.

Right-click your Control Panel shortcut and select Properties. Click the Shortcut tab, and you'll see your cursor inside the text box next to Shortcut Key. Type the letter you'd like to use in combination with Ctrl-Alt to open the Control Panel, such as C, then click OK. From now on, pressing that hot key combo--in this case, Ctrl-Alt-C--from anywhere on the system opens the Control Panel.

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Though the Online Services folder uses less than 1MB in Win98, it's still annoying. The best way to remove it in Win98 is to open Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel and click on the Windows Setup tab. Scroll down to the Online Services entry and remove the check mark. Click on OK. Then drag the Online Services folder from your Desktop to the Recycle Bin.

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NEW HARD DRIVE ICON

Reader G. Murphy writes, "How do I change the name of my hard drive?"

To change the name of any drive on your system, open a My Computer window, right-click the drive's icon, and select Properties. In the text box next to Label, type a new name of up to 11 characters, then click OK.

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QUICKLY OPEN NEW BROWSER WINDOW

One of the fastest ways to browse is to open more than one link simultaneously. To do so, right-click a link and choose Open In New Window, or simply press the Shift key when you click the link.

It sounds simple because it IS simple.

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onstant warnings about low disk space on your Win98 PC can be annoying, especially if they refer to your host drive on a compressed disk. To get rid of the warning, open Disk Cleanup (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools) and click on the Settings tab. Deselect the check box labeled "If this drive runs low on disk space, automatically run Disk Cleanup," then click on OK.

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If you open a folder in Details view, and part of the file/folder information isn't visible because the columns are either truncated or too wide for the window size, here's a quick fix: Press Ctrl and the Plus (+) key on the numeric keypad. The columns will automatically adjust to fit the window or widen to display all the information (if your resolution and screen size are large enough). In an Explorer window, you may need to select the pane first by pressing Tab.

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Some programs tell Windows to launch them at start-up by placing a shortcut in the StartUp folder. To remove start-up programs, right-click on the Start button and select Open. Double-click on the Programs folder, then the StartUp folder. Delete shortcuts to programs you don't want to run at start-up. Or just drag the shortcut out to the Desktop to temporarily remove it from the StartUp folder. You can drag it back later or delete it.

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CUT-AND-PASTE INSTEAD OF DRAG-AND-DROP

Planning to move some selected icons to a new location, say to a new folder or to the desktop? Don't assume you have to click and drag them all the way there. Instead, try a cut-and-paste operation.

Assuming you've already selected the icons, right-click the selection and select Cut. Poof--the icons disappear. Right-click their destination (desktop, folder, wherever), select Paste, and they're right where you want them.

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WHAT'S UNDER THE HOOD

To find out what version of IE 5 you're using, choose Help, and select About Internet Explorer. You'll see a version number.
Here are some common version numbers and their translations:

5.00.2014.0216   Internet Explorer 5
5.00.2314.1003   Internet Explorer 5 (Office 2000)
5.00.2614.3500   Internet Explorer 5 (Windows 98 Second Edition)
5.00.2919.6307   Internet Explorer 5.01
5.50.3825.1300   Internet Explorer 5.5 Developer Preview (Beta)
5.50.4030.2400   Internet Explorer 5.5 and Internet Tools Beta

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DISPLAY FULL PATH IN TITLE BAR

Open any folder window, and you'll see its name in the title bar. Need to see a bit more information there? You can opt to display every folder's complete path right in that bar.

In any Explorer window, select View, Folder Options. Click the View tab, select Display Full Path In Title Bar, and click OK. Now take a look at the title bar of any open folder window (or glance down at its spot on the Taskbar).

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To launch your favorite screen saver without navigating dialog boxes, drag and drop your screen saver files from the Windows/System folder (they're the ones with the SCR extensions) using your right mouse button and make shortcuts for them on the desktop. In the future, whenever you want to launch your favorite screen saver, all you have to do is double-click on its file on your desktop.

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MISSING PROPERTIES DIALOG BOX

Have you ever opened a Properties dialog box--for example, by right-clicking the desktop and selecting Properties--switched to another window, and then come back to the desktop, only to discover that the Properties box is gone? Chances are, you clicked the Show Desktop icon (on the Quick Launch toolbar) or pressed Windows-D. Either way, you're asking Windows 98 to reveal the desktop, meaning it sends all open windows to the Taskbar and any open Properties boxes off to oblivion.

Or so it seems. To reveal that hiding Properties box, press Alt-Tab to display all open windows. Still holding Alt, press Tab repeatedly until the icon representing the missing Properties box is highlighted (you'll know by the names at the bottom of the box). Release the keys, and there's that Properties box.

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VERSION CONTROL

Check which version of Windows 9x you have by right-clicking on My Computer, choosing Properties and checking under the General tab's System section. The original version of Windows 95 is 4.00.950. When the letter A follows, it indicates that Service Pack 1 or OEM Service Release 1 (SR1) was installed; the letter B indicates Win95 OEM Service Release 2.0 (SR2) or 2.1 (SR2.1); the letter C indicates OEM Service Release 2.5.

You can also get the Windows version number by typing ver at a DOS prompt. You'll see 4.00.950 if you have the original release of Win95, 4.00.1111 if it's SR2 or 4.00.1212 (or higher) if you have an update to SR2, such as SR2.1. Win98 shows 4.10.1998 on both System Properties and at the DOS prompt.

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USE BROWSER WINDOW IMAGE AS WALLPAPER

Did you just come across a great picture while browsing the Web in Internet Explorer? Slap it on the desktop as desktop wallpaper. Right-click the graphic, select Set As Wallpaper, and there's that picture.

(Tip: If you currently have the Tiled option selected on the Background tab of the Display Properties dialog box, that's the way the image will appear. Most likely, you'll want to change this setting to Centered or Stretched.)

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USE FIND TO LOCATE ALL EXECUTABLE FILES

Doing a little Start menu or Desktop reorganization? How about using Find to locate all the executable files on your system? Then you can sort through them and select the ones you want to work with (and even drag them from the Find window to a new folder).

Select Start, Find, Files Or Folders. On the Name & Location tab of the Find window, type

*.exe

on the Named line. Make sure the drive you want Find to search is selected on the Look In line. Click the Find Now button, and Find locates every executable file.

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The two main hard-wired Win98 Desktop icons, My Computer and Network Neighborhood, will magically transform into toolbars if you drag them to one of the four edges of your screen and let go. You can "stack" the two on the same edge, drag the new toolbars to the taskbar or drag them to the center of the Desktop to create floating toolbars.

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You can find out exactly which files are boosted by WinAlign by checking your WINALI.INI file (in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM). You can try adding programs, DLLs and other files to this list to tell Win98 to "WinAlign" them, but they may or may not work. If you're going to add unsupported applications, first make sure you have a full system backup.

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CHANGE QUICK LAUNCH TOOLBAR INTO PALETTE

Do you have so many shortcuts on your Quick Launch toolbar that they aren't all visible at once? For one-click access to all of them, turn this toolbar into a floating palette.

Click the vertical bar on the left edge of the Quick Launch toolbar, drag the entire toolbar to a new location on your desktop, and release the mouse button. And don't worry--you aren't stuck with that huge resulting window. Resize it as you would any window--hold your mouse pointer over any corner, and when the pointer changes to a double-pointed arrow, click and drag in either direction. Move the palette to any location on screen, and you've got one-click access to all shortcuts inside.

(Tip-in-a-tip: If you want to make sure your Quick Launch palette doesn't get buried by other windows, right-click its title bar and select Always On Top.)

Want your toolbar back? We'll show you how to return it to the Taskbar in our next tip.

CHANGE QUICK LAUNCH PALETTE INTO TOOLBAR

In our last tip, we showed you how to change your Quick Launch toolbar into a floating palette: Click the vertical bar on its left edge, drag the entire toolbar bar to a new location on your desktop, and release the mouse button. From there, you can size or move the palette, just as you would any other window.

Just decide you like the toolbar better? In a few quick steps, you can put it right back where it started. Click the palette's title bar and drag it downward until it expands to the full width of the screen (across the top of the Taskbar). Release the mouse button, and the toolbar jumps down to its original form--but on the right side of the Taskbar.

To move the toolbar next to the Start button, hold your mouse pointer over the bar's left edge, and when the pointer changes to a double-pointed arrow, click and drag the bar to the left. When your mouse pointer is just to the right of the Start button, the Quick Launch toolbar will jump into place there.

(To get everything back in perfect order, you'll need to resize the other toolbars on the Taskbar. As a quick review, hold your mouse pointer over a toolbar's left edge, then click and drag in either direction.)

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Win98 comes with an improved Backup utility.

If you want to use it for automatic backups launched by the Win98 Task Scheduler, you'll need to make a change. Open the Backup utility (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup) and click on the Open button. Click on the Options button at the bottom of the window and open the Report tab. Select the "Perform an unattended backup" option.

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HOT KEY ACCESS TO APPLICATION

Want to open your favorite application on the fly? Create a hot key to it, and you can open it from anywhere with the press of a keyboard combo.

Right-click the shortcut you use to open the application, then select Properties. Click the Shortcut tab and click inside the text box next to Shortcut Key. Type the letter you'd like to use in combination with Ctrl-Alt to open the program (Windows 98 fills in the Ctrl-Alt part). For example, you could type "W" to stand for Microsoft Word. Click OK, and from now on, pressing Ctrl-Alt-W launches Word.

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Win98 comes with a new version of Tweak UI. To install it, insert the Win98 CD; from the opening screen, choose Browse This CD. Navigate to the \TOOLS\RESKIT\POWERTOY folder. (Some computer vendors do not provide TweakUI on their CDs; if this is the case you can download it from http://www.winmag.com/win98/software.htm.) Right-click on the TWEAKUI.INF file and choose Install from the pop-up menu. Setup is done when a Help screen opens. Click on the X in the corner to finish the installation and then launch Tweak UI from the Control Panel.

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CHANGE DEFAULT AUDIO CD PLAYER

Want to change the utility that plays your audio CDs? You won't need to go anywhere near the Registry to make this change. Audio CD is one of the file types in the list of registered types. Just change its association to match the program you want to use.

Inside any Explorer window, select View, Folder Options. Click the File Types tab, select Audio CD in the list of Registered File Types, and then click the Edit button. Select the Play action and click the Edit button. Under Application Used To Perform Action, type the path of the program you'd like to use to play audio CDs, followed by a space and /play. For example, if you wanted to use FlexiCD, you would type

C:\WINDOWS\FlexiCD.exe /play

Click OK, then click Close twice. The next time you pop in an audio CD, your program of choice goes to work.

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Double-click on the Tweak UI icon in Control Panel and select the Tweak UI Explorer tab. Check Light Arrow in the Shortcut Overlay section. Deselect the animated "Click here to begin (if room)" and "Tip of the Day" items in the Startup area. And get rid of the prefix Shortcut To on New Shortcuts items in Settings. Click on the Mouse tab and slide the Menu speed slider all the way to the left to make menus appear instantaneously.Then click the Tips button for more Tweak UI tips in Windows Help format. You can make windows snap rather than zoom when you minimize, maximize or restore them. Select the General tab and deselect the Window Animation box under Effects.

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CHANGE COLOR AROUND ICON LABELS

Want to change the color that Windows 98 uses around your icon labels--for example, if the color doesn't blend with the wallpaper you selected? This color is determined behind the scenes by the current desktop color.

Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and in the Display Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab. Under Item, select Desktop, if it isn't already selected, then choose your color in the dropdown palette under Color. Click OK, and the boxes around your desktop icon labels will take on a new hue.

(Note: If you don't see the change right away, you may need to right-click the desktop and select Refresh.)

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DISPLAY AND EXPAND STATUS BAR

"How do I make Windows Explorer show the disk free space information at the bottom of the window--for example, 180KB (Disk free space: 9.22GB)?"

Pull down the View menu and make sure you see a check mark next to Status Bar. If not, select this option to display the status bar at the bottom of your Explorer window. If you STILL can't see the disk free space information, your Explorer window is too narrow. Hold your mouse pointer over the window's left or right edge, and when the pointer changes to a double-pointed arrow, click and drag to make the window wider. As you do, the free space information will appear in the center of the status bar.

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The easiest way to create a full-screen capture in Win95, 98 or NT 4.0 is still by pressing the Print Screen key. That action sends a copy of the screen to the Clipboard. To view the capture, select Start/Run, type mspaint and press Enter. Once Paint opens, select Edit/Paste to paste the image from the Clipboard into the Paint window. Choose File/Save As to name and save it as a BMP file. (If Paint isn't installed on your PC, you can use another image program, or install Paint from the Add/Remove Programs applet. Open the Windows Setup tab, double-click on Accessories, select Paint and click on OK.)

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GRAYED-OUT COMMANDS IN START CONTEXT MENU

We can't tell you how many people have written asking what to do if they right-click the Start button and the resulting Open and Explore options are inactive (grayed out). It seems this problem arises if you use the Tweak UI PowerToy to hide one or more drives on your system. To resolve this problem, Microsoft suggests that you unhide any drives.

Open Tweak UI, click the My Computer tab, select any unselected check boxes, then click OK. Restart Windows 98, right-click Start, and those Open and Explore commands should be back in business.

(Quick review: The Tweak UI PowerToy is on your Windows 98 installation CD, in the tools\reskit\powertoy folder. To install it, right-click tweakui.inf and select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its icon inside the Control Panel.)

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CREATE A POP-OUT CONTROL PANEL FOLDER IN THE START MENU

Want quick access to all the items in your Control Panel? Add a pop-out Control Panel folder to your Start menu.

Right-click the Start button, select Open, and in the resulting Start Menu window, select File, New, Folder. To name the folder, type exactly

Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

and then press Enter. (Note that there's no space between the period and the opening bracket.) Click Start, select the new folder, and you'll see a menu of all Control Panel items.

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Create shortcuts for your most frequently used programs. Bring up the Properties dialog for each by right-clicking on it and selecting Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab, and click once in the Shortcut Key field. Do the hot-key combination you want to assign, then click on OK. Assigning a hot key will allow you to switch to the program if it's already running on your desktop.

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To find out what type of graphics card you have, right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Device Manager tab and double-click on Display Adapters. The card and vendor will be listed. To check the driver, double-click on the card name and choose the Driver tab. In Win98, open the Components section of the System Information utility (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information).

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CREATE MORE POP-OUT FOLDERS IN THE START MENU

In our last tip, we showed you how to create a pop-out Control Panel folder in your Start menu: Right-click the Start button, select Open, and in the resulting Start Menu window, select File, New, Folder. To name the folder, type exactly

Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

and then press Enter. (Note that there's no space between the period and the opening bracket.)

To create a Printers folder, follow the same steps, but name the folder

Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

To create a Dial-Up Networking folder, name the folder

DUN.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}

(Note: The end result is an empty folder. You'll need to add items to it manually by dragging them from the original folder and dropping them inside the new one on the Start menu.)

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KEEP MODEM SPEAKER QUIET

Tired of hearing all that racket as your modem connects to your ISP? Windows 98 includes a setting designed to silence your modem. (It doesn't work for all modems; you'll have to try it on yours and see.)

Open the Control Panel and double-click Modems. On the General tab, select your modem, click the Properties button, and move the lever under Speaker Volume all the way left, to Off. Click OK and then Close. From now on, that modem will connect in silence.

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Use this Registry setting to disable the Display icon in Control Panel, as well as the Properties option when a user right-clicks on the desktop.  By disabling these options, you will stop the user from changing settings that control monitor resolution as well as screen saver and wallpaper options. To disable this option for a user, open the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\System

Edit the value "NoDispCPL" (DWORD value) and set the value equal to "1"(without quotes) to disable the Display icon (if the value/key does not already exist, create it).  To re-enable the option, delete the above value or set the value to "0". The setting will take effect immediately and does not require a reboot.

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THE SHOW FILES WARNING MESSAGE

If you're viewing the contents of your hard drive as a Web page, and you double-click the Windows folder (or the Windows\System folder), you'll see this warning message: "To view the contents of this folder, click Show Files." (Thanks, but if I didn't want to view the files inside, I wouldn't have opened the folder.) Want an easy way to bypass this warning? Don't view your folders as Web pages.

In any folder, deselect View, As Web Page. Then, to apply the setting globally, select View, Folder Options. Click the View tab and then click the Like Current Folder button. Click Yes to confirm, then click OK. Not good enough? In our next tip, we'll show you how to remove these warnings while still viewing your folders as Web pages.

REMOVE SHOW FILES WARNING FROM WINDOWS FOLDER

You can avoid these warnings by opting not to view your folders as Web pages.

Not good enough? You can remove those warnings and still view your folders as Web pages. The warning messages are part of the customization for the Windows and Windows\System folders. Remove the customization and you remove the messages.

Open the Windows folder, locate the folder.htt and desktop.ini files, and create copies of these files in the same folder. (Name them anything you want, such as folder1.htt and desktop1.ini, or just leave them as "Copy Of folder.htt" and "Copy Of desktop.ini.") Still in the Windows folder, select View, Customize This Folder and select Remove Customization. Click Next twice, then click Finish. Repeat these steps for the Windows\System folder, and those warning messages are history.

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Maintain your hard drive by performing these steps at least monthly, in this order:

1.) Delete all files and folders with dates older than one week from C:\WINDOWS\TEMP.

2.) Purge your browser's history and Internet cache files.

3.) Run ScanDisk. Select the Standard radio button and enable Automatically Fix Errors. Click on Advanced and, under Log File, pick Replace Log; for Cross-Linked Files, select Delete; click Free under Lost File Fragments; under Check Files For, check "Invalid dates and times;" and disable "Check host drive first, " unless you've compressed your hard drive.

4.) Empty the Recycle Bin.

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INSTALLING MICROSOFT FAX IN WIN 98

We frequently receive requests asking how to install the old Windows 95 fax capability on a Windows 98 system. Actually, Microsoft Fax is on the Windows 98 installation CD.

Pop the CD into your CD-ROM drive, click Browse This CD, and navigate your way to the Tools/OldWin95/Message/Us folder. To install Microsoft Fax, run awfax.exe.

(Note: According to Microsoft, this utility "requires a Full MAPI Client in order to function, such as: Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging, Microsoft Exchange Server Client or Outlook [the full version, not Express].")

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TASKBAR'S AUTO-HIDE OPTION

Do you find that no matter where you place your Taskbar (on any side of the screen), it's in the way? If desktop real estate is at a premium, keep this bar out of sight entirely until you need it.

Select Start, Settings, Taskbar & Start Menu. Right-click a blank area of the Taskbar and select Properties. On the Taskbar Options tab, select Auto-hide, then click OK. Click anywhere on your desktop and watch as the Taskbar shrinks from view. If and when you need the Taskbar, hold your mouse pointer over the side of the screen where it's hiding (you'll be able to see its edge), and the Taskbar rises to the occasion.

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Use this Registry setting to hide the Virtual Memory button on the Performance tab under Control Panel > System.  By hiding this button, you can prevent users from changing or disabling the machine's Virtual Memory setting, which can adversely effect the machine's performance.  To set this option, open the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Edit/create the value "NoVirtMemPage" (String Value) and set the value to "1" (without quotes) to hide the Virtual Memory button, or "0" to display the button.  The setting will take effect immediately and does not require a reboot.

** this tip is for users who are familiar with the Registry Editor **