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Windows 9x Tips & Tricks
THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR DESSERT
Did you know that there are some pies hidden within Windows? They don't come with whipped cream; they're more functional than they are flavorful. Open up 'My Computer' and select all your drives (hard, floppy, CD, mapped, etc.). Now, right-click on one of them and select 'Properties' from the menu. Up pops a multi-tabbed dialog with 3D pie charts (showing disk space usage) and other drive details. It's not an end-all be-all information provider, but for a quick-and-dirty solution, it works well. This tip sure takes the cake!Copy This Tip
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If you frequently send e-mail to the same person you can create a shortcut right on your desktop.
Just follow these steps:
- Right click on an empty space on the desktop.
- Highlight "New" and click on "Shortcut"
- In the "Command Line" type: mailto:The E-Mail Address
[i.e., mailto:david@yourdomain.com]
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Say you send out a regular e-mail to someone as a bulletin or a notice with the same Subject line each time. You can add this information automatically by adding the Subject parameter after the address, like below.mailto:mailbox@yourdomain.domain?subject=put_your_subject_here
(i.e., mailto:david@yourdomain.com?subject=Weekly_Bulletin)To add this extra parameter, right-click the shortcut, and select the Program tab. Add the extra text, and click OK.
Just double-click the shortcut on your desktop, and you'll have a preaddressed mail form to be filled in and sent with a prepared Subject line.
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Alter the behavior of the mouse in the command prompt window to more closely mimic its Windows behavior. Open a command prompt window and click the MS-DOS icon (the Control menu) at the top left of the window. Select Properties from the menu and select the Misc tab. From the Mouse section, select the QuickEdit option and click Apply.You will now be able to select text from the command prompt window simply by selecting and dragging with the mouse without having to click the Mark icon first.
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Right click on the Desktop in an empty space. Hightlight "New" and click on "Shortcut."
Type in any of the following to make a new desktop shortcut:
- Themes -- Command Line: C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE themes.cpl
- Device Manager -- Command Line: C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE Sysdm.cpl, System,1
- Display -- Command Line: C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE Desk.cpl, Display,3
- CONTROL PANEL -- Command Line: C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Control Panel.{21ec2020-3aea-1069-a2dd-08002b30309d}
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Right click on the Desktop in an empty space. Hightlight "New" and click on "Shortcut."
Type in either of the following to make a new desktop shortcut:
- SHUTDOWN -- Command Line: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows
- RESTART -- Command Line: C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindowsexec
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Keep the number of items you place on the toolbars low. If you like this method's functionality of launching files and navigating between them, then bear in mind these two simple pointers to keep yourself on top of your taskbar:
- The taskbar can be moved to each side of the screen by dragging it there from a free space on the bar. As you move to a side of the screen, the bar will snap into position. It can also be widened by dragging the inside edge of the bar toward the center of the screen.
- If you widen the taskbar as described above, you'll reduce the portion of the screen available to open applications. In this case, you may wish to turn on the Taskbar Auto Hide feature by checking the Auto Hide check box on the General tab of Start | Settings | Taskbar & Start Menu.
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Most of us are using e-mail clients which have the ability to preview messages before they're opened. This feature can save time and energy. However, this routine may byte you in the ASCII one day. Text messages typically aren't a problem, but it's a different story when HTML e-mail and/or attachments enter the scene. There are scripts which will execute automatically upon opening a Web page (or mail message, as the case may be). For this reason, you might think of turning "auto-preview" OFF. Or, peruse your mail account first with a POP3 checker or command-line mail client; delete ALL suspicious messages before downloading them. Again, let this be a warning to you.
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Windows 98 accesses your swap file (virtual memory) before it runs out of RAM (physical memory) -- which, from a user's point of view, is completely crazy. Virtual memory will always operate slower than physical memory, so why does Windows 98 insist on using both? Who knows. According to article Q223294 in the Microsoft knowledge base, this new method is more efficient. If you have more than 64 megabytes of RAM and you're running Windows 98, give this a try. In your SYSTEM.INI file, under the [386Enh] section, enter: "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" (without the quotes). Reboot, and you'll find your system more responsive.
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If you've got your Windows login box enabled, you can create different user profiles. This way, Dad's Desktop can be different from Mom's. But, even if you're the only one using your PC, several profiles may prove beneficial. You could set up logins for "Programming," "Graphics," or "Gaming." Each Desktop could be laid out with a different set of files, folders, and shortcuts. The possibilities are (obviously) endless. It's kinda like a poor man's virtual Desktop service.
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When you add a site to your Favorites folder, the shortcut is set to the document's original title. You can rename that! Just as you can do in IE5's Start Menu, right-click on a Favorite and select 'Rename.' Give it a memorable name, because you can use it on the Address line for easy no-click access to the URL. So, rename 'The most and best MP3 songs in the whole great big universe' to 'MP3 Site' (something you're more likely to remember). If you have AutoComplete turned on, when you start typing 'MP3,' a list will unfold; you can use your cursor key to select the appropriate Favorite.
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Some users choose to read mail and Web pages offline. However, not everyone turns off auto dialing functionality. If you're using IE5, open 'Tools,' 'Internet Options,' then go to the 'Connections' tab. Now, tell it to 'Never dial a connection.' You're not done yet -- open up My Computer and get to the Dial-Up Networking folder. Select 'Settings' from the 'Connections' menu; in that dialog box, select 'Don't prompt to use Dial-Up Networking.' If all else fails, change your e-mail account settings to 'LAN' instead of dial-up within your default mail application.
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(Internet Explorer ONLY) Just type in the name of a site, like "glitch-busters." Then press the Ctrl and Enter keys. The "http://www" at the beginning and ".com" at the end of the text you put in your browser address bar will be added for you. Try it.
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Win9x troubles? There's a command line option that'll get you back on your feet in no time. Boot up your PC with a Windows 98 boot disk, pop in your Windows 98 CD, and once you're at the command prompt, type your CD-ROM drive letter immediately followed by a colon. So, if your CD was set to "D" -- you'd enter D: and then hit ENTER. At this point, you'll type the following command: SETUP /Pf (exactly as shown). This switch will restore all of Windows' critical files to their "factory state," and in 90% of situations doing this will fix whatever problems you were having in Windows 98. But wait, there's more! Setup followed by the /nd switch tells windows to reinstall and not pay attention to any windows file versions. So, what happens is win98 reinstalls and forces all windows files to be overwritten in the process, but it retains the Registry and all installed program information. At the very worst, some Microsoft programs may need to be reinstalled, but all personal data is kept.
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Would you like to drive a co-worker or family member crazy? Open a program like Solitaire or the Control Panel. Minimize all other programs and adjust the card game or Control Panel so that it covers most of the desktop. Then hit the Print Screen key on the keyboard.Close that program and open up the Windows Paint program (found in Start/Programs/Accessories/Paint). Go to the Edit menu and choose Paste. That will paste the screen shot of the entire desktop into the paint program.
Save it as a bitmap and close Paint. Next, right-click a blank area of the desktop and choose Properties. Click the Background tab and click the Browse button, then find and set the image you made as the background.
The next person using the computer will think there is a Solitaire game or the Control Panel open, but because it's really a background image that looks just like the desktop, it won't close when they try to close it, and they won't be able to move it or minimize it either. Stand back watching and try not to laugh.
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Do you often need to print things from your inbox? A lot of times when you print an email one line of text will go on a second page. What a waste of perfectly good paper.Here's my work-around: If you change the text size you view a web page with in Internet Explorer, it changes the size of the text you print with in Outlook Express without affecting the font size in the rest of your system. When you're done printing it's easy to set the text size larger in IE to surf again.
To change the text size:
- Click View on menu.
- Point to Text Size.
- Choose a smaller size.
It's even easier if you have mouse with a center wheel, just hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and roll the wheel. The text on the web page will get larger or smaller, depending on which way you roll the wheel.
There should still be a way to set the type size for printing, but since there isn't, try this work-around.
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The Recycle Bin can be quite handy if you accidently delete a file and want to get it back. But sometimes when you delete files you know you'll never need them again. Why let them take up space on your hard drive in the Recycle Bin or have to go to the Recycle Bin to delete them a second time?If you hold down the Shift Key when you right click a file and select Delete, it bypasses the Recycle Bin. Warning - it would take an expert to get back a file, so be sure you want it to be gone forever.
MENUDISCLAIMER: All Tips & Tricks have been thoroughly tested to perform as indicated. Glitch Busters By Bill Wiegert offers the Tips & Tricks for use at your own risk and will accept no responsibility for consequences arising from the use of the Tips & Tricks. Contact a computer professional if you need assistance.
