Changing File Associations

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Explorer view in "Programs"

To get an explorer type view of the program files in the start menu, go to "start" then "run", type in "regedit" (without the quotation marks) click on "OK".  At the registry, follow this string; HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explore/Advanced. Click on the  "advanced" file, this will open up a "default" in the right pane for this file. Hold your mouse arrow in a blank area of the right pane, then right click.  Select New/String value.  "Type in "StartMenuScrollPrograms", click on enter.  Right click on the new string that you have just created and select "modify".  Now type the word "false" (with out the quotation marks) into the value text box and click "OK".  Restart your computer and check out your work.

Warning: Be sure to back up your registry before making any changes.

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Checking your system resources

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Backing up files in Windows 98

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Finding hidden files

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Locating files using the advanced method

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Stop items from running at boot-up in Windows 98

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Creating an Emergency Startup Disk

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Emergency Recovery Utility

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Booting options for Windows 95

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Arranging Folders

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Stop Items from running in Windows 95

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Empty the Documents in the Start Menu

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Backing up your Registry

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Performing a successful ScanDisk

1. Prior to using the "ScanDisk" feature, you must turn off the other programs running in the back ground.  This is done by using "ctrl" "atl" "delete" keys on your keyboard.  Hit "ctrl" "alt" "delete" at the same time and you will see a window pop up titled "close programs".  In here you will need to "end task" on every-thing except "systray" and "explorer". End task by clicking on the item to be removed (highlighting the item), then click on "end task".  
2. You will need to get back to the "close programs" window to repeat the steps for as many programs you need to close. 
3. Turn off your screen saver and remove your background.  This can be done simply by right clicking once on your desk top (this is the area where all of your icons are located).  You will see a window pop up.  Click on "properties" click on the "background" tab (windows defaults at the background). Using the scroll bar, scroll up to the top and click on "none", then click on "apply".  Perform the same step for turning your screen saver off.  
4. While turning off the screen saver, click the Settings button in the Energy Saving Features section and make sure System Standby, Turn Off Monitor, and Turn Off Hard Disks are all set to "Never".
5. In Windows 98 use the Disk Cleanup tool to rid your system of some unwanted waste.  Here's how to use it:  Go to Start> Programs> Accessories> System tools> Disk Cleanup. A resulting window will pop up and it will want to know what drive you want to cleanup. Choose C:, it should default at your C: drive. Click OK. In this next window, you will see some entries that can be cleaned. Place a check next to; Temporary Internet Files, Downloaded Program Files, Recycle Bin and Temporary Files. Click OK.
6. If you are running Windows 95, just empty your recycle bin.  
7. Start the ScanDisk

Be sure NOT to shut your computer down as you will re-start all of the programs you have turned off.  Once completed, you can go back and put your screen saver and background back to where you had it.  You should perform a disk defragment after performing a ScanDisk.

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Performing a successful disk defragmentation

NOTE: If you are having trouble getting the defrag to complete even after following the instructions above, ensure that your anti-virus software is turned off and that anti-virus protection is disabled in your BIOS.  See "Entering BIOS".

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Booting options for Windows 98

Method 1

1. Restart your computer.
2. While your computer restarts, press and hold the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.
   
   NOTE: If you are using the EZDrive tool, press F8 instead of CTRL.
3. Select the Safe Mode menu option from the Startup menu, and then press ENTER.

Method 2

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.
2. On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility.
3. Click Advanced, and then click to select the Enable Startup Menu check box.
4. Click OK, click OK, and then restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.
5. Select the Safe Mode menu option from the Startup menu, and then press ENTER.

Method 3

1. Insert a non-bootable floppy disk in the floppy disk drive, and then restart your computer.
2. When you receive the "Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and strike any key when ready" error message, remove the floppy disk from the floppy disk drive.
3. Press F8, and then press F8. When you do this, the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.
4. Select the Safe Mode menu option from the Startup menu, and then press ENTER.

Method 4

1. Restart your computer in MS-DOS Mode.
2. From a command prompt type "win /d:m" without the quotation marks.

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Performing a clean boot in Windows 98

1. Go to "Start", then "Run", then type in "MSCONFIG" (without the quotes).  
2. In the Configuration Utility, click in "selective startup", then click on the "Startup" tab.  
3. In here, you will find all of the programs that are currently running in Windows.  You can stop these from running at bootup by simply un-checking the box adjacent to the program name.  DO NOT uncheck "SCANREGISTRY" or "SYSTEMTRAY" as you need them to run Windows. 
4. After you have unchecked the selected boxes, click on "Apply", then you will be prompted to save your changes. 
5. Choose "Yes" and restart your computer.  

This is a GREAT method for increasing the performance of your computer!

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Windows 95 Keyboard Shortcuts

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 Using ScanReg

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Windows 98 Disk Cleanup

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you find and delete unnecessary files. If you have any doubts about deleting a category, such as "Temporary Internet Files", choose the "View Files" button to see a description of the files marked for deletion. You can manually select only those you want to delete.

Before you delete files with Disk Cleanup, make sure you know what you're deleting. The first two items you'll find in the "Files to remove" list are "Temporary Internet Files" and "Downloaded Program Files", both of which refer to directories that Internet Explorer uses for files it downloads to your hard disk.

The "Files to remove" list shows how much disk space you will reclaim by deleting each item. If you will gain only a few megabytes by selecting these two choices, you may want to uncheck the boxes.
Next on the "Files to remove list" is "Recycle Bin" checking it will empty it. The "Temporary files" option lets you delete files that various programs have put on your disk. These are almost always safe to delete. In the "More Options" tab, you will find 2 programs 1) Windows components and 2) Installed programs. By clicking on the "clean up" button under either program, this will remove components or installed programs that are not being used.

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Stabilize Windows

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Installing Microsoft Fax

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Look at the "Hardware Compatibility" list at "http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/" to see if your hardware will work with Windows 98. If you already have Windows 98, this would also be a great site to determine the best hardware to upgrade in your system.
From the main screen, type the brand name in the "Search for the following:" box, then choose the type of hardware from the "In the following types:" box. The result will tell you about all products in that category by that company, and tell you which Microsoft operating system(s) the products will work under.

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After you have installed new software (as an example) and Windows asks you to reboot your computer for the new settings to take affect, there is no need to reboot the machine, but rather to restart Windows.
Hold down the "Shift" key while pressing "OK" in the Shutdown dialog.

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A good way to increase your system performance is to turn off the Window animation. The animation mostly affects the way your window's minimize and maximize, other features are affected as well. With animation turned off, your windows will not shrink and grow when maximized and minimized, but will snap instantly into position. To turn off the animation carefully follow the instructions below.

Windows 95:

IMPORTANT:  See "Backing up your registry" (above) before continuing.

To access the registry editor, go to "Start", "Run", and type "regedit" (without the quotes). Click "OK" Navigate the following:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowsMetrics. Right click on "WindowsMetrics" in the left pane, select "New" and slide your mouse over to ""String Value". Type "MinAnimate" (without the quotes) to name a new string value. Hit enter on your keyboard. In the right pane, right click "MinAnimate" and select "Modify". In the edit string dialog box that is now created, type "0" (without the quotes). Click "OK". Close out of the registry editor and reboot.

If you would like to change back to having Window Animation, navigate back to "MinAnimate", right click on "MinAnimate" and choose "Delete". Close out of the registry editor and reboot.

Windows 98:

Right click an empty place on your desktop, choose "Properties", click on the "Effects" tab, now uncheck the box that says, "animate Windows, menus and lists". Click on "Apply", click on "OK".  The next time you reboot you will notice the difference.

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Have you ever wanted to hide documents from those nosey co-workers or any of those nosey family members? You can select the ones that you want to delete and keep others as a shortcut. Here's how:  Go to Start > Find,  type "recent" (without the quotes). Make sure that the "Look in" text box has your hard drive listed in there. Hit enter on your keyboard. When it finds the "Recent" folder, double click it to open it, and delete only the files you want to hide.

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While word processing programs have their own procedures for accessing special characters, in Windows 98 you can retrieve characters for use in any program by using the Character Map utility. This little program 
allows you to copy characters to the clipboard for insertion into any document. Access the Character Map by going to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Character Map. You can browse the various 
fonts using the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box. When you find a character you want to copy, select it with the mouse, then click the Select button and the Copy button to copy it to the clipboard. (You can even select a sequence of characters, if you like, before you click Copy.) Then click Close, return to the program you were working in previously, and press Ctrl-V to paste the character (or sequence of characters) into your work. 

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Go to Start> Run, type in; sysedit  Check in "System.ini" and look for "vcache".  If it is not there, add the lines below. If it is there, edit it so it looks like the example below:

[vcache]
MinFileCache=4096
MaxFileCache=4096

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Control what programs load when the operating system loads. Disable the programs that aren't necessary and improve your system resources lowering your chances of computer crashes. Startup Cop runs under Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0.  If you are experiencing slow boots or low system resources, then try this helpful little utility. It works much like "MSCONFIG" (Microsoft Configuration Utility). It disables startup programs (not remove) so that they will not load at boot-up. This is more handy to the Windows 95 user that does not have the benefit of  Windows 98's "MSCONFIG". You can shut every-thing off except "Explorer", "System Tray" and "Scan Registry".

V1.01 | 529kb  | Freeware
Supplied by PC Magazine

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If your Modem dials to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) slowly, you can speed up the dialing with a simple string command. Here's how:

Go to Start> Settings> Control Panel> Modems.  Select the Modem by clicking once on it to highlight.  Select Properties> Connection> Advanced.  In the "Extra Settings" text box type: S11=35   The next time your ISP is dialed, it will dial much faster.

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You are able to Magnify any portion of your screen in the Accessibilities option.  Here's how:

Go to Start> Programs> Accessories> Accessibility> Magnifier.  If you don't have an Accessibility menu, you'll need to install the Accessibility tools with Control Panel's Add/Remove feature.

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If you have a malfunctioning sound card, modem, gamepad, or other hardware, try this technique to get your hardware working again. Go to Start> Settings> Control Panel> System. In Device Manager, remove the device that is not working properly. Now, restart your computer. After a few moments, Windows Plug and Play capabilities will identify your out-of-order device and reactivate it, making it function normally again.

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Have you ever wondered just how fast your network connection is? Not just how fast the modem is connected at, but how much data you can actually get? Does your internet connection sometimes seem slower than normal? Find out how fast your Internet connection is in realtime. Works with modems, DSL, local networks - anything that uses TCP/IP Graphs current, average, and maximum incoming and outgoing data as well as CPU performance and a variety of other useful statistics. NetStat Live can also track your total bandwidth usage for the month, making it a great way to keep tabs on your network utilization.

Windows 95/98, Win NT 4.0
v2.11 257K 32-bit version
Publisher - AnalogX

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If you would like to invoke your screen saver on the fly, here's how:

Open an Explorer window and locate your favorite screen saver (*.scr) in the Windows\System folder. Now create a shortcut to it: Right-click and drag the *.scr file onto the desktop or Start menu (or anywhere else you want it). Release the mouse button and select Create Shortcut(s) Here. The next time you step away from your desk, double-click the shortcut. The screen saver kicks in immediately. 

Or, if you want to use a keyboard shortcut, here's how:

Set up hot key access to the shortcut you just created, and you can set it in motion from the keyboard. 
Right-click the screen saver shortcut, select Properties, and in the resulting dialog box, click the Shortcut tab. Click once in the text box next to Shortcut Key to place the cursor there, and then type the 
letter you would like to use in combination with Ctrl-Alt to invoke the screen saver. Click OK. From anywhere on your system, press the hot key combo, and there's your screen saver. 

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When you are typing away and you hit the "Caps Lock" key by mistake. It may take a few lines before you look up and realize this error. Back spacing to correct this is a real time waster. In Microsoft's Accessibility options you can enable sounds that will let you know when you have activated or deactivate "Caps Lock", "Scroll Lock" and "Numeric Lock". Here's how:

Go to Start>  Settings> Control Panel and open Accessibility Options. Check the Use Toggle Keys box. Now you will always know when you have activated these keys.

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You can set a screen saver password to keep people out of your computer while your away.  This is not the most secure way to protect your files, but it keeps a novice computer user out. When set up, it will lock the computer into Screen Saver mode and will not release until the password is accepted. All you have to do is reboot the computer to gain access to Windows if the password is unknown. To use a password with your Screen Saver, right-click on the desktop and select Properties. Click the Screen Saver tab and then check the Password Protected box. Choose the Change button to select your password, then click OK twice. 

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To restart your computer using a one step method, try this:  

1. Open Notepad and type;  @exit      

2. Save "@exit" as Restart.bat and save it to your hard drives root directory (C:\)

3. Create a shortcut to this file on your desktop. Right click your "Restart" file and choose Send To, then select Desktop (create shortcut).

4. Right click your shortcut and choose Properties.

5. Click the Program tab and select the option "close on exit".

6. Select the Advanced tab and choose "MS-Dos Mode" and deselect "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode".

7. Click OK, then OK once again.

8. If you would like to choose a new Icon for your shortcut, refer back to step 6, there is a "Change Icon" tab next to the "Advanced" tab.  Choose the Change Icon tab and select your new Icon.  Apply the change.

9. Rename your Icon by right clicking it and select rename.  Type whatever you would like then press Enter.

Another way to do this is:

Right-click the desktop, click New, and 
then click Shortcut. Click the Browse button, navigate to C:\Windows\Rundll.exe and then click Open. Add one space to the resulting command line, and then type user.exe,ExitWindowsExec
Click Next, then give your shortcut a name. Click Finish. Now, when you double-click your Restart icon, Windows will restart.

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If you want to remove some clutter from the Start menu, the Favorites folder is a good place to start. Here's how to remove it:

1. Launch RegEdit (select Run from the Start menu, type RegEdit in the text box, and press Enter). 

2. Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, select Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer. 

3. Select Edit/New/DWORD value. 

4. Change the default name to NoFavoritesMenu.

5. Press Enter and change the contents of the Value Data to 1. 

6. Save your changes as you quit RegEdit and restart Windows.

The Favorites menu will still be available in Explorer, but will not be in your Start menu.
Warning: Be sure to back up your registry before making any changes as a precaution.

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When you need to open up your System Properties,  here is a quick way to open it:

Hold down the ALT button on your keyboard and double-click on the "My Computer" icon.  How quick is that! :-)

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Microsoft Extras are on the Windows 95 CD but are not on the Floppies.  If you don't have your Windows 95 CD, no problem.  Microsoft has made the Extras available for download online. A few examples of Extras are:

• Character Map

• Mouse Pointer

• Online User's Guide

• Windows 95 tour

• System Monitor

To download Extras, just follow the link below:

• http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q135/3/15.asp

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You can minimize all of your applications quickly by right-clicking on your Taskbar and selecting "Minimize All Windows".  Return all applications by right-clicking your Taskbar and select "Undo Minimize All". 

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The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware. In this Web demo all of your PC profile information is kept in privacy on your PC and is not sent to a web server. 

Windows 95/98/NT/2000
Freeware
541.7K

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If you do a lot of printing, you can create a shortcut to your printer where you will be able drag and drop files right onto the shortcut for instant printing.  Here's how:

Go to Start> Settings> Control Panel.  Double-click on "Printers", right-click on your printer icon and choose "Create Shortcut".  The resulting prompt will ask you if you want to create a shortcut on your desktop, choose "Yes". 

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In Windows 9x, most CD´s begin to play as soon as you insert them into your CD-ROM drive. If you find this auto feature annoying, you can easily disable it.

For a temporary deactivation, hold down the Shift key while inserting the disk. You will need to continue holding down the key until the disk activity stops. Repeat this method for each disk that you insert.

To permanently disable this feature, go to your Control Panel, double-click the System icon, then click on the Device Manager tab. Find your CD-ROM drive in the list and go to the properties page. Click on the Settings tab and there you will see an Auto Insert Notification box with a checkmark next to it. Simply uncheck the checkmark and restart your computer. From now on, you can be in control of starting your CD´s.

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If you would like to keep tabs on the maintenance that you have performed on your hard disk (scan disk, defrag and check for errors). Here's how:

Double-click "My Computer", right-click on your C: drive icon, select Properties, and click the Tools tab. You can see the status of these three operations, and you can then perform any one of them just by clicking the corresponding button. 

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If you want to keep the Startup programs from loading; when Windows starts to load, hold down the "Ctrl" key.

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If you would like to see the memory that your system is using; Go to Start>> Programs>> MS-DOS Prompt, type: mem  [Enter]

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If you would like to have your computer connect to the Internet automatically when you boot up, here's how:

1. Double-click on "My Computer" at your desktop. 

2. Double-click the Dial-up Networking icon. 

3. Click the program that you normally use to connect to the Internet and drag it to the desktop. 

4. Right-click on the program you sent to your desktop and choose "Cut".

5. Open up your Startup Menu by right-clicking your start button, choose Open. Double-click "Programs", then double-click the "Startup" file.

6. Hit "Ctrl" and "V" (paste) on your keyboard to insert the program here.

7. Reboot your computer. 

You should now be able to connect to the internet without having the connection prompt.  If the connection prompt still appears, try the following:

• Type your password in the connection prompt box, and check the box below that says, "Save password." 

Note: You must now connect to the Internet by clicking Connect. Once connected, your password will be saved. 

• Once it has completed verification, log off and go back to Dial-Up Networking in "My Computer" and single-click the icon that you previously dragged to the desktop. Click on "Connections" from the toolbar at the top of the window, then "Settings from the resulting window. Now uncheck the "Prompt for information before dialing" box. Reboot your computer.

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CD Ejector Pro is a cute little utility from Elodea Software that allows you to open and close your CD Tray by the click of your mouse.  If your CPU (Central Processing Unit) is tucked under your desk and is a little tuff to crouch down to eject a CD, then this is the utility for you.  This is a free program and all they ask is for you to register and receive a password for uninterrupted use.  The registration process is easy and the download is fast.

Windows 95/98 Freeware 826K
Version 1.04

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