Top

Windows 9x

DOS

Web Development

Communications

Word

Easter Eggs

Bottom

Home Page

Previous

The following Tips and Techniques are from my experience over the last 30 years with data processing and computers.  This started on the IBM 1401's with punch cards and continued on through today to large scale machines such as the IBM AS400 down to Microsoft based standalone PC's and full-scale networks.

I don't guarantee that they will all work or work for you.  I take no responsibility for what happens to your system if you use any of the techniques I include.  I have either discovered them myself through trial and error or picked them up in some article I read or book I used or found them while browsing on the web.  I apologize if any of this material came from a source that did not want it copied.  I really don't remember all of my sources, I just use these things on a day-to-day basis.

I will try to keep them in some kind of order.   If you find something that does not work, please e-mail me to let met know about it.  If you find something that works better, let me know so I can share it, too.   If you have something that you think others would benefit from, share that also.

Windows 9x

New Safe Mode boot command

I usually press F8 and press F8 and press F8 until the Startup Menu screen pops up and I have the option of choosing Safe Mode. With Win95 it was easy, you just pressed F8 as soon as your saw the "Starting Windows" prompt. That does not happen in Win98 so the ":keep hitting approach" seemed to be the only way to go. But I was wrong, WIn98 has even made it easier. Hold down the CTRL key at the first sign of any text on the screen during boot and the Startup Menu will appear.  (3-12-2002) 

Disable Transition Effects  

When you open a menu, list box, or other screen element, in Win98, Win98SE or WinMe the object may open with a smooth, "animated" effect. This option may affect the speed of the response that you expect from your computer. To disable this option, use the following steps: Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties. Click on the Effects Tab. Clear the "Use transition effects for menus and tooltips" or "Animate windows, menus and lists" check box. Click OK. (7-17-2001)

Browser Tip 

Have you ever been surfing the web and after many clicks wondered where you came from? If you use Internet Explorer for your browser like I do, try out this quick tip.  Next time you are in one page and are about to click on a link to bring up another, hold the shift key down when you click the link.  The new page will open in a new window.  Then when you exit that screen you still have the original.  Right-clicking on the link in either IE or Netscape will give you an Open in New Window option as well.  (3-31-2001)

IE Quick Close

If you use Internet Explorer version 4 or better, you can close the browser window quickly by holding down the control key and taping the letter W.  In short form that is Ctrl+W.  Try it!  Since the MyComputer window is really an Explorer window, this works there as well. (3-20-2001)

Show Desktop

If you have a Windows 95 keyboard, you know about the Windows Key. It is the one with a Windows flag on it on either side of the space bar. You also know that with Windows 98 or better you have a tool on the desktop taskbar that, if you click it once, all windows on the desktop are minimized. Click it again and all windows are brought back to their last state.  What you may not know is that by holding down the Windows Key and then tapping the letter D, you get the same results! Try it... (3-14-2001)

Keep the Start Menu Open 

If you need to start several applications from the start menu in Win98, hold down the shift key while clicking on them. (1-26-2001)

Defrag in Win98 

When you run the Disk Defragmenter be sure to click on the Settings button and make sure that the option labeled "Rearrange program files so my programs start faster" is selected. This will improve your access times as you open applications. (1-26-2001)

Virtual Memory Button 

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 people from changing or disabling your machine's Virtual Memory setting, which can adversely effect its performance. Remember that editing the registry incorrectly can disable your machine.  

If you are not familiar with using REGEDIT, DO NOT ATTEMPT IT!.  To set this option, press Win+R, type REGEDIT and press ENTER.  This opens the Registry Editor.  Drill down and to:

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

Edit | New | String Value and type "NoVirtMemPage" (String Value without the quotes) 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 it doesn't require a reboot.  (12-15-2000)

Temporary Files 

What a misnomer!  In Windows 9x temporary does not always mean temporary.  What it does mean is that programs you run do place files that they use in the folder C:\Windows\Temp.  When the program closes correctly, the files are removed.  But what if the program was not closed correctly or what if the programmer forgot to add the code to remove them?  Yep, they end up permanently in your temporary folder.  Now is that a big deal?  Yes it is.  Files take up valuable real estate on your hard disk drive.  

What do I do?  Choose Start | Run, type c:\windows\temp and click on OK.  You should be in Explorer looking at the Temp folder contents.  Unless you have active jobs running that are using the area, you should be able to delete all the files and folders.

You could also add this line to your Autoexec.bat file so they get dumped every time you start your system:  (11-10-2000)
                  DEL C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\*.* 

Getting to the Desired Folder in DOS

For whatever reason, you want to get to a particular folder in a DOS window.  I used to open a DOS window by choosing Start | Programs | MS-DOS.  That opens a DOS window positioning you to C:\Windows.  Then I went to the Run Line method -- Press the Windows key and then the letter R.  Type Command and press Enter.  That also opens a DOS window but positions you to C:\Windows\Desktop instead.  The easiest way I have found to get right to the folder you want is to open Explorer by pressing Win+E and drilling down to the folder you want.  Click to open it.  NOw do the Win+R, type command and press Enter.  You should be in a DOS windows positioned to the same folder.  (11-10-2000) 

Restarting Windows 

How many times have you had to restart Windows 9x?  It is pretty simple.  You go to Start | Shutdown | Restart click OK and wait and wait and wait. Your machine does a full shutdown, goes through that POST thing the hardware does and then loads Windows. There is a faster way.  Before you click OK, hold the shift key down and keep it down while you click OK.  Windows restarts without shutting the hardware down first!  Try it.  (11-7-2000)

Stop Animated Banners 

Most Web pages today include a banner ad somewhere. Most are animated and very distracting. Stop the distraction. Press [Esc] and the page's animated GIFs stop. (10-22-2000)

Control Browsing

Have you ever

Monitor Drivers

OK, you bought a new monitor.  It is larger and has much better resolution than that older one that you have been passing on from computer to computer.  You know the one.  You go it with your first 386 computer.  Then you upgraded to that faster 486 machine and kept the same one.  Now you have a brand new PIII-500 processor and are still using that same 15" monitor.  But the graphics were not as good on yours as on your friends.  Easy solution -- part with a few dollars and get a brand new, larger monitor.  

However, the new one does not seem to be working any better than the old one.  It is just larger.  Did you install the correct driver for the new monitor?  What driver?  It did not come with a disk or a CD with drivers on it!  You plugged it in and turned the system on.  Sure, a message appeared that recognized the monitor and even said what kind it was.  You guessed that Windows 9x knew what it was doing and everything was OK.

When Windows 9x finds a new PNP device, it looks for the correct drivers for it in its own long list of possible drivers.  But that list does not contain every possible driver.  Windows 9x was created before a lot of new equipment was brought to market.  Here is what to do. Right-click on the desktop and choose properties. Click on the Settings tab. Click on the Advanced button. Click on the Monitor tab.  Now check to be sure that the monitor it lists is the make and model of the one you are using.  If not, click on the Change button and update the device driver.  If your monitor is not listed, you must go to the Internet to the monitor manufacturer Web site and download the correct driver to use.  If you don't, you will not receive maximum quality and performance from the monitor.  You may even find it shutting down or doing strange things after being on for a while.  (9-19-2000)

Opening a Web Page

That's easy you say.  I just open my browser of choice and type the address in the address bar.  That is true, but there are a couple of alternatives.  The first is from the Run dialogue box.  Hold the Windows key down and press R to bring it up.  You can also click on Start | Run if you can't get your fingers on the keyboard.  Type the URL in the text box and press Enter.   Boy, was that simple! 

You can also add an address bar right onto your desktop.  Right-click on the task bar and click on Toolbars | Address.  An address bar now appears on your task bar.  Just type your URL into it and press Enter.  Simple.

OK, you don't want to clutter up your taskbar with the address bar.  Grab the Address bar's sizing handle (vertical bar on it's left side) and drag it to the top of your screen.  Now right-click on it and choose Always on top.  Right-click again and choose Auto hide.  Now when you move your mouse pointer to the top of the screen the Address bar appears and you can type your URL, press Enter and open up to the page ob the Web!  (9-15-2000)

Quick Shutdown in Win95

Sure we all know how to click on Start | Shut down | shut down and then wait for the system to turn off for us.  How about a shortcut to make that all happen right from one double-click on the desktop?  Right-click on the desktop and choose New | Shortcut.  Type the following in the command line text box:

c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows 

Click Next and give the shortcut a name like "Shutdown NOW!" and press Finish.  And that's it.  Next time you want to shut down, double-click that icon and it happens!   (9-15-2000)

How to Restore a Win95 Registry Backup

. Create a batch file called RESTREG.BAT in the root directory of drive C: and include the lines that follow these steps.
. Restart the Computer in MS-DOS mode.
. Type RESTREG and press the ENTER key
. As the screen with say, when it is done, restart your computer.  (5-20-1999)

@ECHO OFF
CLS
CD\WINDOWS
ATTRIB -H -R -S SYSTEM.*
COPY SYSTEM.DAT SYSTEM.BAK
COPY SYSTEM.DA0 SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB -H -R -S USER.*
COPY USER.DAT USER.BAK
COPY USER.DA0 USER.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S SYSTEM.*
ATTRIB +H +R +S USER.*
ECHO THE REGISTRY FILES HAVE BEEN RESTORED. PRESS RESET TO RESTART YOUR COMPUTER.
PAUSE

• Right click on My Computer
• Click on Properties
• Click on General
• Look for the product code under the System heading
  4.00.950 Windows 95
  4.00.950A Windows 95 + Service Pack or OEM Service Release 1
  4.00.950B OEM Service Release 2 or OEM Service Release 2.1 (note: you may tell that you are running OSR 2.1by checking for version 4.03.1212 of the Ntkern.vxd file in the Windows\System\Vmm32 folder)  (5/7/99) 

Grayed out is another one that means the option can be seen, but just barely. The black in the letters that should be making up the words are missing. This is used on the tool bar and on the drop down menus to show us all the options even when some are not available because of what we happen to be doing at that moment. (5-27-1999)

[Top ]

Notepad is a great little program for quick notes or journalizing. It will also allow you to add the date and time by simply pressing F5. By the way this is the one Y2K problem in Windows 98. Download the fix for the MS web site to fix it. Without the fix the date is MMDDYY. The fix makes it MMDDCCYY. If you want the date and time to automatically display on daily journal every time .LOG on the first line way over to the left margin. After you Save and close the document. Every time you open this document, Notepad will append the current time and date to the end of the document, as specified by your computer's clock. (5-14-1999)

ECHO OFF
CLS
COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT D:\SAVESYS
COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.DOS D:\SAVESYS
COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS D:\SAVESYS
COPY C:\CONFIG.DOS D:\SAVESYS
COPY C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.INI D:\SAVESYS
COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI D:\SAVESYS
COPY C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI D:\SAVESYS
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
COPY C:\MSDOS.SYS D:\SAVESYS
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT D:\SAVESYS
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT D:\SAVESYS
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT

Now you can back up the files by double clicking on the SAVESYS.BAT icon on your desktop.   (5/7/99)

The magic shift key

Holding the shift key down gets you into different options on a number of screens in Windows 9x.  For instance, hold the shift key down while right clicking on a file in Windows Explorer and you have a new option called Open With.  This allows you to choose the edit program rather then letting Windows default to one or tell you it can't open that file.  Great for editing files like config.sys.   As you open windows in Explorer and they build up on your screen, one over the other, util you get to the one you need to see, the old ones remain open.  To close them all at once hold the shift key while clicking on the "big X" on the last window you opened.  They all close.  The "big X" is the Close button in the upper right hand corner of most windows. (3-30-1999)

The Windows CD

Quick Access to Explorer

Remove the Recent Files List

Useful Shortcut Keys

Here are some shortcuts that are very useful when you have one of the new 104 key keyboards -- the keyboard with the extras 3 keys between the Ctrl and the Alt keys.   We have touched on a couple of them in past notes, but they are important enough to repeat.  The one with the pointer on it is just like performing a right click on the mouse.   Pressing it brings up the pop-up menu available wherever your mouse pointer is pointing at that moment.  The other key has an image of the Windows 95 flag on it.   You get the same functionality with either the left or the right key.  Hold it down and tap the letter E and you instantly open Windows Explorer.  This is a lot easier than clicking on Start/Program and searching for the Explorer icon.  It is even easier than right clicking on MyComputer and clicking on Explorer.  Here is a list of some Windows hot keys:  (8-13-1999)