 | You can move or resize open Windows applications by
using only your keyboard. First, press Alt + Spacebar to bring up a menu. Press S, then
use the arrow keys to resize the window. Press M and move the window using the arrow keys.
Press Enter to keep the window change or Esc to return the window to its previous state. |
| The Recycle Bin lets you view items you've tossed in
the same way as an ordinary Windows folder. If you're looking for something in the Recycle
Bin, select Details from the View menu and click on the bar of your choice (Name, Original
Location, Date Deleted, Type or Size) to sort by that category. |
| You'll increase your chances of getting out of
virtually any computer problem if you follow this rule of thumb: Never install a program
unless you own it, and have the executable setup file and installation CD or installation
floppy disk handy. The same rule goes for programs you download from the Internet: Always
save the installer files. Create a folder called C:\Setup, C:\Downloads or
C:\Installersand store the setup files in subfolders named for each program and version
number. Even better, store them on a second hard drive or partition. You should also copy
the Favorite shortcut to the program's Web site to the program's folder. If there's a
program serial number or license file, store that too. If you ever have to reinstall your
applications, you'll be prepared. |
| Some Registry changes require restarting Windows
before the changes take effect. However, there's a way to reinitialize your Registry and
refresh your Desktop without fully restarting the OS. Save your work, then press Ctrl +Alt
+Del to bring up the Windows task list. Select the Explorer entry and click on End Task.
If the Shutdown screen appears, click on Cancel. After a few seconds an error message will
appear. Click on End Task, and Windows Explorer will reload with any new Registry
settings. |
| Although the Disk Defragmenter utility speeds up file
access, it doesn't defrag your swap file, which is t he file Windows uses as virtual
memory. You can get additional performance gains by disabling your swap file, defragging
your disk, then re-enabling the swap file. The new swap file will be effectively defragged
and therefore faster. To do so, right-click on My Computer and select Properties from the
Context menu. Click on the Performance tab, then the Virtual Memory button. Select the
"Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" radio button, then select
Disable Virtual Memory. Click on OK, then OK again. After defragging your disk, follow the
same procedure above, but this time select "Let Windows manage my virtual memory
setting." |
| If you're a killer keyboard commando-we're guessing
that you are-you should know the function keys that let you rip through Windows Explorer.
The F4 function key opens the Address drop-down menu and highlights it so you can quickly
use your arrow keys to navigate local or network drives, plus My Computer and Desktop
folders. |
| Some applications add themselves to the Context menu's
cascading New menu that appears when you right-click on the Desktop or within a folder.
You may find that even after you've deleted a particular application, it stays on the New
menu. If you want to remove it, launch My Computer, select Options from the View menu and
click on the File Types tab. Find the offending application on the list, select it and
click on the Remove button. Click on Yes when it asks for confirmation. |
| The F6 function key lets you quickly toggle between
Window Explorer's left and right pane and the Address box. |
| When you "add a folder" to your Start menu
by dragging and dropping it onto the Start button, you're really just adding a shortcut to
the folder. It's usually better to put the actual folder there instead of a shortcut. The
Start menu is just a special folder in the Windows folder called, unsurprisingly,
"Start Menu." If you put folders that contain your documents into this folder,
you gain three advantages. First, what you see on the Start menu is always correct; delete
a folder, for example, and it disappears from the Start menu as well, while a shortcut
would remain. Second, actual folders appear on the Start menu as cascading menu items,
whereas shortcuts to folders just open the folder on your Desktop when selected. And
finally, the Start menu is always available, even if your Desktop is packed with clutter. |
| Power users, it's time to get really familiar with
your File Types dialog. This is where you can turbo charge Windows and customize the way
it works for you. Launch My Computer, select Options from the View menu and click on the
File Types tab. Scroll down the list of file types, highlight a file that you use a lot
(an HTM file, text file or e-mail file, for example)and click on the Edit button. In the
dialog box that comes up, you can change the icon for that file type, add extensions of
the same file type, put items on the Context menu, enable QuickView and much more. |
| Here's an easy way to always open TXT files in WordPad
rather than Notepad. Click once on any TXT file, then hold down the Shift key and
right-click on the file. Choose Open With from the pop-up menu, scroll through the list of
programs and choose WordPad. Check the box labeled "Always use this program to open
this type of file" before you click on OK. |
| When you install Internet Explorer 5 over Win9x,
you'll find a new folder called Windows Update Setup Files in your root directory. This
folder is filled with setup files that take up between 10MB and 20MB of space on your hard
disk. It's a good idea to save them for a while after installing IE5 to make sure it's
running properly. That way, you won't have to download the app again if you run into
trouble and want to reinstall. After using IE5 for a while without encountering any
problems, you can delete these files to regain the disk space. |
| You can manually extract files from your Windows CD or
IE setup CAB files, which can be very useful when your PC tells you KERNEL32.DLL or
another system file has been corrupted.Win98's System File Checker (SFC.EXE in the
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder) can automatically fix some corrupted files for you. But Win95
users can also make repairs using the DOS EXTRACT.EXE tool (in the \WINDOWS\COMMANDS
folder). Type EXTRACT /? From a DOS window to view the syntax requirements and available
options for using this tool.. |
| Do you frequently open a specific folder as a DOS
directory? You can automate the process by placing a shortcut in the Windows folder.
First, create a new shortcut by right-clicking on the Desktop. In the Command line field,
type command; and in the name field, type Open <FOLDER NAME>Directory. Once the
shortcut is created, right-click on it, select Properties, click on the Program tab, and
type the path for the DOS directory you want to open in the Working field. For example,
type \Windows\Favorites to open the Favorites folder. If you'd like to see a file listing
whenever you run the shortcut, type dir /p in the Batch file field. |
| There's an easy way to add accent marks-and other
special characters-to words like resume and cafe. Open the Character Map application
(Start/Programs/Accessories in Windows 95,Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools in
Win98). If Character Map isn't installed, you can add it using Control Panel's Add/Remove
Programs applet. In the drop-down list under Font, select the font you're using in your
document. In Character Map, find the character you need, double-click it to add it to the
Characters To Copy field, then click on Copy. Return to your document, place your cursor
where you'd like the character to appear (or select a letter to replace) and press Ctrl +V
to paste the new character. |
| You can skip Character Map altogether on characters
you frequently use, and use their keyboard shortcuts instead. The Character Map applet
shows the shortcut for each character you select. The e character, for example, has a
keyboard shortcut, Alt+0233. To insert a special character this way, turn on NumLock and
hold down the Alt key while you type the shortcut number using your keyboard's number pad. |
| 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. |
| You can eliminate tedious right-clicks and menu
selections when you create a new folder by pressing Alt +FWF instead within any My
Computer, Network Neighborhood or Explorer window (press Alt +FNF for Windows 98). The
folder appears instantly, highlighted and ready for naming. |
| If you frequently run the same search query within
Win9x'sFind utility, here's how to automate it. Open the Options menu and put a check next
to Save Results. Run your search and select File/Save Search. This places a small FND file
icon on your Desktop that's automatically named for your search values. To access the same
search again-including your previous results-double-click on the FND icon. |
| 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 other 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. |
| An easy way to make a change to items you've placed in
the Start menu is to right-click on the Start button and choose Explore. A dual-pane
Explorer view will open, letting you navigate through the directory tree in the left pane
and open the contents of the folder you want in the right pane. To produce the same view
for a folder, you can either right-click on the folder and choose Explore, or hold down
the Shift key and double-click. |
| 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. |
| When you hit Ctrl +Alt +Delete, you'll see a list of
what's running on your system. Chances are, you'll discover drivers and programs running
that you don't need or want. To find out, launch the Win98 System Configuration utility by
typing MSCONFIG in the Run command line and pressing Enter. Click on the StartUp tab and
deselect the items you think you might be able to live without. Click on OK and reboot. If
you later realize you need one of the items you deselected, go back and reselect it. |
| You can also use the previous tip to hasten objects to
your own Desktop. Follow the same steps above, but point the new shortcut to your local
WINDOWS\DESKTOP directory. Then click on the Next button in the Create Shortcut Wizard
dialog box, name the shortcut Desktop and click on Finish. (Note: By default, this Send To
operation moves items; if you're using it from a different drive than the one your Desktop
is stored on, Windows 9x copies the objects.) |
| Here's an easy way to view the properties for multiple
hard drives all at once. Open My Computer and select all your hard drives by holding down
the Ctrl key and clicking on each drive. Next, right-click on any one of the drives and
choose Properties from the Context menu that appears; Windows will create a single dialog
with tabs for each drive. It also works for floppy, removable and mapped network drives. |
| Prepare for possible PC catastrophes by regularly
copying the following files to a second hard drive, removable hard disk or
diskette-especially if you frequently install and uninstall applications. From your root
directory (you may find only some of these), back up AUTOEXEC.BAT, AUTOEXEC.DOS,
CONFIG.SYS, CONFIG.DOS and MSDOS.SYS. From your Windows folder, back up
CONTROL.INI,
SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI, as well as the SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT Registry files (SYSTEM.DAT
probably won't fit on a floppy disk). |
| To expand all the subfolders of a selected drive in
Windows Explorer, press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad(this could take a while
if the directory has lots of folders in it). But watch out-there's no easy way to collapse
them again. |
| To restore the default column widths in the Details
view of any folder window and many program or applet windows, press Ctrl and the plus sign
(+) key on the numeric keypad. |
| SCSI hardware such as scanners and tape backup devices
often require you to reboot your system before using them. But sometimes you can force
Win9x to recognize such devices right after you plug them in. Right-click on My Computer
and choose Properties. Click on the Device Manager tab, make sure the Computer entry is
highlighted and click on the Refresh button. The device should appear under its
appropriate heading in Device Manager. |
| Add a folder to the Start menu that holds all the
documents you use frequently. Right-click on the Start button and choose Open. Then
right-click on the folder background, choose New/Folder and give the new folder a name,
like Hot Docs. For permanent documents in other folders, drag and drop shortcuts into the
new folder. Or just copy or create new documents right in the Hot Docs folder. Either way,
all you'll have to do is click on Start and open the Hot Docs folder to access your most
important files. |
| If your Recycle Bin prompts you with the Are You Sure?
Message whenever you put something in it-even after you've unchecked the "Display
delete confirmation dialog box" option in its Properties screen-here's a fix: Place a
shortcut to the Recycle Bin in your C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder. To send something to the
Recycle Bin without receiving the warning, just right-click on the file or folder and
choose Send To/Recycle Bin. |
| Control Panel is one of the more frequently used
folders inWindows, but it's not always easy to access. You can, however,make the Control
Panel applets available directly from the Startmenu. First, right-click on the Start
button and choose Open.Then, right-click on the background area in the Start menufolder
and choose New/Folder. Rename the folder with this string:Control
Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}(Windows 95 users can copy and paste this
filename from theTIPS.TXT file found in the Windows folder.) Press Enter. Thiswill place
Control Panel directly on the Start menu, with theapplets appearing on a cascading menu
that opens when you movethe cursor over Control Panel. For frequently used Control
Panelapplets, make shortcuts to the applets and add them to the Startmenu or the desktop. |
| Before you start deleting all those font files that
makeyour system boot slowly, make sure that Windows doesn'tneed them. For example, you
should not delete the followingfonts: Arial, Courier, Marlett, Modern, MS Sans Serif,MS
Serif (or any font with a name beginning with "MS"),Small Fonts, Symbol and
Times New Roman. Also, don't deleteany fonts that start with 8514 or VGA.You may also have
some hidden fonts that some applicationinstalled and needs, so you don't want to delete
them either.To identify hidden fonts, open a DOS window and type CD \Windows\Fonts to
switch to the fonts directory. TypeDIR /AH and press Enter to see a list of hidden font
files. |
