Computing Basics #3



*1.   01.  QUICK ICON FIND.  

Sometimes we forget the really simple, but very useful tricks.  Does your 
desktop, as does mine, become inundated with shortcut icons? I find myself 
staring at the screen and wondering where such-and-such is, when all I 
really have to do is touch the key of the first letter of the icon's name.  
Where there is more than one icon beginning in that letter, Windows 95/98 
will cycle through them all, highlighting each in turn.  Now why can't I 
remember that simple little tip?   OK, want more?  Once the icon is 
highlighted, a just hit Enter to execute it if it's a program, or open it 
if it's a folder.


*2.   CLEAN UP THE CLEANUP FILES.  

When your PC shuts down abnormally, which happens unfortunately to many of 
us far too often, Windows creates a number of files during the scan process.  
These can be identified with a files search as File0000.chk, File0001.chk 
and so on.  If you're trying to clear up some drive space and your PC seems 
to be performing OK after rebooting, these files can be safely deleted.


*3.   CASCADING MENU CITY, THE CONTINUING SEQUEL--PART 3 OF 4          
          
March 9th, 1999          
          
Today's cascading Start menu item: Your Recycle Bin! If being able to 
quickly review the properties of a deleted file sounds handy to you, 
follow these steps: 

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Explore from the shortcut menu. 
2. Right-click in any empty space in the right-hand pane and choose New +
   Folder from the shortcut menu. 
3. Type "Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}" (without the
   quotation marks--copy it right from this tip to prevent a typo). This
   should replace the words "New Folder." 
4. Press Enter. 

Click the Start button and choose Recycle Bin to see a list of the files in 
your Recycle Bin; select any file to display that file's Properties dialog 
box. (You may need to restart Windows after you perform these steps before 
deleted files appear on the menu.) 

NOTE: Adding a cascading Recycle Bin menu to the Start button menu merely 
lets you review the properties of any file in the Recycle Bin; you must go 
directly to the Recycle Bin to restore or open a file or to empty the bin. 
                       

*4.   CASCADING MENU CITY, THE CONTINUING SEQUEL--PART 4 OF 4          
          
March 10th, 1999          
          
Let's see: If you've been following this series of tips, you've added 
cascading Control Panel, URL History, Internet Cache, and Recycle Bin menus 
to your Start menu. What else could be so useful? Well, if you have multiple 
printers--or if you're tired of squinting (and racing) to click that little 
printer icon on the taskbar just to get a look at your active print jobs--a 
cascading menu of your Printers folder would be VERY convenient: 

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Explore from the shortcut menu. 
2. Right-click in any empty space in the right-hand pane and choose New +
   Folder from the shortcut menu. 
3. Type "Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}" (without the
   quotation marks--copy it right from this tip to prevent a typo). This
   should replace the words "New Folder." 
4. Press Enter. 

Click the Start button and choose Printers to see a list of your printers; 
click any one to display that printer's dialog box. 
                       

*5.   The DLL Archive

Ever had a .dll file go missing or get trashed with no idea how to fix it? 
We thought so. This happens with dreadful regularity under Windows and 
that's why The DLL Archive is the hot tip for this issue. You can look up 
your missing DLL alphabetically then download it on the spot. If you can't 
find what you're after you can leave a request on their message board. A 
great addition to your troubleshooting bag of tricks.

http://solo.abac.com/dllarchive/index.html
