Windows 95 Tips #2



*1.   FILL-A-FOLDER 

If you frequently add shortcuts to your Start menu (drag and drop an
item on the Start button, and its shortcut appears in the top area of
the main menu), you may soon find the menu stretching out of control.
To cut down on the disarray, create a new Start Menu folder to store
these items. 

Right-click the Start button and select Open. Right-click a blank area
inside the window and select New, Folder. Type a name for the folder,
such as Current Files, then press Enter. 

Now fill the folder with frequently used shortcuts. Drag and drop items
from the Start Menu window directly on top of this folder; or drag items
in from other locations, such as another folder or the desktop. When
you're finished, close the Start Menu window. 

Click Start, select your new folder, and out pops a menu of the
shortcuts you placed inside. Talk about neat and tidy! 


*2.   FIND MESSAGES FAST 

February 19th, 1999 

Once you start letting your e-mail messages pile up, finding one from a
few weeks back (or even a few days back) can be quite a chore. But if
you use Microsoft Exchange to manage your mail--and you know the name of
the person who sent the message--you can make the search a tad easier: 

1. In the left pane of the Exchange window, make sure Inbox is selected. 
2. In the right pane of the Exchange window, click the From heading
	button. Doing so instantly sorts your messages by sender. 

Now you can quickly scroll to the messages sent by the person in question
to find what you're looking for--unless, of course, you've got the name
of the sender wrong. Unfortunately, we can't help you improve your memory.


*3.   YOU'RE OUT, EVERYONE ELSE IS IN 

The next time you need to select most of the files in an open Explorer
window--single- or double-paned--don't waste your time holding down Ctrl
and clicking each file by hand. It's much easier to select the ones you
don't need, and then let Windows reverse your selection. 

Inside an open window, hold down Ctrl as you select the file(s) you don't
want to select (sounds backward, but wait and see what happens). Select
Edit, Invert Selection, and Windows will turn your selection inside out! 


*4.   DOCUMENT CLIP-PINGS 

When you use an application's Cut or Copy command, the item you've
selected--usually text or graphics--is sent to the Windows 95 Clipboard.
(You don't see it happen, but that's where it goes.) Once it's there,
selecting an application's Paste command inserts the cut or copied item
at the cursor. If you'd like to be able to paste the same item again, use
the Clipboard to save it as a *.clp file (and be sure to do it before
cutting or copying another item, which wipes out the Clipboard's previous
contents). From then on, you can open the Clipboard Viewer, open your
*.clp file, and paste it into your location of choice. 

Select the item you want to copy and press Ctrl-C to send it to the
Clipboard. Open the Clipboard Viewer by selecting Start, Programs,
Accessories, Clipboard Viewer. Select File, Save As, type a name for the
*.clp file, and click OK. 

To paste the *.clp file in the future, open the Clipboard Viewer, select
File, Open, select the *.clp file, and click Yes to confirm that you want
to clear the Clipboard's contents. Now switch over to the destination and
paste (press Ctrl-V). 


*5.   SHORT AND SWEET 

The next time you need to rename a file, folder, or shortcut, don't waste
all that energy right-clicking the file and selecting Rename. Assuming
the item is already selected, simply press F2 on your keyboard. It's the
same thing, but much easier on the wrist. 


*6.   NUMBERS: AN EXACT SCIENCE 

When you use Calculator and need to copy a figure to another location,
don't type the number yourself--let Windows do the copying for you.
Assuming you've just used the Calculator (select Start, Programs,
Accessories, Calculator) to come up with a figure, press Ctrl-C to copy
that number to the Clipboard. Switch to the destination, press Ctrl-V,
and without fail, you'll see the same number you started with. 


*7.   FROM AVERAGE TO GENIUS IN ONE CLICK 

Sometimes you need a calculator that's a bit more advanced than the one
that comes with Windows 95. Look no further than the Calculator itself.
In one quick click, this seemingly average applet gets smart. 

Open the Calculator (if it isn't already) by selecting Start, Programs,
Accessories, Calculator. Not much to look at, eh? But now select View,
Scientific, and watch it grow! To switch back to basics,
select View, Standard. 


*8.   GET SMART 

Want some real nerd-level information about Windows 95? Check out the
Windows 95 Resource Kit, an intensive help file (designed mainly for
administrators) that makes the traditional Windows Help look like
baby talk. 

You could go out and purchase the Resource Kit in book form, but why
bother when you can get it for free (assuming you have the Windows 95
installation CD)? Pop the installation CD into your CD-ROM drive, open
an Explorer window, and navigate your way to D:\Admin\Reskit\helpfile.
To get started, double-click win95rk.hlp and wander through topics just
as you would in Windows Help. Feeling smarter already? (Tip: To install
the Resource Kit on your hard drive, copy win95rk.hlp and win95rk.cnt to
your C:\Windows\Help folder, then create a shortcut to the win95rk.hlp
file in a convenient location.) 


*9.   Faster Setup
Facing another Win95 setup chore? Save yourself some time and toil and
enter these Setup switches in either a DOS command line or the Run dialog
box before you begin:

 Setup /is to defeat the automatic ScanDisk check;
 Setup /id to defeat the disk space check;
 Setup /iq to disable the test for cross-linked files and folder integrity;
 Setup /in to skip the network setup module;
 Setup /iw to skip the Microsoft legal warnings.


*10.   Tweak UI for Win95

(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/contents/PowerToys/W95TweakUI/)
lets you automate the Win95 log-on screen. Download and install the
utility, then launch it from Control Panel. Under the Network tab, type
your log-on name and password (if any), and check the "Log on
automatically at system startup" option.
