Windows 95 Tips #4



*1.   SOUNDS SIMPLE, BUT YOU'D BE SURPRISED 

February 17th, 1999 

You visit one of those great music sites that seem to be sprouting up
like weeds on the Web. You click to hear a sample from one of the latest
CDs and wait in anticipation of room-filling sound . . . but you
hear nothing. 

No problem, you say to yourself (this talking to yourself is becoming
quite a problem, but we'll overlook it for the nonce); I'll turn up my
system volume. So you click the little speaker icon on your taskbar,
slide up the volume slider--and you STILL HEAR NOTHING! Time to panic?
No. Fortunately for you, it's easy to fix: 

Find the volume button on your computer speaker; turn it up. 

Don't be embarrassed. It happens to us all the time. 


*2.   THE SOUNDS, THE WHOLE SOUNDS, AND NOTHING BUT THE SOUNDS 

Hey, Plus! users. Is there a desktop theme that includes an
out-of-this-world sound scheme? Maybe you'd like to ditch the rest of
the scheme. If you want, you can use the sounds and nothing else. 

Open the Control Panel, double-click Desktop Themes, and in the Theme
list, select the theme with the awesome soundtrack. Deselect all of the
options under Settings except Sound Events, then click OK to apply those
sounds to your desktop. 


*3.   DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING? 

February 18th, 1999 

If you do, then you don't have to click through Windows Explorer to get
there; instead, you can use Explorer's handy Go To command. Here's how: 

1. From the Explorer menu, choose Tools + Go To. 
2. Type the location you want to go to; be sure to type the full path,
	such as "c:\Windows\Media\My Films" (without the quotation marks). 
3. Click OK. 

Explorer takes you directly to that folder. 


*4.   THE BIG ICON SQUEEZE 

Want to squeeze a few more icons into each row on your desktop? The
default spacing between any two icons (assuming you haven't hand-placed
them) is determined by the Horizontal and Vertical Spacing settings,
which can be changed easily. 

Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and in the Display Properties
menu that launches, click the Appearance tab. Under Item, select Icon
Spacing (Horizontal) or Icon Spacing (Vertical), then adjust the number
next to Size. (Note: The default for the Windows Standard scheme is 43.)
To test the change, minimize all other windows, click Apply, then click
and drag the window over a bit to see the effect on your desktop. (Tip:
If your desktop icons don't seem to be moving with each change,
right-click the desktop and select Arrange Icons, Auto Arrange.) When you
find a setting you like, click OK to make it stick. 

(Note: On our 800 x 600 desktop, we changed the vertical icon spacing to
30 and found we could fit 9 icons in each row. At the default 43,
we could fit only 7.) 


*5.   STOP RETYPING URLS! 

February 19th, 1999 

You're surfing, using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator,
or whatever browser you enjoy. You hit on a Web site that's so good, you
want to mention it in a document you're preparing. So you take out your
trusty Post-it Notes and a pen and jot down the URL so that you can
retype it into your document, right? Nay, nay. Try this instead: 

1. Select the URL in your browser's Address box. 
2. Press Ctrl + C to copy the URL to the Clipboard. 
3. Switch to your word processor and position the cursor where you want
	to insert the URL. 
4. Press Ctrl + V to paste it. 

This trick saves you typing and eliminates the chance that you'll mistype
the URL. 


*6.   EXPLORER 4-EVA          
          
March 18th, 1999          
          
Last time, we showed you how to create an Explorer window from a folder
window. Now imagine that you'd just as soon have every folder open in an
Explorer window automatically, right from the start. Believe it or not,
this dream can become your reality, as follows: 

1. Open ANY folder. 
2. Choose View + Options. 
3. Click the File Types tab. 
4. Under Registered File Types, select Folder; then click Edit. 
5. Under Actions, highlight Explore; then click Set Default.
	The Explore entry should become bold. 
6. Click Close. 

-From now on, ANY folder you open opens in an Explorer window. Should
you tire of this, repeat these steps, but in Step 5, highlight Open
before you click Set Default. 


*7.   THE BEST OF BOTH OPERATING SYSTEMS 

January 14th, 1999 

Hey, DOS jockeys! Say you're working in a Windows 95 DOS window, and
you'd like to see a list of the files in the current directory. You COULD
type the old directory command (dir) or even the dir /p command so that
you can page through the files in the directory. But how cool would it be
if you could access a Windows-style folder window right from within your
DOS screen, thereby enabling you to enjoy all the conveniences (such as
scrolling) that a folder window allows? Here's all you have to do: 

1. At the DOS prompt, type "start" (without the quotes), followed by a
	space, followed by a period. 
2. Press Enter. 

A folder window for the current directory appears. (Note: Typing two
periods instead of one opens a folder window for the parent folder of
the current directory--much easier than backing out of a directory
the DOS way.) 


*8.   PROMPT ENTRY 

January 15th, 1999 

Today we offer another example of DOS and Windows 95 working hand in
hand: Suppose you're working in DOS and you need to enter a path and
filename into a command, but the path is LONG, LONG, LONG. Instead of
working your way through the directory structure in DOS, try this: 

1. Click Start. 
2. Choose Programs + Windows Explorer. 
3. In Explorer, navigate to the file in question. 
4. Drag the file to the location in the DOS screen where you want to
	enter the file path and name. 

Windows automatically types the file's full path and name for you! Man,
where was this feature five years ago!?! 


*9.   EXPLORE A FOLDER          
          
March 17th, 1999          
          
While working in a folder window, how many times have you said to
yourself, "Self, I sure wish I was working with these same files but in
the two-pane convenience of an Explorer window instead"? Ignoring for a
moment the fact that addressing oneself as "Self" may be indicative of
some serious emotional problems, we want you to know that you CAN quickly
generate an Explorer version of a folder window, like so: 

1. Right-click the icon in the left edge of the folder window's
	title bar. 
2. Choose Explore from the shortcut menu. An Explorer window opens,
	focused on the folder and its contents. 
3. Close the folder window. 

Actually, calling yourself "Self" is probably healthier than calling
yourself a pet name, such as "Champ" or "Spunky." 
                       

*10.   OUT WITH THE OLD      
  
H. M. Olian writes, "I have a 1GB hard drive and need more room. Is it
safe to delete Windows 3.1 and the old version of DOS from my system?
If so, how do I do it?" 

Not only is it safe, but assuming you never plan to uninstall Windows 95,
it's a great idea. Those old files are nothing more than space wasters.
Select Start, Settings, Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove
Programs. On the Install/Uninstall tab, select Old Windows 3.x files,
click Remove, then follow the instructions to complete the removal of
these files. Good riddance!
