Windows 95 Tips #5



*1.   TRASH TO THE MAX--PART 2 OF 2      
  
In our last tip, we told you that by default, Windows 95 will prompt you
to empty your Recycle Bin if its files exceed 10 percent of your hard
drive's space. If you're low on disk space and have a hard time
remembering to take out the trash, you may want to adjust this percentage
to a smaller number, so that Windows 95 pesters you sooner. 

Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and select Properties.
In the Recycle Bin Properties menu, adjust the lever to the desired
percentage, then click OK.    
    

*2.   MAKE YOUR DESKTOP INTO A FOLDER--ANOTHER WAY          
          
March 1st, 1999          
          
In a past tip, we told you how to put the contents of your desktop into
a folder window, which you could then minimize to your taskbar, enabling
you to get to the desktop without having to close Windows. As you may
recall, that procedure was pretty complicated. Today, we're pleased to
report that our crack Dummies Daily research staff has found an easier
way to accomplish the same task: 

1. Click Start. 
2. Choose Run. 
3. In the Open text box, type a period. 
4. Click OK. 

Windows instantly (or pretty quickly) creates a folder containing your
desktop icons. And if you think that's slick, just wait 'til you see what
we have for you next time. 


*3.   YOUR HARD DRIVE IS NO PLACE FOR KIDS' VIDEOS      
  
Do you have a fairly small hard drive--1GB or less? Then you know that
every precious megabyte of space matters. You can free up 7MB worth of
this valuable space by deleting the video clips in the Windows 95 Help
folder. (They're very elementary.) 

Select Start, Find, Files or Folders. Click the Browse button, navigate
your way to the C:\Windows\Help folder, and click OK.
On the Named line, type 

*.avi 

then click the Find Now button. See all those *.avi files? Select the top
one, and then hold down Shift as you click the last. Now press the Delete
key on your keyboard, and if prompted to do so, click Yes to confirm.
Good riddance. 
    

*4.   THE BEST DESKTOP FOLDER YET          
          
March 2nd, 1999          
          
Our last tip for creating a Desktop folder was easy, that's for sure.
But as you may have noticed, it has two decided drawbacks. First, the
folder doesn't include ALL the desktop icons; My Computer, Network
Neighborhood, and Microsoft Internet Explorer are nowhere to be found.
And second, you have to repeat the step every time you start Windows.
Well, here's a slightly more complicated solution that eliminates
both drawbacks: 

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Open from the shortcut menu. 
2. In the Start folder window, double-click the Programs icon. 
3. In the Programs window, double-click the StartUp icon. 
4. Right-click any blank area of the StartUp window and choose
	New + Shortcut. 
5. In the Command line of the Create Shortcut text box, type
	"c:\\windows\\explorer.exe /root," (without the quotation marks
	but including the final comma). 
6. Click Next. 
7. Type "Desktop" (without the quotation marks). 
8. Click Finish. 
9. Still in the StartUp window, right-click the new Desktop icon. 
10. Click the Shortcut tab. 
11. Set Run to Minimized and click Close. 

When you double-click the icon, it puts a minimized Desktop button on
your taskbar; click this button to access the desktop--EVERYTHING on the
desktop. And because you created the button in the StartUp folder, it
appears automatically every time you start Windows. 
                       

*5.   HIT THE TASKBAR      
  
Need to get to your desktop? You could click the Quick Launch toolbar's
Show Desktop button (if you have IE 4.0 installed), but that means you'll
have to reach all the way over for that mouse. Instead, try the keyboard
way. Press Ctrl-Esc, Esc (doing so places the focus on the Start button,
if it isn't already), then press Alt-M (equivalent to right-clicking the
Taskbar and selecting Minimize All Windows). 

(Note: If your keyboard has a Windows key, simply press Windows-M to
minimize all open windows.) 
    

*6.   WHERE DO YOU COME FROM, LITTLE FILE?          
          
March 3rd, 1999          
          
Need to know the path of a particular file or shortcut? You COULD find
the file in Explorer and then click your way back through the tree
diagram, but the following method is faster: 

1. Click Start. 
2. Choose Run. 
3. From the desktop or from any folder or Explorer window, drag the file
	or shortcut's icon to the Open text box in the Run dialog box. 

The file's complete path--and name, including extension--appears in the
Open box. Note that this trick works even with nonprogram files. 
                       

*7.   THE PLUSES OF COPYING      
  
Can't remember whether Shift (or Ctrl) moves or copies an item while you
drag its icon? Keep your eye on the mouse pointer. If, as you drag the
item, you see a little white box with a plus sign (+) attached to your
mouse pointer, you're about to copy the attached item. But if you see
nothing attached to the pointer, you're about to move the item. 

(Note: If you see a shortcut arrow attached to the mouse pointer, as in
the case of dragging an icon down to the Start button, you're about to
create--you guessed it--a shortcut.) 
    

*8.   PC TRAFFIC COP          
          
March 4th, 1999          
          
Want to have fewer crashes? Experts (certainly no one we know, but REAL
experts) recommend you have at least twice as much free hard disk space
as you have memory, or RAM. So, for example, if you have 64MB of RAM, you
should have at least 128MB free hard disk space. Now, if you have one of
those new computers with one of those new super-sized hard disks, you
probably have nothing to worry about. But if you have a hard disk of 1GB
(that's gigabyte) or less, you may want to first check your RAM and then
your hard disk space. To check the RAM: 

1. Click Start and choose Settings + Control Panel. 
2. Double-click the System icon. 
3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Performance tab.
	Read (and maybe even jot down) the value listed for Memory
	and click OK. 

Next, check your free hard disk space: 

1. Click Start and choose Programs + Windows Explorer. 
2. In the left-hand pane, right-click the hard disk icon (usually c:\\)
	and choose Properties. 
3. Read the amount listed as Free Space. 

If the amount of free space is less than twice the amount of RAM, try
deleting some unneeded files. 
   

*9.   MAGICAL START MENU FOLDERS      
  
We get so many requests for this tip that we decided to run the
technique again.... 

Do you wish you had a Control Panel, Dial-Up Networking, or Printers
folder right on your Start menu, so that when you selected it, a pop-out
menu of all items inside appeared? Follow the steps below to add any one
of these 'magic' folders (or all three) to your Start menu. 

Right-click the Start button and select Open. Inside the Start Menu
window, right-click a blank area and select File, New, Folder. Type ONE
of the following names, depending on the folder you want to create: 

Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} 

DUN.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} 

Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} 

then press Enter. (Tip: To save on typing, carefully copy and paste the
name from this e-mail.) You'll know you've been successful if you see a
folder with the appropriate icon and name. 

If you type the name incorrectly, you'll see a folder with a plain yellow
icon and a very long name. Select the incorrectly named folder, press F2
for Rename, and try again, noting that there's no space between the
period and the open bracket. 
    

*10.   CASCADING MENU CITY, THE CONTINUING SEQUEL--PART 1 OF 4          
          
March 5th, 1999          
          
Last month, we showed you how to add a cascading Control Panel menu to
your Start menu so that you can quickly access the Control Panel applets
without opening a single window. Over the next few days, we're going to
show you how to add OTHER helpful cascading menus to the Start menu. And
we start with your Microsoft Internet Explorer URL History folder: 

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 "URL History folder.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}"
	(without the quotation marks--copy it right from this tip to
	prevent a typo). This should replace the words "New Folder." 
4. Press Enter. 

When you click the Start button and choose URL History folder, you see a
list of the sites you've visited recently. Select any one to start
Explorer and surf directly to the site!
