Windows 95 Tips #7



*1.   CLEAR UP YOUR CLOUDY DAY      
  
Wish you didn't have to stare at that cloudy Windows 95 screen (basically,
a Microsoft ad) every time you start your system? There are two ways to
hide this logo screen from view: Either edit the msdos.sys file or,
assuming you have the utility Tweak UI, make a simple setting change. 

If you don't have Tweak UI, you'll have to go about this logo deletion the
long way. Open an Explorer window and locate msdos.sys (it's on the root of
your hard drive). Right-click this file, select Properties, deselect
Read-only, and click OK. Now open msdos.sys inside Notepad (with the file
selected, hold down Shift as you right-click the file, select Open With,
choose Notepad in the list of programs, then click OK). 

Inside the Notepad window, under the [Options] section of msdos.sys,
type the line 

LOGO=0 

Select File, Save to keep your changes, then close Notepad. (Tip: Go back
and reattach the read-only attribute to msdos.sys using the same steps you
used to remove it.) The next time you start Windows 95, you won't see a
cloud in the sky--er, we mean on your screen. 
    

*2.   OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND (YOU HOPE) FILES      
  
Do you have some top-secret files you'd like to keep out of sight? Mark
them hidden, and they'll magically disappear, along with the rest of your
system's hidden files. (That is, assuming you keep your hidden
files hidden.) 

Right-click a file you'd like to hide and select Properties. On the General
tab of the resulting Properties dialog box, select Hidden, then click OK.
Now be sure that your hidden files are actually hidden: In any Explorer
window, select View, Options, click the View tab, 
select Hide Files Of These Types, and click OK. (If you have the IE 4.0
Desktop Update installed, select View, Folder Options, click the View tab,
select Do Not Show Hidden Files, and click OK.) Now, any files marked
hidden will disappear from Explorer windows, your desktop, and so on. If
and when you need to access a hidden file, you have two choices. One, opt
to display hidden files using the options described above. Or two, type the
file's exact name (and navigate your way to its exact location) in the Open
dialog box of its native application. 

(Note: Marking a file hidden isn't a true security measure since anyone who
knows the name and location of a file can open it. It's really just a
deterrent--out of sight, out of mind.) 


*3.   THAT JUMPY F6 KEY      
  
When you're inside a double-paned Explorer window and want to move from one
pane to the other or to the dropdown list of folders on the toolbar, how do
you do it? With a click of the mouse, right? The next time you don't feel
like taking your hands off the keyboard, try using F6 to get around.
Pressing this key takes you from the left pane to the right pane to the
dropdown folder list to the left pane, and so on, round and round. And
while you're doing so well without the mouse, keep in mind that the right
arrow key expands the selected folder; the left arrow key collapses it. 
    

*4.   DOES ANYBODY REALLY CARE ABOUT TIME?          
          
March 11th, 1999          
          
If you don't, then by all means delete the clock from the Windows 95
taskbar as follows: 

1. Right-click the taskbar and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. 
2. Click the Options tab. 
3. Deselect Show Clock. 
4. Click OK. 

Not only does removing the clock take some of the pressure off, but it
frees up more space for buttons on your taskbar (not exactly acres of
space, but every little bit helps). 
                       

*5.    NARROW YOUR FILE SEARCH      
  
Looking for something in a folder that contains a sea of files? Before you
scroll through all the items inside (and cause yourself some real
eyestrain), think about what you know about that file. All you need is one
vital piece of information--the date on which the file was last modified,
its approximate size, or its type--and that file is as good as found. 

Inside the Open folder window, select View, Details. See those gray column
headings? (You may need to enlarge the window to see them all.) Click the
one that represents what you know about the file--for example, Modified,
assuming you know the date you last worked on the file--and Windows sorts
the contents by that piece of information. If necessary, click this heading
again to reverse the sort order. Scroll down to find the correct date (or
size or type), and there's your file! 
    

*6.    MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND IN EXPLORER          
          
March 12th, 1999          
          
When you drag a file from one disk drive to another, Windows Explorer
automatically copies--rather than moves--the file to the destination drive,
the assumption being that you don't want to delete the file from its
original drive. If, in fact, you do want to MOVE a file from one disk drive
to another: 

1. Hold down the Shift key. 
2. Drag the file to the other disk drive. Wait--we're not done. When you
	drag a file to another folder on the SAME disk drive, Explorer
	automatically moves--rather than copies--the file, the assumption
	being that you don't really need two copies of a file on the same
	disk. If, in fact, you do want to COPY a file to a different
	folder--or to the same folder--on the same disk: 

1. Hold down the Ctrl key. 
2. Drag the file to another location on the disk. 

Now we're done.


*7.   SCANNING AND SAVING DON'T MIX      
  
C. B. Sweger offers this tip for anyone having screen saver problems on a
Windows 95 system with McAfee VirusScan installed: 

I have several Windows 95 computers that have McAfee VirusScan loaded.
Recently, some of them have been experiencing a problem with their screen
saver. When the screen saver kicks in, it appears for one second and then
stops, at which point, the system begins accessing either the A:\ drive or
the hard drive. I tried using other screen savers and also removing and
reinstalling the screen savers, but to no avail. Finally, I found a cure.
Inside the Control Panel, double-click Display, then select the Screen Scan
tab. Deselect Enable Scanning While In Screen Saver Mode and click OK. It
has cured the problem in every instance. 

Thanks for the tip, C.! 


*8.   WINDOWS FROM DOS          
          
March 19th, 1999          
          
Because old habits die hard--or maybe because you're a closet
masochist--you often find yourself in DOS, waxing nostalgic as you navigate
directories with a series of command line entries. Whatever turns you on.
But we hope you find it a comfort to know that, during such a session, if
you suddenly feel the urge to view a folder (er, directory) in graphical
Windows style, you can. Here's how: 

1. At the command prompt, type "start ." (without the quotation marks;
	be sure to put a space between "start" and the period). 
2. Press Enter. 

Windows opens a folder window of the current directory.


*9.   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!


*10.   THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO NAME A SHORTCUT      
  
M. Amis writes, "In the 1/27/99 Windows 95 Tip of the Day, you discuss
using F2 to rename a folder. (Click the file once, press F2, then type the
new name.) There's another easy way to rename a folder, file, or shortcut:
Click once on the item to select it, then click again on the item's name.
You're now ready to type the new name, as if you had pressed F2." 

(Note: If you click inside the name area to select the item, just make sure
to wait a second or so before clicking again. Otherwise, you'll end up
double-clicking and launching the item.)
