Windows 95 Tips #13



*1. RELEASE THE POWER--PART 6 OF 6         
     
In many of our previous tips, we've referred to the Windows 95 PowerToys,
a set of tools designed by the Windows Shell Development Team. In this
series of tips, we're discussing a few of the more obscure
PowerToys--specifically, those that appear in your context menus (a.k.a.,
right-mouse menus). In today's tip, the Command Prompt Here PowerToy.
(For information on obtaining this and the remaining PowerToys,
see note below.) 

Right-click any folder, and you'll see a new command, Command Prompt
Here. Select this command and up pops an MS-DOS window with the command
prompt already pointing to that folder. Talk about making DOS file
management tasks easier! 

(Note: If you don't have the Command Prompt Here PowerToy, point your
Web browser to 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-0507msw95%2C00.html 

and download powertoy.exe to your folder of choice, such as a PowerToys
folder on the desktop. Double-click this file to extract its contents;
then, to install the Command Prompt Here PowerToy, right-click
Doshere.inf and select Install.)


*2. OH, THOSE STUBBORN DESKTOP ICONS         
     
Have you ever installed an application on your Windows 95 system, only to
discover that the program placed its icon on your desktop? Then, when you
right-click the icon to try and remove it, no Delete command appears
(similar to Inbox, Recycle Bin, and other stubborn desktop icons).
Fortunately, there is a way to get rid of that icon. You just have to be
willing to edit the Registry to do it. (Note: As always, back up your
Registry files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files on the root of your
hard drive--before proceeding.) 

Open the Registry Editor--select Start, Run, type 

regedit 

and click OK--and navigate your way to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\
Desktop\NameSpace.

Select a key under NameSpace and watch the name that appears in the right
pane under Data. 

Once you find it, right-click its key (again, under NameSpace in the left
pane), select Delete, then click Yes to confirm. Close the Registry
Editor, click the desktop to place the focus there, then press F5 (for
refresh). Bye-bye icon!


*3. ONE-CLICK RESTARTS         
     
You all know how to restart Windows 95 without restarting your PC, right?
Select Start, Shut Down, select Restart The Computer, then hold down
Shift as you click the Yes button. Well, if this shortcut isn't short
enough for you, get a load o' this: You can create a batch file that will
restart Windows 95 with one double-click. 

Open Notepad--select Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad--and type 

@EXIT 

Select File, Save, name the file something appropriate, such as
'restart.bat', save it anywhere you want, and close Notepad. 

Now place access to the batch file in a convenient location, such as the
desktop. In an Explorer window, locate the new file, right-click it, and
select Create Shortcut. Drag the new shortcut out to the desktop (or
another location of your choice), and rename it. 

Finally, a few setting changes. Right-click the shortcut, select
Properties, and on the Program tab, select Close On Exit. Click the
Advanced button, select MS-DOS mode, and deselect Warn Before Entering
MS-DOS Mode. Click OK twice to close all open dialog boxes,
and you're done. 

The next time you want to restart Windows, just double-click your new
batch file shortcut!


*4. HOLES IN YOUR SAFETY NET         
     
As you go about your file management business, do you think nothing of
deleting files because you know you can always retrieve them from the
Recycle Bin? That's all fine and dandy if you're deleting files from a
local drive, but if the files you want to ditch are on an external drive,
such as your floppy drive or a network drive, you better think twice.
Files deleted from these locations never make it to the Recycle Bin,
so once you delete them, they're gone for good.


*5. ELASTIC-WAIST WALLPAPER         
     
When you wallpaper your living room or kitchen, do you just place the
paper in the center, with blank walls showing on all sides? Of course
not. Just the same, you probably don't want a desktop wallpaper that's
centered on your screen. The whole idea behind desktop wallpaper is to
place something over the entire desktop. 

If you're using Microsoft Plus! and you select a wallpaper that doesn't
fill the entire screen (for example, a custom Paint picture), there's an
easy way to solve this problem. Stretch it. Assuming you've just selected
and centered the wallpaper--right-click the desktop, select Properties,
choose a wallpaper (on the Background tab), select Center--click the
Plus! tab of the Display Properties dialog box. Select Stretch desktop
wallpaper to fit the entire screen, click OK, and watch as that wallpaper
expands to cover the desktop.


*6. OH MY, THAT INBOX TAKES A LONG TIME TO OPEN         
     
Do you use Microsoft Fax to receive faxes? If so, you'll need to open
that fax in Windows Messaging's Inbox every time you want to view it,
right? (Double-click the fax, and it opens inside the Fax Viewer.) Not
necessarily. You can save the fax as a stand-alone *.awd file. From then
on, you can open the fax without setting foot in your Inbox. 

Assuming you're viewing the fax inside the Fax Viewer, select File, Save
Copy As. Navigate your way to the folder in which you'd like to store the
fax--for example, a Faxes folder on your desktop--type a name for the
fax, and click Save. The next time you want to view that fax, just
double-click the new *.awd file.


*7. PUT A TRAIL ON YOUR MOUSE         
     
Do you frequently lose track of your mouse pointer as it moves across the
screen? That little bugger is much easier to follow if you put a trail on
it--a pointer trail, that is. 

Open the Control Panel (select Start, Settings, Control Panel), and
double-click Mouse. Click on the Motion tab, select Show Pointer Trails
and move the lever closer to Long or Short, depending on the desired
trail length (the number of pointers you want to follow your mouse).
Click OK, and now when you move your pointer around, you'll see a lot of
little pointers behind it. There's no way you can miss that entourage!


*8. SHIFT-Y RIGHT-MOUSE SELECTIONS         
     
Can't seem to get used to that right mouse button? You could always avoid
it altogether, but then you won't have access to all those handy,
right-mouse-related Windows commands. Instead, try the right-mouse
keyboard equivalents. 

With any item selected--file, folder, shortcut, whatever--press Shift-F10
to display that item's context menu. It's exactly the same as
right-clicking the item. From there, use your up or down arrow keys to
highlight the command you're after, then press Enter to 'click' the
selected command. Sorry right mouse--you've been replaced.


*9. HE RECYCLES ME, HE RECYCLES ME NOT         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to disable your Recycle Bin so that
deleting items sends them off into oblivion the first time around,
without a stop at the Recycle Bin: Right-click the Recycle Bin desktop
item, select Properties, select Do Not Move Files To The Recycle Bin.
Remove Files Immediately Upon Delete., and click OK. 

If you prefer less drastic measures, you can still limit the number of
items that wind up in the Recycle Bin, but on a case-by-case basis. To
delete an item from your system the first time around (in other words, to
bypass the Recycle Bin), right-click the item, then hold down Shift as
you select Delete. 

(Note: As with disabling the Recycle Bin altogether, you'll still have a
small safety net. Even if you have the Display Delete Confirmation
Dialog Box option turned off, using Shift-Delete to delete an item still
presents you with the Confirm File Delete dialog box.)


*10. QUIT MOUSE-ING AROUND         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to select a 'right-mouse' command
using the keyboard: Press Shift-F10 to display a selected item's context
menu, use your up or down cursor keys to select a command, then press
Enter. Looking for more ways to avoid the mouse? You can select a menu
command in any open window without ever lifting a finger off your
keyboard. And actually, there are two ways to do it. 

Press F10 to place the focus on the active window's far-left menu command
(most likely, File). Use the left or right cursor keys to select the menu
you want to expand, then press the down cursor key (or Enter) to expand
it. Use the up or down cursor keys to select the command you're after,
then press Enter. (Tip-in-a-tip: To collapse an expanded menu,
press Esc.) 

If you prefer the more direct approach, use the Alt key in combination
with a menu command's underlined letter. For example, to select File,
Save As in a Microsoft Word window, press Alt-F to expand the File menu,
then press the letter A (the underlined letter in Save As). Once you
become comfortable with this method, you'll never go back to mouse-ing it
(especially for oft-used commands).
