Windows 95 Tips #17



*1. SWITCH WINDOWS USING ALT-TAB         
     
Need a quick way to switch from one open window to the next, without having
to reach for that pesky mouse? While holding down the Alt key, press the
Tab key to make a box of all open windows appear. (Each open window is
represented by an icon.) Still holding the Alt key, press Tab continuously
until the window you want is highlighted (with a box around it). Let go,
and that window jumps immediately to the top of the open window pile.  

(Tip-in-a-tip: To move backward through "icon row," still holding down Alt,
press Shift-Tab repeatedly.)


*2. COPY FLOPPY DISK         
     
Want to make an exact copy of a floppy disk--for example, as a backup, or
to give to someone else? Windows 95 makes this operation a snap. 

With a blank, formatted disk close-at-hand, pop the disk you want to copy
in your floppy drive. Open My Computer, right-click your floppy drive icon
and select Copy Disk. Click Start and wait as Windows reads all the
information on the disk. When prompted to do so, insert the destination
disk, click OK, and wait again as Windows copies the first disk's
information to the second disk. You'll know it's finished when you see a
message telling you the operation was a success.


*3. RESTORE DELETED FILE FROM RECYCLE BIN         
     
Just delete a file, and now you need it back? Good thing Windows 95 comes
with a built-in Recycle Bin. As long as you haven't emptied the Recycle Bin
since you deleted the file, you can put that file right back where it came
from. Switch to the desktop and double-click the Recycle Bin icon. Locate
the item you'd like to un-delete, right-click it and select Restore. Whew! 

(Note: This tip assumes you have the Recycle Bin set to receive deleted
items. To be sure, right-click the Recycle Bin icon, select Properties, and
make sure Do Not Move Files To The Recycle Bin is not selected. Also, if
you permanently delete a file the first time around, by pressing
Shift-Delete and then clicking Yes, the Recycle Bin can't help you.)


*4. MAKE A MISTAKE? UNDO IT WITH THE UNDO COMMAND         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to restore a deleted item from your
Recycle Bin (as long as you haven't emptied the bin since you deleted the
file): Open the Recycle Bin, right-click the file you want to un-delete
and select Restore. 

If you catch your mistake immediately, there's another way to un-delete an
item. Assuming you haven't performed any mouse operations since the
deletion, right-click the location from which you deleted the item (file,
shortcut, whatever) and select Undo Delete.  

In the same way, you can undo a Move, Copy, or Rename. Just right-click the
desktop or window in which you performed the operation and select Undo
[whatever command you just used]. (Tip: You can also press Ctrl-Z to undo
the most recent operation.)


*5. FULL-SCREEN VIDEO CLIPS         
     
The next time you drag out your Windows 95 installation CD to view the
Weezer video clip, take a minute to turn your monitor into a TV screen.
Open the Control Panel--select Start, Settings, Control Panel--and
double-click Multimedia. Select the Video tab and, in the dropdown list
next to Window, select Show Video In Full Screen. Click OK and now play
that video. Instead of displaying the clip inside a puny window, the image
stretches from one edge of the screen to another. (A little distortion is a
small price to pay for good entertainment.)  

Lost without your controls? Press Esc to exit.


*6. INSTALL SOUND SCHEMES FROM INSTALLATION CD         
     
Wondering why the computer in the office next door is emitting all these
wild and crazy sounds, and yours isn't? Chances are that person is using
one of Windows 95's sound schemes (or a scheme he or she downloaded form
the Internet--but that's another story). The schemes to which we're
referring--Jungle, Musica, Robotz, and Utopia--aren't part of Windows 95's
default setup, but as long as you have your installation CD handy,
installing them is a snap. 

Open the Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs and select the
Windows Setup tab. Under Components, double-click Multimedia, and you'll
see a list of available schemes. Select any or all of the schemes,
depending on which you want, click OK twice, then follow the steps to
complete the installation (insert your CD and so on). 

You can now access these schemes from the Control Panel's Sounds Properties
dialog box. Open the Control Panel, double-click Sounds, and select a
scheme in the dropdown list under Schemes. Click OK, and make sure to turn
your system's volume up nice and loud!


*7. END TASK TO RECOVER FROM LOCK-UP         
     
Did your system just lock up on you? Before you reboot your system
entirely, there's one last hope: Try ending the current task. Oftentimes
(but not always), you can close only the program that caused the problem,
and get back to work. 

Assuming you just locked up, press Ctrl-Alt-Del to open the Close Program
dialog box. Select the task that caused the problem (most likely, it will
say Not Responding in parentheses), and click the End Task button. After a
few seconds, a separate End Task dialog box will pop up, explaining that
the program is not responding. Click End Task again, and with any luck,
Windows will proceed to close just that program.   

(Note: If pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del does absolutely nothing; or if trying to
end a task results in a total lock-up, you're flat outta luck.
Time to reboot.)


*8. F5 TO REFRESH FLOPPY CONTENTS         
     
Need to view the contents of one floppy disk after another using the same
floppy drive? Then there's one key you should know about: F5. Assuming
you're viewing the contents of one disk in an open window, replace the disk
in the drive, then press F5 (for Refresh). Immediately, the contents of the
new disk replace those of the previous one.


*9. ENLARGE WINDOW SCROLLBARS         
     
Do you find the buttons on your windows' scrollbars too small to grab onto?
(In case you aren't sure what scrollbars are, they're the bars on the right
and bottom edges of windows that allow you to scroll up and down, or left
and right, to view the contents that aren't currently visible.) Then make
them bigger. 

First open the Display Properties dialog box by right-clicking the desktop
and selecting Properties. Select the Appearance tab, and in the dropdown
list under Item, select Scrollbar. Adjust the Size (just to the right of
the Item field), and when you're happy with the new look, as displayed in
the preview area, click OK. Can't miss those buttons now! 

(Tip-in-a-tip: To make the change a permanent part of a color scheme, click
Save As, type the name of the scheme, and click OK.)


*10. ADD NOTES TO HELP         
     
Did you just navigate your way through Windows 95 Help to a rather
confusing topic? Wish you could paste a note-filled yellow sticky on it, so
that it will make more sense the next time you need it? (Let's face it,
Help's wording isn't always the most straightforward.) Then do it. You can
annotate any Help topic. 

Assuming you've already opened the topic to which you'd like to add some
notes, right-click a blank area of its window and select Annotate. In the
box that appears, type your notes, then click Save. The next time you open
that topic, just click the little paper clip to read your notes. (To remove
a note from a topic, open the note, then click Delete.)
