Windows 98 Tips #14



*1. OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW, PART 2 OF 2         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to remove items from your New list--the
 list that appears when you right-click the desktop or a folder window and
 select New--using the Tweak UI PowerToy: Open Tweak UI, select the New tab,
 deselect the items you don't want in the New list, then click OK. (Quick
 review: The Tweak UI PowerToy is on your Windows 98 installation CD, in
 the Tools\Reskit\Powertoy folder. To install it, right-click Tweakui.inf
 and select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its icon in
 Control Panel.) 

We also pointed out that if you deselect an item, click Remove, and then
 click Yes to confirm, you'll remove the item from the New list AND from
 Tweak UI's New tab--meaning if you change your mind in the future and want
 that item back, you'll have to go through a lot of extra steps to
 re-create it. This brings us to our next tip: You can use Tweak UI to add
 items to your New list, too (either for the first time or to restore
 a removed item). 

Let's suppose you want to add a Microsoft Word Document item to the New
 list. Open Word to a new, blank document and save the file under any name
 you want, anywhere you want. Locate the icon of the file you just
 created, then click and drag it into the Tweak UI window (still on the
 New tab). Drop the icon anywhere on the list of file types, and a new
 Microsoft Word item will appear in the list. Repeat these steps for each
 item you'd like to add to the list, then click OK to close Tweak UI.


*2. A DRIVE BY ANY OTHER NAME...         
     
J. Bruneau writes, "I have installed a new drive, but Windows 98 has chosen
 to label it '3 1/2 Floppy.' How do I change this name? And is there a way
 to add it to my Send To list?" 

To change the name of this new drive (or any drive on your system, for that
 matter), open a My Computer window, right-click the drive's icon, and
 select Properties. In the Label text box, type a new name containing up to
 11 characters, then click OK. 

In our next tip, we'll add this drive to the Send To list.


*3. OUT FOR A DRIVE         
     
In our last tip, we answered the first part of this reader question, sent
 in by J. Bruneau: "I have installed a new drive, but Windows 98 has chosen
 to label it '3 1/2 Floppy.' How do I change this name? And is there a way
 to add it to my Send To list?" 

As a quick review, to change the name of a drive, open a My Computer
 window, right-click the drive's icon, select Properties, type a new name
 containing up to 11 characters in the Label text box, then click OK. Now
 on to the second part of the question--adding the drive to the Send To
 list (the list that appears when you right-click the desktop or a folder
 window and select Send To). 

In a nutshell, all you need to do is create a shortcut to this drive in
 your Windows\SendTo folder. Open an Explorer window that displays the
 drive's icon. Then, in a second Explorer window, display the contents of
 the Windows\SendTo folder. Right-click and drag the drive icon into the
 SendTo window, let go, and select Create Shortcut(s) Here. (Tip: If you
 want to rename the item, select it, press F2 for Rename, type a new name,
 then press Enter.) 

Close all open windows. The next time you right-click somewhere and select
 Send To, you'll see the new drive in the list!


*4. BEHIND THE DESKTOP SCENE         
     
A reader, G., writes, "How can I change the background color of the desktop
 icons in Windows 98? I changed my desktop theme and now all the icon
 labels have a black background." 

The color in the box around each icon label is determined behind the
 scenes, by the current desktop color (regardless of the current wallpaper
 selection). Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and in the
 Display Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab. Under Item,
 select Desktop, then choose your color of choice in the Color dropdown
 palette. Click OK, and the boxes around your desktop icon labels will take
 on a whole new hue. (Note: If you don't see the change right away, you may
 need to right-click the desktop and select Refresh.)


*5. SUNNY DAY, SWEEPIN' THE CLOUDS AWAY...         
     
M. Pacchetti asks, "How do I get rid of the Windows 98 logo that you see
 during startup?" 

The easiest way to hide this screen is to use the Tweak UI PowerToy. (Quick
 review: The Tweak UI PowerToy is on your Windows 98 installation CD, in
 the Tools\Reskit\Powertoy folder. To install it, right-click Tweakui.inf
 and select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its icon in
 Control Panel.) 

Open Tweak UI and click the Boot tab. Deselect Display Splash Screen While
 Booting, then click OK--and enjoy your logo-less startup!


*6. AS EASY AS A-B-C         
     
Back in March, we offered a Registry-editing technique for alphabetizing
 your Start menu. In response, reader E. Jones offers this tip: 

Since installing IE 5.0, I've found an easier (and safer) way to
 alphabetize my Start menu. Click Start and navigate your way to the Start
 menu branch you want alphabetized. Right-click any item at this level,
 select Sort By Name, and voila--all nonfolder shortcuts at that level are
 sorted alphabetically. 

Thanks for the tip, E.!


*7. YOU MAY WANT TO RECONSIDER HIDING THAT DRIVE         
     
D. Bergman writes, "I just noticed if I right-click my Start button, the
 Open and Explore options are inactive (grayed-out). Any idea how I can get
 these options back?" 

We can't tell you how many people have written in with the same problem! It
 seems this problem arises if you use Tweak UI PowerToy to hide one or more
 drives on your system. Microsoft suggests that you unhide any drives to
 resolve this problem. 

In case you forgot where to find this setting, open Tweak UI, click the My
 Computer tab, select any unselected check boxes, then click OK. Restart
 Windows 98, right-click Start, and those Open and Explorer commands should
 be back in business. 

(Quick review: The Tweak UI PowerToy is on your Windows 98 installation CD,
 in the Tools\Reskit\Powertoy folder. To install it, right-click
 Tweakui.inf and select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its icon in
 Control Panel.)


*8. POP! GOES THE FOLDER LIST         
     
A reader, GenuWeb, asks, "Is there a way to have the Control Panel and
 Printers Start menu items act like other menus that display a pop-out list
 of all the items inside?" 

Yes, as long as you don't mind creating a couple of new Start menu folders.
 To work with Control Panel, right-click the Start button, select Open, and
 in the resulting Start Menu window, select File, New, Folder. Type 
 
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} 
 
(to name the folder), then press Enter. (Note that there's no space between
 the period and the open bracket.) 

To create a Printers folder, follow these exact steps, but name the folder 
 
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} 
 
And here's a bonus tip. To create a Dial-Up Networking folder,
 name the folder 
 
DUN.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} 
 
(Supposedly, you can create these folders without all of this typing from
 the Desktop tab of the Tweak UI PowerToy, but we couldn't get it to work
 on our system. Maybe you can.)


*9. OUT WITH THE INBOX         
     
A reader, B., writes, "How do you remove the Inbox icon from the desktop
 in Windows 98? There does not seem to be a way to delete it." 

Another stubborn desktop icon! Once again, the answer is Tweak UI. (Quick
 review: The Tweak UI PowerToy is on your Windows 98 installation CD, in
 the Tools\Reskit\Powertoy folder. To install it, right-click Tweakui.inf
 and select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its icon
 in Control Panel.) 

Open Tweak UI and select the Desktop tab. Under Special Desktop Icons,
 deselect Inbox, then click OK. That Inbox icon won't bother you again
 (unless you reselect it in Tweak UI).


*10. GIVE YOUR STARTUP THE BOOT         
     
A couple of months ago, we showed you how to display a startup menu every
 time you start Windows 98: Select Start, Run, type 
 
msconfig 
 
and press Enter to open the System Configuration Editor. On the General
 tab, click Advanced, select Enable Startup Menu, click OK twice, and then
 click Yes to restart your system. 

H. S. Cohen (and a number of other readers) wrote in to remind us that you
 can change the same setting using the Tweak UI PowerToy. (Quick review:
 The Tweak UI PowerToy is on your Windows 98 installation CD, in the
 Tools\Reskit\Powertoy folder. To install it, right-click Tweakui.inf and
 select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its icon in Control Panel.) 

Open Tweak UI and select the Boot tab. (You'll need to scroll over a bit to
 access this tab.) Select Always Show Boot Menu and click OK. The startup
 menu will now appear every time you start Windows 98. 

A special thanks to everyone who pointed out this alternative!
