Windows 98 Tips #31



*1. DELETE DOWNLOADED DESKTOP ELEMENTS YOU WON'T USE         
     
In recent tips, we've discussed how to find and use holiday-related 
desktop elements such as screen savers, desktop themes, and clipart. 
For example, you can search under a keyword like "Christmas" at 

http://www.pcworld.com/fileworld/0,1392,,00.html 

Without a doubt, you'll download and install some items that you'll 
later decide you don't like. And so, we'd like to offer one quick 
suggestion: Delete as you go. If you try something you don't like, 
ditch the *.zip (or *.exe) file it rode in on and any extracted files. 
Better still, use the uninstall program, if any, that came with the 
download. If you don't, you'll end up with lots of garbage on your 
system. And don't kid yourself--you'll never go back and search it out 
later.


*2. No More Space Warning

Constant warnings about low disk space on your Win98 PC can 
be annoying, especially if they refer to your host drive on a 
compressed disk. To get rid of the warning, open Disk Cleanup
(Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools) and click on the 
Settings tab. Deselect the check box labeled "If this drive 
runs low on disk space, automatically run Disk Cleanup," then 
click on OK.


*3. CONTROL WINDOWS FROM THE KEYBOARD         
     
Tired of dragging the mouse all the way up to the right corner of an 
open window to minimize, maximize, or close it? If you'd prefer to 
forget about those teeny-tiny caption buttons altogether, try these 
keyboard shortcuts instead: 

Press Alt-Spacebar and then press: 

N to minimize the active window 
X to maximize it 
R to restore it (from maximized view) 
C to close it 

(Tip-in-a-tip: As you may remember from a previous tip, you can also 
press Alt-F4 to close the active window.)


*4. MAKE CAPTION BUTTONS BIGGER         
     
In our last tip, we showed you the keyboard equivalents for caption 
buttons (the three buttons in the upper-right corner of an open 
window), for those of you who find them a bit small to grab on to: 

Press Alt-Spacebar and then press: 

N to minimize the active window 
X to maximize it 
R to restore it (from maximized view) 
C to close it 

Sticking by that mouse? Well then, make those caption buttons a bit 
more tolerable. Make them bigger. 

Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and click the Appearance 
tab. In the dropdown list under Item, scroll up and select Caption 
Buttons. Now just click the up arrow next to Size, watching the 
preview to see the change. (Two or three numbers up should do the 
trick.) Click OK to apply the change to your desktop. 

(Note: The Taskbar grows along with the caption buttons.)


*5. START YOUR OWN Y2K COUNTDOWN         
     
Want to know how many hours or seconds it is until the year 2000? You 
can display this information on your screen at any time by using a 
small freeware program called Millenium. Just point your browser at 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-w981228b%2C00.html 

and download Millenium.zip to your location of choice. Extract 
SysTray.ocx to your Windows\System folder, then use Millenium.exe to 
run the utility.


*6. Cool Close Trick

You can close a bunch of open programs, folders and documents 
all at once in Win98 and IE 4.0: Press and hold the Ctrl key, 
click on the taskbar icon of each program you want to close, 
then right-click on any one of them and select Close from the 
Context menu.


*7. CLEAR FIND LIST USING TWEAK UI         
     
Want to clear the Find list of stored searches from Find? (To view the 
list we're talking about, select Start, Find, Files Or Folders, then 
click the down arrow next to Named.) Start with a clean slate using 
the Tweak UI PowerToy. (You'll find a quick review on how to install 
Tweak UI below.) Open the Control Panel, double-click Tweak UI, and 
select the Paranoia tab. Select Clear Find Files History At Logon, 
click Clear Selected Items Now, then click OK. The next time you open 
Find and pull down the Named list, you'll find just what you'd 
expect--absolutely nothing. 

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 inside the Control Panel. 

Later editions of Windows 98 did not include the utility. If you don't 
have it, you can download Tweak UI-98 from File World at 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-w981129a%2C00.html


*8. CLEAR FIND LIST USING REGISTRY         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to clean out Find's list of stored 
searches using Tweak UI: Open the Control Panel, double-click Tweak 
UI, select the Paranoia tab, select Clear Find Files History At Logon, 
click Clear Selected Items Now, then click OK. (If you don't have 
Tweak UI on your system, check out the quick review near the end of 
this tip.) 

If you'd prefer, you can remove individual items from the list using 
the Registry Editor. (Note: As always, back up your Registry 
files--System.dat and User.dat, hidden files in your Windows 
folder--before proceeding.) 

Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing 

regedit 

and clicking OK. Navigate your way to 
HCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec 
MRU. In the right pane, right-click any entry you'd like to remove 
from the Find dialog box, select Remove, then click Yes to confirm. 
Close the Registry Editor. 

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 inside the Control Panel. 

Later editions of Windows 98 did not include the utility. If you don't 
have it, you can download Tweak UI-98 from File World at 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-w981129a%2C00.html


*9. TWEAK UI REBUILDS ICONS         
     
In our last tip, we showed you where to download Tweak UI if you don't 
have a Windows 98 installation CD--for example, if you have Windows 98 
SE or if Windows 98 was preloaded on your system. Point your Web 
browser at 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-w981129a%2C00.html 

and download tui98.zip. (Note: If you do have the CD, Tweak UI is in 
the tools\reskit\powertoy folder. To install it, right-click 
tweakui.inf and select Install. To open Tweak UI, double-click its 
icon inside the Control Panel.) Now that everyone has access to this 
neat utility, let's discuss some of the things it can do. 

In a previous tip, we showed you how to rebuild your desktop icons (or 
Quick Launch icons) if they don't look like they're supposed to. Well 
wouldn't you know, Tweak UI has a Rebuild Icons feature that might 
solve the problem in one easy step. (You'll have to try it and see.) 
Open Tweak UI and select the Repair tab. With Rebuild Icons selected, 
click Repair Now, then wait as Tweak UI does its thing. With any luck, 
those icons will be back to their old selves.


*10. TWEAK UI: SET DEFAULT SEARCH ENGINE FOR IE         
     
In a previous tip, we showed you where to download Tweak UI if you 
don't have a Windows 98 installation CD--for example, if you have 
Windows 98 SE or if Windows 98 was preloaded on your system. Point 
your Web browser at 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-w981129a%2C00.html 

and download tui98.zip, not tweakui.exe. (Note: If you do have the CD, 
Tweak UI is in the tools\reskit\powertoy folder. To install it, 
right-click tweakui.inf and select Install. To open Tweak UI, 
double-click its icon inside the Control Panel.) Now that everyone has 
access to this handy utility, we'll discuss some of the things it can 
do. 

First of all, did you know that you can type 

? keyword 

in the address bar of any Internet Explorer window to search under 
that keyword? If you didn't, then this is two tips in one. In any 
event, Tweak UI can help you customize this feature so that your 
favorite search engine does the searching. Inside Tweak UI, select the 
General tab. Next to Search Engine, click the down arrow, take your 
pick, then click OK. 

Don't see your favorite search engine? In our next tip, we'll show you 
how to use it anyway...