Windows 98 Tips #34



*1. DELETE MSN DESKTOP ICON         
     
Remember how, back in Windows 95, the MSN icon was stuck to the 
desktop like glue (unless you edited the Registry)? Not so in Windows 
98. To delete the Set Up The Microsoft Network icon from your desktop, 
right-click it, select Delete, then click Yes to confirm. 

(Note: You can always set up MSN by selecting Start, Programs, Online 
Services, The Microsoft Network.)


*2. BROWSE YOUR HARD DRIVE FROM INTERNET EXPLORER         
     
You're browsing the Web in an Internet Explorer window, and suddenly 
you want to look at something on your hard drive. Do you go back to 
the desktop and navigate your way there? Sure, if you like to take the 
long way around. For the most efficient route, try this: Select Go, My 
Computer (or press Alt-G, C), and there are your local drives. Now you 
can navigate your way to the folder you need, as you would inside any 
other Explorer window. 

(Tip: To jump directly to a folder other than My Computer, type the 
folder's path on Internet Explorer's Address bar, then press Enter.)


*3. MEET DR. WATSON         
     
Experiencing system faults? Don't call a Windows 98 support 
technician--yet. First, call Dr. Watson. This troubleshooting utility 
takes system snapshots--a "comprehensive picture of the present 
software environment"--that may be able to solve your problem. 

Select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information. 
In the System Information window, select Tools, Dr. Watson. Click the 
Dr. Watson icon that appears in the tray of your Taskbar, select Dr. 
Watson, and wait as this utility generates a system snapshot--with any 
luck, resulting in a diagnosis of the problem. Name and save the log 
file. 

Now go ahead and call that support technician. You've got a great 
resource to help him or her solve the problem.


*4. Use the Windows Policy Editor

Todd from Osage Beach wants to keep his 16 month old son out of the
control panel. Sounds like a good idea, Todd. Use the Windows Policy
Editor to lock him out. You'll find it on the Windows 98 CD in the
tools/reskit/netadmin/poledit folder. Install using the Windows
Add/Remove Programs control panel: click on the Windows setup tab,
click Have Disk... and navigate to the poledit folder on the CD. Once
you've installed it, select Run... from the Start menu and enter
poledit. You'll be able to create a new user (or use the default user)
and disable the control panel there. It won't disable all the control
panels, but will likely restrict the things you don't want your kids
getting into. You can also use TweakUI to hide various .cpl files - but
that will make them inaccessible to you as well.


*5. LOAD DR. WATSON AT STARTUP         
     
In our last tip, we introduced Dr. Watson, a Windows 98 
troubleshooting utility that takes snapshots of your system to help 
diagnose any problems you're having. Wouldn't it be nice if Dr. Watson 
would take a snapshot automatically when a system fault occurred? It 
will, as long as it's running. 

If you want to be sure that Dr. Watson is running all the time, place 
a shortcut to Drwatson.exe (located in your Windows folder) in your 
Startup folder. Then, it'll start whenever Windows 98 starts.


*6. Set Win98 Default Folder

Microsoft gave us a whole new way to do this in Windows 98. 
Follow the same steps as in the previous tip for Windows 95. 
Once you've got the C: drive folder the way you like it, 
choose View, Folder Options, and click the View tab. When 
you press the Like Current Folder button, you'll create the 
new default setting, which will be permanent (unless you hit 
the Reset All Folders button). You'll notice that when you 
deviate individual folders from these settings, those folders 
will retain the new settings if you have "Remember each folder's 
view settings" checked under Advanced settings.


*7. PICK A COLOR SCHEME         
     
Tired of that plain-Jane, blue-and-gray look of your Windows 98 world? 
Not to mention that sea-green desktop! For a quick burst of pizzazz, 
try out some of Windows 98's ready-made color schemes. 

Right-click the desktop and select Properties. Click the Appearance 
tab, then click the down arrow under Scheme and take your pick. 
(Selecting any scheme displays its preview at the top of the dialog 
box.) Continue selecting schemes until you find one that you like, 
then click OK to apply it to your desktop. 

(Note: To switch back to the default color scheme, select Windows 
Standard in the Scheme list.) 


*8. CREATE A CUSTOM COLOR SCHEME         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to change the color scheme of your 
Windows 98 desktop: Right-click the desktop, select Properties, click 
the Appearance tab, select a scheme in the dropdown list under Scheme, 
then click OK. Can't find a color scheme you like? Not a problem. 
Windows provides all the tools you need to make your own. 

Open the Display Properties dialog box and click the Appearance tab. 
One at a time, select an element under Item or click it in the preview 
box, then adjust its options--size, color, and so on. (The options you 
can adjust will vary depending on the desktop item you select.) Keep 
going until the preview displays the look you're after. 

To save the scheme for future use, click Save As, type a name for the 
scheme, and click OK. Otherwise, simply click OK to apply the scheme 
to your desktop.


*9. USE WEB PUBLISHING WIZARD TO PUBLISH PHOTOS ON WEB--PART 1 OF 2         
     
Want to publish your favorite photos on the Web? All you need are some 
*.gif or *.jpg files and access to a Web server (typically, through an 
ISP or LAN that allows you to set up your own Web site). Windows 98's 
Web Publishing Wizard does the rest. In today's tip, we'll show you 
how to get everything ready. 

Before you do anything, you'll need to get your photos onto your 
computer. If you have a scanner, scan the images and save them as 
*.gif or *.jpg files. If not, most photo development outfits can put 
photos on disk for you (typically, in the form of *.jpg files). As a 
third option, some photo outfits have Kodak scanners (they look like 
copy machines) that allow you to save a picture you scan to disk. 
Regardless of how you get the photos on your system, place all the 
images you want to publish in the same folder for convenience. 

The other thing you need to do is find out some specific information 
about your available Web server. You'll need to know the server's 
address (URL), and also the address that people will use to view your 
pages. 

Ready and set? In our next tip, we'll show you how to put those photos 
on the Web.


*10. USE WEB PUBLISHING WIZARD TO PUBLISH PHOTOS ON WEB--PART 2 OF 2         
     
In our last tip, we told you how to get ready to publish your favorite 
photos on the Web using the Web Publishing Wizard: Make sure the 
pictures are on your system as *.gif or *.jpg files, and gather 
information about the Web server to which you'll publish the photos 
(its address and the address people will use to view the pages). Now, 
let's put those photos on the Web. 

Select Start, Programs, Internet Explorer, Web Publishing Wizard. 
Click Next and type the path of the folder in which the image files 
are stored--or click Browse Folders, navigate your way to that file, 
and click OK. (If you only want to publish a single photo, you can do 
that too. Just click Browse Files, select the file, and click Open.) 
Click Next and type a name for your Web server, such as your ISP or 
LAN name. If applicable, click Advanced and select the protocol your 
service provider uses. 

Click Next and type the URL that people will use to access your 
pictures on the Web, such as 
"http://www.your-isp-name.com/~yourname/photos/." (The Local directory 
will already be filled in for you, based on your original folder or 
file selection.) Click Next, and if you aren't online already, the 
wizard will attempt to connect you. Based on the protocol you selected 
previously, you'll be asked to enter information about your Web 
server. For example, we were asked to enter the FTP server name. Click 
Next, click Finish, and the wizard publishes your files! Surf over to 
the correct address and see for yourself! 

Want to put captions under your photos? Then you'll need to create 
HTML pages. In our next series of tips, we'll show you how to do that 
using FrontPage Express.
