Windows 98 Tips #43


----------------------------------------------

TipWorld - http://www.tipworld.com
The Internet's #1 Source for Computer Tips, News, and Gossip

Proudly presents:
The Windows 98 Tip of the Day

----------------------------------------------

*1. MISSING PROPERTIES DIALOG BOX         
     
Have you ever opened a Properties dialog box--for example, by 
right-clicking the desktop and selecting Properties--switched to 
another window, and then come back to the desktop, only to discover 
that the Properties box is gone? Chances are, you clicked the Show 
Desktop icon (on the Quick Launch toolbar) or pressed Windows-D. 
Either way, you're asking Windows 98 to reveal the desktop, meaning it 
sends all open windows to the Taskbar and any open Properties boxes 
off to oblivion. 

Or so it seems. To reveal that hiding Properties box, press Alt-Tab to 
display all open windows. Still holding Alt, press Tab repeatedly 
until the icon representing the missing Properties box is highlighted 
(you'll know by the names at the bottom of the box). Release the keys, 
and there's that Properties box.


*2. USE BROWSER WINDOW IMAGE AS WALLPAPER         
     
Did you just come across a great picture while browsing the Web in 
Internet Explorer? Slap it on the desktop as desktop wallpaper. 
Right-click the graphic, select Set As Wallpaper, and there's that 
picture. 

(Tip: If you currently have the Tiled option selected on the 
Background tab of the Display Properties dialog box, that's the way 
the image will appear. Most likely, you'll want to change this setting 
to Centered or Stretched.) 


*3. USE FIND TO LOCATE ALL EXECUTABLE FILES         
     
Doing a little Start menu or Desktop reorganization? How about using 
Find to locate all the executable files on your system? Then you can 
sort through them and select the ones you want to work with (and even 
drag them from the Find window to a new folder). 

Select Start, Find, Files Or Folders. On the Name & Location tab of 
the Find window, type 

*.exe 

on the Named line. Make sure the drive you want Find to search is 
selected on the Look In line. Click the Find Now button, and Find 
locates every executable file.


*4. CHANGE QUICK LAUNCH TOOLBAR INTO PALETTE         
     
Do you have so many shortcuts on your Quick Launch toolbar that they 
aren't all visible at once? For one-click access to all of them, turn 
this toolbar into a floating palette. 

Click the vertical bar on the left edge of the Quick Launch toolbar, 
drag the entire toolbar to a new location on your desktop, and release 
the mouse button. And don't worry--you aren't stuck with that huge 
resulting window. Resize it as you would any window--hold your mouse 
pointer over any corner, and when the pointer changes to a 
double-pointed arrow, click and drag in either direction. Move the 
palette to any location on screen, and you've got one-click access to 
all shortcuts inside. 

(Tip-in-a-tip: If you want to make sure your Quick Launch palette 
doesn't get buried by other windows, right-click its title bar and 
select Always On Top.) 

Want your toolbar back? We'll show you how to return it to the Taskbar 
in our next tip.


*5. CHANGE QUICK LAUNCH PALETTE INTO TOOLBAR         
     
In our last tip, we showed you how to change your Quick Launch toolbar 
into a floating palette: Click the vertical bar on its left edge, drag 
the entire toolbar bar to a new location on your desktop, and release 
the mouse button. From there, you can size or move the palette, just 
as you would any other window. 

Just decide you like the toolbar better? In a few quick steps, you can 
put it right back where it started. Click the palette's title bar and 
drag it downward until it expands to the full width of the screen 
(across the top of the Taskbar). Release the mouse button, and the 
toolbar jumps down to its original form--but on the right side of the 
Taskbar. 

To move the toolbar next to the Start button, hold your mouse pointer 
over the bar's left edge, and when the pointer changes to a 
double-pointed arrow, click and drag the bar to the left. When your 
mouse pointer is just to the right of the Start button, the Quick 
Launch toolbar will jump into place there. 

(To get everything back in perfect order, you'll need to resize the 
other toolbars on the Taskbar. As a quick review, hold your mouse 
pointer over a toolbar's left edge, then click and drag in either 
direction.)


*6. HOT KEY ACCESS TO APPLICATION         
     
Want to open your favorite application on the fly? Create a hot key to 
it, and you can open it from anywhere with the press of a keyboard 
combo. 

Right-click the shortcut you use to open the application, then select 
Properties. Click the Shortcut tab and click inside the text box next 
to Shortcut Key. Type the letter you'd like to use in combination with 
Ctrl-Alt to open the program (Windows 98 fills in the Ctrl-Alt part). 
For example, you could type "W" to stand for Microsoft Word. Click OK, 
and from now on, pressing Ctrl-Alt-W launches Word.


*7. CHANGE DEFAULT AUDIO CD PLAYER         
     
Want to change the utility that plays your audio CDs? You won't need 
to go anywhere near the Registry to make this change. Audio CD is one 
of the file types in the list of registered types. Just change its 
association to match the program you want to use. 

Inside any Explorer window, select View, Folder Options. Click the 
File Types tab, select Audio CD in the list of Registered File Types, 
and then click the Edit button. Select the Play action and click the 
Edit button. Under Application Used To Perform Action, type the path 
of the program you'd like to use to play audio CDs, followed by a 
space and /play. For example, if you wanted to use FlexiCD, you would 
type 

C:\WINDOWS\FlexiCD.exe /play 

Click OK, then click Close twice. The next time you pop in an audio 
CD, your program of choice goes to work. 


*8. CHANGE COLOR AROUND ICON LABELS         
     
Want to change the color that Windows 98 uses around your icon 
labels--for example, if the color doesn't blend with the wallpaper you 
selected? This color is determined behind the scenes by the current 
desktop color. 

Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and in the Display 
Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab. Under Item, select 
Desktop, if it isn't already selected, then choose your color in the 
dropdown palette under Color. Click OK, and the boxes around your 
desktop icon labels will take on a new hue. 

(Note: If you don't see the change right away, you may need to 
right-click the desktop and select Refresh.)


*9. DISPLAY AND EXPAND STATUS BAR         
     
P. Chamberlain writes, "How do I make Windows Explorer show the disk 
free space information at the bottom of the window--for example, 180KB 
(Disk free space: 9.22GB)?" 

Pull down the View menu and make sure you see a check mark next to 
Status Bar. If not, select this option to display the status bar at 
the bottom of your Explorer window. If you STILL can't see the disk 
free space information, your Explorer window is too narrow. Hold your 
mouse pointer over the window's left or right edge, and when the 
pointer changes to a double-pointed arrow, click and drag to make the 
window wider. As you do, the free space information will appear in the 
center of the status bar.


*10. SORT CONTENTS OF START MENU FOLDER (FOR IE 5.X USERS)         
     
Want to alphabetize a folder inside your Start menu? Assuming you have 
Internet Explorer 5.0 or beyond installed, it's a snap. 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 all 
non-folder shortcuts at that level will be sorted alphabetically.
