Windows 9X Tips #17


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

If you like Tip of the Day please share it with friends and 
co-workers, and encourage them to sign up! It's free. You can
unsubscribe or change your e-mail address at any time.

To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this newsletter:
* Use your browser to visit our Newsletter Subscription Center:
  http://www.winmag.com/subscribe/
* Scroll down to the Tip of the Day section.
* Click "Choose an option," and select Subscribe or Unsubscribe.
* Scroll to the top of the page, and type your e-mail address 
  in the "E-mail" field.
* Click the Submit button below your e-mail address.

Copyright 2000 CMP Media Inc. A service of Winmag.com.
http://www.winmag.com/

Distributed by MessageMedia Inc. - http://www.messagemedia.com

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

*1. Double Vision

You can set a dual-pane view as your default Explorer view by
 opening any folder and choosing View/Options (or View/Folder
 Options under IE 4.0 or Windows 98). Under the File Types tab,
 select the Folder item from the Registered File Types list and
 click on the Edit button. Highlight Explore in the Actions
 window, click on the Set Default button and hit OK twice. If you
 ever want to reverse the setting, follow the same steps, but
 highlight Open instead of Explore.


*2. Locate Your Desktop

Use the Run command line to get fast access to your Desktop.
 Select Start/Run, type a period in the command line and hit
 Enter. Your WINDOWS\DESKTOP folder will open instantly.


*3. Send It to My Desktop

You can also use the previous tip to hasten objects to your own
 Desktop. Follow the same steps above, but point the new shortcut
 to your local WINDOWS\DESKTOP directory. Then click on the Next
 button in the Create Shortcut Wizard dialog box, name the
 shortcut Desktop and click on Finish. (Note: By default, this
 Send To operation moves items; if you're using it from a
 different drive than the one your Desktop is stored on, Windows
 9x copies the objects.)


*4. A Dialog for All Drives

Here's an easy way to view the properties for multiple hard
 drives all at once. Open My Computer and select all your hard
 drives by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each drive.
 Next, right-click on any one of the drives and choose Properties
 from the Context menu that appears; Windows will create a single
 dialog with tabs for each drive. It also works for floppy,
 removable and mapped network drives.


*5. Sound Off

Did the little yellow speaker that controls audio volume
 disappear from your taskbar's system tray? If so, open the
 Multimedia Control Panel. Under the Audio tab, check the "Show
 volume control on the taskbar" option in the Playback section
 (in Win98, the option is at the bottom of the dialog box). Click
 on OK, and the yellow speaker should return. If  not, try
 reinstalling your audio driver and then repeat these steps.


*6. One-Minute Life Saver

Prepare for possible PC catastrophes by regularly copying the
 following files to a second hard drive, removable hard disk or
 diskette-especially if you frequently install and uninstall
 applications. From your root directory (you may find only some
 of these), back up AUTOEXEC.BAT, AUTOEXEC.DOS, CONFIG.SYS,
 CONFIG.DOS and MSDOS.SYS. From your Windows folder, back up
 CONTROL.INI, SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI, as well as the SYSTEM.DAT
 and USER.DAT Registry files (SYSTEM.DAT probably won't fit on a
 floppy disk).


*7. Little-Known Keyboard Commands

To expand all the subfolders of a selected drive in Windows
 Explorer, press the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad (this
 could take a while if the directory has lots of folders in it).
 But watch out-there's no easy way to collapse them again.


*8. Little-Known Keyboard Commands

To restore the default column widths in the Details view of any
 folder window and many program or applet windows, press Ctrl and
 the plus sign (+) key on the numeric keypad.


*9. Connect SCSI Devices Without

SCSI hardware such as scanners and tape backup devices often
 require you to reboot your system before using them. But
 sometimes you can force Win9x to recognize such devices right
 after you plug them in. Right-click on My Computer and choose
 Properties. Click on the Device Manager tab, make sure the
 Computer entry is highlighted and click on the Refresh button.
 The device should appear under its appropriate heading in
 Device Manager.


*10. Direct Route to Documents

Add a folder to the Start menu that holds all the documents you
 use frequently. Right-click on the Start button and choose Open.
 Then right-click on the folder background, choose New/Folder and
 give the new folder a name, like Hot Docs. For permanent
 documents in other folders, drag and drop shortcuts into the new
 folder. Or just copy or create new documents right in the Hot
 Docs folder. Either way, all you'll have to do is click on Start
 and open the Hot Docs folder to access your most important files.
