Windows 9X Tips #20



*1. When What's New Is Old

Some applications add themselves to the Context menu's cascading
New menu that appears when you right-click on the Desktop or
within a folder. You may find that even after you've deleted
a particular application, it stays on the New menu. If you want
to remove it, launch My Computer, select Options from the View
menu and click on the File Types tab. Find the offending application
on the list, select it and click on the Remove button. Click on
Yes when it asks for confirmation.


*2. Dump Fonts Cautiously

Before you start deleting all those font files that make
your system boot slowly, make sure that Windows doesn't
need them. For example, you should not delete the following
fonts: Arial, Courier, Marlett, Modern, MS Sans Serif,
MS Serif (or any font with a name beginning with "MS"),
Small Fonts, Symbol and Times New Roman. Also, don't delete
any fonts that start with 8514 or VGA.

You may also have some hidden fonts that some application
installed and needs, so you don't want to delete them either.
To identify hidden fonts, open a DOS window and type
CD \Windows\Fonts to switch to the fonts directory. Type
DIR /AH and press Enter to see a list of hidden font files.


*3. Hide Secret Files

If you want to keep files-or even folders full of files-hidden
from prying eyes, just right-click on each file and select
Hidden in the Attributes box at the bottom of the Properties
dialog. To see the files you've hidden, double-click on My
Computer, select Options from the View menu, click on the View
tab and select Show All Files.


*4. Arrange It Your Way

When you select Details from the Windows Explorer's
View menu, you can sort the contents by Name, Size, Type 
or Modified (date and time). Here's a neat trick: You can 
rearrange the horizontal order of these items by dragging and 
dropping the header bars at the top of the Contents pane.


*5. You can manually extract files from your Windows CD or IE
setup CAB files, which can be very useful when your PC tells
you KERNEL32.DLL or another system file has been corrupted.
Win98's System File Checker (SFC.EXE in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
folder) can automatically fix some corrupted files for you.
But Win95 users can also make repairs using the DOS EXTRACT.EXE
tool (in the \WINDOWS\COMMANDS folder). Type EXTRACT /? from
a DOS window to view the syntax requirements and available
options for using this tool. For more detailed information,
see Microsoft's Web page "How to Extract Original Compressed
Windows Files" at
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q129/6/05.asp.


*6. Not-So-Private Properties

You can access Control Panel's Network, System and Display
Properties from the Desktop. Right-click on the Network
Neighborhood or My Computer icon and select Properties to
access the Network or System settings, respectively. Right-click
on the Desktop itself and select Properties to access the
Display Properties. To quickly access the Properties for any
object on the Desktop, hold the Alt key and double-click on
the object.


*7. Dump the Recycle Bin Prompt

If your Recycle Bin prompts you with the Are You Sure? message
whenever you put something in it-even after you've unchecked
the "Display delete confirmation dialog box" option in its
Properties screen-here's a fix: Place a shortcut to the
Recycle Bin in your C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder. To send something
to the Recycle Bin without receiving the warning, just
right-click on the file or folder and choose Send To/Recycle Bin.


*8. Specify Path to Windows 95/98

If you have loaded the files from your Windows CD locally or
on the network, use this setting to stop the prompt which asks
you to put in your Windows CD when loading new options.  This
setting will redirect the system to look in the directory where
the files are loaded instead of automatically looking to the
CD-ROM drive. To set this option, go to:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Edit/create the value "SourcePath" (String Value) and set the
value equal to the path where the Windows files are stored.

** this tip is for users who are familiar with the Registry Editor **


*9. Oust the Update Folder

When you install Internet Explorer 5 over Win9x, you'll find
a new folder called Windows Update Setup Files in your root
directory. This folder is filled with setup files that take
up between 10MB and 20MB of space on your hard disk. It's a
good idea to save them for a while after installing IE5 to
make sure it's running properly. That way, you won't have to
download the app again if you run into trouble and want to
reinstall. After using IE5 for a while without encountering
any problems, you can delete these files to regain the disk
space.


*10. Make Your Own Icons

Take any .BMP file, rename it to give it an .ICO extension,
and voila! Instant icon. You access the file in the normal way:
Right-click on the current icon for a shortcut, select Properties
from the Context menu, select the Shortcut tab and click on the
Change Icon button. Now use the Browse button to find your new one.
