Neat Net Tricks Issue #110
September 15, 2001


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IN THIS ISSUE:

01. Fonts
02. Search bar
03. Eliminating shortcut arrows
04. Startup disk
05. Virtual Staplers
06. Teoma
07. Real Player persistence
08. SequoiaView
09. Veripost
10. ClockWatch
11. Full screen mode in Explorer
12. The last word

The tragedy this week has been foremost on everyone's mind.  
Although the attacks occurred on American soil, we know the 
pain is felt in the hearts of all our friends throughout the 
world.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those touched by 
these atrocities.  We pray, too, for our leaders who will be 
faced with some very difficult decisions in the days ahead.

. . . . . .

01. FONTS. If you have the space on your hard drive and want to 
install more fonts, you may find a wealth of them on the 
Windows98 CD. Install them through DOS. If you're not familiar 
with DOS, you get there from Win98 by clicking on Start|Run and 
entering "command" (without quotes) in the window. Or, another 
way is Start|Programs|ms:dos prompt. At the prompt, enter "cd\" 
(without quotes) to get to the root. Then you're ready to enter 
the following line exactly, again without the quotes, and 
assuming your CD is inserted in Drive E: "extract /A/L 
C:\Coolfont E:\Win98\Base4.Cab *.ttf" .

02. SEARCH BAR. This free utility at http://go.to/searchbar 
installs a handy search device to your desktop. It comes with 
six preconfigured major search engines but allows adding, 
removing, and editing others. Choose a default engine or tell 
Search Bar to remember the last one used. It will reside on top 
of your desktop or you can minimize it to your system tray.

03. ELIMINATING SHORTCUT ARROWS. If those arrows in your 
desktop shortcut icons bother you, there are a number of ways 
to eliminate them. But you might rethink, because the arrow 
serves as a notice that it is only a pointer to a program, not 
the program itself. Without the arrow you might inadvertently 
delete a program instead of simply a shortcut. But if you still 
would like to rid yourself of the arrow, it can be done with 
the popular application TweakUI or with a registry edit. A much 
simpler approach is to make the icon smaller, thereby hiding 
the arrow. Click on an empty space of your desktop, and in the 
Properties dialog box select Appearance and scroll down to Icon 
in the item box. Selecting a size of 30 or less hides the arrow 
and 31 or greater restores it.

04. STARTUP DISK. A startup disk is good insurance for your 
Windows 98, since it's not a matter of whether the system will 
fail, but when. If you have trouble starting Windows 98 even in 
Safe mode, you can use the startup disk to start your computer, 
run diagnostic programs, and fix many problems. Create your 
startup disk by going to Start|Settings|Control Panel|Add/Remove 
Programs. Click on the Startup Disk tab and insert a blank 
diskette. If prompted, you may need your Windows CD. Label this 
important disk and store it safely for possible future need.

. . . . . .

An in-depth topic twice monthly is yours in Neat Net Tricks 
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. . . . .  .

05. VIRTUAL STAPLERS. Every now and then, NNT includes sites 
that are just pure nonsense. If you have need for a "virtual 
stapler", these would once again prove that some people just 
have too much free time: http://www.virtualstapler.com and 
http://www.littlefreak.com .

06. TEOMA. Another search engine on the scene returns three 
categories of search: Web pages, Web pages by topic, and 
Best-Expert Link. Give it a try at http://www.teoma.com .

07. REAL PLAYER PERSISTENCE. Even though you disable the 
startup of Real Player in the more traditional manner 
(Start|Run, typing "msconfig" in the window, going to the 
StartUp tab and unclicking the application) you probably note 
it's back again on the next bootup. If you want to disable its 
persistent Start Center, with Real Player open, in Preferences 
go to the section Start Center, click on Settings, then Start 
Center Settings, and, finally, uncheck Enable Start Center.

08. SEQUOIA VIEW. Using a visualization technique it calls 
"cushion treemaps" SequoiaView at 
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/ examines your hard drive 
with a single picture and tells what directory is taking up 
most of the space. This free application helps locate those 
files you haven't accessed in a year and enables you to quickly 
pinpoint the space hogs.

09. VERIPOST. A free directory system at http://www.veripost.net
will give your friends, relatives, and business associates a way
to stay in touch with you when your email address changes. 
Veripost will provide them your new address; or, if you prefer, 
notify you so that you can directly contact your correspondent.

10. CLOCKWATCH. There are many applications that synchronize 
your PC clock with the extremely accurate atomic clock. None 
seem to be more comprehensive or smoothly integrated than 
ClockWatch, available for a free trial at http://beaglesoft.com .
Select intervals for adjustment and ClockWatch logs results and 
graphs out your PC accuracy (or, as is too often the case, 
inaccuracy). This 32-bit application connects to any of a large 
number of time servers on a Win95/98/ME/NT/2K OS and can be run 
from batch files or across a network. There are lots of display 
options, too, and the online documentation is fully adequate.

11. FULL SCREEN MODE IN EXPLORER. Hold down the Ctrl key when 
you click on the Maximize button (upper right corner) while in 
Windows Explorer. The window expands to its usual full screen, 
but the task bar disappears to provide more display.

12. THE LAST WORD. Proving that you really can have the last 
word, FinalThoughts at http://www.finalthoughts.com provides a 
filing cabinet for an annual subscription fee. In that storage 
bin you can file unlimited email messages for posthumous 
delivery. Access resources dealing with financial planning, 
care giving, funeral arrangements, grief & loss, spirituality 
and more. Your final words are then distributed when the person 
you designate authorizes the action with a prearranged password.

. . . . . .

Arthur Van Alstine of Elmira, New York, recommended Neat Net Tricks to a
friend and qualified for our monthly random drawing.  Arthur wins
QuicKeys 2.0, CE Software's One-Touch Control of Your PC.  Read about
QuicKeys at http://www.quickeys.com/products/qkwin.html .  When you
recommend NNT by simply clicking on "Recommend NNT" at the NNT Web site at
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com you'll be in line to win the next package,
worth $99.95. Thanks for the click, Arthur.  And have you ever won $100
worth of software more easily than this?

. . . . . .

NNT makes no endorsement or warranty, expressed or implied, 
with regard to featured products or services. Results may vary 
based on operating systems and other variables beyond 
our control.

. . . . . .

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Copyright 2001 by Jack Teems. All rights reserved. Neat Net 
Tricks is registered with the U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 
1533-4619.
