Bumper Collection of Window

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Article ID: 835831 - Last Review: July 8, 2008 - Revision: 3.5

B um per co l l ec t i on o f W i n dow s t i ps and t r i c ks

T he a r t i cl es se t ou t b e l ow a r e a r t i cl es cr ea t ed and / o r p r od uc ed by Fu t u r e P ub l i sh i ng L i m i t ed . M i cr os o f t i s no t

r espons ib le fo r t he con t en t , accuracy o r op in ion s expressed i n th ese a r t i c l es .

In this article well show you how to speed up Windows,

streamline Windows for better performance, clean up Windows to prevent crashes and much, much more. Looking to spend

less time on mundane tasks and more time actually doing something constructive? We reveal some super time-saving

shortcuts thatll make you happy. Having problems with certain parts of Windows? We reveal the solutions. Want to make

more of the Internet? Weve got a healthy dose of Internet Explorer tips thatll tickle your fancy.

Disab le your screen saver

It can be annoying if you forget to switch off the Windows screen saver when youve just startedan important task, such as running Defrag or copying a large number of files from one disk toanother. Dont worry, though, you can temporarily disable it simply by making sure the Startmenu is open.

Bypass Wind ow s Media P layer

If you have a lot of multimedia fi les in a directory, you wont want Windows Media Player to openeach time you access them. To get around this, right-click inside the folder, select Customize thisfolder and then choose Create or edit HTML document. Click Next, and Notepad will open, thenlocate the line saying var wantMedia = False; change the False; to True; and close NotePad,saving your changes. Finish the wizard, and then to open media files, just right-click on themand select Play.

Use the t oo lbar

To quickly access programs you use regularly, use the toolbar. Right-click on it, and selectToolbars, New Toolbar. From the dialog box, browse to the directory the file is in, and select thefile. If the program is in the Start Menu the folder you require is C:\Windows\Startmenu.

Speed-up Windows

er collection of Windows tips and tricks http://support.microsoft.com/k

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Generated by Foxit PDF Creator Foxit Softwarehttp://www.foxitsoftware.com For evaluation only.


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Fast copy i n Exp lorer

In a dual-pane Explorer view, if youre dragging a file or folder from the right pane to a buriedfolder in the left pane, you dont need to expand the folders first. Select the files or folders youwant to copy, drag them to the left pane, and hold them over the contracted folder for a secondor two. The folder will expand automatically, so you can drop the files into the folder or continuedrilling down until you reach your desired location.

Quick access w i t h QuickTray

The QuickTray tool sits in your system tray and gives you an easy way to put other applicationson your taskbar. Click on QuickTray to launch it, and use the Add button to add any program. Theicon for each program you select will be placed to the right of the Start button, enabling you tolaunch the program at any time with a single click on the icon.

V i ew i m a g e t h u m b n a i l s

One of the many excellent new features in Windows 98 is used you view open folders as Webpages - if you havent done this, select My Computer, View, As Web Page. In the left-hand paneyou'll be able to see a small thumbnail of any image icon that you have clicked on with themouse pointer.

Unfortunately, some JPEGs dont show up, because JPEGs come in two types RGB and CMYK and Windows 98 can read only RGB. One way around this is to use your favourite graphicsprogram to convert your CMYK JPEGs to the RGB format.

Not so fas t

Windows 98s WinAlign feature speeds up application launches by placing key files on the fastpart of the disk during a defrag; it also re-writes programs so that they use memory moreefficiently. What you may not know is that only applications that have specifically been designedto work with WinAlign, such as Microsofts Office, are supported by the feature.

You can find out exactly which files are boosted by WinAlign by checking your WINALI.INI file in

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM. You can try adding programs, DLLs and other files to this list to tellWindows 98 to WinAlign them, but they may or may not work. If youre going to addunsupported applications, though, make sure you back up your system first.

Select f i les fas t

If you've opened up a large directory and want to copy, for example, 95 fi les out of 100, thequickest way to do this is to select the five you dont want using [Ctrl], then choose Edit, InvertSelection.

Add th e da te and t im e to a No tepad docum ent

To quickly insert the current date and time in Notepad, just press [F5].

Resta r t W indow s as qu ick l y as poss ib le

To bypass the Shutdown dialog box, create a batch file in Notepad. To do this, create a new fileand enter the text @Exit on the top l ine. Save it into a folder called Batch files as something likeshutdown.bat. Next, exit Notepad and right-click your .bat file and select Properties. Switch tothe Program tab, select Close on Exit and click on Advanced. Next, choose MS-DOS mode anduncheck Warn before entering MS-DOS mode. Click OK. Now, to quickly restart Windows, justdouble-click on this program (another good idea is to create a shortcut to this program and storeit on the desktop or in your Start folder).

Easi ly access the Device Manager


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If you regularly use the Device Manager, you can create a speedy little shortcut to it, and put iton your desktop. Just right click on the desktop and select New, Shortcut. In the command box,type C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE SYSDM.CPL,,1. Now call the shortcut Device Manager.

Faster Qui ckv iew

This enables you to quickly Quickview any file, but it's not installed by default. Go to ControlPanel, select Add/Remove Programs and select Windows Components, Accessories. SelectQuickview. You can then also make a shortcut to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\

VIEWERS\QUIKVIEW.EXE on the desktop, and just drag and drop files on it.

Take cont ro l o f Exp lor er

To quickly open all folders in Explorer, press [*] on the numeric keypad. To collapse them all,just press [-] on the numeric keypad.

Se l e ct o p e n w i n d o w s

You probably know how to use [Alt] + [Tab] to cycle through open applications before basically you hold down [Alt] and press [Tab] to rotate between applications. Now discover howto do a similar thing, this time with the Taskbar.

To cycle between items on the Taskbar, hold down [Alt] as shown above, but this time use [Esc]to move between different Taskbar items as each item is highl ighted, so any correspondingwindows are brought to the top of the open-window pile. This rotation also includes openwindows that dont appear on the Taskbar, such as the Display Properties box.

Sh u t d o w n w i t h o u t a cc es si n g t h e S t a r t m e n u

To quickly select the Shutdown dialog box from the desktop, just close all Windows and press[Alt] + [F4].

Clear t he Document s l i s t

Clearing the Documents list in the Start menu can be time consuming, but you can just as easily

create a batch file to do the job with a simple double-click. Fi rst, create a new file in Notepad andenter the following two lines:

ECHO OFFECHO Y|DEL C:\WINDOWS\RECENT\*.*

Now save the file into your Batch files folder and call it something like cleardoc.bat. QuitNotepad, locate the file and create a shortcut to it, which you can then place on the desktop or inyour Start menu for easy access. Right-click the new shortcut, switch to the Program tab, andselect Close On Exit. On the same tab, under Run, select Minimised, then click OK.

Rename f i l es qu ick l y

You know that clicking once on a file, then clicking on it again enables you to rename that file.

You may also know how easy it is to accidentally double-click the file and launch it with thismethod. Instead, click once on the file and then just press [F2] to rename it.

How t o bypass t he Recycle B in

If you're absolutely 100 per cent convinced that you no longer need a file, right-click on it whileholding down [Shift] and select Delete to skip past the Recycle Bin - this will permanently deletethe file.

If youre feeling particularly brave, you can bypass the Recycle Bin by default just right-click onthe Recycle Bin and click on Properties. Select 'Do Not Move Files To The Recycle Bin. RemoveFiles Immediately Upon Delete' and click OK.


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M i n i m i s e w i n d o w s w i t h t h e k e y bo a r d

Do you want to quickly hide all those open windows without using the mouse? Just use thefollowing key combination: [Ctrl] + [Esc], then press [Esc] followed by [Alt] + [M].

Po w e r u p t h e Co n t e x t m e n u

What do you do if you open files of the same type in different applications, such as text files?You can easily add an option to the file types context menu.

In this example, were going to make it possible for you to open .txt files in WordPad using thecontext menu. First, open any Explorer window and select View, Options.

Switch to the File Types tab, scroll through the list of registered file types and select TextDocument. Hit the Edit button, then click New. In the text box under Action, type the commandname that will appear in the context menu, such as Open with WordPad.

Next, click Browse and go to Program Files\Accessories\. Select Wordpad.exe and hit Open. ClickOK to exit the New Action dialog box, and you'll see the new command in the Actions list. ClickClose twice. Now whenever you right-click on a .txt file youll be given the option to open it inWordPad.

The Windows desktop is where you do most of your work. Heres a selection of juicy tips andtitbits to make it more productive.

Improve your desktop


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Bigger scro l lba rs

If you have difficulty grabbing on to your windows scrollbars, make them bigger. Right-click onthe desktop and select Properties. Switch to the Appearance tab and select Scrollbar from thedrop-down list under Item. Adjust the Size (just to the right of the Item field), using the previewwindow to help you, then click OK.

Organ ise your shor tcu t s

Shortcuts cluttering up your desktop? What you need to do is put them into a single folder on thedesktop or Start menu. To place the shortcuts in a Start menu folder right-click on the Startbutton and select Open. In the Start Menu window choose File, New Folder, then right-click thenew folder, select Rename and give a suitable name for the folder. Then, hold [Ctrl] to selectyour shortcuts and drag the selection into the new folder.

Organ ise open w in dow s

Its easy to view open windows side by side, without having to manually re-size them yourself.Right-click on a blank area of the Taskbar and select Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically. All openwindows will then shrink down and line up side by side. Undo your change by right-clicking theTaskbar and selecting Undo Tile.

Clean up t ha t desk t op

Lots of icons cluttering up your desktop? Right-click on the desktop and select Properties. Clickthe Appearance tab, open the Item drop-down menu, and select Icon. Now change the size from32 to 16.

Remove under l i n ing

To eliminate underlined folders on the desktop, open the Start menu, and go to Settings, FolderOptions. Switch to the General tab, choose Custom and click on Settings. Locate the optionSingle-click to open an item [point to select], and switch on Underline icon titles only when Ipoint at them.

Chan ge Qui ck Laun ch icons

You can change the icons of programs in Quick Launch by browsing to C:\WINDOWS\APPLICATION DATA\ MICROSOFT\INTERNET EXPLORER\ QUICK LAUNCH. You will find that thereare .SCF files instead of normal shortcuts. Just open one with Notepad, and change IconFile= toyour own choice of icon.

Eject CDs proper l y

Right-click your CD drive letter and select Eject for a quick way to remove CDs. As a bonus, italso removes any icons that have become associated with the CD drive.

Cont ro l l ogon set t i n gs

If your PC serves multiple users and you want to prevent people from inadvertently creatingmultiple log-on names for themselves, use Microsoft Family Logon. It presents a list of allpreviously created log-on names for that PC. Users must choose from that list and cant create anew log-on name.

To set it up, open the Network Control Panel, swi tch to the Configuration tab and click on Add.Double-click on Client, select Microsoft from the left pane and then double-click on MicrosoftFamily Logon in the right. From the same tab, click on the down arrow next to the PrimaryNetwork Logon field and select Microsoft Family Logon from the drop-down menu. Click OK.

Keep Taskbar v i sib le


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If you find the Taskbar constantly getting covered up by apps, open the Start menu, go toSettings, Taskbar and check Always on top.

Ret r ieve Show Desk top

If you accidentally delete the Show Desktop shortcut from the taskbars Quick Launch toolbar,heres how to restore it. Open up a new text file in your favourite text editor and enter thefollowing:[Shell] Command= IconFile=explorer.exe,3[Taskbar]

Command=ToggleDesktop

Select Save as, browse to C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\ Microsoft\Internet Explorer\QuickLaunch and name the file as ShowDesktop.SCF, and your Show Desktop shortcut should berestored.

Resto re Desktop as shor t cut icon

If the Desktop As Shortcut icon is missing from your SendTo menu, heres how to restore it.Open C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO and right-click on the folders background. Choose New, TextDocument and rename the new file Desktop as Shortcut.DESKLINK (click on Yes when therename-warning dialog opens).

Drag and drop cor rect ly

Its easy to become confused in Windows about whats going to happen when you drag and dropa file. Thats because the operating system has context-sensitive defaults for copying and movingobjects. Our advice is simple: use the right-mouse button for all drag-and-drop operations. Whenyou do, Windows displays a context menu that enables you to choose whether to Copy, Move orCreate a Shortcut in the new location.

Disab le th e Ac t i ve Desk top

If you want to save on resources disable the Active Desktop. If you get your hands on the newversion of TweakUI for Windows 98 (its on the Windows 98 CD, unless you have the SecondEdition, in which case it has been removed), you can access new features.

Switch to the IE4 tab, and uncheck Active Desktop Enabled and Allow changes to Active Desktop.Now, Web sites and other PC users cannot enable it by mistake.

Ch a n g e t h e T as k b ar w i t h o u t r e st a r t i n g

If you make a change to the Taskbar in the Registry, you can enable the change withoutrestarting. Hold down [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del], and double click on Explorer. Say Yes to closeExplorer, but No to closing Windows. This will refresh the Taskbar and system tray.

Sh u t d o w n b l u e s

If the computer crashes and you cannot bring up the close program box using [Ctrl] + [Alt] +[Del], try pressing [Ctrl] + [Esc] instead. This may bring up the Start Menu, and enable you toshut down nice and safely as opposed to having to press the reset button.

Banish those s tar tup er ror messages

If you start the computer and get an error message saying that Windows could not find a file,dont panic! Do a search for the file using Windows Find function, and if you find it, copy it to

Troubleshooting andmaintaining Windows


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the Windows and System directories. If your search is fruitless, do a search on your Windows CDfor the file see the walkthrough below on how to find and restore individual files from yourWindows CD.

If youre unsuccessful, and Windows boots up fine apart from displaying that error message,select Run from the Start menu and type regedit [Return]. In Regedit, search for the file if youfind a reference to it, export that Registry key somewhere easily accessible, and then delete it.

Now open up system.ini from the Windows directory into Notepad, and search for the file again.

If you find any references to it then save the file as system.bak, prefix the reference with asemi-colon to disable it, and save the file as system.ini. Re-boot, and the error message shouldbe gone. If you experience further problems, restore the Registry key from within Regedit andrename system.bak to system.ini, then things should work as they did before you made thechanges.

Missin g dev ice f i les

If your missing file is a device file, with a .vxd extension, then try removing and reinstalling therelevant driver. This should fix the problem.

I ssues w i th ScanD isk

If ScanDisk finds errors on your drive it wil l ask you if you want to save them. Always say yes,because it could contain vital information. Now go into the root directory of your hard drive and,using Notepad, open any files like FILE000.CHK. If the information looks important, keep it,otherwise, free the disk space and delete it.

Unfreeze those system lock ups

Sometimes your PC wil l lock up for no apparent reason. Before you re-boot your system entirely,there's one last hope try ending the current task. To do this, hold down [Ctrl] + [Alt] +[Delete] to bring up the Close Program dialog box. What you should find is that the program ortask that is causing the problems is accompanied by a Not Responding message. Select that taskand click the End Task button if your mouse isnt working, use [Tab] to cycle between theoption buttons, and hit [Return] when End Task is highlighted..

After a few seconds (be patient!) a separate End Task dialog will pop up, explaining again thatthe program is not responding. Click End Task again and hopefully Windows will shut down thetask and start working again properly. If not, then youll have to force your PC to re-boot.

Clean up a f ter yourse l f

Even if you've uninstalled a program, some remnants can be left on your system. You can use adedicated commercial uninstall utility like AShampoo Uninstaller (see www.ashampoo.com) tohelp you tidy up after yourself, or you can take your own steps to ensure the perfectuninstallation.

First, the uninstall util ity may throw up warnings about shared files. Any that are situated in theprograms own folder are safe to delete by clicking Yes; any that are situated in the Windows

folder can be left alone by clicking No. Once the uninstall process is complete, its time to seewhats been left behind. First, check the programs folder to see if any remnants have been leftbehind. Then open the Start, Programs menu to see if its entries have been left behind right-click any lingering entries and choose Delete to get rid of them.

Finally, you need to clean out the Registry, but before you begin, take note that when you makealterations to the Windows Registry youre actually making changes to core parts of Windows. Ifyou alter or delete the wrong key you could cause problems with Windows itself. In some rarecases you might find yourself unable to start Windows again, so its important that you alwaysback up all your data before you start making changes.

When you come to make changes to a particular Registry key, use the Registry Editors back-up


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tools to make a copy of the key in its current state before you proceed by selecting Registry >Export Registry File Should you ever need to restore this backup you can do so by doubleclicking the back-up file. Registry editing can then be done manually, but its easier to press anifty free tool called EasyCleaner into service. Download your free copy fromwww.majorgeeks.com/download414.html and install it. Click the Registry button, followed byFind to scour your system for redundant Registry entries. Remove any that refer to your recentlyuninstalled program and the process should be complete.

Resto re t he Recyc le B in

Its hard to do in theory but it is possible. If you lose your Recycle Bin icon, fear not. SelectRun from the Start menu and type in regedit [Return] to launch the Registry Editor.

Navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace. In the left pane, right-click the NameSpace key and select New,Key. Now type the following, exactly as its written (all on one line, and with no spaces):{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and press [Return].

In the right pane, right-click on (Default) and select Modify. In the resulting Edit String dialogbox, on the Value data line, type Recycle Bin (or whatever you want to call it) and click OK. CloseRegedit, click the desktop once, press [F5] to refresh it, and your Recycle Bin icon should berestored to all its former glory.

Empt y tha t Tem p fo lde r

Keep a close eye on your Windows\Temp files folder by all accounts it should be completelyempty, but fi les do get left behind. Check it regularly, just after youve started up Windows, anddelete anything you find inside it.

Update your d r i ve rs

When was the last time you checked the Internet for driver updates? A year ago? Never? Nowsthe time to go on-line and download the latest drivers for your hardware youll benefit fromless bugs and may even notice more speed.

So lve p r in t i n g p roblems

Got a problem with your printer? Let the Enhanced Printing Troubleshooter guide you towards thesolution. This troubleshooter is standard in Windows 98 access it from Help index.

Clean up t he Add / Remove Programs l i s t

There are two ways to gently banish unwanted entries from the Add/Remove Programs list. Thefirst is easiest use the likes of TweakUI or TweakAll. In TweakUI, switch to the Add/Removetab, select the offending item(s) and click Remove followed by Yes.

The other way is to delve into the Registry. Open Regedit and navigate toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Uninstall. In the left pane,expand the Uninstall key, right-click the item in question and select Delete. Click Yes to confirm,

and that item is off icially off the list. Repeat this step for all unwanted items, then close Regeditat the end.

Stop your PC f rom go ing on - l i n e

If your PC is insisting on trying to log on to the Internet every time you boot it up, open up theInternet Control Panel and switch to the Connection tab. Assuming youre connected to a modem,make sure that the panel is set to Connect to the Internet using a modem, and click the Settingsbutton immediately to its right. In the check boxes at the bottom of the next screen, make surethat Connect automatically to update subscriptions is unchecked. Your problems should now besolved.


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Messed-up Regis t ry

Weve told you about backing up your Registry, but what happens if your Registry has messed upto the point that Windows refuses to load? Before you reinstall Windows, try the following: First,boot your PC from your emergency boot disk, then enter the following commands, following eachwith [Return]:

C:CD \Windows

attrib -r -h -s system.datattrib -r -h -s system.da0ren system.dat system.badren system.da0 system.datattrib -r -h -s user.datattrib -r -h -s user.da0ren user.dat user.badren user.da0 user.dat

This will restore your Registry settings to those used the last time that Windows successfullyloaded.

Can t de le t e f i l es

If you come across files in Windows that refuse to be deleted, youll probably find that theycontain il legal characters that arent recognised by DOS or Windows. What youll find is thatWindows replaces that character with an underscore one (_), but then fails to recognise that filewhen you try to do anything with it, like moving or deleting it.

To solution is to delete the file without referring to those illegal characters. Open up a DOSwindow and change directory to the directory in which the file is in using the CD command. Whatyou need to do is use wildcards special characters that tell Windows to ignore the illegalcharacter, enabling you to delete it. For example, if you have a fi le called _play.txt, youd needto enter the command DEL ?play.txt to delete it. Alternatively use the command REN to renamethe file so you can access it again, and use the command DELTREE to delete folders.

Replace m issing f i les

If your PC refuses to boot because it claims that files are missing, it could be that your Windowsinstallation isnt complete. To resolve this, run setup.exe from your Windows CD and chooseVerify when prompted to.

Uncover h idden f i l es

You may lose system files like autoexec.bat and msdos.sys, which should be found in the rootdirectory of your boot disk or somewhere in the Windows folder. If you cant find them, chancesare that Windows has been set up to hide them. To reverse this process, open up My Computerand select View, Folder Options. Switch to the View tab, and then scroll down to the optionmarked Show all Files. Make sure its selected, then finally click OK to finish.

Creat e a safe t y net

You know how easy it is to accidentally alter or delete vital files. To protect your files from suchmishaps, set them to read-only by right-clicking on the file, selecting Properties, then switchingto the General tab and making sure the Read-only box is checked under File Attributes.

ScanDisk r epea t ing i t se l f

If ScanDisk tells you that you have cross-linked clusters in various offers, offers to fix them, fixesthem and then repeats the process next time you boot up, fret not. Press [F8] as the StartingWindows message appears, and select the option Command Prompt only. Now run SCANDISKunder the DOS prompt to sort out the problem once and for all.


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Forgo t t en passwords

Forgotten your Windows logon password? Dont worry, Windows only uses these passwords toidentify individual users so it can customise various settings. Thankfully, getting round aforgotten password isnt a problem. Open the Find Files or Folders icon in the Start Menu, andsearch your boot drive for files with the PWL extension. You do this by entering *.pwl in the boxmarked Named: and hitting the Find Now button. These files youre looking for are the passwordlists, which Windows uses to store your user passwords. Each individual user has their own file,

and theyre easily recognisable. Either delete this file or move it somewhere else. Now when youre-boot, leave the password request box blank and hit OK. This sets up your user profile to haveno password. One note your password file also includes your dial-up password, so youll haveto enter this manually next time you open up Dial-Up Networking.

How to avo id Ne t v i ruses

The best way to avoid getting a virus from the Net is to be incredibly careful about whatprograms you download from there. You should also be wary of any attachments you receive viae-mail. Use a file viewer like QuickView Plus to view any attached documents before openingthem. This is especially true for Word 97 attachments that way, if a macro virus is attached, itwont be opened and infect your PC.

Make an em ergency boo t f l oppy

Havent created an emergency boot disk yet? Do it now the Windows 98 one will come withbasic CD drivers attached.

How t o resto re ind iv idua l system f i l es

Windows 95 included a basic DOS command-line utility to extract individual files from thecompressed CAB files on the installation CD, which was useful if you knew that one particular filewas missing or corrupted. Windows 98 can do this via this method, but theres a better one using the System File Checker, since it means you can avoid tangling with DOS altogether.

Run System File Checker (type sfc into into the Start Menus Run dialog), and toggle the main

screen so that youre telling SFC to restore a single file. If you know the name of the file you cantype it in directly, but its far easier to use the Browse button to find the file directly.

As before, System File Checker will prompt you to supply some information where yourWindows 98 installation CD is, and where the extracted file should go. Remember that you canalways create a folder of your own to extract the files to if youre worried about overwritingcritical files.

As with the automatic restoration function in System File Checker, youll be prompted to back upany files which SFC needs to overwrite. Once the program finds the file and successfully extractsit from the compressed CAB file on CD, youll receive a simple confirmation that all went well.

How to back up and restoreyour Registry fil e


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Want to know how to export part or all of your Registry for back-up purposes? Then read on.Want to know how to get it back again should something go wrong? Dont worry, well tell youthat too.

First, run Regedit select Run from the Start menu, enter regedit and press [Return]. To back upall or part of the Registry, first select Registry, Export Registry File and navigate to where you'dlike to store the backup file.

If you want to back up the entire Registry, just choose Select All under Export Range, give yourfile a suitable name and finally click Save. The result is a *.reg file in the location you specified.

If you only want to back up part of the Registry say the part youre currently working on choose Selected Branch under Export Range instead. Then name your fi le as shown in step twoand click Save.

Now youve backed up all or part of the Registry, you can make changes without worrying whatwill happen should they go wrong. Wed recommend you do this before trying any of our tipsinvolving the Registry.

What happens if you want to restore a backup? If youre in Windows, just double-click on the*.reg file and confirm you want to restore this backup by selecting Yes. Finally, click OK once the

operation is finished.

If youre already in Regedit, try this alternative. select Registry, Import Registry File, navigate tothe *.reg file in question, select it and click Open. Your backup partial or full will be restored.

Windows and Internet Explorer have become so integrated that you dont need to use the Net tobenefit from IE (although it does help!). Heres some great tips for getting it to work harder for

Internet Explorer


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you.

Remove Au t oComp le t e

It can be useful when youre entering URLs, but you may want to turn the AutoComplete functionoff. Go to View, Internet Options and select the Advanced tab, then under Browsing, uncheck UseAutoComplete.

Remove chann e ls

IE4s channel bar comes loaded with shortcuts to channels from Microsoft business partners. Youcan easily clear them off your channel bar by selecting Channels from the toolbar, highl ightingeach channel, then right-clicking and picking Delete. You can also make any Web site a channelby browsing to the site and dragging and dropping the URL icon from the address bar to thechannel bar.

Look ou t fo r o lde r ve rsions o f I E

If you have Internet Explorer 4.0 or above, beware of programs or services that install an earlierversion of IE over your existing one. Older versions will not detect the presence of new versions,and will therefore install oblivious to their existence, which can cause lockups, and otherproblems.

Save a URL as act i ve con t en t i n I E4 / 5

You probably already know that dragging and dropping a URL or hyperlink from your browserwindow on to the desktop creates a shortcut to the site. If you use the right-mouse button todrag it, a menu will appear and give you the additional option of saving the page as activecontent.

Brow se in fu l l screen

Internet Explorer 4.0 or later enables you to surf the net in full screen. Just select View, Fullscreen, and then right-click on the remaining toolbar and choose Auto Hide. To change back,leave your mouse at the top of the screen until the toolbar appears, select View, Full screen and

then press [F11] to bring all the other toolbars back.

FTP w i t h Exp lorer

If you type an FTP address in the Address box of any Explorer view (whether youre on theInternet or just browsing your own hard disk), youll go to the site and be able to use thewindow as an FTP client.

Check ou t th e Ac t i ve Desk t op Ga l le ry

If you havent been to the Microsoft Active Desktop Gallery for a while, its time to go back.Microsoft has added lots of new free active content, including an address finder (just type in theaddress, and it pulls up a map) and a comic-strip-of-the-day clock. To add it to the wallpaper onyour PC, just click on the Add to Active Desktop button on the preview page of the component

you want.

Usefu l screen saver

IE 4.0 comes with a screen saver that displays a slide show of all Active Channel content youselect. Right-click on the desktop and select Properties. Switch to the Screen Saver tab and selectthe Channel Screen Saver. Click on the Settings button and a list of all your channels will appearin the Channels box. Select the ones you want in the screen saver and click on OK.

I E4 s Sta r t Menu

As you may have noticed by now, items that you add to IE4s Start menu behave just like regular


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folders and files. Right click on any Start-menu item youve added to get a context menu, whichenables you to modify the items properties as well as offering other options.

Using t he address bar

You already know that the IE4 Address bar doubles as a guide to your local desktop. What youmay not know is that the old DOS command of typing two full stops and pressing [Return] worksto navigate back up the directory tree. Enter it repeatedly to work your way all the way back tothe desktop icon.

Access Web s i tes f rom t he S ta r t menu

Love to type? You can type URLs directly into the Run box on the Start menu.

Change l inks co lours

You can tell IE4 to change the colour of any link when the mouse pointer hovers over it. SelectView, Internet Options, then click on Colors under the General tab. Check Use Hover Color andclick on the colour box to select your desired colour.

Please back up you r Favor i t es l is t !

Makes sense, really. Should you ever have to reinstall Internet Explorer or God forbid Windows, one thing its easy to forget about is your Favorites list, and that can take a long timeto reconstruct. In Internet Explorer 5, the process is a simple one. Select File, Import and Export,then choose Export Favorites before picking your entire Favorites folder. Choose a location and aname, and your Favorites will be stored as a single HTML fi le, which can be re-imported laterusing the same wizard.

If your version of Internet Explorer doesnt do this, a more time-consuming option remains.Simply open up your Favorites folder, hold [Ctrl] and manually select those favourites you wantto keep, then copy them on to a blank disk. Reinstalling them is a simple case of copying themfrom the disk back into the Favorites folder.

St o p I n t e r n e t Ex p l o r er r e m i n d i n g y o u a b o u t u p d at e s

If youre perfectly happy with your current version of IE, and don't want to be constantly told thata new version is available you can turn off the update reminders. Open Regedit and navigate toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383}. Right-click on the Version Available key and select Delete.Finally, close Regedit and youll be free from IEs prompts.

Make su re your modem is opt im ised fo r th e Ne t

If your modem speeds arent what they should be, there could be a missing parameter in yourRegistry. If you have Windows 98, access the Network Control Panel and find Dial-Up Adaptor,Advanced and set the IP Packet Size to 576.

First, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\ Root\Net, and find the one with DeviceDesc set to

Dial-Up Adapter. Within that four-digit subkey is a subkey called Bindings, and within that is astring called something like MSTCP\0000. Youll need the correct value for the four-digit numberin the next step.

Now locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\ Network\MSTCP\xxxx , where xxxx is the number youfound in step one. Within this key there will be a string named Driver called NetTrans\0000.Youll need the correct value for the four digit number in the next step.

Finally, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans\ xxxx,where xxxx is replaced by the number from step two. Within it, create a new string and name itMaxMTU. Then set this to the value 576. Close Regedit, and restart Windows.


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The following tips refuse to be categorised, but that doesnt make them any less useful. Go on,find something to brighten your day.

Fix your f o lde rs

You may have noticed that Windows cant always remember how youve positioned or size yourfolder. To get around this problem, open the folder in question, size it as you wish, hold down[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Shift], then close the window by clicking on the X button. Remember thatWindows can only remember these properties for a certain number of folders, so be careful about

those you choose.

Cr e a t e a n e w f o l de r w i t h a s i m p l e k e y co m b i n a t i o n

To quickly create a new folder in Windows 98, press [Alt] + [F] + [N] + [F].

View a l l f o lde r de ta i l s

When looking at a folder in Details view, you may not be able to see all of the information in thecolumns. To reset the columns to their default size, just press [Ctrl] + [+] on the numerickeypad.

Put spec ia l cha rac te rs in your docum ents

If you need to use accents or other special characters in your documents, theres a program thatcan help. Go to the Start menu and navigate to Programs, Accessories, System Tools, CharacterMap. Select the font you are using in the document, and locate the character you want. Nowdouble cl ick it and choose Copy, then go into your document and paste it.

Too lk i t bonanza

The Windows 98 CD comes loaded with tools from the Resource Kit sampler. Youll find theirinstallation files in your CDs Tools\Reskit folder. Run setup,exe, and the utilities will be installedon to your PC. Access them via the Start menu youll find them under Programs, Windows 98Resource Kit, Tools Management Console.

More great ti ps!


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Re-size the He lp tex t

To change the size of text in the Windows 98 Help, you need to modify your Internet browsingsettings, because the new Help is based on HTML. Launch the Internet Control Panel applet, clickon the Accessibility button and then on the Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages itemfollowed by OK. Now select the Fonts button and pick your choice from the Font Size drop-downmenu.

Record the t im e and date in No tepad

To make Notepad record the time and date every time you open a file, open a new file, and put.LOG in the first line. Every time you subsequently open this file, the time/date will automaticallybe logged.

Make icons in Pa in t

You can make Icons without any special util ity. Just make the icon in Paint, and save it wi th an.ico extension, making sure to select All files.

Keep an eye on s ta r t up

Want to know whats loaded into your machine during Windows startup? You have two options.

The quick and easy method is to press [Pause] on your keyboard when the line you want to seeappears. Booting will continue when you press any other key.

The other, more powerful option is to access the Windows Startup menu by pressing [F8] when itsays Starting Windows 98. Now choose Step-by-step confirmation, and youll be able to seeeach instruction as its loaded. You can also choose not to load certain operations perfect fortroubleshooting startup problems.

What ve rsion o f D i rec tX do I h ave?

If you want to know what version of Direct X you have, just run DXTOOL.exe or DXINFO.exe inyour DirectX\Setup folder. When opened, these will display the version number for you. Get thelatest version of DirectX from www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com or

www.microsoft.com/directx/ default.asp.

Cus tom ise Window s He lp

You can tip the balance in your favour by annotating any Help topic you like. Open the topic inquestion, then right-click on a blank area of its window and select Annotate. Type your notes intothe box that appears, then click Save. The next time you open that topic, just click the little paperclip to read your notes. (To remove a note from a topic, open the note, then click Delete.)

Save Find c r i t e r ia fo r fu t u re u se

Once youve finished a search, stop for a second. Will you need to use that search again in thefuture? If so, save it. Once the search is complete, select File, Save Search. Switch to thedesktop, and you'll see a new icon there with a title based on your criteria. The next time you

need to conduct the same search, simply double-click this icon, then click Find Now, and feel freeto move it somewhere more convenient.

Save Find resu l t s fo r fu t u re re fe rence

Want to save both your search criteria and the results? Select Options and choose Save Results,then pick File, Save Search. Now when you double-click on the icon, youll get both criteria andresults popping up in the Find dialog box.

Al t er th e s ize o f th e Recycle B in

Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and select Properties. In the Recycle Bin


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Properties menu, adjust the lever to the desired percentage, then finally click OK.

I ns tan t l y access the Dev ice Manager

If youve got a keyboard with the [Windows] key on it, you can access Device Manager instantly,just by holding down [Windows] + [Pause/Break]. But thats not all you can do. Its also easy toadd Device Manager to the Start menu, enabling you to go straight to it with a single cl ick.Right-click the Start button, and from the context menu select Explore. Next, right-click an emptyspace in the right-hand pane, select New, Shortcut, then type C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE

Sysdm.cpl, System,1 into the field labelled Command Line. Click Next, type Device Manager forthe name of this shortcut, and press Finish. To change the Icon used by the shortcut, justright-click it, choose Properties and then press the Change Icon button.

Add cascad ing men us to th e Sta r t m enu

Weve shown you how to add the Control Panel, Dial-up Networking and Printer folders to theStart menu so many times now, but guess what? Theres even more folders you can add, soheres the the ultimate guide to adding important folders to the Start menu, giving you fasteraccess to them.

To add one, right-click on Start and select Explore. Right-click in the right pane of the Explorerwindow that opens and choose New, Folder. Then type one of the following strings, all on one

line, replacing the words New Folder with this new line. You must type the period, the curlybraces, all four hyphens, and the hexadecimal numbers exactly as shown. After the closing curlybrace, press [Return].

J Control PanelControl Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}J Dial-Up Networking*Dial Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}J Fonts*Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}J Internet CacheInternet Cache.{7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}J Network Neighbourhood*

Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}J My Computer*My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}J PrintersPrinters.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}J Recycle BinRecycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}J SubscriptionsSubscriptions.{F5175861-2688-11d0-9C5E-00AA00A45957}J URL historyURL History.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}

*These folders will initially be empty you must manually drag and drop items from their realfolders into here in order to access them.

Remove th e shor t cu t a r row

To remove the little arrow that appears on all shortcuts, you need to access Regedit - click onStart, Run, and then type 'regedit'. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile and delete the valueIsShortcut, then browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile and delete the value IsShortcut. CloseRegedit and restart Windows.

Remove t he Document s l i st

To remove the Documents folder from the Start menu, open RegEdit and go toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\Explorer.


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Help and Support2009 Microsoft

Right-click an open area in the right pane and select New, DWORD Value, then name itNoRecentDocsMenu. Double-click this entry and add the value 1, then exit Regedit and restartWindows.

Hide your desk top i cons f rom v iew

One good reason for hiding all the icons from your desktop could be that youve created a load ofshortcuts on your taskbar, and no longer need the desktop cluttered up by them. To remove iconsfrom the desktop, run RegEdit, then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. From the menu select Edit, New, DWORD value and name itNoDesktop. Double-click this entry and give it the value 1, then close RegEdit and restartWindows. To restore the icons to your desktop, just change the value of NoDesktop to 0.

View a l l h a rd d r i ve p roper t i es

Heres an easy way to view the properties for multiple hard drives simultaneously. First ,open MyComputer and select all your hard drives by holding down [Ctrl] and clicking on each drive inturn. Next, right-click on any of the drives and choose Properties. Windows creates a singledialog box with Properties tabs for each drive. This also works for removable, floppy disk andmapped network drives.

This material is the copyright material of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited

(http://www.futurenet.co.uk/) , a Future Network plc group company, UK 2004. All rights reserved.

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