TIPS TRICKS and other helpful stuff

Stuff I have found or been sent that might help solve problems, improve performance, enhance security etc...

How do I get rid of what seem to be eternal names in my Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box?
Open the Registry Editor--select Start, Run, type

regedit

and click OK--and navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. In the left pane, with the Uninstall key expanded, right-click any item and select Delete. Click Yes to confirm, and that item is officially off the list. Repeat these steps for each item you'd like to remove, then close the Registry Editor.
FAST-MOTION WINDOWS
Have you ever noticed that when you minimize or restore a window, you actually see the window-shrinking or window-growing process? If you're looking for ways to increase performance, you may want to remove this window animation. That way, your windows will grow and shrink faster than ever.
Open the Registry Editor--select Start, Run, type

regedit
and click OK--and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics. In the left pane, right-click the WindowMetrics key and select New, String Value. Type
MinAnimate
(to name the new value) and press Enter. In the right pane, right-click MinAnimate and select Modify. In the resulting Edit String dialog box, type
0
on the Data Value line. Click OK, close the Registry Editor, and restart Windows 95.
(Tip: If you want your window animation back, delete the MinAnimate string [right-click it, select Delete, then click Yes to confirm] or change its data value to 1 [right-click it, select Modify, type
1
on the Data Value line, then click OK].
BYPASSING THE STARTUP FOLDER
If you want to quickly load Windows 95 without loading any of the programs in the Startup folder, type your password and click OK in the Welcome to Windows dialog box, then press and hold down the [Shift] key. If you’re on a network, type your password and click OK in the Enter Network Password dialog box, then press and hold down the [Shift] key. If you’re not logging into Windows 95 or a network, press and hold down the [Shift] key, when you see the Windows 95 splash screen appear.
DOS DOES WINDOWS
If you’re in an MS-DOS Prompt window and you need to view a folder’s contents, you aren’t limited to DOS commands.
  • Type explorer .
    at the command prompt, press Enter, and presto-up pops a single-paned window focused on the current directory. (Note: Simply typing ‘explorer’ without the space and period opens a window focused on the root directory.) If you’d prefer a two-paned, Windows Explorer-style window, type
  • explorer /e
    at the command prompt.
    EXPLORE THE WEB FROM YOUR DESKTOP
    Did you know that you can use Internet Explorer to create shortcuts on your desktop that link directly to an Internet site? Pull down Internet Explorer’s File menu from the site you want to create a shortcut to and select the Create Shortcut command. You’ll see a message telling you that the shortcut will be placed on your desktop. Click the OK button, and a shortcut to the current URL will appear on your desktop. Now you can launch Internet Explorer and connect to the site simply by double-clicking your shortcut.
    START MENU CLEANUP
    Want to clean some unwanted items out of your Start menu without opening lots of windows (right-mouse clicking Start, selecting Open, and so on)? The Taskbar Properties dialog box has a Remove button just for this purpose.
    Right-mouse click on a blank area of the Taskbar and select Properties to open the Taskbar Properties dialog box. Select the Start Menu Programs tab. Under Customize Start Menu, click the Remove button and navigate your way to the Start menu item you want to remove. With the unwanted item selected, click the Remove button, and the item is history. Repeat these steps to remove all unwanted items, click Close, and click OK.
    (Note: IE 4 users: You can right-mouse click a Start menu item [right on the actual menu] and select Delete.)
    WELL, AW-RIGHT-Y THEN!
    An anonymous reader asks: "Is there a keyboard function that acts like a right-mouse click?"
    Absolutely. Highlight the item whose context menu you’d like to display, then press Shift-F10. Who knew?
    NICE VIEW
    "Is there a way of telling Windows 95 that I want the view of every window I open to be Details?"
    As the old saying goes, if only we had a nickel for every time someone has asked this question! Finally, with the release of Internet Explorer 4.0 (which, in case you haven’t heard, changes Windows 95 quite a bit), we can answer this question with a solid "yes" - that is, as long as you’ve installed IE 4.
    In any open window, choose your ideal view options. Select View, Folder Options, and on the View tab, click the Like Current Folder button. Click Yes to confirm, click OK, and rest assured-any window you open from then on will use the same view options.
    JOINED AT THE SHORTCUT
    Is there a batch file you want to run every time you start an MS-DOS session under Windows 95? Then attach it to your MS-DOS Prompt shortcut.
    Right-mouse click the shortcut you use to open a DOS window (probably in your Start menu, so you’ll need to right-mouse click Start, select Open, and so on, to get to it). In the context menu that appears, select Properties. Click the Program tab, and on the Batch File line, type the name of the batch file you want to run (just the name-no extension necessary). Click OK, and from now on, using that shortcut to open DOS runs the batch file automatically.
    CUSTOM DELIVERY
    Just add a shortcut to the X:\Windows\SendTo folder, where X is the drive on which Windows is installed, and from then on, it shows up in the Send To list. As an example, suppose you had a folder called "To Do" that you wanted in your Send To list. Display the To Do folder in an Explorer window (or on the desktop). Then open another Explorer window and navigate your way to the Windows\SendTo folder. Right-mouse click and drag the To Do folder directly over the SendTo folder (it should appear highlighted), let go, and select Create Shortcut(s) Here. That’s it! Close all open windows.
    To try out your new Send To command, right-mouse click a file or folder and select Send To. See your To Do folder in the list? Of course you do!
    CLOSE THE WINDOW, PLEASE
    First, make sure the focus is on the application or window you want to close. (Tip: use Alt-Tab to switch to that application.) Then, press Alt-F4 to close the window. Continue pressing this keyboard combination to close each open window or application; and when there are no open windows left, press it again (if you wish) to shut down Windows altogether.
    HAND ME MY HIGHLIGHTER, PLEASE-PART 1 OF 2
    Want some tips for quick text highlighting in Word Pad (or most any other word processor that runs under Windows 95 or NT)? All that fussy letter-by-letter clicking and dragging is for the birds. Here are three shortcuts you’re sure to love:
    HAND ME MY HIGHLIGHTER, PLEASE-PART 2 OF 2
    To highlight a whole bunch of text: Place the cursor at the beginning of the text, hold down Shift, and click at the end of what you want to select. OR, place the cursor at the beginning of the text you want to select, and then, while holding down Shift, use the arrow keys to expand the selection.
    Of course, we saved the biggest for last: highlighting an entire document. In some word processors, you can choose Edit, Select All. But if your word processor doesn’t have that command or if you’re especially fond of keyboard combinations, hold down Ctrl-Shift and click in the left margin of the document (Note: In some word processors, this method may highlight only text below the cursor.) OR, place the cursor at the very beginning of the document and press Ctrl-Shift-End.
    RUN-NING ON URL
    Want a quick way to get to your favorite URL? Try the Run command line.
    Select Start, Run, type the URL you want to go to on the command line, and click OK. Presto-your browser opens and takes you directly to that site. (Note: If you’ve installed Internet Explorer 4.0, selecting an item in the Start menu’s Favorites folder is even faster.)
    DOS DOES WINDOWS
    If you’re working in an MS-DOS session, you can open a file or folder just as you would using the Start, Run command (or just as you would by double-clicking its icon outside of the DOS session). The difference is, you need to precede the file name with the Start command. Let’s suppose you normally type c:\data\myfile.doc on the Start, Run command line to open myfile.doc in Microsoft Word. You can accomplish the same thing by typing the following at your DOS window’s C:\ prompt:
    start c:\data\myfile.doc
    Press Enter and Microsoft Word launches, and myfile.doc opens.
    The Start command works with folders, too (again, just like the Run command line). For example, you might type start sendto at the command prompt to open the Windows\SendTo folder (in a separate window, of course).
    (Tip in a-tip: If the file or folder you’re trying to open from the command prompt is in the Windows folder-or is, for any other reason, recognized by Windows 95--you don’t need to type the full path of the item you’re trying to open-just the file name. If you aren’t sure, try it without the full path first. The worst that can happen is you’ll get a message telling you Windows doesn’t recognize the file, in which case you can try again with the full path.)
    To move a window that without a mouse
    I have a window that shows up with its top half off the screen. Is there any way to bring that window back to the center of the screen? There is, but you’ll need to use the keyboard. Click on any area of the window to make it active, then press Alt-Spacebar (to open the menu that appears when you click on the window’s upper left icon). Press M for Move, then press and hold the down arrow on your keyboard until the window is in full view on-screen. Press Enter to let go of the window.
    CREATING A BOOT DISK
    A boot, or system disk will get you to a command prompt in the event that you have trouble booting your system. (Note: Different from the Windows 95 Startup disk, a system disk does not include any diagnostic or repair tools it simply gets you to an MS-DOS prompt.) To create one, start with a blank, formatted disk. To format a disk, right-mouse click on your floppy drive icon, select format and choose from the Quick (erase) or Full options. With a formatted disk in the floppy drive, right-mouse click on the drive’s icon, select Format and choose Copy System Files Only. Click OK, and Windows 95 will copy Command.com, Io.sys, Msdos.sys and Drvspace.bin (if applicable) to the disk. Why do you need this disk if all of these files are on the Startup Disk? Well, it never hurts to have a backup of the crucial files.
    ALT-ER YOUR START-UP
    If you want to get to a DOS prompt when starting your computer, you probably press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, wait for the menu to appear, and choose the Command prompt only option. Here’s a shortcut: Press Alt-F5 instead (at the "Starting Windows 95" message), and you’ll go directly to a command prompt.
    WINDOWS AND DOS SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE Also works in NT 4.0
    If you’re working in an MS-DOS Prompt window (running under Windows 95), and don’t feel like typing the long path of a file or folder, try this: Drag and drop any file or folder into the DOS window to insert its path at the command prompt.
    STOP STARTING ALREADY!
    Can’t figure out how to get a program to stop loading every time you start Windows 95? (Software developers have a whole lotta nerve to assume this is a convenience. They should ask first.) There are three places where you can try to stop this annoyance: Whichever method you used, restart Windows 95 and (in most cases) breathe a deep sigh of satisfaction!

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