MDGx
 Tricks of Past Weeks - Part 2

Go to ALL WinDOwS ©Tricks + Secrets Contents
• 10-6-98 Win9x Updated Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


HOW FAST CAN YOU GO? - Part 2
[UPDATED 10-6-98]


I was only tinkering [... yeah, yeah :-)] with the Registry (using good ol' RegEdit), when I stumbled into a few Registry keys/strings, and I thought I might improve my DUN (Dial-Up Networking) connection (Win95/98 TCP/IP standard using an analog modem), by modifying them. Even with a 56 kbps modem, I still have to wait a long time to access some web sites (especially those loaded with large graphics: GIFs, JPGs etc), or to download huge files (ZIPs, MP3s etc) from the Internet.

IMPORTANT: BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY FILES FIRST!

Back 2 Contents
• 8-15-97 Win9x Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


DUN MONITOR - Part 1


You don't have to search the net or shell out any money to get a fancy Dial-Up Networking monitor to view your modem's transmited/received baud rate (and much more).
Just open System Monitor (Sysmon.exe), a free tool Microsoft included with Windows 95, found in C:\Windows (your default Win95 folder). Play around with the settings, adding/removing different items from the list, resize Sysmon's window, modify the "looks" and refresh rates, view your selections as bars, numbers, lines etc.
There are numerous categories of your Win95 machine's "innards" that can be "watched" on Sysmon's display (the list below refers to my system):

• MIDI (Wave) Synth,
• Dial Up Adapter,
• File System,
• Kernel and
• Memory Manager.

You can see the entire list for each of the above categories, select any or all items in that category, and/or customize each selection separately: color, scale, or update interval.
When you've decided which components you want to monitor, you can get rid of Sysmon's frame and toolbar, by double-clicking on an empty space (between two items). Double-clicking on an item, brings up the Chart Options for that selection.

SysMon

It doesn't matter if your Internet connection is not established when you started Sysmon, the monitoring begins only when your modem is connected to your ISP server, or online service, (ONLY if you use the TCP/IP protocol).
Now you can finally see how fast a web page loads in your web browser or how long your modem takes to download a huge file.

MANDATORY UPGRADES: You need to install these free Microsoft communications upgrades for SysMon to detect a valid Dial-Up Networking connection:

BTW: You can download System Monitor for Win95 direct from Microsoft [56 KB, free].

... And don't miss "DUN MONITOR - Part 2"!

Have fun!

Back 2 Contents
• 9-11-95 Win3.1x/9x/DOS6 Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:


SET TEMP


If for any reason (i.e. increased speed) you decide to choose a different "temp" (temporary) directory for storing Windows temporary files, let's say for example a RAM disk, or a different (hard) drive/partition, you will need to add these 2 lines at the end of your CONFIG.SYS file (found in C:\ root):

SET TMP=D:\TEMP
SET TEMP=D:\TEMP

considering D:\TEMP the new "temp" directory on your secondary drive/partition.
To create the new directory D:\TEMP, before rebooting with the new CONFIG.SYS, run this command at any DOS prompt:

MD D:\TEMP

Then delete the Windows default "temp" directory: C:\WINDOWS\TEMP, and if there are any SET TEMP= or/and SET TMP= lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT you'll have to remove or REMark them too. Example of REMarked lines in AUTOEXEC.BAT:

REM SET TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
REM SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

Or try this REMark alternative [the double colon (::) notation below works ONLY in AUTOEXEC.BAT, but you can use the semicolon (;) REMark notation in CONFIG.SYS]:

:: SET TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
:: SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

Reboot, and you're done.

ADD-ON: To "clean" your TEMPorary directory of obsolete .TMP files every time upon boot, add these lines at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT, AFTER the "SET TEMP=" and "SET TMP=" lines (if you included them in this file):

IF NOT EXIST %TEMP%\*.TMP GOTO NO
ATTRIB +A -H -R -S %TEMP%\*.TMP
DEL %TEMP%\*.TMP
:NO

NOTES:

Back 2 Contents
• 8-26-97 Win3.1x/9x Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:


FAST, FAST, FAST


For those of you who own a 28,800 (or faster) bps analog modem connected to a fast 16550AF/16550AN UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) on your system, there is a way to maximize your UART internal transfer speed.
There are actually 2 methods to achieve this:

  1. One is to right-click on the "My Computer" icon -> then left-click on Properties -> choose Device Manager -> Ports -> click the "Serial Communications port" you want to set (the one that your modem is connected to) -> select the Properties tab for that particular port -> in the "Port Settings" screen, change the number to show 921600 bps (bits per second) -> click OK to save your settings -> and you're on!

  2. The other method is to open your WIN.INI file, located in your Windows directory, with Notepad. Scroll down to the [Ports] section. There you'll find the COM1:, COM2:, COM3: and COM4: lines, each followed by an equal sign, and by some numbers and letters. Replace those lines with these:

    COM1:=921600,n,8,1,p
    COM2:=921600,n,8,1,p
    COM3:=921600,n,8,1,p
    COM4:=921600,n,8,1,p

    MEANING:

    • COMx: = physical COMmunications port number: x = 1 - 4 on most PCs.
    • 921600 = internal COMmunications port speed measured in bits per second [bps]. Maximum is 921600, depending on the UART type and speed. Default is 9600 bps.
    • n = parity bit: n = none (default is e = even).
    • 8 = data bits: 8 (maximum 8, default is 7).
    • 1 = stop bits: 1 (maximum 2, default is 2).
    • p = hardware shaking (default is x = software shaking).

Save your file and then restart Windows for the changes to take effect.
Or if you like, you can set this way only the COM port that has your modem/fax card connected to (that's the one that is going to take advantage of this speed improvement anyway). If you have a serial mouse connected to a COM port, you may want to leave that COM port settings unchanged, since the mouse baud rate is limited to 1200-2400 (and only in rare cases goes up to 9600 bps).
From now on, you will experience faster transfers when using your ISP (TCP/IP protocol), Online Service (i.e. AOL), and all your Communications, Internet and Fax applications/games.

TIPS:

Back 2 Contents
• 8-22-97 Win9x/ME Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


OVERRIDE IO.SYS


There are some basic startup (boot) options that are built into the Windows 95/98/ME OS, which make possible to start (load) the GUI even without the need for any startup files (CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT, both located in C:\ root).
The Win9x/ME bootup routine begins by processing IO.SYS, a hidden, read-only, system file, located in your C:\ root folder (default bootup drive/partition), BEFORE executing your startup files: CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, if present.
But if you have placed your own customized lines for these (and other) DOS commands in your startup files, the IO.SYS defaults will be overwritten by these entries.
These are the built-in IO.SYS commands that can also be added/modified into your CONFIG.SYS for increased performance/compatibility (by using Notepad in Windows or EDIT.COM in DOS):

DEVICE=%winbootdir%\HIMEM.SYS
DOS=HIGH,UMB,[AUTO|NOAUTO]
BUFFERS=30
FILES=60
STACKS=9,256
FCBS=4
LASTDRIVE=Z
DEVICE=%winbootdir%\IFSHLP.SYS
DEVICE=%winbootdir%\DBLBUFF.SYS
DEVICE=%winbootdir%\SETVER.EXE
SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
SHELL=%winbootdir%\COMMAND.COM /P
SET PATH=%winbootdir%;%winbootdir%\COMMAND;C:\;
SET TEMP=%winbootdir%\TEMP
SET TMP=%winbootdir%\TEMP

The actual entries in your CONFIG.SYS might look something like this (default %winbootdir% directory is C:\WINDOWS):

DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /NUMHANDLES=128 /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
DEVICE=C:\UMBPCI\UMBPCI.SYS
BUFFERS=11,0
FILES=60
LASTDRIVE=M
FCBS=1,0
STACKS=0,0
DEVICEHIGH /L:1=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:1024 /L:128 /U:128 /P
SET PATH=C:\;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\BAT;C:\MAX;C:\ZIP;C:\3D;
SET TEMP=D:\TEMP
SET TMP=D:\TEMP

Above are my own CONFIG.SYS command lines, and I found out they work best on my Windows machine. To squeeze maximum performance and for complete details on how to customize your startup files, read MEMORY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].
See my Complete UMBPCI.SYS Guide for details about using UMBPCI.
Change drive letters and/or folder names if different on your computer.

IMPORTANT: If using Windows ME you MUST apply the Unofficial DOS Patch, which modifies COMMAND.COM + IO.SYS (from C:\Windows\Command\EBD) + REGENV32.EXE (from C:\Windows\System), in order to be able to boot to native MS-DOS and use DOS mode startup files (AUTOEXEC.BAT + CONFIG.SYS), Windows 95/98 style.

ADD-ON: SETVER.EXE is a built-in IO.SYS CONFIG.SYS command, and if you don't have any older (legacy) hardware/software devices/drivers/peripherals [reminiscent from the ol' 286/386 DOS (in)compatibility days] that might need Setver loaded on your System, you can safely start your Windows machine without it.
To disable the loading of Setver.exe you can: move this file to another directory (Setver.exe is located by default in the main Windows folder), delete it or add/modify the CONFIG.SYS lines above (example).
You do not need to back it up, because Setver.exe can be extracted from your Win95/98/ME Setup CD-ROM or floppies, by using one of these commands:

Change the CD/DVD drive letter if different on your system.

Back 2 Contents
• 8-20-97 Win9x ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


MULTIPLE ASSOCIATIONS


To be able to open text (.TXT) documents in either Notepad or Wordpad, start Explorer and click View -> Options -> File Types. Find the Text Document type in the Registered File Types window, click Edit to edit this type, and you'll see that the Actions list includes Open and Print. Choose New. The New Action dialog box shows up. Call this new action "Open in WordPad", and click the Browse button to select Wordpad as the application to perform this action.
From now on when you right-click a text (.TXT) file, you'll see this new action on the drop-down menu.
You can use this workaorund to reestablish file associations overwritten by "misbehaved" application installations.
Example: MS Word takes control of .DOC and .RTF (Rich Text Format) files after installing it. To have all .RTF files associated with WordPad for speed reasons, add an "Open in WordPad" action to the Microsoft Word Document association.
Another way to restore eventual file associations changed by a program you installed, is to start File Manager (WINFILE.EXE, located in your Windows folder), highlight the file type you want to modify, click File -> Associate... and scroll through the registered file types in the "Associate with..." box. Select the application you want to open your file type with. Click OK when done.

Back 2 Contents
• 8-16-97 Win9x/ME Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

CLEAR DOCS & MORE...


The following are "revamped" versions of some older tips in this archive, and some are new hacks, sent courtesy of Dave.
Thank you Qwerty for the DOSBOX.REG fix!
Credit goes to Windows Annoyances for CLEAR.BAT, and to Windows Magazine for NOTEPAD.REG.
ALL files listed here are included with my Win9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 + DOS 7/8 ©Tricks + Secrets files [W95-11D.EXE]:

To use any of these REG files, just open Windows Explorer or File Manager (FM = C:\WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE), and (double)-click on the one you want to install.

IMPORTANT: You need to alter the Registry to get the CORRECT "Network Server" setting by running SERVER.REG, ONLY IF you have Win95 original (retail) release or Win95a OSR1 (upgraded with SP1)!
This BUG was fixed in Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x, 98 + ME.
See "NETWORK SERVER", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for details.

... And don't forget to BACKUP your System files BEFORE making ANY changes!

Back 2 Contents
• 8-4-97 Win9x ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


"STUPID" TRICKS


These tricks have been sent by a good friend (Ojatex), whose contribution to the improvement of these files is always welcome and greatly appreciated.
Ojatex catalogs his tips as "stupid", I'd call them rather clever. Up to you to decide... :)

"My "Stupid" Tricks:

Here's a little tip/trick I have been using when deleting files from Floppy & Zip disks {Power Users need not read this}.
As you know when you delete a file from a floppy, it is gone forever - no safety net {i.e. Recycle Bin}.
Same problem occurs with zip disks. Poof & it's gone forever. To get around this problem, I do the following:

  1. Create a folder on the C:\ drive called "Disk Garbage".
  2. Create a shortcut to "Disk Garbage" and cut/paste it into the Windows\Sendto folder.
  3. Paste another shortcut to "Disk Garbage" on the Desktop [optional].

Now whenever one wants to delete files from a floppy or zip disk, send them to Disk Garbage first. Then delete them. This extra step can pay off if you change your mind & want the files back.
After downloading the Win95 Registry program I found this advice:

"[5-6] Quickly clearing the Recent Documents Menu

The DOCUMENTS cascading menu off of the Start Menu is always filling itself up, and is usually 20 miles long. Then, if you want to empty it, you have to play click-click-click with the Start Menu. Wouldn't it be easier if you had an icon right on the Desktop that did this? Well, pull up a chair. And listen carefully:

  1. Create a batch file with the following line:
    ECHO Y | DEL %winbootdir%\RECENT\*.*
  2. Save the file in a convenient directory, such as \Windows\Command.
  3. Create a shortcut to this batch file right on the Desktop.
  4. Right-Click on the shortcut, and choose Properties.
  5. Select the Program tab.
  6. Under RUN, choose Minimized.
  7. Check the CLOSE ON EXIT checkbox underneath the RUN box.
  8. Click on OK, and close the dialog.

Now, to empty the Most Recently Used Documents Folder, all you have to do is double-click on the shortcut you just created."

This works, but I prefer the "two rabbits with the same bullet" solution:
  1. Create a Shortcut to the "Recent" subfolder in Windows.
  2. Cut/Past the shortcut onto the Desktop. This allows one to access the recently used documents or delete them, whichever you choose.

Here's a time saver when working with several files from different folders, especially BMPs or GIFs which are going to be conglomerated into one BMP or GIF [especially animated GIFs]:
  1. Create a folder on the C:\ drive called "Holding".
  2. Create a Shortcut to "Holding" & put it into the "Sendto" sub-folder in the Windows folder.
  3. When you have to gather a bunch of clipart files from several folders to make a new picture, instead of working on the clipart directly in its native folder where you have the danger of destroying the original or saving it with a new name, or having to copy/paste the pictures to Holding, just use the "Send to" Holding. You can work in the "Holding" folder to make your new graphic. When working on gifs/jpgs for a web-page, instead of sending the clipart to "Holding", make a Shortcut to your web-site folder & put it in the "Sendto" folder. I find gathering all the "raw materials" together in one place saves a lot of time & the "Sendto" folder is a fast way of gathering them without endangering the originals."

Back 2 Contents
• 7-29-97 Win9x Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


PERMANENT SETTINGS


To make ALL Desktop settings permanent in an (Explorer) window: window size, position, display the toolbar etc, run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Right-click in the right hand pane, click New, and select DWORD Value. Name it NoSaveSettings, and press Enter. Now right-click on it, choose Modify, and type 1 in the Value data box.
Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
All future windows settings will be from now on those you specified BEFORE creating the new "NoSaveSettings" Registry value, and can be changed ONLY temporarily.
Next time you open that same window, its settings will revert back to the ones you started with, before this Registry change.
To reenable permanent settings changes again, run Regedit again, and go to the same Registry key above, right-click on "NoSaveSettings", choose Modify, and change its Value data to 0. Close Regedit, make the desired changes to your windows settings, then go back and make them permanent again by resetting "NoSaveSettings" back to 1.
Alternatively you can delete the NoSaveSettings DWORD (which has the same effect as assigning it the 0 value) by right-clicking on it, selecting Delete and then clicking Yes.

TIP: TweakUI [110 KB, free, unsupported], one of the Microsoft Power Toys, also lets you save your window settings. Open Control Panel, (double)-click the TweakUI icon (after properly installing it), select the Explorer tab, check the "Save Explorer window settings" box, and click OK/Apply.
All changes made to a window's settings will be saved from now on.

Back 2 Contents
• 7-23-97 Win9x Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


SPEEDUP BOOT!


Below are some of my own MSDOS.SYS file (located in the root folder of your Win95/98 boot drive, C:\ by default) settings.
I am referring here to the [Options] section lines that might give you a few extra seconds at bootup (depending on your System speed and configuration). Here are the lines that might speedup your Win95/98 bootup sequence:

[Options]
BootDelay=0
BootGUI=0
BootKeys=1
BootMenu=0
BootMenuDefault=1
BootWin=1
DisableLog=1
LoadTop=0
Logo=0
Network=0
SystemReg=0

NOTE: The "BootDelay" parameter is not supported by Windows 98!

Using these settings in your own MSDOS.SYS, you actually boot to the plain old MS-DOS real mode command prompt, and from there you can start Windows 95/98 by running WIN, or to make it easier, you can add the WIN command as the last line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
To understand what all these lines mean, see the "COMPLETE MSDOS.SYS REFERENCE", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].
To edit MSDOS.SYS with a single mouse (double)-click, please use SYS95.BAT, an MS-DOS batch file I wrote [also included in W95-11D.EXE] (it uses EDIT.COM, the MS-DOS ASCII text editor). SYS95.BAT actually strips MSDOS.SYS of its hidden, read-only and system attributes to be able to modify it, and upon exiting the editor, it restores the attributes back to the original, to make MSDOS.SYS compatible with Windows 95/98 bootup routine.
Oh, and how could I forget? BACKUP FIRST!
... Do U feel the need 4 speed?

Back 2 Contents
• 7-30-98 Updated Win9x/ME ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


95/98/ME SETUP SWITCHES


If you try to install Windows 95/98/ME from a DOS prompt, SETUP.EXE allows several command line switches, also available to their Windows GUI based counterpart.
Note that most switches are NOT case sensitive.
Run this command for available parameters (Win95 Setup screen shown below):

SETUP /?

"Setup Options: SETUP [/C] [/IL] [batch] [/T:TMP] [/IM] [/ID] [/IS] [/IQ] [/IN]
/C      Instructs Setup not to load the SmartDrive disk cache.
/IL     Loads the Logitech mouse driver instead of the Microsoft mouse
        driver. Use this option if you have a Logitech Series C mouse.
[batch] Specifies the name and location of the file that contains
        Setup options.
/T:TMP  Specifies the directory where Setup will copy its temporary
        files. If the directory doesn't exist, it will be created.
        WARNING: Any existing files in this directory will be deleted.
/IM     Skips the memory check.
/ID     Skips the disk-space check.
/IS     Doesn't run ScanDisk.
/IQ     Skips the check for cross-linked files.
/IN     Runs Setup without the Network Setup module.
Note: The /a and /n options are no longer valid. Use NETSETUP.EXE instead."

NEW documented SETUP switches added by Windows 98/ME:

/IE     Bypasses Startup Disk Wizard. The %windir%\Command\EBD folder and
        the Emergency Boot Disk (EBD) are not created.
/IH     Skips Registry check.
/IV     Skips billboards display during upgrade Setup from within Windows.

UNDOCUMENTED SETUP SWITCHES:

/IP     Bypasses detection of undocumented plug and play devices.
/IR     Bypasses detection of system CMOS/BIOS and does not update Master
        Boot Record (MBR).
/IW     Bypasses Microsoft EULA licensing screens/dialog boxes.

[EULA = End User License Agreement].
"SETUP /IW" switch courtesy of Groetz.

/NTLDR  Bypasses existing Operating System detection (case sensitive).
        By default OEM/VAR Win95/NT full releases can be installed ONLY on
        a new PC, without ANY previous OS, but this switch allows SETUP to
        circumvent this "problem".

This works ONLY IF you create a new file (size doesn't matter) in the root directory of your boot drive (usually C:\) and name it NTLDR with no extension. More info.

/P      Allows usage of additional switches after "/P" to detect/view/log
        eventual errors. Multiple /P switches MUST be separated by a
        semicolon (;). Example:
        /Pb;f;g=3;i;j;p
        Valid values:
        b = enables the "Prompt Before" mode, allowing step-by-step manual
        device detection. Default is disabled.
        f = enables "Clean Registry" mode: creates a NEW Registry from
        scratch before starting hardware detection. Ignored if SETUP runs
        in GUI mode. Default is disabled.

See "FRESH REGISTRY", also in TIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more "SETUP /Pf" details.
Examples:
SETUP /Pi
ignores Plug and Play BIOS and disables ACPI support in case certain PnP BIOSes are not listed in MACHINE.INF.
SETUP /Pj
enables Plug and Play BIOS and ACPI functionality.

        g = 0 - 3 = controls the level of progress bar display. Maximum
        level is 3, showing all detected devices resources. Default is 0.
        i = bypasses detection of plug and play BIOSes/devices not listed
        in MACHINE.INF. Default is disabled.
        j = installs ACPI support. Windows 98/ME ONLY!

HINT: You might need to reconfigure the printer port in your BIOS to make ACPI work properly on your Win98/ME system!

        p = enables performance timing logged in DETLOG.TXT. Default is
        disabled.
/N      Runs SETUP without mouse support.
/NM     Bypasses internal processor detection (No Minimum) to allow Win9x/ME
        install on systems that do NOT meet Microsoft's minimum requirements
        (486 + 386 CPUs). Especially useful with Windows 98/ME!

"SETUP /NM" switch courtesy of Ojatex. See Ojatex's "Win98 with less than 66 MHz" page for more details.

/D      Bypasses usage of installed Windows configuration (ignores settings
        in existing SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI etc).

Next 12 Win98/ME undocumented SETUP switches courtesy of Melkor:

/IA     Skips Setup.inf "AfterProvider" section.
/IB     Skips Setup.inf "BeforeProvider" section.
/IC     Win98 boots without 16-bit real mode drivers. If "KeepRMDrivers=1"
        setting absent from the Registry, 16-bit drivers are not run from
        CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT.
/IF     Performs quick Setup. Uses CacheFindFirst for filenames and speeds
        up DOS Setup. Verify for copied files is off.
/ICH    Keeps Scandisk window visible during Setup. Useful if Setup halts
        during Scandisk operation.
/IX     Skips codepage checking. Allows usage of different codepages for
        DOS and Windows.
/IY     Skips language conflicts.
/NR     Skips Registry check.
/S:inffile      Loads custom Setup.inf. Allows unknown drivers to install.
/T:directory    Specifies directory used by temporary setup files.
/nostart        If Setup runs from DOS or Windows/WfWG 3.11 copies only
                needed DLLs. Allows Setup to run on non-working
                Windows/WfWG 3.11 systems.
/domain:DomainName      Automatic notification to NT domain. Win98 asks for
                        network notification upon first load. Works only in
                        server based networks with NT controlling usernames.
/SrcDir:directory       Creates custom directory for Win98 Setup files.
                        New components are installed from this location.
                        Correspondent Registry key:
                        HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Next 6 Win9x/ME undocumented SETUP switches courtesy of The Captain:

/M      Bypasses playing of Setup sounds (.WAV).
/NA     Bypasses Windows/MS-DOS program check. Valid values:
        0 = Default.
        1 = Windows programs not checked, MS-DOS programs blocked.
        2 = MS-DOS programs not checked, Windows programs blocked.
        3 = Windows and MS-DOS programs not checked.
/ND     Bypasses MIGRATION.DLL settings and forces Windows 98 to overwrite
        newer files (USE WITH CAUTION!). Files that use .INF file ",,,32"
        flag force Windows 98 SETUP to keep newer versions.
/NF     Bypasses prompt to remove floppy disk from the drive. Used for
        bootable CD-ROMs. Same as:
        1. BOOTCD file present in the cabinet folder.
        2. "BootCD=1" line present in MSBATCH.INF.
/NH     Bypasses running HWINFO.EXE at 0 percent files and RunOnce.
/NX     Bypasses SETUPX version check.

Not all these SETUP parameters work with all Windows releases. Try them all out to see which ones are valid in your case.

FYI:

Back 2 Contents
• 8-25-95 Win9x ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


EXPLORER X 2


To get Explorer to show a two directory view (side by side), similar to File Manager, open two instances of Explorer, right-click on the Task bar, and select Tile Vertically. Win9x will retain both if you leave them running when you shut down your computer, and they will be available from now on whenever you restart Windows.

Back 2 Contents
• 9-2-95 Win9x Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

ADD NEW SOUNDS


To add sounds easy to ANY Windows 95/98 application/program, and to most of the sound events available in Windows, open Regedit and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps

There are two subfolders here: .Default and Explorer.
Open the Apps folder, click New, and then select Key from the menu. Type in your application's filename, without extension (for example Winfile, which is the executable WITHOUT the .EXE extension for File Manager). Then click New and Key again from the menu, in the new Winfile subfolder. Name this new key Open. Then create a new key with the Winfile subfolder selected and name it Close. Close the Registry and click on Start, Settings, Control Panel and then double-click on Sounds. Assign different sounds (.WAV files) to Winfile's Open and Close functions. From now on, when you open/close the File Manager, you will hear the newly assigned sounds.
For each application in your system, you can add sounds to these events:

AppGPFault
Close
Default
Maximize
MenuCommand
MenuPopup
Minimize
Open
RestoreDown
RestoreUp
SystemAsterisk
SystemExclamation
SystemHand
SystemQuestion

Other events may be possible. Depending on the events your application generates, not all programs support all these sound events. Some of these sound events can be assigned only to Windows 95/98/NT (Win32) specific applications (32-bit).
On a 486 or on a slow Pentium (60 or 75MHz) assigning sounds to most of these events may slow down your system a bit, especially if you choose large and/or Hi-Fi quality, stereo, 22 KHz or above sound files.

NOTE: You can also do this using the Sound applet in Control Panel, but some of these sound events may not be available to all programs.

Back 2 Contents
• 9-4-95 Win3.x/9x/NT/ME/2000/XP/2003 ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:


HELP!


This works with ALL Windows 3.x/95/98/ME + NT/2000/XP/2003 releases.
To step sequentially through all the topics of a Windows Help (*.HLP) file (including the popups), even the ones unlisted in the contents, press Ctrl + Shift + J or Ctrl + Alt + J. This way you don't have to return to the contents (opening help file screen), and you can browse ANY .HLP file, even if there is no browsing sequence defined or no browse buttons available to that particular help file.
You can also use these key "combos" to navigate:

To make this work:

BUG + FIX:
If the "Help Author" setting is enabled (1), ALL Windows Help instances (*.HLP files) display this as title (example):

"x (Help Author On)"

where x is an integer number equal to the number of Help topics available in the respective help file.
To restore default Windows Help title, disable (turn off) or delete:

More info @ MSKB.

FYI: See "COLORFUL HELP", also in TIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], and in MYTIPS31.TXT [part of W31-11D.ZIP], to learn how to customize your Windows Help files colors.

Back 2 Contents
• 9-8-95 Win9x Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


NETWORK SERVER


This performance tip applies to ALL end-user/stand-alone Windows 95/98 systems.
Right-click on My Computer, click Properties, select the Performance tab and then click the File System button. Set your machine to "Network Server". This allocates about 40 KB of RAM to cache the last 64 accessed directory paths and the last 2729 accessed files.
The "Desktop" setting caches the last 32 folders accessed and the last 677 accessed files, and takes about 16 KB of memory.
The extra used RAM is worth the file system boost.
BUT to make this work, you need to enable the correct Registry values ONLY IF you own Windows 95 original retail or Windows 95a OSR1 upgraded with SP1 (Service Pack 1).
Microsoft acknowledged that these settings are written incorrectly into the Registry for the "Network Server" and "Mobile or Docking System" profiles on most Windows 95 (original retail release) and 95a OSR1 (upgraded with SP1) machines.
More details @ MSKB.
You'll have to manually fix them by editing the Registry to get the expected performance boost BEFORE upgrading your machine to the "Network Server" cache setting!
NOTE: Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x, 98/98 SE and ME do NOT exhibit this BUG!
The settings you need to change are found in the Registry under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Server

and respectively:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Mobile

Run Regedit and go to the Server key shown above.
Click on "Server", and in the right hand pane you'll see two entries called "NameCache" and "PathCache". These are their CORRECT hex values:

"NameCache"=hex:a9,0a,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:40,00,00,00

Don't type the commas in the value fields!
Some older Win95 (retail) systems might need to have DWORD values instead of Binary (hex), to apply the CORRECT "Network Server" settings under the same Server Registry key above:

"NameCache"=dword:00002aa4
"PathCache"=dword:00000100

HINT: To apply the correct "Network Server" cache setting values without messing with the Registry, open Windows Explorer or File Manager (FM = C:\WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE) and (double)-click on SERVER.REG, part of W95-11D.EXE.

Windows needs to be restarted for these changes to take effect.

FYI: See "MAX CACHE SPEED" and "CD-ROM/DVD + HARD DISK MAX CACHE", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], to learn how to tweak your Win9x/ME file cache to the MAX.

Back 2 Contents
©1996-2010 MDGx (AXCEL216): Everything here is FREEware. I have created [August 1996], maintain and update these web pages entirely by hand using Programmer's File Editor [replaced Notepad]. I do not promote, speak in the behalf of, advertise or work for any computing, news or internet profit business. All ®registered ©copyrights and ™trademarks referred herein retain the property of their respective owners.

Back!