MDGx
 WinDOwS Tricks - Part 5

Go to ALL WinDOwS ©Tricks + Secrets Contents
• 6-7-98 Win95/OSR2 ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


LOOK MA, NO CD-ROM


This tip appears courtesy of The Capt'n.

"Use Win95 CD files without CD-ROM

On many systems, especially OEM systems, (direct from computer manufacturer, or purchased at a store like Best Buy, CompUSA or Circuit City), the computer will come with this configuration. On the hard drive, a folder named C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS usually exists on these types of computers. This folder contains all of the files from the Windows 95 CD-ROM from the "X:\Win95" folder (where X is the letter of your CD-ROM drive). You can reboot to the Command Prompt Only (press F8 when the system displays "Starting Windows 95..." on the screen, usually it's option 6, type CD\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS and press ENTER. You can run SETUP.EXE or OEMSETUP.EXE depending on what you want to do.
SETUP.EXE will install Windows 95 with Microsoft's default settings for a standard PC.
OEMSETUP.EXE will install Windows 95 according to the settings your OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) originally used when your system was fresh from the factory. Of course, either way, you will be able to choose individual components you want to install. OEMSETUP.EXE usually includes the "Support Information" button and "Supported and Manufactured by" logo in System Properties (right-click "My Computer" and choose "Properties" to see this on your system).

Reinstalling Windows 95 will often fix a problem you might be having with the system, and this way, it would preserve most of your existing Registry settings, thus, making it so you didn't have to reinstall most of your programs and re-optomize any settings you have changed.

You can delete the existing Registry files prior to running SETUP.EXE or OEMSETUP.EXE, (do this by going to the command prompt, typing "CD\WINDOWS" then typing "ATTRIB USER.DA* -H -S -R" and "ATTRIB SYSTEM.DA* -H -S -R" and then "DEL SYSTEM.DA*" and "DEL USER.DA*" - caution - THIS WILL DELETE YOUR EXISTING REGISTRY! Make sure you backup first. This will install a "fresh" copy of Win95 onto the hard disk and create a completely new Registry, for those times that Win95 just won't stop having problems even after reinstalling it using the first method.

If you have OSR2 you will need to delete or rename C:\WINDOWS\WIN.* (all files named "WIN" ending with ANY extension, such as WIN.INI, WIN.COM etc). Otherwise you won't be able to install Win95 OSR2 again because it doesn't like installing over a previous version of Windows.

If you are unfortunate enough NOT to have a system that has the Win95 setup cab files in C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS, then don't worry, as long as you have a CD-ROM drive and a Win95 CD-ROM.

Just follow the same steps, except after going to the command prompt, switch to your CD-ROM drive and type in "CD\WIN95" and run SETUP.EXE or OEMSETUP.EXE after following the other instructions."

Back 2 Contents
• 5-17-98 Win9x/DOS6 ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


INSTALL DOS 6


This tip comes to you courtesy of Marc.

"I used your tips to install DOS 6.22. Here is how I did it:

  1. Make a Windows 95/98 boot disk.
  2. Either format C:, or if you have a DOS 6.22 boot disk, do the following:
    1. Rename the Windows 95/98 COMMAND.COM, MSDOS.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to *.W9X (or whatever).
    2. Boot with the DOS 6.22 boot disk.
    3. Go to the boot disk drive (usually A:) and run:
      SYS C:
  3. Install DOS 6.22.
  4. Rename the DOS 6.22 files (see above) to *.DOS.
  5. Boot with the Windows 95/98 boot disk.
  6. Go to the boot disk drive (usually A:) and run:
    SYS C:
    If followed 2 a-c:
  7. Rename the Windows 95/98 files (*.W9X) to their original extensions.
  8. Done!

Now you can do as you suggest in one of your tips and make the boot menu come up, so that you can choose your OS."

Back 2 Contents
• 4-24-98 Win9x/ME Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


STUBBORN CONTROL PANEL APPLET - Part 1


I have received reports about annoying Control Panel Applets that are not deleted during an uninstall process. Therefore, certain stubborn Applets still appear in the Control Panel folder, even if their parent applications have been removed from your Windows 9x/ME system.
To get rid of them for good, determine which ones do not link to any programs/tools (by double-clicking on them nothing happens) anymore, and first move them to another folder (one at a time). Then reopen Control Panel, see if they are gone. If the functionality of your system is not affected by their removal, you can safely delete them from your disk.
These files usually have the .CPL extension, and are all located in your C:\Windows\System folder.
Most 3rd party tools below [free(ware)] are listed @ my Windows 3.1x/95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 Power Toys + Tweaking Tools page.
Here is a list of frequently installed .CPL applets:

File name       Icon name                Applet title                           Installed by
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3dcc.cpl        Color Settings           JasMIN 3D Color Changer 98/3000        Jasmin's 3D Color Changer 98/3000
Access.cpl      Accessibility            Windows Accessibility Control Panels   Win9x/ME
Apppaths.cpl    Application Paths        Windows Application Paths              Application Paths Changer
Appwiz.cpl      Add/Remove Programs      Add/Remove Programs Properties         Win9x/ME
Audiohq.cpl     AudioHQ                  AudioHQ                                Creative Labs SB Live!/Audigy
Ctdetect.cpl    Disk Detector            Creative Disk Detector                 Creative Labs SB Live!/Audigy
Desk.cpl        Display                  Display Properties                     Win9x/ME
Diagnose.cpl    BCM Diagnostics          BCM Diagnostics                        BCM Diagnostics
Directx.cpl     DirectX                  DirectX Properties                     MS DirectX SDK 5/6/7/8/9
Findfast.cpl    FindFast                 FindFast Settings                      MS Office 97/2000
Iascfg.cpl      Quake 2 IAS              Interactive Around Sound Engine        Quake 2 IAS for SB Live!
Inetcpl.cpl     Internet Options         Internet Properties                    Win9x/ME + MS IE 3/4/5/6
Infrared.cpl    Infrared                 Infrared Properties                    Win9x/ME
Intl.cpl        Regional Settings        Regional Settings Properties           Win9x/ME
Jetadmin.cpl    Hewlett-Packard JetAdmin Control Panel Applet                   Win9x/ME
Joy.cpl         Joystick Properties/Game Controllers in DirectX 5/6/7/8         Win9x/ME + MS DirectX 5/6/7/8
Lfctpl.cpl      Logitech WingMan         Logitech Game Controller Properties    Logitech WingMan Joysticks
Main.cpl        Mouse                    Mouse Properties                       Win9x/ME
Mlcfg32.cpl     Exchange/MS Mail         Microsoft Mail Configuration Library   Win9x
Mmsys.cpl       Multimedia               Multimedia Properties                  Win9x/ME
Modem.cpl       Modems                   Modems Properties                      Win9x/ME
Morecon.cpl     More Control             More Control                           More Control
Mp3cnfg.cpl     MPEG Layer III Config    MPEG Layer-3 Codec Configuration       Kristal Software Divx MPEG
Mswebcpl.cpl    MS Web Server            Microsoft Web Server Control Panel     Win9x + MS Web Server
Netcpl.cpl      Network                  Network                                Win9x/ME
Odbccp32.cpl    32-bit ODBC              ODBC Data Source Administrator         MS Visual Basic + MS C++
Password.cpl    Passwords                Passwords Properties                   Win9x/ME
Qtw16.cpl       Quick Time               Quick Time Control Panel               Apple Quick Time 16-bit 2
Qtw32.cpl       Quick Time               Quick Time Control Panel               Apple Quick Time 32-bit 2
Quick Time.cpl  Quick Time               Quick Time Settings                    Apple Quick Time 32-bit 3/4/5/6
Powercfg.cpl    Power Management         Power Management Properties            Win98/ME
Prefscpl.cpl    RealPlayer G2            Preferences                            RealPlayer 5/6/7/8/9
Sancpl.cpl      SiSoft Sandra            SiSoft Sandra Control Panel Extension  SiSoft Sandra
Startup.cpl     Startup                  Startup Control Panel 1.0/2.0          Mike Lin's Startup applet 1/2
Sticpl.cpl      Scanners and Cameras     Scanners and Cameras Properties        Win98/ME
Sysdm.cpl       System                   System Properties                      Win9x/ME
Themes.cpl      Desktop Themes           Desktop Themes                         MS Plus! + OSR2 + Win98/98 SE
Timedate.cpl    Date/Time                Date/Time Properties                   Win9x/ME
Telephon.cpl    Telephony                Telephony Properties                   Win9x/ME
Tweakall.cpl    TweakAll                 TweakAll                               Abton Shed's TweakAll 1/2
Tweakui.cpl     Tweak UI                 Tweak UI                               TweakUI MS Power Toy
Wnetprop.cpl    WorldNet AutoDial        AT&T Worldnet Service Properties       AT&T Worldnet ISP
Wgpocpl.cpl     MS WorkGroup PostOffice  Microsoft WorkGroup PostOffice Admin   Win9x/ME
Wuaucpl.cpl     Windows Update           Windows Update                         WinME
Xqxsetup.cpl    X-Setup                  Xteq X-Setup 4.x/5.x/6.x               Xteq's X-Setup 4/5/6

These MSKB pages also have a comprehensive Win9x/ME .CPL files list: Q192806 and Q149648.
Also, you can move some/all .CPL files to a different folder, and then create separate shortcuts for them. Such a shortcut command line must include Control.exe in front of the .CPL file, ONLY IF the .CPL files are not associated with the Control Panel executable on your system. Example:

C:\Windows\Control.exe C:\YourFolder\Modem.cpl

NOTE: To learn how to associate .CPL files with the Control Panel (Control.exe), read "CONTROL PANEL", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

UPDATE: ".CPL files are automatically by default associated with:
%WINDIR%\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %1,%*
One may need to rename the:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cplfile\shell\cplopen
Registry key to 'open'."
[Thank you Yuri!]

Back 2 Contents
• 4-7-98 Win9x/IE4 Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


CD-ROM KEYS


If your Win9x system (or your Windows applications: MS Plus!, MS Office etc) become corrupted, and you have misplaced the installation cd-rom key (which is usually shown on the cd-rom sleeve or on the manual cover), there is still a way to find it, so you can reinstall your OS/app from scratch.

NOTE: This procedure requires a working copy of Windows 9x!

With the GUI started, open Regedit and go to:

You may have more than one "ProductID" String, depending on the MS programs installed on your machine.
To make it easier to find them all, start a Registry search: click Edit, select Find, type "ProductID" (no quotes) in the search box, and hit Enter (or click Find Next).
In the right hand pane double-click on each ProductID subkey, and copy the entire string of numbers to a text file (by holding Ctrl and pressing C, or by right-clicking on the highlighted number, and then clicking Copy), specifying which program/app it belongs to. Now print a hard copy, and keep it handy for a dark cloudy day when your OS/program may become unusable!
Example: such a cd-rom (copy protection) key might look similar to this one:
11111-333-3333333-11111
When installing a Microsoft product, you will be asked to enter the 2 groups of numbers in the middle (in this case: 333-3333333).

Back 2 Contents
• 4-7-98 Win9x/IE4 ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BRING UP THE DESKTOP!


I found two fast ways to bring up the Desktop folder from underneath the layers of all open windows, without minimizing them:

  1. The permanent way: Right-click on an empty spot on the Taskbar. Click on Properties. Select the Start Menu Programs and click the Add button. Enter "C:\Windows\Desktop" (no quotes) on the command line. Click Next. Place this shortcut in your Start Menu folder. Click Next and finally click Finish.
    From now on you have access to all your Desktop shortcuts from anywhere, any time: just click the Start button, and your Desktop folder will show up on the list.
    NOTE: Change the Win95/98 folder name in this example if different on your machine.

  2. The temporary way: Click the Start button, select Run, type a dot (.) and press Enter.

Back 2 Contents
• 4-7-98 Win9x/ME ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


MAP YOUR HOSTS


You can map your machine's IP (Internet Protocol) to any valid hostname by editing the HOSTS file located in your main Windows 9x/ME folder, to save a few seconds every time your browser tries to access a web site.
The HOSTS file acts like a local DNS (Domain Naming System) server, translating the domain name into an IP address.
This is the search order of Host Name Resolution over TCP/IP in Windows 9x/ME:

  1. HOSTS file
  2. DNS Server
  3. NetBIOS Cache
  4. WINS server
  5. Broadcast
  6. LMHOSTS file

Example: when your browser tries to contact www.att.com, the HOSTS file changes the URL accessed by using the server name hostname.com UNC (Universal Naming Convention), www.att.com in this example, into an IP numeric address (135.145.9.134) and decreases the time taken to get there.
Generic HOSTS line:

111.222.333.444 hostname.com # Web Site Name

Everything after the pound sign (#) is a comment.
Edit it with Notepad, to read the usage guidelines and then add your most frequently visited web sites IP addresses/host names.
To get the IP address of your favorite server, let's say www.att.com, run PING, a Networking tool, also found in your Win9x/ME folder, from a DOS prompt box/session, while connected to the Internet:

PING www.att.com

These are the IP numbers you need:

Pinging www.att.com [135.145.9.134] etc...

Copy them on a separate line into your HOSTS file:

135.145.9.134 www.att.com # AT&T Worldnet

Repeat this operation for each web site you like to add.
Restart Windows so the changes can take effect.

IMPORTANT:
  1. Do NOT rename this file: it MUST be HOSTS with no extension!
  2. Do NOT map an IP to a name already in use, i.e. your ISP's (Internet Service Provider) name!

Some internet/network servers use dynamic IP addresses, meaning the numbers change every time you try to access them. Therefore you may need to PING the same server more than once at different times, and then add ALL IP numbers found for that server, followed by its host/web site name (see example above) on separate lines into your HOSTS file.

FYI: See HOSTS Files, Guides + Tools [freeware] for more details.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-30-98 Win9x/ME Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


CONTIGUOUS FILE ALLOCATION SIZE


Disk fragmentation occurs inherently in Windows 95/98/ME and most frequently accessed files "break up" spanning across non-sequential clusters, especially over long periods of time.
But you can limit fragmentation by increasing the available (free) cluster size Windows looks for when storing files on disk, thus decreasing the time the System Agent (Task Scheduler) "Low disk notification" and "Maintenance disk cleanup" (Win95 retail/OSR1 only with MS Plus! 95 installed, and all Win95B/95C OSR2.x releases) and the Maintenance Wizard (Win98/98 SE/ME only) tools take for tunning up your system, by forcing Windows to ignore larger amounts of fragmented disk space, and to avoid splitting larger files the same time.
To optimize the Windows file system (i.e. for running multimedia applications that use large files), open Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\FileSystem

Right-click in the right hand pane -> select New -> DWORD -> name it "ContigFileAllocSize" (no quotes). Now double-click on it -> check the Decimal box -> give it an integer value between 1024 (1 MB) and 4096 (4 MB). Default is 512 (512 KiloBytes = 1/2 MB).
If you have any newer/"monster" multi-GigaByte size hard disk(s), you may want to set this value to "high": 2048 - 4096.
If you don't work/"play" frequently with multi-MegaByte size files, you may want to set it to "low": 512 - 2048.
Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows when done.

More info @ Microsoft.

CONCLUSION:

Smaller cluster size means faster disk access but greater degree of disk fragmentation.
Larger cluster size means slower disk access but smaller degree of disk fragmentation.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-30-98 Win9x Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


EDIT THE BAT


To edit a DOS batch file (.BAT extension) with a (double)-click instead of executing it:

  1. Start the Registry editor and go to:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\open

  2. Rename the "open" key to "run", as shown below:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\run

    by right-clicking on "open", selecting Rename, typing in "run", and then clicking OK. Don't type the quotes!

  3. Modify the "EditFlags" binary value in:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile

    to read "00 00 00 00": right-click on "EditFlags" (right-hand pane), select Modify, and type in "00 00 00 00" (no quotes). Click OK.

    WARNING: DO NOT MODIFY THE LENGTH OF THE HEX VALUE ABOVE!

  4. Open Explorer, click Options from the View menu (or Folder Options if you installed Internet Explorer 4.0x, or if you are using Win98), select the File Types tab, scroll down to the "MS-DOS Batch File" item, highlight it and click Edit.

You'll notice that the last three buttons (Edit, Remove and Set Default) are now enabled and that you can select Edit as the default action.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-30-98 Win9x/ME Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


SOURCE PATH CHANGE


You can have Windows 9x/ME stop asking for the Windows Setup CD-ROM disk/installation files whenever you make changes to or update your system, and point to a folder on your local hard drive/partition, where you have already copied all .CAB files for your particular OS from your Windows 95/98/ME Setup CD.
This is useful especially if you have added a new (hard, CD/DVD, backup etc) disk or repartitioned your existing hard drive(s), because there is a fat chance your original drive letter (from which you initially installed Win9x/ME) might have changed.
Default Microsoft Setup folder names (using D as CD/DVD drive letter in this example, change if necessary):

To redirect Setup to use a new (custom) location for the .CAB files, fire up Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Double-click on the "SourcePath" String Value -> delete existing text -> type in your new path: C:\WIN98 (example using Windows 98 or 98 SE) -> click OK -> exit the Registry Editor -> restart Windows.
To redirect the Hardware Wizard to use a new (custom) folder for .INF (and not only) files whenever you make changes to or upgrade your hardware devices (video, sound, modem, network card etc), repeat steps above to modify the "a" String Value found under this Registry key:

No need to restart Windows after this last change.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-24-98 Win9x/ME/DOS7/DOS8 ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


ACCESS DATE +|-


Michel reminded me about a little known CONFIG.SYS command, ACCDATE, used by default by Win9x/ME in "Safe mode".
You can disable ACCDATE on all your hard drives (only in your CONFIG.SYS), to speed up disk access a little, especially in MS-DOS modes.

    FYI:

"ACCDATE enables/disables the recording of the last access date of a file.
The ACCDATE command can only be invoked from CONFIG.SYS.
Syntax:

ACCDATE=drive1+|- [drive2+|-] ...

+ = Enables last access date recording.
- = Disables last access date recording.

By default, last access dates are recorded for files on hard drive(s) but not on floppies.
When Windows 9x/ME starts in Safe Mode, last access date recording is turned OFF automatically for all hard drives/partitions.
ACCDATE canNOT be used to modify the status of last access date recording while Windows GUI is running. :(
I am not sure when ACCDATE would be used by normal mortals. Some utility programs (eg. Cleansweep) record when files were last accessed to provide a basis for suggestions of files that should be considered for deletion or archiving. Whether such programs use ACCDATE in some way, I do not know."

UPDATE: "The file access date can be found using the DIR/V command from the native DOS prompt.
Unfortunately Windows Explorer Properties resets the ACCDATE to today's date, making it useless in Windows. :(
I recently discovered thousands of my old files were attacked by a hacker.
By using DIR/V and checking the ACCDATE, I can tell which files were hacked.
The files still have the same name, length and date, but the content has been changed to an MP3 file. Many files in other directories had suffered the same fate, and all my backups were corrupt."
[Thank you Epatters!]

Back 2 Contents
• 3-23-98 Win9x Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


RESTART AFTER INSTALL


There are cases when some program installations/setups insist on rebooting your system (for the changes they have made to take effect), even if they haven't made ANY CHANGES to your system/startup files (MSDOS.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, Registry etc), the only ones that would require a reboot IF modified during an installation process.
In this case a computer reboot IS NOT necessary! All you need to do is restart ONLY the Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface).
To do this, first answer No/Cancel to the prompt screens, whenever a particular install routine wants to reboot your system. After that you can restart Windows manually, 3 ways:

  1. Temporary: Click the Start button -> click "Shut Down" -> select "Restart" -> click OK or hit Enter.

  2. Unsafe: Click the Start button -> click "Shut Down" -> select "Shut down" AND hold down the Shift key at the same time -> click OK or hit Enter.

  3. Permanent: Create a DOS batch (.BAT) file with this single line:

    @EXIT

    and save it as RESTART.BAT.
    Next, create an MS-DOS shortcut (.PIF = Program Information File) for RESTART.BAT:
    1. Right-click on an empty spot on your Desktop -> select New -> click Shortcut.
    2. In the "Command line" box -> browse to the folder where RESTART.BAT resides -> name this shortcut Restart! -> click OK -> click Finish.
    3. Right-click on Restart! -> select Properties -> click the Program tab -> click the "Change Icon" button -> browse to your favorite DLL, EXE, ICL or ICO file -> select the icon you want (if more than one) -> click OK/Apply.
      Your newly created MS-DOS shortcut (Restart!.PIF = the .PIF file extension is NOT visible by default!) should appear now on your Desktop, if you haven't changed its default location.
    4. Right-click on Restart! -> select Properties -> click the Program tab -> check the "Close on exit" box -> click the "Advanced" button -> check the "MS-DOS mode" box -> uncheck the "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode" box -> check the "Use current MS-DOS configuration" box -> click OK/Apply twice to save your changes.

Now you're all set. You can (double)-click on your Restart! shortcut whenever a program installation that HASN'T MADE ANY CHANGES to your system (startup) files prompts you to reboot.
To make sure there are no changes made to your system (startup) files, you can compare your old files (from before installing a new program) with the new ones (after the setup process is over). Two ASCII (plain text) files, like AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, saved Registry (.REG file) etc... can be compared by opening them side by side in Notepad.

HINT: Notepad will NOT open files larger than 64 KB, so you need a better text editor/viewer.

This implies that you have made BACKUPS (to compare to) BEFORE ANY CHANGES have been made to your system!
If there are NO changes after program installation is completed, there is NO need for a reboot. :)
In this case, just (double)-click on your Desktop Restart! shortcut, and when the Windows GUI shows up again, you can safely run your newly installed program.
Voila.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-23-98 Win9x ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


ALL DRIVES SEARCH


To search all your available drives for files simultaneously, use the Windows 9x "Find Files or Folders" feature, with a twist.
Type the filename to search for in the "Named" field and then type the drive letters you want to search into in the "Look in" field, each separated by a semicolon (;). Example:

C:\;D:\;E:\;F:\... etc.

Back 2 Contents
• 7-7-98 Win9x Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BLANK WIN.COM


I have included 3 modified versions of "WIN.COM" (Windows 9x executables) for ALL Win95/98 releases:in the WINBLANK.ZIP archive [29 KB, FREEware].

More info @ MSKB.

USAGE GUIDE:

NOTES:

How I did it: plain and simple, I opened each WIN.COM file with the old 16-bit version of Write.exe (the primitive word processor included with Windows/WfWG 3.1x), and replaced the two text lines (see above) that make up the annoying message with spaces (blanks). :)
IMPORTANT: If you try to do this, keep in mind that the EXACT size of the original WIN.COM has to be preserved, otherwise Windows will lock up upon loading!

There is actually another [some may say "easier" :)] way to do all this, by starting Windows 95/98 from a plain DOS BATch file, or by adding these lines at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

@ECHO OFF
WIN.COM %1 %2 %3
MODE.COM CO80

... but that's no fun! :-)

Back 2 Contents
• 3-16-98 Win9x/ME Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


NO MORE "CLICK HERE TO BEGIN"


To get rid of the annoying "Click here to begin" scrolling arrow and text message showing up on the Taskbar every time the Windows 9x/ME GUI loads (if you don't have any open programs that display their own icons on the Taskbar at Windows startup, and that will cover "Click here to begin"), run Regedit and go to:

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

In the right hand pane modify the "NoStartBanner" Binary [hex] Value: double-click on it -> type 01000000 -> click OK. Don't type any quotes or spaces.
Or add it if not present: right-click on an empty spot in the right hand pane -> select New -> click Binary Value -> name it NoStartBanner -> click OK.
Close Regedit and restart Windows when done.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-16-98 Win9x/ME ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


SUPER DEFRAG


Bengt Swenson sent another cool Windows 9x/ME tip:

"Super Defrag

  1. Right-click on "My Computer".
  2. Click Properties.
  3. Click the Performance tab.
  4. Select the Virtual Memory button.
  5. Check "Disable virtual memory".
  6. Click OK. Windows won't like this, but go ahead anyway...
  7. Reboot.
  8. Run Defrag.
  9. Go back to "My Computer" virtual memory and uncheck "Disable virtual memory".
  10. Put back your own virtual memory settings (perhaps you have done this already in your SYSTEM.INI).
  11. Reboot.

With a little luck, you'll have your swap file in one place on the hard drive, and perhaps a little more space."

ADD-ON: To deactivate the Win9x/ME swap file (virtual memory), you can also modify your SYSTEM.INI, found in your Windows folder. This way Windows won't prompt you to reboot your computer, all you need to do is restart the GUI: Start -> Shut down -> Restart -> OK/Yes.
But you have to REBOOT if you do this the "normal" way: open Control Panel -> System -> Performance -> Virtual Memory... etc.
Open SYSTEM.INI in Notepad, and look under the [386enh] section for these (similar) lines (the "drive", "folder", "filename.ext" and "xxxxxx" strings below must display actual values in your file):

PagingDrive=drive:
PagingFile=drive:\folder\filename.ext
MinPagingFileSize=xxxxxx
MaxPagingFileSize=xxxxxx

NOTE: You might NOT have ALL lines above present, depending on your System's Virtual Memory (swap file) settings!

Remark them ALL by placing a semicolon (;) in front of each line.
Then create this new line under the same [386enh] section:

Paging=off

Now just restart Windows (as described above), NO need to reboot.
Defragment ALL your hard drive(s) as explained in Bengt's tip above.
When you're done, open SYSTEM.INI again in Notepad, and reenable all your old lines by erasing the semicolons (;) in front of them, and remark or delete the new created line (Paging=off).
Restart Windows one more time. Done.

TIP for Win98/ME users: see "CLEAN DEFRAG", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

Back 2 Contents
• 3-16-98 Win9x ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


MS-DOS PROPERTIES


Yet another cool trick from The Capt'n. Enjoy:

"When you open an MS-DOS Prompt window, you get to Properties without using the mouse, by using a menu that appears when you select the icon in the upper left corner of the window. Press Alt-Spacebar to show this menu and then type P for Properties."

UPDATE: "This is not specific to the DOS Prompt but applies to any window, except that most windows don't have a Properties item."
This update courtesy of Yuri.

Back 2 Contents
• 3-10-98 Win3.1x/9x/DOS6 ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:


DOUBLE BUFFER


If you have any:

Windows 95/98 tries to load DBLBUFF.SYS, the double buffering device driver (located in C:\Windows by default) to allow proper operation under the SCSI/ESDI/FAT32 standards.
Double Buffering/Smartdrv advantages:

  1. If you don't use any DOS programs, you can speed up the loading of the DOS portion of your Win95/98 GUI.

  2. If you DO use ANY MS-DOS based programs/games, you can speed up a bit (in some cases) ALL disk I/O (Input/Output) reads and writes in native MS-DOS mode.

There are actually two ways of doing this:

  1. The old way is to add a SMARTDRV line to your CONFIG.SYS file, after the command that loads HIMEM.SYS:

    DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFER

    Note that this portion of the Smartdrv module canNOT load in upper memory!
    This is reminiscent from the MS-DOS 6.xx days, when Smartdrv itself was used to provide double buffering.

  2. The new way (implemented by Win95/98) is to add this line to your CONFIG.SYS, after the HIMEM.SYS command:

    DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DBLBUFF.SYS

    DBLBUFF.SYS can ONLY load in conventional memory. You will get an error message at bootup, and the Dblbuff.sys loading process aborts if you try to load it in upper memory with DEVICEHIGH!
    No matter which method you choose, both these CONFIG.SYS lines MUST be present BEFORE ANY other DEVICE(HIGH) or INSTALL(HIGH) commands!

    NOTE: For complete DBLBUFF.SYS guidelines + parameters, see MSDOSDRV.TXT located in your Windows 9x folder.

You can choose which way to enable double buffering, since both methods described above work under Win95/98.
The double buffer module takes under 3 KB of low (conventional) memory.
Valid for both methods above:

  1. You need an adequate BUFFERS line in your CONFIG.SYS, for this to work. Example:

    BUFFERS=12,6

    The second number on this BUFFERS line provides double buffering capabilities.
    The BUFFERS load automatically in the High Memory Area (HMA), if HMA is properly enabled by these CONFIG.SYS lines:

    DOS=HIGH,UMB
    DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS

    NOTE: To learn more about DOS memory layout and how to "squeeze" the last Byte out of your conventional/upper memory in DOS and Windows, read MEMORY.TXT, REGIONS.TXT + EMM386.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

  2. You also need a SMARTDRV line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, to activate the double buffering feature. Example:

    SMARTDRV 2048 16 A+ C+ D /N

    NOTE: For complete Smartdrv details + guidelines, see "OUTSMART SMARTDRIVE", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

Now that you're done, reboot your system, and then run this command:

SMARTDRV /S

from any DOS prompt, to see which drive(s) on your system have double buffering enabled (only if needed).

TIP: To have SMARTDRV load in upper memory (and save some precious conventional memory), you need a memory manager loaded in your CONFIG.SYS (like EMM386.EXE, provided by Microsoft with Win95/98).
Example of EMM386.EXE CONFIG.SYS line (with expanded memory enabled by the "RAM" switch):

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE I=B000-B7FF D=256 RAM AUTO

To learn how to use ALL EMM386.EXE parameters, see MSDOSDRV.TXT, a plain text file found in your Windows 9x folder. Then read MEMORY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], to learn how to maximize + optimize your DOS/Windows memory resources using EMM386.EXE.

TIP: If you use Win98, read "WIN98 PHANTOM DRIVE BUG", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

Back 2 Contents
• 3-2-98 Win3.1x/9x/ME ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:


TEMP FILES, BE GONE!


Windows 3.1x/9x/ME users are well aware of this annoyance: disk clutter!
One easy way to ditch unneeded Windows temporary/backup files (which in time can occupy significant amounts of disk space), is to run a batch file, which deletes all: *.---, *.000, *.001, *.002, *.B~K, *.BAK, *.BMK, *.CHK, *.DA1, *.DAT, *.FND, *.FTG, *.FTS, *.GID, *.INK, *.LHX, *.LOG, *.OLD, *.OUT, *.PAR, *.PRV, *.$$$, *.SYD, *.SYK, *.SWP, *.TMP, *.~MP, *.TXT, MSCREATE.DIR, *.*$, _*.*, ~*.*, *.~*, *.*_, *.*~, *.^* etc files from ALL your fixed hard drive(s)/partitions.
Specific programs/tools create specific temporary/backup files (examples):

Some of these files have the read-only, hidden and/or system attributes.
Therefore you need to "strip" them of their attributes to be able to delete them.
Example: create a batch file to include the DOS command lines below, to delete these temp files from C:\ root:

@ECHO OFF
C:
CD\
ATTRIB -H -R -S +A \*.OLD
ATTRIB -H -R -S +A \*.PRV
ATTRIB -H -R -S +A \*.TXT
DEL \*.OLD
DEL \*.PRV
DEL \*.TXT

WARNING: Do NOT delete ANY *.DA0, *.DAT, *.INI, *.LOG or *.TXT files from your main Windows directory!

A radical approach to getting rid of ALL files that pile up in your temporary folder (usually C:\Windows\TEMP), is to include these DOS commands in a batch file:

It is recommended to delete your Windows temporary files ONLY from native MS-DOS, or if you'd like to do this from inside the Windows GUI (a DOS box), make sure you close ALL open programs FIRST!
Open W9X.BAT [part of W95-11D.EXE] or W31.BAT [part of W31-11D.ZIP] in Notepad, to see how I keep my hard drives "filthy clean", every time I shut-down/exit Windows to MS-DOS.

UPDATES:

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!