encounter random system errors while trying to open a program,
see a yellow
exclamation sign next to one of these Control Panel → System → Device Manager items: "Advanced Power Management support",
"Display adapters", "Modem", "Network adapters", "PCMCIA devices", "Universal Serial Bus controllers" etc, even if you know
there are NO IRQ/DMA/COMmunication port conflicts,
are bothered by intermittent CRT display flicker upon "waking up" after
being in "stand by"/"suspend" mode (which may in time wear off your monitor),
get knocked off frequently from your
otherwise functional Internet/modem/network hookup,
experience (too) long delays when your monitor/hard disk(s) "wake up"
after "hibernation" mode,
you may want to turn off completely ALL your Windows 9x/ME power management features (like I
did).NECESSARY STEPS:
First enter your BIOS/CMOS Setup by pressing the appropriate key (usually
Del) specified in your computer/motherboard manual during the bootup POST (Power On Self Test) screen, and DISABLE ALL
(Advanced) Power Management (APM/ACPI) settings, like: "Doze Mode", "Standby Mode", "Suspend Mode", "HDD Power Down",
"Video Off" etc. Save your changes and reboot.
After your Windows GUI comes up: open Control Panel → Power Management
→ select the "Always on" Power scheme → make sure the "Turn off monitor" and "Turn off hard disks" boxes show
"Never" → click OK/Apply to save changes.
Edit your SYSTEM.INI file (found in your Windows folder) with
Notepad or Sysedit (but BACKUP IT UP FIRST!) → go to the:
[boot]
section → look for the "power.drv" entry on the "drivers=" line → move it to a new line of its own starting with a
semicolon (;) to disable it (example):[boot] drivers=mmsystem.dll whatever.vxd
etc... ; power.drvDO NOT remark/disable ANY other filenames on the "drivers=" line!
[386enh]
section → look for the "device=*vpowerd" line → disable it by placing a semicolon (;) in front of it
(example):[386enh] ; device=*vpowerdSave your file.
BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY FILES: SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT + CLASSES.DAT (WinME only)!
Run Regedit:
Go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEand then to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VCOMMUnder each key above → (double-)click
on the "EnablePowerManagement" DWORD/Binary (depending on your Win9x/ME release) Value in the right hand pane →
change ALL characters to read 0 (zero) → click OK/press Enter.
Click Edit from the Regedit menu → select Find
→ start 3 separate Registry searches: type "power.drv", "vpower" and "vpowr" respectively (no quotes)
in the "Find what..." box → delete ALL found keys/values/entries.
Move to a safe BACKUP location these 2 files
from C:\Windows\System: POWER.DRV + VPOWERD.VXD.
Disable ANY Power Management entries from the System Agent
(Task Scheduler) list.
Do this only if using a Netscape 3.0x/4.xx 32 or 16-bit web browser in Windows 3.1x/9x/NT/2000/ME/XP.Are you tired
of watching the same old spinning icon (called "throbber" or "flying logo") in the right upper corner of your Netscape
browser window until a web page stops loading? If your answer is YES, read on... You can easily replace it with a better
looking one you can download from the pages linked further below, or you can create your own using an animated GIF
editor/creator. I prefer these Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 32-bit tools: GifIcon [1.85 MB, nag
shareware] + Microsoft GIF Animator [1 MB, free]. Usually these two files are called
30M.BMP (30x30 pixels) and 48M.BMP (48x48 pixels), and they are just animated GIFs converted to Windows
bitmaps (.BMP format). The number of colors can be anything between 256 and 16 million, but pay attention that they may look
ugly if you have set your Windows resolution to only 256 colors and the logos are rendered for example at 16-bit (65,000
colors). The frames that make up the animation must be lined up side by side horizontally without spaces. You can cut
& paste them together using any graphic/image viewer/editor supporting BOTH the BMP and GIF formats. I prefer:
Both logos need to be placed in one
of these Netscape subdirectories: \Program (where you can find Netscape.exe) or \Users\UserID (substitute UserID with your
actual login name/ID, which usually coincides with your e-mail name). This tweak applies to ALL Netscape
Navigator/Communicator 3.0x/4.xx 32 and 16 bit web browser releases. Necessary steps:
Navigator 3.0x:
Close all Netscape browser windows.
Make sure to copy the two
bitmaps to the proper destination (see above).
Restart your browser and have fun.
Navigator/Communicator
4.xx:
Close all Netscape browser windows.
Make sure the two bitmaps reside in the right place
(see above).
Open PREFS.JS in Notepad, a configuration text file residing in your \Users\UserID subdirectory.
Just substitute UserID with your real e-mail name/login ID. Add these lines:config("toolbar.logo.win_small_file","30m.bmp"); config("toolbar.logo.win_large_file","48m.bmp"); config("toolbar.logo.frames",20); config("toolbar.logo.url","https://www.mdgx.com/");Replace
the frames number above (20 in this case) with the actual number of frames in your throbber, and the URL on line #4 with the
Internet address of your choice, which will load up whenever you click on the flying logo (default is the Netscape web site).
Save your file. Note that Netscape 4.xx supports any names for its logos ONLY IF you match the Prefs.js lines with your
file names.
Change the PREFS.JS file attributes to read-only, by running this command line from any DOS prompt
(example):ATTRIB +R C:\NETSCAPE\USERS\USERID\PREFS.JSIf you don't do this, your custom throbber
lines will be erased from Prefs.js the next time you open the browser. :(
I am bored already with the generic [read "ugly" :)] icons assigned to .CPL (Control Panel Library) applets and .DLL
(Dynamic Link Library) files in Windows 9x/ME Explorer. So I searched the Registry for a fix. Here it is...
Change the default CPL Explorer icon: run Regedit and go to:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cplfile\DefaultIcon(Double-)click the right hand pane "(Default)" String
Value and modify it to read "%1" (no quotes).
Change the default DLL Explorer icon: go to:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\DefaultIcon(Double-)click the right hand pane "(Default)" String
Value and modify it to read "%1" (no quotes).
Close the Registry Editor... done.
From now on when you
look at a folder listing these file types you'll see some cool (hidden) icons. :) The only disadvantage is that files that
don't contain ANY icons will still display the default "unknown type" icon. :(Alternatively, and especially if you dislike
"messing" with the Registry, you can run [(double-)click in Windows Explorer or File Manager (FM = %windir%\WINFILE.EXE)] the
.REG file below (copy & paste its lines in Notepad and save it for example as OWNICON.REG), to achieve all this in
one "swift" move:-----Begin cut & paste here----- REGEDIT4[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cplfile\DefaultIcon] @="%1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\DefaultIcon] @="%1"------End cut & paste
here------And the beauty is that you can do this for other file types too, like: .ACM, .AX, .BMP, .DRV, .EXE, .GIF,
.JPG, .OCX, .SCR, .VBX, .VXD etc.FYI: See "ICON BITMAP", also
in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more details.
Apply these two Registry hacks to completely disable the annoying tooltips ("mini-help" boxes) that pop up whenever you place the mouse cursor over objects/buttons/boxes/etc, supporting this feature in Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP/2003 and MS
Internet Explorer 3/4/5/6:
Hack #1 appears courtesy of Casper:"Run Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AdvancedModify/create the
"ShowInfoTip" DWORD Value (no quotes) and give it a value of 0 in the Decimal box. To restore the tooltips change its Decimal value to 1. The Start button tooltip still pops up though. :("
Hack #2: start
Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktopand:HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\desktopBackup this key FIRST
to be able to restore the tooltips later on: click the Registry item from the Menu → select "Export Registry File..." →
browse to the folder of your choice → type TTIPON.REG (or whatever name you want, but keep the REG extension) →
click the Save button. Now scroll to the "UserPreferencesmask" Binary Value in the right hand pane. (Double-)click on
it → delete the first 2 digits by placing the cursor after the second character (there are a total of 8 editable digits
there) → hit Backspace twice → type 3e (case insensitive) → click OK or press Enter. You can also use this REG
file (copy the lines bellow in Notepad and save it as TTIPOFF.REG), if you dislike "messing" with the Registry:-----Begin cut & paste here----- REGEDIT4[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "UserPreferencesmask"=hex:3e,00,00,00[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop] "UserPreferencesmask"=hex:3e,00,00,00------End cut & paste here------To restore the tooltips
to the previous state, just run TTIPON.REG.
If you have a newer external 56K analog or ISDN modem (dial-up), you may be able to take advantage of a little extra
speed boost in Windows 95/98/ME. Modern external dial-up modems have their own built-in CPU, which runs usually at 25 MHz
(higher than internal modems' CPUs, rated at 8-20 MHz). Good examples are most 3COM/US Robotics Sportster and Courier models.
Such modems have the capability of internal data transfers (COMmunication port to modem) up to 230400 bps, or even
higher: maximum allowed is 921200 bps. This tweak applies also to 56K/ISDN modems connected to internal ISA (PnP)
serial I/O add-on cards equipped with faster UARTs: 16650 or 16750, designed to transfer data between the COM port and
the modem up to 921200 bps. Wow! This makes regular ISDN look like a slow poke. :) If you wanna get one of these
internal high speed UART I/O cards, check out Pacific
Commware's TurboExpress Port 920.But this canNOT be achieved without a Registry tweak, because the maximum transfer
speed (default) allowed by Windows 9x/ME is 115200 bps, enabled from: Control Panel → Modems →Your Modem
Name→ Properties → General tab → Maximum speed →115200→ OK → OK. To enable and use this higher speed, run Regedit and go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Modem\0000Note that your modem
might be installed under the 0001, 0002 etc keys, not necessarily under 0000. Highlight the appropriate one. In the
right hand pane (double-)click the "Properties" Binary value. You'll notice that the 7th up to the 10th digits on the
4th row (the one that begins with 0018) show C2 01 (or 84 03), which corresponds to a maximum connection speed of
115200 (or lower) bps. Highlight and replace them with 10 0E to bump it up to 921200. Geek speak: replace the 24th
up to the 27th byte (0x18h) as shown above. Do NOT change anything else there! Click OK when done and close
the Registry Editor. For convenience you can use the REG file below to do this without having to alter the Binary value.
Just make sure the modem key matches the one in your Registry (replace 0000 with 0001 or 0002 etc if necessary):
Paste the lines between cut &
paste into Notepad (the empty line at the end is necessary!) and save this file as 921200.REG. Then (double-)click
on it in Windows Explorer or File Manager (FM = %windir%\WINFILE.EXE) to merge it into your Registry. Now if you open
Control Panel → Modems... and follow the same steps above, you can see that 3 new settings are available: 230400, 460800
+ 921600. Reset your modem's "Maximum speed" to one of these new values (some experimenting might be necessary
depending on your hardware specs), save your changes, and finally, connect to the Internet as usual. I'm sure you'll notice
the speed boost. :)CAUTION: If you try this on internal 56K modems, your connection may lock
up, and/or experience various errors while using any communications apps or the Internet, which may also occur if your
external modem does NOT have a 25 MHz or faster CPU! If that is the case, reset the "Maximum speed" (see above) back
to 115200.TIPS:
See "FAST, FAST,
FAST", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], to learn how to "overclock" your
COMmunication port(s) in Windows 9x/ME.
Check out this web page
for more details on different UARTs used in computer motherboards, and to download the modem driver patcher specific to your
system.
UPDATE: "My US Robotics Sportster external modem shuts down and is not recognized by
the PC when I set it to any speed above 115200. :(" [Thank you Brian!]
You can get back some of the memory available to Windows 9x/ME, which after working/playing for a while, decreases,
even if you have closed all open apps/games, and is not the same as right after bootup, before you started your first
program/game. This is due in part to poor programming skills, because a lot of software does not release ALL the memory it
has used back to the system, and in part to the Windows GUI inability of managing memory very well. :( You can test this
"annoyance" by running SysMon, a cool tool included with Win9x/ME, located in your Windows folder. Start System
Monitor right after you loaded Windows, and before opening any program. Configure it this way: click Edit → select Add
Item... → click Memory Manager → select "Unused physical memory" → hit OK. Now remember the number it shows before
you start your first program/game, and then after a while, take a peek at SysMon's chart again, and compare the current value
with the initial one. The latter will be undoubtedly smaller than the former. But there is something you can do, you can
free some of this memory and return it to the system: just create a small text file (in Notepad) with this single
line:FreeMem=Space(24000000)Save it as FREEMEM.VBS (Visual Basic
Script file) and place it on the Desktop. The filename is of no importance, but the extension must be kept. But first you
need to make sure your Windows 9x/ME system has the newest version of Microsoft Scripting Engines (MSE) 5.6 properly installed. If using Windows 98/ME or MS IE 5/6, you already have all these system components installed, but an older
version (5.1 or 5.5). If using Windows 95, OSR1 or OSR2 without MS IE 5.x, you need to download and install MSE. For
more WSH info read this MSKB article.Now whenever
you want to regain a little more RAM, especially after long periods of time, when system memory depletion might start
impairing overall Windows performance, just (double-)click on FREEMEM.VBS, and your system's available RAM will
increase with the amount specified in parenthesis (see above), in this case 24 Mb. You can adjust this number to match your
needs (even create more VBS files to free different memory amounts), but try not to go over 1/2 your installed RAM. If you
do exceed the maximum of (re)usable RAM, you'll get a "Windows Scripting Host - Script Execution Error" message box,
like:"Category: Microsoft VBScript runtime error Description: Out of string space:
'Space'"Make sure to close ALL programs you're done with BEFORE running FREEMEM.VBS. To execute the VBS file
unattended, you could use System Agent (Task Scheduler) to run it at will (i.e. once an hour), but that would consume extra
CPU cycles and Windows GDI resources. :(More
info.
This cool undocumented batch trick appears courtesy of Pawel."This technique detects the presence
of Windows in a DOS batch (.BAT) file, useful for preventing crashes, if your batch file needs to run ONLY from native
MS-DOS, or ONLY from a Windows DOS box/session, i.e. while manipulating the Registry with REGEDIT.EXE (example):@ECHO OFF MEM /C | FIND /I "vmm32">NUL IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO NO IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO
OK :OK :: Your batch command lines go here... GOTO END :NO ECHO Windows
detected! :END EXITSave these lines as DETWIN.BAT, or place them in batch files before the lines that
depend on Windows presence/absence to run. This batch file example continues to execute only from a DOS
box/prompt/session/window within Windows GUI, and aborts if Windows is not running. You can force this BAT example to work
only from native/real/true/pure MS-DOS mode outside Windows, and abort if Windows is running, by replacing all NO
instances above with OK (and vice versa)."
Another BATch technique used to detect if Windows is running, also
using FIND.EXE errorlevels (single line):SET | FIND.EXE "windir" | IF ERRORLEVEL 0 ECHO
Windows detected!Save line above as DETWIN.BAT (or any other .BAT name), place it in a directory (folder) in
your path (specified in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS), or paste it into batch files depending on Win9x/ME or Win31 GUI
detection to run certain DOS commands/programs selectively (i.e. temporary directory/file "cleaners" using DELTREE, DEL,
COPY, MOVE etc).
NOTES:
Both MEM.EXE + FIND.EXE need to
reside in a directory on your path (default is C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND for Win9x/ME and C:\MSDOS or C:\DOS for Win31 + MS-DOS
6.xx) for this to work.
Windows/WfWG 3.1x users: replace the "vmm32" text string with "win386" in the 1st
example above.
Run FIND /? , MEM /? (external DOS commands) and respectively SET /? (internal DOS
command) from any DOS prompt to learn how to use their command line parameters.
These techniques work ONLY with
MS-DOS 6.00 or newer, or with Windows 95/98/ME [a.k.a. MS-DOS 7.00/7.10/8.00].
Open BACKUP9X.BAT + RESTOR9X.BAT
[both part of W95-11D.EXE] or BACKUP31.BAT + RESTOR31.BAT [both part of W31-11D.ZIP] with Notepad in Windows or EDIT.COM in DOS to see these and other similar batch techniques at
work.
I got bored with the default Microsoft Internet Explorer blank page that pops up every time I try to access a web page that doesn't exist anymore due to an invalid link ("File not found", a.k.a. HTTP error 404), or if the connection's broken because of (temporary) server/network downtime. The MS IE default
blank page exists as BLANK.HTM in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM (Windows 95/98/ME) or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 (Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7). But you can make it go away, or change it to something else, a little more
pleasurable to the eye. ;-) This should work with all MS IE releases.If using MS IE 5/6/newer make sure BLANK.HTM file size is LARGER than 512 Bytes!
To make BLANK.HTM disappear
automatically, open it with Notepad, and modify it to make it look something like this:-----Begin cut & paste here----- <html><head><title>Go
Away!</title></head><body onLoad="self.close();window.opener='self';window.close();self.close('','_self','');document.close()"><center><h1>Go
Away!</h1><noscript><h2><A HREF='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript'>JavaScript</A> MUST be enabled for this to
work!</h2></noscript></center></body></html> ------End cut & paste here------This particular JavaScript will also automatically close
the MS IE window. JavaScript MUST be enabled in MS IE for this to work! Save your file, exit Notepad, and then (re)start MS IE.
To force MS IE to load another HTML document (web page) instead of its default
BLANK.HTM, run Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MainIn the right hand pane (double-)click on "Local Page" and replace
C:\Windows\System\blank.htm with the file name of the HTML document you want, found preferably on your local computer, so you won't have to wait for a remote web page to load off the Internet. Make sure to
type the full path to your file (drive letter and folder name) in the "Value data:" box. I use a simple web page which
displays a cool JPG. Example of creating such an HTM document in Notepad (save it as 1STPIC.HTM, or whatever other
name you wish, just keep the HTM or HTML extension):-----Begin cut & paste
here----- <html><head><title>1st Pic</title><style>
BODY{overflow:auto;zoom:1;MARGIN:0px} </style></head><body><center><a
href=https://www.mdgx.com/><img border=0 src="file:///C|/pics/1stpic.jpg"></a></center></body></html> ------End cut & paste here------Note that 1stpic.jpg resides in this case in
C:\PICS. If you place your image into the same directory/folder as your HTML file, there is no need to specify its path on
the src= line, which should look like this:src=1stpic.jpgYou can modify the page
title/layout/etc, JPG file name/path to your liking, or replace it with your favorite GIF or PNG file. Exit Regedit when
done, (re)start MS IE and then surf away.
FYI:
See this MSKB article if MS IE does NOT display a blank page properly on your
Windows 9x/ME system.
Unfortunately MS IE 5/6/newer canNOT be usually forced to display a custom BLANK.HTM page, UNLESS
its file size is LARGER than 512 Bytes! :( [Thank you Paul!] Workaround: right-click on the blue e MS IE Desktop icon → select Properties → click the General tab
→ type the full path to your BLANK.HTM file in the Home page Address box (example):file:///C|/WINDOWS/WEB/BLANK.HTM→ click
OK/Apply.
Courtesy of Ben."To extract any file(s) from your Windows 95/98/ME Setup CD-ROM CABinets
(CABs), create a small DOS batch (.BAT) file using Notepad in Windows or EDIT.COM in DOS, say EXTRACT.BAT [or any
other suggestive name, just keep the BAT extension :)], with these lines:@ECHO OFF MEM /C |
FIND /I "vmm32">NUL IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END C: CD\ IF NOT EXIST \EXTRACT\NUL MD
\EXTRACT>NUL CD\EXTRACT VER | FIND /I "95">NUL IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO W95 VER | FIND /I "98">NUL IF
NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO W98 VER | FIND /I "Mill">NUL IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO WME GOTO END :W95 EXTRAC32.EXE
/A /L C:\EXTRACT D:\WIN95\WIN95_02.CAB %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 GOTO END :W98 EXTRAC32.EXE /A /L C:\EXTRACT
D:\WIN98\WIN98_21.CAB %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 GOTO END :WME EXTRAC32.EXE /A /L C:\EXTRACT D:\WIN9X\WIN_10.CAB %1 %2 %3 %4
%5 :END CLS EXITD is your CD/DVD drive letter (change if necessary). You could also use the DOS
based EXTRACT.EXE tool instead of Extrac32.exe, but if the original files have
Long File Names (LFNs), this information will be lost. :( Note that EXTRACT.BAT works ONLY from a Windows DOS
box/session/window, NOT from native/real/true/pure MS-DOS mode! Place this BAT file anywhere. Create a shortcut to it. Then
right-click on it → click Properties → on the Shortcut tab add a space after the command line:drive:\path\EXTRACT.BATPlace this shortcut into the folder of your choice, i.e. on your
Desktop. Now when you need to restore a corrupted or overwritten Windows system file or any type of files from the
installation CD-ROM, just (double-)click the shortcut and type in the filename (wildcards are accepted). Extracted files will
go to C:\EXTRACT in this case. Voila."UPDATE: "Win98/98 SE(U)/ME users can also extract
any Windows System files this way: click the Start button → Run... → type SFC (System File Checker) or
MSCONFIG (System Configuration Tool = WinME users ONLY) → click the Extract File... button (MSCONFIG ONLY) →
type in the EXACT name AND extension of the file you want to extract → click OK. If you copied the CAB files to your local hard
disk/partition, you can extract from there, otherwise point to your Windows Setup CD-ROM." [Thank you Silimtao!]Extract Files From Windows Setup Cabs VBS Script
[1.6 KB, free].
If you use and multi-boot among different editions of Microsoft Windows, which include: Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, Windows 95/98/ME and/or Windows/WfWG 3.10/3.11, you are probably wasting lots of disk space,
because each of these Windows OSes uses different names and locations for their swap/page file:
Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 uses PAGEFILE.SYS as its permanent page file located by default
in your boot drive/partition root folder [usually C:\].
Windows 95/98/ME uses WIN386.SWP as its permanent swap file located by default in your Win95/98/ME folder [%windir% = usually C:\WINDOWS].
Windows/WfWG
3.1x uses 386SPART.PAR as its permanent swap file located by default in your boot drive/partition root directory [usually C:\], or WIN386.SWP as its temporary swap file located by default in your Win31
directory [%windir% = usually C:\WINDOWS].
But there is a way to overcome this "annoyance", and force ALL Windows editions installed on your computer to share the SAME FIXED page/swap file. Just follow these
steps:
In Windows NT/2000/XP/2003: start Control Panel → System → Advanced → Performance → Advanced (WinXP/2003 only) → Change Virtual Memory → Specify Pagefile settings→ select
IDENTICAL Maximum and Minimum sizes, and change its location to point to your fastest FAT16 (or FAT32) drive/partition. You can also do this
by modifying the Registry. Run Regedt32 and go to:
Look (or create
if not present) in the right hand pane for the "PagingFiles" MultiString Value [REG_MULTI_SZ]. Edit it with a
right-click, and give it these values: 80 80 to match the ones from Windows 3.1x/9x/ME SYSTEM.INI (see example
below).
Reboot into Windows 9x/ME.
In Windows 9x/ME: start Control Panel → System → Performance → Virtual
Memory → check the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" box → select the SAME IDENTICAL Maximum and
Minimum sizes as you did in WinNT/2000/XP/2003, and change the swap file location to the SAME FAT16 (or FAT32)
disk/partition you selected for WinNT/2000/XP/2003. Don't reboot Windows 9x/ME when prompted! Click No or press Esc at the
prompt dialog box.
Open the Windows 9x/ME SYSTEM.INI file (located in your Windows folder) with Notepad → scroll down
to the [386enh] section → make sure ALL lines listed below are present:PagingFile=X:\PAGEFILE.SYS PagingDrive=X: MinPagingFileSize=xxxxxx
MaxPagingFileSize=xxxxxxWhere X: is the drive/partition letter you selected for the Win9x/ME swap file, and
xxxxxx represents both the Maximum and Minimum sizes (which should be IDENTICAL) of PAGEFILE.SYS in
KiloBytes. Modify/add them to show actual values, depending on your system configuration and preferences. Example using
drive E: and an 80 MB fixed swap file:PagingFile=E:\PAGEFILE.SYS PagingDrive=E:
MinPagingFileSize=81920 MaxPagingFileSize=81920Now highlight and copy all these lines to the
Clipboard.
Then open the Windows/WfWG 3.1x SYSTEM.INI file (located in your Win31 directory) with Notepad → scroll
down to the [386enh] section → delete ALL lines listed above (you might not have them all, depending on your particular
Win31 swap file settings) → paste the lines you copied from the Windows 9x/ME SYSTEM.INI.
Reboot one more time into
the Windows version of your choice.
Delete ALL unused (obsolete) swap files from ALL your drives/partitions:
WIN386.SWP, 386SPART.PAR etc.
Done.
FYI:
Do NOT
place the common swap file on a FAT32 or NTFS drive/partition! It won't be recognized by Windows releases other than the one
you set it up on, because Win31 doesn't support FAT32/NTFS, Win9x/ME do not support NTFS, and WinNT doesn't support FAT32!
Win2000/XP/2003 are the ONLY Microsoft OSes (to date) that support ALL these file systems.
Read "SWAP FILE - Part 1", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE] and in
MYTIPS31.TXT [part of W31-11D.ZIP], for details on dual-booting Win9x/ME and Win31 using the same swap
file.
Read these topics: "SWAP FILE - Part 2", also in MYTIPS95.TXT, and "FIXED SWAP FILE", also in TIPS95.TXT [both part of W95-11D.EXE], for
details on optimizing your Windows swap file.
Submitted by Da Drk Sde."To have a "Mailto:" URL you click in an external browser open in AOL e-mail
instead of Outlook Express (or whatever 3rd party e-mail application you're using), you need to Edit the "Open" Action
for the "URL:Mailto Protocol" under File Types in Explorer to point to Aol.exe, by adding these command line switches
(quote marks are necessary as shown):"drive:\directory\aol.exe -nUsername -pPassword -u"
"%1"[Thank you Troy for the correct syntax!]Where:
Username: will be the name you wish to send AOL e-mail from, if not already connected to AOL. If
connected, AOL will igore the Username and Password.
Password: use this option if the name used above doesn't have
a saved password and you do not want to type it in everytime AOL starts up.
%1: in this case the command line will
be filled in by the contents of the mailto link you clicked in the external browser, so AOL will recognize it as such, and
will open the appropriate Username and Domain to fill in the address boxes."
NOTE: To learn
about all AOL command line parameters see "AOL.EXE SWITCHES", also in AOLTIPS.TXT [part of
both W95-11D.EXE and W31-11D.ZIP].UPDATE: "With AOL 7.0 in
Windows 98 the shortcut target for supplying AOL with name and password is (default location):"C:\Program Files\America Online 7.0\aol.exe" -nUserName -pPassWordNote that the name and password
parameters are not between the quotes." [Thank you Ken!]
Courtesy of Ben."To open an URL (internet address) directly with AOL, add this new
command to the "Internet Shortcut" file type in Explorer → View → Options →Open with AOL. The command line should
read (quote marks are necessary as shown):"drive:\directory\aol.exe -u" "%1"Any
stand-alone browser that was the default for the "Internet Shortcut" should remain the default. Right-clicking an Internet
Shortcut and selecting "Open with AOL" will now open and dial AOL, and then open the Internet Shortcut with the normal
(default) browser. This is tricky though, and may cause some strange results with different browsers and
versions."NOTE: To learn about all AOL command line parameters see "AOL.EXE SWITCHES", also in AOLTIPS.TXT [part of both W95-11D.EXE and W31-11D.ZIP].
This is Nathan's "small" contribution to these files. :) Many thanks!"I don't know if you (or anybody else)
have seen this, but I discovered this technique, and have written a dedicated X-Setup plugin. It allows changing the current and default
identities in Outlook Express 5 without knowing the password. Useful if you've forgotten your password, or you want to look
at other peoples' e-mail. :) Open Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identitieswhich is the
base Registry key for all this. Here you'll find a bunch of LUID/GUID subkeys. Each of them holds the value
"Username". If you look at the "Username" of each LUID/GUID key, you can find which account you are interested in. For
example, my LUID/GUID key {23AE6B7B-34B3-11D3-93C9-C38154464F49} has the Username value "My Account". Copy
this LUID/GUID key to "Last User ID" or "Default User ID" (see below), to change the current or default user to
this identity without having to know the password. Here is a snapshot (.REG file) containing the keys mentioned
above:
You can make these changes by editing the
Registry using Regedit, or by merging such a .REG file into the Registry by (double-)clicking on it in Explorer or File
Manager. Backup the Registry FIRST to revert back to original when you're done, to allow other users to access their OE
e-mail accounts, if you're not the only one using that computer. :) You have to exit and restart OE5 to see the
effect."
This tip applies ONLY to 16-bit (Win16) Screen Savers written for Windows/WfWG 3.xx, and to 32-bit (Win32) Screen
Savers that run on Win31 systems ONLY with Microsoft Win32s
32-bit Extensions Add-on v1.30c installed [2.41 MB, free], but most of them can be used also on Windows 9x/ME
systems. Most 32-bit (Win32) Screen Savers written specifically for Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 save their passwords in
the Registry, and are discussed in "SCREEN SAVER PASSWORD", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of
W95-11D.EXE]. In case you have forgotten one of your Screen Saver (SS) password(s), you can easily
regain control by deleting it (them) from CONTROL.INI. Edit your CONTROL.INI file (located in your Windows
directory) with Notepad (but back it up first!), and scroll down to the "incriminated" SS section, displayed in square
parenthesis. A typical SS CONTROL.INI section looks something like this:[Screen
Saver.SSName]Just substitute the SSName string above with your actual Screen Saver name, and change one (or
both) of these lines (depending on your particular SS settings) under the SS section of your choice:Password=#@$%& [or any other weird characters = encrypted password]and/or:PWProtected=1 [password protection ON]to read:Password= [leave it blank
= NO password]and/or:PWProtected=0 [password protection OFF]Alternatively, if you'd like
to get rid of a particular SS, just open Windows Explorer (Win9x/ME users) or File Manager (Win31 users) and search for the
.SCR files, located by default in your Windows or Windows\System directories. Now delete (or move to a safe
location) the .SCR file(s) you want. Some 3rd party Savers install other files in these (see above), and/or other
(separate) directories, so you may want to erase/move them too, to properly remove them from your system, and keep your hard
drive(s) as "clean" as possible. If a particular SS allows it, you can also (completely) remove it by:
Windows 9x/ME users: using your Control Panel "Add/Remove Programs" applet.
Windows/WfWG 3.xx
users: running your provided SS "Uninstall" Program Manager icon (if available).
Thanks a bunch VV! I'm sure many will enjoy your smart tip."MS IE 3/4/5 and MS RegClean have a bug which prevents
having the same internet cache as Netscape. MS puts a Cache subfolder within Netscape's Cache folder. I hate Microsoft's four
folder Internet Cache arrangement, and I only want one internet cache, so I do the following:
Reboot to
native MS-DOS mode: hold F8 (in Win95/OSR2) or Ctrl (in Win98) at the bootup BIOS POST screen to bring up the Startup Menu→ select the "Command prompt only" option → press Enter.
Delete
MM256.DAT and MM2048.DAT from IE Cache Folders 1-4. I hate cookies and don't want a History so I removed these
files from C:\Windows\History and from C:\Windows\Favorites as well.
I use Regedit to edit the Registry so that
Microsoft's four (4) Cache paths and Netscape's one (1) cache path are the same.
MS calls for an "e74" cache
limit. I multiply this by 4 and use "e296".
MS IE's Internet connection Icon still shows an incorrect Registry
setting of my cache:F:\\Internet\\Netscape\\Users\\UserNameinstead of:F:\\Internet\\Netscape\\Users\\UserName\\CacheBut Explorer and the Registry are
correct.
This a modified copy (saved as CACHE.REG) of this Registry branch:
Substitute all UserName strings
above with your real user name. Change the drive letters and/or folder names if different on your machine. Then
(double-)click on CACHE.REG to merge this information into your Registry."CAUTION: BACKUP your Registry files
FIRST!