Win95 Tips |
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by Tom Lassiter |
It's August in Houston and the "dog days" of summer are truly here. You DO know why they call them "dog days" don't you? Because it's too hot for even a dog to move around - so they just lie in the shade wherever they can find it.
Well, THIS old dog doesn't have to move around to find excitement and enjoy life in the fast lane. All I (and you) have to do is fire up the old PC, let it use Windows 95's Dial-Up-Networking to establish a PPP (Point to Point Protocol) connection via modem to our wonderful HALNet, and let the world be my oyster on the Internet. Ah yes — life is grand; and I most certainly enjoy the ride.
All of our applications are running in a harmony not previously possible, thanks to our Win 95 operating system. Is it error free? No. But it is a vast improvement over its predecessors (how quickly we forget some of our Windows 3.1 and 3.11 nightmares). So as we await the next version let's continue to strive for better ways to use our Win 95.
Tools for Your Disk Drive
I hope you are using ScanDisk, Disk Defragmenter, and Backup as suggested in a previous column. You may well have reached them via START, PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, SYSTEM TOOLS. A better route may be via MY COMPUTER, RIGHT CLICK on a drive, CLICK FILE and P ROPERTIES, and CLICK on the TOOLS tab.
By this route you will also see information on the last time you performed each application as well as launch buttons for them, plus more goodies on the other tabs.
Memories (It's not just a song!)
CLICK on START, then RUN, and type MEM, then press ENTER to see what is going on with your systems memory. (Notice it opens a DOS window. Who said DOS is dead? It just keeps on ticking; even in Win95.)
File Drag & Drop Revisited
The dragging and dropping of files has been fraught with peril ever since Win 3.1.
Depending on whether you were dragging it to another directory or drive it may have copied when you meant to move or vice-versa. Adopt one of the two following thoughts and schemes to keep it straight in your mind - depending on which button you use to d rag and drop - one scheme for left mouse button fanatics and another for right mouse button fanatics. You HAVE to choose only one or the other - no fair being bi-digital.
Left Button: while you are dragging the file, look at the lower right corner of your pointer. A plus sign there tells you the file will be copied when you drop it; an arrow indicates a shortcut will be created; and nothing there means it will be moved.
Right Button: Forget the above. When you drag then drop the file you will see a dialog box asking you if you want to MOVE, COPY, or CREATE A SHORTCUT with the file. This is the way for dummies (and me). Never a question.
Try it - you WILL like it (or else!).
Close via Title Bar Icon
A DOUBLE-CLICK on the title bar icon at the upper left corner of any application will close the application - the same as a single CLICK on the "X" in the upper right corner. Decisions - decisions!
Beginning Hacker 101
Win 95 makes an attempt (but not a very good one) at security with a password option. As every one else in the world seems to know how to bypass it you may as well know too. Be the first in your neighborhood to break into your child's PC and find the sec ret "cheat" for keeping Humpty Dumpty from falling off the wall.
All you have to do if you forget your password, or never knew the one of the person in the next cubicle (NO — I didn't say that) is hit ESCAPE at the password box, get the DOS prompt for C:\WINDOWS and use "dir *.PWL" to find your PWL files.
Delete the one with your name in front of it. Restart your PC and enter a new password as prompted. Voila! Such a deal!
START Menu Additions
To add any application or document to your START menu just drag and drop it onto the START button.
START Menu Secret
After using the above you may find the items placed there are not in the sequence you desire when they appear above the PROGRAMS item in the START menu. Sequence them by a RIGHT-CLICK on START, then on OPEN. Rename each of the items that appeared above t he PROGRAMS item by adding a number in front of the name.
You can then open the START menu by pressing CTRL-ESC and launching the program by pressing the number in front of the name.
Never Too Late
When you installed Win 95 did you make a startup disk as suggested? If not just CLICK on START, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL and the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS icon. Next CLICK on the STARTUP DISK tab, put a diskette in your floppy drive and CLICK on the CRATE DISK button.
There now — don't you feel better already?
Tom Lassiter is a HAL-PC member, on the Board of Directors where he serves as Membership Secretary and Chairs the Volunteer Committee. He Chairs the Steering Committee of the Build or Buy a PC SIG and emcees that weekly SIG meeting, is a HAL-PC Ambassado r to the America Online (AOL) User Group Forum, and was one of the initial HALNet beta testers.
NOTE: These tips and tricks are provided as an informational member service. Neither HAL-PC, the author, nor the editor of this article accept any liability for the above tips and tricks nor their applicability to a particular computer or purpose.
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.
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