Win95 Tips |
 |
by Tom Lassiter |
June is busting out all o-o-verrr! — and nowhere more than at HAL-PC. We are busting with pride at our new 8,000+ square feet of training, office, and resource center facilities in a great building with an underground parking garage. If you have not been by and made use of the facilities, and the over 70 educational sessions held there each month, then you are not getting the most from your membership. It is conveniently located just inside the West Loop between San Felipe and Post Oak. Take a gander at the list of SIG (Special Interest Group) meetings elsewhere in this Magazine and come on down.
Windows 95 continues to rule the PC universe almost two years after it was introduced in August 1995. Prior to that time, as is the case now with Win97(?), the rumors were flying as to when, and IF, it would be released. When it did come out we found it to be truly over-hyped but still well worth the wait. I expect the same will be true of the next release. We will speculate, expectorate, pontificate, and maybe even hyperventilate while awaiting our new toy; much like a child at Christmas time. But when it comes time to rip off the shrink wrap (with or without a gift wrap bow) our eyes will get real big as we gaze with wonder upon the new developments Bill Gates and company hath wrought.
Meanwhile, let us continue to pursue the maximization of Win 95 by delving into all of its nooks and crannies to wring all possible use from it.
A Delete That Really Works (saving hard drive space)
Some PC users try to review and delete large files that are no longer needed so as to recover hard drive space (I believe I saw this reported on Geraldo Live, or maybe it was Hard Copy). Unfortunately some of them send those files to the Recycle Bin, where they are not actually removed from the hard drive until later when the Recycle Bin is emptied. To straight away delete those files without sending them to the Recycle Bin (or passing GO and collecting $200), press and hold the SHIFT key while you CLICK on the DELETE button. This also works if you hold the SHIFT key while dragging a file to the Recycle Bin and dropping it.
System Properties
To find out a lot of info on your PC hardware, look at your System Properties dialog box. Two way to get there - (1) RIGHT-CLICK on MY COMPUTER and select PROPERTIES or (2) CLICK START, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL, and DOUBLE-CLICK the SYSTEM icon. By wandering around to the various tabs and options you can see all the devices on your PC plus the memory and port settings. To capture all that info on paper (reload your printer paper tray), CLICK the DEVICE MANAGER tab, PRINT button, select the "All Devices and System Summary" radio button, then CLICK on OK.
Computer Properties
What IRQ (Interrupt ReQuest) is your mouse, soundcard, etc. on? Techies are always talking about IRQs. Devices attempting to share an IRQ are said to be "in conflict" and generally you must move one of them to another IRQ. To see where they are, along with DMA (Direct Memory Access) channels and I/O (input/output) settings, go to the System Properties per above and CLICK on the DEVICE MANAGER tab, select COMPUTER, PROPERTIES, and then CLICK on the appropriate resources setting to view it.
Using 24 Hour ("Military") Time
To have your PC clock report 20:43 instead of 8:43 PM, DOUBLE-CLICK on MY COMPUTER, and CONTROL PANEL, and REGIONAL SETTINGS. CLICK on the TIME tab and in the TIME STYLE box select HH:mm:ss. "ATTEN-SHUN Soldier!"
Turning Win95 into a DOS PC
From the "Say it ain't so, Joe" files — You really can set up Win95 so that it will automatically boot to a DOS prompt. All you have to do is go to the root directory (C:\) and edit the file MSDOS.SYS to change the BOOTGUI=1 statement to read BOOTGUI=0. Don't ask me WHY you may want to do this; I just tell you HOW — you have to decide WHY.
Back to the 1980s II (Improving 16 bit program performance in Win95)
If you have a favorite Win 3.x program that doesn't want to behave and run properly in Win95 then this may be worth a shot. Go to the C:\windows\system folder and run the program MKCOMPAT.EXE (MaKe COMPATible with Win95). It will provide some options for you to try and one of them may resolve your program's errant ways.
Pedal to the Metal on Win95 Backup
It has been reported that the Win95 Backup program will run up to 25% faster if run minimized.
Taskbar Inflation (Reading Your Button Labels)
As you continue to open multiple programs, the buttons on the Taskbar shrink to fit on it. When they get so small you find it difficult to identify them properly, just grab the Taskbar edge next to the desktop and drag it into the desktop to expand it. After all, it is just another window. The buttons will resize and enlarge.
Resize and enlarge. I believe that is where we started — talking about HAL-PC's new headquarters. So, what goes around, comes around. And we'll come around again in July.
NOTE: These tips and tricks are provided as an informational member service. Neither HAL-PC, the Editor, nor the author of this article accept any liability for the above tips and tricks nor their applicability to a particular computer or purpose.
Tom Lassiter is a HAL-PC member, Chairs the Steering Committee of the Build or Buy a PC SIG and emcees that weekly SIG meeting, is a HAL-PC Ambassador to the America Online (AOL) User Group Forum, and was one of the initial HALNet beta testers.
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.
Back to the Magazine Home Page