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by Tom Lassiter
Yes, it’s September again already. Vacation time is over and it is time to get back to reality.
And the reality is that Win95 is still going strong two years after its initial release. It has turned out to be such a great piece of software that the projected release of Win97 in the next six months (we hope) is drawing only passing interest. There i sn’t the clamor awaiting its release, as there was when we begged for the release of Win95 to replace Win 3.1. Why? Because Win 3.1 was a mass of problems that never got fixed and we desperately wanted a new operating system. (But despite this there are still those clinging resolutely to that old piece of rotting software.)
Win95 has turned out to be a welcome change. This was due in large part to the way Microsoft required software vendors to get onto the common interface that lets us feel comfortable with any Win95 program once we have learned the first one.
It has been a boon to the PC marketplace, as it opened the door to millions of new users who before had felt alone in trying to learn a separate interface for each piece of new software they bought. This comfort level has stimulated the entire PC market. I hope whoever had that original idea was well compensated for it. Heck - even the stock market ought to contribute to the kitty for what it has gained from it over the past two years.
So don’t cry for Win95 as it reaches the maturity of two years of age. Just bite into the birthday cake - and into these bits of help for a wonderful time on your PC.
Is your PC still showing the same old desktop and wallpaper it did six months ago? If so I can only say – B-O-R-I-N-G! My guess is that it’s a sex thing. I’ll bet women revise their desktops twice as often as men do (just like they want to move the couch and re-wallpaper the kitchen once a year).
Don’t tolerate that stale appearance; it contributes to a stale life. Spruce it up periodically. Customize it to fit your lifestyle (No, Dilbert – you have to get out of your cubicle.) Just RIGHT-CLICK on a blank area of the desktop and CLICK on PROPERTIES (or CLICK on START, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL; then DOUBLE-CLICK on DISPLAY). The resulting Display window will provide the vehicle to change your wallpaper, colors, screen saver, etc. Fun, fun, fun. A word – in selecting and previewing your screen savers in particular – be sure to CLICK on the SETTINGS button there to make use of the many options sometimes provided. I fe el saddened when I see a PC running the MYSTIFY saver with only one line when it looks so much better with 5 or so as allowed by the SETTINGS.
Most of us are used to doing a RIGHT-CLICK on the filename in Explorer to pop up a menu to COPY the file if desired, among other actions such as PRINT and MOVE. But why not set it up to also allow VIEW, EDIT, etc. and then choosing whatever application y ou desire to use for them. Go to the Windows Explorer window and CLICK on VIEW, OPTIONS and then on the tab FILE TYPES. In the list of associations displayed, select the one for the file type to which you wish to add an action. DOUBLE-CLICK on it to open the edit window. There will already be at least one action shown. CLICK on the NEW button and type the new command (VIEW, PRINT, etc.) you want, and the application you will employ to do that action. The CLICK on OK, OK, OK to exit the open windows. Now when you RIGHT-CLICK on a file of that type your new option will be shown and available to you.
Which to do? No matter what your choice, someone will graciously(?) inform you that you made the wrong one. If you leave your PC ON continuously then you are: (1) Wasting electricity, (2) Causing your components to overheat, (3) Depleting the ozone layer, and heavens knows what else. If you turn it OFF you are:
(1) Throwing unnecessary electrical surges to it when turning it back on,
(2) Allowing electrical components to expand and contract as they heat up and cool down,
(3) Contributing to the financial ruin of the power company, and the devil take the hindmost. (You can’t get more politically correct than giving heaven and hell equal time!)
So – what to do? If your PC is needed to receive faxes or to be available to you or other PC or mobile laptop users, with Laplink or similar software, around the clock, then of course it must be on 24 hours per day. And it can run for years this way with out harm; but I would turn the monitor off to save electricity. Otherwise – turn it off when you are through for the day; and turn off the monitor if you will be away for 30 minutes or more (no hard rule, just my thoughts).
Things may get really scary next month - after all - ’tis the month of ghosts and goblins. So wash up the bedsheets, stock up on candy, defrag your harddrive, and meet me here.
NOTE: These tips and tricks are provided as an informational member service. Neither HAL-PC, the author, nor the editors of this article accept any liability for the above tips and tricks nor their applicability to a particular computer or purpose.
Tom Lassiter, a HAL-PC member, is on the HAL-PC 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 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.
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Last modified: 1997:08:31