Windows Registry Tips & Tricks

Windows Registry Tips

Comparing Registries While working with changes to your system, you might want to see what is changing in your Registry. Since you can export it to a text file, the steps are fairly easy Start Regedit With the very top level select - My Computer, on the Toolbar select Registry / Export Registry File I usually save it to the root of the C: drive with the name before (you don't need to add an extension) Make the change to your system Go back to Regedit Press F5 to update it Export the Registry like step 2 Name the file after and have it go in the same directory Open up a DOS window Go to the directory where the two exported files are Enter FC before.reg after.reg > diff.txt Then you can edit diff.txt with your favorite text editor. Note: I  do the last steps so often I have a simple batch file already set up. Setting Excel 2000 High-Contrast Cell Selection If you want to increase the contrast in selected cells: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options  Add a DWORD value call Options6 Give it a value of 16 Now when you select cells, they will be white on black.   Changing Common Icons You can change many of the common Windows icons. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40 Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below. Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file. Note: The numbering starts with zero. If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0. e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0. Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE 0-13 Are the Drive and Application Icons 0 - To change the Unknown Application Icon 2 - To change the Default Application Icon 3 - To change the Closed Folder Icon 4 - To change the Open Folder Icon 5 - To change the 5 1/4" Floppy Icon 6 - To change the 3 1/2" Floppy Icon 7 - To change the Removable Disk Icon 8 - To change the Hard Drive Icon 9 - To change the Network Drive Online Icon 10 - To change the Network Drive Offline Icon 11 - To change the CD Drive Icon 12 - To change the Ramdrive Icon 13 - To change the Entire Network Icon 19-27 Are the Start Menu Icons 19 - To change the Programs Icon 20 - To change the Documents Icon 21 - To change the Settings Icon 22 - To change the Find Icon 23 - To change the Help Icon 24 - To change the Run Icon 27 - To change the Shutdown Icon Other Icons 33 - To change the DUN Folder Icon 34 - To change the Desktop Icon 35 - To change the Control Panel Icon 37 - To change the Printer Folder Icon 40 - To change the Audio CD Icon 43 - To change the Favorites Icon 44 - To change the Logoff Icon Prevent Changes to the Start Menu To prevent any changes to the Start Menu, even a right click: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer Add a DWORD called NoChangeStartMenu Give it a value of 1 DOS Restrictions There are restrictions you can make to the ability to execute DOS programs Start Regedit Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies Create a new key under Policies called WinOldApp You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0 Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS Networking Restrictions There are general restrictions you can make in Networking Start Regedit Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies Create a new key under Policies called Network You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0 NoNetSetup - Disable the Network Control Panel NoNetSetupIDPage - Hide Identification Page NoNetSetupSecurityPage - Hide Access Control Page NoFileSharingControl - Disable File Sharing Controls NoPrintSharing - Disable Print Sharing Controls Control Panel Restrictions There are many general restrictions you can make to the Control Panel Start Regedit Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies Create a new keys under Policies called System You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0 NoDispCPL - Disable Display Control Panel NoDispBackgroundPage - Hide Background Page NoDispScrSavPage - Hide Screen Saver Page NoDispAppearancePage - Hide Appearance Page NoDispSettingsPage - Hide Settings Page NoSecCPL - Disable Password Control Panel NoPwdPage - Hide Password Change Page NoAdminPage - Hide Remote Administration Page NoProfilePage - Hide User Profiles Page NoDevMgrPage - Hide Device Manager Page NoConfigPage - Hide Hardware Profiles Page NoFileSysPage - Hide File System Button NoVirtMemPage - Hide Virtual Memory Button Restricting the Start Menu, Explorer and the Desktop There are many general restrictions you can make to the Start Menu, the Explorer and to the Desktop itself. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies There should already be at least a Explorer section there already Additional keys that can be created under Policies are WinOldApp You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0 NoDeletePrinter - Disables Deletion of Printers NoAddPrinter - Disables Addition of Printers NoRun - Disables Run Command from the Start Menu NoSetFolders - Removes Control Panel, Printers and My Computers Folders from Settings on Start Menu and in Explorer NoSetTaskbar - Removes Taskbar from Settings on Start Menu NoFind - Removes the Find Command from the Start Menu NoDrives - Hides Drives in My Computers NoNetHood - Hides the Network Neighborhood NoDesktop - Hides all items on the Desktop NoClose - Disables Shutdown NoSaveSettings - Don't save settings on exit DisableRegistryTools - Disable Registry Editing Tools - NOTE: Be Careful of this one NoRecentDocsHistory - Removes Recent Document from Start Menu - Requires IE4 ClearRecentDocsOnExit - Clears the Recent Documents when you Exit NoInternetIcon - Removes the Internet Icon from the Desktop Changing Office 2000's Excel Undo History By default, Excel has only approximately 16 undo's you can perform. To increase that number: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options Add a dword called UndoHistory Give it the value you want for the amount you want. Changing the Title on Windows Media Player You can change the title bar for the Windows Media Player Start Regedit Go to HKEY_USERS \ .DEFAULT \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsMediaPlayer Create a string value of TitleBar Give it a value of whatever you want to appear in the title bar Eliminating the Right Click on the Taskbar To eliminate the right click on the taskbar: Start Regedit Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoTrayContextMenu Give it a value of 1 Reboot  Eliminating the Right Click on the Desktop To eliminate the right click on the desktop: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer Add a DWORD and give it a name of NoViewContextMenu Give it a value of 1 Reboot  Turning Off the Help on Min, Max, Close Icons When the mouse goes over the minimize, maximize and close icons on the upper right hand side of a window, you normally get a display telling you want those are for. To disable that display: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop Create a String Value called MinMaxClose Give it a value of 1  Reboot Adding Open With to the Right Click in the Explorer To add the option Open With when you right click on a file in the Explorer: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ CLASSES \* \ shell \ openas \ command If this key isn't there then just create it Give it the value of C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1 Automatically Deleting a Registry Key Normally you cannot automatically delete registry keys from reg file. But there is a way... Simply include a minus sign inside the left bracket before the main key. For example. If you want to delete the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 8.0 \ Common \ Assistants, your regfile would simply look like: REGEDIT4 [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Common\Assistants] This would delete that key and any below it. Fixing no AutoRun for CDs If your CDs have stop starting automatically, and you have checked everything else: Go to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer The value for NoDriveTypeAutoRun should be set to 95 00 00 00 Locking File Association Changes If you have your file associations the way you want for a particular file type, you can remove it from the list that gets displayed in the Folder Options / File Types screen Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Scroll to the file association you want to lock.  In the right panel, create a new Binary value Give it a value of 01 00 00 00 Now when you go to the Folder Options / File Types screen, you won't see that file type listed. Renaming the File System Profiles In the Control Panel / System / Performance / File System, you can select either Desktop Computer, Mobile or docking system, or Network Server. You can change these labels to something more descriptive: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version / FS Templates You can change the text that appears under each key Sticky Menus Normally when you move the mouse over the Start Menu / Programs, it will automatically cascade and show the submenus. If you want them to open only when you actually click on them: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop If if it not already there, create a string called MenuShowDelay Give it a value of 65534 Automatic Shutdown with Windows NT Most laptops allow the operating system to turn off the hardware after shutdown, instead of displaying the message telling you it's now safe to turn off your system. You can take advantage of this capability by enabling the Power Down After Shutdown feature. To enable this feature, simply add a REG_SZ value named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\PowerdownAfterShutDown and set it to 1. Next, tell NT to shut down and see if the machine turns itself off after shutting down. If it doesn't, change the value back to 0 to restore normal operation. Kill Hung Processes When Logging Off in Windows NT When you tell NT to shut down, it first sends shutdown requests to any running processes. Most 32-bit applications honor these requests and shut down, but older 16-bit apps running in the Virtual DOS Machine often won't. When this occurs, the operating system prompts you with a dialog box asking if you want to kill the task, wait for the task to die on its own, or cancel the shutdown. By modifying the Registry, you can automate this process. You can force NT to kill all running processes on shutdown by adding a REG_SZ value named HKEY_USER\\ControlPanel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks and set the value to 1. You can also add this value to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT so that all new accounts will shut down the same way. NT Crash Log File In addition to the crash log file, you can also enable two other methods of crash notification and logging. You can enable an administrative alert by changing the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl\SendAlert to 1. The next time the system crashes, an administrative alert will be sent that may provide the first sign of the crash. You can also make NT log the crash in the event log by changing the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\CrashControl\LogEvent to 1 instead of its default 0. Now, the exact time of the crash will be permanently recorded. Changing the Location of Outlook Express Data Files Normally Outlook Express keeps its data files in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express directory. To change this: First copy those files to the new location Start RegEdit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Outlook Express Change the Store Root key to the directory where you moved the files Disabling the Blinking Cursor To stop the cursor from blinking in applications such as Word: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop Add a String Value Name it CursorBlinkRate Give it a value of -1 Reboot the computer Re-Enabling DHCP Error Messages If you got a DHCP error message, selected to not see DHCP errors, and now want to see them again; Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ DHCP Change the value of PopupFlag from 00 to 01 Getting Rid of Schemes A safer way would be is to go to the Control Panel / Display / Appearance tab Go to the Scheme drop down box Select the one you don't want and click on the delete button When you right click on your desktop and pick properties your Display Properties screen appears. Under Appearance tab / Schemes, determine if you want all those wild schemes. If not they can be deleted and clear approximately 45K. Before you delete them, choose or create at least 1 Scheme and "Save As" (in my case Bud 1). Open Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Appearance \ Schemes Highlight every String and Value on the right side and delete. DO NOT DELETE "Default" Hiding Any Combination of Drives If you want to stop a drive or any combination of drives appearing in Explorer/My Computer Add the Binary Value of 'NoDrives' in the registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Give it a value from a combination of the table below: A 1 00 00 00 B 2 00 00 00 C 4 00 00 00 D 8 00 00 00 E 16 00 00 00 F 32 00 00 00 G 64 00 00 00 H 128 00 00 00 I 00 1 00 00 J 00 2 00 00 K 00 4 00 00 L 00 8 00 00 M 00 16 00 00 N 00 32 00 00 O 00 64 00 00 P 00 128 00 00 Q 00 00 1 00 R 00 00 2 00 S 00 00 4 00 T 00 00 8 00 U 00 00 16 00 V 00 00 32 00 W 00 00 64 00 X 00 00 128 00 Y 00 00 00 1 Z 00 00 00 2 Where (for eg) you want to hide Drives {C,E,J,O,R,U,Y,Z} you would give 'NoDrives' the value 14 42 12 03 Where C+E = 14, J+O = 42, R+U=12 and Y+Z = 03 Please NOTE: The Numbers are to be added in HEXadecimal ie: ABCD = 0F, not 15 All Drives Visible is 00 00 00 00 All Drives Hidden is FF FF FF 03 Creating a Legal Text Notice Before Logon You can create a banner that will come up just before you logon to the computer: Start Regedit Go to HKeyLocalMachine \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ WinLogon Create a new string value called LegalNoticeCaption and give it a value you want to see in the menu bar Create a new string value called LegalNoticeText and give it a value you want to see in the in the dialog box Now before anyone logs into that computer, this banner will come up on the screen. This can be useful for any legal warnings you want to give regarding the use of the computer. Removing the Hand Icon from Shared Resources When you share a local resource, Windows95 normally puts a hand in from of that resources icon. To remove hand icon from your shared resources: Start Regedit. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / Network Open SharingHandler. Clear it's default value Restart Windows. To restore set Default value "msshrui.dll". Enabling the Middle Mouse Button on Logitech Mouse To enable the middle mouse button on Logitech Mouses to act as a double-click button by only pressing it once: Run Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LOGITECH\MOUSEWARE \CURRENTVERSION\SERIALV\0000 Change DoubleClick to equal 001 Easily Opening a File with Notepad This will enable you to right click on any file and have the option to open it with notepad. Also if a file has no association and you try to open it it will open with notepad Run 'regedit.exe' Expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" Inside "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT", expand "*" Inside "*", create a key called "shell" Inside "shell" create a key called "open" Inside "open" edit the string "(default)" to say "open (notepad)" Inside "open" create a key called "command" Inside "command" edit the string "(default)" to say C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE "%1" Displaying Hi-Color Icons without the Plus Pack Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ desktop \ WindowMetrics Add or edit Shell Icon BPP=16 where the number is the color depth. The default is 8 (bit or 256 colors).  Backing Up the Registry There are many backup programs for the registry but if the computer goes down and you can't fire off Win95 because of the registry problem. Backup to a directory the following files: SYSTEM.DATA SYSTEM.DA0 (Yes seem to be the same size) USER.DAT USER.DA0 (Same size likely) WIN.INI CONTROL.INI SYSTEM.INI These files can be copied to the windows directory from Win95 or DOS to help correct problems. Removing Unwanted Items from the RUN Menu Start the REGEDIT program Search for the word RUNMRU Delete the ones you don't want Rename so they are all in alphabetical order again Close and restart windows Opening a DOS Window to either the Drive or Directory in Explorer Add or Edit the following Registry Keys [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew] @="Dos Prompt in that Directory" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\opennew\command] @="command.com /k cd %1" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\opennew] @="Dos Prompt in that Drive" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\opennew\command] @="command.com /k cd %1" These will allow you to right click on either the drive or the directory and the option of starting the dos prompt there will pop up Compacting the Registry How to compact the registry? Got to true DOS, not a DOS window Run Regedit and then export the entire Registry to COMPACT.REG. Then exit regedit and run it again with the following switch. REGEDIT /C COMPACT.REG Changing Exchange's Mailbox Location When you create a mailbox in Exchange for e-mail, you specify the file where you want to mail to go. You cannot change this in Exchange afterwards. If you want to change the file name or location:: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsMessaging Subsystem \ Profiles Go to the profile you want to change Go to the section that has the file location for your mailbox (*.PST) file in the right hand panel Make the change to file location or name Restart Exchange Removing Sound Events from Control Panel / Sounds When you view what events you can assign sounds to from Control Panel / Sounds, you cannot delete the events themselves. In order to do that: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / AppEvents / Schemes / Apps From here you can delete any items you don't want to show or no longer need. Changing the Registered Owner Starting Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key Adding an Application to the Right Click on Every Folder Here is how to add any application to the menu when you right click on any Folder. This could be useful if there is an app you always want available and don't want to go through the Start menu Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell Add a key Name_of_Your_App This can really be any label, just use one that makes sense to you Give it a default value of Name_of_Your_App Putting a & in front of a character will allow you to use the keyboard Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ Name_of_Your_App Add a key command Give it a default value of the application you want to run For example: c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe Include the full path Now when you right click on any folder, you can have access to that application This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0 Adding Explore From Here to Every Folder Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell Add a key rootexplore Give it a default value of E&xplore From Here Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Folder \ shell \ rootexplore Add a key command Give it a default value of Explorer.exe /e,/root,/idlist,%i Now when you right click on any folder, you can open up an Explorer window of that folder. This will work for both Windows95 and NT 4.0 Saving Desktop Settings When I would go to Control Panel or Start Menu Programs, or any other Desktop window setting; meaning size, position, icon arrangement, they would never be as I set them. I found an answer: At [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] There is a "NoSaveSettings" key. I deleted it and now my all my stuff stays where I tell it. The same key shows up at: [HKEY_USERS\bwil\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer](where bwil is your password profile) Just thought I'd share this with you all. Getting Rid of Tips Remember those "Tips of the day" that appeared when you first install Win95? If you don't want them any longer and want to clear yet more Clutter, approximately 5K, you can delete them at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips Changing the Location of Windows95's Installation Files If you need to change the drive and or path where Windows95 will look for it's installation files: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ SourcePath Change the location from there Creating a Network Logon Banner If you want to create a Network Logon Banner: Start Regedit Go To HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Create a new String called LegalNoticeCaption Enter the text for your banner Creating a Default File Opener If you have a un-registered file type and want to view it with Explorer's Right-click you can add your program to the right-click options by: Starting Regedit Go to HKEY_CLASS_ROOT / Unknown Highlight the Shell Folder below it Right click on Shell and create a New Key Name it anything you want (For example NOTEPAD) Create a New Key under that named command Highlight the Command key Double click on the Default value in the right hand panel In Value Data, enter the path and filename of the program you want to use to open the file type For example: C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE %1 Click on OK In this example, when you right click on a file in Explorer, NOTEPAD will show up as an option. Deleting Registry Keys from the Command Line With the OEM Version of Windows95, a new switch, /D, is added to Regedit. This enables you to delete items from Registry. The syntax is: REGEDIT /L:system.dat_location /R:user.dat_location /D Reg_Key where Reg_Key is the key you want to delete There are two requirements: 1. That you have to boot to the same OEM version of Windows95 as the REGEDIT.EXE file. 2. You cannot be in Win95 at the time you use this switch. Automatic Screen Refresh When you make changes to your hard drive and use Explorer, the changes are not usually displayed until you press the F5 key To make the updates automatic: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Control / UpdateMode Edit the DWORD value to be between 1 and 7 Restart Windows Disable Password Caching As in Windows for Workgroups, when logging on to an NT Domain, it is preferable to disable password caching. This allows for the single NT Domain login and eliminates the secondary Windows logon screen. It also eliminates the possibility of the respective passwords to get out of sync. To disable password caching on the workstation, a one-line addition to the registry needs to be made. To make the change, create a ASCII text file called DISABLE.REG with the following lines: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network] "DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001 Open up a DOS box and type REGEDIT DISABLE.REG You can also download the DISABLE.REG file. If you need to re-enable password caching, download ENABLE.REG and repeat the process just with the different file name Changing the MaxMTU and other Network Settings There are four network settings that can be configured so when dialing to an ISP, you should get somewhat greater throughput. They are the MaxMTU, MaxMSS and DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL MaxMTU and MaxMSS Start REGEDIT Go to Hkey_Local_Machine / System / CurrentControlset / Services / Class / netTrans / 000n (where n is your particular network adapter binding.) Right click on the right panel Select New / String Value Type in MaxMTU Double click on it and enter then the number you want. The usual change is to 576 Similarly, you can add MaxMSS and give it a value of 536 DefaultRcvWindows and DefaultTTL Start REGEDIT Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ MSTCP Add a new string DefaultRcvWindow and give it a value of 2144 Add a new string DefaultTTL and give it a value of 60-64 Adding Items to the Start Button To add items when you right-click on the Start Button: Start Regedit Go to HKey_Classes_Root / Directory / Shell Right-click on Shell and select New / Key Type in the name of the key and press the Enter key In the Default name that shows in the right hand panel, you can add a title with a & character in front of the letter for a shortcut Right-click on the key you just created and create another key under it called command For the value of this command, enter the full path and program you want to execute Now when you right click on the Start Button, your new program will show up. You do not need to reboot first. For example, if you wanted WinWord, you would add that as the first key, the default in the right panel would be &WinWord so when you right click on the Start Button, the W would be underlined and you could just press that key. The command would be something like C:\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\WINWORD.EXE Removing Open, Explore & Find from Start Button When you right click on the Start Button, you can select Open, Explore or Find. Open shows your Programs folder. Explore starts the Explorer and allows access to all drives. Find allows you to search and then run programs. In certain situations you might want to disable this feature. To remove them: Start Regedit Search for Directory This should bring you to Hkey_Classes_Root \ Directory Expand this section by clicking on the "+" Under shell is Find Delete Find Scroll down below Directory to Folder Expand this section under shell Delete Explore and Open Note: - When you remove Open, you cannot open any folders. Removing Items from NEW When you right-click on the desktop and select New, a list of default templates you can open up are listed. To remove items from that list: Start Regedit Search for the string ShellNew This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root For the items you want to remove, simply rename the ShellNew command Renaming is safer that deleting it Continue searching for the items you want to remove You do not need to reboot for the change to take effect Changing the Telnet Scroll-Back Buffer Size By default, the Telnet session has a window size of 25 lines. To increase this so you can scroll back and look at a larger number on lines: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Telnet Double-click on the entry Rows in the right hand panel Increase the decimal value to one that suits your needs. Changing the Tips of the Day You can edit the Tips of the day in the Registry by going to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Tips Disabling Drives in My Computer To turn off the display of local or networked drives when you click on My Computer: Start Regedit Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer Add a New DWORD item and name it NoDrives Give it a value of 3FFFFFF Now when you click on My Computer, none of your drives will show Not Saving Setting on Exit Start Regedit Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD Name it NoSaveSettings Give it a value of 1 Logoff or Reboot the computer Not Displaying the Network Neighborhood Start Regedit Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD Name it NoNetHood Give it a value of 1 Logoff or Reboot the computer Disabling Run or Find from the Start Menu Start Regedit Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD Name it NoFile or NoRun Give it a value of 1 Logoff or Reboot the computer Hiding All Icons from the Desktop Start Regedit Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer Right click on the right panel and add a New / DWORD Name it NoDesktop Give it a value of 1 Logoff or Reboot the computer Now all icons are hidden on the desktop. Get Your Folders to Open the Way You Want Every Time To get your folders to open the way you want every time: Set up all your folders the way you want (auto arrange, view, etc.), Start RegEdit Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Go to NoSaveSettings Modify and change Value to 1 Modifying Default Desktop Icons Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Shell Icons The default icons are numbered in the right panel from 0-40 Double click on the number of the particular icon you want to change. See the chart below. Enter the name of the icon file you want to use followed by the number of the icon in that file. Note: The numbering starts with zero. If you use a single .ICO file, it should be followed by a 0. e.g. - filename.dll,4 - This would actually be the 5th icon since it starts with 0. Make sure you delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE Below is a reference for the icons I've been able to figure out: 0 - Default Icon 1 - Default Document 2 - Application 3 - Closed Folder 4 - Open Folder 5 - 5 1/4 Drive 6 - 3 1/4 Drive 7 - Removable Drive 8 - Hard Drive 9 - Network Folder 10 - Network Offline 11 - CD 12 - RAM Drive 13 - Entire Nertwork 15 - My Computer 16 - Printer 17 - Network Neighborhood 18 - Network Workgroup 19-27 are the Start Menu icons 19 - Programs 20 - Desktop 21 - Settings 22 - Find 23 - Help 24 - Run 25 - Suspend 27 - Shutdown 28 - Share 29 - Shortcut 31 - Recycle Bin (Empty) 32 - Recycle Bin (Full) 33 - Folder, Dial-Up Networking 34 - Desktop 36 - Program Group 40 - Audio Card In addition, you can change: My Computer - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} Clearing the Documents Menu Automatically The Documents Menu displays the last file and programs you used. You can clear item manually but only through editing the Registry can you turn this off automatically. This can be useful on computers that are used by multiple people. The same settings can be also used in NT 4.0 Set the properties on the Recycle Bin to delete files immediately. Start Regedit Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders Right click on the right panel Select New / String Value Rename it to Recent - Only if it is not already there Give it the value of C:\RECYCLED Set your Recycle bin to Automatically delete files Log off and back on again. Your Documents Menu should now be blank. This will be for all subsequent users who logon as well. Disabling the Right-Click on the Start Button Normally, when you right button click on the Start button, it allows you to open your programs folder, the Explorer and run Find. In situations where you don't want to allow users to be able to do this in order to secure your computer. Start Regedit Search for Desktop This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ Directory Expand this section Under Shell is Find Delete Find Move down a little in the Registry to Folder Expand this section and remove Explore and Open Now when you right click on the Start button, nothing should happen. You can delete only those items that you need. Note: - On Microsoft keyboards, this also disables the Window-E (for Explorer) and Window-F (for Find) keys. Disabling My Computer In areas where you are trying to restrict what users can do on the computer, it might be beneficial to disable the ability to click on My Computer and have access to the drives, control panel etc. To disable this: Start Regedit Search for 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D This should bring you to the HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID section Delete the entire section. Now when you click on My Computer, nothing will happen. You might want to export this section to a registry file before deleting it just in case you want to enable it again.. Changing Desktop Icons You can change many of the icons that are located on your desktop. Start Regedit Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D Expand that key Highlight Default Icon Double click on the Default in the right panel Enter the name of the program with the icon you want to use followed by and command and then the number of the icon (starting with 0) Some of the additional items that can be searched for are: Network Neighborhood - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} InBox - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} Recycle Bin - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} Additional icons can be found in: \WINDOWS\MORICONS.DLL \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PIFMGR.DLL \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL Opening Explorer from My Computer By default, when you click on the My Computer icon, you get a display of all your drives, the Control Panel etc. If you would like to have this open the Explorer: Start Regedit Search for My Computer or 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D This should bring you to HKey_Classes_Root \ CLSID Expand the key {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} Right click on Shell Select New / Key and type Open and press the Enter key Right click on Open Select New / Key and type Command and press the Enter key Double click on the Default for Command and type Explorer.exe for the value Now when you click on My Computer, the Explorer will start If you want to return to normal, simply delete the Open key Fixing Corrupt Registry If your registry has gotten corrupted, and re-installing Windows95 over your existing version does not fix the problem, there is a hidden, read-only, system file on the root of your boot drive called SYSTEM.1ST. This is the initial system registry created when you first installed Windows95. To use this file: Go to your Windows directory Un-Attrib your current SYSTEM.DAT file (attrib -r -s -h system.dat) Copy your current SYSTEM.DAT to something like SYSTEM.BAD file (just in case) Move to your root directory Un-Attrib the SYSTEM.1ST file Copy SYSTEM.1ST to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT Re-start your system You will need to install your 32-bit apps and any other programs or changes that modified your system registry but you will not need to go through a new again. Your 16-bit apps should not need to be re-installed since they do not modify the registry. You will also retain your current desktop configuration. Recycle Bin Edits Fooling with the recycle bin. Why not make the icon context menu act like other icon context menu's. Add rename to the menu: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20 Add delete to the menu: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:60,01,00,20 Add rename and delete to the menu: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:70,01,00,20 Restore the recycle bin to win 95 defaults including un-deleting the icon after deletion: .. Restore the icon. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop \NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}] @="Recycle Bin" ... reset win 95 defaults . [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20 Other edits to the recycle bin icon: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:40,01,01,20 ... standard shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,02,20 ... another shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,04,20 ... and another shortcut arrow "Attributes"=hex:40,01,08,20 ... make it look disabled (like it's been cut) I added the above edits for fun. But it gets you thinking. Note: Adding rename and delete to the context menu takes effect instantly. To restore the icon after deletion requires screen refresh (F5). Have fun.... Tom Setting the Minimum Password Length Start Regedit Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network Add a new Binary Value Rename it to MinPwdLen Assign it a value equal to your minimum password length Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation. Disabling File and Print Sharing Start Regedit Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network Add a new DWord Value Rename it to NoPrintSharing or NoFileSharing Assign it a value of 1 Also see the Installation Section on doing this automatically during installation. Specifying programs to run every time Windows95 starts If you want to start programs every time Windows95 runs, but would like to hide them from users by not having the listed in the Startup folder or the WIN.INI file, you can have them load through the registry. Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run or RunOnce Right click on the right panel Select New / String Value Type in any name For the value, enter the path and executable for the program you want to run. Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows Open REGEDIT.EXE Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Open the Key LNKFILE Delete the value IsShortcut Open the next Key PIFFILE Delete the value IsShortcut Restart the Win95 Turn Off Window Animation You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows. Open Regedit HKEY_CURRENT_USER Control panel Desktop WindowMetrics Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane. Select new/string value. Name the new value MinAnimate. Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify" Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit Enter Close Regedit and all programs then reboot. To speed up the Start Menu Start the REGEDIT program Search for the word desktop This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400... Right Click on the right panel Pick NEW / String Value. Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word. Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest. Exit REGEDIT Restart Windows Changing your Modem's Initialization String Start REGEDIT Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init Change the settings to the new values Increasing the Modem Timeout If your modem it timing out during file transfers or loading Web Pages, you might try increasing the timeout period. To change it: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Services / Class / Modem / XXXX / Settings Where XXXX is the number of your modem Move to the right panel and double click on Inactivity Timeout The number of minutes for a timeout should be entered between the brackets. For example, a US Robotics Sportster could have S19=<30> to set it to 30 minutes. Removing Programs listed from the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section If you remove an installed program and its files by deleting the files, it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list through the control panel. In order to remove it from the list (so you don't need to re-install in order to just remove it again). Start the Registry Editor Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall Delete any programs here. This will only delete them from the list, not delete the actual programs. Only programs designed for Windows95 will show up here in the first place.

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Creating a Directory That is Not Accessible From Windows To create the directory, type md, then a space, then holding down your ALT button type on number pad only 255. To access cd\ALT+255 from DOS When you try to access this from the Explorer you get an Access Denied error. Creating Custom Boot Floppies If you have custom drivers or files you want to always have when you create boot disks, copy them to the \Windows\Command\EBD directory. Then when you want to create a new floppy, run \Windows\Command\Bootdisk.bat This will format the floppy and copy all the files in the EBD directory. I like this since I usually add a lot more files than the normal StartUp disk Windows creates. Deleting the TEMP Directory at Bootup Normally your TEMP directory can fill with .tmp files, files left over from installs etc. An easy way to delete it each time you boot is to add the following lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: @C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DelTree /Y   C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ Saving File Searches If you want to review the results of a file search at a later time: While on the Desktop or with the Explorer, press F3 to start the search Click Options / Save Results Do the search After the search select File / Save Search An icon will be placed on the desktop with the search results. Searching for Files In All Drives If you want to search for files across all drives, including mapped network drives: Press F3 to start the search In the Named box, enter file or folder you want to search for In Look in select My Computer This will search all drives including mapped network drives. Easier than using the comma's. Renaming CD ROM Drive Letter Rename the drive letters of your CD drive(s) from the back of the alphabet, eg, Z, Y. This way, if you add extra hard disks, your CD drives do not get re-lettered. Note from Bob: You can do this from the Device Manager.  Open up the CD ROM section Open the CD ROM you want to change Under Settings, change the Start Drive Letter to higher in the alphabet. Changing the Colors of the Blue Screen of Death You can change the normal colors of the background and text when you get a Blue Screen of Death. Edit the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory In the [386Enh] add the entries: MessageTextColor=X MessageBackColor=X Where X is replace by the number for each of the following colors: Black = 0 Blue = 1 Green = 2 Cyan = 3 Red = 4 Magenta = 5 Yellow/Brown = 6 White = 7 Gray = 8 Bright Blue = 9 Bright Green = A Bright Cyan = B Bright Red = C Bright Magenta = D Bright Yellow = E Bright White = F Powering on the Computer With Your Mouse If you have ATX Main Board, ATX case Award Bios, or any Bios that supports PS/2 Mouse Power On, then you can power on your computer with a double click. To activate this feature: Restart your computer Then press Del when the BIOS message appears to enter your CMOS configuration Select Integrated Peripherals from main menu If PS/2 mouse power on disabled, activate it by press page up/ page down key it will became Double-Click Press Esc key to exit Press F10 to save and exit Power off your PC Now double-click the left mouse button,.. Your PC will turn on Removing Programs from the Control Panel Easier way to remove control panel programs. Edit your control.ini file in your Windows directory. Under the section [don't load] add the appropriate .cpl file. For example to get rid of Network add netcpl.cpl=no This will disable users from accessing the network control panel. You can remove seected icons in your Control Panel by simply moving, deleting or renaming the *.cpl file in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSETM directory. The icon or file will still work even if it is not on the control panel screen. At list of the CPL files can be found in this section at Control Panel CPL Files Not Loading DriveSpace or DoubleSpace Drivers Even if you never use DriveSpace or DblSpace, Win95 automatically loads the drivers. While the drivers are not huge, they do consume some resources. To keep Win95 from loading them all you need to do is: Find the MSDOS.SYS file in the root directory of your boot drive. Right click on the file, clear the read-only attribute then edit the file. Add these two lines to the Options section. Dblspace=0 Drvspace=0 Be sure to save the changes, reset the read-only attribute, then reboot. This does save a significant amount of memory but more importantly, it will reduce the number of threads running in the background. Increasing Performance This concerns the "Network Server" option ... You already know about the screw up in Win95 release prior to OSR2 but, did you know you can also customize the settings in the registry? Open Regedit Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates" Add a new key called "Custom". Then add two new binary values under that key with the names "NameCache" and "PathCache", just as with the other entries. I would recommend using values somewhere in-between what the standard values are for "Desktop" and "Network Server". The values I have found to be the best compromise are "00 08 00 00" and "30 00 00 00" respectively, your milage may vary. (2048 filenames and 48 pathnames) Close Regedit Right click on "My Computer" Select Properties then the Performance tab. Select "File System" and you will now find the "Custom" option in the drop down box. Select it and click on OK then be sure to reboot. While this doesn't save a lot of memory, at least your name caches aren't using more than they need. If you have 24 Megs or more of RAM, you can increase your performance Right Click on My Computer Select Properties Click the Performance tab Click on File System button Select Network Server with Full Read-ahead Optimization If you do not see a performance increase, occasionally the NameCache and PathCache values are written to the registry incorrectly for the Network Server. To fix the problem: Start Regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Server Make sure the following values are being used: PathCache=40 00 00 00 NameCache=a9 0a 00 00 To rename the labels Desktop Computer, Mobile or docking system, or Network Server, see Renaming the File System Profiles Increasing Disk Performance Ever wonder why Windows 3.1 was noticeably faster than Windows 3.11? It has to do with something called Synchonous Buffer Commits, this tells Windows whether or not to lie to an application and tell the application that it's writing data to the drive when Windows is actually caching the data in memory. With Windows '95 they give you the option to disable this, thus increasing disk intensive application performance but there are some caveats to consider. If you lose power the data in cache will NOT be written to disk this will be BAD so I'd only recommend using this on a machine with an UPS. Well, Here how you do it. Go to Start \ Settings \ Control Panel \ System \ Performance \ File System \ Troubleshooting Check the box Disable synchronous buffer commits. Expect about a 10% speed increase in disk intensive applications. Clearing the Documents Folder To clear the contents of your Documents Folder Click the Start menu Point to Setting Click Taskbar Click the Start Menu Programs tab Click Clear. Opening a File with Application that is Different than its Registered One To open a file with a different program: Right click a folder while holding down the SHIFT key This will open the dialog box that includes "Open with" to change what program will open the file Fixing VMM32 Memory Leak Over time, real-mode drivers which are added to VMM32, might not be releasing memory . To see if this is a problem on your system, run MEM /C /P and check the size allocated to VMM32. It should not be much more that 2K or at least not growing over time. If it is: Rename both your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file Reboot Rename them back again Reboot again Run MEM /C /P again to note any change is size. Removing One Document File from START / DOCUMENTS To remove one document file on START - DOCUMENTS Run Explorer Go to Windows directory Select View and then Options Select View Tab Select show all files and then OK Back to Windows Directory Select Recent Folder Delete the File you want to remove or display on Documents Folder Finding Files with Specific Text in Them To find all associations with any name/word that exists in your computer. Click on Start button Select find Then Files and Folders Go to the Advanced tab Type in text in the "Containing text" field This is helpful when you get an error message that tells you something can't be run because the file can't be found. You can find the file that is calling the "non-existent" thing. Creating a Support Information Button Create or edit the OEMINFO.INI file in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder Enter or edit the lines, [General] Manufacturer=your favorite strings Model=your favorite strings [Support Information] Line1="your favorite strings" (require double quotes) Line2="your favorite strings>" Line3="your favorite strings>" etc. Open System Properties dialog box, you'll see a Support Information button. Click on this will display the information you entered Note from Bob: This can be extremely useful if you want to include support personnel and their phone numbers Create (or replace) the Manufacture's logo in System Properties Create a 210x105 pixels (max.) bitmap. Save the file as OEMLOGO.BMP in Windows\System folder When you open the System Properties box, you will see "Manufactured and supported by:" with your logo Note from Bob: You need to have the OEMINFO.INI file in place noted above. Adding printers to the Add Printer Dialog Box The details of all printers shown by the add printer dialog when installing a new printer reside in two files, MSPRINT.INF and MSPRINT2.INF. These files can be edited so that additional printers are listed. It is rather more complicated than editing CONTROL.INF as with Windows 3.1 but by using the OEM95.INF file provided with new printer drivers as a guide a little experimenting should get you there. Of course any new or updated files must be copied to the correct locations. If you want to apply these changes to a NetSetup Windows 95 distribution point you must specify that the MSPRINT files are precopied using CUSTOM.INF, otherwise standard CAB extracted versions will be used and the additions will not be available. Using this method also allows the added printers to be auto installed from MSBATCH.INF. Device Problems with Removable Hard Drives If you get a yellow exclamation mark in windows 95 device manager under "Hard disk controllers", and you are using one hard drive plus a Zip or Syquest drive, try editing the Windows/System.ini file. Go to the [386Enh] section and add the following line: REMOVABLEIDE=TRUE Evidently, if you use a removable drive, Windows 95 does not recognize it as being removable, so you have to tell it that it is. Deleting Files Without Sending Them to the Recycle Bin You can delete your files without sending them to the recycle bin Just shift-right click the file icon and choose delete from the menu that comes up. The file when deleted will not go to the recycle bin. BEWARE: The deleted file can not be restored Changing the Recycle Bin Size You can change the size of the recycle bin for any drive. Just right click the recycle bin icon on the desktop. Make sure that the 'configure each drive independently' option is on. Then move to the tab for the drive that you want to configure and specify the size as the percentage of the drives space. Displaying Last File Searches Once inside the "Find|File" dialog box, in order to display the last several searches you tried: Hit F4 (a drop down box will display showing the last several searches you conducted.) Associating Several File Extensions to the Same Program It's easy in Explorer to create a file type for a give extension. But what if you want several extensions to identify the same file type? Example- I want BMP, GIF, JPG, JPEG to all be passed to the same program when I double-click them. You can make a file type for each all using the same program, but then you install some other editing program (for one effect) or worse! a new browser, and it rudely associates each type with itself. The trick is to make one file type (Image File) which you configure to set your preferred graphics viewer. Then to associate multiple file extensions with that type, run WINFILE.EXE, the old Win 3.1 File manager. Use File Associate, and you can quickly associate each extension with that file type. Fast Open of the Start Menu Fast open of Explorer view of the Start Menu: Right click on a blank area of the Taskbar Select options Select the Start Menu Tab. Getting Item Properties To get to the properties screen for just about anything, hold the ALT key down while double clicking on it's icon. Starting Win95 Without Running Apps in the Startup Folder To start Win95 without loading anything in the startup group, just hold down the shift key (either one) when Win95 is loading. Keep holding it down until the desktop is complete with a pointer. If any application is still loading, it's because it's in registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Removing a program from the Control Panel Run the Windows Explorer and go to the Windows/System directory. Find the appropriate CPL file (file with the extension CPL) and delete it. Note from Bob: If you want them still available but not showing up in the Control Panel itself, you can also move them to another directory. To invoke them, type CONTROL \path\cpl_file where path is the full path where they are located and cpl_file is the name of the CPL file. For example, if you don't want users to see the Network icon in the control panel but still want to be able to make changes, you could move the NETCPL.CPL file to another directory. Then type CONTROL \path\NETCPL.CPL. A listing of all the CPL files can be found later in this section at: Control Panel CPL Files Using FIND to Search Across Multiple Drives When you use Find from the desktop (F3), you can normally only search on one drive. To search across multiple drives and directories, separate your searches with a semicolon (;) For example, to search from the root of C: and the root of D:, you would enter C:\;D:\ as your look in location To search from different directories, you can enter them as well RUNDLL Error Message If when you start your computer you get a RUNDLL error message in a dialog box here is what you do. First use RegEdit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / MICROSOFT / WINDOWS / CURRENT VERSION / RUN and delete the string that appears in the dialog box this will remove the string and everything will be groovy!! Automatically Delete Files Sent to Recycle Bin To automatically delete files sent to the recycle bin, do the following: Right click on the recycle bin icon Choose Properties Choose Global Check the Remove files immediately upon delete The Simplest Multi-Boot Forget about "restart in ms-dos mode" Use DOS=SINGLE In your CONFIG.SYS put: [menu] menuitem WIN95, Windows 95 menuitem NORMAL, DOS - Normal menudefault WIN95, 3 [WIN95] [NORMAL] DOS=SINGLE [common] Enabling Telephony Controls If you are using telephony based modems (unimodem) you can enable the telephony controls in control panel by renaming TELEPHON.CP$ to TELEPHON.CPL in the SYSTEM directory. This will allow you to do diagnostics as well as configure your modem. Disabling CDs AutoRun If you want to disable Windows95's ability to automatically start CD's when they are inserted: Open the Device Manager Open CD ROM Double-click on your CD Player Click on the Settings tab Un-check Auto insert notification Control Panel CPL Files The following are the files that display icons in the Control Panel. The reside in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory They can be run individually by typing Control followed by the CPL file. If you are missing any icons in the Control Panel, you want to make sure the CPL file is in the SYSTEM directory. Access.cpl - Accessibility properties Appwiz.cpl - Add/Remove Programs properties Desk.cpl - Display properties FindFast.cpl - FindFast (included with Microsoft Office for Windows 95) Inetcpl.cpl - Internet properties Intl.cpl - Regional Settings properties Joy.cpl - Joystick properties Main.cpl - Mouse properties Mlcfg32.cpl - Microsoft Exchange Service properties Mmsys.cpl - Multimedia properties Modem.cpl - Modem properties Netcpl.cpl - Network properties Odbccp32.cpl - Data Sources (32-bit ODBC) Password.cpl - Password properties Sysdm.cpl - System properties Themes.cpl - Desktop Themes (available with Microsoft Plus!) TimeDate.cpl - Date/Time properties Reserving Resources from Plug and Play Devices If you want to make sure Windows95 doesn't assign certain resources (IRQ, I/O etc.) to you Plug and Play Devices Open up the Device Manager Double click on Computer Click on the Reserve Resources tab Click on the Resource you want to reserve Click on the Add button Enter the value Click on the OK button Viewing System IRQ, I/O, Memory and DMA Utilization To view what resources are currently being used by your system. Open up the Device Manager Right click on My Computer Select Properties Click on the Device Manager tab Double click on Computer You can now see what IRQ, I/O, Memory and DMA addresses are in use. Installing with an INF File By default, when you double click on an INF file, Windows95 opens it with Notepad. To change that so it will install the INF file: Open any folder Click on View / Options / File Types Scroll down the Registered File Types to Setup Information Pressing the S key will start you off faster Click on the Edit button In the Actions box, highlight Install Click on the Set Default button Automatically Deleting Files in the Recycle Bin An economical way to use the Recycle Bin is to use it as normal but insert the lines: CD\Recycled Echo Y | Del *.* CD\ in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This way every time you restart your computer your recycling bin is cleaned. Easy way to open up DOS prompt in a specific directory With the advent of long directory names, it can be difficult to open up a DOS box and CD to the directory you want particularly if it is several layers of long names deep. An easy way is to: Open up Explorer and highlight the directory you want to be in Select Run / Command from the Start Menu Your DOS prompt will now be in the directory you highlighted in Explorer Increasing your Sound Card's Bass and Treble If you want to boost your sound card's bass or treble: Double click on the speaker icon on your task bar Click on the Advanced button Move the slider bars to the right ATI Video Cards and COM4 Conflicts ATI cards use I/O address 02e0 -02ef & 03b0-03bf. This is in conflict with the default for COM4. System Policies when logging on to an NT Domain CONFIG.POL, when copied to winnt35\system32\repl\import\scripts, is then offered in the share netlogon. This files is the only file needed to establish policies for users in an NT user accounts data base or SAM. Set up a default user and default computer plus any more restrictive setting for specific users, groups or computers and Microsoft 95 system policies will be in place. In addition, if you force a logon by the client and disable a DOS session, this will be a very tight security scheme. Changing to Win 3.x Shell Do you miss Program Manager? If so, edit the SYSTEM.INI file in the \WINDOWS directory. Under [Boot] change: shell=c:\windows\explorer.exe to shell=c:\windows\progman.exe Submitted by Brad Hedlund Quickly Opening Text Files To speed up opening files, if you know the file contains text, but it it has an extension that isn't recognized, here's what you do: Open up Windows Explorer Change directories to C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO Create a shortcut to Notepad or drag its shortcut to this directory. Now you'll have an easy way to open documents! Another helpful thing to do is to do the same thing with the recycle bin. Changing your Modem's Initialization String Start REGEDIT Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init Change the settings to the values for your modem Saving Memory by adjusting your CD Cache If you don't use your CD player that often, your system might be assigning memory for it's cache which you could reclaim. Right click on My Computer Select Properties Select Performance Select File System Select CD ROM Note how much memory you are assigning to the CD cache and adjust as you would like Easy File Deletes Hate deleting files out of the Recycle Bin in Windows 95. Hold the shift key down then drop the file on the icon then its gone. Update on DTC 2278 D Controller Card They do have a beta driver out now for 95 but it will not work with a CD-ROM on the secondary port. The work around is: Load the new DTC driver for the Primary IDE But load the original 95 Standard IDE/IO for the secondary port Then you can play music CD's etc.. Then you can remove the DOS Driver and the old Win3.1 driver from the SYSTEM.INI The performance does seem a little faster after doing all of this. They also have a web site at http://www.datatechnology.com Hewlett Packard Printer Failures If you attempt to print a document that contains complex graphical images to a non-PostScript Hewlett-Packard Laser Jet 4 or Laser Jet 5 printer, the document may not be printed due to lack of memory installed in your printer. According to Microsoft, this problem is known to occur with the Hewlett Packard Laser Jet 4, 4M, 4 Plus, 4M Plus, 4L, 4ML, 4P, 4MP, 4Si, 4Si MX, 4V, 4MV, 5P, 5MP. The work-around: In Control Panel, double-click the Printers icon. Right click on the printer Select Properties On the Details tab, click Spool settings, and then select RAW in the Spool Data Format box. On the Graphics tab, click the Use Raster Graphics option. On the Fonts tab, click the Print True Type As Graphics option. On the Device Options tab, move the Printer Memory Tracking slider all the way to the right (to the Aggressive setting). Verify that the Printer Memory setting matches the amount of memory installed in the printer. If the Page Protection check box is not unavailable, click the check box to clear it if it is selected, or click the check box to select it if it is cleared. The check box may be unavailable, depending on the printer model you are using and the amount of memory installed in the printer. Eliminate banner page from printing when running HP 4 & 5printer Rename file to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\LPT.VXD to LPTOLD.VXD Go to MS/Dos prompt Put in Win 95 CD Go to D:\DRIVERS\PRINTER\LPT and copy lpt.vxd to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM Save it also to a floppy if you have to reload system Info banner page glitch starts with "%-12345x@PJl and then 5 more lines of info The readme file points out that this is typically on Compaq Prolinea or Deskpro models Designating Drive letters for CD ROMs and removable media If you want to specify the drive letter for your CD ROM, Zip Drive, Bernouli, or Syquest drive: Right click on My computer Select Properties Click on the Device Manager tab Click on the + by Disk Drives Double click on the drive you want to set Click on Settings Type the Start and End letter you want to use for this drive. Reboot when requested Pro Audio Spectrum Cards When upgrading from Win 3.1, remove or rename all .386 and .drv's related to the sound card BEFORE installing Win 95. Leaving the drivers in place will prevent he new drivers from running properly. The drivers are: vpasd.386 mvproadu.drv mvmixer.drv mscdex.exe Bypass Windows95 Startup To bypass starting Win95 at startup without pressing F8, modify the line in the hidden C:\MSDOS.SYS file: BootGUI=0 The next time the computer is started, You will return to the DOS prompt after the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files load. It's useful when you hate waiting for your slow computer to start Windows 95 every time you turn on your computer. Quick Erase Floppy Disks Select My Computer Right click on floppy you wish to use Select Format Select Quick Erase or Format Creating a Boot Menu Go to the DOS prompt. Type: ATTRIB MSDOS.SYS -r -a -h -s Edit MSDOS.SYS, adding the following lines under [Options] BootGUI=1 (If you have it set to 0) BootMenu=1 BootMenuDefault=5 (1=GUI 5or6=DOS Prompt) BootMulti=1 (Allows you to boot to your old Operating System) BootMenuDelay=2 (# of seconds before default is chosen) Type Alt-F then S to save your file. Close the editor Type: ATTRIB MSDOS.SYS +r +a +h +s Reboot. Note: BootGUI needs to be set to 1 if you have the menu running, otherwise even if you select 1 (Normal), it will not go to the GUI. P.S. Supposedly Drvspace=0 nd Dblspace=0 under the Options section saves on RAM, but I haven't been able to confirm this. Modem Selection When Win95 doesn't recognize your modem Don't use "Standard 14400 bps modem" or "Standard 28800 bps modem" Why %3F because this doesn't enable hardware data compression and correction. (In other words, your modem doesn't work at full speed) Solution : choose any other modem in the list that's compatible with you modem and has about the same specifications (speed, V32, V34, ...). Hayes is very likely to be compatible, as it is used as a standard Creating PRN File Type Submitted 12/13/95 If You often print *.PRN files, you can associate it with batch file like this: @copy %1 LPT1 Open any directory window Select View/Options Select the File Types tab Define nw file type. In desecration put "Printer file" or something. In extensions of course PRN with Open as default action. It will speed up your print jobs Refresh SCSI Devices If you had any SCSI devices that were powered off during the booting of Win95 they will not show as available, even after turning them on. For example, I often forget to turn on my Zip drive before starting Win95. In order to use them, without restarting Win95: Turn on your SCSI device(s) Open the Device Manager Highlight SCSI Controllers Click on the Refresh button The SCSI device(s) should now be available for use. DTC 2278E I/O Controller Problems When using the DTC 2278E I/O controller card, beware of how it sets up your drives. When you install the Win 95 drivers, Win95 will set up all of your drives in a SCSI format. This may disable your ability to play music on your IDE CD-ROM drive if you are using it off the secondary port. I had multiple problems with my Mitsumi 4X until i discovered this. Go to System in the Control Panel, click on your drive type, click on the drive itself and disable the SCSI options in the drive settings section. This I/O card will not allow me to use my Iomega Zip drive (parallel port interface) with the CD-ROM as well. I haven't figured out how to fix this problem yet. Removing Programs listed from the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs Section If you remove an installed program and its files by deleting the files, it may still show up in the Add/Remove programs list through the control panel. In order to remove it from the list (so you don't need to re-install in order to just remove it again). Start the Registry Editor Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall Delete any programs here. This will only delete them from the list, not delete the actual programs. Only programs designed for Windows95 will show up here in the first place. Using Drivespace If you are using Drivespace, check if Windows is wasting 109K of conventional memory. In graphical windows, type 'mem/c/p' in a Dos box if you see 'drvspace.bin' or dblspace.bin' you are wasting memory. That is the *real mode* driver and it is supposed to be unloaded when the GUI starts. See MS Knowledge base article #Q134364 for how to fix it. Even if you fix the driver unloading in the GUI, if you boot to Dos, it will happen again if you start windows by typing 'WIN'. Booting to DOS I have a phone controlled switch I use to turn on my computer and have it boot a DOS version of qmodem in host mode. The switch shuts the computer off 5 mins after I hang up. When I moved into Win95 I need a way to do this without going into Windows. Answer, The MSDOS.SYS in Win95 is a text file. Change the BootGUI=0 to BootGUI=1 and you boot into DOS. You can always type WIN to start Win95 from there. Turning off Numlock By default, Win95 has the Numlock key turned ON To have it be OFF, simply add the line: numlock=off to the CONFIG.SYS file. Quickly Restarting Windows 95 Select Shutdown Click the Restart Computer option While holding down the SHIFT key, click YES Windows 95 will now restart without executing a complete warm boot In addition to the tip regarding the ability to avoid a warm boot while restarting windows by shift-clicking the yes button, the same method can be used to avoid a warm boot when restart in MS-DOS mode is selected. The result is an exit to DOS much like win 3.11. However, regardless of click or shift click. The result is still a DOS Shell, not true DOS. S3 Video and COM 4 If you are using a S3 video accelerator card, I believe the Windows 95 documentation says DO NOT INSTALL YOUR MODEM ON COM PORT 4. The modem will appear to work fine in DOS mode but will not respond in Windows. The only two solutions are to change the COM port and IRQ for the modem or get a new video card. Potential problems leaving 16-bit winsock.dll's If you re having problems getting some of your winsock applications to work under Win95, make sure you delete any old 16-bit winsock.dll's. If this file is in the directory were the application resides, it could cause problems. Programs that could have problems like this are: Ewan.exe (Telnet app) WSIRC.exe (IRC app) WSGopher.exe (Gopher app) NX.Exe (NewsXpress) Netscape v.1.0 We found that if the software listed above is in the same directory as the Trumpet Winsock.dll file, then they will NOT work under the MS-TCP/IP stack. Speed up your Double Speed CD ROM Go into control panel Click on System Go to Performance tab Under Advanced settings click on the File System button Click on the CD-ROM tab Set the Cache to max Set Optimize Access pattern for Quad-speed or higher Your CD ROM reacts much faster. You can now play the high quality video clips on your Win95 CD-ROM without interruptions in video and sound. Used on 486DX40 Vesa with 8 mb ram and normal IDE hard drive