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Think you're a Windows 95 know-it-all now? Here's more, but alas, the final installment of April Miller's file of handy tricks for the ubiquitous MS Gates OS. But don't think we've scraped the bottom of the bucket. Win98 is on site and moving in fast, so stay tuned for April's newest collection. Oh, we'd love to hear from any of you who have discovered your own Win98 tricktips — or opinions about the the system. Let's hear from you!

Dragging To The Start Button.

Dragging any application or document onto the start button will place that item on the start menu. To rename it, right-click on the Taskbar, choose PROPERTIES/ START MENU / PROGRAMS/ ADVANCED. Find the option you want to rename, right-click, and rename it. (The F2 key will also work to rename).

For instance, to add My Computer to the Start button, drag the icon My Computer on top of the Start button. To add MS Excel to the start button, use the FIND command to locate EXCEL.EXE and drag that on top of the Start button. Click on START / FIND / FILES OR FOLDERS. Type in EXCEL.EXE and then choose FIND NOW.

Deleting an Item from the Start Button.

Right-click on the TASKBAR and choose PROPERTIES. Click on the START MENU PROGRAMS tab. Click on REMOVE. Scroll down to find the item you want to remove. You might need to click on the plus sign (+) of a group if your item is in a subgroup. Select your item. Click on the REMOVE button. Click on CLOSE.

Renaming an Item on the Start Button.

There may be many times when you drag an item onto the START button only to realize that you do not like the file name. To rename it, RIGHT-CLICK on the Taskbar. Choose PROPERTIES / ADVANCED. Find the option you want to rename and select it. Press F2 to rename the item. Click on OK. (Instead of the F2 key, you can use the right-click and chose rename).

Properties Quickly.

Bring up the Properties dialog fast by holding down the ALT key and double-clicking on the object of your choice.

Avoid The Startup Programs.

Hold down the CTRL key while entering Windows. This will keep items in the STARTUP folder from launching.

Caps and Num Lock Warning.

Did you ever accidentally hit the CAPS or NUM lock keys. If you want the system to "beep" when you use these keys: Open START / SETTINGS / CONTROL PANEL / ACCESSIBILITY OPTION. Select USE TOGGLE KEYS. Click OK. Now press the CAPS LOCK key and hear the beep. Press it again and hear a different beep.

Making the Start Menu User Friendly.

Here's how to put top-level start-menu items in the order you want and also launch them with keystrokes: Right-click on the START button and select OPEN. Rename each item by placing a number in front of it. (Press F2 to rename the item.) Now you can open the start menu by pressing CTRL +ESC and launch a program by pressing its associated number.

Running The Pack.

If you have not done so already, download the WIN95 service pack (http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm). Posted in late February, the service pack contains bug fixes, new device drivers, and other goodies that bring your copy of Win95 fully up to date. And it's FREE.

Don't Do that Rename—Oops!

If you rename a File, Folder, or Icon and change your mind, press ESC key BEFORE hitting the enter key.

Get System Info on Paper.

Right-click on the MY COMPUTER icon and select PROPERTIES. Click on the DEVICE MANAGER tab, then the PRINT button. Select the ALL DEVICES AND SYSTEM SUMMARY radio button, then click on OK. This will give you more information about your hardware, IRQ's, ports, memory usage, devices and drivers than you ever wanted to know. It would be a good idea to keep this printout handy for future reference.

Bypass the Windows 95 Logo — This Time.

Temporarily move the WIN95 screen that pops up during bootup by pressing the ESC key while booting. You'll see what's going on behind the Win95 curtain.

Bypass the Windows 95 Logo — All the Time.

To prevent this from occurring all the time, edit the MSDOS.SYS file and add the line LOGO=0 to the 'options' section.

Disable Call Waiting.

If incoming phone calls disconnect you from your online sessions, you probably have call waiting. To disable it, open the CONTROL PANEL, double-click on the MODEMS icon, and select DIALOG PROPERTIES. Choose the code that disables call waiting on your phone line.

How Much Hard Drive Space is Left .

To find out how much hard disk space you have, Double-click on the MY COMPUTER icon. Right-click on the C: drive icon and select PROPERTIES.

Close All Apps Fast.

Select SHUTDOWN from the START MENU and pick the "Close all programs and log on as a different user" option. Then log back on as the same user.

Two Explorer's — Seeing Double.

Since Explorer cannot open multiple windows, trick it. Open two instances of Explorer. Click on START/PROGRAMS/EXPLORER. Click on START/PROGRAMS/EXPLORER. Right-click on task bar, and choose TILE HORIZONTAL.

Fun with Run.

You can drag documents and folders into the run dialog. Windows will type the path for you. You can then modify and launch with your changes.

Fun with Run: Part II.

The four most recently launched RUN commands are still available by clicking on the down arrow in the Run dialog or by using the down arrow key.

Prog Man and File Man.

Program Manager and File Manager are still a part of Windows 95. Open up MY COMPUTER / C: / WINDOWS. Find WINFILE.EXE and PROGMAN.EXE. Double-click on either one to run them.

Free Phone Tips Call 1-800-936-4200 for free tips.

Drag and Print.

Create a shortcut to a printer on your desktop so that you can simply drag any document on top of the shortcut to have it print. Open the printers folder (START /Settings / Printers). Right-click and drag your printer icon to the desktop. You can then drag documents onto the shortcut and print instantly.

Send It to the Desktop.

Moving files to the desktop is a good way to keep them in sight but a pain when your desktop is covered with open windows. A simple workaround is to create a shortcut to the desktop folder in the SENDTO FOLDER. Now, whenever you right-click on an object, the desktop will appear in the SEND TO menu. Open MY COMPUTER / C: / WINDOWS. Select the DESKTOP folder and choose EDIT / COPY.
Open the SENDTO folder (C:\windows\sendto), and choose EDIT / PASTE. Close all windows. Now whenever you right-click and choose SENDTO, the desktop will be a choice.

A File With A View.

For a light and fast file-viewing utility, check out Quickview, which ships with Win 95. By default, Quickview only pops up as an option for certain types of files, so if you change a .TXT file extension, Quickview will no longer show up as an option. But you can enable it for any type of file you want by going to VIEW/OPTIONS in any folder window and selecting FILE TYPES. Select the type you want to change, click on the Edit button, and check the box marked Enable Quickview. You can also put Quickview in the SENDTO folder to view any compatible document on the fly.

A Shift Maneuver for Explorer.

If you click once on a folder (using My Computer), then hold down the shift key and double-click on it, you'll open the folder with a two-pane Explorer view.

Select Only Some Files.

Sometimes you want to select most, but not all of the files in a folder. Open up the folder you want to select the files in. Select all the files you DON'T want. Choose EDIT / INVERT SELECTION.