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General Windows Tips
This archive will contain accumulated tips that apply to
Windows 95, 98, and ME. There is a separate link for Windows XP tips.
Topics
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03/27/2005 |
Shortcut to the System Configuration Utility
Right-click the desktop and select
New, Shortcut to start the Create Shortcut
wizard. In the 'Command line" field, enter msconfig (in
Windows 98 and Me), or c:\windows\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\msconfig (in
XP). (Note that Windows 2000 lacks the System Configuration Utility.) Finish
stepping through the wizard, making your own choices. Once you have the shortcut
on your desktop, simply drag it to your Start menu.
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10/09/2004 |
Playing
Music from a Portable Device
You can use the Copy to CD or
Device button in Windows Media Player to copy music to handheld devices, which
include pocket PCs, PDAs, and even some MP3 players. Before you can use Windows
Media Player to copy music files, you must establish a connection between the
desktop computer running Windows XP and your handheld device. This connection is
most often made via a cable or, in some cases, a cradle that connects the two
devices with a USB or serial cable.
After you've connected a
handheld device to the desktop computer running Windows, open Windows Media
Player on the desktop computer by clicking the Start button on the taskbar and
then clicking the Copy to CD or Device button on the left side.
When you click this button,
Windows divides the Windows Media Player window into a left pane called Music to
Copy and a right pane called Music on Device. You then follow these steps to
copy music files from the Media Library to your handheld device:
 | Click the Media Library
button on the left side of Windows Media Player and select the tracks you want
to copy. |
 | Click the Copy to CD or
Device button on the left side of Windows Media Player. The tracks that you
selected in the Media Library are now displayed in the Music to Copy pane. |
 | Select the folder on the
portable device into which you want to copy the selected tracks. If Windows
Media Player is having trouble finding the portable device and listing the
folders, press F5 or, if you connect through a cradle, remove then reseat the
device in the cradle. |
 | Each of the tracks you
selected for copying in the Media library has a check mark in the check box
that precedes the name and description. If you decide that you don't want to
copy some of the tracks or don't have room to copy them, click the check boxes
to remove the check marks. |
 | Click the Copy Music button
in the top right of Windows Media Player. When Windows Media Player finishes
copying the marked tracks, they appear in the list shown in the Music on
Device pane. You can then disconnect the handheld device, put on your
headphones, and listen to your tunes. |
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6/25/2004 |
Moving a Window
Have you ever had a window on
your screen somehow end up with title bar off the top boundary of the screen so
that you can't grab the bar to move it back where it belongs? Just right-click
on its button in the task bar, click "Move" then use your down arrow key to put
the window back where it belongs. When you can see the title bar, hit the
"Enter" key. (Note: When you first press the down arrow key, the window may
disappear altogether. If this happens, just keep pressing the down arrow until
it comes back into view.)
Another way to accomplish the
same thing is to click on any part of the errant window that you can see, hold
down the ALT key and then press the SPACEBAR. This brings up the control dialog
box. Click "Move" and then use the arrow keys to move the window. When you can
see the title bar, either click on it or hit "Enter" to stop moving the window.
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6/18/2004 |
Too Many Fonts
If you ever have a problem where
every single time you try to insert a Symbol into a Microsoft Word document and
an error message would display shutting down Word, your problem could be too
many fonts installed. Once there are about 500 fonts, Microsoft just cannot
handle it. Try removing about 100 of them, the ones you don't need,
and that should work.
Some fonts should stay
put--notably Windows system fonts, which have the extension .fon instead of .ttf.
The icon for a system font has a red 'A' rather than a gray-blue 'TT'.
Remember that you have to
re-start Word (and shut down Outlook, if you use Word as your email editor) to
force Word to re-construct its font list. While collecting fonts for fun and
profit may sound like fun, in fact having more than a couple hundred hanging
around is a sure invitation to disaster - or at least instability. If you really
want to use a whole, big bunch of fonts, install a font manager like the free
AMP Font Viewer , which lets you show and hide
fonts as you need them.
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5/14/2004 |
Starting
Windows in Safe Mode
Having trouble with Windows? If Windows won't start, sometimes you can fix
the problem in Safe Mode. An
example is if you cannot get ScanDisk or Defragmenter
to finish, running it in Safe Mode usually works.
When you see the "Starting Windows" message, here are the keys to press:
F5 -- Safe mode. This allows Windows to start with its most basic configuration,
bypassing Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files and using the VGA driver for video
and not loading networking software.
F6 -- Safe mode (like F5) but with the addition of network support.
F8 -- Gives you a menu of different options before Startup. This is an
important one to remember!
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4/09/2004 |
Dr. Watson
All Windows versions have a utility called Dr. Watson. It captures a snapshot of
your system when a program crashes. The idea is that someone could look at the
data and figure out what's wrong. You usually have to tell the good Doc to get
to work, though.
In Windows 98 and ME, click Start>>Programs>>Accessories>>System
Tools>>System Information. On the Tools menu, click Dr. Watson. That will put an
icon in your taskbar. Dr. Watson generates lots of information about your
system, much of it incomprehensible to a novice. But technicians may well find
it interesting. To look at it, double click the icon and, on the View menu,
click Advanced View. You will find several tabs. Most contain loads of
information. If a program crashes, the Details tab will have all the gory
details. This is the information that you can pass on to a technician.
Otherwise, that tab will be missing.
Dr. Watson is also in Windows XP, too. He's just harder to find. Click
Start>>Run. Enter Drwtsn32.exe in the box and click OK. There's no need to start
Dr. Watson manually in XP. He jumps to work automatically when an error occurs.
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2/20/2004 |
Find Windows' Version
Every now and
then, you may need to know what version of Windows is on your computer.
Sometimes you may need this information for Windows Updates. This is very
simple. Just click Start-->Run. In the Run box, type "Winver"
(without the quotes). A window will popup showing all the information you
need for your version of Windows.
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1/2/2004 |
New Years Resolutions
I promise to
do the following for the new year. You should do the same.
 | Keep my
version of Windows updated by getting the critical updates from Microsoft's
site. |
 | Making
sure my antivirus program is updated with the most recent virus definitions
once or twice a week, and running a virus scan twice a month. |
 | Installing
and maintaining my firewall to help deter hackers. |
 | Backup any
important data that I have saved. If you have the original program CDs,
all you need to do is backup just the files you created from the programs. |
 | Get rid of
programs and files that I don't use to create more hard disk space. |
 | Run Disk
Defragmenter, Scandisk, and Disk cleanup at least once a month or more. |
 | Clean the
monitor screen using an antistatic cloth, not Windex or paper towels, and a
product like "Endust for electronics©". This product may also be used on
the monitor and tower surfaces. Also, vacuum out the interior of the
computer at least twice a year with a small vacuum and compressed air. |
 | Finally,
have fun with my computer by learning more about it and what it can do for me
to further enrich my life. |
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12/26/2003 |
Using .CAB Files
When using a complex operating
system with hundreds of support files, like Windows, every once in a while
you'll need to get one of the files off of the distribution diskettes.
They may also be on a separate partition of your hard drive.
These files are often compressed into CAB (cabinet) files, which are
similar to ZIP files.
If you're using Windows Me, 2000, or XP, CAB file support is built-in. Just
double-click a CAB file to open it. Files can be extracted by dragging them out
of the CAB window.
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12/05/2003 |
Still in Add/Remove Programs?
Have you ever uninstalled a
program only to later discover it's still on your Add/ Remove programs list? The
program is gone, but its entry is still there.
When that happens, most people
click the program, hit the Add / Remove button and end up with an error. And the
program is still stuck on the list. It may have been removed from your computer,
but its ghost seems determined to stay on.
So, is the program listing there
forever? Can you ever get rid of it? YES - but you have to play around in your
system registry.
Before we go any farther, I want
to say that messing with your registry is not for everyone and should only be
attempted by advanced users. If any of the information below doesn't make sense
to you, it's probably NOT a good idea for you to be trying this tip. So, do this
only at your own risk.
Here's the procedure:
 | Run your registry editor by
hitting the Start button, Run, Then type: regedit. |
 | Hit Enter. |
 | Your registry editor should
now be up and running. Now would be a good time to back up your registry by
hitting the File menu, Export Registry. Just in case. |
 | OK, now navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall |
 | Under this Uninstall folder,
you'll see all the stuff that's listed on the Add / Remove programs list. Find
the folder for the program that's stuck in your Add / Remove programs box,
right-click, and select Delete from the resulting menu. |
Now, go back to your Control
Panel, Add / Remove programs area and you should find that extra program is now
gone.
BONUS TIP
You may have already figured
this out, but there's another use for this tip. If you have a program listed in
the Add / Remove programs section that you DON'T ever want uninstalled, you can
delete its folder from the Uninstall folder list mentioned above. That way, you
(or someone else) won't accidentally remove it.
Note that deleting the folder
won't remove the program, just its entry in the Add/ Remove section of the
Control Panel.
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11/29/2003 |
How to
Uninstall Device Drivers, Patches, Updates in Win 98
Device drivers, system patches, or
hot fixes you installed using the Windows Update feature, can be uninstalled
using the Restore page from the Web site. If you are unable to connect to the
Windows Update Web site, you can uninstall the latest updates by using Update
Wizard Uninstall found on the Tools menu of Microsoft System Information (
Select Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information).
Existing files and drivers are automatically backed up before the new ones are
installed.
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11/21/2003 |
How to Get Programs Back
into the Start Menu
I will use
the Accessories menu as an example.
Calculator,
Paint and games are missing from the Accessories menu in the Start menu and you
want to know how to get them back. Since the menu items are shortcuts, not the
programs themselves, it's likely that the executable files are still on the hard
disk.
Try this: Look in your WINDOWS\System32 folder for the following files:
mspaint.exe and calc.exe. If the programs are there, you can get them back into
your Accessories menu by right dragging to the Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories folder and selecting Create Shortcut Here.
You can also find games such as mshearts.exe in the System32 folder and create
shortcuts in the same way.
If you don't find the program files, try installing the programs from Control
Panel | Add/Remove Programs. Select Windows Components, Accessories and
Utilities, and then Accessories. If the boxes for Calculator and Paint are
checked, try unchecking to remove them, then going through the process again and
checking the boxes to reinstall.
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10/31/2003 |
Installing Windows
98/Me after Installing WinXP
For whatever
reasons, some want to be able to use Win 98 or Me on the same computer that runs
WinXP. Here are the steps to add Win 98/Me on the same system.
Necessary
Criteria
 | This
procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed on drive C: No support is
offered for other drive letters. |
 | Drive C:
must be FAT16 or FAT32 to be able to install Windows 98/Me after XP is already
installed. |
 | The 98/Me
installation routine cannot write to an NTFS partition. |
 | If
your C: drive is not FAT16 or FAT32, you CANNOT complete this procedure.
You will need a 3rd party boot manager. I recommend BootIt Next
Generation,
www.bootitng.com. |
 | You must
have a second hard disk or partition formatted for FAT16/32 in order to be
able to install Windows 98/Me. Installing 98/Me to the same partition as
Windows XP is NOT RECOMMENDED! |
 | I
recommend the use of a Windows 98/Me Startup disk for this procedure. If you
don't have one, you can download the necessary files from
http://www.bootdisk.com.
You should ensure that DEBUG.EXE is on your Startup disk. If it isn't, it can
be copied from the Windows\Command folder. On a 98/Me Startup disk, created
from Add/Remove Programs, its in the EBD.CAB file on the Startup disk. For a
98 Startup disk created from FAT32EBD.EXE, its on the floppy. |
Installing
Windows 98/Me
 | Use a
Win98/Me Startup disk (with CD support) to boot your computer. |
 | Insert
your Win98/Me CD into the CD Rom drive. |
 | At the A:
prompt, type X:\Win98\Setup.exe (for Win98) or X:\Win9x\Setup.exe (for Win Me)
where X: is your CD-ROM drive. |
 | Proceed
with the install. When prompted for the install location, you'll see
C:\Windows.000. Choose Other directory and change this to the drive you
wish to install 98/Me to and name the folder Windows (or something else if you
prefer). |
 | Complete
the Win98/Me install. Allow the computer to boot into Win98/Me. |
Repairing
the Windows XP Boot Loader
1.)
Create a Win98/Me Startup Disk.
2.) Create a Notepad file with the following entries, exactly as
shown:
L 100 2 0
1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
Q
3.)
Save the file to the Win98/Me Startup Disk as READ.SCR.
4.) Boot the computer with the Win98/Me
Startup Disk and at the A: prompt type DEBUG <READ.SCR
Steps
1-4 create the BOOTSECT.DOS file needed to boot Win98/Me. For your
convenience, you can download READ.SCR
here.
I suggest you use right click and Save As. You may need to use the
ATTRIB C:\BOOTSECT.DOS -S -H -R command if BOOTSECT.DOS already exists and you
get an error when trying to recreate it.
5.)
Configure your computer to boot from the CD drive. This is done in the
BIOS, or your computer may offer the option at startup if it detects a
bootable CD. Consult your computer's manual for more information.
If your computer does not support booting from the CD Rom, you should also be
able to boot with a 98/Me Startup disk, and run WINNT.EXE from the I386 folder
of your XP CD.
6.) Insert your XP CD and boot from it.
7.) You'll see some files being copied,
then you'll be presented with a choice of installing or repairing an existing
installation. Choose Repair.
8.) You'll be asked which XP
installation you want to log into. Enter 1. There is usually only
one installation.
9.) You'll be prompted for the
Administration password. For Home, the default password is blank, so
just hit Enter. For Pro, enter the same password you did during setup
for the Administrator account (this is not the same as the password for an
Admin level account. It must be the Administrator account password).
10.) At the C:\Windows prompt, type
FIXBOOT. You'll be prompted to confirm. Do so.
11.) When FIXBOOT is finished, remove
the XP CD and type EXIT and the machine will reboot.
12.) Reconfigure your computer to boot
from the hard drive if necessary.
You will
now get the XP Boot loader with your choice of operating systems.
*COMPEDS
provides limited support for this procedure. Use at your own risk.
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7/10/2003 |
ALT Key and Menu Bar
Here is a neat tip on using the ALT
key to navigate the menu of any program in Windows. I used NOTEPAD as an
example. Give it a try.
 | Hit the ALT key once. You
will note that, in NOTEPAD, the FILE menu option is now depressed in the menu
bar of the program. |
 | If you hit the down arrow on
the keyboard, the FILE menu will open; hit the down arrow again and you will
go to the first item on the sub-menu; again, the second item, and so on.
|
 | To move to the other main
menu items, press the ALT key, followed by the right arrow key on the
keyboard. |
 | If you want to see the
complete sub-menu under each main menu, hit the ALT key, the down key once,
which opens the FILE menu, then the right key once - in NOTEPAD the EDIT
sub-menu items will appear. |
You can also use
the Esc key to close an open menu.
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6/13/2003 |
How to Open the Windows Explorer
The Windows Explorer (the file
management utility, not to be confused with the Internet Explorer web browser)
contains the folder and file structure of your computer. You can use this
area to manage these files. Here are some methods you can use to open the
Windows Explorer:
 | Right click on the Start
button and click Explore. |
 | Click the Start button, point
to All Programs, point to Accessories and click on Windows Explorer.
|
 | Hold down the Windows
Key on the keyboard and then press the E key. |
There are other
ways of opening the Windows Explorer, but these are the most common ways.
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5/09/2003 |
Restoring Declined Updates
In the last tip, I suggested waiting
or delaying installing Windows updates due to possible problems with the
updates. This will allow Microsoft to correct any problems or update the
updates.
If you have downloaded any updates
and chose not to install them, Windows deletes the files from your computer.
To download these updates later, follow these steps:
 |
Click Start, click
Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and click
System. |
 |
On the Automatic Updates
tab, click Restore Declined Updates. |
If any of the updates you previously
declined still apply to your computer, they will reappear the next time Windows
notifies you of available updates. You can always install specific updates
from the Windows Update Web site.
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5/02/2003 |
Don't Let Windows XP
Update Itself Automatically
I strongly recommend that you not
allow Windows XP to update itself automatically - precisely because the updates
can't be 100% relied upon. Far better to wait a week or two when a patch comes
out, then apply it when time permits.
At the very least:
 | Click Start, right-click on
My Computer, then pick Properties | Automatic Updates. |
 | Check the box that says
"Notify Me Before Downloading Any Updates And Notify Me Again Before
Installing Them on My Computer". |
When Windows
Update notifies you that you have updates, I'd suggest that you start the
Wizard, click Notify Me Later, and pick 3 days. Then the next time Windows
Update notifies you, pick 3 more days.
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4/25/2003 |
Windows Update Not Working?
If your Windows Update is not
working, here’s a tip that might help:
 | Go to the Windows Update site
as you usually do. When you get there, copy the address that appears in the
browser's address bar. |
 | Click the Tools menu, then
click Internet Options. |
 | Click on the Security tab.
Click on the Trusted Sites icon and then click on the Sites button.
|
 | In the Trusted Sites dialog
box, paste the address into the Add this Web site to the zone text box. Remove
the checkmark from the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in
this zone checkbox. Click the Add button. Click OK. |
 | Click OK again. |
Close the browser
and return to the Windows Update site. I hope this helps.
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4/18/2003 |
Show Your Drives, NOT My Documents
Here's how you
get the Windows Explorer to automatically open to the C: drive and not My
Documents:
 | Click Start, point to All
Programs, point to Accessories and right click on the Windows Explorer.
|
 | Click on the Properties
command. |
 | In the Windows Explorer
Properties dialog box, change the entry in the Target text box to read the
following without the quotes:
"%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe
/n, /e, /select, C:" |
 |
Click Apply and
then click OK. |
You
may copy and paste the contents within the quotes ("), but not the quotes.
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01/10/2003 |
Windows Media Player
For those interested, the final release of Windows Media
Player is released and can be downloaded from
here.
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12/27/2002 |
Restoring Your Registry
The Registry stores settings for
programs installed on your computer as well as for your computer's internal
operation. If these get corrupted or damaged in any way, your applications, or
your computer, won't run correctly.
Windows 98 comes with a utility
called Registry Checker that backs up the registry each time you turn your
computer on, and scans your Registry at every restart. If Registry Checker finds
a problem with your Registry, it will automatically replace it with your most
recent backup copy.
To run the Registry Checker at
any time:
 | Click the Start
button. |
 | Point to Programs,
point to Accessories, and then point to System Tools
|
 | Click System
Information |
 | Click Tools
from the menu bar and then click Registry Checker. |
To access your backup copies at
any time:
Reboot your computer to the
Command Prompt. (Hold down the CTRL key at restart, and choose
step #5 from the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu.)
 | At the Command Prompt, type
-- scanreg /restore and then press Enter. |
 | Registry Checker will scan
your Registry again and then display a list with the five most recent backups,
listed by date. Highlight which one you want to restore and then press
Enter. |
 | Press Enter
again to restart. |
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12/20/2002 |
Computer
Locks Up When in Suspend
There is a little known bug in
Windows 98 that causes your computer to lock up when it is in Suspend mode.
This is caused by a drive letter that is in lowercase in the SYSTEM.INI.
This can easily be fixed by doing the following:
 |
Select Start, Run, and type "msconfig"
(without the quotes) in the Open: box, then press OK. |
 |
Select the System.ini tab. |
 |
Click the + sign next to the
(386Enh) section to expand it. |
 |
Select the line PagingFile= and
click Edit. |
 |
Change the lowercase drive letter
to uppercase. |
 |
Click Apply and OK. |
 | When
prompted, restart your computer. |
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12/13/2002 |
System Idle Process is Always
Running
There are those
concerned about the "System Idle Process" that's taking up so much of their CPU
time. Where are they seeing this System Idle Process?
Right click on an empty area of the task bar and
click Task Manager. Click on the Processes tab.
Click on the CPU column header so that the list of processes are listed
in order of CPU activity. You'll almost always see
the System Idle Process on top. The system idle
process runs to occupy the processor when it's not executing other threads.
Idle has one thread per processor. It's
nothing to worry about. This is also the case in
Windows XP.
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11/29/2002 |
Remove
Outdated Entries in the Add/Remove Programs Applet
Have you ever removed a program
from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel
only to find the entry for the program remains in the Control Panel? If so,
you're not alone. If you try to remove the program again using the Add/Remove
Programs applet, you get an error message. Ouch! Try this to remove this bogus
entries from the list:
 |
Click Start and click the Run
command. Type Regedit in the Open text box and click OK. |
 |
Navigate to the following
Registry key:
HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
|
 |
Expand the Uninstall node and
you'll see the programs installed on the computer. In that list will be the
program you uninstalled that's still hanging around in the Add/Remove Programs
applet. |
 |
Click on the program's
entry and press the DELETE key. Confirm that you do want to delete the entry.
|
 |
Restart the
computer. Go into the Add/Remove Programs applet the offending entry will be
gone! |
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11/22/2002 |
If you are having a problem with setting your power
management, there is a Power Management Troubleshooter tool available either on
the Win98 CD or on the web. This is a program that can help you determine the
device or driver that might be interfering. It is on the CD at \Tools\Mtsutil\Pmtshoot\Pmtshoot.Exe
or click
More Information
for Microsoft's site.
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10/18/2002 |
Extreme Gaming
If you enjoy
games, and hey, who doesn't, then you probably know that if you really want to
test the boundaries of a computer, run a game. Today's games are incredibly
resource intensive. Because of this, if you want to play a game, and have it run
to the best of its capabilities, make sure that all other applications are
closed. You may even want to temporarily disable your virus software.
Also, try not to switch between a game and the desktop. Some games like to "own"
the machine, and it does not share well with others. You could potentially crash
your system.
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09/27/2002 |
Moving Around the
Desktop Without Using the Mouse
 |
Press the Windows Logo key
( ˙
)which brings up the Start menu. |
 |
Press the arrow (cursor)
keys to move up, down, left or right in the Start menu. |
 |
To start Programs in the Start
menu, press the left pointing arrow key or ENTER. |
 |
Use the arrow keys to move around
in the Programs menu. |
 |
Press ENTER when you want
to start a program. |
 |
Press ESC (this makes the
Start menu disappear, but keeps the taskbar active). |
 |
Press SHIFT + TAB one time
(this toggles between the taskbar and the desktop). Your desktop will
now be active, although you may not notice any visual indication of it. |
 |
Press the down arrow key
and you will see which desktop icon is active, and continue to use the arrow
keys to move to the icon you want to use. |
 |
Press ENTER to run the
icon, or press SHIFT + F10 to see the context menu (drop-down menu) for
that icon. |
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09/20/2002 |
System Restore
In Windows Me and Windows XP, System Restore is a method that can be used to put
the Windows system back to the way it was at any given point that is chosen. The
System Restore does not change data files such as emails and documents, but will
change the registry and installed components to their original configuration
from the point of the last restore save.
To create a checkpoint, Click 'Start' then go to Programs, Accessories, System
Tools, and System Restore. Now, select 'Create a Restore Point' and click
next. Type in any name for this checkpoint and click Next, then OK.
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08/02/2002 |
Detail View
If you find
yourself scrolling left and right, up and down while in Windows Explorer looking
at icons, change the View in the menu bar to "Details" and this will make the
list scroll only up and down. Also, the icons will be much smaller. This helps
save some time.
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07/26/2002 |
Drastic Shutdown
The most drastic way to end an application, and Windows itself, is to power down
the computer (turn it off) or press the computer's
reset button. This action is the last resort when things stop working. Sometimes
it's necessary when Windows 98 itself has become unstable, usually because of an
errant application. None of your applications will initiate their termination
procedures, and all your unsaved work will be lost. Disk file records that
are being held in a memory cache are not written to the disk. The potential
exists for corruption of the file system.
Consequently, when you restart the computer, Windows 98 senses that its previous
termination was an abrupt power interruption and runs the ScanDisk utility to
ensure that the file system's integrity was not
corrupted by the untimely shutdown.
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07/20/2002 |
Click And Shut Down
In Windows,
right-click the desktop and select New. Select Shortcut and on the command line,
type the following command:
Rundll.exe user.exe, exitwindows
Now when you click the icon, your computer will shut itself down.
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Saving Files
Save means to send the work you just created on your computer to a disk or the
hard drive for safekeeping. Unless you specifically save you work, your computer
thinks you've just been fiddling around for the past four hours. You need to
tell the computer to save your work before it will store the work on a disk.
Normally, if you close a program before you save, the computer will ask you if
you want to save the file and present you with a dialog box.
All Windows-based programs use the same Save command, no matter what company
wrote them. Press and release the Alt, F, and S keys in any Windows program, in
that order, and the computer saves your work. If you prefer using the mouse to
save files, click File from the toolbar that appears at the top of the program
and choose Save from the drop-down menu.
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05/03/2002 |
Renaming Shortcuts
When creating a shortcut on your desktop, Windows will choose a name for you.
However, you don't have to keep it. Right click the shortcut. In the
resulting context menu, click Rename. The original name under the shortcut
will be highlighted. Just type in the name you desire and press your Enter
key.
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04/25/2002 |
Single-Clicking vs.
Double-Clicking
Note: This tip works in Windows XP, but it may also work in other
versions of Windows with little alteration. Give it a try!
Prefer to always single-click instead of double-click? Then
choose Folder Options from the Control Panel's Appearance and
Themes area, and choose the single-click option: Single-Click to
Open an Item (Point to Select). Prefer the traditional
double-click way? Then go to the same place and choose the other
option: Double-Click to Open an Item (Single-Click to Select).
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04/18/2002 |
The "Custom Install" Options
Most software offers a custom install option, which often lets you be far more
selective about both *what's* installed, and *where* it's installed to. In
some cases (such as with the downloads of IE5 and IE6) you even get unusual
"save to disk" options that are completely unavailable by any other means.
It never hurts to see what a "custom" install offers--- it only takes minute. If
there's nothing in the custom install that's useful to you, you always can back
out and re-accept the standard install options. But many times, you will see
custom options that can give you f |