Tips for Windows 95, 98 and Windows 2000 #3 - Computers - http://maxpages.com/nanotechnology/Tips

21. Organizing the Quick Launch.

Add divider to quick-launch or any other toolbar:
If your Quick Launch or other toolbar has become so crowded with icons that it’s hard to find what you need you can reduce the confusion by organizing the icons into groups (communication apps, word-processing, graphics, etc.) and separation the groups with spacers. Since the Windows98 toolbar don’t provide spacers, you have to make your own.
Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a black icon that is either set top the transparency color or the same colors as you’re using for the tool bar background (you need a graphics program that can save in .ico format for this). You can also create an icon that contain a vertical line or anything else you might want to use for a toolbar spacer.

2. Save the icon file anywhere you want except in the toolbar folder.

3. Open the folder for the toolbar you want to use the spacer in, and Crete a short cut to any screen-saver file (e.g., Flying Windows.scr or any other.scr file that you want to use.

4. Name the shortcut “0”.

5. Assign the blank icon to the shortcut.

6. Make copies of the shortcut, and rename each copy with the next available number.

Your toolbar now contains a blank icon for each shortcut you created. The spacers appear to be just blank spaces, since the icon is the same color as the toolbar background. You can drag the spacers anywhere you want within the toolbar just like you would any other toolbar icon. Since each file in a directory must have a unique name, naming the copies with a successive numbers (1,2,3,ect.) is easiest to manage since they’ll be grouped together. Anytime you need another spacer, just make another copy and rename it with the next available number. To delete a spacer, just drag it to the recycle bin (from either the toolbar folder or the toolbar itself).

Here’s the reason for making the shortcut point to a screen saver:
First, the shortcut has to point to some executable. Since you may inadvertently click the spacer button once in a while, you don’t want it to point to something that takes a while to load and you have to manually close. Since the spacers are all pointing to a screen saver, if you click on one of them by mistake, your screen saver pops up, so you know right away what happened, and as soon as you move your mouse pointer even one pixel, the screen saver is gone. It is best to use a screen saver that loads very quickly, such as Blank Screen.scr, or if you want to go to the trouble, you could create your own unique screen saver, such as a message like, “Hey sucker—you clicked in the wrong place!”

22. Adding Notepad to right click option:

By adding a shortcut to Notepad in your C:\Windows\SentTo menu you can simply right click and select the Notepad Icon the SendTo menu to quickly edit a file.

Adding send to context menu to favorites:

A tip for adding items to the “SendTo” menu and making this accessible for update.

Click start…run…and type “SendTo” (without the quotes) in the dialog box click okay.

The SendTo menu opens as icons for shortcuts to be added such as a shortcut to notepad and paint etc.

Now select favorites from the menubar and “add” this window to your favorites. This makes it easily accessible to update with other shortcuts.

23. Batch setup:

When installing, Win98 will generate a setuplog file in the root of your boot partition (C:\) This file can then be used to setup identical machines ion a batch mode using the setuplog as an input file

24. Tweak UI- configure your favorite search engine.

On TweakUI’s “General” page, select your favorite Internet search engine.

Now you can start a new search by simply typing a question mark followed by your search request (as in “? Windows 98”) in any Address bar (for example in Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer or your Taskbar).

25. Defrag with no programs open:

On the CD, in \tools\mtsutils, is a defrag.inf. Rightclick/install will set a “RunOnce” entry for the next time you boot, to run Defrag before the login prompt, so that NO other programs are running.

26. Quicklaunch-email:

Create a shortcut on your desktop. For the command line, type “C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\Msimn,.exe”/mailurl:%1. Finish the shortcut and move it to the quick launch menu. Now you can easily open the new message dialog box without having to actually open your default mail client.

27. Quicklaunch-reorder if scrambled:

As you all there is still a small bug in Win98 that scrambles the Quick Launch Toolbar Icons every now and then. Well is that really annoys you, read on.

Here is the fastest way to restore them to the originals. Just right-click on a blank space on the Quick Launch Toolbar and select “Refresh”. Its instantaneous and no fuss.

28. Customize the title bar:

In the Registry, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Internet Explorer\Main

Create a new String Value by clicking “Edit-New-String Value.”

Give the String Value the name “Window Title” (without the quotes).

Right click on the new value and select Modify.

Under “Value Data:” enter the String you’d like to appear in the Title Bar of Internet Explorer, such as; My Global Company, Inc., Ltd.,PTY This new string will replace the default string “Microsoft Internet Explorer.”

29. Tweak UI- Keeping system files healthy:

System files do not usually break down, but I find that my system stays on top of the hill if I repair system files once a month.

Using the TweakJUI accessory located on your Windows 98 CD-ROM you can tell Windows 98 to repair all system files with fresh backup copies.

Under the last tab in TweakUI select the Repair System Files option, and click ‘Repair Now’. You may be prompted to restart your computer. In either case you should restart.

Your system will run faster and any glitches that may have arisen will be alleviated.

30. System monitor:

Monitor your modem’s throughput with System Monitor

1) Right click on START and OPEN your PROGRAM MENUS..

2) Double click on PROGRAMS, ACESSORIES,SYSTEM TOOLS.

3) Right Click and Drag SYSTEM MONITOR to your STARTUP group.

4) Double Click on SYSTEM MONITOR to execute it.

5) View>Numeric Charts

6) Edit> Add Item> Dialup Adapter> Bytes Received/Second

7) Edit>Add Item>Dialup Adapter> Bytes Transmitted Second

8) Edit> Remove item (Anything else)

9) Double click on the Numeric Chart Display to edit Chart colors

10) Options>Chart>500ms

11) View>Always on Top

12) View>Hide Title Bar

13) Drag to minimize so that only a colored border surround each readout and there is no other text showing. Drag System Monitor downwards Lower Right so that it sits just above Systray on your desktop, and does not impede any toolbar use. Do not place system Monitor on the toolbar since it does not honor System Monitor “always on top” request.

14) Double clicking on System Monitor restores the Title Bar for modification

These tips were downloaded from the internet by Gager: Do not sell this, It’s probably Copyrighted© . Please exercise caution and use at your own risk.

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

lingates123@yahoo.com

Visitors: 03342

Page Updated Wed Jun 6, 2001 5:26pm EDT