TABLE OF CONTENTS

For those of you that have some computer expertise. I use a second Hardrive to do my backups with, it takes me about 30 minutes to do a restore as opposed to 12 hrs to completely reload everything from scratch, when I'm finished I remove the backup Hardrive and store it in a safe place. Just be sure to backup after making major changes. and before you start, do a defrag, clean out Temp Folders etc.

I had a customer a while back, complaining that their computer had slowed down drastically, so I took a look at it, and what I found was that on their 4 gigabyte drive they had 2 gigabytes in their Windows Temp File, I deleted all of them and their computer speeded up considerably. I also ran a defrag, which is a good thing to do after such a major change.

Fast Access to files or Programs

To get very easy access to files or folders do the following:

1.___Right click on open area on your desktop  (the screen when windows first starts)

2.___Choose New Folder and name it tools.

3.___Then Right click on your Taskbar (The one at the bottom of your screen)
          and click on toolbars, click on New Tool bar, then scroll down until you see the                    folder  named Tools. Click on it then select ok.

4.___Now any program shortcut or file you place in that folder will appear on the toolbar, you can even place a folder in that folder. Now to access the files or folders, you just go down to the task bar and select what you want.

I for instance have a calculator, Word Pad, shortcuts to Web Sites.

Word Pad is very handy to have there for cutting and pasting things off the Internet.

             Send to Option

When you right-click on most objects, you'll see a Send To option that offers a number of locations-floppy, mail, etc.- to which you can send the item. You can expand that list with your personal choices. Open the Send To folder in the Windows directory and put in shortcuts to the applications or locations you want to add to the list.

Suspend Your Screen Saver

Here's the fastest way to disable your screen saver temporarily (if you're defragmenting a drive or doing something similar). Click on the Start button and bring up the Start menu. When the menu is up, your screen saver won't launch.

Internet Shortcuts

To gain instant access to your favorite Web sites, put a shortcut to your C:\WINDOWS\FAVORITES folder on your desktop or Start menu. 

              Launch Control 

 Other programs tell Windows to launch them at start-up by editing the  Windows Registry. (This tip is for the advanced user with a  backed-up Registry.) To remove these programs, open the Registry  Editor, and then open  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
 CurrentVersion\Run. Delete any programs from the Name column that  you don't want to run at startup.

              Good Memory

To see how your system is using its memory, select Start/Run and type MEM. 

              Forget Your Password?

If you forget your Win98 password, just hit Escape at the passwordbox, launch the MS DOS Prompt and enter dir *.PWL in the WINDOWS directory to find your PWL files. Delete the one with your name in front of it. Restart your system and enter a new password when prompted(Win98 will ask you to verify it).

              Maximize and Restore

Double-click on the title bar of any application, document or folder window to toggle between maximized and restored states.

              Easy File Associations

Here's an easy way to change file associations. Click on a document to select it, then hold the Shift key while right-clicking on it; select Open With from the context menu. In the Open With dialog, make sure there's a check mark in the "Always use this program to open this type of file" box, then double-click on an application in the Choose window. Warning: Once you've done this, the box will be checked by default next time the dialog comes up.

              Defrag Virtual Memory

Defragmenting your hard disk speeds up file access by putting files together at the faster part of the disk. But it doesn't defrag your swapfile, which is the file used as virtual memory in Windows. You can get additional performance gains by disabling your swap file, defragging your disk, then re-enabling the swap file. (Note that this tip works only if you have plenty of physical RAM. If you try it and your system hangs, you don't have enough.) To disable your swap file, right-click on MyComputer and select Properties from the context menu. Click on the Performance tab, then on the Virtual Memory button. Select the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" radio button, then put a check mark in the "Disable virtual memory" box by clicking on it. Click on OK, then on OK again. After defragging your disk, follow the same procedure, but remove the check mark this time.

              Get Right to the Point

You probably already know how to create a shortcut to a document. You can also create a shortcut to a specific place in a document. Make sure you can see the desktop from the open document, then simply drag and drop any part of the document (say, a sentence in a word processing document or a range of cells in a spreadsheet) to the desktop using the right mouse button. When you let go, choose Create Document Shortcut Here and close the document. The next time you want to open the document to that place, double-click on the new shortcut. This will launch the document and take you right to the selected text, which will be highlighted.

              Survey Your Properties

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

              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 Dialing Properties. Choose the code that disables call waiting on your phone line.

              Escape Clause

If you're halfway through a drag-and-drop operation and change your mind, just press the Esc key to bail out.

Selection Shortcut

You can select a bunch of files by clicking near them and dragging the cursor over them. If you do that with the right mouse button, however, you automatically get a context menu that offers the Open, Send To, Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename, Create Shortcut and Properties commands.

ERROR MESSAGES

Here is the site address for the Microsoft knowledge base, where you can find out what's causing Error messages and what to do about them. Amongst other things.       http://www.microsoft.com/support/kb.htm

Windows 95 or 98
1. From the Control Panel, double-click the System icon.
2. Within the System Properties dialog box, click the Device Manager tab.
3. Within the Device Manager sheet, select your network adapter and click the Properties button.
4. Within the Properties dialgo box, click the Resource tab.
5. Within the Resource sheet, check the IRQ setting and write it down.
6. Click the Cancel button to close the Properties dialog box then close the Device Manager.
7. Click the Start button, select Run.
8. Type SYSEDIT and hit the ENTER key.
9. Within the System Editor, click the SYSTEM.INI window.
10. Within the SYSTEM.INI file, look for the heading 386Enh.
11. At the bottom of the 386Enh section type IRQn=4096 (where n is the IRQ number you wrote down earlier)
12. From the File menu choose Save and then choose Exit.
13. Re-boot your computer.

PROBLEMS WITH WIN 98

If you start having problems with windows 98 the first thing you should do is.    Go into system information. You should place a shortcut to it on your   desktop. To find it go to Start select find type in System Information, it will  have like a little computer with a magnifying glass in front of it. When you  see it Right Click on it and, choose Send To the desktop as a shortcut. After  you get that accomplished, go into it, and click on Tools, Then click on  System File Checker, and choose Scan for altered Files. You must have your  Win98 CD in when you do this. You will need to type in the drive your CD is  on. then just go through it, restart your computer and see if that  clears up the problem.

REGCLEAN 

Get a copy of  REGCLEAN it's a shareware program (Free) and run  that every once in a while, especially if you have recently uninstalled programs.

DEFRAG

Do a defrag about once a month, doing it more than this puts a strain on   your Hard Drive.

LOADING NEW PROGRAMS

When you load software shut down every thing except Explorer  and the Program you are loading. Some programs will elect to change windows files, and if you start having problems after loading a new program go to System File Checker and see if this clears the problem up. If not you may either do without the program Or call Tech Support for the Program.  Some times uninstalling and re-installing the program works.

IMPORTING ADDRESS BOOK

To import address book in outlook express, go to Outlook Express, (on the    computer you want to export from) click on address book , choose export,     choose text file, name it something easy to find, though it probably will be     sent to the desktop. Then put it on a Floppy and take it to the other   Computer. Go into Address Book, go to File, Choose Import, choose as  text. import from floppy.

VIRUSES

If you're worried about viruses, Don't open Email attachments, unless you're sure of the source, and bear in mind, the source may not be sure of their source. However I must say in 8 years of intensive computing, I've only had one and it was very easy to get rid of.

CLEANING YOUR KEYBOARD

Cleaning your keyboard, be very careful, I take mine apart, and then wash the top half, don't do anything more than dust the bottom half. some keyboards are easy to disassemble, having all screws on the bottom, and some have screws in hidden spots, like under the label on the bottom, or under keys on the top. If you mess it up, go buy a new one!

COOKIES

There shouldn't be much concern about security and privacy just because a Web site sets a cookie on your hard drive.  But, if you're a little nervous, don't want to bother with one of those software programs that filters out cookies, but still hate the idea of some site writing to your hard drive, change the cookie.txt file to read-only.  You'll likely find that file in your Netscape browser path; or, if you use Internet Explorer, in your Windows folder.  Right click on the file, select Properties, change it to read-only, and click Apply. 

LOW MEMORY ERROR 

If you still use DOS for certain applications and are getting a low memory error, one problem might be that your clipboard has a sizable file in memory.  The easiest way to clear this is to place a single character into clipboard (pasting with CTRL+C will do it) and that replaces the previous file.  That may not be the fix but is certainly worth a try. 

SPEED UP DIAL UP

Decrease your Internet logon time.    Click on My Computer (or whatever you’re calling it) and the Dial-up Networking icon.  Right click on your ISP icon and click on Properties, then the Server Types tab.  Uncheck three options you’ll find there:  Log on to network; NetBEUI; and, IPX/SPX Compatible and close that.  If it doesn’t work for you, then just undo the process if you wish, no harm done. 

SHORTCUTS TO FAVORITE SITES

SHORTCUTTING FAVORITE SITES.  One neat way to have your favorite bookmarks conveniently on your desk top, whether your browser of choice is Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer:  Save the site to a bookmark or favorite as you would normally.  Right click on an empty space on your desktop and select New/Folder.  Right click the new folder name, select Rename, give the folder whatever name you desire.  Double click on it to open it.  Then, open bookmarks or favorites in Communicator or IE, select Edit, then drag and drop your best of the best into the new folder.  Rename the shortcut if you desire, using the same procedure as indicated above. Once you have done this, if you would like to avoid losing them, Right Click on the Folder select, SEND TO select 3/2 Floppy (A) have a blank disk in, and you'll have your shortcuts saved, if you have a crash and have to reload windows.

SPEED DIAL

SPEED DIAL.  This may or may not work for you, depending on your modem, but it's worth a try.  You might be able to speed up your modem's dialing by shortening the length of each tone it dials.  Try START|SETTINGS|CONTROL PANEL|MODEMS.  Click on Properties, Connection Tab, and Advanced.  In the Extra Settings Field, try S11=50.  By reducing the number after tbe equal sign, shorter tones and a faster connection will result.  But reduce it too much and your modem ceases to support the setting.

SPEEDIER BOOTING

 Instruct Windows not to look for your floppy drive when booting.  This will not disable the drive, simply shorten your boot time. Click on the My Computer icon (or whatever you renamed it) and go to Properties/Performance/File System and click the Floppy Disk tab.  Deselect the option to "search for new floppy disk drives each time your computer starts."

QUICK ICON FIND 

Sometimes we forget the really simple, but very useful tricks.  Does your desktop, as does mine, become inundated with shortcut icons? I find myself staring at the screen and wondering where such-and-such is, when all I really have to do is touch the key of the first letter of the icon's name.  Where there is more than one icon beginning in that letter, Windows 95/98 will cycle through them all, highlighting each in turn.  Now why can't I remember that simple little tip?   OK, want more?  Once the icon is Highlighted,  just hit Enter to execute it if it's a program, or open it if it's a folder. 

If you aren't using the Personal Toolbar feature of your browser, you're missing a very useful navigation tool. When you get to a site that you will frequently visit, click on the link to the left of the Location window and drag and release it to the space directly underneath (in Netscape Communicator) or overhead (Internet Explorer 4,) your Personal Toolbar space. Henceforth, you can quickly go to that site by clicking on the icon that you've created. To delete it or edit the title, go to Bookmarks and look for the Personal Toolbar section in Communicator; or, in Favorites under Links in Internet Explorer.

If you wander over to http://www.dmarie.com/asp/history.asp you can enter any date from 1900 through 1997 in the Time Capsule and find what songs were popular at that time, what was the big news around that date, what famous people had birthdays then, and so on. The information is rather limited but worth a look.

SEE MORE SCREEN IN INTERNET EXPLORER

By hitting F11 you can see more of an internet window, it removes the toolbars at the top, to get them back just hit F11 again. This works in Internet Explorer 5 probably works in IE 4. If you're viewing this with either one try it now to find out.

RESTORE YOUR REGISTRY

Has your registry recently been damaged? To determine whether your registry was recently damaged, restore the registry from the previous day's backup.
To restore the registry from the previous day's backup:

Before You Do This Try This:

Go To System Devices if you are able to boot into windows in Safe Mode and Check For Double Entries, If you find Some Delete Them both then reboot and see if this cures your startup problem.

If this doesn't solve the problem proceed to the information below.

Hold down the CTRL key as you restart your computer.

On the Startup menu, select Safe mode command prompt only.

Type SCANREG /RESTORE, and then press ENTER.

When you are prompted, select Previous Day's Registry.

Note: If you restore a previous registry, you may need to reinstall any programs that were installed after the registry backup was made.

CACHE

By default, the Internet Explorer creates four directories Cache1-4 where it places all the HTML pages, graphics, AVI's etc that you view
If you want to move this location or even have only one cache that points to a directory of your choice:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Internet Settings / Cache / Path / Path1-4

Change the value of the paths to a single location or any location of your choice

You can even just have PATH 1 and delete the other three

The next time you start Internet Explorer, the cache files will only be placed in the directories of your choice

This can be useful if you want to delete the files often. You can then just delete the files in the single directory

QUICK MINIMIZE
With IE4, Works in IE5 also. you gain a new keyboard shortcut. Press the WinKey+D, and you'll immediately minimize all windows, giving you instant access to your Desktop.

SPEED UP THE INTERNET

Windows 98 does a far better job than its predecessor of optimizing TCP/IP transmissions, and it also lets you change the setting without hacking the Registry. By default, all PPP connections at speeds below 128K use an MTU of 576. At higher speeds, Windows 98 uses an MTU of 1,500.To adjust these settings, open the Network option in Control Panel, select Dial-Up Adapter, and click on the Properties button. Click on the Advanced tab, and select the IP Packet Size entry in the Property list.  Choose Small for 576. Unless you have high speed access, which most people do not have. For all but the most performance-obsessed dial-up users, there's no need for utilities like TweakDun with Windows 98.

SAVING WINDOWS SETTINGS
By pressing Ctrl key while closing a window, the window size and position are automatically saved.

If you get the error message: "Invalid System Disk"

Boot up with your system disk: and type "Sys A: C: which  will replace system files on your hard drive.