Microsoft Windows Operating System Tips and Tricks


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"Thanks to Cool Cat for these original files"

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Change file associations or Default Program to Open files.

How do I copy what is displayed on my monitor screen.

How do I save an image or any other media file that is right click protected?

How do I put an image into Wordpad?

Get more speed out of your computer by changing your settings from Desktop Computer to Network Server.

Increase your Internet connection speed.

Add some animation to your icons and lists.

Adjust your desktop and windows size.

Do you use Outlook Express for your email? Here is how you can block spam!

Let's Change Those Window's Splash Screen!

Want To Change Some Other Splash Screens?

Speed Up The Startup Time Of Your Computer!

You try to save an image from a web page and Windows only allows you to save it in a BMP format.

Did You Know Windows98 Gives You 6 Built-in Diagnostic Tools?

Quick Warm Boot For Faster Restarts!

Find Out How Much You Really Use That Program.

Protect that file from accidental deletion.

Let's clean up that Start Menu.

Speed Up Your Hard Drives With Faster File Transfers.

What Is The Windows Key Used For?.

Easy Way To Block A Sender If You Use Outlook Express.

Avoid Spam In Your Primary Email Box.

How?

Highlight the file. Right click on it while holding the Shift Key down. From the popup menu choose Open With. From the next menu choose the program you want to open it with. If you want to make this change permanent then make sure the small box marked Always use this program.... has been checked. WARNING! Always look at that small box before you say okay as it is pre-checked most times.

How?

Press the Print Screen button next to the F12 key and then the Alt key. Open up Wordpad or your favorite graphics editing program and choose the paste option from the program. Now you can crop it or resize it to your needs.

How?

This is easier then you may think.
After viewing the image, animation or sound file click on the Start button in the bottom left of your screen. From the list cursor over Find and click on Files and Folders from the fly-out.
In the find form type *.jpg Use whatever extension that you believe the file is.
Some examples....Images can be jpg, gif, bmp, png
Sound files can be Mp3, wav, midi, mid
Flash animations usally use the .swf extension
After you decide what extension to use set the drive to search to the C drive.
Now click on the center tab marked Date. Click on the button marked Find all Files and in the form window set it to Created.
Below that is a button that allows you to check back so many days. Click it and set it to 1 day.
Now do your search. In the search window you will see all files created in the last day with the extension you specified.
If the list of files is real long here is how to sort it quickly.
Place your cursor in the search results window and right click the mouse button. From the pop-up, cursor over Arrange Icons then click Sort by Date from the Fly-out.
The newly created files are now at the top of the list. Click on each one to view it and when you find the one you want you can save and rename it elsewhere on your drive.

How?

Copy the image then open up Wordpad.
Click on the Edit Button in the Toolbar then choose Paste Special
Now choose the Bitmap option and click OK.
You can resize your image by using your mouse to grab the handles on the corners of the image or in the centers of the sides of the image.
To place the image anywhere on the document press the Tab Key to move your cursor into position. The center of the picture will be placed where the cursor sits. Make sure to position your cursor before you paste the image.
Screwed up? No Problem! Just click on the Edit Button on the top toolbar and choose Undo to remove the image.

How?

Click on My Computer--Control Panel--System--Performance Tab--File System--Hard Disk--Then under Typical Role click on Network Server from window.
Also set your Read-Ahead optimization setting to Full.

While on that page click the CD-ROM tab. Set the Supplemental Cache to Large and set the Optimize access pattern to Quad-Speed or Higher.

How?

Click on My Computer--Modem--General Tab. Click on Properties and change Maximum Speed to 115200.

How?

While on your Desktop right click your mouse. Then from the list choose properties.Then click on the Effects Tab. From the list check the box marked Animate windows, menus and lists.

How?

From your Desktop right click your mouse. From the list choose Properties. Choose the Settings tab. On that page is a slider that allows you to adjust your Desktop size. For the best color display make sure your color setting is set to True Color 32 bit. This is on the same page.

How?

Open up Outlook Express and from the toolbar click on the Tools button.
Place your cursor over the Message Rules option and from the slide out menu click on the Mail option.

From within the Message Rules screen choose the New button.
In the first box click the box marked "Where the subject line contains...".
In the next box select the "Delete it from the Server" option.
In the #3 box click on the highlighted Contains Specific Words link.
In the box that appears type in some of the words you may expect to find in a spam email.

Example; insurance, inkjet cartridges, get rich, lottery, debt, loans, mortgage.
In the #4 box give this rule a name.Click OK to apply it.
You can also make rules that block specific email addresses by making another rule.

How?

Open a graphic program like MS Paint, Photoshop or Paintshop and make a new image or resize an image with these dimensions; 320 wide x 400 high and with the color set to 256 colors.
Save it as a bmp file. Now resample the bmp file so the dpi is 96x97
When finished save it with the name Logo.SYS in the C:\ directory.
The next time you boot up your computer you will see your new splash screen.
Want to restore the old Windows splash screen? Just delete the Logo.sys file you made.
Note: This trick is for Windows 98.

How?

There are 2 other screens available for editing.
LOGOW.SYS - the "Please Wait Until Your Computer Shuts Down" message.
LOGOS.SYS - the "Now Safe To Turn Your Computer Off" message.

These 2 files are found in your C:\Windows directory.
Before you start make sure you copy these 2 files and store them in a safe place.
The instructions for changing these 2 files are the same as above with one exception;
Make sure you save these new files in the C:\Windows folder.
Note: This trick is for Windows 9x.

How?

Turn off your Startup Splash Screen! (LOL)
Now that I showed you how to put your own images into the startup splash screen I'm telling you to turn them off.
Go to CNET.com and in their Downloads section search for a program called TweakUI.
It's very small. Install it then go to the Boot Section of the program and disable the Splash Screen.
The next time you boot up your computer there will be no splash screen to load so that time will be spent loading the rest of Windows.

Why?

This tip is good only if it happens at all web sites and not just sites housed on a particular server.
Your Temporary Internet Cache is full. To clean it use Disk Cleanup.
To start Disk Cleanup, click Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking Disk Cleanup.
This should help your browser correctly identify the image format so it can be saved properly.

Where?

From your Start Button click on Run and type in these words then click OK;

MSINFO32... This gives you all the system info including hardware, software, components and Internet Explorer.

MSCONFIG... This allows you to fine tune and tweak your system. Also allows you to disable programs in your startup ini file.

SYSEDIT... Running this will display and allow you to edit the following files; Autoexec.BAT, Config.SYS, Win.INI, System.INI and Protocol.INI

SFC... System File Checker..This will check your system files and if any are found to be missing or corrupt you will be prompted to restore them either from a Cd or your Hard Drive.

REGEDIT... Use this program to save or edit your registry.
I must again caution you to make sure you save a copy of your registry in a safe place before attempting any modifications.

DXDIAG... Diagnose and find info on your DirectX plugin. See exactly what DirectX controls on your system.

WARNING! SYSEDIT and REGEDIT Recommended for Experienced Users Only!

How?

Normally,if you choose Restart on the shut down menu, your computer will do a warm boot. To save time on rebooting hold down the Shift key while clicking the Yes option.

Don't use this feature for restarting a computer when you have just installed a new program. The configuration files may not be updated properly and your program won't work.

How?
This is one of several 'hidden' programs that can be found in Windows.
Open the Find Files search from the Start Button on your desktop.
In the C drive search for optlog.txt
When you find it, click on it to open.
Now you can see all the programs that have been used on your computer by rank from most to least used.
It also gives you the program path, how many times it was used and the last date it was used.

Use this program to see what software you have installed but don't really use!

How?

Right click on the file and from the pop-up menu choose properties.
There you can change the attribute to Read-Only.

Now if you want to delete the file you must open up the file properties and change it back to the Archive option.
Then you can delete the file.

How?

Go to your C drive and follow this path;
/Windows/Start Menu/Programs

WOW!!! See all those folders?

Let's clean them up. Start looking at all your programs and decide on a general topic to place them under. An example would be;
You have several graphic programs like Photoshop, Paint Shop, Microsoft Paint.

Make a new folder called Graphic Programs in the directory.
Now copy and cut each graphic program folder and paste it in the new Graphics Programs folder you just made.

Do this with as many folders as you can.
Now close the folder that contains the Start Up folders.
Click on the Run button found on your desktop and go to programs.

Look at that! It's all cleaned up and organized.
But wait, there's more.

Go into one of the folders you just made in the Start Bar and hover your mouse over a program.
On the fly-out you will see all the files that go with that program such as... the main program, uninstall program, help file, etc.

But the main file that you use to start the program is not in line with your cursor.

Here is how to fix it.
Click and drag the main file to where you want it.
You can also move the help file and all other files to where you want them.

This makes for an easy way to not only find your programs but to start them as well.

How?

Click My Computer
Click Control Panel
Click System icon
Click Device Manager tab
Click on the Plus sign in front of Disk Drives
This opens a list of drives installed on your computer
Double click on the hard drive icon
From the popup screen click on the Settings tab
Click on the Enable DMA box to place a check mark in it.
Click Ok then click Ok again.

This feature only available in the Win9x/Me systems.

The Windows key found between the CTRL and ALT keys is used in conjunction with another key as a shortcut to different tasks and uses. Here is the list;

1) Win Key.... Displays the Start Menu.
2) Win Key + E.... Opens the Explorer Window.
3) Win Key + D.... Minimizes all windows and shows the Desktop. Clicking this combination again takes you back to where you were.
4) Win Key + F.... Opens the Find box.
5) Win Key + M.... Minimizes all open windows.
6) Win Key + Shift + M....Restores all minimized windows.
7) Win Key + R.... Displays the Run Command.
8) Win Key + F1.... Displays the Windows Help menu.
9) Win Key + Pause/Break.... Displays the Systems Properties box.
10) Win Key + Tab.... Cycles through the buttons on the Task Bar.

And here is one that is does not use the Win Key.
Alt + Tab.... Toggle between open windows.

How?

While viewing an email from the sender click on the Message button found in the Toolbar of Outlook.
Click on the Block Sender button from the dropdown menu.
A pop-up will ask if you want to remove all messages from this sender that are in your mailbox. That is your choice.
Now anytime that sender sends you an email it will automatically be placed in your Delete folder.
No more having to delete that email yourself.

How?

There are times you want to download a program or see a site but they first require you to 'Sign Up' and give your email address.
This is so they can spam you.
But why have your Primary email box get all junked up?
Instead, try this.
Sign up for a free email account at Yahoo or elsewhere.
And while signing up make sure your Firewall is in place and running so they can't scan your computer for your 'real' email address.