You can customize several settings such as your desktop background,
screen saver and video driver by right-clicking anywhere on an
open area of your desktop and selecting "Properties."
You can also get to this screen by double-clicking on Display
in the Control Panel folder. You can add your own background pattern
or pictures, add a screen saver, change your video settings or
create a new color scheme for Windows.
Reformed Mac users can skip this tip; however, Windows 3.*x* users
may not immediately pick up on the new way to rename files. Left-click
on the file icon, then left-click again on the name listed beside
or below the icon (make sure these are two separate clicks, rather
than a double-click). A cursor will appear, letting you type in
the name directly. All normal editing functions, including selection,
cutting and pasting, also work in the filename field. But before
you decide to give all your files original, long-winded names,
keep in mind that you can always create a shortcut to that file,
named anything you want, without modifying the original file.
Remember that shortcuts don't have to point only to files--they
can point to nearly any object, and function just like that object.
For example, if you use Dial-up Networking frequently, you can
create shortcuts to your most common dial-up connections and place
them in the Start Menu or on the desktop. You can then simply
double-click on these shortcuts to establish a network connection.
One of the nice new features of Windows is the Send To menu. It
appears in the menu that pops up whenever you right-click on a
file or folder, and gives you a number of locations you can "send"
the item you've selected. If the destination is a folder on the
same hard drive, it performs a move command; if the destination
is on another volume, it performs a file copy. You can add your
favorite folders or network drives to the Send To menu by opening
up the SendTo folder located in the Windows directory, or by typing
"Sendto" on the Run command line on the Start menu.
Anything that you put in the SendTo folder will then appear on
the Send To menu. Just make sure you only create shortcuts to
folders and applications, rather than moving the originals, in
the SendTo folder; the shortcuts will behave just like the original
items.
Your Desktop is completely covered up by open windows, and you
need to get at the My Computer icon. Sound familiar? While you
can minimize all windows by right-clicking on the taskbar, it's
easier to just keep a shortcut to the My Computer icon on the
Start menu. Then you can get at your files without disrupting
your work in progress. If you need access to other files on the
desktop, you can create a shortcut to the Desktop folder itself.
It's located in your Windows directory.
If you find yourself placing a large number of folders in the
Send To folder, try creating a shortcut inside it that points
to the Send To folder itself. You can then add your favorite folders
to the menu on the fly.
You can create a shortcut to any folder that opens up a "rooted
Explorer"--an Explorer view with the target as the topmost
level of the tree. Start by creating an ordinary shortcut to the
folder, then bring up its Properties page. In the Target field,
add "Explorer /e, /root," (include the final comma)
to the beginning of the command line. By double-clicking on the
new shortcut, you'll get an uncluttered window, with the folder
you selected at the top.
If you've used Windows 95 for a while, you've probably grown to
rely on those context-sensitive menus that pop up with a right-click.
Ever wondered where the actions in those menus come from? You
can access them, and even edit them to create your own context-sensitive
commands. Open the View/Options menu in any folder or Explorer
window, click on the File Types tab, select any type of file and
click on the Edit button. You'll see a dialog box with a list
of Actions showing the commands that appear in the menu for that
file type. Click on the New button to create your own command.
In the Action field, type the name for your command. In the "Application
used to perform action" field, type the command line to the
application you want to launch or click Browse to locate it. Generally,
you'll need to use applications that accept command-line arguments.
Since disk drives are considered a File Type, you can create your
own set of disk commands that pop up when you right-click on a
drive icon. For example, to create a defragment command, edit
the registered file type Drive, create a new action, name it Defragment
and type C:\WINDOWS\Defrag.exe
in the Action field.
Open folders with the Explorer by default. Go to the View/Options
menu in any folder or Explorer window, and select the File Types
tab. Double-click on Folder in the list of registered file types.
Select Explore from the list of actions, and click the Set Default
button. Explore will then appear bold and Open will appear in
a lighter typeface.
If you'd like to create rooted Explorer views on the fly, you
can also add them to the right-click menu for folders. Edit the
Action list for the Folder file type as in the previous tips,
and create a new action called "Explore from Here."
For the application path, type C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.exe /e,/root,%1
Do you do the work of two people? If so, you may find the Windows
95 desktop and Start menu configuration that works best for one
job is less than ideal for another. Windows 95 provides an easy
way to store and access different configurations, so you can always
have the configuration that's best for the job. To enable multiple
personalities, open the Control Panel folder and run the Passwords
applet. Select the User Profiles tab. Check the option "Users
can customize their preferences and desktop settings" and
the appropriate User Profile Settings checkboxes, and you're ready
to go. To switch between personalities select "Close all
programs and log on as a different user" from the Start menu's
Shut Down dialog. The user name you enter when you log on determines
the personality Windows 95 will assume. To create a new personality,
specify a new user name during the next login.
Quick View is an application that ships with Windows 95 and lets
you view certain text and graphics files without launching a full
application. It is not installed in the Typical installation of
Windows 95. If you have it, it will be located in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VIEWERS
directory under the name QUIKVIEW.EXE. Unfortunately, Quick View
only pops up as an option for certain types of files, so if you
have a text-only document with an unusual file extension, Quick
View will not appear in the right-click menu for that file. You
can enable QuickView for any file type you want by going to the
View/Options menu in any folder window and selecting File Types.
Select the file type you want to change and click on the Edit
button. Now check the box in the lower-left corner marked "Enable
Quick View." You can also put Quick View in the Send To folder
to view any compatible document on the fly.
If there's one particular document that you frequently refer to,
and it's compatible with Quick View, you can create a shortcut
that opens the document directly with Quick View, rather than
the default application. First create a shortcut to the document,
preferably in the Start menu. Then bring up the properties window
for the shortcut and click on the Shortcut Tab. In the Target
field, add C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VIEWERS\QUIKVIEW.EXE
to the front
of the path.