Dec 95 WinTips

Right-click on the column bar of your choice in the Exchange Inbox to get a menu giving you the option to sort one way or the other (for example, if you right-click on the Received column bar, you'll get a menu for sorting in ascending or descending order).

If you'd like to take a sneak peek at your messages before you open them (or to decide whether you really need to read them), just select Columns from the View menu, choose Item Text from the list on the left and click on the Add button and then on the OK button. (You can try various alternatives in the Columns dialog box for column width and placement.) This will give you as much of the first line of the message as can fit in the space allocated.

Here's a quick way to get rid of the Microsoft Network icon: Right-click on the icon and select Delete from the context menu.

Do you sometimes find yourself with the urge to coolswitch (Alt+Tab) to the desktop? Just double-click on My Computer and make sure the toolbar is visible (if it isn't, select View/Toolbar). Then click on the drop-down menu in the upper left corner, move up the tree and select Desktop. You'll see that all the stuff on your desktop is available in this folder window. Just minimize the window, and it'll always be just a coolswitch away.

If you'd like to put your desktop on your Start menu or in your Startup folder, you can do it. Just press F3 to launch the Find utility (or select it from the Start menu under Find/Files or Folders), type the word Desktop in the Named box and click on the Find Now button. The search will list the Desktop folder and similarly named files. If you want the desktop to be available from your Start menu, drag it from the Find window and drop it onto the Start button. If you want it in your Startup folder, right-click on the Start button, select Open from the context menu and double-click on Programs, then Startup. Now drag the Desktop folder from the Find window and drop it into the Startup folder.

The Win95 Find utility sports some unique--and undocumented--wild-card capabilities that you can use in the Find dialog's Named box. For example, putting a question mark before a character or string finds the character or string anywhere in the filename (except at the beginning). A question mark after the character or string does the same thing, as long as the character or string is not at the end of the filename. Also, if you type in characters without an accompanying asterisk, question mark or period, Find will search for folders and files that contain those characters in the order you typed them in.

Power users: Customize your system with the System Policy Editor, which comes free on the Win95 CD. Here's how to install it: Open the Control Panel and double-click on the Add/Remove Programs icon. Select the Windows Setup tab, then click on the Have Disk button. Click on the Browse button and find the ADMIN\APPTOOLS\ POLEDIT folder on your Win95 installation CD. Click on OK twice. Select both System Policy Editor and Group Policies and click on the Install button.

Create a shortcut on the desktop by putting diskcopy a: a: in the command line (assuming a: points to your diskette drive). Now, whenever you want to copy a diskette, just double-click on the new icon.

[Editor's Note: The above tip ran originally in the October issue but was incorrect as published. This is the corrected tip. --Mike Elgan]

Got a hot tip? Send it to melgan@cmp.com or Mike Elgan, WINDOWS Magazine, One Jericho Plaza, Jericho, NY 11753.