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Resizing the workspace in Windows' Paintbrush applet was a matter of trial and error. With Windows 95's Paint, there's a trick that makes the job easy. When you originally size Paint's workspace (by selecting Attributes from Paint's Image menu), specify a tiny image workspace--one much smaller than the image you're pasting. Just to be sure it's small enough, tell Paint to create a workspace that's just one pixel wide and high. Then paste the image as before. Instead of having your image cropped to the size of your workspace, Windows 95's Paint will offer to resize its workspace to accommodate the new image. Accept the offer by clicking on Yes, and your image is ready to save or edit.
To continue running older versions of Windows and DOS, install Windows 95 into a new directory (\WIN95) and enable Windows 95's dual boot option by adding the line BootMulti=1
to the [Options] section of MSDOS.SYS. You'll find this file in your boot disk's root directory. To boot your old operating system instead of Windows 95, press F4 within a second or so of the appearance of the message Starting Windows 95.
If your key press is a fraction too late, add the line BootMenu=1
to the [Options] section of MSDOS.SYS. When you boot your PC you'll see a menu with several choices, including starting Windows 95, and booting the operating system you used before installing Windows 95. And you'll have a full 30 seconds to make up your mind before Windows chooses the default menu (start Windows 95 normally) automatically.
Unlike previous versions of MSDOS.SYS, the one that comes with Windows 95 is a text file that any text editor can edit. But there are two things you need to remember. First, don't delete any existing lines--MSDOS.SYS must always contain *at least* 1024 bytes. Second, like its predecessors, Windows 95's MSDOS.SYS file is a read-only, hidden system file. Before you can edit it you must remove those attributes, then restore them after you make your changes.
To do this, run the following DOS command:
ATTRIB -S -H -R C:\MSDOS.SYS
Now you can add the new lines. When you're done, MSDOS.SYS' [Options] section should look something like this:
[Options]
BootGUI=1
BootMulti=1
BootMenu=1
If you see other lines there too, just add the new lines and leave any old ones intact. To restore MSDOS.SYS' file attributes, run this DOS command:
ATTRIB +S +H +R C:\MSDOS.SYS
Now you're ready to reboot your computer.
Windows 95 retains my favorite Notepad feature: date and time logging. When enabled, this feature adds a line recording the current date and time to the end of a text file each time you open the file. To enable logging, add a single line to the beginning of your log file. The line must contain only these four characters:
.LOG
Be sure this line is the first one in your file. And don't forget the period that begins the file. Now, each time you use Notepad to open this file, a line containing the current date and time is added. The Short Date and Time settings specified in Control Panel's Regional Settings determines the format.
We all experience physical limitations from time to time. Perhaps your vision, hearing or dexterity isn't what it used to be. Or perhaps you're just having a bad day. That's why you should explore Win95's Accessibility enhancements. Double-click on Control Panel's Accessibility Options icon, and you'll discover a variety of options that make Win95 physically easier to use. Some make typing easier, especially for folks using one hand or one finger. If you're using your computer in a noisy environment, or one that must be kept quiet, check out the settings that replace sounds with on-screen messages and other visible signals. You may find a dim or low-contrast monitor or LCD panel easier to read when the High Contrast display setting is enabled. And if your mouse is temporarily unavailable, or you just want to exterminate the vermin, try the MouseKeys feature.
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