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Add items to the top of the Start menu (above the Programs folder) so you don't have to dig for them. Right-click on the Start button and select Open. Right drag the application you want from the Explorer. When you close the Start menu window, you'll be able to access the new shortcut from the top of the Start menu.
Adding items to the top of the Start menu is a great way to keep them handy. It's even handier to launch them with keystrokes. Right-click on the Start button and select Open. Rename each of the items you've added by placing a number in front of it. Now you can open the Start menu by pressing Ctrl+Esc, then launch the program of your choice by pressing the associated number.
Any shortcut keys you assign to items in your Start menu folder will launch instantly when you hit the assigned key combinations, whether they're running or not. Items that aren't on your Start menu don't work with shortcut keys unless they're already running.
Win95 has a default icon file called SHELL32.DLL, which lives in the SYSTEMS sub-folder of your WINDOWS folder. But there's another file hidden in the SYSTEM folder, called PIFMGR.DLL. Here you'll find Win95's secret stash of cool icons, which you can use if you want to change the icon for a shortcut you've created. You can still use your old Windows 3.*x* icons, too. You'll find them in the WINDOWS folder named PROGMAN.EXE and MORICONS.DLL.
Explorer switches are strings you add to a command line to tell the Explorer what to do (you'll find the exact switches in the tips below). Add switches to existing shortcuts or create new shortcuts turbocharged with Explorer switches. You can also use switches in the Run command dialog on the Start menu.
Okay, you have shortcuts on your desktop that point to folders on your hard disk. Let's turbocharge 'em. Right click on a shortcut and select Properties from the Context menu. Click on the Shortcut tab. Type Explorer /e,
in front of the path in the Target line (make sure you include the comma and a space after the comma). Click OK. Now, whenever you double-click on that shortcut, you'll get the two-pane Explorer view of that folder.
Here's how to use an Explorer switch to select a specific file when the folder is open. Right-click on a shortcut and select Properties from the Context menu. Click on the Shortcut tab. Type ~~Explorer /Select,~~ in front of the path in the Target line (make sure you include the comma and a space after the comma) and add the full file name to the end of the path. Click OK. Now, whenever you double-click on that shortcut, the file will be selected (highlighted) when the folder opens.
You can combine the above two tips into one. Here's an example command for the Target line that uses both switches:
~~Explorer /e, /Select, C:\WINDOWS\CALC.EXE~~
Here's one of my favorite applications of Explorer switches. Create a batch file that loads two instances of Explorer, each with custom switches. For example, this batch file opens one copy of Explorer with a dual-pane view showing the contents of the hard disk, and another with a single-pane view showing the contents of the Start menu folder:
~~@echo off
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER /e, C:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER C:\WINDOWS\START MENU~~
This batch file is great if you're new to Win95 and expect to fiddle with your Start menu a lot. If you want to use this example, type the above three lines in a Notepad document, name it MENU.BAT and put it in your Windows directory. Create a shortcut to it on your desktop and give it a custom icon if you like.
Create Shortcuts that open into "rooted Explorer" views. Right-click on the desktop and select New/Shortcut. In the Command Line of the New Shortcuts dialog, type: ~~Explorer /e, /root, c:\<folder path>~~
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