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Windows 3.*x* used .INI files for most settings. Windows 95 still has .INI files for compatibility reasons, but most new settings are kept in the Registry. In Windows 3.*x* many settings could only be changed by editing an .INI file. Very few changes in Windows 95 require you to directly change the Registry. Most settings are available through Control Panel or by right-clicking an object like My Computer or Network Neighborhood and selecting Properties.
There are actually two files that make up what Windows 95 calls the Registry. The first, SYSTEM.DAT, stores information about your system's hardware configuration. This includes the type of add-in boards installed and the resources they require, such as interrupts, I/O ports or memory addresses. The second file, USER.DAT, holds settings that relate to your own preferences. These include items such as your desktop preferences for colors, wallpaper and screen savers.
To view or change the settings in the Registry, run the Regedit application. Click on the Start button, select Run, type in "Regedit" and click on OK. The Regedit application has a dual-pane display. The left pane shows the registry keys, which are organized in a tree structure similar to the directories on a disk. Look all you want, but be careful: whatever changes you make are started immediately--Regedit saves automatically and has no Undo command.
Data in the registry is organized into a group of top-level keys: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT holds associations for file extensions; HKEY_ CURRENT_USER has user preferences; HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE contains hardware configuration data; HKEY_USERS has settings for different users configured to use this system; HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG includes the current configuration settings of some hardware; and HKEY_DYN_DATA contains performance information.
If your registry becomes corrupted, either because of a mistake you've made with Regedit or because of some problem in Windows 95, your system may not boot. If this happens, try this to recover: Boot the system from your emergency recovery diskette (this is the one you made when you installed Windows 95). Then type the following commands:
C:
CD \WINDOWS
attrib -r -h -s system.dat
attrib -r -h -s system.da0
ren system.dat system.bad
ren system.da0 system.dat
attrib -r -h -s user.dat
attrib -r -h -s user.da0
ren user.dat user.bad
ren user.da0 user.dat
This will restore your Registry to the way it was the last time you successfully started Windows 95.
Is the backup copy of your Registry broken as well? There's a copy of Regedit on the emergency diskette. You can use Regedit's /E command line option to create an ASCII registry file that you can edit with a standard text editor. Once you've finished making changes, use the /C option to recreate a fresh--and hopefully working--registry.
You can add to the tips that are displayed in the dialog that pops up each time you boot Windows 95. Start Regedit and find the key, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\explorer\Tips. (The easiest way to do this is use the Edit/Find menu and look for the text "you can look it up.") In the right-hand pane you can select an existing tip and edit its text by double-clicking on its value name and editing its value data. Or you can create a new tip by adding a new registry string value (Edit/New/String Value). If you already turned off the automatic tip display and would like to turn it back on, edit the key, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips and change the value of the key Show to 00 00 00 01. It's a binary key so be sure it's entered exactly as shown here.
Some applications include a file with an extension of .REG. these files are used during installation to set up the Registry settings the applications need. Handle these files with care. If you double-click on a file with the extension of .REG, Regedit will read the contents of that file and merge its data into your Registry. If the same keys already exist in the Registry, the new contents will replace them. It's a good idea to read a .REG file with Notepad and see what it changes before you merge it into your Registry.
If you manage a network of PCs, you may find it handy to inspect or change the registry on another networked computer. First, you'll need to install Remote Registry Services on the PCs you want to manage. Tools and instructions on how to do this are in the \ADMIN\NETTOOLS\REMOTEREG directory on the Windows 95 CD. Once it's installed, you can edit a remote system's Registry through the network by starting Regedit and selecting Registry/Connect Network Registry from the File menu.
Are you tired of looking at the name "Recycle Bin" on your desktop when you'd much prefer "Dumpster," "Garbage" or just plain "Trash?" You can change the name using the Registry. Start Regedit, select Find from the Edit menu, and search for Recycle Bin. For each string key you find with this name, double-click the value and change the name to your preferred label. Press the F3 key to search for the next occurrence, and make sure you change them all. Exit Regedit and press F5 to refresh your desktop and see the new name.
To change the amount of movement beween the two clicks of a double-click, find the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and add the two new string values (Edit/New/String Value) DoubleClickHeight and DoubleClickWidth. The values you set in the value data box should be the amount of movement, in pixels, that should be allowed between the two clicks. (Note that the value names are *strings*, but their value data are numbers.)
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