A device driver is a file that lets the computer know the configuration and specifications of a certain hardware device. Some examples of devices that need drivers are hard drives, DVD drives, and PCI cards. Without the driver file, the computer will be unable to communicate with the device. Often, Windows will alert the user if there is a new device which doesn't have a driver installed yet. It will then hopefully let you install the correct driver for it. "Hopefully" being the key word...

A wizard is a part of a program that helps you create a new document or project. The advantage of using a wizard, as opposed to just creating a new document, is that the wizard makes it easier to customize the document. A good wizard will ask you multiple questions about how you would like your document or project to look like. You simply answer the questions and, when you're finished, a new document or project is automatically created according to the options you chose.

Wizards are great at what they do, but they often don't allow you as much customization as you would like. Once you are familiar with the way a program works, creating a new document without a wizard, and then customizing it, may be a better choice.

When you are working on a document, it is a good idea to save your work every couple of minutes. In the File menu of the program, you will typically find the options "Save" and "Save As..."

Choosing "Save" simply saves your work by updating the last saved version of the file to match the current version you see on your screen.

Choosing "Save As..." brings up a prompt to save your work as a file with a different name. For example, you might choose to save a document called "Paper - rev. 3" as "Paper - rev. 4". This way, you can save you file at different stages and keep multiple versions on your hard drive.

Choosing "Save" and then "Save As..." is also a good way to make a backup of your file. Just be sure to rename the file something new when you choose "Save As..." or you will overwrite the current saved version, just like choosing the "Save" command would do.

A computer application is the same thing as a computer program. The term "program" makes a little more sense, but hey, using the term "application" can make you sound more sophisticated. And that's what we all want after all.

Actually, the term "application" is typically used when referring to programs on Macintosh computers. While the Windows platform has a "Programs" folder for programs, the Mac OS has an "Applications" folder. So I guess the Mac isn't the most intuitive platform in every aspect. =)

You most likely have an old battery. If the battery inside the computer is running out of steam (or lithium, for that matter), your clock will start having problems keeping time. This usually happens after about 5 years -- it could happen sooner if you have a bad battery. You may be able to get a replacement at CompUSA or some other store like Batteries Plus, depending on your computer model.

First of all, a pane is simply a window within a window. For example, when you see a window with different sections, each section is referred to as a pane. A content pane shows the main content of the window. A tree pane, or content tree pane usually shows a list of what can be displayed in the content pane.

If you're using Windows, you can take a picture of the current window by pressing Alt-Shift-Print Screen. It will copy the window to the clipboard, so you can paste it wherever you want.

On a Mac, you can press Command-Shift-3 to take a picture of the entire screen or Command-Shift-4 to take a picture of whatever area you select with the mouse. The picture will be created and saved on your primary hard disk.

A DLL (dynamic link library) file is a file used by a specific application to communicate with devices inside or attached to the computer. DLL files aren't meant to be opened separately from the program they belong to. When you load the program the DLL file belongs to, that program will automatically load the DLL file if it needs it.

A ZIP file is a compressed file, which has been "zipped" up with a special encoding that allows it to take up less space. To open the file, you'll first need to decode or "unzip" it. This requires a decompression program such as WinZip, PKUnzip, or Aladdin Stuffit Expander. Check out Download.com for a free copy of one of these programs. Use the decompression program to open and decode the ZIP file. The file will then be converted to it's original state and you can open it with whatever program the file was created with.

There are a number of quick ways to navigate Windows 95 using only the keyboard. Here is a list of some:

Simpy hold down the control key (Ctrl) as you double-click to open the new folder.

Holding the shift key down while clicking the close box will quickly close all the windows.

If you turn on a SCSI device after starting Windows 95, and it is not recognized,

1. Right-click on 'My Computer', and select properties
2. Click on 'Device Manager'
3. Select 'Computer'
4. Press 'Refresh' -- it will take several seconds, but the device should appear. If not, locate the SCSI card line, highlight it, and press 'Refresh' again.

Simply right-click on the item; a menu will drop down, from which you can choose 'properties'.

To see the properties for an object, hold down the "alt" key while double-clicking on it.

Holding down the shift key will cause items you are deleting to be immediately deleted, instead of being moved to the 'recycle bin'.

Hold down the shift key for a few seconds after closing the CD-ROM drawer.

Single-click on the speaker icon in the tray to bring up the volume control.

Double-click on the speaker icon in the tray to launch the full mixer controls.

Simply click on the desktop and press 'F5'.

To search in pre-defined locations, start 'Find', choose where you want to look, and then select 'Save Search' from the 'File' menu. This will place a .fnd file on your desktop. You can then place this file in the directory of your choice, and create a shortcut to it. You may wish to rename the shortcut and add it to your 'Start' menu. To do so, simply open the 'Start' menu with a right-click and drag the shortcut into the folder you desire.

Right-click on the desktop, then select properties. You can adjust the background (wallpaper), colors, screen saver, and color depth and resolution with this.

Double-clicking on the time in the taskbar tray will bring up the calendar, and allow to adjust the time.

Simply press the asterisk key (*) on the numeric keypad to expand all the subfolders for the selected drive.

Hold down the shift key while right-clicking on the file in Explorer; the 'open with' dialog will appear, and you can choose an alternate program to open the file with.

Besides pressing cntrl-alt-delete, pressing cntrl-escape may bring up the start menu, allowing you to safely shutdown your system.

Microsoft has recognized problems in OLE32 that cause crashes in Word 6.0, Word 7.0, and other applications. An updater has been released, and is available from their web site, or here.

To use long filenames in Word 6.0, get the program Widen.

Simply grab the edge with the mouse and drag.

The Taskbar can be moved to the top or either side simply by clicking and dragging.

Right-click on the Taskbar and select properties; options include always on top, auto hide, showing small icons in the menus, and showing the clock.

You can also edit your start menu from this point, and clear the list of documents you have recently opened.

Right-click on the icon for 'My Computer', and select 'rename'

• Launch the Registration Editor, 'RegEdit'
• Open 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}DefaultIcon'
• Change Default value to ' filename, nn ', where filename is the name of the ICO, DLL, or EXE containing the icon you want to use, and nn is the number of the icon in that file to display
• Exit RegEdit
• Click on the desktop, and press 'F5' to refresh the Desktop

• Run the System Policy Editor, poledit, from the Windows 95 CD-ROM or from the Microsoft Web Site.
• When asked to open a template file, choose 'admin.adm'.
• Select 'Open Registry' from the 'File' menu.
• Double-click on 'Local User'.
• Open 'Local_UserShellRestrictions'.
• Check 'Hide Network Neighborhood'.
• Click 'Okay', and 'Save' under the file menu.
• Click on the desktop, and press 'F5' to refresh the desktop.

• Launch the Registration Editor, 'RegEdit'
• Open 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}DefaultIcon'
• Change Default value to ' filename, nn ', where filename is the name of the ICO, DLL, or EXE containing the icon you want to use, and nn is the number of the icon in that file to display
• Exit RegEdit
• Click on the desktop, and press 'F5' to refresh the Desktop

Right click on the 'Inbox' icon, and select 'delete'.

• Launch the Registration Editor, 'RegEdit'
• Open 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}DefaultIcon'
• Change Default value to ' filename, nn ', where filename is the name of the ICO, DLL, or EXE containing the icon you want to use, and nn is the number of the icon in that file to display
• Exit RegEdit
• Click on the desktop, and press 'F5' to refresh the Desktop

• Launch the Registration Editor, 'RegEdit'
• Open 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID'
• Using 'Find' under the 'Edit' menu, search for 'Recycle Bin'
• Double-click 'Default' and type in the new name.
• Press 'okay' and exit RegEdit
• Click once on the desktop and press 'F5' to refresh the desktop

• Launch the Registration Editor, 'RegEdit'
• Open 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{645FF040-5081-101B-9F0800AA002F954E}DefaultIcon'
• Change Default value to ' filename, nn ', where filename is the name of the ICO, DLL, or EXE containing the icon you want to use, and nn is the number of the icon in that file to display
• Exit RegEdit
• Click on the desktop, and press 'F5' to refresh the Desktop

Using 'Notepad' or another ASCII text editor, edit the MSDOS.SYS file in the root directory, and change BOOTGUI=1 to BOOTGUI=0.
You can also set this with 'TweakUI', available at the Microsoft Web Site or here at this site.

Using the Registration Editor, RegEdit, find the following:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTPAINTPICTUREDefaultIcon
Change to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTPAINTPICTUREDefaultIcon "%1"

simply rename a .BMP file to (name).ico; Windows 95 will resize it to icon size, and convert it to 16 colors. You can then use it as a new icon!

When opening, closing, maximizing, or minimizing windows, they 'zoom' with animations. This is not only annoying after a while, it also takes up valuable processor or accelerator time. To turn these 'zooming' windows off, use "TweakUI", available from the Microsoft Web site, or here at this site.
This can also be done with the registry editor, RegEdit, but it is simpler and safer to use "TweakUI".

Use "TweakUI", available from the Microsoft Web site, or here at this site.

This can also be done with the registry editor, RegEdit, but it is simpler and safer to use "TweakUI".

Using 'TweakUI', available at the Microsoft Web Site or here at this site, turn off 'beep on errors'.

• Open the 'Control Panel'
• Double-click on 'Multimedia'
• Select the 'Audio' tab, and uncheck 'Show volume control in the taskbar'
• Click 'Okay'

• Open the 'Start' menu, and select 'Accessories', and then 'Dial-Up Networking'
• Right-click on the connection you want to change
• Select 'Properties'
• Click 'Configure ...'
• Select the 'Options' tab
• Uncheck 'Display modem status'

• Right-click on the 'Recycle Bin', and select 'Properties'
• On the 'Global' tab, check 'Use one setting for all drives', and 'Do not move files to the recycle bin. Remove files immediately on delete'
• You will still need to 'Empty the Recycle Bin' for any files waiting in it

Although the documents menu is a neat idea, it is also a nuisance -- not everyone wants someone to be able to look at your computer and see what you have been working on (or playing with!).
The documents menu can be cleared temporarily by right-clicking on the taskbar, selecting properties, clicking on 'Start Menu Properties', and choosing 'clear documents menu'. However, it is only temporary.
To keep the documents menu from listing your recently-used documents in the future:

1. Right-click on the 'Recycle Bin' on the desktop, select 'Properties', choose the 'Global' tab, and select 'Use one setting for all drives'.
2. Turn on the option labeled 'Do not move files to the recycle bin'.
   Be advised, that all files will now be immediately deleted!
3. Using the Registry Editor, RegEdit, open 'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerShell Folders'.
4. At the right will be a list of special folders. If an entry named 'Recent' does not exist, select 'New' from the 'Edit' menu, and then select 'String Value'. Rename this to 'Recent'.
5. Double-click on 'Recent', and under 'Value Data, enter 'c: ecycled'.
6. Press 'Okay' and close RegEdit.
7. Duplicate this entry in 'User Shell Folders', just below 'Shell Folders'.
8. Exit, and restart Windows 95.
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To prevent Windows 95 from automatically playing your audio CD's,

• Start Explorer
• Select 'View/Options/File Type'
• Scroll through the list until you reach 'AudioCD'
• Select that listing
• Press the 'Edit' button
• Select the action 'Play'
• Press the 'Edit' button
• Delete the command "/play" after CDPLAYER.EXE
• Press 'Okay'
• Press 'Close'

• Right-click on 'My Computer'
• Open 'Properties'
• Choose the 'Device Manager'
• Double-click on your CD-ROM
• Select the 'Settings' tab
• Uncheck 'Auto insert notification'
• Click okay until closed, and restart Windows 95

These files are simply 320x400 Windows Bitmap files, located in the Windows folder. Specifically, they are:

• Logo.sys - the startup screen
• Logow.sys - the screen that says "Please wait while your computer shuts down."
• Logos.sys - the one that reads "It is now safe to turn your computer off."

• Run the Registry Editor (RegEdit)
• Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID
• Using Find ... from the Edit menu, search for "My Computer", or whatever you renamed it to. You can also open the key labelled {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}.
• Right-click on "shell", select "New", and then "Key". Type "Open" and then press return.
• Right-click on "open", select "New", and then "Key". Type "Command" and then press return.
• Click on "Command", double-click on (default), type "explorer.exe" and press return.
• Close RegEdit
• Click on the desktop, and press F5 to refresh it. This will make your changes take effect.

To print to a file instead of one of your installed printers:

• Open the 'Printers' folder in the 'Control Panel'
• Double-click on 'Add Printer'
• Select 'Add Printer', and then 'Next'
• Select 'Generic' from the manufacturer list, and 'Generic/Text Only' from the printer list, click on 'Next'
• Select 'File' from the available ports list, and then next until an icon appears
• Right-click on the new icon, and choose properties; change the paper setting to 'continuous, no page-breaks'
• When printing to this printer from a Windows application, you will be prompted for the filename when you print.

To have direct access to the Control Panel applets via the start menu, create a new folder in the start menu and name it precisely:
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
You will now have a cascading menu of all the control panel's contents.

Use "TweakUI", available from the Microsoft Web site, or here at this site.
This can also be done with the registry editor, RegEdit, but it is simpler and safer to use "TweakUI".

• Run the Registry Editor (RegEdit)
• Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTPAINT.PICTUREDefaultIcon
• Change the (Default) value to "%1"
• Close RegEdit

To add (or delete) applications from the startup folder:

• Right-click on the 'Start' button, and choose 'open'
• Double-click on 'Programs'; a series of folders will appear
• Open the 'StartUp' folder
• You can drag items in or out of that folder; items contained therein will be automatically launched the next time you start Windows 95

This requires using the Registration Editor, RegEdit. Be sure to read the notes in 'Key Technical Information' before doing so!

• In the program that creates the file type you wish to add, create a blank document with any preferences you wish to use. Save it immediately.
• Copy this file to 'windowsShellNew' -- it is a hidden folder.
• Using RegEdit, open HKEY-CLASSES_ROOT and find the extension for that file type.
• Add a new key called 'ShellNew'.
• Under the new key, add a string value called "FileName".
• Double-click on the sting, and modify it to be the filename of the blank template file you created, including the extension.
• Exit the Registration Editor and restart Windows 95.

Norton Desktop, under Windows 3.x, allowed you to place drive icons on the desktop for easy file manipulation. There is a simple way to do that for each of your drives under Windows 95.

• Right-click once on the desktop, and select 'new shortcut'
• When the 'Create Shortcut' dialog pops up, click on the 'browse' button
• Go to your Windows directory, and select 'Explorer.exe', then press 'Open'
• Click on 'Next'
• Now choose a name for the shortcut, perhaps 'FDD A' for your 'A' floppy drive
• Click on 'Finish'
• Right-click again on your new shortcut, and select 'properties'
• Click on the 'Shortcut' tab
• Click the 'Change Icon' button
• Change the icon source file to 'shell32.dll'
• Scroll through until you find the icon you want; there are good icons for both floppy drives, hard drives, network drives, removable drives, CD-ROMs, and more.
• Select the icon you want, and click on 'okay'
• In the command line box, entitle 'Target', follow 'Explorer.exe' with:
  /n,/e,D:
  where 'D' is the letter of the drive you wish to access
• Click 'Apply', and then click 'Okay'
• Repeat this for each of the drives you wish to appear on your desktop
• When complete, click and drag until all the new drive icons are selected
• Right-click once on the desktop, and select 'Line Up Icons'
• After the icons are lined up, and while still selected, you can move them in unison wherever you wish

Select 'View/Options - the tab 'View' has an option for 'Show All Files'.

On the CD-ROM version of Windows 95 is a handy utility called QuikView. (You can also download it from the Microsoft Site or here at this site.)

There are several ways to easily use QuikView:

1. Create a shortcut on the Desktop -
   • you can now simply drag a file onto it to be viewed
2. Configure the registry to allow you to use it
   • Launch the Regristration Editor, RegEdit
   • Open 'My ComputerHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT'
   • Find a key that reads "*" (if not there, add it with 'New', 'Key' under the 'Edit' menu)
   • Under that key, add a new key called 'QuikView'
   • Set the value of 'Default' to "*"
   • Close RegEdit

To enable auto-redial for your connection, open the 'Dial-Up Networking Folder', select the connection, choose 'Connections' from the menu, and then choose 'settings' to configure it.

1. If you have the CD-ROM version of Windows 95, install DScript, located in 'ADMINAPPTOOLSDSCRIPT' -- simply right-click on the .INF file and choose 'Install'
2. Obtain a copy of 'RoboDUN' from one of the major Web sites, such as Stroud's Consummate Winsock Applications or The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software.

Although many of us were quite happy with the 16-Bit Trumpet Winsock under Windows 3.1x, in order to use 32-Bit Winsock applications such as the 32-Bit Netscape or WS_FTP32, you have to use a 32-Bit TCP/IP stack. Luckily, one is included with Windows 95.
An excellent treatise, with step-by-step instructions, has already been written by Steve Jenkins, and is located at PPP Connection Instructions.

First, you may wish to create a shortcut for your local service provider and drag it onto the desktop for easy access.
Second, you will soon find the 'Connect To' dialog box a nuisance; you may wish to download and install DUNCE, the 'Dial-Up Networking Connection Enhancement'. It is located at a number of sites, including this one.

An excellent tool for automating the dial-up process. You can even call an application to be launched after you connect! I created a shortcut to it, and put that in my startup folder so that it will run any time I dial into my provider. Check it out!

This program will quietly run in the background, checking your mail for you at a predefined time interval. It will then retrieve your mail headers, and can even launch your regular mail client. You can create a shortcut to it, configure it to run minimized, and put it in your startup folder. Check it out!

Tardis 95 will precisely set your computer clock to one of a number of time servers on the Internet. (you will no longer have any excuse for being late!) I call Tardis from Dunce, so that it launches each time I login, sets my clock, and exits. Get it here!

An excellent and versatile USENet news reader. It will automatically decode UUEncoded documents, even piecing them together when they are out of order. Check it out!

The best (IMHO) IRC client for Windows 95. The software package includes both the 16-Bit (for Windows 3.1x) and 32-Bit versions. Check it out!

An intuitive graphical FTP client for Windows 95. Check it out!

HERE will post your current IP to your .plan or .project, so that people can contact you for remote talk. Check it out!

Although there are several good telnet clients available, one of the best is included with Windows 95. It is in your Windows directory.

Obtain the Microsoft Powertoy 'TweakUI', either from the Microsoft Web Site or from this one. It contains an option to speed up the Start Menu. This change will not take effect until you restart Windows 95.
This setting can also be changed using the Registration Editor, 'RegEdit', but 'TweakUI' is much safer.

Add 'BootDelay=0' to the [Options] section of C:msdos.sys
You may have to change the attributes on this file to be able to edit it.

In the [386Enh] section of 'System.ini', add 'LocalLoadHigh=1'

If you are not using DoubleSpace or DriveSpace, delete 'drvspace.bin' and 'dblspace.bin'from both the C: and C:Windows directories. This will free additional DOS memory and speed system startup.

If you know how to scroll, minimize windows, etc., you can recover 7.1 Megs of disk space by deleting the .AVI files from /windows/help

You can safely delete the following files in the root directory:

*.txt, *.prv, *.log, *.old, *.___, and *.dos (unless you use dual-boot).

You can delete these files from the Windows directory:

*.log, *.old, *.___, *.bak, and, *.000, *.001, etc.

Making sure you have good 32-Bit drivers for your peripherals will boost Windows 95 performance.
For an excellent web site with a wealth of driver information and links, go to Frank's Windows 95 Software/Drivers Upgrades.

As files are opened, modified, and re-written to your hard disk, they gradually become fragmented. This means that your computer has to look in more and more locations to find all the parts of the files. To speed up your system, regularly run 'Disk Defragmenter' included with Windows 95 and located on the 'Start' menu under 'System Tools'.

Even though Windows 95 advises you to let it manage your virtual memory for best performance, this means that it will adjust it on the fly, causing moments of wild disk activity while you are virtually frozen. To set the disk cache permanently and stop this activity, do the following:

1. First, defragment your hard disk using 'Disk Deframenter' - see above
2. Right-click on 'My Computer', and select 'Properties'
3. Select the 'Performance' tab, and click 'Virtual Memory'
4. Select the drive you want your swapfile to be located on
5. Specify the same size for both 'Minimum' and 'Maximum' size. You may want to try different sizes for your swapfile. If you have less than 16 Megs of RAM and/or work a lot with 24-bit images, a good starting place is 2.5 times your amount of RAM.
6. Click 'Okay' a couple of times, and restart your computer.

Setting these values will prevent VCache from filling up your RAM and causing your applications to be paged out to disk.

1. Using Notepad or Wordpad, open 'System.ini'
2. Find the [vcache] section (or add it if it is not there), and add these two lines:

   MinFileCache=0

   MaxFileCache=4000

3. Restart Windows 95

Although Windows 95 will run in 4 Megabytes of RAM, I cannot envision anyone wanting to do so. With Windows 95, like Windows 3.1x, adding RAM will significantly boost performance. For the best price-to-performance ratio, 16 Megs is recommended. You will see an additional performance increase with even more RAM, but, unless you are working with many complex applications simultaneously, or editing 24-Bit color images, you get diminishing return on your money above 16 Megs.

For best disk performance, use a quality EIDE or SCSI controller.

A quality, name-brand video accelerator, either VESA Local Bus or PCI, is recommended. Be sure to get one from a major manufacturer -- although good deals are often available on no-name cards with a known chipset, unless you get a major name brand, finding driver updates will be difficult.

Windows 95 will run on any processor from a 386DX up. For comfortable performance, upgrade to at least a 486DX2-66.
If you have problems with a particular motherboard/CPU, confirm that your BIOS will work with Windows 95. It is possible to get a BIOS upgrade, and that is certainly cheaper than installing a new motherboard.

Simply right-click on the application, and select 'quick view'.

Under the Control Panel, in System/Devices, you can print either a detailed or summary report of your system settings. This includes interrupts, DMA channels, and port addresses. You can also right-click on 'My Computer', and select 'Properties' from the menu. Select the 'Device Manager', and double-click on 'Computer'.

To change an IRQ to a specific value:

1. Select 'Control Panel/System/Devices'
2. Double-click on the device you want to change
3. Select 'Resources' for that item
4. Select the listing for the 'Interrupt Request'
5. The 'Change Setting' button will now be usable; click on it
6. 'Edit Interrupt Request' will allow you to change it; it will also tell you if another device is already using your new choice

Copying and pasting is one of the most useful capabilities of your computer. When you select text in a document, you can often copy the selection and paste it somewhere else. This helps you aviod the monotonous re-typing of large sections of text.

Your computer's operating system (Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc.) has what is called a "clipboard" where it stores copied objects. Because the clipboard is controlled by the operating system, you can copy and paste text between applications. Not only can you copy and paste text, but you can copy and paste images and even actual files.

Because one program may allow for different formatting of text than another, when you paste text may not be the same as what you copied. For example, you may copy a phrase from Microsoft Word that is in bold type, uses the Verdana font, and is size 16 pt. If you paste it in your system's Notepad, it will appear as regular, unformatted text. Because Notepad doesn't support text-formatting, it will accept the text from the clipboard, but not the formatting. Copying and pasting images between programs may also yield similar results.

You can also "cut" text or an image from a document. This is the same as copying it to the clipboard, but it also removes the object from the document at the same time.