Fixing file attributes with File Manager
Taking Program Manager to the limit
Not quite uninstalled in Windows 95
Hanging up on Windows 3.1
Barred from action in WordPad
Trash those video files
Windows Toolbox: tweaking Win95
7 Tips for DOS fun and games in Windows 95
Q Sometimes I need to change the attributes of files on my system. I use the DOS prompt because the wild cards let me work on many files at once. But I prefer to work with File Manager. Is there an easy way to do this in File Manager?
- Joe Hanson
A To set the read-only, archive, hidden, and system attributes in File Manager, select one or multiple files and choose File-Properties or press <Alt>+<Enter>. Check the boxes for attributes you want, uncheck the boxes for those you don't, and click OK.
If the files you want to change are in a contiguous group in your directory, you can select them and open the Properties dialogue box in one quick move: Select the first file in the group, then hold down <Alt>+<Shift> while you double-click the last file in the group. If the files you want to change aren't in a contiguous group, hold down <Ctrl> while you click each file. When you get to the last file, hold down <Ctrl>+<Alt> while you double-click it.
For more File Manager mouse moves, see the figure below.
Q My Program Manager is starting to get pretty crowded with icons and group windows - I'm starting to wonder if I'm going too far. Is there a limit to the number of groups and icons I can make?
- Todd Swenson
A Windows 3.1 imposes a limit of 50 icons per group and 40 groups in all. If you're getting close to that maximum, you might want to curb your clutter - and a little pruning should make navigation quicker and easier.
Q I am running Windows 95, and I used to have Ami Pro 3.0 on my system. Although I have since uninstalled it, whenever I right-click on my desktop to create a new file or folder, one of the options is Ami Pro. How do I get rid of this? I have gone in the win.ini and deleted any reference to Ami Pro, but it didn't help.
- Byron J. Boudreaux
A This is a problem for old and new applications with uninstall features that don't completely clean up after themselves in Windows 95. To remove the .sam file type from Windows awareness, along with its presence on the New submenu, double-click My Computer or start Windows Explorer. Choose View-Options and click the File Types tab. Scroll through the list of Registered file types and select the file type associated with the application you uninstalled. Then click Remove.
If your application had more than one file type associated with it (such as templates, style sheets, and so on), you'll need to repeat this process for each one. When you're finished, click Close. Naturally, if you created any Shortcuts for your erstwhile application (such as in Windows' Send To folder), you'll have to delete them manually.
Q Often when I exit Windows, I see nothing but a blank screen; I don't get a DOS prompt or anything else. Can you help?
- Ted Clawson
A After running in Enhanced mode, Windows can mysteriously hang on exit for a variety of reasons. Here are the leading causes - and work-arounds:
Your exit sound file is corrupted. Go to Control Panel, double-click Sound, select Windows Exit from the Events list, and select <none> from the Files list. Click OK. If Windows runs okay for several days, remove the corrupted .wav file and assign a different sound.
Your system is not capable of running DOS in the upper memory area. To rule out this possibility, use your favourite text editor to open your config.sys file, and at the beginning of the dos=high line, type rem followed by a space.
You have a file named WINSTART.BAT in your Windows directory. Although WINSTART.BAT can save conventional memory in some cases, it may also be causing your problem. If you have a winstart.bat file in your Windows directory, use a text editor to remove the lines from winstart.bat and paste them into autoexec.bat instead. The downside is that you'll have less conventional memory.
You have a conflict in your upper memory blocks. Exit to DOS and use the DOS 6.0 memmaker command (or other tools you may have) to make sure you don't have multiple utilities attempting to use the same area of upper memory.
Your system is using the net start command before loading a network driver. Edit your autoexec.bat file to make sure network drivers are loaded before running net start.
Your network card is not terminated correctly. Check with your network administrator or network documentation to ensure that your network adapter is terminated properly.
HIMEM.SYS (Microsoft's memory manager) needs a helping handler. Your computer gives himem.sys access to high memory via an "A20 handler" that is specified in your config.sys file. For example, the following line forces himem.sys to use the IBM PC AT handler: device=c:\dos\himem.sys /m:1.
Replace the 1 with the correct handler number from your system documentation or vendor.
Using the wrong handler can cause the machine to hang when you boot, so before experimenting with this setting, make sure you have a bootable floppy disk with edit.com (or another text editor) or at least a backup copy of your original config.sys file.
Q I read a tip on how to collapse WordPad's standard toolbar and format bar into one. In experimenting with moving the bars around, I somehow managed to completely lose the toolbar; there is a blank space where the bar used to be, and all the buttons and icons are gone.
I have tried uninstalling and then reinstalling WordPad, but that doesn't solve the problem. What's going on?
- John Marsh
A You apparently nudged the toolbar off the edge of WordPad's window. To get it back where you can grab it, you'll have to either enlarge your view of the desktop or mess with the Windows Registry.
For the first method, right-click the desktop and choose Properties. Click the Settings tab, and in the Desktop area, drag the slider control toward More (moving it one increment should be enough). Click Apply and then follow any prompts that your video system requires.
At this higher resolution, everything should look a little smaller; that's to be expected. Start WordPad and click its maximize button. You should be able to see the missing toolbar. Drag the toolbar back toward its original position. Then exit WordPad, return to the Desktop Properties sheet, and reset your Desktop area to the size that you normally use.
If your Desktop area is already at the maximum resolution or your monitor doesn't support higher resolutions, you'll have to dig into the Registry. As a precaution, make a backup copy of these important files in the Windows folder: user.dat, user.da0, system.dat, system.da0. (If you don't see them, choose View-Options in My Computer or Explorer, click the View tab, select Show all files, and click OK.)
Now start the Registry Editor by choosing Start-Run, typing regedit, and pressing <Enter>.
Navigate through its branches in the same way you would move through an Explorer file tree, until you come to the item HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current-Version\Applets\WordPad\Word6. Click the Word6 folder in the left pane to see its contents in the right pane. Select the Layout icon in the right pane and press <Delete>. Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete it.
The next time you start WordPad, the format bar and toolbar will appear in their default locations.
Here's a little tip I discovered while searching my hard drive for more disk space: If you install Windows 95 from the CD-ROM version, the Windows\Help folder holds about 7Mb of AVI files that make up the tutorials for beginners (depicting how to use scroll bars and resize windows, for example).
These files are of no use to an experienced Windows user, so go ahead and delete away.
- Brian Davis
By Scott Dunn
Microsoft dropped a lot of Windows 95's customisation options into that well of mystery known as the Registry. But don't worry - Wedge Software has included many of these options in WinHacker 95, a handy little program that resembles a Control Panel properties sheet, replete with additional controls for smoothing out the Windows interface.
With WinHacker, you can make each .bmp icon look like a miniature version of the actual file; rename the Recycle Bin; turn off window animation; hide the start-up graphic; make Control Panel, Dial-up Networking, and Printers folders appear as menus on the Start menu; and more. Registration costs $11, and you can try out the shareware version, with some of the features disabled; it's available as on our PC World Web site. For the latest information, check out the author's home page at http://www.rust.net/~robertw/.
Having trouble running DOS packages under Win95? You can fix this by creating a custom MS-DOS mode environment for each application that needs this mode. Furthermore, you can tell Windows to close any running programs and start this mode when you launch your application, so you don't need to use the Restart option. The secret is to create a Shortcut with the proper settings. Here are tips for setting this up:
1. Find out if Windows knows your application. Choose Start-Run, type c:\ windows\inf\apps.inf (your path may vary), and then click Yes when prompted to open this file in WordPad. Search for your program's .exe file. If you find it, chances are Windows can run this application without any special adjustments.
2. Get more memory. To adjust the amount of memory available to your DOS application, right-click its .exe file, choose Properties, and click the Memory tab. Adjust the settings for each type of memory your application can use. Then click OK.
3. Take over the screen. If your application has graphics that require it to run full screen, right-click its .exe file, choose Properties, and click the Screen tab. Under Usage, click Full-screen and click OK.
4. Use MS-DOS mode as a last resort. Although some applications require exclusive use of your machine, most packages will benefit from Windows 95's performance enhancements such as protected-mode drivers and 32-bit disk access. When you run an application in MS-DOS mode, you lose these advantages.
5. Make your application switch to MS-DOS mode automatically. If you must use MS-DOS mode, don't waste time switching to it from the Shut Down Windows options. Instead, right-click the .exe file, choose Properties, click the Program tab, and, finally, click Advanced to open the Advanced Program Settings dialogue box. Check MS-DOS mode, modify other settings as needed, and then OK your way home.
6. Create custom autoexec.bat and config.sys settings. For each application that requires MS-DOS mode, open the Advanced Program Settings dialogue box as described above, check MS-DOS mode, and select Specify a new MS-DOS configuration. Use the appropriate boxes to type or paste in suitable commands for that mode's config.sys and autoexec.bat. If you're not sure what to type, click the Configuration button and select options you think you'll need - access to expanded memory, a disk cache (SmartDrive), and so on. Finish by clicking OK a zillion times.
7. Skip the reminder. By default, an application set up to run in MS-DOS mode displays a warning each time you start the program to remind you that Windows will close all other applications and start MS-DOS mode. If you find this warning superfluous, open the Advanced Program Settings dialogue box as described above. Then uncheck Warn before entering MS-DOS mode.