I am writing to point out a mistake in the August edition. The article "What's missing from Windows 95?" (page 109) by Lincoln Spector states under the Multiple Associations heading that "With Windows 95, it's one association per file type". This is incorrect, and, in my opinion, is one of the important additions to Win95 and should have been included in the article on the following page.
If one follows the path to associations, Explorer-View-File Types then selects the file type in question, (eg, BMP, probably associated with Paintbrush) the next step is to edit and add another option (eg, open with Photoshop, then specify the application file). The new option will appear in the Explorer File Menu or right-click (shortcut) menu! You can specify the new option as the default option if you so desire by using Set default.
- Alan Edwards
Priming your PC for Windows 95? Maybe you should think about cleaning up your hard drive first, since Windows 95 needs plenty of room - about 25Mb for a typical installation. And hard drives aren't so easy to clean. Delete the wrong file and . . . Enough said.
Assuming you install it over your previous version of Windows (as Microsoft recommends), Windows 95 will do some of the cleaning for you, removing obsolete Windows and DOS files. It either copies the new over the old - replacing your old gdi.exe with the new version, for example - or, if a file name has changed, it copies the new and deletes the old. For instance, Win95 installs mspaint.exe (Paint) and deletes pbrush.exe (the old Paintbrush).
But Windows 95 is an inconsistent housekeeper that may leave up to 12Mb of practically obsolete DOS and Windows files scattered over your hard disk. This month we're looking at which Windows files you can safely delete to reclaim your disk space - both before you install Win95 and after.
Let's look at the kinds of files you can purge. (The deletable files are listed in the table "Files you can lose".)
Take Terminal, Windows 3.x's bare-bones communications program, whose file name is terminal.exe. Now it's called HyperTerminal, and the file name is hypertrm.exe. Although Win 95 installs Hyper-Terminal by default, it doesn't delete terminal.exe. So it leaves two versions of this program on your hard disk - and wastes 180K of space in the process.
Mail and Fax - two applications that came with Windows for Workgroups - pose a similar problem. Windows 95 doesn't install Exchange (the replacement for Mail) or the new Fax by default. But if you do install them, the file names differ from the Windows for Workgroups versions, and Windows 95 doesn't delete the old application files. So again, you're left with two versions. Similarly, the old Windows Backup has been replaced by a new version, but it leaves the old version on your disk.
If you don't use Terminal, Mail, Fax or Backup, delete their files right now - don't even wait for Windows 95 (again, see the table). But if you do use any of these apps, you'll have to be more patient; once you install Windows 95 and have the new versions of these apps working, then you can delete the old ones.
Windows 3.1 automatically installed loads of accessories, such as Hearts, Character Map and Solitaire. Windows 95 offers these add-ons, too, but you have to specify that you want them installed. The good news is that you won't get them if you don't want them. The bad news is you'll still have the old Windows versions on your hard drive. Again, if you don't use these files, delete them now. If you do choose to install an accessory, however, Win 95 will remove the old version for you.
Some golden oldies, like Clock, aren't included with Windows 95, and the program doesn't delete them - but you can if you don't use them.
"Orphans" are files that Windows 95 leaves untouched on your hard drive but doesn't use. For example, Windows 95 includes a new File Manager and Program Manager, as well as a new help file (fmpm.hlp). But it doesn't delete the old help files (progman.hlp and winfile.hlp), so they become orphans - left on the disk but never used.
Except for files in the orphan list, it's safe to delete any of the files on the chart before you install Windows 95. But be careful with those orphans - some of them are key Windows 3.1 system files, so delete them only after first installing Windows 95 and then following this procedure:
1. After you have used Windows 95 for at least a month or so, check each file's accessed date by typing DIR /V filename at Windows 95's MS-DOS prompt. Do not check using file properties from within Windows 95, because this can change the date of the accessed file.
2. If the access date is blank (which means the file hasn't been used since you installed Windows 95), move the file to a temporary directory.
3. If your system runs fine for another month, you can safely delete the file.
Not all files listed are on every system; don't worry if some aren't on yours. And remember, the files all reside in \windows or \windows\system; don't delete files from any other directory.
Finally, delete only files with these dates, in US format: 10__14-14__92 for Windows 3.1 files, 12-31-93 for Windows 3.11, 9-30-92 for Windows for Workgroups 3.1, or 11__14'14__93 for Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Any other date may mean that Windows 95 or an application has replaced the file and may be using it.
- Richard Freedman
Fax awcas.dll awclass1.dll awclass2.dll
awfaxio.dll awfxprot.dll awt30.dll
dllsched.dll efaxdrv.drv efaxpump.dll
efaxrun.dll fax.cpl faxcover.dll
faxmgr.exe faxnsp.dll faxopt.dll
faxstub.dll faxview.exe ifkernel.dll
keyview.exe lineariz.dll msfax.hlp
netfax.dll sigview.exe
Mail impexp.dll mail.wri msmail.exe
msmail.hlp wgpomgr.dll
Terminal terminal.exe terminal.hlp
mwbackf.dll mwbackr.dll mwbackup.exe
mwbackup.hlp vfintd.386
Character Map charmap.exe
Chat ringin.wav ringout.wav winchat.exe
winchat.hlp
Clipboard clipsrv.exe clipbrd.exe clipbrd.hlp
clipbrd.ini
Hearts cards.dll mshearts.exe mshearts.hlp
Minesweeper winmine.exe winmine.hlp
Netwatcher netwatch.hlp netwatch.exe
Network DDE nddeapi.dll nddenb.dll netdde.exe
Solitaire sol.exe sol.hlp
Windows Popup winpopup.hlp winpopup.exe
Windows Antivirus mwavabsi.dll mwavdlg.dll mwavdosl.dll
mwavdrvl.dll mwav.exe mwav.hlp
mwavmgr.dll mwavscan.dll mwavsos.dll
mwavtree.dll mwavtsr.exe mwgrafic.dll
Calendar calendar.exe calendar.hlp
Cardfile cardfile.exe cardfile.hlp
Clock clock.exe
Recorder recorder.dll recorder.exe recorder.hlp
Schedule + msremind.exe mssched.dll schedmsg.dll
schdplus.exe schdplus.hlp trnoff.dll
trnsched.dll
ab.dll cmc.dll cpqgr3.exe
cpqvga.gr3 demilayr.dll framewrk.dll
glossary.hlp hpeisa.386 hpisa.386
lm21drv.upd mach.3gr mailmgr.dll
mailspl.exe mssfs.dll ncdw.dll
pabnsp.dll progman.hlp rasmac.386
rmm.d32 sconfig.dll sendfile.dll
smc8000w.386 sound.drv store.dll
tim17521.wpd v7vga.3gr vddsvga.386
vddxga.386 vforms.dll vga.3gr
vpmtd.386 wfwaudit.dll wfwnet.cpx
wfwnetcp.hlp win.cnf winfile.hlp
write.hlp xga.drv