Australian PC World - Clean up Windows, open multiple files

Clean up Windows, open multiple files

Tip
Joan Rivers once observed that the problem with housekeeping is that you make the beds and do the dishes, and six months later you have to do it all over again. So it is with Windows housekeeping: Over time your Program Groups (Windows 3.x) or Start menus (Windows 95) get cluttered. Here's how to go back to square one.
To restore the default Program Manager groups in Windows 3.x, switch to Program Manager and choose File--Run. Then type setup /p (winsetup/p in Windows for Workgroups 3.11) and press <Enter>.
To avoid strange occurrences, keep your mouse away from Program Manager until the process is complete.
What if your system has become so cluttered that you want to take the drastic step of starting over from scratch? In that case, exit Windows.
At the DOS prompt, rename progman.ini by typing ren progman.ini progman.old. Then restart Windows. Your Program Manager should be a blank slate. Now run setup /p or winsetup /p (depending on your version of Windows, as explained above) to rebuild Windows' default Program Manager groups.
At this point, you may be missing one or two custom program groups you had previously. Not to worry. You could recreate them in Program Manager the old-fashioned way, but that's tedious. Instead, use a text editor (two Notepad windows will do) to open both your new progman.ini and progman.old (or whatever you renamed your old progman.ini). Tile the windows for these files (if you're using Notepad, minimise other windows, press <Ctrl>-<Esc>, and click Tile). Copy and paste the appropriate group#= lines (where # is the number of the group) from the old file to the new. In the new progman.ini, renumber the lines in sequence and save the file. Then restart Windows.
If you really want to clean house, make a note of the .grp files listed in progman.old that you no longer use. Use File Manager to find those .grp files and move them to a temporary location. If after a few days you're certain you don't want those groups back, delete those .grp files.
What about Windows 95? To restore the menus and menu items that have been removed since you installed Windows 95, choose Start--Run, type grpconv /s and press <Enter>. This procedure converts all your old Program Manager .grp files into menus on the Start--Programs menu in Windows 95.
Avoid clicking anywhere (especially on folders) until the conversion process is complete. Unlike with the Windows 3.x process, you won't get very far if your Windows folder contains no .grp files. If you have a backup of those files, this may be a good time to restore them.
If you just want to convert one or two of your old groups, choose Start--Run, type grpconv /m and press <Enter>. When prompted, use the dialogue box to select the .grp file you want to convert, and click Open. Another prompt shows you the full name of the group file as it appeared in Program Manager; click Yes to continue. After the conversion, you're prompted to continue by selecting another group. Repeat the process for another .grp file, or click Cancel to end the process.
- Scott Dunn

Category: Win95, Windows 3.x
Issue: Dec 1996
Pages: 158