Patches & Support files - January '98

Operating system updates and other helpful files for your system.

Windows 95

Click here for all our Bug Patrol fixes and workarounds

For the Windows Shell Development Team, there can never be enough shortcuts for getting stuff done. They've come in late at night, night after night, when everyone else is sound asleep -- real programmers don't sleep - and have put together a set of tools: the PowerToys.

We like these tool and we think you will too. So if you're a Windows power-user, go ahead and try them out. Great care has been take to ensure that PowerToys operate as they should. But please keep in mind, these tools are not a part of Windows and are not supported by Microsoft. For this reason, the Microsoft Technical Support is unable to answer questions about PowerToys.

By using these unsupported tools, you are using them at your own risk.

If you think you're ready to become more productive right away, go ahead and follow the simple setup instructions to download the Power Toys.

Here's what's in the Powertoys:

NEW! Desktop Menu
Open items on your desktop from a convenient menu on the taskbar.  (25kb, last updated: 9/13/96. For Windows NT and Windows 95.) 

CabView
Treat .CAB files like folders -- look inside, then drag files in and out with ease.  (41kb, last updated: 2/2/96. For Windows 95.)

CD AutoPlay Extender
Make autoplay work on any non-audio CD -- get speedy access to the programs you want to use.
(18kb, last updated: 8/16/95. For Windows 95.)

Contents Menu
Get to your files without even opening their folders.  (16kb, last updated: 2/2/96. For Windows 95.)

Explore From Here
Open the Explorer, rooted anywhere you want. This one's great over networks.   (6kb, last updated: 8/16/95. For Windows NT and Windows 95.)

FlexiCD
Quick, convenient audio CD control --- from the taskbar.  (24kb, last updated: 6/04/95. For Windows 95.)

QuickRes
Change the screen's resolution and bit depth right from the taskbar... without rebooting!
(40kb, last updated: 10/23/95. For Windows 95.) 

Round Clock
A round analog clock... with no square window!  (14kb, last updated: 10/20/94. For Windows 95.)

New! Find X 1.2
Customize your Find menu with drag-and-drop.  (14kb, last updated: 9/11/96. For Windows NT and Windows 95.)

Send To X 1.4
Send To Any Folder returns, and he's brought some of his friends.  (23kb, last updated: 9/1/96. For Windows NT and Windows 95.)

Shortcut Target Menu 1.2
Get the properties for a shortcut's target just by right-clicking the shortcut.   (19kb, last updated: 11/17/96. For Windows NT and Windows 95.)

Tweak UI 1.1
Adjust your Windows user interface, including menu speed, window animation, and Internet Explorer.  (64kb, last updated: 11/17/96. For Windows NT and Windows 95.)

XMouse 1.2
Make the focus follow your mouse without clicking -- just like X Windows!   (10kb, last updated: 6/04/96. For Windows 95.)

Command Prompt Here 1.1
Start a command prompt in the folder of your choice with the click of a button.   (7kb, last updated: 11/17/96. For Windows NT and Windows 95.)

Telephony Location Selector
Mobile computer users can change their dialing location with ease from this handy icon on the taskbar. (9kb, last updated: 1/17/96. For Windows 95.)

The Windows 95 kernel team got kind of jealous of all the attention the shell team has been getting from its PowerToys, so they decided to polish off their own personal toys and make their own web page.

Mind you, the kernel folks aren't experts at intuitive user interfaces, so don't expect to see jumping icons and friendly things to click on. (These are the people who do their taxes in hexadecimal.)

So if you're a Windows 95 power-user, go ahead and try them out... but don't go crying to our Help Center if you get confused: there's no lifeguard on duty, so you're swimming at your own risk. Don't get us wrong -- they all do what they should -- but they are not part of Windows 95, and are not supported by Microsoft.

What's in the Kernel Toys:

Conventional Memory Tracker
Not getting enough conventional memory? This device driver unwraps the memory used by the mystical "vmm32" program. See CONVMEM.TXT for more information.   (19kb, last updated: 5/7/96)

MS-DOS Mode Configuration Wizard Customization Tool
Take control of MS-DOS mode! Teach Windows how to configure your system, and never write another CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file again. See DOSWZCFG.TXT for more information.  (22kb, last updated: 5/7/96)

Windows Time Zone Editor
Where do you want to be today? Take control of your time zone. See TZEDIT.HLP for more information.  (39kb, last updated: 5/28/96)

Windows 95 Keyboard Remap
Take control of your Control key! (And CapsLock, too.)  Envious of your friends who have the Microsoft Natural Keyboard? This Control Panel Keyboard extension lets you fight back.  (20kb, last updated: 5/7/96)

New! Windows Process Watcher
Take control of your CPU! This quick utility lets you watch which programs are using how much of your CPU.  (17kb, last updated: 6/30/96)

New! Windows Logo Key Control for MS-DOS Programs
Take control of the Windows logo key when playing MS-DOS games! See DOSWINKY.INF for more information.  (7kb, last updated: 7/04/96)

URL: http://www.microsoft.com/

Microsoft's extensions for Windows 95. Required for many Win95 games.

URL: http://www.quicktime.apple.com

32 bit version of the Quicktime runtime files required for playing Quicktime for Windows .MOV video and audio files.

URL: http://www.microsoft.com

These files are required by any program written in the Visual Basic programming language. Because over the years there have been several versions of Visual Basic, diffeent programs may require a different version of the runtime file. Apart from VB Runtime 4.0, which comes with a setup routine, you'll need to copy the other VB Runtime files into your Windows directory.

Windows 3.1

Quicktime for Windows 3.1

URL: http://www.quicktime.apple.com

16-bit version of the Quicktime runtime files required for playing Quicktime for Windows .MOV video and audio files.

URL: http://www.microsoft.com

Extension to Windows, required for playing Video For Windows .AVI files under Windows 3.1.

URL: http://www.microsoft.com

These files are required by any program written in the Visual Basic programming language. Because over the years there have been several versions of Visual Basic, diffeent programs may require a different version of the runtime file. Version 4 is the latest, though we have included the files for older versions as well. there are Just install/copy them into your Windows directory.

Step 1: Install Win32s version 1.3 (from ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Mosaic/Windows/Win31x/Win32s/ole32s13.exe).

Step 2: From File Manager, choose File, Associate.

Step 3: Type hlp in the 'Files with Extension:' box.

Step 4: Type c:\windows\system\winhlp32.exe in the 'Associate With:' box and click OK.

Step 5: Now double-clicking on a file with extension HLP will give you the full 32-bit bag of help tricks.

DOS

Note: DOS Program are best run from the DOS prompt. We have included links to run these programs whenever possible; however they may not behave well under Windows. If you experience problems, exit or restart in DOS mode and try from there using the path detailed below

Previous PC User Offline CD's

Patches and Support files - December '97

Patches and Support files - November '97

Patches and Support files - October '97

Patches and Support files - September '97

Patches and Support files - August '97

Patches and Support files - July '97

Patches and Support files - June '97

Patches and Support files - May '97

Patches and Support files - April '97

Patches and Support files - March '97