Windows95 Annoyances:Customize
1.Rename the Recycle
Bin
2.Replace the Ugly Startup and Shutdown Screens
3.Boot Directly into DOS
4.Make Control Panel Applets More Accessible
5.Customize My Computer
6Choose Your Short Filenames
7.Change the Icons of Desktop Items
8.Create True-Color Icons
9.Enable Iconic Preview of Bitmaps
10.Force Explorer to Start With the Folder You Want
11.Go Directly to Device Manager
12.Change the Registered User Information
13.Customize Your Keyboard Mapping
14.Use Mutliple Languages on a Single System
15.Designate Your Own Drive Letters
16.Customize the Tray
17.Customize Context Menus
18.*Free flight Sim with Microsoft Excel 97*
19.Change Start Button Name
Rename the Recycle Bin
Last Modified: 1/13/96
To rename the Recycle Bin to something more interesting, such as 'Garbage,' 'Trash,' or 'My Aching Stomach,' follow the following directions:
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID. Select Find from the Edit menu, and search for "Recycle Bin." Double-click (Default), and type the new name. Press OK and then close the Registry Editor. Click on the desktop, and press F5 to refresh the desktop so that this change will take effect. (More information.)
Note: The Norton Utilities 95 include a feature that makes it easy to change the name or the icon for the Recycle Bin.
Note: this setting can also be changed with TweakUI, one of Microsoft's PowerToys. Warning: several users have reported problems with this utility - use with caution.
Replace the Ugly Startup and Shutdown Screens
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
The pictures that tell you to "Please wait while Windows is shutting down" and that "It is now safe to turn off your computer" seem to get uglier with ever successive beta version of Windows95. Here's how to replace these with your own designs:
Make duplicates of the files LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS in a temporary folder. These files are located initially in your Windows folder. LOGOW.SYS is the one that reads "Please wait while...," and LOGOS.SYS is the one that reads "It is now safe to...," These files are just standard bitmaps, so rename the extensions of these duplicates to .BMP. You can use any graphics editor to edit these files, such as MSPaint, Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro. The files are 256-color windows bitmaps (RGB-encoded, but not RGB color), 320 x 400. Since the aspect ratio (width / height) of these files are not standard 4:3, like most computer screens, the bitmaps will appear vertically elongated. To make your new design conform to this aspect ratio, resize the bitmap to 534 x 400 while you're working on it. Make sure to resize them back to 320 x 400 when you're done. Save your changes, and rename the extensions of your new files back to .SYS. Last, copy the new files back into your Windows folder. It might be smart to back up your original files.
While you're at it, you can create a startup screen as well (using the above method). Just call the file LOGO.SYS, and place it in the root directory of your boot drive (usually C:\). Note: if you're using disk compression, like Stacker or Doublespace, you'll need to put the file in the original boot drive (sometimes H:\).
Be the first on your block to have official Creative Element startup and shutdown screens (67k). Download Startup and Shutdown screens with the BMW Z3 and Audi Quattro Sport (198k). Download original underwater photos by Jeffrey A. Karp, turned into Startup and Shutdown screens (242k).
To rempove the startup logo altogether, edit the file C:\MSDOS.SYS, and add the line LOGO=0 to the Options section. Note: for more information, see Contents of the Windows95 MSDOS.SYS File. This setting can also be changed with TweakUI, one of Microsoft's PowerToys. (Warning: several users have reported problems with this utility - use with caution.)
Note: if you delete LOGOW.SYS and LOGOS.SYS altogether, Windows95 will exit to DOS instead of shutting down (more information). - submitted by Rich Graves
Note: some users have reported that the machine reboots instead of shutting down when these logos are replaced. If this happens to you, make sure the bitmaps are not corrupted, and using no more than 256 colors.
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
In previous versions of Windows, you needed to load DOS before running Windows. In Windows95, DOS is still there, kindof, but the command prompt is skipped when loading Windows95. To go to the Command Prompt before loading Windows, follow these instructions.
Open the file C:\MSDOS.SYS with a text editor, like notepad. You'll probably have to remove the Read-only, System, and Hidden attributes of the file before editing it. Find the line that reads BootGUI=1, and change it to BootGUI=0. Save the file and reboot your computer. Type Win to start Windows95.
Note: for more information, see Contents of the Windows95 MSDOS.SYS File.
Note: this setting can also be changed with TweakUI, one of Microsoft's PowerToys. Warning: several users have reported problems with this utility - use with caution.
Make Control Panel Applets More Accessible
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
When you open the Control Panel, you are presented with a few dozen icons allowing you to control many aspects of the Windows environment. Here is a tip that not only makes these Control Panel Applets more quickly accessible, but allows you exclude the ones you don't want, and add your own custom icons:
Solution #1: Open Control Panel and Explorer. Make a new folder directly underneath the Start Menu called "Control Panel". Select some or all of the icons in Control Panel, and drag them into this new folder. Windows will make a shortcut to each icon you drop into the folder, forming a new menu right off the Start Menu. Not only can you rename or remove any of the entries you wish, but you can add non-Control Panel items to the list, such as the Volume Control and Dial-up Networking (which should have been in the Control Panel in the first place).
Solution #2: Create a new folder in your Start Menu, and name it "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" This has the same result as the above, except that it is automatic, and you can't change its contents.
You can also do the same with the following virtual folders: Dial-Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48} Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} Inbox.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} Desktop.{00021400-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} Briefcase.{85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D} Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}
Note: These system objects are also discussed in Change the Icons of Desktop Items.
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
Double-clicking on My Computer allows you to do file management with drives, folders, and file icons. However, this just reminds some of us of one of the many reasons we did not by a Macintosh. To configure Explorer to appear from the My Computer icon, do the following:
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\. Select Find from the Edit menu, and search for My Computer. If you can't find it, open the key labelled {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}. Right-click on Shell, select New and then Key. Type Open and press Enter. Right-click on Open, select New and then Key. Type Command and press Enter. Click on Command, double-click on (default), type explorer.exe in the box, and press Enter. Close the Registry Editor. Click on the desktop, and press F5 to refresh the desktop so that this change will take effect. (More information.) - submitted by Derk Adams
Note: if you can't find it, and have renamed My Computer to something else, try searching for the new name.
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
When you try to open a file with a long filename in an older 16-bit Windows or DOS application, the filename is trucated to the old 8.3 standard. That is, a file named A Big Blob.TXT will appear as ABIGBL~1.TXT. You can configure Windows95 to drop the ~1 suffix from short filenames, making them more accurate to their long counterparts.
Solution #1 (more permanent): Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open HKEY_LOCAN_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ control\ FileSystem. Select New from the Edit menu, and then choose Binary Value. Type NameNumericTail and press Enter. Double click on the value, enter 0 (zero), and press Ok. Every successive long filename with a short name the same as an existing file in that directory will have the numeric suffix, though.
Solution #2 (less permanent): Using a 16-bit application, create a document with a short filename, such as ABIGBLOB.TXT. Then, in Explorer, rename the file to A Big Blob that ate Manhattan.TXT, or something like that. Instead of ABIGBL~1.TXT, you'll see the same, original 8.3 filename. If the long filename is too different, this won't work.
Note: in a related discussion, you might notice that there's no way to have a filename with fewer than eight letters be all upper case, because Windows95 thinks it's a short filename. To get around this, try inserting a space somewhere into the filename.
Change the Icons of Desktop Items
Last Modified: 1/26/96
Although direct support isn't built into Windows95 for changing the icons used for the various desktop items, it can be done. For the following items, filename is the name of the ICO or DLL file, and ## is the number of the icon in the file to display, starting at zero (0).
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
Inbox Icon: Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\ {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\ DefaultIcon, and change the (Default) value to "filename, ##."
Network Neighborhood: Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\ {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}\ DefaultIcon, and change the (Default) value to "filename, ##."
My Computer: Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\ {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\ DefaultIcon, and change the (Default) value to "filename, ##."
Recycle Bin: Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ DefaultIcon, and change the (Default) value to "filename, ##." You can also change the Empty and Full icons for the Recycle Bin using the respective values in the key.
All Folders: Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Directory\ DefaultIcon, and change the (Default) value to "filename, ##."
Note: you can change the icons for other system objects. Follow the above instructions for the codes listed in Make Control Panel Applets More Accessible.
Note: don't type the "##" characters - that's where the index of the icon goes - zero (0) signifies the first icon in the file, if it has more than one.
Note: most icons and executables have only one file - zero (0) should be used in this case. However, for files containing more than one icon, you can find out the index (denoted above by ##) by creating a shortcut on your desktop. Right-click on it, select Properties, click on the Shortcut tab, click Change Icon, specify the desired filename, and choose the icon you want. - submitted by Steven Dew
Last Modified: 1/13/96
Windows95 now supports true-color icons (16-bit to 24-bit color / 65,000 colors to 16 million colors) for users with true-color displays. Here's how to make your own true-color icons:
Create a Windows Bitmap (.BMP), 32 pixels by 32 pixels, any color depth, and save it to a directory on your hard disk. In the properties window (right-click on the icon) of any shortcut, choose the Program tab, click Change Icon, and specify your new .BMP file. - submitted by Kevin Shain
Related Topics: Change the Icons of Desktop Items and Enable Iconic Preview of Bitmaps.
Enable Iconic Preview of Bitmaps
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
By default, you can view iconic previews of Icons (.ICO files), Cursors (.CUR files), and Animated Cursors (.ANI files). You can configure Windows95 to show iconic previews of Bitmaps as well.
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ PAINT.PICTURE\ DefaultIcon, and change the (Default) value to "%1."
Note: if you've accidentally disabled it, the same process will work for ICO files.
Force Explorer to Start With the Folder You Want
Last Modified: 1/23/96
Few things in Windows95 are more irritating than the way that Explorer always opens C:\ when it's first opened. If you have an entry in your Start Menu to run Explorer, you can change it to "Explore" at the folder of your choice:
Open Explorer, and go to your Start Menu folder. Find the shortcut for Explorer, right click on it, and select Properties. Click on the Shortcut tab, and change the Target so it reads: c:\windows\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /e, d:\myfolder (where c:\windows is your Windows directory, and d:\myfolder is the directory in which you want Explorer to start.)
To have Explorer start with My Computer, so no branches are initially expanded, use the following command line options: /n, /e, /select, c:\ - submitted by Frank Pineau
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
The Device Manager is one of the most useful additions in Windows95. It lets you see all of the devices attached to your computer, and which resources they are each using. You can access it by double-clicking on the System icon in Control Panel, and selecting the Device Manager tab. It is also accessible by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties, and selecting the Device Manager tab. Getting to the Device Manager this can require up to six mouse clicks, but there is an easier way.
Open an Explorer window, and select your Start Menu folder (under your Windows directory). Select New and then Shortcut from the File Menu. In the field labelled Command Line, type C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE Sysdm.cpl, System,1 (replace C:\WINDOWS\ with your Windows95 directory, if different). Click Next, type Device Manager for the name of this shortcut, and press Finish when you're done. There will now be a shortcut directly to Device Manager in your Start Menu.
Note: you may wish to change the icon for this shortcut to something more attractive or meaningful. You can do so by right-clicking on the shortuct icon, selecting Properties, and clicking on the Shortcut tab.
Change the Registered User Information
Last Modified: 1/8/96
Once you've installed Windows95, you can change the Registered Owner, Registered Organization, or Product ID to anything you want. Here's how you do it:
Without using the Registry Editor: Obtain and install WinReg 95 (21 kb). Note: the installation utility, normally included in the archive, has been removed to decrease the size of the archive. Simply decompress the files into any folder to install the utility.
Using the Registry Editor: Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion. To change the values of the RegisteredOrganization, RegisteredOwner, or ProductId, simply double-click on them.
Note: this will only change the registered user information for Windows95, not for the applications on your system.
Customize Your Keyboard Mapping
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
Windows95 lets you change the keyboard mapping to suit your particular language. Simply double-click on the Keyboard icon in Control Panel, and click on the Language tab. However, it is often useful to create your own keyboard map, for example, or simply want to swap your Caps-lock and Ctrl keys. Currently, there seems to be no way to create a custom keyboard map.
No Solution.
Related Information: Use Mutliple Languages on a Single System.
Use Mutliple Languages on a Single System
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
Although Windows95 comes in several different languages, there doesn't seem to be an any way to configure a single installation to use more than one language. It would be nice if one could switch languages as easily as keyboard mappings, but this doesn't seem to be the case. However, if you have enough disk space, here's a way to do it:
Make it so you can Boot directly into DOS. Install both copies of Windows95 into separate directories or drives. To get into either copy of Windows95, change to the appropriate directory, and type win. To automate the previos step, you'll want to Make one of those Keen DOS Startup Menus.
Designate Your Own Drive Letters
Last Modified: sometime in 1995
There are two ways that disk drives get drive letters on a PC. The first kind are the ones controlled by your BIOS. These usually include your floppy and most hard drives, for which drive letters are created when your system is first turned on. The second kind of drives are controlled by software, or more specifically, drivers. These types of drives include CD-ROMs, Syquests and other removables, network drives, and sometimes SCSI hard disks with ID's other than zero (0) or one (1). Generally, drive letters are assigned to these drives depending on the order in which they are loaded.
In WindowsNT and OS/2, you can choose drive letters for any drive, but Windows95 only allows this configuration for those drives controlled by drivers (the second type). By editing the registry directly (see Solution #2 below), you should be able to change the drive letter assignments for any type of drive. Note: it is extremely important that you back up your registry before continuing. Here's how it's done:
Solution #1: Double-click on the System icon in Control Panel, and click on the Device Manager tab. Find the device (CD-ROM drive, or otherwise) that you wish to configure from the list, and select it. Click Properties, and then click the Settings tab. In the section entitled Reserved drive letters, choose the same letter for both the Start drive letter and End drive letter. If the Removable option is not checked, and the reserved drive letters listboxes are disabled, check it now. If initially unchecked, make sure to uncheck it again when you're done with this procedure. You'll have to restart your computer for this change to take effect.
Solution #2 (use with caution, and only if Solution #1 doesn't work): Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open one of the following branches, depending on the type of device you wish to configure (your system may vary): For all SCSI devices, and most non-SCSI CD-ROM drives, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Enum\ SCSI. For IDE hard disks, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Enum\ ESDI. For standard floppy drives, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Enum\ FLOP. Expand the branch of the SCSI device you wish to configure, and click on the key under that device (if you have two of the same device, there will be two keys here). Double-click on the string value called UserDriveLetterAssignment (create it if it's not there by selecting New and then String Value from the Edit menu). In the box that appears, type the desired drive letter once, in all caps (example: type NN to configure this drive to use N:). Next, double-click on the string value called CurrentDriveLetterAssignment. In the box that appears, type the desired drive letter once, in all caps - if this device is partitioned into more than one logical drive, include all drive letters (example: type CEFG to configure this drive to use C:, E:, F:, and G:). Close the registry editor when finished, and restart your computer immediately for this change to take effect.
Important: neither of these methods will work if the drivers for the device are loaded in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT, since Windows95 will not have control over these devices. If the devices are supported in Windows95, you should remove the old drivers from these files - see Do I still need CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT? for more information.
Notable exceptions to the above include SCSI controllers with their own BIOS's (like Adaptec's 2940), and any devices with non-standard software drivers.
Last Modified: 1/21/96
The Tray is the little box (usually in the lower right-hand corner of your screen) that, by default, contains the clock and the little yellow speaker. You'll notice some other icons appearing in the tray, used either to start a program, or show the options for a program that is already running (like QuickRes). Although there doesn't seem to be any sort of consistency or standards for items in the tray, it is definitely possible to add your own icons. Here's how to customize the various aspects of the tray:
Add you're own programs to the tray: Obtain and install the Tray applet (23 kb). Run Tray.EXE, right-click on the new icon in the tray, and select Help for instructions.
Last Modified: 2/6/96
New in Windows95 is the nearly global functionaility of Context Menus. A Context Menu is what you see when you use the right mouse button to click on a file, folder, application titlebar, or nearly any other object on the screen. Most of the time, this menu includes a list of actions appropriate to the object on which you've clicked. For file icons, the context menu depends upon the type of file. Usually, you'll see Copy, Paste, Delete, Rename, Open, and Properties (among others). You may have noticed that programs like MicroHelp PowerDesk and Norton Navigator are able to add their own items, extending the power of the context menu paradigm. Here's how to add you're own options to these menus:
For file icons: Select Options from the View menu in My Computer or Explorer, and click the File Types tab. Highlight the desired file type, and click Properties. Here, you can specify a new name for this file type (to be listed in the type column in Explorer), as well as the default icon for files of this type. In the box entitled Actions, is a list of the customizable context menu items. The bold item is the default (the action carried out when you double-click on a file of this type). You can add new items, change the default action, and remove unwanted items here. For new items, simply specify the program with which you want the action caried out. Lastly, you can check Enable QuickView to show the QuickView action in the context menu.
For folder icons: Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open My Computer\ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Directory\ shell. Select New from the Edit menu, and then select Key. Here, type the name of the new item you want added to the list, and press Enter. Highlight the new key, select New from the Edit menu, and then select Key again. Type command for the name of this new key, and press Enter. Double-click on the (default) value in the right pane, and type the full path and filename of the application you want associated with this entry. Close the Registry Editor when finished.
For desktop items: Use the same method as for folder icons (above). To find the registry location of the various desktop items, refer to Change the Icons of Desktop Items.
Examples: Clear Unwanted Entries from Explorer's New Menu Customize My Computer Print Out a Directory Listing Use Quick View with Any File Stop Netscape From Changing File Types
*Free flight Sim with Microsoft Excel 97*
Proof that microsoft programmers have too much time on their hands
This works on any Win95/NT PC with Microsoft Excel 97 installed
Instructions:
1 In Excel 97, open a new blank worksheet. 2 Press F5 (go to) and type in the range X97:L97 3 Click OK. 4 Now press Tab once (this should put you in cell M97) 5 Press Ctrl+Shift while clicking once on the chart wizard button (the blue-yellow-red barchart icon).
After a few moments, you will be flying over an eerie fractal landscape. Fly around awhile and soon you'll notice a mesa with a shallow depression and a small scrolling shrine to Excel 97 and those who made it happen. Careful, the controls are very sensitive. You can exit the screen by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc
I tried this and it works fine. Great to play at work...
Change the name of your Start Button
-mail me for that thing