2,001 Tips
Windows 95
Explorer

Quick (and Safe!) View

Quick View lets you look at many documents without actually opening them. If you get in the habit of reading Word documents in Quick View, you'll reduce your chances of contracting one of the many Word viruses. To enable Quick View for a given file type, you first must have the option installed on your system. (If you don't have it, launch the Add/Remove Programs item in the Control Panel, click on the Windows Setup tab, then the Accessories item and the Details button. If Quick View is checked, you've got it. If not, check it!) Once you're sure it's installed, select the Options item from the Explorer View menu and click on the File Types tab, the document type you'd like to be able to see in Quick View, then the Edit button. Now select Enable Quick View, then OK and OK again.

Explore with the Explorer

If you prefer the dual-pane Explorer view, make it the default. Open My Computer and select Options from the View menu. Click on the File Types tab, then scroll down and find the Folder item in the "Registered file types" box. Click on the Folder item, then the Edit button. Click on the Set Default button so that Explorer comes before Open on the list. Click on OK, then OK again.

A Shifty Maneuver

If you click once on a folder, then hold down the Shift key and double-click on it, you'll open the folder with a two-pane Explorer view.

Reverse Yourself

Sometimes you want to select most, but not all, of the files in a folder. Here's the easiest way to do it: Select all the files you don't want to select, then choose Invert Selection from the Explorer Edit menu.

Adding Actions

Each file type in Windows 95 has its own actions. If you right-click on an EXE file, for example, the actions on the Context menu are Open and Quick View. You can add actions to the context menu of any file type. Here's how to do it. Open Explorer, select View/Options, and click on the File Types tab. Find the file type you want and click on Edit. If the file type isn't listed, click on New Type, enter a description and extension. Click New to add an action. Type in a description and the command line to execute. If you want to change the action that executes when you double-click on the icon, click on the Action and then on Set Default.

Find Files Fast

If you're looking for a specific document in a folder, but don't know which document it is, select the folder in the left pane of Explorer, then choose Find/Files or Folders from the Tools menu. Click on the Advanced tab and type in the string of text you're looking for, then click on the Find Now button. Find will search only the current folder.

Whoops! 1

If you move a file and wish you hadn't, selecting Undo from Explorer's Edit menu will move it back.

Whoops! 2

If you rename a file and change your mind, press Alt+Backspace.

Paneful Explorations

When navigating down a directory tree in a single-pane Explorer window, you can open a full, two-pane Explorer view by holding down the Shift key when you click on a new target.

Keep Explorer Handy

Want quick and easy access to Explorer? Double-click on My Computer, C:, then Windows. Find the file called EXPLORER.EXE. Drag and drop it to the Desktop and change the name of the Desktop file from "Shortcut to Explorer.exe" to "Explorer." Double-click on the file to bring up Explorer.

Forget Your ABCs

Explorer knows the alphabet backward and forward. If you want to view the contents of a folder in reverse alphabetical order, select View/Details, then click on the Name bar. The Name bar toggles back and forth between alphabetical order and reverse alphabetical order.

Size Up Your Files

In Explorer, select Details from the View menu, then click on the Size button to see the files listed in file-size order, with the biggest files first. Click on the Size button again to see the smallest files listed first.

Invent a New Point of View

Select View/Details, then click on the Type bar to list files in alphabetical order according to the type of files (for example, applications and DAT files). Click on the bar again to see them in reverse alphabetical order by file type.

What's New?

Views files in the order in which they were created or edited by selecting View/Details, then clicking on Modified. Click on Modified again to toggle between viewing the oldest or newest files first.

Wait, There's an Exception!

The four previous tips are true for everything except folders. They group together alphabetically at the top or bottom of the pack no matter which operation you perform.

Get the Picture

To find out the collective size of objects in a folder, open Explorer, select the folder and look at the number on the bottom of the right pane.

Give Me Some Space

To find out how much hard disk space you have available, take a look at the bottom of your Explorer window on the right side. It will show the total free space on your disk in parentheses.

Be Selective: Select Everything

In Explorer, you can quickly select all the files in the right pane. Make sure at least one of the files in the pane is selected, or select the directory in the left pane, then press Ctrl+A.

Navigate Without a Compass

When one of your drives is selected in Explorer's left pane, press the spacebar to move down the list of drives.

Explore This

Click on the Control Panel folder in the left pane of Explorer for a description of each icon in Control Panel.

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