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[ Go to July 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinTips
OSR2 ... Free! You may have heard about the latest version of Windows-9.50b, or the "OSR2 release." It's packed with file updates, utilities and other enhancements. You can't buy it in stores unless you buy a new computer to go with it, but you can get most of the updates free. You'll find them at the Win95 Free Software page (http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm) Change Your Name When you install Windows 95, it asks for your name. From that point on, the computer recognizes the entered name as the official registered owner. Here's how to change it: Launch the Registry Editor. Drill down to and click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version. In the right pane, find the RegisteredOwner entry and double-click on it. In the Value Data box of the Edit String dialog that pops up, change the name to whatever you wish and click on the OK button. To change the company name, repeat the procedure for the RegisteredOrganization entry. George M. D'Auria Faster than E-Mail Need to set up a convenient routing system for documents within your small workgroup? Each person in the workgroup should do the following: First, create a folder on the Desktop and label it "In." Then right-click on the In folder; select Properties and then the Sharing tab. Click on the Shared As radio button and put your own name in the Share Name box. Click on the Full Access type button, and then click OK. After all in the group have completed these steps, open Network Neighborhood, find all the shared In folders and create shortcuts to each of them in your C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder. (Use the right mouse button to drag and drop them from Network Neighborhood and select Create Shortcut Here from the Context menu.) Whenever you want to send a document to a workgroup member, just right-click on it, then select Send To and the person's name. Adrian Scott Mouseless Moves You can move or resize open Windows applications by using only your keyboard. First, press Alt+Spacebar to bring up a menu. Press S, then use the arrow keys to resize the window. Press M and move the window using the arrow keys. Press Enter to keep the window change or Esc to return the window to its previous state. Sort Your Recycling The Recycle Bin lets you view items you've tossed in the same way as an ordinary Windows folder. If you're looking for something in the Recycle Bin, select Details from the View menu and click on the bar of your choice (Name, Original Location, Date Deleted, Type or Size) to sort by that category. For That 'UNIX Look' Here's how to make the most efficient use of space in Windows: Right-click on the Desktop, select Properties and then the Appearance tab. Put each listed item at the given setting: Active Title Bar-16, Active Window Border-0, Caption Buttons-16, Inactive Title Bar-16, Inactive Window Border-0, Menu-15, Scrollbar-8 and Selected Items-15. If you really crave your space, set your icons to 16! Minimize All Windows-Fast Press Ctrl+Esc, followed by Alt+M, and all open windows will be instantly minimized. Fast as a Server Gabe Cheek's tip about changing the role of a network computer to a server (see WinTips, May) works if you have version 9.50b of Windows 95 (otherwise known as the OSR2 release). If you have any earlier version, a bug prevents the tip from working. You can fix it, though, by manually editing the Registry (note that this tip is for advanced users with full system backups). Open the following Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\FSTemplates\Server\. Now edit the Contents pane entries to read: Name: NameCache Data: a9 0a 00 00 Name: PathCache Data: 40 00 00 00 Dennis McKay Editor's Note: Here's a replay of Gabe's tip. Fast Cache Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, then click on the Performance tab and the File System button. In the box next to "Typical role of this machine," select Network Server and turn the Read-Ahead Optimization indicator all the way up to improve disk performance. More Info On MS-Info In our May issue, we mentioned a neat utility called MS-Info, which tells you all kinds of information about your system. The tip contained an error: The file comes not with Windows but with many Microsoft applications, including Office and Works. A Data Doggie Bag Whenever you copy text or graphics using Ctrl+C or another method, the data goes into your Windows Clipboard until the next time you copy something, at which time it's blasted into the ether. If you'd like to hang on to the contents of your Clipboard, simply launch the Clipboard Viewer applet, select Save As from the File menu and name the file. Next time you want the data, launch the Clipboard Viewer, select Open, then find and double-click on the file you saved. Once it's in the Clipboard, you can paste away. If you don't have the Clipboard Viewer installed on your system, install it from the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel item. Warning: A saved Clipboard file (CLP extension) is humongous, because the data is saved in multiple formats. Speedier CD You can speed up your CD-ROM by telling Windows the drive is more capable than it really is. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Performance tab, the File System button and then the CD-ROM tab. Move the Supplemental Cache Size sliding bar all the way to the right (toward Large) and select "Quad-speed or higher" from the "Optimize access pattern for" drop-down menu, regardless of your particular drive's speed. This tells Windows to create a larger cache for your CD, so it will run faster. Dennis McKay
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