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[ Go to August 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinTips
Easy Customization Many of the Win95 customization tips we've printed can be accomplished with point-and-click ease using a free program called More Properties. No more risky editing of the Win95 Registry! Among the dozens of customizations you can perform with this utility: Hide the Network Neighborhood icon, turn off the splash screen and show a thumbnail icon for each bitmap. Download the file from our Free Win95 Software page (http://www.winmag.com/win95/software.htm) Upgrade Without Previous Version If you're installing Win95 on a system without a previous version of Windows installed, Win95 asks you to prove you have installed a previous version of DOS or Windows. If you don't have your old diskettes handy, here's how to get around the dialog: Open Notepad and save a document as WIN.CN_ (the final character is an underline). Put your new WIN.CN_ file on a diskette-your boot diskette or Win95 Startup disk will do. When you reach the point in the installation where Win95 asks you to show it a previous version, put in the diskette with the WIN.CN_ file on it. The installation program will accept it as proof of a previous version. Launch Control I Some programs tell Windows to launch them at start-up by placing a shortcut in the StartUp folder. To remove start-up programs, right-click on the Start button and select Open. Double-click on the Programs folder, then the StartUp folder. Delete shortcuts to programs you don't want to run at start-up. Or just drag the shortcut out to the Desktop to temporarily remove it from the StartUp folder. You can drag it back later or delete it. Launch Control II Other programs tell Windows to launch them at start-up by editing the Windows Registry. (This tip is for the advanced user with a backed-up Registry.) To remove these programs, open the Registry Editor, and then open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Delete any programs from the Name column that you don't want to run at start-up. -Cody Robbins Launch Control III To temporarily abort all StartUp folder launches, hold down the Shift key as Windows opens. Programs listed in the StartUp folder won't open this time, but will be there next time. To selectively launch these unopened programs, open the StartUp folder and double-click on any icon. Free Tune-Up Pull your PC into our special Web site for a complete tune-up. The site will help you speed up your system, eliminate bugs and other problems, test your Web browser for compatibility and much, much more. You'll find it at http://www.winmag.com/library/1997/0601/tune01.htm. Find a Better View Most people don't know that the Win95 Find utility (Start/Find) can display results not only in the default Details view, but also in Large Icons, Small Icons and Lists views. These options are listed on the View menu.
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