WINDOWS Magazine. 2,501 Tips. The content of this file is Copyright © 1997 CMP Media Inc. and is the property of CMP Media, Inc. This material is not freeware or shareware. It may not be resold for compensation of any kind or redistributed in print or electronically or by any other means without prior written permission from CMP Media, Inc. If you have any questions about these terms, or would like information about licensing materials from Windows Magazine, please contact: psilverm@cmp.com, or write to: Paul Silverman Attn: TIPS (REQUIRED) WINDOWS Magazine One Jericho Plaza, 3rd Floor Jericho, NY 11753 Windows 3.x -- Windows 95 may create the excitement, but earlier Windows 3.x versions still reside on many a desktop. These tips will help you get the most out of your old, reliable Windows installation. Installation Avoid Directory Overload Avoid trouble: Install your programs in subdirectories beneath a directory called APPS or PROGRAMS. What kind of trouble? Many people overload the root directory of their hard disk. DOS can only handle 512 entries in this directory. Subdirectories can have as many entries as needed. However, when there are more than 150 entries in a subdirectory, performance can be sluggish. Create PROGRAM2 if you need to. Insert \APPS immediately after the colon when prompted by the install program for the directory into which you wish to install. If the default is to install in C:\FOO, change it to C:\APPS\FOO. What Are My Options? You can take advantage of Windows Setup's many command-line options, even if you don't have the documentation handy. Change to the Windows directory in DOS (usually CD \WINDOWS at the DOS C: prompt) and type SETUP /?|More. The |More causes DOS to pause at the bottom of the first screen; the description of Setup command-line options takes more than one screen. If you don't change to the Windows directory, you will be shown the commands for DOS setup. Splash Panel of Death One of the first things Windows 3.1 does is display a splash panel after you start it. If Windows displays the splash panel, then either locks up or returns to the DOS prompt without displaying Windows' Program Manager, it means you probably have a driver problem, a hardware problem or a memory conflict. Try starting windows with the command line WIN /S which will start Windows in standard mode. If Windows comes up, your installation problem is definitely an enhanced mode problem; Windows has failed to virtualize some piece of hardware or can't get to the memory it needs. Defrag First Improve your disk performance by using the DOS defrag command-or a good third-party package-to defragment your drive before you install any new software. Any disk you've used for a while has empty spaces scattered all over it. DOS loads new files into the first space it finds, no matter how small. As a result, a single file can be spread all over the disk, slowing down disk access. Defrag regularly, and always defrag before installing new software. Head Off TSR Trouble When you launch Windows with this command line: WIN /T it searches the hard drive for memory-resident (TSR) programs and notifies you about certain programs known to cause trouble. Maybe It's in the Cards You can debug your Windows installation. Instead of just typing Win at the C: prompt, type: WIN /D:XSV. The D: means debug mode. The X means EMMEXCLUDE. It excludes the entire memory range occupied by adapters, such as network cards, sound boards or video cards-in short, anything that uses shared memory. The S means SystemRomBreakPoint=Off. That just keeps Windows from messing with the BIOS. Windows tries to alter the BIOS to improve performance, but sometimes that doesn't work and Windows can't tell it isn't working. The V means VirtualHDIRQ=Off. It tells Windows not to virtualize the hard drive, which can lead to problems on computers whose hard drive hardware is not compatible. For example, SCSI drives often require this line. If your drive isn't WD1007-compatible you may require this parameter. If entering one or more of these debug parameters makes Windows work, you can enter them permanently in the SYSTEM.INI file. Debugging Windows Install Programs The best sequence for debugging a non-functional Windows installation is to try WIN /D:XSV first. If Windows boots, try just X, just S and just V; this should narrow down the likely problems. If none of the parameters work individually, try them in pairs; in the worst case, you should only have to try six combinations. Tracking Down Video Trouble Video problems are the most common problems during Windows installation. You may even get an error message during setup indicating a video problem. Make a backup copy of SYSTEM.INI. Close Windows, and then type SETUP at the C: prompt in the WINDOWS directory. Use the arrow keys to highlight the video system, and press Enter. Then select either the VGA driver or the 8514 driver, and attempt to start Windows again. If Program Manager appears, your problem was a video driver. You can run Windows like that, or use SETUP to install a driver that was provided on a floppy disk by your system manufacturer. Troubling Memory Memory problems can cause Windows to hang on start-up. You can track down memory problems, but before you start, make sure you have a bootable floppy disk with the correct version of DOS (if you don't have one, create one with FORMAT A: /S, then copy CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT from your hard drive to the bootable floppy). Boot your system with the floppy, and rename CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT on the hard drive. Then, create a new CONFIG.SYS on the hard drive with a single line: DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS. Reboot your system. If Windows works, use Notepad to restore lines from your regular CONFIG.SYS file, one at a time, then reboot and start Windows again. Restore lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT a line at a time, and reboot. Continue this process until Windows stops working. When Windows fails to start, the last line you added is the culprit; work with customer support at the vendor involved and see if they will help you resolve the problem. In the unlikely event that DOS will not boot after you have changed CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, reboot from the floppy and rename the versions on the hard disk. Change Windows at Will You can install multiple copies of Windows without doing a full install each time. This allows you to test software or hardware without messing up your normal production copy of Windows. First, enter SETUP /A at the DOS prompt to create a shared directory containing all the files Windows needs. Normally, this is used on networks, but you can use it on a standalone computer as well. Make sure you are either in the shared Windows directory or that it is in your DOS PATH statement. Then enter: SETUP /N. This will set up a new version of Windows with just the files needed to create a unique version; this new copy of Windows will share the files in the shared directory. You use much less disk space than you would with multiple complete copies of Windows, yet each is clean and separate. Hardly What You Expected Sometimes Windows, in its earnest effort to identify your hardware during installation, will get something wrong. If you check the setup after an installation and Windows has misidentified your hardware, you can try again, typing SETUP /I. This causes Windows to bypass hardware detection. However, you may have to check the accuracy of the System Information Windows develops, either from SETUP in DOS or WINSETUP (usually found in the Main program group in Program Manager). General Windows 3.x General Alarming Apps If you find that some non-Windows applications go to sleep in the background and never execute (or execute very slowly), wake them up by decreasing the IdleVMWakeUpTime parameter in the [386Enh] section of your SYSTEM.INI file. It will force timer interrupts after the specified number of seconds has passed, even if the app doesn't use timer interrupts, and it may speed up response. The value of this entry is rounded down to the lowest power of two (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64). The default is 8. Restricted Access Area Don't change the [boot.description] section unless you know exactly what you're doing. It contains a list of strings describing the devices you can change when you run Setup. If you change these entries, you won't be able to use Windows Setup to update drivers to newer versions. Type Casting Some keyboard problems can be solved by editing the Type setting in the [keyboard] section of the SYSTEM.INI file. If the entry is blank or missing, Windows sometimes incorrectly selects a default type based on the system BIOS. Windows may select an 84-key type when the keyboard emulates 101 keys. Valid settings are 1 (83-key, IBM-PC type), 2 (102-key, Olivetti), 3 (84-key, IBM AT-type) and 4 (101/102 key extended AT-type). Shell Game You can have Windows start up with any Windows program in the place of Program Manager by setting shell=[program name] in the [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI. Working With a Net If you have problems running Windows from a network server, reduce the CachedFileHandles number in the [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI. That parameter sets the number of executable DLL files that can remain open at one time. Some networks have an upper limit on how many files can be open at one time. If that limit is lower than Windows default 12, trouble ensues. A Comfortable Environment Snafus with default paths and prompt strings in non-Windows apps, may be remedied by increasing the CommandEnvSize setting in the [NonWindowsApp] section of SYSTEM.INI. That specifies the space COMMAND.COM reserves to store pathnames and other environment variables. The default value used by Windows is the environment size specified with the /E parameter in the Shell= line in CONFIG.SYS for DOS versions 3.2 and later. Remarkable If there are certain lines in your system files that you don't want to execute, but you also don't want to delete, disable or "remark" them. Type the word REM followed by a space in front of lines in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and a semicolon followed by a space in front of lines in WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files. A Loss of Character Add this line to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI if you're losing characters received by your modem: COMxbuffer=2048, where "x" is the number of the COM port supporting the modem. Upwardly Mobile Icons You can increase the vertical space between icons to allow more room for titles, or decrease the space to tightly pack your icons. Set the IconVerticalSpacingParameter in the [Desktop] section of the WIN.INI file to the number of vertical pixels desired between the lower edges of stacked icons. Switch Your Swap to a Speedier Drive If you've added a faster disk drive, put your swap file on the new drive. You just specify the drive and directory for the file on the Swapdisk= line in the [NonWindowsApp] section of your SYSTEM.INI file. ProgMan Protection You can disable many of the features of Program Manager. At the end of the PROGMAN.INI file, create a section called [Restrictions]. In the section add any or all of the following lines: NoFileMenu=1 (to remove the File menu and disable command hotkeys), NoRun=1 (to prevent anyone from selecting Run from the File menu), EditLevel=4 (to disable altering program groups and icons), NoSaveSettings=1 (to disable automatically saving settings) and NoClose=1 (to make it impossible to close Windows except by rebooting). Guilt by Association Sometimes if you try to associate a file extension with an app in File Manager, the Browse button is dimmed. When that happens, Windows is accusing the extension of being a program. You can eliminate that misinterpretation by deleting the extension of the file from the Programs= line in the [Windows] section of your WIN.INI file. No Dice for DOS Prompt Eliminate the eight-line help message that is displayed when you start a DOS prompt running under Windows by adding the line DOSPromptExitInstruc=Off in the [386Enh] section of your SYSTEM.INI file. Task Master Double-clicking on the wallpaper or pressing Ctrl+Esc brings up Windows' Task Manager. You can alter that behavior to bring up a different program by changing the TASKMAN.EXE line in the [Boot] section of your SYSTEM.INI file so the parameter equals the name of the program you wanted. Bigger Box for DOS You can increase the number of screen lines from 25 to 50 for the DOS box by placing SCREENLINES=50 in the [Non-WindowsApp] section of your SYSTEM.INI file. Printing's a Drag You can print files by dragging-and-dropping them onto the minimized Print Manager icon. If you'd like Print Manager to appear minimized automatically when you start Windows, add PRINTMAN.EXE to the Load= line of your WIN.INI file. DOS Mouse No mouse support in your DOS apps under Windows? To enable mouse support for non-Windows apps, check the entry MouseInDosBox= line in the [NonWindows-App] section of the SYSTEM.INI file. The default value is 1 if an MS-DOS mouse driver that has the extension COM or SYS and supports using a mouse with a non-Windows app is loaded. The value 0 disables mouse support. Load Limits Your WIN.INI file's Run= and Load= lines can each handle 127 characters. Overcome this limit by creating icons in the StartUp group instead. If you want a program to run as an icon, click on the Run Minimized box for its PIF file. Instant WIN-ner Want Windows to load automatically when you turn on your PC? Just add WIN as the last line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Old Reliable If you're still holding out on Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is the next best thing. You don't have to be part of a workgroup to take advantage of its improved fast disk subsystem, File Manager, Schedule+, and other bells and whistles. And WFWG is still the best-behaved network client. What's more, its built-in peer-to-peer networking capability may be all you need for small-office file and printer sharing. Resize on the Double Double-click on any open window's title bar to maximize that window. Do it again to restore the window to its previous size. Standard Is Speedier Your system may run faster in standard mode because the memory requirements are lower than they are in 386 Enhanced mode. If you don't need DOS apps, or if you use only one nongraphical DOS app at a time, switch to Standard mode. To launch Windows in Standard mode, type win /s at the DOS prompt. Enhanced mode, used in 32-bit computers for DOS multitasking, gives DOS apps access to emulated expanded memory and enables you to run more programs simultaneously. To launch Windows in Enhanced mode, type win/3 at the DOS prompt. What a Drag To move a window around on your desktop, place the mouse pointer on its title bar, hold down the primary mouse button and drag the window to a new location. Go for a Drive Click on a File Manager drive icon, and the current active window shows the contents of the selected drive. Double-click and a new window opens. Select Window/Tile (either vertically or horizontally) to display both windows. This is a real time-saver when you need to transfer or copy files between drives or directories. Skip Through ProgMan Skip from one program group to another in Program Manager by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the Tab key. If you pass the group you want, hold down the Shift key as well to retrace your steps. If the group you selected is minimized, press the Enter key to open it. Lasting Associations Use File Manager's File/Associate to specify which file extensions belong with which apps. Enter a three-letter extension, then choose a program from the list or click on the Browse button to select an appropriate application. If you associate the extension XYZ with NOTEPAD.EXE, for instance, any time you double-click on a file with that extension, Notepad will launch and open the file. Drop-Off Service To open a document, drag its icon from File Manager and drop it on a minimized application icon, or drop it off in an open application window. Print Speed To print documents quickly, first double-click on Control Panel's Printers icon, and make sure Use Print Manager is checked. Switch to Program Manager and hold down the Shift key while double-clicking on the Print Manager icon to run it minimized. Drag the document's icon from File Manager and drop it on the Print Manager icon. Reel in Wayward Windows If an application window wanders outside the edge of the visible desktop, here's how to bring it back. Minimize any open windows, and either double-click on the open desktop or press Ctrl+Esc to open the Task List dialog box. Click on the Cascade or Tile button and the window will snap back into full view. Applet Picking Select an applet in an open group window by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the Tab key until the window is highlighted. Type the first letter of the applet name to highlight its icon title. If more than one applet name begins with the same letter, keep typing until the title you want is highlighted. Then press Enter to open the applet. Do the same in File Manager to highlight a directory or file. Consult a Doctor If you're plagued by General Protection Faults, try placing the DRWATSON.EXE utility in your StartUp group. The utility writes a DRWATSON.LOG file of important information whenever there's a GPF incident, and this may help you or tech support troubleshoot the problem. Because the log can grow over time, as new information is appended, it's okay if you delete it periodically. If the Doctor doesn't find an existing DRWATSON.LOG file, it will create a new one. Applets Hopping You can toggle up, down or sideways to an adjacent icon when an applet's icon title is highlighted by pressing the appropriate arrow key. If there's no adjacent icon, the key has no effect. Group Therapy If your Main, Accessories or Games group windows are messed up, select File/Run in Program Manager and type SETUP /P in the command line. The undocumented /P switch tells Setup to restore these groups to their original configuration, but it doesn't restore other groups, nor does it recover non-default icons in these three groups. Abort Launch To stop programs in your StartUp group from launching, hold down the Shift key after you type WIN at the DOS prompt. If you press the key before you type WIN, Windows will ignore it and launch the programs anyway. Take It All In Change File Manager's font type and point size to view as many files and file details as possible. Select Options/Font, then choose the font and point size you want. To get the most information on the screen without the aid of a magnifying glass, try a typeface called Small Fonts at a point size of 7. Follow these same steps to choose a larger point size or more readable type font if legibility is your primary concern. Limited Launch If you just want to bypass certain items in your StartUp group, open the StartUp group window and drag the appropriate icons into another window. To put them back in service, just drag the icons back into the StartUp group. Feed Windows A Two-Course Launch To bypass the StartUp group another way, make two copies of PROGMAN.INI and create two simple batch files to manage them. First, copy PROGMAN.INI to PROGMAN.BAK in case you make a mistake that prevents you from loading. Copy PROGMAN.INI again and call it PROGMAN.W. Delete the line that includes STARTUP.GRP under [Groups] in PROGMAN.INI. It'll look something like this: Group7=D:\WINDOWS\STARTUP.GRP. Save the resulting file as PROGMAN.O. Create two batch files in your WINDOWS directory using a word processor that can create a text-only file. WINO.BAT should look like this: COPY PROGMAN.O PROGMAN.INI WIN REM IF YOU ADDED A NEW PROGRAM GROUP, RE-EDIT FILES. Your WINW.BAT file looks the same, but copies the PROGMAN.W file over PROGMAN.INI. From now on, when you start up, type WINW if you want your StartUp group programs to launch and type WINO if you don't. If you add a new Program Manager group, re-edit the PROGMAN.W file and PROGMAN.O to include the new group (as the Rem phrase above indicates). Track Down Your Modem Can Windows see your modem? Terminal applet can tell you. Its icon is usually in the Accessories group, but you can also find it by selecting File/Run from Program Manager and typing TERMINAL. Virtually any Hayes-compatible modem should respond with an OK or a 0 (zero) when you type AT. If you don't get a response, your modem settings are probably to blame. Use Terminal to determine whether your modem is on COM1 or COM2 (go to Settings/Communications), then reset your communications program and try again. Exit Gracefully Don't touch that power switch until you close all open applications and then Windows itself. Windows may need to write some data to your hard disk as it exits, and if you turn the power off too soon, you may lose some of that data. Keep It Tidy To clear up clutter in File Manager, call up file details only as you need them. Select View/Name, and File Manager will display only filenames. To see a selected file's details and edit its attributes, press Alt+Enter and its Properties dialog box will pop up. Start Smart You can make Windows automatically open certain applications and files, open and run applications minimized, and make Program Manager active after start-up. To open an application automatically on start-up, drag and drop its icon into your StartUp group. To open and run an application minimized at start-up, click on the application's icon in the StartUp group. Select File/Properties from the main menu, check Run Minimized and click on OK. To open a specific file during start-up, drag the filename from File Manager and drop it onto the StartUp group window. Make Program Manager the active window after start-up by checking the Run Minimized box in the Program Item Properties of every program in your StartUp group. Directories at Your Fingertips Save time by keeping frequently used File Manager directories available but minimized. Resize the secondary window that actually contains the directory so there's room along the bottom. Double-click on the drive that contains the directory you frequently access. A second child window that displays the same directory opens over the first window. Point at the directory you want and click on the minimize button in the upper right corner of the child window. Do this for all the directories you regularly use. Auto Opens To open an application automatically on start-up, drag and drop its icon into your StartUp group. Activate Program Make Program Manager the active window after start-up by checking the Run Minimized box in the Program Item Properties of every program in your StartUp group. As the File Opens To open a specific file during start-up, drag the filename from File Manager and drop it onto the StartUp group window. Get a No-Logo Start To bypass the logo, start Windows with the command line: win : When You're Ready to Convert To convert documents of all types to PostScript format, select the PostScript printer driver from Control Panel, and set the printer connection to FILE: . Then, from within an application, print a file to the PostScript printer and enter the name of the PostScript output file. No Confirmation Necessary To turn off File Manager's confirmation messages for operations such as File Delete and Directory Delete, choose Options/Confirmation and clear the desired check boxes. Customize Your Logo To change the logo, create an RLE file (using a graphics utility package). Make sure you set your VGA screen resolution at no more than 640x480 and your colors at 16 or fewer. The file should be no more than 64KB. Name the file something like MYLOGO.RLE, and type the following in your system subdirectory: copy win.cnf/B+vgalogo.lgo/B+mylogo.rle/B win.com. If you use CGA or EGA, limit the RLE file to the appropriate resolution and replace the vgalogo above with cgalogo or egalogo. Stunted Growth In order to limit the size of your temporary swap file, add a line such as MinUserÐDiskSpace=4096 to the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file. Although this doesn't actually set the size of the swap file, this additional line limits the file's growth so that at least 4MB of disk space remains available for use by your applications. Fontasize Change the icon label fonts in Program Manager by editing the [Desktop] section of WIN.INI. Edit or add lines with the name of the desired font and its size. For instance, if you want to use 10-point Century Schoolbook, edit the [Desktop] section with these lines: IconTitleFaceName=Century Schoolbook IconTitleSize=10 What's in a Name? Rename a Program Manager group by first minimizing the group and clicking once on the minimized icon. Then, select File/Properties, enter the new name in both the description and the Group File fields, and click on OK. Personalize ProgMan Change Program Manager's window title by adding a Program Manager icon to your StartUp group. Windows won't start up a second copy of Program Manager, but will use the title you specify in File/Properties for the icon. Kill the Messenger Normally, Windows will warn you on startup if it can't connect to the network you've set up. To disable this warning, add the following line to the [Windows] section of WIN.INI: NetWarn=0 Hot, Hot, Hot To assign a hotkey to Program Manager itself, just add it to your StartUp group (it won't start a second copy), and assign it a hotkey. Why Wait? You can save Program Manager settings without exiting Windows by pressing Alt+Shift+F4 any time you're in Program Manager or holding down the Shift key while you double-click on Program Manager's close box. Stressful Typing If you use a lot of accented characters, select Control Panel/English (International) keyboard. This makes a key such as the quote key into a "dead" key, so pressing "~" followed by n would generate the - character. To get the original meaning of a dead key, press that key and follow it with a space. Sizable Help To change the default size of the WinHelp window, edit the following line in the [Windows Help] section of WIN.INI: M_WindowPosition=[0,0,640,480,0] This Is a Recording To record more than 60 seconds of sound, follow this procedure: Record 60 seconds (Recorder will stop). Immediately record again for 60 seconds. Repeat as many times as necessary. Convert Keyword Colors You can change the keyword colors in your Windows Help files by adding some lines to the [Windows Help] section of WIN.INI. The colors are in RGB format. The following lines will set the jump color to dark blue and the pop-up color to dark magenta: JumpColor=0 0 128 PopupColor=128 0 128 IFJumpColor=0 0 192 IFPopupColor=192 0 192. The IF colors are for interfile jumps or popups. More Port Support If you have more than four comm ports on your system, you can edit SYSTEM.INI to allow support for all your comm ports. In the [386Enh] section, find the setting that reads MaxCOMPort=4 and change the 4 to the number of comm ports you have. Ditch Old Drivers To remove printer drivers you're no longer using, choose Control Panel/Printers, select the printers you don't use and choose Remove. Do the same thing in Control Panel/Drivers. This just deletes the references to the files. To delete the actual files, you'll have to find out their filenames and delete them from File Manager or from the DOS command. Fast Getaways You probably don't change your layout every day, so don't use the Save Settings option when you exit. When you do want to record a new layout, hold down the Shift key and select Exit Windows from Program Manager/File. This forces a rewrite of your group layout without the need to exit Windows. Always "ProgMan" You can CoolSwitch (press Alt+Tab to switch to a running application) to Program Manager while recording a macro so that it doesn't record the keystrokes; instead, it records "open ProgMan." This way, you can guarantee that ProgMan will come up during macro playback, no matter what applications are running. Regrouping If one of your program groups disappears, you can reinstall it. With all your other program groups minimized, select New from the File menu in Program Manager. Make sure the program group radio button is selected in the New Program Object dialog box. Click on OK. Type the name of the new program group in the Description box of the Program Group Properties dialog box. Anything you type here will appear under the icon. Click on OK and the new program group will appear. A Font Farewell If you're still hurting for disk space, get rid of fonts you don't use. Select Control Panel/Fonts and select the names of the fonts you want to toss out. Make sure the "Delete font file from disk" option is checked, choose Remove and answer Yes when prompted. Hard Drive Fitness Program Here are five tips for keeping your hard drive trim. Practice them often: 1. Delete any files that remain in the TEMP directory. 2. Delete any files that start with the characters ~WOA. These are application swap files. Normally, Windows deletes these when you exit the apps, but if Windows terminates unexpectedly, or crashes, these files may remain. 3. Likewise, delete any files that start with ~GRB. Windows creates these to save screen information before you switch out of a DOS app. 4. Delete backup files you no longer need, especially if your applications generate these files for you automatically. 5. Delete files you no longer use, such as accessories, help files, games and wallpaper files. Minimize for Maximum Results To change or adjust a program group (for example, Main) in Program Manager, the group must be minimized, then its icon selected in Program Manager. For instance, to delete an entire program group, minimize the group, then choose Delete from the File menu. If the group is not minimized, Program Manager assumes that you want to delete only the selected item in the group. Pick a Printer If you want to make a printer the default, it isn't enough to select the desired printer in the Control Panel Printer configuration and choose OK. You must also double-click on the desired driver, and then press Alt+D to make it the default driver. Windows 3.x And DOS Freedom of Choice Add the following lines to the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT to give yourself the choice of staying in DOS or loading Windows when you start up: @ECHO To exit to DOS, press CTRL+C PAUSE. To load Windows, WIN. If WIN is already there, just add the first two lines. When AUTOEXEC.BAT executes, it will echo the "To exit" text to the screen (the @ sign suppresses the word ECHO from printing to the screen). PAUSE stops execution and echoes the text "Press any key to continue." Press Ctrl+C and AUTOEXEC.BAT will abort before the WIN command, leaving you at the DOS command line. Press any other key and the file moves on to the WIN command and loads Windows. Better Think Twice Before you delete a CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT line, insert REM and a single space at the beginning of the line so it will be ignored at start-up. If you later discover you need the line, just remove the insertion and it will be back in action. Don't remove the entire line unless you're really sure you don't need it. Work Faster Double buffering may be unnecessarily slowing down disk access. To see if you need double buffering, exit Windows and type SMARTDRV at the DOS prompt. If every entry under the buffering column is "No," you can probably turn it off. (Some SCSI controllers require it, so check your manual first.) Use Notepad to open CONFIG.SYS and find the line DEVICE=C:\PATH\SMARTDRV.EXE/DOUBLE_BUFFER, where PATH is the path to the SMARTDRV.EXE file. Delete /DOUBLE_BUFFER from the line. For Your Information To insert remarks in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT for information purposes, type REM, a space and then a short explanation of the line immediately above or below. This can help you recall the purpose of various switches and other parameters a device driver or TSR program requires. A semicolon with no space after it serves the same purpose. Maintain Integrity If 32-bit file access presents a problem for a DOS application, you may get a message that says, "Application has violated system integrity." If you get this message often, open Control Panel's Enhanced applet, click on the Virtual Memory button and then disable 32-bit file access. If that solves your problem, there is indeed a conflict between 32-bit file access and the application. Take Precautions If you install a new application and something goes wrong, it could cause a problem with your INI and GRP files. To avoid this problem, make daily automatic copies of these files. Use Notepad or SysEdit to add the following lines to your AUTO-EXEC.BAT file before the WIN line: cd \windows copy *.ini *.ibk/y copy *.grp *.gbk/y. The /y switch suppresses a confirmation prompt to overwrite an existing file. Now, if something goes wrong with Windows, you can easily recover your old setup by exiting to DOS and typing: cd \windows copy *.ibk *.ini/y copy *.gbk *.grp/y Directories at Your Fingertips For point-and-click access to frequently used directories, add them to your File Manager's drive icon bar. To display a directory as a drive, set the LastDrive= command in CONFIG.SYS to a Z. Next, add a line to AUTOEXEC.BAT that tells File Manager to substitute an unused drive letter for a particular directory. For instance, if you add SUBST F:D:\PRESENTATIONS to your AUTOEXEC.BAT and reboot, File Manager displays the F: drive, which represents your D:\PRESENTATIONS directory. Now, you can easily copy and move files to your D:\PRESENTATIONS directory by clicking on the files and dragging them onto the F: drive icon. Version Verification Many Windows applications let you select a directory name during setup. You can use this feature to track the application's version. For instance, if you're installing Microsoft Word 6.0, change the default directory name from C:\WINWORD to C:\WINWORD6. Now you can tell at a glance which version of an app you've installed in each directory. Stay Current Chances are you have duplicate copies of EMM386.EXE, HIMEM.SYS and SMARTDRV.EXE in your C:\DOS and C:\WINDOWS directories. If you use any of these files, make sure the appropriate line in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT points to the latest version. Safe Start-Ups MS-DOS 6.x lets you troubleshoot various start-up problems by pressing function key F8 when you see the "Starting MS-DOS" message. The system then displays the contents of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files one line at a time. As each line appears, press y and watch for an error message before the next line is displayed. Pressing n will bypass a line you suspect is causing trouble. Pressing function key F8 or Escape executes all remaining lines with no further pauses. Clear Your Path Many Windows apps add their own directory to your PATH statement during setup. In most cases, Windows doesn't need the new information, and you can clear the DOS PATH of this excess baggage. If Windows needs to know the location of an executable file, highlight the program icon, select File/Properties and add the file's complete path to the command line. Get Out of DOS Windows normally won't let you close DOS sessions without manually exiting from each one. To change this, use PIF Editor to create or modify the PIF (program information file) of the app you want to close. Click on the Advanced button and check the box labeled "Allow close when active." But don't close any DOS app that's in the process of disk or other I/O activity because this may cause DOS to become unstable and crash your system. Don't Do It in DOS Don't run a DOS disk defragmenter, Norton Disk Editor or any other disk-repair utility from a DOS window within Windows. These utilities can cause serious damage if a Windows app tries to access the hard disk at the same time. Exit Windows first, then run the utility. Have It Your Way MS-DOS 6.x lets you create a customized start-up menu with different system configurations. Edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to specify which devices and TSRs you want to load in two or more customized configurations. For detailed information and examples, switch to your DOS directory at the DOS prompt and type HELP Multi-CONFIG. Teach Your Mouse a New Trick To use your mouse in a DOS session under Windows, enter the following lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: set MOUSE=C:\WINDOWS\MOUSE.COM C:\WINDOWS\MOUSE.COM. Revise both lines to indicate the actual path and filename for your DOS mouse driver. If the mouse doesn't function in a DOS window, add or edit the following line in the [NonWindowsApp] section of SYSTEM.INI: MouseInDosBox=1. You'll need this line if you're using an older grabber file, such as version 3.0. Ditch Task Swapper If you're running Windows, avoid the DOS Task Swapper. Opt for the Windows Task List of Alt+Tab to navigate from task to task in order to save conventional memory. Installing Applications Rapid Restart Always restart your computer after you install a new application, even if the program doesn't tell you to. And don't just exit Windows. Turn off the power to your computer and reboot. Sometimes, a newly installed application makes your system unbootable. It is a lot easier to figure out which application disabled your system-and to repair the damage-if you install applications one at a time and reboot each time. Close 'Em for a Clean Install Many Windows applications share system files. Your installation program may fail-and it may not even tell you it has failed-if other programs are running during the installation. Most installation programs ask you to close all other programs, and some will even do it for you. But if the program doesn't, close all your other apps anyway; you're less likely to run into a problem with shared files, and your installation will go faster. You can close all your applications by switching between them (press Alt+Tab in any version of Windows) and then pressing Alt+F4. Back Up for Peace of Mind When you purchase software, back up all the installation disks. That's not piracy, it's common sense and it's your right. Store the original disks safely, away from magnets, static, excessive dust, or extreme heat or cold. Save the box and documentation. If there's an installation key, tape it to the box. Tiptoe Through System Files You've installed a new software package, but when you restart your computer it won't boot up. If you have MS-DOS 6.0 or later, you can "step" through the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files a line at a time. Wait for the words "Starting MS-DOS" to appear, then press F8. As it executes each line of the two files, DOS will send a message to the screen. You've found the problem when you execute a line that makes your system hang. System-File Insurance If your system "breaks" during or after installation, you can restore your old configuration easily if you have made copies of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files in your root directory, and WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI plus all the GRP files in your Windows directory. One way to do this is to keep a subdirectory on your C: drive called BUP, where you can stuff copies of these files before you start an installation. An even better idea is to stow them on a bootable diskette. Floppy to the Rescue In case an errant installation prevents you from booting from your hard disk, you can use a bootable "rescue" disk. Take a blank floppy and run the DOS command FORMAT A: /S. Copy your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (the system files) as well as any files they call. Be sure to copy any files mentioned in DEVICE= lines in CONFIG.SYS. These lines are required to run your hard disk, CD-ROM and other storage devices. If in doubt, copy the file. Edit the copies of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT on the floppy, deleting the paths to the drivers and leaving only the filename. This way, when the files are called, they'll be located in the root directory of the floppy. Copy EDIT.COM and QBASIC.EXE from your DOS directory onto this disk too, so you can edit files if you need to. Write-protect the disk when you're done. Uninstalling Applications Manual Procedures When you want to get rid of a Windows application, you should crack open the app's documentation first. Often, you can find step-by-step uninstall instructions by checking the index or table of contents for terms like "uninstall," "deinstall" or "remove." Audit App Installations Keep track of changes to system files as reference for future uninstalls. Copy WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT under different names-for example, use the extension, BAK, for each. Install your new program, and then use your word processor's compare function to compare the new contents of these four files. Create a file containing the changes. Save it in the new application's directory. Give it a name that's easy to remember, like UNINSTALL.DOC, or include the name of the product you installed, such as WORDINS.DOC. Uninstall Safety Net Uninstalling programs can cause Windows to become unbootable. You can fix this problem if you have a set of backups that includes copies of AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, and all your other INI and GRP files. You can automate this process with a batch file. First, create a \WINBAK directory, then save these lines as WINBAK.BAT: copy c:\config.sys c:\winbak\config.%1s copy c:\autoexec.bat c:\autoexec.%1t copy c:\windows\*.ini c:\winbak\*.%1I copy c:\windows\*.grp c:\winbak\*.%1g. When you run the batch file with the parameter J1 added (WINBAK J1), it will save AUTOEXEC.BAT as AUTOEXEC.J1S, and so forth. Change the parameter each time you run the batch file so you don't overwrite old backups. You also need a bootable floppy, which you create with FORMAT A: /S. If a change in your system makes your computer freeze, you can reboot with the floppy and restore your system files from the backups you made. Then you can try your uninstallation again. Care and Maintenance of WIN.INI WIN.INI can become unwieldy, filled with references to long-gone applications. In fact, if it grows to over 64KB, Windows will function erratically. To remove an application from your WIN.INI file (usually found in the WINDOWS directory), create a copy of WIN.INI with a different name. Don't rename or move the original; if you do, Windows will stop working. Select File/Run in Program Manager or File Manager and type SYSEDIT. Look in WIN.INI for a section with a name that is the same or similar to the name of the program you removed, and delete it. Search WIN.INI for any references to the directory in which the program resided, and delete them, too. Save WIN.INI and reboot. If you have a problem rebooting, you may have accidentally erased a necessary line. Restore the backup copy of WIN.INI you made and try again. Delay Deletions When uninstalling applications, never delete a file or directory immediately. Rename or move it, then make sure your computer reboots and launches Windows properly. If that works, try opening your most important applications. Wait at least a month before disposing of the files in question to make sure they're not related to an infrequently used app. Just Names and Dates Many Windows programs place DLLs and executable files in the WINDOWS and WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory, where they will be difficult to locate and delete. The two best ways to find them are by date and name. No matter which method you use, do not delete the files you find; move them to a different directory until you're sure they're not used by other applications. To identify files by date, find one file you are sure belongs to your application. Select View/Sort by Date and look for other files with the same date and time. The other method involves looking for names similar to that of your application or the program publisher. Open File Manager and select View/Sort by Name to look for similar names. Clean Scene A clean CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT is essential for any uninstallation. Copy these system files under another name and select File/Run in Program Manager or File Manager and type SYSEDIT. In both files, search for and delete references to the program directory for the program you're uninstalling. Save the files, and immediately reboot your computer. If you see any error messages or experience any difficulty rebooting, restore your backups. You should reboot immediately because it will be easier to diagnose any problems. Help Closing Secondary Windows: Click, Click ... Gone Secondary windows are windows that pop-up on top of the main window in Windows Help. They usually have a Close button, but if there isn't one, you can close a secondary window by double-clicking on the horizontal bar in the upper left corner of the window. Windows Help also includes pop-ups; these can be dispatched with a single mouse click, or by pressing any key. Make Help Stay on Top You can keep Windows Help displayed on top of the application you are using, so it's easier to follow the help file instructions. In WinHelp, select Help/Always On Top. This is a check-mark menu item that you can also use to turn off the function. With the WinHelp window on top of your application screen, you can resize and relocate it as necessary. Memorable Bookmarks You can share your bookmarks and annotations with someone else who has the same help file. If you have created any bookmarks, there will be a WINHELP.BMK file in the Windows directory. Send it to someone with the same help file and they will have your bookmarks. Delete it and your bookmarks go away. Sharing Notes Windows Help file annotations are saved in the Windows directory as files with the extension .ANN and with the same filename as the help file. So, annotations for WTHELP.HLP are in WTHELP.ANN in the Windows directory. If you send the .ANN file to someone with the same help file, they can read your annotations. If you delete it, your annotations will be erased. Mouseless Maneuvers You don't have to use the mouse to select a text or graphical hot spot in a Windows Help file. While displaying a Windows Help screen, press Shift+Tab and a hot spot will be highlighted. Press Enter to activate the hot spot, or press Shift+Tab again to move to the next hot spot. Copy That Content To save the contents of a Windows Help file topic in another format, select Edit/Copy. A dialog appears, in which you select the text you want to place on Clipboard. Then, open another application (a word processor, for example), paste in the text from Clipboard and save it in the desired format. Don't Copy That Content Don't even try to copy graphics or the content of help file pop-ups or secondary windows to Windows' Clipboard. Windows Help doesn't allow copying pop-ups or graphics to Clipboard. Clip-On Comments You can annotate any help file and add your own tips, tricks or experiences. In a help file, select Edit/Annotate, and type your annotation into the dialog box (or paste text from Clipboard). Select Save, and the help file will be marked with an image of a paper clip-a visual indication that there is an annotation. Single-click on the paper clip to read the annotation. Graphic Help You can copy Windows Help graphics, but it takes some work. With the graphic you want to copy on the screen, press your keyboard's Print Screen button. Open the Windows Paintbrush applet (from Program Manager, select File/Run and enter PBRUSH), and select Edit/Paste. Then save the graphic as a BMP file. Defining Bookmarks You can mark your path through a help file and revisit favorite places. When you find a place you may want to revisit, select Bookmark/Define and in the dialog box give the bookmark a name. Once you create a bookmark, it appears under the Bookmark menu every time you open the help file. Some Day Your Prints Will Come To print a help screen, select File/Print Topic. Windows Help will print the topic you're currently viewing-complete with graphics. Help for Missing Help If you click on an application's help button and see the message, "Help File Not Found," it's probably because you moved your application to a different hard disk. Select File/Open and look through the directories on your disk to see if you can find a HLP file with a name similar to that of the application. If possible, edit the INI file or change the start-up parameters of your application so it is able to locate its help file. System Files Stuck on Stacker If you use Stacker or DoubleSpace, and Windows for Workgroups hangs at the logo screen when you have 32-bit file access enabled, check the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI. and make sure it doesn't have an EMMDriver=ON line. Lost Little RAM If Windows doesn't recognize the RAM above 16MB on your EISA system, try adding the /EISA switch to the device=HIMEM.SYS line of your CONFIG.SYS file. One-Stop System File Editing With the System Editor (SYSEDIT.EXE), you can edit WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Select Run from the File menu in Program Manager, type SYSEDIT and press Enter. SYSEDIT-A Windows Icon Access SYSEDIT easily by creating an icon for the program. Simply drag and drop SYSEDIT.EXE from Windows' System directory in File Manager to any program group on your main desktop. Time-Out for Printers When Windows has trouble talking to your printer, try changing the DeviceNotSelectedTimeout setting in the [Windows] section of your WIN.INI file. This setting defines how long Windows will wait for a device-like a printer-to respond before delivering an error message. Transmission Time If you're having trouble printing from Windows, increase the TransmissionRetryTimeOut parameter in WIN.INI's [Windows] section. This line defines the length of time Windows will attempt to retransmit characters to a printer. When Double Clicks Are a Drag Sometimes, Windows may mistake a double-click as a drag operation. You can make Windows less sensitive to mouse movement when you're double-clicking by increasing the DoubleClickHeight and DoubleClickWidth values in the [Windows] section of WIN.INI. The parameters represent the number of pixels the cursor must travel after a click before dragging begins. Phony Fonts If you receive files created with fonts you don't have, you can substitute a different one. Just go to the [Font Substitutes] section of your WIN.INI file to substitute one font for another. Type a line like: [missing font] = [near substitute]. Rev Up Non-Win Apps To speed up non-Windows application performance, add the line FileSysChange=Off to the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file. That disables notification of File Manager when non-Windows applications create, rename or delete files. It also lets you run non-Windows applications exclusively, even when they modify files. Alarming Apps If you find that some non-Windows applications seem to go to sleep in the background and never execute (or execute very slowly), wake them up by decreasing the IdleVMWakeUpTime parameter in the [386Enh] section of your SYSTEM.INI file. That forces timer interrupts after the specified number of seconds has passed, even if the application doesn't use timer interrupts, and it may speed up response. The value of this entry is rounded down to the lowest power of two (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64). The default is 8. Restricted Access Area Don't change the [boot.description] section unless you know exactly what you're doing. It contains a list of strings describing the devices you can change when you run Setup. If you change these entries, you won't be able to use Windows Setup to update drivers to newer versions. Networking Set Your Net For Floppy-less Installs Using SETUP.EXE's Administrative switch, you can install any version of Windows from a network drive. Install Windows on the server and enable sharing for the Windows directory. Run Setup with the administrative switch-SETUP /A-to load all the necessary files to a network user's system. Windows 95 and NT even have options that allow you to create files that hold setup info for unattended installs. Right Directions for Drive Maps To ensure that your drive mappings are correct, log onto your NetWare domain before you launch Windows. Otherwise, Windows won't be able to automatically restore drives mapped from File Manager. Remote Backup Net Nodes Need Backup, Too Third-party backup software (such as Cheyenne Software's ARCserve and Seagate Backup Exec) lets you back up the hard drives on networked Windows workstations. These products, and others, also let you schedule backups that are done overnight or during downtime. Crossed Wires The easiest way to create a two-computer, peer-to-peer network is to link NICs together with a crossover twisted-pair cable. The difference between this kind of cable and a standard twisted-pair cable is that the crossover cable has the 1 and 3, and 2 and 6 wires reversed. You can buy a crossover cable at a networking supply store or create your own by cutting the RJ-45 connector off one end of a cable and attaching a new connector with the appropriate wires crossed. Solid Attributes Protect files with DOS's ATTRIB command. Run ATTRIB filename.ext +R to prevent users from overwriting or deleting important files. ATTRIB also accepts wildcards, such as *.* so you can set the attribute for all files in a directory. Alternatively, you can select Properties/Options in File Manager to achieve the same results. Local Service Running Windows from a server is not a good idea as most networks don't have sufficient bandwidth to provide satisfactory performance. For the best results, run Windows from local hard disks. However, you can share .INI files from a network drive to manage the client systems centrally, thus enhancing control. In the NIC of Time Improve the performance of your network interface cards (NICs) by keeping their drivers up-to-date. You can obtain the latest drivers from the manufacturers' Web sites, ftp sites, BBSes or online locations. Be sure to read the documentation (usually a readme file) before upgrading. Set Parameters in Software When buying a network interface card (NIC), try to find one that can be configured with a software utility such as Intel's SoftSet or SMC's EZStart. It's much easier to configure cards via software when you have to make changes such as adjusting IRQs and I/O addresses. Share the Wealth To share your CD-ROM drive with other users, use MSCDEX.EXE 2.21 or later (which ships with WFWG). Make sure MSCDEX is in your AUTOEXEC.BAT with the /S switch. Yes, LanMan Can You can use LAN Manager with Windows for Workgroups because WFWG is compatible with LAN Manager clients. To make Windows aware of LAN Manager, add the line: LMAnnounce=yes to the [network] section of SYSTEM.INI. Problem Peripherals With Windows 95, you can easily determine whether or not you have a resource conflict. But with Windows for Workgroups, it's not so simple and the conflicts can prevent you from running in 386 Enhanced mode. To troubleshoot a resource conflict problem, remove all devices from your computer. Boot your system; if it starts up without trouble, put one peripheral back and boot again. Continue to do this until the problem appears and you'll be able to identify the peripheral that's causing the conflict. Power Browser You can use the MaintainServerList= line in the SYSTEM.INI to expedite the browsing speed of shared resources. You set this line to yes, no or auto. Auto makes your system the Browse Master for the workgroup. Yes maintains a browse list independent of the Browse Master's. No does not maintain a list, but uses less RAM. Quicker Connections If you frequently connect to the same resources, you may want to uncheck "Always browse in the connect network drive" dialog box. The dialog box will come up more quickly with your MRU (Most Recently Used) connections listed in a drop-down list under the Path combo box. Ping-Pong Pinging is a great way to troubleshoot TCP/IP problems. From a DOS window type PING ip-address. If the remote host replies, you know the connection is clear all the way to the host. Next, try PING DNS.NAME (such as FTP.MICROSOFT.COM). If that fetches a reply, you know your DNS (domain name server) is configured properly. Log Reveals Knotty Problems Windows can help you find trouble, if you ask it nicely before you start making changes to drivers or system components. First, open Windows with the command line WIN /B. This causes Windows to write a file named BOOTLOG.TXT. It also causes Windows to skip its opening screen (or splash panel); you'll see the C: prompt until Program Manager appears. As Windows concludes each step of its startup procedure, it writes a line in this file that tells you the step was completed. Rename the file to something easy to remember, like bootlog1.TXT. Now, make your changes to Windows. By looking at the new BOOTLOG.TXT (and comparing it to the previous version) you can tell what went wrong. Button Makeover You can display only the buttons you want, in the order you want, by customizing File Manager's toolbar. Select Options/Customize Toolbar and add or remove whichever buttons you like. Move the Customize Toolbar dialog box so you can see File Manager's toolbar. When you add or remove a button you'll see the immediate effect. To relocate buttons on the toolbar, highlight a button in the window and use the two Move keys to move them around. Program Manager TASK SHORTCUT Change program item or group properties Alt+Enter Select another program item Press first letter of label Save current Program Manager settings Alt+Shift+F4 Move program item to another group F7 Copy a program item to another group F8 Tile windows Shift+F4 Cascade windows Shift+F5 Close Program Manager and exit Windows Alt+F4 Move a file F7 Copy a file F8 Properties Alt+Enter Expand one level + Expand all * Collapse branch - (Hyphen) Refresh screen F5 Change open directory windows Ctrl+Tab Switch current directory window to another drive Ctrl+Drive letter Move to root in tree view Home or Backslash Move up one level in directory view Home, then Enter Move up one level in tree view Ctrl+Left arrow Foreign Characters There are two ways to access foreign or accented characters. The first is to use the Character Map utility. Or use your word processor's equivalent: Insert/Symbol in Word, or Font/WP Characters in WordPerfect to insert the appropriate characters into your text. File Manager TASK SHORTCUT Select all files in a directory / Change focus from tree view to directory view to drive letter Tab Change open directory windows Ctrl+Tab Select a file Space Select a series of files Shift+Down arrow Deselect a single file Ctrl+Mouse click Select files to end of directory Shift+End Run a file Enter Delete a file Delete Refresh screen F5 Move a file F7 Copy a file F8 View file properties Alt+Enter Switch current directory window to another drive Ctrl+Drive letter Move up one level (directory view) Home, then Enter Move up one level (tree view) Ctrl+Left arrow Expand one level + Expand all * Collapse Branch - (Hyphen) No-Frills Editor DOS Edit is a great tool for light editing chores, such as writing batch files and macros. You'll find this handy applet in MS-DOS 5.0 or later. Here are three ways to run it: 1. From the command line in a DOS session. Switch to your DOS directory and type EDIT. 2. By clicking on its icon. From Program Manager, select File/New. Click on Program Item, fill in the Program Item Properties dialog box and select one of the DOS icons. 3. By typing or browsing to its command in Program Manager's File/Run dialog box. DOS Edit requires the presence of Microsoft QuickBASIC. Don't erase the QBASIC.EXE file in the DOS directory if you plan to use the EDIT.COM utility. Rescue Lost PIFs If you modified a PIF file that Windows installed for you at setup, and you later decide to restore the original settings, rerun Windows Setup from the Main program group and select Options/Set Up Applications. You can reinstall the original PIF over the one you modified. Verify the Version Before you delete a mystery file in the WINDOWS directory, start by checking its Version Information, to see if it really relates to the program you're trying to uninstall. Version Information usually includes the vendor name, product name and a brief description of the file. To check the version, open File Manager and select a file. Then select File/Properties from the menu (or press Alt+Enter). In Windows for Workgroups 3.11, File Manager will display the Version Information (if any). Hitting All the Hot Spots You can easily find graphical or text hot spots in Windows Help files. Press Ctrl+Tab and all the hot spots on the current help screen will appear with their colors reversed. You can click on any hot spot to jump to another part of the file, or to display a pop-up window. Text hot spots are usually indicated by color and underlining. Memory Management More Memory with Super VGA If you have a Super VGA display and use MemMaker, you can free-up conventional memory using the MONOUMB.368 file. Open SYSTEM.INI file, add device=c:\dos\monoumb.386 to the [386Enh] section and save the file. Restart your computer and run MemMaker by typing MemMaker at the DOS prompt. Choose Custom Setup; on the Advanced Options screen, answer Yes to "Use monochrome region (B000-B7FF) for running programs?" Then, follow the instructions. Tight Fit for MemMaker If you run MemMaker with a disk compression program such as Stacker or SuperStor, it won't undo changes in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files if it fails to restart your computer. To restore your computer to its previous state, quit MemMaker, and copy and rename the AUTOEXEC.UMB and CONFIG.UMB files from the host drive to the compressed volume. For example, if drive D is the uncompressed host drive and drive C is the compressed drive, you would type: copy d:\autoexec.umb c:\autoexec.bat and then copy d:\config.umb c:\config.sys. Heavy Load If DOS refuses to load high, check your CONFIG.SYS file for the BUFFERS= statement. If its parameter is set too high, DOS will load low. Erroneous Error Windows 3.x may generate an "Out of memory" message even when there's plenty left. That happens when there's too little DOS memory (memory below 640KB) available. Removing unwanted TSR references from your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files and loading required drivers high, using the LOADHIGH or DEVICEHIGH command, should solve the problem. When Plus Equals Minus If you use QEMM to load programs into upper memory and get a "Bad Command or Filename" message, QEMM might be using a plus (+) sign for a delimiter in the file command from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For example, the command c:\qemm\loadhi /r:1 files+30 is not valid. To fix the problem, remove the command from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, then add the files= command to your CONFIG.SYS file to specify the number of open files. In the case of our example, you'd use files=30. Get the Message To set EMM386 4.45 to display status, error and warning messages for troubleshooting, edit your CONFIG.SYS file and add the verbose switch to the device command for EMM386.EXE. More Info for More Memory If you want more information when refining your computer's memory usage, hold down the Alt key during reboot to initiate a display of start-up information. Virtual Reality If you don't need virtual control program interface (VCPI) support and are using EMM386 4.45, you can free some memory by using the NOVCPI switch in the command line that invokes the program. In prior versions, the NOEMS switch disabled both EMS and VCPI support, but now you must use both switches. New Regions to Explore If you have EMM386 4.45, it can scan and free up additional memory regions if they've been duplicated elsewhere. To enable this feature, edit your CONFIG.SYS file and add the high scan switch to the device= line that loads EMM386.EXE. Make HIMEM a Messenger To get status, warning and error messages from HIMEM.SYS, edit your CONFIG.SYS file and add the /verbose (/v) switch to the device command for HIMEM.SYS. If HIMEM encounters an error during initialization, it'll display the error message and other start-up information. Turn Off the ATM If you use Adobe Type Manager and want to temporarily free up memory, you can keep it from loading fonts at start-up by switching it off and rebooting. Use It or Lose It To free memory, check your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files for unnecessary programs that load at boot-up. Beware of SHARE If you work only in Windows--not DOS--you can save a nice chunk of memory by not loading SHARE; it is seldom needed, and Windows uses a program called VSHARE to do the same job. If there's a line that loads SHARE in your CONFIG.SYS, delete it. Sacrifice Fonts for Memory's Sake Free up memory to improve performance by removing unwanted fonts. Open Control Panel and double-click on the Fonts icon. Select the fonts you don't need and click on Remove. The fonts won't be deleted from the disk, just removed from memory. Follow the same steps to reinstall them when needed. Take Your Configuration to Task If you run out of resources while performing an occasional task, try creating a special boot configuration just for that operation. The configuration should consist of the minimum number of drivers needed. For example, leave out sound card, CD-ROM, RAM-disk and other drivers if possible. Version Control If your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS loads SETVER, remove it to regain a little memory. It's only needed so DOS can pretend it's an older version. After rebooting, if you don't get an "Incorrect DOS version" message from any of your programs, SETVER wasn't needed. Higher Is Better To maximize the amount of lower memory available to Windows, your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files should (wherever possible) load all TSR programs and device drivers into the upper memory blocks. To do so, use the LH, LOADHIGH and DEVICEHIGH commands. A Better Mousetrap To save memory, provided you only use your mouse in Windows, remove any commands that load mouse drivers from your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Wallpaper Replacement Use a color for the desktop background instead of wallpaper or bitmaps to gain some memory for running apps. Screen Savers Are Memory Wasters Screen savers use memory and can conflict with other programs. Disable your screen saver, or use a simple screen saver (such as those that come with Windows). Virtually There Increasing the size of your virtual memory yields results similar to adding RAM. Click on the 386 Enhanced icon in Control Panel. Click on Virtual Memory and then click on the Change button. Type in the desired size in the New Size dialog box. Your permanent swap file setting must not be larger than the largest contiguous free segment on the specified hard drive. Step Up to StartUp If you often run out of memory with only a couple of apps open, check your start-up group for unnecessary programs. New Management Team EMM386.EXE and HIMEM.SYS are reasonable memory managers, but there are more advanced ones on the market. QEMM386 from Quarterdeck Office Systems, 386MAX from Qualitas or NetRoom from Helix Software are popular memory managers and, if you run out of memory frequently, are worth a try. Battin' Down Bars Toolbars and button bars use memory, too. If you don't need one, turn it off. Most apps provide access to all functions via menus or keystrokes anyway. Out the Window An open window means memory is being used. Open only the apps you need, and if the apps support multiple windows, keep a minimum open. Less Color, More Memory The fewer colors your video card uses, the more memory you'll have available. True-color or high-color video looks great, but dropping back to 256 or 16 colors saves memory. High Hopes The HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE drivers in CONFIG.SYS don't work in high memory. You must load them with the device= [path] [file name] [parameters] syntax, not the DEVICEHIGH command. Swap Meet If you've got sufficient disk space, use a swap file to take some of the storage burden off of your memory. Double click the 386 Enhanced icon in Control Panel, and look at the Type under SwapFile Settings. If none is present, click on the change button, set the type to permanent and hit OK. PIF Piece To save memory while running non-Windows apps, allocate only the minimum extended memory necessary in the applications' PIFs. "Expanse" Report To get the most out of expanded memory in Windows, be sure to use the RAM switch and not the NOEMS switch for EMM386.EXE. Controlled Expansion You should control the amount of expanded memory (EMS) allocated to a non-Windows app running under Windows by editing its PIF. Do DOS High You can save a lot of conventional memory by loading MS-DOS into high memory. Be sure you load HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE with the Device= command in the CONFIG.SYS file, followed by dos=high. Upper Berths Save some conventional memory by using upper memory buffers. Be sure you load HIMEM .SYS and EMM386.EXE with the Device= command in the CONFIG.SYS file, followed by dos=UMB. BIOS Fear Super VGA cards often use nonstandard memory addresses that cause memory conflicts, which, in turn, can cause Windows to crash or behave erratically. On some systems, the only solution will be to disable video BIOS shadowing. You can usually get to the system BIOS settings by using a special key combination, like Ctrl-Alt-Esc, or when you first boot-up. In other cases, using standard Microsoft-provided Windows drivers at a lower resolution, if acceptable, will alleviate these problems. Exclusive Video Off-er If you run EMM386 and experience unusual video problems, try excluding the video card's memory addresses using the X=[video address range] parameter on the line that loads EMM386.EXE in CONFIG.SYS. You can obtain the address range from your video card's documentation. You should also place the range after EMMExclude= in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file. Trim the TrueType Threshold You can trade TrueType rendering speed for memory by adding the HeadlineThreshold parameter to the [TrueType] section of your WIN.INI file. Set it from 1 (slower rendering/more memory) to 300 (faster rendering/less memory). Be TSR Smart For DOS programs that require a TSR, save memory by only loading the TSR just prior to running the program (rather than have it installed every time you boot). To do this, create a batch file that loads the TSR and then runs the program; then, launch the batch file from Windows to start the program. When you're done with the program, you'll have to reboot to remove the TSR from memory. BIOS Blues If your computer generates an A:20 handler error when loading the extended memory manager, it's probably because of your system's BIOS. Some BIOSes need special switches on the HIMEM.SYS line in the CONFIG.SYS file to work properly. Check the HIMEM.SYS section of your DOS manual for a list of switches that you can add to modify this statement. Sizing Up the Swap File Your PC's memory should determine the size of your Swap File. If you have less than 4MB of RAM and use Windows 3.x, or less than 8MB and use Windows for Workgroups, the swap file should be around 8MB or 16MB, respectively. If you have more memory, then a 4MB swap file is probably adequate. If you still get Out Of Memory messages, simply increase the size of the swap file. The Latest and Greatest Make sure you're using the latest versions of HIMEM.SYS and EMM386. In order of increasing preference, use the versions bundled with MS-DOS 5.0, Windows 3.x}, MS-DOS 6.0, or Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Resourceful and Steady When Windows runs out of certain types of resources (file buffers, file handles, etc.) it can misbehave. If Windows seems unstable, try increasing the allocations for those resources. Look in your CONFIG.SYS file for lines like FILES=, BUFFERS=, STACKS= and SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:1024; increase the numbers you see there. These changes will use more memory, but you may gain stability. A Thin WIN.INI A quick way to gain some memory is keep your WIN.INI file small. Windows loads the WIN.INI file into memory, so a smaller WIN.INI saves memory. Delete lines that have been disabled with REM statements, comments added by setup programs, sections for programs you've removed and lines referencing never used fonts. Swap File, the Hard Way A swap file should be set up on a hard disk, never on a RAM disk. Using a RAM disk reduces performance on most systems. Mono Tones If you never use the VGA adapter's monochrome mode, you can free up an extra memory block. Just add the line VGAMonoText=Off to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI. Applets Daily News To have your schedule greet you every time your start Windows, put File Manager and Program Manager side by side on your Windows desktop, then drag and drop the name of your calendar file (the one with the CAL extension) into your StartUp group. Cardfile House of Cards Because Windows' Cardfile restricts you to 1,260 cards per document, you may end up with several CRD files. Create a new CRD file, then add one card for each of the CRD files. From File Manager, drag each existing CRD file and drop it on the corresponding card in the new file. In theory, this lets you have more than 1.5 -million cards in your new, alphabetized master Cardfile document. Each time you open the master Cardfile document, select Edit/Picture. Then double-click on the CRD file icon of your choice. Configuring Cardfile Dialing If your modem doesn't make a connection when you use Autodial from Cardfile, you may have a problem with COM port configuration settings. From the Card menu, choose Autodial, and click on Setup. For most configurations, the settings should be: Data Bits-8, Parity-None, Stop Bits-1 or Data Bits-7, Parity-Even and Stop Bits-1. Character (Map's) Traits To get an enlarged view of the characters in a document, hold down the left mouse button while passing the cursor over the characters in Character Map. Stay on Top of Time To keep the Windows clock in view at all times, open the Clock, then size and place it where you want. Open Clock's Control menu, select Always On Top; double-click on the clock face to get rid of the title bar. Finally, add CLOCK.EXE to the Run= line of the WIN.INI file. Multimedia Mail E-mail doesn't have to be all boring text; you can use Media Player to incorporate multimedia. Open Media Player, select File/Open, then find the file you want to send--WAV, MIDI or AVI. Select Edit/Options; deselect Caption and Border around object, but select Play in client document. Click on OK and select Edit/Copy. In your e-mail app, select Edit/Paste Special, then send your mail. Don't Be Without Sound Media Player can't play an audio CD if the line CDAudio=0 appears in the MPLAYER.INI file. This line appears if a problem occurs when the SYSTEM.INI file is written, if the MPLAYER.INI file is updated or if there's a problem with the CD-ROM drivers. The CD Audio driver can be disabled if the CD-ROM drivers (including MSCDEX) are not loaded when Media Player is started, or if there's a hardware problem when the SYSTEM.INI is updated. Media Player updates the MPLAYER.INI file after any changes are made to the SYSTEM.INI file and changes the CDAudio=17 (enabled) line to CDAudio=0 (disabled) if Windows is unable to detect the presence of the CD-ROM player. If the problem persists, rename MPLAYER.INI to MPLAYER.PSS, put an audio disk in the drive and restart Media Player. On some systems, if there's no disk in the CD-ROM drive, CDAudio=0 appears in the MPLAYER.INI file when the SYSTEM.INI file is updated. The SYSTEM.INI file may be updated this way if you use the Windows Setup program to install a new driver when there is no disk in the CD-ROM drive. If this occurs, the CD Audio is disabled. So make sure the drive has a disk loaded before you start Media Player. Timely Notes Use Notepad to help keep track of your jottings. Type .LOG as the first line in a text file. Every time you open that file, Notepad will put the time and date at the bottom of the file (with the cursor right below it). Taking Note of Memory If you use Notepad for copious notes, you may run into low memory messages even if you have sufficient memory available. This is because Notepad won't open a file larger than 54KB or let you edit a file larger than 45KB. If you go over these limits, Notepad says you're out of memory. The solution is either to delete some text, start a new file or use a more capable applet like Write. Spitting Image It's easy to copy a Paintbrush image--just press and hold the Ctrl key as you drag the image to its new location. (Pressing and holding the Shift key will leave a trail of the image.) Image Adjustment Follow these steps to reduce the size of a Paintbrush image: From the View menu, choose Zoom Out. From the Tool menu, choose the Pick tool (scissors and dotted box). The cursor will change to a crosshair which you use to select the whole image by placing it at the upper-left corner of the image and dragging to the lower-right corner while holding the left mouse button. Select Edit/Cut, and then View/Zoom In. Then, select Edit/Paste. The Pick option on the control bar will become available. Click on Pick and choose Clear. From the Pick menu, choose Shrink And Grow. Set the size, shape and position of the image by placing the mouse crosshair at the position where you want the upper left corner of the image to appear and drag the cursor down to the right corner while holding the left mouse button. From the Tool menu, choose the Pick tool and select the shrunken portion of the image. From the Edit menu, choose Cut. From the File menu, choose New. (When asked "Save Current Image?", select No.) Finally, from the Edit menu, choose Paste. Recorder Order View events that have been stored in a Recorder macro file. First, run Recorder, then open the file with the macro you want to view; select from the specific macro you want to see (if there's more than one in the file). While holding Shift, choose Properties from the Macro menu. This brings up a dialog box that shows all the recorded steps in the macro. Silence Is Golden You can add to Sound Recorder's default maximum recording time. Click on Record, but don't record anything--just silence--for the entire minute, then save the file as BLANK.WAV. Subsequently, every time you want a longer recording time, open BLANK.WAV, select Edit/Insert File and insert BLANK.WAV once for every extra minute you want to add to the maximum recording time. Instant Net To create a quick "network," all you need is two PCs with modems and phone lines. To connect the PCs, open Terminal on both systems and select Settings/Terminal Preferences. In the CR -> CR/LF box, select both Inbound and Outbound. Select Settings/Communications and make sure both systems have the same Baud Rate setting. To have one PC call the other, the caller selects Settings/Phone Number, types the other PC's number, then selects Phone/Dial. The recipient types ATSO=1 when "ring" appears on screen. Whatever you type on one PC will appear on both screens. use the Transfers menu to send and receive files. Write On When you create a header or footer in Microsoft Windows Write, you can use ALT+F6 to go back and forth between the dialog box and the header or footer text. Write Pictures To capture and print screens, use Windows Write rather than Paintbrush. First, copy the image to Windows' Clipboard by pressing the Print Screen key (to capture the active window only, hold the Alt key when you press Print Screen). Launch Write, and select Edit/ Paste. Since Write is a word processor, you can add a title or other text. Select File/Print to send the image to your printer. (This process works with any word processor that supports OLE.) Selection Perfection Write doesn't have a Select All option, but you can select the whole document anyway. Move the cursor to the left side of the Write document until it turns into a right-pointing arrow. Hold the Ctrl key, and click the left mouse button once To select a single line, place the cursor to the left of the line, then click the left mouse button. To select all the text from the cursor to the end of the document, place the cursor to the left of the document, hold Ctrl+Shift and click the left mouse button. To select text from the cursor to the end of a line, place the cursor on that line, hold Shift and click the left mouse button. And to select text from a specific line to the cursor, place the mouse arrow on that line, hold the Shift key and click the left mouse button. ********************************************** Copyright © 1997 CMP Media Inc. WINDOWS Magazine (ISSN 1060-1066) is published monthly with two bonus issues a year for $24.94 per year by CMP Media Inc., 600 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030. Periodicals postage paid at Manhasset, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WINDOWS Magazine, P.O. Box 420215, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0215. Registered for GST as CMP Media Inc. GST# 131288078, Agreement Number 0225932. BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID CMP Media Inc.