THE EVOLUTION OF WINDOWS

(16bit) W3.0 to W3.1 to W3.11 to
(32bit) W95A to W95B to W95/OSR2+ to
W98 to W98SE to WinME to WinXP
WinNT (release 1 thru 4) to W2000P (new consumer version of NT5)

Go DIRECTLY To:

Converting to FAT32
Optimizing Printers
CD HELP
Miscel Hints


THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WINDOWS

As of today, the two "stablest" older versions of Windows are W98SE and W2000P. Choose W98 if you still depend a lot on DOS applications and Games. Chose W2000P if you are not and or plan to build an office or home LAN. W200P uses a DOS emulator which does not support all the older dos functions.

Never shut power off as a way to Close Windows down. Always CLOSE ALL open applications and exit cleanly. Failure to do so can leave many important configuration files improperly closed with missing data that can lead to strange behavior the next time you use the computer.

HOW Windows installs a program:
The typical setup or install utility sends program DLL files to the \windows\system folder, an INI file to \windows folder, makes entries to the win registry hive (user.dat and system.dat) makes changes to win.ini or system.ini or autoexec.bat or config.sys or all of them.

By default, most programs install to a sub folder of \programs. This can be altered during install time so the program may be installed in a user defined - designated folder.

To find out exactly what a program does when you install it, use the W98 System File Checker's log feature. After installing a new program, open this log by launching the System Information utility [go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information], choosing System File Checker from the Tools menu, clicking on the Settings button and then on the View Log button. The log will tell you exactly which files were added to your computer and which were updated with a newer version.

Floppy drives are always designated A: if only one is installed; and B: for a second. CD drives typically get assigned letters above D and its not uncommon for letters to be skipped.

W98 automatically backs up the registry from the last five days of successful boot ups. Backups are stored as MS cabinet files in\windows\sysbackup\rb###.cab where ### is a sequential number from 001 to 005. The number of backups kept can be changed by changing the line MaxBackupCopies= in the file \windows\scanreg.ini.

Windows95/98 are NOT designed to run for LONG periods of time. Every few hours (5 or 6) its a good idea to shut down and reboot. WinNT/W2000 are. XP, most likely.



THINGS TO CONSIDER INVOLVING PC MANAGEMENT

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP - and never forget it!

One indication of good housekeeping skills is learning to reduce the amount of shortcut clutter sitting on your desktop.

Today Windows requires a minimum of 64 megs of RAM to function reasonably well, 96 mb is ideal, and 128 mb handles 98% of most users needs.

Wait until your HD completely STOPS flashing after boot up before starting your operations.

If your computer crashes or locks up do not fail to run SCANDISK from DOS before resuming operations. In most cases this is an automatic action, but not always.

If you want to remove an installed program from your system, make sure you use the un installer that came with the program. Simply deleting the program folder can lead to disastrous results.

NEVER install new hardware or new software when there are previous unresolved issues with existing peripherals or programs, this is begging for unsolvable spaghetti type fubar problems.

Avoid installing games on machines requiring a high degree of reliability. Games steal, rob and eat up a computers resources, aside from trying to take direct control of all your hardware, especially video.

Set Video Acceleration (Start/Settings/Control Panel/ Display, Settings, Advanced) to OFF whenever you experience instability problems. Blue Screens etc.

DO NOT run Screen Savers, background virus scanners, or any background utilities that claim to keep your system well oiled and organized. Most of this crap is computer Snake Oil, aside from the fact that just silently eat at your computers resources.

Example: Norton Virus Scan has crashed more computers than any virus ever has. Yes, by all means have an "on demand" Virus checker available.

W95: The Emergency Recovery Utility (ERU.EXE)is on the Windows CD in the \OTHER\MISC\ERU folder. If you installed from diskettes instead of from a CD, ERU may already be on your hard drive. You can use Find to locate it and Explorer to run it. You can use ERU to back up ALL the important Win config files (including the Registry) to the A: drive. Better make two of these diskettes, in fact, for trustworthy protection.

Did you know that IE4 and IE5 support multiple undos, just like your favorite applications? If you're entering data in a form and make a mistake, press Ctrl+Z to undo your error. If there's more than one error, press Ctrl+Z repeatedly until you've cleared the mistake.

ALL ABOUT FAT32 versus FAT16

Depending on the size of your files and the size of your disk partition, FAT16 can waste as much as 32K per file. Additionally, FAT16 restricts disk partitions to a maximum of 2GB. This becomes a serious problem when the new generation of hard drives can store 4GB or more of data. In fact, 80 GB is common today.

With the later versions of Windows 95 and the release of Windows 98, Microsoft included a revamped and more efficient file system, FAT32. FAT32 wastes significantly less space than FAT16 and supports disk partitions of 8GB and larger.

But, simply installing Windows 98 doesn't mean you're running FAT32. The installation process leaves your file system untouched. Even newly manufactured Windows 98 systems might or might not be running FAT32 when they ship from the factories.

There are a few downsides to converting to FAT32, so the conversion might not suit everyone. Here are some things you need to understand before you convert a drive:

You can't go back. Windows 98 does not include a utility to take you back to FAT16. You can however purchase such utilities from third party vendors.

Dual boot options, where you choose among several operating systems at startup, do not work on FAT32 drives.

Some older software might not run on your FAT32 drive. Windows 98 keeps a list of suspects in this Registry key:

My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Co ntrol\SessionManager\

DriveSpace 3 can't compress FAT32 drives. Fortunately, you probably won't need to compress your new file system. It will already provide more space than you had before the conversion.

You might not be able to uninstall Windows 98 and return to your previous operating system. Most versions of Windows 95 and all versions of Windows 3.1 cannot read FAT32 drives.

The FAT32 conversion might set off your antivirus software's alarms. The process changes the Master Boot Record of your hard drive, a key indication of virus infection. Microsoft suggests removing your antivirus software before you convert. You can reinstall it afterward.

FAT32 brings with it many benefits, but as you can see, the conversion has its consequences. It is recommended that only experts perform this procedure. For novices and even intermediate users, the potential pitfalls could be lethal for your PC.

Some people have had trouble accessing their FAT32 drives when booting from the Windows 98 Emergency Startup disk. If you're one of these people, try Windows 98 FAT32 Emergency Boot disk creator. It resides on the Win98 CD-ROM.

To use it, insert the Win98 CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive and browse the folder TOOLS\MTSUTIL\FAT32EBD.EXE

Read the text file FAT32EBD.TXT for a description of the tool.

Then launch FAT32EBD.EXE and create your FAT32 emergency disk.

How to Create FAT32 or convert FAT16 to FAT32

There are two ways of creating a FAT32 partition:

First using FDISK: In OEM Service release; or in Windows 98, if you run the FDISK system utility it will ask whether to enable large disk support. If you answer yes, any partition you create that's greater than 5I2MB will be marked as a FAT32 partition. FDISK cannot convert a FAT16 partition to FAT32, all contents of the drive are lost if you use this method.

#2. Using Converter: To convert an existing partition without any data loss you can use :

Partition Magic or CVT.EXE from Microsoft, the Windows 98 graphical FAT32 conversion utility.

To convert partitions to FAT32 on-the-fly without data loss, this is probably the best method currently available, it can also convert back to FAT16 if required.

(Go TOP)
FAT32 conversion using FDISK

Step-by-step procedure

1. Do a full backup of your disk. If you're at all uncertain about your backup hardware and software, do a second full backup. Don't give in to the temptation to skip this step, because when you run FDISK you're going to make all the old files on your harddisk disappear i.e. FDISK deletes everything and creates everything fresh and new. BACKUP BEFORE STARTING!

2. Make sure you have a fully functional bootable floppy/Startup Disk with CDROM support. Also make sure you have the following on a floppy :

your backup/restore software
FDISK
FORMAT
mouse driver and CD-ROM driver
You can create one bootable floppy by two ways :

If you already have Windows 95 OSR2 or Windows 98 installed go to Control Panel Add Remove Programs Startup Disk CREATE DISK.

If you don't have WIN95/98 installed run Setup and follow the instructions till you reach Creating Startup Disk. Create Startup Disk and then cancel the setup.

3. Decide what partition sizes you want.

You can partition your harddisk in two or more parts or in a Single entity as a whole. I recommend that go for a single big size because of speed and it is fast to defrag a single partition rather than multiple partitions.

In the Microsoft world, you don't create 'N' partitions on a disk. Instead you create one "primary DOS partition" and one "extended DOS partition" and then you create N-1 "logical drives" on the extended DOS partition. So if you're trying to partition your only harddisk into C:, D;, and E:, you'll create a primary DOS partition which will automatically be C:, then an extended DOS partition, then logical drives D: and E: on the extended partition.

4. Insert your boot disk and restart your computer. When the command prompt appears, type FDISK.

FDISK asks if you want to enable large disk support.

Enter Y to enable the FAT-32 file system. FDISK will then ask you what you want to do with the partition. Notice that the first line under FDISK Options tells you which fixed disk drive you're currently working on. If you're using a computer with multiple harddisks, enter 4 at the prompt to see the drive letter that corresponds to the drive. If this isn't the harddisk you intend to reconfigure as FAT-32, type 5 to change the current fixed disk drive.

Use FDISK to delete and re-create your DOS partition.

Once you've switched to the correct harddisk (if necessary), enter 3 at the command prompt. FDISK will now display the Delete DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive screen. I'll assume that you'll be working with the primary partition. (If you have multiple partitions on the same physical drive, you will have to delete an extended partition before you can delete the primary partition.) Enter 1 to delete the primary partition.

At this point, FDISK will warn you that it's about to delete all data in the partition. It will also ask you for the partition number you want to delete. For our example, enter 1. FDISK will then ask you to enter the volume label of the partition you're deleting. This is an extra safeguard to make sure you're really deleting the partition that you think you are. Answer Y to the final confirmation prompt to allow FDISK to delete your partition.

FDISK warns you that you'll lose all data when you delete the partition. Press Y to continue or N to stop.

After FDISK deletes your partition, it takes you back to the main menu. Now you need to create a new primary DOS partition. First, enter 1 at the prompt. When FDISK asks if you'd like to use the maximum available size for a primary partition and make the partition active, enter Y. You'll soon see a message stating that FDISK created the partition. We're now done with our boot disk, so press [Esc] to exit FDISK.

Next, reboot your PC using your boot disk. When you see the DOS prompt, type FORMAT C: /S /z:n (n is the cluster size you have to decide from the above table) and press [Enter] to make the partition bootable. You now have a new partition that uses FAT-32 and that you can install Windows 95 on.

If you do not reboot between FDISKing and FORMATing, you will get strange-looking error messages.

TIP: There is an undocumented flag for OSR2's FDISK, namely, /FPRMT. If you do a FDISK /FPRMT, you are able to format partitions smaller than 512MB as FAT32. For advanced users only!

TIP: There is an undocumented switch in the FORMAT command in OSR2. Then syntax is:

FORMAT /z:n : where n * 512bytes = cluster size In other words, with this switch, you can set your own cluster size. Like mentioned above you can test this accordingly

Restore the files you backed up. (You don't need to restore them all to C. But unless you plan on reinstalling Windows from scratch, it's probably best to restore the Windows files to the same disk letter where they were before you repartitioned.)

Your CD-ROM drive letter will now be different. You'll have to change the drive letter in any Windows icons that point to it (click on each icon, then click File, click Properties, then edit the command line and possibly the working directory, then click).

You don't need to make any changes in your CMOS settings. Even though DOS and Windows now behave as if you have several harddisks, the CMOS will still correctly show the actual harddisk(s). This completes the procedure.

FAT16 FAT32 conversion by utility

PowerQuest has released one software part of Partition Magic in which it is possible to "force" an upgrade of an existing Windows95 installation, and then convert FAT16 to FAT32 after installation of OSR2.

On a 1.2GB drive, formatted as a single partition, before conversion from FAT16 to FAT32 (via Partition Magic 3.0), there was 58MB free space. After conversion, there was 268MB free space. Your results will vary.

Microsoft has also developed a FAT16 ---> FAT32 (one way only) conversion utility, named "CVT.EXE". This conversion utility has only been released to beta testers of OSR2 and Memphis.

FAT32 Conversion in windows 98

Windows 98 includes a converter that will convert a FAT16 volume to FAT32. The conversion process leverages features of the FAT32 file system specifically designed to allow for safe conversions from a FAT16 volume. These features include the ability to specify which of multiple FAT tables is active and the ability to relocate the root directory table.

The basic algorithm of the FAT32 converter is to construct a mirror file system that shares the same data space as the original file system. The FAT16 file system remains fully intact and usable while the new FAT32 file system is constructed. At no point during the building of the FAT32 file system would a power failure or unexpected reboot result in data loss. Once the FAT32 file system is constructed, it is "instantly" enabled with a single-sector write to the boot sector. That is, the transition from a fully functional FAT16 file system to a fully functional FAT32 file system comes down to a single sector write.

The nine phases of the conversion process are the following:

Phase 1: Ensures that it is safe to convert:

Runs ScanDisk to verify that the drive's file system structure is valid.

Refuses to run if there are any clusters that have previously been marked as being bad.

Watches for compression.
Watches for incompatible BIOS versions.
Watches for anti-virus software that will get in the way.
Watches for drives that are not supported by interrupt 13 (Int 13)
Watches for drivers that do not support FAT32

Phase 2: Converts the directories:

CVT (the conversion utility) makes a copy of the entire volume's directory structure to an unused portion of the disk. The conversion is performed entirely on this copy. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume in its original state.

Phase 3: Makes room for the 32-bit FAT:

CVT makes room for the new 32-bit FAT by moving files and directories out of the way using the same method as Defrag. Any failure or power loss during this phase might leave minor problems in the form of lost clusters (the same as Defrag.) No user data is lost, and ScanDisk can easily throw away the lost clusters.

Phase 4: Converts the 16-bit FAT to a 32-bit FAT:

CVT converts as it copies the 16-bit FAT to the new unused location for the 32-bit FAT. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume in its original state, except that a few files have been moved.

Phase 5: Frees unneeded clusters:

CVT frees clusters marked as used in the 32-bit FAT that will no longer be needed because of the smaller FAT32 clusters. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume in its original state, except that a few files have been moved.

Phase 6: Updates the master boot record:

CVT updates the master boot record with a new signature indicating that the volume is either a FAT32 volume or a FAT16 volume. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume as a FAT16 volume with all files intact.

Phase 7: Updates the boot record:

CVT updates the boot record to the FAT32 boot record. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume as a FAT16 volume with all files intact.

Phase 8: Creates a second copy of the FAT:

CVT creates a second copy of the 32-bit FAT and then enables it. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume as a FAT32 volume with all files intact. The volume will only have one FAT, but it will function properly.

Phase 9: Moves the root directory:

CVT relocates the root directory to the front of the disk. Any failure or power loss during this phase leaves the volume as a FAT32 volume with all files intact, but it might leave minor problems in the form of lost clusters (the same as Defrag). No user data is lost, and ScanDisk can easily throw away the lost clusters.

Can I compress a FAT-32 drive:

NO Windows 95 won't allow you to compress a FAT-32 drive. In fact, Microsoft has changed the manner in which you compress disks in OSR2. If you try to use the Compression Agent with OSR2, Windows 95 will display the error message It states that if you want to compress a disk, you must first install Microsoft Plus!. However, this message is deceptive, because OSR2 includes DriveSpace 3, which is the same compression utility that's found in Plus!. You can access DriveSpace 3 by choosing Accessories, System Tools, Drive Space. Unfortunately, DriveSpace 3 still can't compress a FAT-32 partition. Instead use Freespace from Mizenix Corporation instead of DriveSpace.

Will my disk utilities work with FAT-32?

Norton Utilities 2.0 and Norton AntiVirus 2.0 offer full FAT-32 support if you install the patch available at Symantec's Web site (http://www.symantec.com). Norton Utilities 1.0 is incompatible with FAT-32.

VALUE OF FREE SPACE ON YOUR HARD DRIVE

The amount of free space on your hard drive directly affects your PC's performance. With plenty of free space, Windows 98 can swap memory pages to and from your hard drive as needed. With limited space, memory swapping becomes a painfully slow procedure and your system performance drops like a stone.

The amount of free space you need depends upon your PC and the tasks you perform. In general, if you multitask several applications simultaneously you need more room on your hard disk. Generally try to maintain at least 50 to 100 megabytes of free space on your drive.

RECOVERING FREE SPACE ON W98 HARD DRIVES

By default, Windows 98 reserves 10% of every hard drive, or drive partition, for Recycle Bin use. Did you catch that? 10 percent! With a 10-gigabyte drive, that's 1 gigabyte of trash. Most people are not as concerned about recovering deleted files as they were in the past. You can make better use of the space devoted to Recycle Bin storage. Devoting 10 percent of a drive to the Recycle Bin might have worked a few years ago when hard drives topped out at 2 gigabytes. But now an average hard drive holds 5 gigabytes. Using a percentage measure to configure the Recycle Bin makes sense from Microsoft's perspective — they want Windows 98 to work across a wide range of computer makes and models, all with different size drives. But you should never use more than 100 megabytes for the Recycle Bin. Limit your Recycle Bin's hold over your hard drive by modifying its properties. Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. You can either set a maximum percentage across all hard drives with the Global tab or configure the Recycle Bin on each drive or drive partition by choosing the lettered tabs and adjusting the settings. Set the percentage you want, click Apply, and click OK to confirm changes.

The DISK CLEANUP utility can be used to remove your old W95 system if your happy with W98. This will free up 60 plus megs of disk storage.

MAXIMIZING YOUR PERIPHERAL PERFORMANCE

Your devices — PC cards, hard drives, CD-ROMS, removable storage, and so on — use either 16-bit real- mode or 32-bit protected-mode drivers. To maximize performance, you should update most, if not all, of your devices to protected-mode drivers. Protected-mode drivers run faster, use memory more efficiently, and make devices easier to manage. How do you know if any of your devices are using real- mode drivers? To be thorough, you should check three different locations. Follow these three methods to hunt down your real-mode drivers. First, display the System Properties dialog box. Select the Performance tab. Check the list under Performance status, looking for anything listed as 16- bit. Next, browse your CONFIG.SYS file. You can enter sysedit at the Start | Run prompt. This launches the System Comnfiguration Editor and displays CONFIG.SYS and other configuration files. You'll find real-mode drivers listed in the CONFIG.SYS file beginning with DEVICE=. Protected-mode drivers use the Registry, not CONFIG.SYS, to store configuration information. Don't worry about any listings that begin with REM. These lines were commented out by Windows 98 when it found and replaced them with protected-mode drivers.

Finally, open the file IOS.LOG, if it exists, in Notepad. Windows creates this log file in the C:\Windows directory if it's forced to use a real-mode driver for any device.The file IOS.LOG also lists a reason why the driver could not be replaced with a protected-mode driver.

If the file doesn't exist, Windows 98 isn't running any real-mode drivers. For drivers you do find in IOS.LOG, check the related file IOS.INI, which lists known real- mode drivers and whether any protected-mode replacements exist for them.

Upgrading the Driver: After you find a real- mode driver, you should replace it, if possible. Ask the product manufacturer or search their Web site for new drivers. After you obtain a protected-mode replacement, you must activate the Update Driver Wizard and update the driver.

(Go TOP)
UPDATING W98 YOUR CDROM SETTINGS

It's disappointing that Microsoft didn't update the Windows 98 CD-ROM performance settings. They remain the same as in Windows 95. The problem with the current CD- ROM performance settings is that CD-ROM drives are much faster now than they were in 1995. The fastest drives run at 32X speeds or even faster. But, Windows settings still only focus on 1X, 2X, 3X, and 4X speed drives. Microsoft could have fine-tuned these settings so that you could optimize the supplemental cache and access pattern for faster CD-ROMs (12X, 24X, 32X, and so on). Nevertheless, you should examine the Windows 98 CD-ROM performance settings and adjust them to suit your drive. The following steps will modify the Windows 98 CD-ROM performance settings. Go to System in CP.

Display the File System Dialog Box Under Advanced settings, choose the File System button of the Performance tab on the System Properties dialog box. Select the CD-ROM tab. In the Settings box, find the Supplemental cache size slider bar. Windows 98 uses this cache exclusively for your CD-ROM drive. Unlike the file and network caches, Windows 98 can page the CD-ROM cache out to your hard disk. So, you needn't be concerned about consuming RAM with this setting. The size options on the slider bar range from 214KB (kilobytes) to 1,238KB. If you're short of room on your hard drive you should clean up your hard drive and set this setting at its maximum (Large). You'll notice a performance improvement during CD-ROM software installation and when copying files from CD-ROM to your hard disk. On the Optimize access pattern for setting, your choices are fairly clear. If your CD-ROM is 4X or faster, select Quad-speed or higher from the list. Otherwise, select the setting that matches your drive speed. If you do have a slow CD-ROM drive, It is highly recommended that you upgrade to at least an 8X-speed drive. Save your changes and close the File System Properties dialog box. Choose the Close button on the System Properties dialog box. Windows will ask you if you'd like to restart your computer. Your new cache and access pattern settings will take effect when Windows restarts.

HOW TO MAKE CD AUTOMATICALLY RUN WHEN YOU INSERT IT

1 To enable the “Audio insert notification” feature:
2 Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, and select Properties. The System Properties dialog appears.
3 Click the Device Manager tab. A list of devices appears.
4 Double-click CD-ROM, and select your CD-ROM drive.
5 Choose the Properties button. The CD-ROM drive properties dialog appears.
6 Choose the Settings tab.
7 Click the “Auto insert notification” option to enable.
8 Select OK until all Properties dialogs are closed, and restart Windows for the changes to take effect.




(Go TOP)
USING THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON TO DRAG N DROP

You can use the right mouse button to drag and drop objects to most all Win 95 applications, Explorer, and the desktop. It works just like dragging and dropping with the left mouse button, but when you let go of the button, a context menu pops up asking you how to drop the item. What list of actions you can perform depends on the type of object you're dragging and its destination. For folders you get Move Here, Copy Here, and Create Shortcut Here.

RESTART W95 WITH AN ICON

Restarting Win95 is normally a four-step process (click on the Start button, select Shut Down, click on the "Restart the computer?" button and then click on OK). You can make it a one-step process by creating an icon on your desktop that restarts Win95.

Open Notepad and type @exit. Close the document and give it a name with a .BAT extension. Now stash the file somewhere on your hard disk. Create a shortcut to the file by using the right mouse button to drag it to the Desktop and then selecting Create Shortcut(s) Here. Right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab and select the Close on Exit box. Now click on the Advanced button and make sure "MS- DOS mode" is selected and "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode" is not selected. Click on the OK button twice. Give your new shortcut a unique icon and name. From now on, whenever you double- click on the icon, Win95 will restart, no questions asked.

AUTO RESIZING TO SHOW ALL

You may already know how to resize columns in Exchange, Find and Explorer (when you select View/Details), but here's a twist you may not know. If you double-click on the border, Windows will automatically resize the column to the narrowest width that will still show all the data in the column.

LAUNCHING WEB FROM RUN

Here's how to turn the Run command dialog into a neat Web launching pad. Create a batch file called GO.BAT with the following line: start http://www.%1.com and put it in your WINDOWS folder. Now, whenever you want to go to a Web site, simply bring up the Run box from the Start menu, type GO xyz and hit the Enter key. For example, if you want to go to the WINDOWS Magazine Web site, just type GO ARC.TZO.COM.

HOW TO GAIN ACCESS TO CMOS OR BIOS

While the computer boots and runs the POST (when you see it counting RAM kbytes etc) PRESS the following key or combinations depending on BIOS manuf.

AMI BIOS, press Delete
Phoenix BIOS, press F2
For an old Pheonix BIOS, boot to a safe mode DOS comand prompt, and then press Ctrl+Alt+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+S.
Award BIOS, press Delete, or Ctrl+Alt+Esc
Microid Research BIOS, press Esc.
IBM Aptiva/Valuepoint, press F1
Compaq, press F10

HOW TO TROUBLESHOOT WHILE BOOTING

If Windows fails to boot properly, press F8 while it boots for the Windows StartUp menu, and pick the Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) option. It attempts a normal boot but records the status of every step Windows takes during the process. You can use this option to log a failed boot. Then, reboot to Safe mode if necessary and use a text editor to open BOOTLOG.TXT (in your root directory). Search for "fail" to find the boot steps Windows had trouble with. Failed steps are often excellent clues to the cause of the problem.

HOW TO ALWAYS SHOW BOOT MENU DURING BOOTUP

Unhide and edit msdos.sys (located in the root) with NotePad, and under [Options] and set BootMenu=1, if you see BootGUI=1 change the 1 to 0.

HOW TO DISABLE THE F8 AND F5 KEYS AT BOOT UP

Edit the MSDOS.SYS file (don't forget to restore the hidden/system attributes). Insert a line under the [Options] section to read BootKeys=0 (that's a zero).

DRAG THE SPEAKER ONTO DT AND GET VOLUMN CONTROL

You already know that double- clicking on the speaker icon in the Win95 taskbar tray launches the volume- control dialog, which includes controls for volume, CD, MIDI and .WAV files. But if you drag and drop the speaker icon anywhere on your desktop, you get only the master volume control. It's placed where you drop it and vanishes when you click on anything else.

COPYING FILES BETWEEN OVERLAPING WINDOWS

The easiest way to copy files between overlapping windows on the desktop is to drag the file from the source folder (the foreground) to the button representing the target folder on the Taskbar and hold it there. After a short delay, the target folder gains the focus and comes to the foreground, where you can easily drop your file. With this method, there is no need for jockeying to try to keep part of both folders in view.

EXPANDING CONTENT OF DRIVE

The Windows 95 Explorer provides a keyboard shortcut that can expand the entire contents of a disk drive or folder. Hold down the Alt key and press the Asterisk key on the numeric keypad. Explorer will read and display every subfolder of whatever object you've selected.

ADDING YOUR OWN COMMENTS TO WIN'S HELP

Windows 95 lets you add comments to help topics. Bring up a topic and right-click on it. Choose Annotate, type in your comments, and click on Save. You'll see a paper clip icon at the top of the topic; click on it to return to the annotation screen.

HOW to CAPTURE A PICTURE OF YOUR DESKTOP

For a simple screen capture in Windows 95 hit the Print Screen on your keyboard. This will save an image of your desktop to the clipboard. To capture only the active window, hold down the Alt key when you press Print Screen. Use your favorite graphic tool to crop, resize or whatever.

DID YOU COPY OR MOVE?

When you're dragging a file between folders in Explorer, you might not know whether you've copied or moved it. To make sure that you're copying a file, drag it to the destination folder and when that folder is highlighted press the Ctrl key before releasing the mouse button. A plus sign will appear beside the file to indicate that you're copying it. To move a file, drag it to the destination folder and when that folder is highlighted release the left button.

COMPORTS AND IRQ's - HOW THEY ARE DEFAULT PAIRED

IRQ 2/9 Free or used by soundcard.
IRQ 3 COM2 (Address 2F8)
IRQ 4 COM1 (Address 3F8)
IRQ 5 Sound Card or Second Printer
IRQ 7 Printer LPT1
IRQ 10-12 Usually Free
IRQ 14-15 IDE Controllers

A mouse uaually uses COM1 if it's serial and COM12 if it's PS/2. Internal modems are often set to COM2 and the on-board port disabled. A modem could be configured for COM3 (Address 3E8) IRQ5 if that's available. If the modem is newer and has a 16 bit connection, it can use COM3 (Address 3E8)and a higher interupt like 10-12.

W98 ACTIVE DESKTOP AND WALLPAPER

Convert any image you want to use to a standard Windows .BMP type. Store a copy of it in the Windows folder.

With Active Desktop, you can choose other types, including Web Pages. However Active Desktop is resource hungry, slows your system, and may crash or cause other problems elsewhere. Best left off, IMHO.

MOUSE TROUBLES

Does the mouse work when you run in Safe Mode? If so, then a driver conflict is causing the problem.

If the mouse does not work even in Safe Mode, then you have a CMOS configuration conflict which is preventing the mouse from being recognized.

If you run a serial mouse and have an internal ISA modem installed, ensure that the serial port IRQ used for the serial mouse does not conflict with the serial port IRQ used for the internal modem. This is the most common cause for "disappearing mouse" syndrome.

Its a good practice to set the jumpers on an internal ISA modem to Com3/IRQ2. This usually ensures the modem stays out of the way of the IRQs used by COM1 and COM2.

With the Com3/IRQ2 setup mentioned above, it is important to set the CMOS so that IRQ9 is set to "Legacy ISA Device". This tells the PnP Manager not to allow other devices to share IRQ9 (which is a necessary limitation for ISA devices).

Regardless of the above, if you have a serial mouse it is a good idea to change to a PS/2 style mouse if your motherboard supports it. The PS/2 mouseport on modern motherboards with updated BIOS is managed such that you don't get "disappearing mouse" disease.

ACPI POWER MANAGEMENT

New BIOS versions often come with ACPI Power Management enabled. This is a newer power management version than the APM Power Management in common use today.

Many motherboard BIOS versions with ACPI capabilities are hard-coded to use IRQ9 for ACPI support. As a result, having any other peripherals set to IRQ9 will conflict with ACPI support when motherboard BIOS is also hard-coded to IRQ9.

In this case, it is usually necessary to move one of the peripherals IRQ's. This avoids conflict, but at the expense of disabling one of your peripherals.

Another way around this problem is to disable ACPI and go back to APM power management style. (APM does not use an IRQ). This is normally my preferred solution to this problem -- as ACPI still has compatibility problems on many machines, even with the latest BIOS and drivers.

(Go TOP)
OPTIMIZING YOUR PRINT OPERATIONS

The best way to improve your printer's performance is to add RAM to your PC. During setup, Windows 98 checks your PC's amount of RAM and automatically turns background printing on or off depending on what it finds.

For background printing, Windows 98 creates a printer- ready file, using a format called EMF, before it sends the job to the printer. With sufficient RAM, Windows will spin off this procedure as a separate process and return control to your application so that you can continue on with your work more quickly. The print job proceeds after the EMF file processing completes. If your system doesn't have enough RAM, this process is not spun off as a separate task and ties up your system while you wait for it to finish.

To ENABLE BACKGROUND PRINTING, you need to do two things. First, run your PC with at least 32MB of RAM. Although Microsoft lists only 8MB of RAM as the Windows 98 minimum system requirement, you'll notice all-around improved performance as well as faster printing with 32MB. Second, check your print spooling settings and set them according to your needs. If you want Windows to return control to your application faster, select Start printing after last page is spooled. Otherwise, select Start printing after first page is spooled. Close the Spool Settings dialog box. After you have completed these software changes, take a moment and review your hardware setup. In most new PCs, you can set your parallel (printer) port for different speed modes such as ECP, EPP, and bi- directional. If your printer is capable of communicating in these faster modes, it's worth adjusting these settings in your PC's BIOS. Read your PC's documentation to determine the appropriate setting for your parallel port.

Printer Memory Settings: You should investigate your printer's memory settings under Windows 98. Why? Depending on your printer's communication capabilities, these settings might or might not be correct. If not, your print jobs might be unnecessarily slow. In fact, with incorrect settings, you might be receiving false Out of Memory error messages from your printer. Determine Printer Memory. Before you view this setting, perform a self-test on your printer (read your product's documentation for instructions). The self- test should list the amount of memory installed in the printer. Also check the Printer memory tracking setting. For a potential performance boost, move the slider bar a little to the right of center, toward Aggressive. Then your printer driver will do less preprinting work on your print jobs and just send them on to the printer. You might get some Printer Out of Memory error messages if Windows sends a print job that's beyond the printer's capabilities.

Raster Graphics Graphics processing can make a computer run as slow as molasses. The pretty images look innocent enough, but the calculations required to render them is tremendous. The dumbest of printers only understands rasterized graphics, where the image is completely processed by the host computer and spewed out as a big file of pixels that fully describe the image.

Smarter printers support the more efficient vector graphics mode. With vector graphics, only lines (vectors), not pixels, define the image. Take a blue rectangle, for example. With raster graphics, the printer file would include hundreds of dots laid out in a rectangle format. In vector mode, the border lines and reference to the fill-in color would describe the same rectangle.

Vector graphics processing produces very small data files. These small files put less strain on your PC and off- load most of the processing to the printer itself. Read your printer's documentation to determine if it supports vector graphics. If it does, use the following steps to set vector mode for your printer.

Step 1: Display Properties Right-click on the printer you want to check from the Printers panel. Then choose Properties from the shortcut menu.

Step 2: Display Graphics Properties Select the Graphics tab on the printer's Properties dialog box. Again, as in the last section, your printer might not have a Graphics tab. If not, your printer might not support graphics mode adjustments.

Step 3: Use Vector Graphics Under Graphics mode, choose Use vector graphics (if your printer supports that mode). If you've used raster graphics mode in the past, you should notice that your graphical print jobs complete more quickly after you've adjusted this setting.

ADDING PROGRAMS TO THE W98 NEW TOOLTRAY

You launch Quick Tray by entering QUIKTRAY in the Run dialog box accessed from Start/Run (you may need to include the path to the file). The Quick Tray icon (a blue cube containing a yellow cube) will appear in the System Tray. Clicking the Quick Tray icon opens the Quick Tray dialog box. Use its Add button to add programs to the System Tray. After you add an application to the Quick Tray dialog box, it appears in the System Tray. To quickly access the application, click its icon. To temporarily remove icons from the System Tray, click the Exit button in the Quick Tray dialog box. That closes Quick Tray. To remove an icon permanently, select it in the Quick Tray dialog box and click Remove.

-------------Outside WWW Help Resources------------

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS for using Multiple Monitors in Windows 98.