Windows Watcher

Death of a PDA ... by Tom S. Bair, Jr.

My personal digital assistant (PDA)died a few days ago. The screen was damaged with two horizontal cracks, which fully disabled any input into the PDA. I could not even back up the data contained in the PDA to my PC since I was unable to place it in Sync mode. I was bummed. I really loved that PDA.

I was going to give it a decent burial in the backyard after I performed a lobotomy on it. The wife, however, was not agreeable to my plans. She in no way wanted to be digging up my "deceased electronics" while planting flowers in the yard. I was further disinheartened.

It would cost more to replace the screen than what I originally shelled out for my hand-held data pal. My options? Buy a new PDA, or go back to my old trustworthy PDA that contained one megabyte less memory than the dead one.

Have you shopped for a PDA lately? All the options and features available in the different models and brands can make your head spin. I decided to use my old Sharp Zaurus ZR-3000 until such time as I can make a decision on which PDA to purchase. If you have any suggestions, experiences, or comments concerning which PDA you consider to be the best, please e-mail me with your thoughts. I'll do a follow-up in this column a few months from now and share your thoughts with the readers.

Font Sizes with Wheel Mouse

[98/SE/ME/2K] If you have a wheel mouse, then this tip from Rudolph Haccou is for you. By holding down the Ctrl (Control) key on your keyboard while rolling the mouse wheel, the font size will change. I have tested this nifty trick successfully in Word 2000, WordPad, and Internet Explorer 5.5. It does not work in Notepad.

While holding down the Ctrl key:

Moving the wheel forward decreases the font size.

Moving the wheel backward increases the font size.

Restore Cascading Menus

[98/SE/ME]I have heard complaints from many readers concerning the lack of cascading menus off their Start button. They loved this style in Windows 95, and want Windows 98 to display the same way.

Instead of adding multiple entries to the Registry via RegEdit, I will show you how to write a REG file to alter your Windows Registry. Cascading Windows style menus will then display off your Start button.

1. Open NotePad by navigating to Start|Programs|Accessories|Notepad.
2. For the 1st line, type: REGEDIT4
3. 2nd line: [HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Advanced\Folder\]
4. Insure in step #3 above that the only spaces used are after the first three words.
5. 3rd line: "Type"="checkbox"
6. 4th line: "Text"="Cascading Multi-Column Start Menu"
7. 5th line: "HkeyRoot"=dword:80000001
8. 6th line: "RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
9. 7th line: "ValueName"="StartMenuScrollPrograms"
10. 8th line: "CheckedValue"="false"
11. 9th line: "UncheckedValue"="true"
12. . 10th line: "DefaultValue"="true"
13. 11th line: "HelpID"="update.hlp"
14. In Notepad, click on 'File.'
15. Click on 'Save As...'.
16. Click on the DownArrow to the right of the box titled "Save as type:".
17. In the drop-down list, click on "All Files(*.*)".
18. In the "File name:" box, type cascadingmenu.reg.
19. Insure that "My Documents" is in the location box next to 'Save in:'.
20. Click on the 'Save' button.
21. Run Windows Explorer by navigating to Start|Programs|Assessories|Windows Explorer.
22. If you are not already in "My Documents" folder, click on the "My Documents" icon in the left pane of Windows Explorer.
23. Locate and double-click on cascadingmenu.reg.
24. Depending on which version of Windows you are running, you will be asked if you wish to "merge" or "add" this information to your Registry in a pop-up window. Click on the 'Yes' button.
25. Exit all programs and reboot your computer.

To activate this new feature:

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click on 'View' (Windows ME users click on 'Tools')
3. Click on 'Folder Options'
4. Click on the 'View' tab.
5. Click on the checkbox labeled "Cascading Multi-Column Start Menu."
6. Click on the 'Apply' button.
7. Click on the 'OK' button.

Have Me's Explorer Open in My Computer

[ME] The very first thing I didn't like about Windows Millennium Edition was how Windows Explorer opened in the 'My Documents' folder by default. I have always preferred Explorer to open in 'My Computer,' so that I may have quick access to all my drives and folders.

If you have Windows Me on your computer and would like to have Explorer begin in 'My Computer,' follow the steps below. I have developed this tip so that even new computer users can perform this tip successfully.

1. Click on the 'Start' button.
2. Highlight 'Programs.'
3. Highlight 'Accessories.'
4. Right-click on 'Windows Explorer.'
5. Click on 'Properties' at the bottom of the pop-up Command Menu.
6. In the 'Target:' box, you will see the command "C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE". Click in the box at the end of this command so that you have a blinking cursor at the end of E in EXE.
7. Hit the spacebar one time.
8. Type: /n, /e,.
9. Insure that you have placed a space between "/n," and "/e,".
10. Click on the 'Apply' button.
11. Click on the 'OK' button.

Try it out. If you find that you prefer to have Explorer open in 'My Documents,' just perform the steps above and in step #7 delete everything after the "EXE" in the command.

Application Key on Windows Keyboard

[95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K] If you have a Windows style keyboard, you may have noticed that it contains two extra keys. One of those keys is the 'Application Key.' It has a mouse arrow highlighting a menu command. Ever wonder what this key does?

Simply put, it is a right-click mouse button equivalent. Pressing this key will act the same as right-clicking on your desktop. Or if you have an item highlighted, pressing this key will result in that item's shortcut menu being displayed.

Temporarily Disable Startup Programs

[95/98/SE/ME] Want a simple way to keep the programs from loading in your Startup Folder? Just hold down the Ctrl key while loading Windows to keep the items in the Startup folder from launching. I use this technique quite often when trying to trouble-shoot ailing systems.

Gain More Disk Space

[95] If you don't need all that extra animation in your Help files, you can free up to 7 MB of disk space by deleting all the .AVI files from your C:\Windows\Help folder, if you originally chose to install the Win95 "Online User's Guide."

1. Run Windows Explorer.
2. In the left-pane, click on the Windows folder.
3. Click on the 'Help' folder.
4. Locate any files with the extension ".AVI" and right-click on each one. Click on 'Delete' in the pop-up Command Menu.
5. Repeat step 4 until you have removed all the .AVI files in the folder.
6. Exit Windows Explorer.

Enable Me's DMA support

[ME] Microsoft has confirmed there is a problem in that Windows Millennium Edition does not automatically enable Direct Memory Access (DMA) when installing on a computer with DMA compliant Hard and CD-ROM drives. Microsoft recommends you enable DMA via the Device Manager. Here's how:

1. Click on the 'Start' button.
2. Highlight 'Settings,' 'Control Panel,' and click on 'System.'
3. Click on the 'Device Manager' tab.
4. Click on the plus-box next to 'CD-ROM.'
5. Click on your DMA compliant CD-ROM to view its properties. (A DMA compliant device is known to be UDMA 33, 66, or 100 capable).
6. Click on 'System' tab.
7. Place a check mark in the box next to "DMA" by clicking on the box.
8. A warning window will pop up. Click on the 'OK' button.
9. Follow steps #4 through #8 for your Hard Drive. Just substitute the word "CD-ROM" with "Disk drives."
10. Reboot your computer.

A word of caution. If you are unsure if your CD-ROM or hard drive is UDMA compliant, do not activate the DMA feature. Doing so may cause your system to freeze up.

Nancy Ahern says that Tom Bair, who meekly declines to mention his contributing editorship, no longer cares to talk about ME ... Windows Millennium Edition, that is. No, he has moved on to playing with his laptop. But let us not go there.