Windows Watcher

You'll do well if you keep us little people in mind ... by Tom S. Bair Jr.

Our editor could not keep up with my deluge of article submissions. Worse, he kept losing them in the ever-growing stack of submitted articles. He pleaded with my wife to make me take the garbage out more often. It didn't work. He increased my word count per article. Still didn't slow me down.

Wondering just how many tips, tricks, and shortcuts I could possibly uncover, our exhausted editor assigned me a monthly column. I feel honored and challenged (though my wife still has me taking out the garbage twice as often as before).

So I told my dear friend Audrey about my new success and she said, "Congratulations! You'll do well if you keep us little people in mind." After scratching my head, I realized I was being asked to write in plain English a hands-on how-to approach to tweaking Windows. So let's get started.

[Not all of Tom's tricks will work on every version of Windows, so each tip will be prefaced with a '95,' '98,' and/or 'NT' to help you determine whether it will work on your system(s). -- Ed.]

Log Off Prompt [95/98]

If you have a computer at home that is not attached to a network, having a Log Off prompt in your Start menu will only slow your machine down. To find out if you do have a Log Off prompt on your system, click on the Start button. Look above the "Shut Down..." prompt. If you see "Log Off (name)...," you have one. Let's get rid of it.

(Warning: The following procedure should only be attempted by users experienced in editing the Registry).

1. Click on the Start button.

2. Click on Run. Type in regedit from the keyboard and click on the OK button.

3. In the left pane of the Registry Editor window, click on the box with a plus sign in it to the left of HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

4. Click on the plus box next to 'Software.'

5. Click on the plus box next to 'Microsoft.'

6. Click on the plus box next to 'Windows.'

7. Click on the plus box next to 'CurrentVersion.'

8. Click on the plus box next to 'Policies.'

9. Click on the 'Explorer' folder.

10. In the Toolbar at the top of the Registry window, click on 'Edit.'

11. Highlight 'New' and click on 'Binary Value' in the pop-up menu.

12. Name the new entry NoLogOff. Press the Enter key.

13. Press the Enter key again and set the value to 01 00 00 00.

14. Click on the OK button.

15. Exit the Registry Editor and reboot your computer. Click on your Start button to verify that the Log Off prompt has been removed from your system.

Documents Menu [95/98/NT]

Dan S. sent me e-mail asking, "I only want to remove some, but not all, of the documents from the Documents menu (found under the Start button). How?"

To remove all of the documents, you need to navigate to the Start | Settings | Taskbar & Start Menu. Left-click the Start Menu Programs tab. In the Documents Menu area, left-click the Clear button.

To remove only selected items from the Documents list, do the following:

1. Left-click the Start button.

2. Highlight Find, and left-click on Files Or Folders.

3. Type the word recent in the "Named" box.

4. Left-click the Find Now button.

5. After the folder named recent is found, double left-click the folder to open it. (Under Windows NT, there will be a recent folder for each user account. You will only be able to access your personal folder and those for which you have proper administrative privileges.)

6. Now just delete any documents you want removed from the recent documents menu.

If you plan to perform this task often, you might consider creating a shortcut to the recent folder on your desktop. You can do this by right-clicking the folder when Find locates it and left-clicking Create Shortcut.

Desktop Notes [95/98/NT]

Frank Q. asks, "I would like to save all my notes on my computer rather than clutter my desk with stickies, etc., so please advise."

There are actually two ways of saving notes to your Windows desktop. The first technique will allow you to save a note on your desktop that you can easily edit, print, or even delete.

Let's say you need to make a reminder to pick up some items at the store when you head home from work.

1. Right-click on an empty space on your desktop and select New and then Text Document from the pop-up menu.

2. A document named 'New Text Document' will appear on your desktop. The document's name will be highlighted, so just type "pick up groceries after work" in the name field and press Enter.

3. You can edit the list at any time. If you want to print it out, just right-click on the icon and select the Print command from the pop-up menu.

The second technique is the one I use most frequently. I am writing this article in Word Perfect, but it is much too long. I have to edit a few tips out -- but I don't want to lose those tips; I can use them in the next article.

So I create a "scrap" by highlighting the text I wish to save and dragging it onto my desktop with my right mouse button. When I release the button, I select the Move Scrap Here command from the pop-up window. To copy the scrap into my next article, I just drag it from my desktop back into WordPerfect.

By using one or both of these two methods, you should be able to keep your desk free of notes.

Remove Favorites [98]

If you have Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) installed on your computer, you also have a cascading menu on your Start menu which lets you display the contents of your Favorites folder without opening a new window. The Favorites folder, however, is available from any Explorer window. If you never access your Favorites folder from the Start menu, you can remove it:

1. Click on the Start button.

2. Click on Run. Type in regedit from the keyboard, and click on the OK button.

3. In the left pane of the Registry Editor window, click on the box with a plus sign in it to the left of HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

4. Click on the plus box next to 'Software.'

5. Click on the plus box next to 'Microsoft.'

6. Click on the plus box next to 'Windows.'

7. Click on the plus box next to 'CurrentVersion.'

8. Click on the plus box next to 'Policies.'

9. Click on the 'Explorer' folder.

10. In the Toolbar at the top of the Registry window, click on 'Edit.'

11. Highlight 'New' and click on 'DWORD Value' in the pop-up menu.

12. Change the default name to NoFavoritesMenu. Press the Enter key.

13. Press the Enter key again and change the contents of the Value Data to 1.

14. Click on the OK button.

15. Exit the Registry Editor and reboot your computer.

You have just removed the Favorites menu from the Start menu. Use Windows Explorer to access Favorites whenever necessary.

Rename 'My Computer' [95/98/NT]

In the August 1998 Computer Bits, I explained how to rename the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. Terresa W. asks how to rename the 'My Computer' icon on the desktop without having to use the Registry Editor. She makes claim to being a computer novice, and feels uncomfortable using Regedit.

After several days of intensive research, I found the solution by simply asking a friend who also likes to tweak Windows. Following the three steps below will reward you with a personalized icon name.

1. If using Windows 95 or NT, left-click once on the 'My Computer' icon on the desktop. If using Windows 98 in 'single-click' mode, just highlight the icon.

2. Press the F2 key. A box will form under your icon, highlighting the existing name.

3. Type in a new name and press the Enter key.

Vertical Taskbar [95/98/NT]

Some Windows users enjoy orienting their taskbar vertically along the left- or the right-hand side of the screen, instead of horizontally along the bottom. I do this for two reasons. A vertical orientation allows you easily to keep track of several programs running at once. Also, a monitor screen is 33% wider than it is tall. You can spare more horizontal room on your monitor. It may be a bit disconcerting at first, but you quickly adjust to it and enjoy a much more organized screen.

1. Left-click on any empty spot on your taskbar. Hold down the left mouse button and 'drag' the pointer (the mouse arrow) either to the left or the right of your screen.

2. Release the left mouse button.

3. Now adjust its width by placing your pointer on the inside edge of your taskbar. A small double black arrow will appear. Left-click and drag the edge to a width that suits your tastes.

Corrections

In the article that appeared in the August 1998 issue of Computer Bits, I omitted the final three steps to the tip "One-Step Restarts." Although we have corrected the online version of the article, I am very concerned about our readers who do not have Internet access. So I would like to give the last three steps below and ask you, please, to forgive my error.

• Right-click on the shortcut and select Properties. Click on the Program tab and select "Close on Exit" box.

• Now click on the Advanced button and verify that the "MS-DOS mode" is selected, and "Warn before entering MS-DOS mode" is not selected.

• Left-click on the OK button, and again left-click on the OK button. You should now be back to your desktop.

A second error in the same article was discovered by Larry R. In steps 8 and 9 of the 'Menu Drop-Down Delay' tip, "MenuShow Delay" should be one word: MenuShowDelay.