| April 1999 | Volume 9 • Number 4 |
No Mac products were used in the production of this column ... by Tom S. Bair, Jr.
Columnists have predicted for years that Macintosh was gasping its last breath. That Apple would no longer be in business six months down the road. Yet here it is 1999, and we have a brand new iMac from the company that was supposed to have died.
This must mean either that Apple makes a pretty good product, or that they have a loyal following of Macintosh users, or both. I admit I've never touched a Mac keyboard in my life. I am loyal to the IBM PC standard. Yet it does make you wonder: What is, exactly, that keeps the Mac alive? I would enjoy hearing your opinions and thoughts on this subject. Just remember, this is not a debate, nor an argument over which is the better platform. Feel free to email me.
[W95][W98]The root directory of the C: drive contains nonessential files mixed in with required system files. By removing unneeded files, you'll not only get more hard drive space, but make your system faster and more responsive. For those wishing to clean out the clutter, here's a listing of what's what:
1. Uninstall Files
Suhdlog.dat, W95undo.dat, W95undo.ini, Winundo.dat, Winundo.ini are Windows 95/98 uninstall files. Remove these files by using Control Panel's Add\Remove Programs option.
2. Files OK to Delete
Asd.log, Bootlog.prv, Bootlog.txt, Detlog.old, Detlog.txt, Netlog.txt, Oemlog.txt, Scandisk.log, and Setuplog.txt. Also delete any file with . -- - or .bak, txt, prv, log, old, and .dos extension. In your Windows folder, delete anything with the extensions .log, .old,. -- -,.bak,.000,.001, etc..
3. Delete these Files with Caution
Autoexec.bat, Autoexec.dos, Autoexec.pss, Config.sys, Config.dos, Config.pss, Command.dos, Io.dos, Logo.sys, Msdos.dos, and System.1st. These files are not needed to run Windows, but they are used for DOS mode, booting to previous operating system, and various other (possibly unneeded) functions. Delete only if you are sure you don't need them.
4. Do Not Delete these Files
Command.com, Io.sys, Msdos.sys. Never delete any files in C:\Windows\Temp, unless the dates of the files you desire to delete are earlier than the last time you booted up. Your applications use these files to store temporary information, and won't run properly if you try to delete them.
[W98] Are you tired of double-clicking on your desktop icons? Would you like to launch your application with just a single-click of your mouse? If so, then follow the steps below to activate single-click.
1. Left-click on the Start button.
2. Highlight Settings, and left-click on Folder Options.
3. You will notice that you are offered three settings for "Windows Desktop Update" under the General tab. You can configure your PC for single-click in one of two ways. The easiest is to click on "Web Style" option, and click on the Close button.
4. The second method is to click on "Custom, based on Settings you choose:". Click on the Settings button.
5. Click on the "Single-click" option under the "Click items as follows" section.
6. Click on the OK button.
7. Left-click on the Close button.
[W95]There are times when you have multiple windows open. Perhaps you need or desire to access your desktop, but you hate closing all those windows. Here is a method to perform this task:
1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. Left-click on "Explore" in the pop-up menu.
3. In the left (All Folders) pane of the Explorer window, left-click on the "Start Menu" folder.
4. Left-click on "File" at the top left of your screen. Highlight "New", and left-click on "Shortcut".
5. A "Create Shortcut" menu pops up. In the Command Line box, type
c:\windows\desktop
6. Left-click on the "Next" button.
7. "Desktop" appears in the Command Line box under "Select a name for the shortcut:". Let's leave the name as it is and left-click on the "Finish" button.
8. Close Windows Explorer.
Begin by left-clicking on the Start button. A Desktop folder appears on the menu. Left-clicking on this folder will open a window containing all the icons that are on your desktop. Although this procedure will work in Windows 98, it is not needed since there is a desktop icon available on the Quick Launch Bar, which is located on the Task Bar. I realize there are some readers (like my mother) who enjoy learning by tinkering. If you are running Windows 98 and you want to perform this procedure, you may safely do so.
[W98]Windows will automatically back up your registry on the first successful boot up of each day. It will keep up to five copies of registry backups in C:\WINDOWS\SYSBACKUP folder. If you need to restore a back up of the registry, do the following:
1.Boot your PC to the DOS prompt. You can do this in one of two ways:
A. Hit the F8 key while your PC is booting up. Select the "Command prompt only" option.
B. Left-click on the Start button. Select "Shutdown|Restart in MS-DOS mode".
2. At the DOS prompt; type
Scanreg /restore
and press Enter. Please insure you enter a space after the "g".
3. A blue screen will appear with "Microsoft Registry Checker" at the top. You are asked to select a cab file to restore from. Use your Up and Down arrows (or mouse pointer, appearing as a block) to select the desired cab file. Use the Left and Right arrow keys to select between "Restore" and "Cancel". Enter your choices.
4. After your Registry has been restored, hit CTRL-ALT-DEL to relaunch Windows 98.
[W98]Have you ever clicked on a shortcut only to see that flashlight frantically searching for the item the shortcut points to? The reason the flashlight appears is because the target program or file has been deleted or moved. Good news, Windows 98 comes with a utility which searches your entire system for severed links
As Microsoft states, "The Link Check Wizard scans all of the Link Files on your system. If the associated application or document for a link is not found, the Wizard will list that Link File as a Dead Link giving you an option to remove it."
The Link Check Wizard is located on your Windows 98 installation CD in D:\tools\reskit\desktop folder as chklnks.exe. You can either copy and run this file from the CD to any location on your hard drive, or just run it right off the CD.
To run the Wizard:
1. Place your Windows 98 CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to D:\tools\reskit\desktop.
3. Double left-click on chklnks.exe
4. Click on the Next button, and wait. You will see a list of all dead links after the wizard has performed its search.
5. Left-click on the box next to each dead link you would like to delete (or left-click the "Select All" button).
6. Left-click on the Finish button. After a pop-up window appears, telling you the operation completed successfully; left-click on the OK button.
[W98]Many readers have asked why auto-redial in Dial-Up Networking is turned off by default. I am unable to explain the reason why, but I can give you directions to turn the auto-redial feature on:
1. Double left-click on your "My Computer" desktop icon.
2. Double left-click on the "Dial-Up Networking" system folder icon.
3. Left-click on "Connections" (located at the top of the window, next to File; Edit; View, etc.), highlight and left-click on "Settings".
4. Left-click on the box to the left of "Redial" so that a checkmark appears in the box.
5. Using the Up and Down arrow buttons, adjust how many times to retry, and how long to wait between retrys.
6. Left-click on the "OK" button. Close the Dial-Up Networking window.
[W98]Have you ever inserted a floppy disk into your Windows 98 computer system, only to have it crash on you? Did you know that Windows 98 changes the OEM-ID of any disk you insert. In particular, it changes offset 3 in the boot-sector of the floppy disk. This is done to update the file system on the floppy disk to accept long filenames.
Floppy disks that crash due to this alteration are copy-protected program disks, older versions of MS-DOS Startup disks, and programs that inspect the validity of a disk before installing. The fix to this problem is really simple. Just write-protect your disk before putting it into the floppy drive.
[W95] [W98]You are able to arrange the open windows on your desktop in one of three different options: Cascade Windows, Tile Windows Horizontally, or Tile Windows Vertically. To do so, just right-click on any blank area of your Taskbar after you have first opened one or more windows on your desktop.
Selecting "Cascade Windows" will arrange your open windows in a waterfall formation, with all the title bars visible. The drawback to this is that, when you select a window in the back of the pile, it will cover up the title bars of those windows in the front. Its advantage is that you can work in full-sized windows.
Selecting one of the two "Tile Windows" options will result in the open windows being displayed side by side. Choosing the Horizontal option will display windows left to right, with one on top of the other; opting for Vertical will result in up-and-down windows. Either will give a tiled effect with four or more windows open on your desktop. The two negative aspects of tiling are having small windows, and living with certain dialog boxes which take up too much real estate in the window.
Now if you will excuse me until next month, I am going to stroll on over to the Macking It column and ask Michael Pearce just why the Mac is still alive today.