MDGx WinDOwS Tricks - Part 15 (original) (raw)

MDGx MAX Speed WinDOwS

WinDOwS Tricks - Part 15Go to ALL WinDOwS ©Tricks + Secrets Contents

• 11-2-99 Win9x/ME Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

MANAGE YOUR POWER!

If you:

  1. First enter your BIOS/CMOS Setup by pressing the appropriate key (usually Del) specified in your computer/motherboard manual during the bootup POST (Power On Self Test) screen, and DISABLE ALL (Advanced) Power Management (APM/ACPI) settings, like: "Doze Mode", "Standby Mode", "Suspend Mode", "HDD Power Down", "Video Off" etc. Save your changes and reboot.
  2. After your Windows GUI comes up: open Control Panel → Power Management→ select the "Always on" Power scheme → make sure the "Turn off monitor" and "Turn off hard disks" boxes show "Never" → click OK/Apply to save changes.
  3. Edit your SYSTEM.INI file (found in your Windows folder) with Notepad or Sysedit (but BACKUP IT UP FIRST!) → go to the:
    1. [boot] section → look for the "power.drv" entry on the "drivers=" line → move it to a new line of its own starting with a semicolon (;) to disable it (example):[boot]
      drivers=mmsystem.dll whatever.vxd etc...
      ; power.drvDO NOT remark/disable ANY other filenames on the "drivers=" line!
    2. [386enh] section → look for the "device=*vpowerd" line → disable it by placing a semicolon (;) in front of it (example):[386enh]
      ; device=*vpowerdSave your file.
  4. BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY FILES: SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT + CLASSES.DAT (WinME only)!
  5. Run Regedit:
    1. Go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEand then to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VCOMMUnder each key above → (double-)click on the "EnablePowerManagement" DWORD/Binary (depending on your Win9x/ME release) Value in the right hand pane →change ALL characters to read 0 (zero) → click OK/press Enter.
    2. Click Edit from the Regedit menu → select Find→ start 3 separate Registry searches: type "power.drv", "vpower" and "vpowr" respectively (no quotes) in the "Find what..." box → delete ALL found keys/values/entries.
  6. Move to a safe BACKUP location these 2 files from C:\Windows\System: POWER.DRV + VPOWERD.VXD.
  7. Disable ANY Power Management entries from the System Agent (Task Scheduler) list.
  8. Restart Windows.
  9. Done. Your Windows machine should perform significantly smoother from now on, without annoying interruptions and/or intermittent errors. :)FYI:
    See this Windows 98/98 SE/ME APM (Advanced Power Management) guide.

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• 10-28-99 Win3.1x/9x/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003 Netscape ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:

CUSTOM NETSCAPE THROBBER

Do this only if using a Netscape 3.0x/4.xx 32 or 16-bit web browser in Windows 3.1x/9x/NT/2000/ME/XP.

Are you tired of watching the same old spinning icon (called "throbber" or "flying logo") in the right upper corner of your Netscape browser window until a web page stops loading? If your answer is YES, read on...
You can easily replace it with a better looking one you can download from the pages linked further below, or you can create your own using an animated GIF editor/creator. I prefer these Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 32-bit tools: GifIcon [1.85 MB, nag shareware] + Microsoft GIF Animator [1 MB, free].
Usually these two files are called30M.BMP (30x30 pixels) and 48M.BMP (48x48 pixels), and they are just animated GIFs converted to Windows bitmaps (.BMP format). The number of colors can be anything between 256 and 16 million, but pay attention that they may look ugly if you have set your Windows resolution to only 256 colors and the logos are rendered for example at 16-bit (65,000 colors).
The frames that make up the animation must be lined up side by side horizontally without spaces. You can cut & paste them together using any graphic/image viewer/editor supporting BOTH the BMP and GIF formats. I prefer:

  1. Navigator 3.0x:
    1. Close all Netscape browser windows.
    2. Make sure to copy the two bitmaps to the proper destination (see above).
    3. Restart your browser and have fun.
  2. Navigator/Communicator 4.xx:
    1. Close all Netscape browser windows.
    2. Make sure the two bitmaps reside in the right place (see above).
    3. Open PREFS.JS in Notepad, a configuration text file residing in your \Users\UserID subdirectory. Just substitute UserID with your real e-mail name/login ID. Add these lines:config("toolbar.logo.win_small_file","30m.bmp");
      config("toolbar.logo.win_large_file","48m.bmp");
      config("toolbar.logo.frames",20);
      config("toolbar.logo.url","https://www.mdgx.com/");Replace the frames number above (20 in this case) with the actual number of frames in your throbber, and the URL on line #4 with the Internet address of your choice, which will load up whenever you click on the flying logo (default is the Netscape web site). Save your file.
      Note that Netscape 4.xx supports any names for its logos ONLY IF you match the Prefs.js lines with your file names.
    4. Change the PREFS.JS file attributes to read-only, by running this command line from any DOS prompt (example):ATTRIB +R C:\NETSCAPE\USERS\USERID\PREFS.JSIf you don't do this, your custom throbber lines will be erased from Prefs.js the next time you open the browser. :(
    5. Restart your browser and have fun. Dedicated Netscape spinning logo pages:

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• 10-21-99 Win9x/ME Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

DISPLAY CPL + DLL HIDDEN ICONS

I am bored already with the generic [read "ugly" :)] icons assigned to .CPL (Control Panel Library) applets and .DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files in Windows 9x/ME Explorer. So I searched the Registry for a fix. Here it is...

  1. Change the default CPL Explorer icon: run Regedit and go to:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cplfile\DefaultIcon(Double-)click the right hand pane "(Default)" String Value and modify it to read "%1" (no quotes).
  2. Change the default DLL Explorer icon: go to:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\DefaultIcon(Double-)click the right hand pane "(Default)" String Value and modify it to read "%1" (no quotes).
  3. Close the Registry Editor... done. From now on when you look at a folder listing these file types you'll see some cool (hidden) icons. :)
    The only disadvantage is that files that don't contain ANY icons will still display the default "unknown type" icon. :(Alternatively, and especially if you dislike "messing" with the Registry, you can run [(double-)click in Windows Explorer or File Manager (FM = %windir%\WINFILE.EXE)] the .REG file below (copy & paste its lines in Notepad and save it for example as OWNICON.REG), to achieve all this in one "swift" move:-----Begin cut & paste here-----
    REGEDIT4[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cplfile\DefaultIcon]
    @="%1" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\DefaultIcon]
    @="%1"------End cut & paste here------And the beauty is that you can do this for other file types too, like: .ACM, .AX, .BMP, .DRV, .EXE, .GIF, .JPG, .OCX, .SCR, .VBX, .VXD etc.FYI: See "ICON BITMAP", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more details.

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• 10-14-99 Win9x/2000/ME/XP Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

TOOLTIP OFF

Apply these two Registry hacks to completely disable the annoying tooltips ("mini-help" boxes) that pop up whenever you place the mouse cursor over objects/buttons/boxes/etc, supporting this feature in Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP/2003 and MS Internet Explorer 3/4/5/6:

  1. Hack #1 appears courtesy of Casper:"Run Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AdvancedModify/create the "ShowInfoTip" DWORD Value (no quotes) and give it a value of 0 in the Decimal box. To restore the tooltips change its Decimal value to 1.
    The Start button tooltip still pops up though. :("
  2. Hack #2: start Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktopand:HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\desktopBackup this key FIRSTto be able to restore the tooltips later on: click the Registry item from the Menu → select "Export Registry File..." →browse to the folder of your choice → type TTIPON.REG (or whatever name you want, but keep the REG extension) →click the Save button.
    Now scroll to the "UserPreferencesmask" Binary Value in the right hand pane. (Double-)click on it → delete the first 2 digits by placing the cursor after the second character (there are a total of 8 editable digits there) → hit Backspace twice → type 3e (case insensitive) → click OK or press Enter.
    You can also use this REG file (copy the lines bellow in Notepad and save it as TTIPOFF.REG), if you dislike "messing" with the Registry:-----Begin cut & paste here-----
    REGEDIT4[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
    "UserPreferencesmask"=hex:3e,00,00,00[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop]
    "UserPreferencesmask"=hex:3e,00,00,00------End cut & paste here------To restore the tooltips to the previous state, just run TTIPON.REG. More info:

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• 10-7-99 Win9x/ME Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

FASTER 56K MODEM

If you have a newer external 56K analog or ISDN modem (dial-up), you may be able to take advantage of a little extra speed boost in Windows 95/98/ME.
Modern external dial-up modems have their own built-in CPU, which runs usually at 25 MHz (higher than internal modems' CPUs, rated at 8-20 MHz). Good examples are most 3COM/US Robotics Sportster and Courier models. Such modems have the capability of internal data transfers (COMmunication port to modem) up to 230400 bps, or even higher: maximum allowed is 921200 bps.
This tweak applies also to 56K/ISDN modems connected to internal ISA (PnP) serial I/O add-on cards equipped with faster UARTs: 16650 or 16750, designed to transfer data between the COM port and the modem up to 921200 bps. Wow! This makes regular ISDN look like a slow poke. :)
If you wanna get one of these internal high speed UART I/O cards, check out Pacific Commware's TurboExpress Port 920.

But this canNOT be achieved without a Registry tweak, because the maximum transfer speed (default) allowed by Windows 9x/ME is 115200 bps, enabled from: Control Panel → Modems → Your Modem Name → Properties → General tab → Maximum speed → 115200 → OK → OK.
To enable and use this higher speed, run Regedit and go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Modem\0000Note that your modem might be installed under the 0001, 0002 etc keys, not necessarily under 0000. Highlight the appropriate one.
In the right hand pane (double-)click the "Properties" Binary value. You'll notice that the 7th up to the 10th digits on the 4th row (the one that begins with 0018) show C2 01 (or 84 03), which corresponds to a maximum connection speed of 115200 (or lower) bps. Highlight and replace them with 10 0E to bump it up to 921200.
Geek speak: replace the 24th up to the 27th byte (0x18h) as shown above.
Do NOT change anything else there! Click OK when done and close the Registry Editor.
For convenience you can use the REG file below to do this without having to alter the Binary value. Just make sure the modem key matches the one in your Registry (replace 0000 with 0001 or 0002 etc if necessary):

-----Begin cut & paste here----- REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Modem\0000] "Properties"=hex:80,01,00,00,ff,00,00,00,ff,00,00,00,07,00,00,00,0f,00,00,00,
  77,07,00,00,00,10,0e,00,00,fa,00,00

------End cut & paste here------

Paste the lines between cut & paste into Notepad (the empty line at the end is necessary!) and save this file as 921200.REG. Then (double-)click on it in Windows Explorer or File Manager (FM = %windir%\WINFILE.EXE) to merge it into your Registry.
Now if you open Control Panel → Modems... and follow the same steps above, you can see that 3 new settings are available: 230400, 460800 + 921600.
Reset your modem's "Maximum speed" to one of these new values (some experimenting might be necessary depending on your hardware specs), save your changes, and finally, connect to the Internet as usual. I'm sure you'll notice the speed boost. :)CAUTION: If you try this on internal 56K modems, your connection may lock up, and/or experience various errors while using any communications apps or the Internet, which may also occur if your external modem does NOT have a 25 MHz or faster CPU! If that is the case, reset the "Maximum speed" (see above) back to 115200.TIPS:

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• 10-7-99 Win9x/ME ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

FREE MORE MEMORY

You can get back some of the memory available to Windows 9x/ME, which after working/playing for a while, decreases, even if you have closed all open apps/games, and is not the same as right after bootup, before you started your first program/game.
This is due in part to poor programming skills, because a lot of software does not release ALL the memory it has used back to the system, and in part to the Windows GUI inability of managing memory very well. :(
You can test this "annoyance" by running SysMon, a cool tool included with Win9x/ME, located in your Windows folder. Start System Monitor right after you loaded Windows, and before opening any program. Configure it this way: click Edit

→ select Add Item... → click Memory Manager → select "Unused physical memory" → hit OK. Now remember the number it shows before you start your first program/game, and then after a while, take a peek at SysMon's chart again, and compare the current value with the initial one. The latter will be undoubtedly smaller than the former.
But there is something you can do, you can free some of this memory and return it to the system: just create a small text file (in Notepad) with this single line:FreeMem=Space(24000000)Save it as FREEMEM.VBS (Visual Basic Script file) and place it on the Desktop. The filename is of no importance, but the extension must be kept.
But first you need to make sure your Windows 9x/ME system has the newest version of Microsoft Scripting Engines (MSE) 5.6 properly installed.
If using Windows 98/ME or MS IE 5/6, you already have all these system components installed, but an older version (5.1 or 5.5).
If using Windows 95, OSR1 or OSR2 without MS IE 5.x, you need to download and install MSE.
For more WSH info read this MSKB article.Now whenever you want to regain a little more RAM, especially after long periods of time, when system memory depletion might start impairing overall Windows performance, just (double-)click on FREEMEM.VBS, and your system's available RAM will increase with the amount specified in parenthesis (see above), in this case 24 Mb. You can adjust this number to match your needs (even create more VBS files to free different memory amounts), but try not to go over 1/2 your installed RAM.
If you do exceed the maximum of (re)usable RAM, you'll get a "Windows Scripting Host - Script Execution Error" message box, like:"Category: Microsoft VBScript runtime error
Description: Out of string space: 'Space'"Make sure to close ALL programs you're done with BEFORE running FREEMEM.VBS.
To execute the VBS file unattended, you could use System Agent (Task Scheduler) to run it at will (i.e. once an hour), but that would consume extra CPU cycles and Windows GDI resources. :(More info.

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• 9-30-99 Win3.1x/9x/DOS ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:

DETECT WINDOWS

  1. This cool undocumented batch trick appears courtesy of Pawel."This technique detects the presence of Windows in a DOS batch (.BAT) file, useful for preventing crashes, if your batch file needs to run ONLY from native MS-DOS, or ONLY from a Windows DOS box/session, i.e. while manipulating the Registry with REGEDIT.EXE (example):@ECHO OFF
    MEM /C | FIND /I "vmm32">NUL
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO NO
    IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTOOK
    :OK
    :: Your batch command lines go here...
    GOTO END
    :NO
    ECHO Windows detected!
    :END
    EXITSave these lines as DETWIN.BAT, or place them in batch files before the lines that depend on Windows presence/absence to run.
    This batch file example continues to execute only from a DOS box/prompt/session/window within Windows GUI, and aborts if Windows is not running.
    You can force this BAT example to work only from native/real/true/pure MS-DOS mode outside Windows, and abort if Windows is running, by replacing all NOinstances above with OK (and vice versa)."
  2. Another BATch technique used to detect if Windows is running, also using FIND.EXE errorlevels (single line):SET | FIND.EXE "windir" | IF ERRORLEVEL 0 ECHO Windows detected!Save line above as DETWIN.BAT (or any other .BAT name), place it in a directory (folder) in your path (specified in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS), or paste it into batch files depending on Win9x/ME or Win31 GUI detection to run certain DOS commands/programs selectively (i.e. temporary directory/file "cleaners" using DELTREE, DEL, COPY, MOVE etc). NOTES:

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• 9-22-99 Win3.1x/9x/ME/IE Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:

IE BLANK PAGE OFF

I got bored with the default Microsoft Internet Explorer blank page that pops up every time I try to access a web page that doesn't exist anymore due to an invalid link ("File not found", a.k.a. HTTP error 404), or if the connection is broken/interrupted because of a (temporary) server/network/provider downtime, etc.
The MS IE default blank page exists as

BLANK.HTM in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM (Windows 95/98/ME) or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 (Windows NT4/newer).
But you can make it go away, or change it to something else, a little more pleasurable to the eye. ;-)
This should work with all MS IE releases.If using MS IE 5/6/newer make sure BLANK.HTM file size is LARGER than 512 Bytes!

  1. To make BLANK.HTM disappear automatically, open it with Notepad, and modify it to make it look something like this:-----Begin cut & paste here----- Go Away!

    Go Away!

    JavaScript \*must\* be enabled for this to work!

    \------End cut & paste here------This particular JavaScript will also automatically close the MS IE window. JavaScript \*must\* be enabled in MS IE for this to work! Save your file, exit Notepad, and then (re)start MS IE.
  2. To force MS IE to load another HTML document (web page) instead of its defaultBLANK.HTM, run Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MainIn the right hand pane (double-)click on "Local Page" and replaceC:\Windows\System\blank.htm with the file name of the HTML document you want, found preferably on your local computer, so you won't have to wait for a remote web page to load off the Internet. Make sure to type the full path to your file (drive letter and folder name) in the "Value data:" box.
    I use a simple web page which displays a cool JPG. Example of creating such an HTM document in Notepad (save it as1STPIC.HTM, or whatever other name you wish, just keep the HTM or HTML extension):-----Begin cut & paste here----- 1st Pic \------End cut & paste here------Note that **1stpic.jpg** resides in this case in**C:\\PICS**. If you place your image into the same directory/folder as your HTML file, there is no need to specify its path on the src= line, which should look like this:**src=1stpic.jpg**You can modify the page title/layout/etc, JPG file name/path to your liking, or replace it with your favorite GIF or PNG file. Exit Regedit when done, (re)start MS IE and then surf away. FYI:

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• 9-22-99 Win9x/ME ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

CAB EXTRACT

Courtesy of Ben.

"To extract any file(s) from your Windows 95/98/ME Setup CD-ROM CABinets (CABs), create a small DOS batch (.BAT) file using Notepad in Windows or EDIT.COM in DOS, say EXTRACT.BAT [or any other suggestive name, just keep the BAT extension :)], with these lines:@ECHO OFF
MEM /C | FIND /I "vmm32">NUL
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END
C:
CD\
IF NOT EXIST \EXTRACT\NUL MD \EXTRACT>NUL
CD\EXTRACT
VER | FIND /I "95">NUL
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO W95
VER | FIND /I "98">NUL
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO W98
VER | FIND /I "Mill">NUL
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO WME
GOTO END
:W95
EXTRAC32.EXE /A /L C:\EXTRACT D:\WIN95\WIN95_02.CAB %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
GOTO END
:W98
EXTRAC32.EXE /A /L C:\EXTRACT D:\WIN98\WIN98_21.CAB %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
GOTO END
:WME
EXTRAC32.EXE /A /L C:\EXTRACT D:\WIN9X\WIN_10.CAB %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
:END
CLS
EXITD is your CD/DVD drive letter (change if necessary).
You could also use the DOS based EXTRACT.EXE tool instead of Extrac32.exe, but if the original files have Long File Names (LFNs), this information will be lost. :(
Note that EXTRACT.BAT works ONLY from a Windows DOS box/session/window, NOT from native/real/true/pure MS-DOS mode!
Place this BAT file anywhere. Create a shortcut to it. Then right-click on it → click Properties → on the Shortcut tab add a space after the command line:drive:\path\EXTRACT.BATPlace this shortcut into the folder of your choice, i.e. on your Desktop.
Now when you need to restore a corrupted or overwritten Windows system file or any type of files from the installation CD-ROM, just (double-)click the shortcut and type in the filename (wildcards are accepted). Extracted files will go to C:\EXTRACT in this case.
Voila."UPDATE: "Win98/98 SE(U)/ME users can also extract any Windows System files this way: click the Start button → Run... → type SFC (System File Checker) orMSCONFIG (System Configuration Tool = WinME users ONLY) → click the Extract File... button (MSCONFIG ONLY) →type in the EXACT name AND extension of the file you want to extract → click OK.
If you copied the CAB files to your local hard disk/partition, you can extract from there, otherwise point to your Windows Setup CD-ROM."
[Thank you Silimtao!]Extract Files From Windows Setup Cabs VBS Script [1.6 KB, free].

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• 9-15-99 Win3.1x/9x/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003 Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part ofW95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:

3.1X/9X/2000/NT/ME/XP/2003 MULTIBOOT SWAP FILE

If you use and multi-boot among different editions of Microsoft Windows, which include: Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, Windows 95/98/ME and/or Windows/WfWG 3.10/3.11, you are probably wasting lots of disk space, because each of these Windows OSes uses different names and locations for their swap/page file:

  1. In Windows NT/2000/XP/2003: start Control Panel → System → Advanced → Performance → Advanced (WinXP/2003 only) → Change Virtual Memory → Specify Pagefile settings → selectIDENTICAL Maximum and Minimum sizes, and change its location to point to your fastest FAT16 (or FAT32) drive/partition.
    You can also do this by modifying the Registry. Run Regedt32 and go to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
    Look (or create if not present) in the right hand pane for the "PagingFiles" MultiString Value [REG_MULTI_SZ]. Edit it with a right-click, and give it these values: 80 80 to match the ones from Windows 3.1x/9x/ME SYSTEM.INI (see example below).
  2. Reboot into Windows 9x/ME.
  3. In Windows 9x/ME: start Control Panel → System → Performance → Virtual Memory → check the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" box → select the SAME IDENTICAL Maximum and Minimum sizes as you did in WinNT/2000/XP/2003, and change the swap file location to the SAME FAT16 (or FAT32) disk/partition you selected for WinNT/2000/XP/2003.
    Don't reboot Windows 9x/ME when prompted! Click No or press Esc at the prompt dialog box.
  4. Open the Windows 9x/ME SYSTEM.INI file (located in your Windows folder) with Notepad → scroll down to the [386enh] section → make sure ALL lines listed below are present:PagingFile=X:\PAGEFILE.SYS
    PagingDrive=X:
    MinPagingFileSize=xxxxxx
    MaxPagingFileSize=xxxxxxWhere X: is the drive/partition letter you selected for the Win9x/ME swap file, andxxxxxx represents both the Maximum and Minimum sizes (which should be IDENTICAL) of PAGEFILE.SYS in KiloBytes.
    Modify/add them to show actual values, depending on your system configuration and preferences. Example using drive E: and an 80 MB fixed swap file:PagingFile=E:\PAGEFILE.SYS
    PagingDrive=E:
    MinPagingFileSize=81920
    MaxPagingFileSize=81920Now highlight and copy all these lines to the Clipboard.
  5. Then open the Windows/WfWG 3.1x SYSTEM.INI file (located in your Win31 directory) with Notepad → scroll down to the [386enh] section → delete ALL lines listed above (you might not have them all, depending on your particular Win31 swap file settings) → paste the lines you copied from the Windows 9x/ME SYSTEM.INI.
  6. Reboot one more time into the Windows version of your choice.
  7. Delete ALL unused (obsolete) swap files from ALL your drives/partitions: WIN386.SWP, 386SPART.PAR etc.
  8. Done. FYI:

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• 9-15-99 Win9x/ME AOL ©Trick in AOLTIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

OPEN EMAIL WITH AOL

Submitted by Da Drk Sde.

"To have a "Mailto:" URL you click in an external browser open in AOL e-mail instead of Outlook Express (or whatever 3rd party e-mail application you're using), you need to Edit the "Open" Action for the "URL:Mailto Protocol" under File Types in Explorer to point to Aol.exe, by adding these command line switches (quote marks are necessary as shown):"drive:\directory\aol.exe -nUsername -pPassword -u" "%1"[Thank you Troy for the correct syntax!]Where:

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• 9-8-99 Win9x/ME AOL ©Trick in AOLTIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

OPEN URL WITH AOL

Courtesy of Ben.

"To open an URL (internet address) directly with AOL, add this new command to the "Internet Shortcut" file type in Explorer → View → Options → Open with AOL. The command line should read (quote marks are necessary as shown):"drive:\directory\aol.exe -u" "%1"Any stand-alone browser that was the default for the "Internet Shortcut" should remain the default. Right-clicking an Internet Shortcut and selecting "Open with AOL" will now open and dial AOL, and then open the Internet Shortcut with the normal (default) browser.
This is tricky though, and may cause some strange results with different browsers and versions."NOTE: To learn about all AOL command line parameters see "AOL.EXE SWITCHES", also in AOLTIPS.TXT [part of both W95-11D.EXE and W31-11D.ZIP].

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• 9-8-99 Win9x/OE5 Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

CHANGE OE5 IDENTITY

This is Nathan's "small" contribution to these files. :) Many thanks!

"I don't know if you (or anybody else) have seen this, but I discovered this technique, and have written a dedicated X-Setup plugin.
It allows changing the current and default identities in Outlook Express 5 without knowing the password. Useful if you've forgotten your password, or you want to look at other peoples' e-mail. :)
Open Regedit and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identitieswhich is the base Registry key for all this. Here you'll find a bunch of LUID/GUID subkeys. Each of them holds the value "Username". If you look at the "Username" of each LUID/GUID key, you can find which account you are interested in. For example, my LUID/GUID key {23AE6B7B-34B3-11D3-93C9-C38154464F49} has the Username value "My Account".
Copy this LUID/GUID key to "Last User ID" or "Default User ID" (see below), to change the current or default user to this identity without having to know the password.
Here is a snapshot (.REG file) containing the keys mentioned above:

-----Begin cut & paste here----- REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities] "Last Username"="My Account" "Last User ID"="{23AE6B7B-34B3-11D3-93C9-C38154464F49}" "Default User ID"="{23AE6B7B-34B3-11D3-93C9-C38154464F49}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities{23AE6B7B-34B3-11D3-93C9-C38154464F49}] "Username"="My Account" "User ID"="{23AE6B7B-34B3-11D3-93C9-C38154464F49}" ------End cut & paste here------

You can make these changes by editing the Registry using Regedit, or by merging such a .REG file into the Registry by (double-)clicking on it in Explorer or File Manager.
Backup the Registry FIRST to revert back to original when you're done, to allow other users to access their OE e-mail accounts, if you're not the only one using that computer. :)
You have to exit and restart OE5 to see the effect."

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• 8-24-99 Win3.1x/9x/ME Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:

BYPASS SAVER PASSWORD

This tip applies ONLY to 16-bit (Win16) Screen Savers written for Windows/WfWG 3.xx, and to 32-bit (Win32) Screen Savers that run on Win31 systems ONLY with Microsoft Win32s 32-bit Extensions Add-on v1.30c installed [2.41 MB, free], but most of them can be used also on Windows 9x/ME systems.
Most 32-bit (Win32) Screen Savers written specifically for Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 save their passwords in the Registry, and are discussed in "SCREEN SAVER PASSWORD", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part ofW95-11D.EXE].
In case you have forgotten one of your Screen Saver (SS) password(s), you can easily regain control by deleting it (them) from CONTROL.INI.
Edit your CONTROL.INI file (located in your Windows directory) with Notepad (but back it up first!), and scroll down to the "incriminated" SS section, displayed in square parenthesis.
A typical SS CONTROL.INI section looks something like this:

[Screen Saver.SSName]Just substitute the SSName string above with your actual Screen Saver name, and change one (or both) of these lines (depending on your particular SS settings) under the SS section of your choice:Password=#@$%& [or any other weird characters = encrypted password]and/or:PWProtected=1 [password protection ON]to read:Password= [leave it blank = NO password]and/or:PWProtected=0 [password protection OFF]Alternatively, if you'd like to get rid of a particular SS, just open Windows Explorer (Win9x/ME users) or File Manager (Win31 users) and search for the**.SCR** files, located by default in your Windows or Windows\System directories.
Now delete (or move to a safe location) the .SCR file(s) you want.
Some 3rd party Savers install other files in these (see above), and/or other (separate) directories, so you may want to erase/move them too, to properly remove them from your system, and keep your hard drive(s) as "clean" as possible.
If a particular SS allows it, you can also (completely) remove it by:

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• 8-24-99 Win9x/IE Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:

TAME IE 4/5 CACHE FOLDERS

Thanks a bunch VV! I'm sure many will enjoy your smart tip.

"MS IE 3/4/5 and MS RegClean have a bug which prevents having the same internet cache as Netscape. MS puts a Cache subfolder within Netscape's Cache folder. I hate Microsoft's four folder Internet Cache arrangement, and I only want one internet cache, so I do the following:

  1. Reboot to native MS-DOS mode: hold F8 (in Win95/OSR2) or Ctrl (in Win98) at the bootup BIOS POST screen to bring up the Startup Menu → select the "Command prompt only" option → press Enter.
  2. DeleteMM256.DAT and MM2048.DAT from IE Cache Folders 1-4.
    I hate cookies and don't want a History so I removed these files from C:\Windows\History and from C:\Windows\Favorites as well.
  3. I use Regedit to edit the Registry so that Microsoft's four (4) Cache paths and Netscape's one (1) cache path are the same.
  4. MS calls for an "e74" cache limit. I multiply this by 4 and use "e296".
  5. MS IE's Internet connection Icon still shows an incorrect Registry setting of my cache:F:\\Internet\\Netscape\\Users\\UserNameinstead of:F:\\Internet\\Netscape\\Users\\UserName\\CacheBut Explorer and the Registry are correct.
  6. This a modified copy (saved as CACHE.REG) of this Registry branch:
    -----Begin cut & paste here-----
    REGEDIT4
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths]
    "Directory"="F:\Internet\Netscape\Users\UserName\Cache\"
    "Paths"=dword:4
    "NewDirectory"=""
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\Path1]
    "CachePath"="F:\Internet\Netscape\Users\UserName\Cache\"
    "CacheLimit"=dword:00001e296
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\Path2]
    "CachePath"="F:\Internet\Netscape\Users\UserName\Cache\"
    "CacheLimit"=dword:00001e296
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\Path3]
    "CachePath"="F:\Internet\Netscape\Users\UserName\Cache\"
    "CacheLimit"=dword:00001e296
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\Path4]
    "CachePath"="F:\Internet\Netscape\Users\UserName\Cache\"
    "CacheLimit"=dword:00001e296
    ------End cut & paste here------ Substitute all UserName strings above with your real user name.
    Change the drive letters and/or folder names if different on your machine.
    Then (double-)click on CACHE.REG to merge this information into your Registry."CAUTION: BACKUP your Registry files FIRST!

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