Application Tips

Office

Sliptreaming Office2007 and Office2010 Service Packs – Added 7/1/2011
Hyperlinks Not Working In Office – Added 1/7/03
Quickly Change Font Size in Office – Added 9/9/01
Re-Applying Formatting in Office 2000 – Added 2/2/00
Customizing the Office Assistants – Added 12/28/99
Changing the Number of Days Displayed in Outlook Calendar – Added 5/3/98
Changing the Spreadsheet Tab Color in Excel 2002 – Added 8/14/02
Editing the Shared Border in FrontPage 2000/2002 – Added 9/9/01
Excel Command Line Switches – Added 9/6/01
Access Gives License or Database Error – Added 6/15/01
Having Excel 2000 Display the Year with Four Digits – Added 1/30/00
Changing the Default Page Location for Front Page – Added 12/19/99

Word

Changing the Word2007 Normal Template – Added 10/13/08
Creating A Watermark in Word2002 – Added 9/10/02
Having Word Not Display URL’s in Underline  – Updated 4/5/02
Filling Word with Pretend Text – Added 9/9/01
Adding Horizontal Dividers in Word – Added 9/9/01
Determining Formatting in Word – Added 9/9/01
Word Command Line Switches – Added 9/6/01
Reducing the File Size of Word Documents – Updated 2/20/01
Selecting Columns in Word – Submitted 2/1/00

Outlook

Cannot Send PDF File – Added 7/23/10
Exporting and Importing Outlook Rules – Added 4/21/10
In Outlook2007, Contact Birthdays Not Showing in Calendar – Added 1/10/2009
Sharing Contacts with Outlook Express and Outlook – Added 11/19/05
Fixing Duplicate Contacts folders in Outlook – Added 11/14/05
Finding the Location of the Outlook PST Data File – Added 10/18/05
Outlook 2000 Hangs at Splash Screen – Added 2/18/04
Compacting Outlook Data Files – Updated 3/26/04
Restoring the Outlook2000/2002 Icon to the Desktop – Added 11/27/03
Clearing the Outlook Nickname Cache – Added 12/4/02
Using Outlook 2002 Sticky Notes – Added 8/14/02
Configuring Automatic Name Suggestion in Outlook 2002 – Added 8/14/02
Minimizing Outlook2002 to the System Tray – Added 11/27/01
Changing Colors in Outlook2002 Calendar – Added 11/27/01
Sending Contacts in Outlook – Added 9/29/01
Outlook Shortcut Keys – Added 8/1/02
Copying E-Mail to Your Calendar – Added 9/9/01
Outlook Command Line Switches – Added 9/6/01
Customizing Outlook2002 Security Settings – Added 8/16/01
Outlook Can’t Create Item Error – Added 5/26/01
Setting Outlook to be the Default E-Mail Program – Added 5/14/01
Opening Multiple Windows in Outlook – Added 5/14/01
Changing the Office2000 Registered Owner – Added 4/4/01
Enabling Outlook 2000  Mail Logging – Added 10/16/00
Switches for Starting Outlook 2000 – Added 4/10/00
Changing the Name of the Outlook Icon on the Desktop – Added 2/4/00
Showing a Map of an Outlook 2000 Contact’s Address – Added 2/2/00
Creating Outlook Contacts Shortcut – Added 5/3/98

Outlook Express

Sharing Contacts with Outlook Express and Outlook – Added 11/19/05
Spell Checking in Outlook Express Without Office – Added 1/5/03
Opening Attachments in Outlook Express – Added 11/26/02
Adding File Attachment Security for Outlook Express 6  – Added 3/19/02
Changing the Location of Your E-Mail Files for Outlook Express 6 – Added 3/19/02
Configuring Outlook Express 6 for Multiple User Accounts – Added 3/19/02
Disabling Outlook Express Splash Screen – Added 1/8/00
Starting Outlook Express Immediately to Mail or News – Added 12/21/99

Misc

Resolving Inability to Add or Remove Programs – Added 1/5/03
Reducing Viruses in E-Mail – Added 1/1/03
Redirecting Output from Command Line Programs – Submitted 1/5/02
Eliminating MSCONFIG Warning at Next Boot Up – Added 12/22/01
Changing Notepad Defaults – Added 7/14/01
Removing the Task Scheduler – Submitted 5/6/00
Opening Files with Other Than the Default Application – Submitted 2/5/00
Hidden FDISK Switches – Updated 1/8/00
Playing DVD’s with Windows Media Player – Added 12/20/99
Stopping Applications from Starting Automatically – Updated 12/20/99
Opening a File by Dragging to Task Bar – Added 10/17/99
Eudora Lite and More than One E-Mail Account – Submitted 12/31/98
Hidden Format Switches – Added 8/16/98
Changing File Associations – Submitted 3/1/98
Extracting files from Win95’s CAB files – Submitted 2/28/98
Recovering Damaged Text Files – Submitted 2/18/98
Setting Swap File Size – Added 2/14/98
Defragmenting the Swap File – Added 2/14/98
ScanDisk with OEM SR2 – Added 2/11/98
Substituting Drive Letters – Submitted 1/11/98
Shutting Down or Restarting Windows95 from an Icon – Submitted 12/24/97
Saving Space Using WinZip – Submitted 10/11/97
Office97 and Plus Pack Themes – Submitted 9/13/97
Opening a Files for Editing – Submitted 5/10/97
Opening Associated Files from a DOS Box – Submitted 4/25/97
Using Another E-Mail Package when Exchange is Installed – Added 3/22/97
Power Surfing – Submitted 3/18/97
Lotus 123 Release 5 Lockup – Submitted 12/18/96
Wildcards with DIR and File Find – Added 11/29/96
ScanDisk Command-Line Switches – Added 11/24/96
Defrag Command-Line Switches – Added 11/24/96
Fixing Page Fault in MPREXE.EXE – Added 9/25/96
Changing the Telnet Scroll-Back Buffer Size Added 7/27/96
Auto-Dialing for 32-bit Internet Applications – Submitted 7/11/96
DOSSTART.BAT File – Submitted 6/23//96
Fixing Corrupted Exchange Files – Submitted 5/8/96
Emergency Recovery Utility – Submitted 5/8/96
Turning off the ending = with Exchange – Added 4/9/96
Using your mouse to select an area in a DOS app – Added 3/30/96
Using Exchange with more than one ISP phone number – Added 3/29/96
Backing up the Registry – Submitted 1/28/96
Adding Notepad to SENDTO – 1/11/96
Having Eudora Pro be the default e-mail program, rather than Exchange – 12/27/95
Free drive space errors with Norton Utilities – 11/5/95
Using the new DOS Edit – 9/29/95
Creating Distribution List with Exchange – 9/26/96
Using Memmaker – 9/23/95
Signatures using WordMail – 9/21/95
Creating Document templates – 9/3/95
New XCOPY switches

Cannot Send PDF File

Added 7/23/10

If you get an error when trying to send a PDF file as an attachment, Operating Failed, in Outlook, the problem may be that there was a version of Office2007 previously installed and you are using Outlook2003. This can be common with the trial versions of Outloook2007 that are coming preinstalled and users uninstall it and put on their own copy of Office2003 they have already purchased.

What I’ve done to solve the problem is:

  1. Document the current e-mail configuration including Data file name and location
  2. Uninstall Office2003
  3. Rename and mapisvc.inf files you may find
  4. Reinstall Office2003
  5. Delete the current profile
  6. Create a new one with the configuration you saved in step one

Exporting and Importing Outlook Rules

Added 4/21/10

If you want to export and then import rules that have been set up in Outlook, simply

  1. Click on Tools
  2. Select Rules and Alerts
  3. Click on Options
  4. Click on the Export or Import Rules buttons
  5. Then select either the file you want to Export to or the one you want to Import from

In Outlook2007, Contact Birthdays Not Showing in Calendar

Added 1/10/2009

If you imported a PST file into Outlook2007, a Contact’s Birthday and Anniversary might not be showing up in the Calendar

So solve the problem:

  1. Open the Contact
  2. Click on Details
  3. Copy the date for the Birthday
  4. Select it to be None
  5. Save and close the contact
  6. Open it again
  7. Click on Details
  8. Paste the date back in again
  9. Save and close the contact

Changing the Word2007 Normal Template

Added 10/13/08

Many people have wanted to change the default line spacing that is used by Word2007. It defaults to adding a 10 pt. space after each line.

To change this, you simply need to edit the default template used by word

  1. Start Word
  2. Open
  3. In the dialog box in the lower right side, select All Word Templates
  4. Browse to the location where they are stored
  5. For example, with Vista, they are in the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates directory
  6. Open the Normal.dotm file
  7. Select Paragraph
  8. Change the spacing after from 10 to 0
  9. You can also change things like the default font and size
  10. Save the file and close Word
  11. Restart Word and your new template should be in place

Sharing Contacts with Outlook Express and Outlook

Added 11/19/05

If you want to have both Outlook Express and Outlook use the same contact list:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / WAB / WAB4
  3. On the right side, right click and add a new DWORD key called UseOutlook
  4. Give it a value of 1

Now when either the Address Book in Outlook Express or the Contacts in Outlook are changed, each will update the other.

Fixing Duplicate Contacts folders in Outlook

Added 11/14/05

Sometimes in Outlook, when you send mail and click on the TO button, there will either be duplicate Contacts folders showing or no contacts showing.

To fix this you need to delete the Outlook Address Book and then add it back in again.

For Outlook98 / 2000 with the Corporate Configuration:

  1. Control Panel / Mail
  2. Select the Profile you want to use if there is more than one on the computer
  3. Highlight Outlook Address Book
  4. Click on the Remove button / Yes
  5. Click on the Add button
  6. Highlight Outlook Address Book
  7. Click on Ok / Ok

For OutlookXP / 2003

  1. Close Outlook
  2. Open the Control Panel / Mail icon
  3. Click on the E-Mail Accounts button
  4. Highlight View or change existing directories or address books
  5. Next
  6. Highlight Outlook Address Book (if it isn’t already)
  7. Click on the Remove  button / Yes
  8. Click on the Add button
  9. Select Additional Address Books
  10. Select Outlook Address Book
  11. Finish and Close
  12. Restart Outlook

 Finding the Location of the Outlook PST Data File

Added 10/18/05

Outlook stores all the e-mail, contacts, calendar etc. in a single PST file.
If you need to find the exact location and name of the file, rather than searching, you can get this directly from Outlook.

  1. With Outlook98 or Outlook2000, make sure you have View / Folders selected
  2. Right click on Personal Folders
  3. Select Properties for Personal Folders
  4. Click on the Advanced button
  5. Under Filename, it will show the path and name of the current PST file.

Compacting Outlook Data Files

Updated 3/26/04

Even though you delete your e-mail from the Delete Items  folder, the file size may still stay the same.
This means that you need to manually compact them.

  1. You need to have the Folder List showing. If it is not already there, from the View menu, click Folder List
  2. From the Folders list, right-click on Personal Folders at the top
  3. Select Properties For Personal Folders
  4. Click on the Advanced button
  5. Click on the Compact Now button

 Outlook 2000 Hangs at Splash Screen

Added 2/18/04

If Outlook hangs up at the logo splash screen,
try starting it with the /safe switch (Start / Run / Outlook.exe /safe)

If this works some files may be corrupted and can simply be deleted or renamed.
Use the Windows Explorer to search for and then either rename or delete the following files:

Views.dat
Outcmd.dat
Extend.dat
Frmcache.dat

Note: Not all files may be present on the computer

Restoring the Outlook2000/2002 Icon to the Desktop

Added 11/27/03

If the Outlook icon was removed from the desktop
it can restored by adding in the following registry key.
Then logoff and back on again.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

Download Reg File

Hyperlinks Not Working In Office

Added 1/7/02

If hyperlinks are not working in Outlook or other Office applications:

  1. Start the Internet Explorer
  2. Select Tools / Internet Options
  3. Click on Programs tab
  4. Make sure that Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser is enabled
  5. Click Reset Web Settings.
  6. Click Start / Run / regsvr32 urlmon.dll
  7. If that single change does not resolve the problem, repeat the process by running the following additional entries:
    • regsvr32  Shdocvw.dll
    • regsvr32  Msjava.dll
    • regsvr32  Actxprxy.dll
    • regsvr32  Oleaut32.dll
    • regsvr32  Mshtml.dll
    • regsvr32  Browseui.dll
    • regsvr32 Shell32.dll (Windows XP and Windows 2000 only)

Resolving Inability to Add or Remove Programs

Added 1/5/03

If a particular user cannot add or remove programs, there might be a simple registry edit neeed.

  1. Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Uninstall
  2. Change the DWORD NoAddRemovePrograms to 0 disable it

Spell Checking in Outlook Express Without Office

Added 1/5/03

You can spell check with Outlook Express without needing to install Office or Works

You will need access to your existing legal version to copy some files.

  1. On a computer with Office installed, go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof
  2. Copy the following files (they will easily fit on a floppy disk)
  • MSSP2_EN.LEX
  • MSSP232.DLL
  • CSAPI3T1.DLL
  • CTAPI3T2.DLL
  • CHAPI3T1.DLL
  1. Copy them to the same location on the computer without Office
  2. Download the reg file and import into the registry

Reducing Viruses in E-Mail

Added 1/1/03

You can greatly reduce the amount of viruses you might get through e-mail attachments by simply installing the free Outlook E-mail Attachment Security Update from Microsoft. Since most viruses come this way, it should all but eliminate them. You should also have a good virus protection program installed as well.

This update strips out any attachments where, if you click on them, they will automatically run on their own.
Examples of restricted extensions are:
.exe, .com, .bat, .vbs, .scr

This will work for Outlook98 and Outlook2000. OutlookXP has it already built in as part of the product.

Download from Microsoft

 Clearing the Outlook Nickname Cache

Added 12/4/02

The Nickname Cache is used by Outlook for automatic name checking and the automatic completion.
I you want to clear the cache with the list of names that Outlook shows when sending an e-mail

  1. Close Outlook
  2. Start the Windows Explorer
  3. With the focus on the root of the C: drive, search for *.nick (Outlook2000) or *.NK2 (Outlook2002 or newer)
  4. You will find a file that starts with your profile name
  5. Rename this file
  6. Restart Outlook
  7. Outlook will start rebuilding the file over again.

Opening Attachments in Outlook Express

Added 11/26/02

If you are unable to open any attachments in Outlook Express

  1. Start the program
  2. Go to Tools / Options
  3. Click on the Security tab
  4. Uncheck Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus

Creating A Watermark in Word2002

Added 9/10/02

It is easy to create a watermark in Word2002.

  1. Go to the Format menu
  2. Select Background
  3. Click Printed Watermark
  4. From here you can either select a graphic or text watermark.

 Changing the Spreadsheet Tab Color in Excel 2002

Added 8/14/02

If you have a  spreadsheet with multiple pages in it,
you can change the color of the individual tabs by simply right clicking on the tabs and select Tab Color

Using Outlook 2002 Sticky Notes

Added 8/14/02

While in Outlook, you can create sticky notes that look like post-it notes.
These stay on your desktop and can help server as reminders for things you need to do.

To Create a Note In Outlook:

  1. Go to File / New / Note
  2. Or press Ctrl+Shift+N
  3. From here you can enter any text you like
  4. You can change the color of the note by clicking on the icon in the upper left hand corner and selecting Color
  5. When created this way, the notes are only available when Outlook is still running

To Create a Note Anytime

  1. Create a shortcut on the desktop
  2. “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE” /c ipm.stickynote
  3. Give it a name that makes sense for you
  4. Now you can create a note without Outlook running

 Configuring Automatic Name Suggestion in Outlook 2002

Added 8/14/02

The default setting in Outlook 2002 is to offer to complete the name of a person you are sending mail.
This is based on anyone you have ever sent mail to.
For me things brings up far too many names and I prefer to simply use the names in my contact list.
(Start typing a name and press Ctrl-K to pull up names in your address book)

To turn off this setting:

  1. Go to Tools / Options
  2. Click on the E-mail Options button
  3. Click on the Advanced E-mail Options button
  4. Uncheck Suggest names while completing To, Cc, and Bcc fields

If you want to leave the setting in place and simply delete individual suggestions:

  1. Us the arrow keys to highlight a name
  2. Press the Delete key to delete just that entry

 Outlook Shortcut Keys

Added 8/1/02

Send and receive mail Control + M
Open or post a new message Control + N
Forward a message Control + F
Reply to a message Control + R
Print the selected message Control + P
Delete a mail message Delete or Control + D
Reply to all Control + Shift + R
Open the Inbox Control + I
Open the Outbox Control + O
Open the Address Book Control + Shift + B
Go to next unread mail message Control + U
Go to folder Control + Y
Open the selected message Control + O or Enter
Mark a message as read Control + Enter or  Control + Q
Move between the Folders list and message list Tab
Find text F3
Find a message Control + Shift + F
Switch among Edit, Source, and Preview tabs Control + Tab
Check names Control + K or Alt + K
Check spelling F7
Insert signature Control + Shift + S
Send (post) a message Control + Enter or Alt + S

 

Having Word Not Display URL’s in Underline

Updated 4/5/02

To have it remove currently underlined links,
Simply press Ctrl-A to highlight all the text.
Then Ctrl-6 to remove the underlines

Submitted by Roy

Added 2/21/00

Normally when you enter a URL or E-Mail Address in Word , it shows in Underline.
To turn this feature off:

  1. Go to Tools / AutoCorrect / AutoFormat As You Type
  2. Uncheck Internet and network paths with hyperlinks

Note: This will not change the display of previously entered links or e-mail addresses

 Redirecting Output from Command Line Programs

Submitted 1/5/02

With most command line programs, you can redirect the output to a file.
This is useful if you want to capture the output of a program.

Simply run the program and add a  ” > filename” after the command.
Substitute whatever filename you want with no quotes

Submitted by Darleema

Note from Bob: One example, I frequently compare two files using the FC (file compare) program.
Normally the differences scroll off and I can’t tell what they were.
Instead I run FC File1 File2 > difference.txt
Then with notepad it is easy to open up difference.txt and view all the changes.

 Eliminating MSCONFIG Warning at Next Boot Up

Added 12/22/01

By default, if you make any changes to your startup with the MSCONFIG utility,
an warning is displayed on the next bootup.

If you use this utility a lot and would like to eliminate that from happening

  1. Create a registry text file (e.g. file_name.reg) with the contents:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
“MSConfig”=-

  1. Create a shortcut on the desktop
  2. Enter in:

regedit /s file_name.reg

  1. Give it a title that make sense to you
  2. When you click on the icon, the specific registry value will be deleted and you won’t be prompted next time you boot.

 Minimizing Outlook2002 to the System Tray

Added 11/27/01

By default, when you minimize Outlook2002, it goes to the taskbar.

You can have it minimize to the system tray if you prefer.

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 10.0 \ Outlook \ Preferences
  3. Create a DWORD Value called MinToTray
  4. Give it a value of 1
  5. You may need to logoff for the setting to take effect.
  6. This helps reduce clutter on the taskbar but doesn’t allow you to task switch to Outlook.

 Changing Colors in Outlook2002 Calendar

Added 11/27/01

You can now change the colors of calendar items with Outlook2002.

  1. Simply right click on the event
  2. Select Label
  3. From here you can select from a variety of pre-selected colors

 Sending Contacts in Outlook

Added 9/29/01

It is easy to send a list of of contacts you want to send to others through e-mail.

For the following steps, make sure you have the Folder List selected in Outlook

SENDING CONTACTS

  1. Start a new email
  2. In the TO section, select the users you want to receive the contacts
  3. Select Insert / Item
  4. Scroll to Contacts
  5. Highlight the contacts you want to send
  6. To select multiple items, hold down the control key
  7. Click OK when finished
  8. Send the mail

RECEIVING CONTACTS

  1. Have both your main Folder List and e-mail visible
  2. Select all the contacts
  3. Drag them to the Contacts folder

 Copying E-Mail to Your Calendar

Added 9/9/01

If you receive an e-mail regarding an appointment you need to schedule,
simply drag that e-mail from your Inbox to the Calendar.

You will then have the option to change the date, time etc for that event.

 Editing the Shared Border in FrontPage 2000/2002

Added 9/9/01

By default, you can’t directly edit the HTML code in a shared border in FrontPage.

To enable this ability:

  1. Go to Tools / Web Settings
  2. Click on the Advanced tab
  3. Check Show hidden files and folders
  4. Your shared borders will now show up in a folder called _borders (from the Folder list)

 Filling Word Documents with Pretend Text

Added 9/9/01

If you want to fill a page(s) with text to test something like printing, but don’t want to spend time pasting the same phrase over and over,

Type in =rand(x,y)

Where x and y are replaced by numbers.
X would be the number of paragraphs
Y would be the number of sentences in a paragraph.
The text that gets generated is The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

 Adding Horizontal Dividers in Word

Added 9/9/01

To add a variety of horizontal dividers in Word, type three

Hyphens ( — )
Underscores ( ___ )
Equal Signs ( === )
Pound Signs ( ### )
Asterisks ( *** )
Tildes ( ~~~ )

 Determining Formatting in Word

Added 9/9/01

To determine what formatting is applied to a particular paragraph in Word:

  1. Go to Help / What’s This?
  2. When the cursor changes to a question mark, click on the paragraph.
  3. Information such as font and size, alignment, indent, spacing and margins will show

 Quickly Change Font Size in Office

Added 9/901

To quickly change the font size in your Office application (Word, Front Page, Publisher or PowerPoint):

  1. Highlight the text you want to change
  2. Press:CTRL+SHIFT+> – To Increase the size
    CTRL+SHIFT+< – To Decrease the size

 Word Command Line Switches

Added 9/6/01

The following text was copied from the Microsoft Site at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q210/5/65.ASP

Type To do this
/a Starts Word and prevents add-ins and global templates (including the Normal template) from being loaded automatically.The /a switch also locks the setting files; that is, the setting files cannot be read or modified if you use this switch.
/laddinpath Starts Word and then loads a specific Word add-in.
/m Starts a new instance of Word without running any AutoExec macros.
/mmacroname Starts Word and then runs a specific macro. The /m switch also prevents Word from running any AutoExec macros.
/n Starts a new instance of Word with no document open. Documents opened in each instance of Word will not appear as choices in the Window menu of other instances.
/ttemplatename Starts Word with a new document based on a template other than the Normal template.
/w Starts a new instance of Word with a blank document. Documents opened in each instance of Word will not appear as choices in the Window menu of the other instances.
(no switch) A new Word window is opened with a blank document using the existing instance of the Word application.

 

 Excel Command Line Switches

Added 9/6/01

The following text was copied from the Microsoft Site at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q211/4/81.ASP

Switch Function ———————————————————————- /e, /embedded Forces Excel to start without displaying the startup screen and creating a new workbook (Book1.xls). Example: /e, /embedded /m Forces Excel to create a new workbook that contains a single macro sheet. Example: /m /o Forces Excel to re-register itself. Specifically, the following key is rewritten in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Excel NOTE: If this key contains invalid values, they are not corrected by using this switch. This switch only replaces missing values. Example: /o /p <folder> Forces Excel to use the path you specify as the active path rather than the default path. Example: /p “C:\Windows” /r <filename> Forces Excel to open the specified file in read-only mode. Example: /r “C:\My Documents\Test.xls” /s Starts Excel in Safe mode. (“Safe Mode” will appear in the Excel title bar.) Safe mode starts Excel as if it is the first time after Setup. Safe mode bypasses the following: – All files in any Excel startup folder. For more information about the location of startup folders, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q240150 XL2000: How to Use Excel Startup Folders – Add-ins: The Addins dialog box still displays the selected addins. However, the addins are not loaded. – Excel toolbars (Excel.xlb or <username>.xlb): The original installation default toolbar settings are used. – Excel specific registry information: The original installation default registry settings are used. Registry information can include the following key and other keys: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Excel\Options NOTE: When Excel is in Safe mode, the Options dialog box displays the default settings, not your customized settings. /regserver Forces Excel to register itself and then quit. Use this switch when you want Excel to rewrite all of its registry keys and reassociate itself with Excel files, such as workbooks, charts, and so on. Example: /regserver /unregserver Forces Excel to unregister itself and then quit. Example: /unregserver

 Outlook Command Line Switches

Added 9/6/01

The following text was copied from the Microsoft Site at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q182/1/12.ASP

Command-Line Switch Purpose ——————- ——- /CleanFreeBusy Cleans and regenerates free/busy information. /Cleanfinders Removes saved searches from the Exchange Server store. /CleanReminders Cleans and regenerates reminders. /CleanViews Restores default views. All custom views you created are lost. /CheckClient Prompt for default manager of e-mail, news, and contacts /ResetFolders Restores missing folders for the default delivery location. /ResetOutlookBar Rebuilds the Outlook Bar. /Safe Launches Outlook without extensions, preview pane or toolbar customization. /Nopreview Turns off the Preview Pane and removes the option from the View Menu. /CleanSchedPlus Deletes all Schedule+ data (free/busy, permissions, and .CAL file) from the server and enables the free/busy information from the Outlook Calendar to be used and viewed by all Schedule+ 1.0 users.

 Customizing Outlook2002 Security Settings

Added 8/16/01

By default, Outlook2002 restricts access to potentially damaging e-mail file attachments.
To enable access to files with extensions such as .exe. or com:

  1. Exit Outlook2002 if it is running.
  2. Start Regedit
  3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security
  4. Create a new string value called Level1Remove
  5. Enter in the file extensions you want to use, such as .exe or .bat
  6. You can have multiple file types separated by a semicolon
  7. exe;com

The following are a list of the file attachments that are restricted by default

.ade            Microsoft Access project extension
.adp            Microsoft Access project
.asx            Windows Media Audio / Video
.bas            Microsoft Visual Basic class module
.bat            Batch file
.chm            Compiled HTML Help file
.cmd            Microsoft Windows NT Command script
.com            Microsoft MS-DOS program
.cpl            Control Panel extension
.crt            Security certificate
.exe            Program
.hlp            Help file
.hta            HTML program
.inf            Setup Information
.ins            Internet Naming Service
.isp            Internet Communication settings
.js             JScript file
.jse            Jscript Encoded Script file
.lnk            Shortcut
.mdb            Microsoft Access program
.mde            Microsoft Access MDE database
.msc            Microsoft Common Console document
.msi            Microsoft Windows Installer package
.msp            Microsoft Windows Installer patch
.mst            Microsoft Windows Installer transform; Microsoft Visual Test source file
.pcd            Photo CD image; Microsoft Visual compiled script
.pif            Shortcut to MS-DOS program
.prf            Microsoft Outlook profile settings
.reg            Registration entries
.scf            Windows Explorer command
.scr            Screen saver
.sct            Windows Script Component
.shb            Shell Scrap object
.shs            Shell Scrap object
.url            Internet shortcut
.vb             VBScript file
.vbe            VBScript Encoded script file
.vbs            VBScript file
.wsc            Windows Script Component
.wsf            Windows Script file
.wsh            Windows Script Host Settings file

Changing Notepad Defaults

Added 7/14/01

If you want to change the default settings of notepad such as word wrap, font and size:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HK_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Notepad
  3. From here it is pretty easy to see what items you can change

Access Gives License or Database Error

Added 6/15/01

If you try to run Access97 and get an error:

Microsoft Access can’t start because there is no license for it on this machine
or
Can’t find the database you specified or you didn’t specify a database at all

There is a patch from Microsoft to fix this problem.
I copied it to my site since they often change the location of their files.

Download Patch

Outlook Can’t Create Item Error

Added 5/26/01

If you get the error Can’t Create Item when attempting to open an attachment for Outlook,
the \Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Forms\Frmcache.dat
file may be corrupted.

Simply delete this file and restart Outlook

Opening Multiple Windows in Outlook

Added 5/14/01

If you want to have multiple windows open in Outlook (for example your InBox and Calendar),
Simply right-click on the new item and select Open in New Window

This makes it a lot easier to cut and paste between Outlook applications

Setting Outlook to be the Default E-Mail Program

Added 5/14/01

Normally you can set the default mail program from the Internet Explorer (Tools / Internet Options / Programs)
If this still doesn’t work for you:

  1. Open the Explorer (not Internet Explorer)
  2. Select Tools / Folder Options
  3. Click on the File Types tab
  4. Go to URL:MailToProtocol
  5. Edit the Open action to be “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OUTLOOK.EXE” -c IPM.Note /m “%1”

Note: The location of Outlook may be different depending on the version of Office you have installed.

Changing the Office2000 Registered Owner

Updated 4/4/01

An easier way was submitted:

  1. Start Word2000
  2. Go to Tools / Options / User Information
  3. Change the current user’s name.

Submitted by Terry N. Hart

Added 1/2/01

To change the name of the registered owner without reinstalling, two simple registry changes need to be made.

These are the names displayed in the opening splash screens of each application as well as the About box.

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall \ {00000409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7
  3. Change the value of RegOwner and RegCompany to the ones you would like
  4. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Common \ UserInfo]
  5. Rename the UserInfo key
  6. Now you should see the new name and company information when you start your Office2000 application.

Reducing the File Size of Word Documents

Updated 2/20/01

There is, however, a much easier way.

  1. Choose Tools
  2. Options…
  3. Open the Save tab
  4. Uncheck Allow Fast Saves

This makes Word rewrite the entire document file from scratch each time it is saved. The save command takes slightly longer, but your files can be drastically smaller (especially if you’ve done lots of formatting changes).

Submitted by Brandon Lundh

Submitted 11/7/99

If you have make documents using MS Word and you make many formatting changes for the paragraph, fonts, page etc., you will see your file size gets bigger. Microsoft Word saves files by blocking, so any change you made for your document it will create a new block with the new formatting and disappear the old block without deleting it from the file.

You can solve this problem.

  1. If you open your file and select File \ Save As and give your file a new name, it will save only the active blocks with out the old ones.
  2. If you compare the two files you will see a difference in size

Submitted by Ziad Dabash

Enabling Outlook 2000  Mail Logging

Added 10/16/00

Normally Outlook 2000 does not log Internet, SMTP, and POP sessions.
To turn on this feature:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to Hkey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Outlook \ Options \ Mail
  3. Create a new DWORD
  4. Give it a name of Logging
  5. Give it a value of 1
  6. After this, 3 files will be created in the C:\Windows\Temp\Outlook Logging directory.
  • InetXP.txt logs the Internet session
  • Pop3log.txt logs mail-retrieval activity
  • Smtplog.txt logs mail-sending activity

Removing the Task Scheduler

Submitted 5/6/00

To remove Task Scheduler

  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
  2. Go to HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SchedulingAgent
  3. Click the SchedulingAgent folder
  4. Double-click the UninstallString key.
  5. Copy the value data on the UninstallString key.
  6. Quit Registry Editor.
  7. Click Start, click Run, right-click in the open dialog box, and then click Paste.
  8. Click OK to uninstall Task Scheduler.

Submitted by Frank Lolli

Switches for Starting Outlook 2000

Added 4/11/00

Here are some switches you can add to a shortcut to OUTLOOK.EXE.
I have tested them with Outlook 2000 but they might work with previous versions as well.

Hide the Outlook Bar  /folder
Have the specified folder visible  /select “path/folder name”
Create an e-mail message  /c ipm.note
Create a post  /c ipm.post
Create an appointment  /c ipm.appointment
Create a task  /c ipm.task
Create a contact  /c ipm.contact
Create a journal entry  /c ipm.activity
Create a note  /c ipm.stickynote
Prompt for default manager of e-mail, news, and contacts  /checkclient
Create an item with the specified file as an attachment.  /a “path/file name”

Opening Files with Other Than the Default Application

Submitted 2/5/00

If you have more than one application you use for the same type of file (media, text, graphics etc.)
Use one as your default player, make a shortcut to the other player and put it in the C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder.
When you want to open a file with the non-default application, right click on the file and send it to the other application

Submitted by Roger Freeman

Changing the Name of the Outlook Icon on the Desktop

Added 2/4/00

To change the name of the Outlook icon on the desktop:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ CLASSES \ CLSID \ {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
  3. Change the Default value to the name you want to appear

Showing a Map of an Outlook 2000 Contact’s Address

Added 2/2/00

You can view a map to the address of an Outlook 2000 by simply:

  1. Open up the Contacts
  2. Open up the contact you want to view
  3. Select Actions / Display Map of Address or click on the icon that looks like yellow road sign with an arrow on the toolbar

Note: You need to be connected to the Internet for this to work.

Re-Applying Formatting in Office 2000

Added 2/2/00

The following will work for the Office 2000 version of Word, Front Page, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Publisher, and Photodraw

If you have a section of text formatted they way you want additional sections to look:

  1. Select the text whose format you want to replicate
  2. Click on the Format Painter icon. This is the one that looks like a paint brush.
  3. Now select the new text and the formatting will be applied
  4. To repeat this to more than one selection, double-click on the icon and it will stay selected.
  5. When you are finished, press the ESC key.

Selecting Columns in Word

Submitted 2/1/00

Selections in MS Word is usually lines or paragraphs.
To make a selection for a column across lines or blocks just press Alt key while you select your text.
You can see that the selection did not select all of the line. It just selects the block or the area that had the mouse over it.

Submitted by Ziad Dabash

Having Excel 2000 Display the Year with Four Digits

Normally, if you enter 1999 or 2000 as the years in Excel, it will change it to 99 or 00.
To change Excel 2000 so it shows a four digit year:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_USERS \ .DEFAULT \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Excel \ Options
  3. Add or Change the DWORD Value EnableFourDigitYearDisplay to 1

Note: You may need to create the Excel and Options keys

Disabling Outlook Express Splash Screen

Added 1/8/00

To disable the opening Outlook Express screen:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Identities
  3. For OE 5 go below this to {ABE2B8A0-C02D-11D3-867B-948FF355BD32} \ Software \ Microsoft \ Outlook Express \ 5.0
  4. Add a DWORD NoSplash
  5. Give it a value of 1

Hidden FDISK Switches

1/8/00

Here are a few additional switches that can be used with FDISK:

  • /Status – Give the status of the partitions. Similar to option #4
  • /FPRMT – FAT32 in drivers smaller than 512 MB
  • /MBR – Fix master boot record
  • /PRI:xx – Primary partition of size XX in megs
  • /EXT:xx – Extended partitio
  • /LOG:xx – Logical drive in extended partition

Customizing the Office Assistants

Added 12/28/99

You can customize the behavior of the Office Assistants.

The easiest way to delete them completely is by deleting the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 9.0 \ Common \ Assistant
Note: You will have 9.0 or 8.0 depending on the version of Office you run

You can also create dword values and turn on or off the following selected features:

  • Allow Most Tips – AsstAssistWithWizard = 1
  • Disable Showing Office Assistant with F1 – AsstAssistWithHelp = 0
  • Assistant Moves When In the Way – AsstMoveWhenInTheWay = 1
  • Disable Mouse Tips – AsstMouseTips = 0
  • Disable Context Sensitive Help – AsstGuessHelp = 0
  • Disable Keyboard Tips – Delete AsstKeyboardShortcutTips
  • Disable Feature Tips – AsstFeatureTips = 0
  • Disable Tip of the Day – Delete AsstShowTipofDay
  • Disable Office Assistant Help Messages – AsstAssistWithHelp = 0
  • Show only High Priority Tips – AsstOnlyHighPriorityTips = 1

Starting Outlook Express Immediately to Mail or News

Added 12/21/99

If you want to start Outlook Express and have it immediately go to your Mail or News:

Create two new shortcuts

  • One is msimn /mail
  • The other is msimn /news

Playing DVD’s with Windows Media Player

Added 12/20/99

To play DVD’s with the Windows Media Player

  1. Run Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Player \ Settings
  3. Create a new string EnableDVDUI
  4. Give it a value of yes
  5. The next time you start the Media Player, you can do a File / Open DVD

Stopping Applications from Starting Automatically

Updated 8/16/01

For Windows2000 or WindowsXP, you can now use the MSCONFIG.EXE that comes with WindowsXP.
Download the one from the full release product(64K)

It also lets you change the Services and BOOT.INI file as well.

Updated 12/20/99

With Windows98, you can run MSCONFIG.
Click on the Startup tab to remove apps that are starting automatically from the registry.
You can also search through the AUTOEXEC.BAT and WIN.INI files as well.

Added 11/30/97

If you have applications that you want to stop from starting automatically, there are three places you need to look, the WIN.INI file, the Startup Folder and the Registry.

  1. The load= or run= lines in the WIN.INI file. This is in the directory where you installed Win95, usually the C:\WINDOWS directory
  2. The StartUp folder.Start the Explorer.
    Go to C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp folder.
    Remove any shortcuts you find there that you don’t want.
  3. The Registry.Edit the Registry
    Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run.
    Remove any programs from there.

Changing the Default Page Location for Front Page

Added 12/19/99

Normally Front Page opens documents in either C:\MY WEBS or C:\MY DOCUMENTS \ MY WEBS

To change these locations to another directory:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ FrontPage \ Explorer \ FrontPage Explorer \ Settings
  3. Change the DefaultWebName to the directory you want

Opening a File by Dragging to Task Bar

Added 10/17/99

If you already have a application showing on the taskbar,
a quick way to open a file is to drag it with from the Explorer to that icon and hold it for a second or so. (Don’t let up on the mouse).
The app will re-open with that file loaded.

Eudora Lite and More than One E-Mail Account

Submitted 12/31/98

To set up Eudora Lite to work with more than one E-Mail account you need make 4 changes to the Eudora.ini file and then save the file as Eudora2.ini Etc.
Then to start Eudora on the alternate account you create a new shortcut with the target entered as C:\Eudora\Eudora.exe C:\Eudora\Eudora2.INI where “C” is the appropriate drive letter.

The 4 modifications to the Eudora.ini file are all in the “Settings” section as follows:

Where altname = 2nd user name & alternate.net = 2nd ISP

  1. [email protected]
  2. [email protected]
  3. DialupUsername=altname
  4. SMTPServer=mail.alternate.net

Note many setting will remain as they are in the primary account .ini file.

Side Note: To remove Eudora’s startup splash screen add the line “NoSplashScreen=1” in the settings section.

Submitted by Moke Nelson

Hidden Format Switches

Added 8/16/98

There are a couple of undocument Format switches that have been around for several years: They will work with at least DOS 6.2 and above.

  • FORMAT /AUTOTEST – Formats without any prompting and exits the program when finished
  • FORMAT /BACKUP – Like /AUTOTEST but you will be prompted for a volume label

These can be useful if your are formatting drives from a batch file or shortcut and don’t want to be prompted for input.

Changing the Number of Days Displayed in Outlook Calendar

Added 5/3/98

When in Outlook’s Calendar program with Day View, to change the number of days shown.

For eampls press Alt along with the number of days you want to see.
For example Alt-4 would show 4 days.

Alt-M shows a Month

Creating Outlook Contacts Shortcut

Added 5/3/98

To create a shortcut for your Outlook Contacts folder on the desktop

  1. Right click on an open area of the desktop
  2. Select New / Shortcut
  3. Enter in the path to your outlook program followed by outlook:contacts. Note the quotes are necessary – “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OUTLOOK.EXE” outlook:contacts

Changing File Associations

Submitted 3/1/98

  1. Changing File Associations quickly
  2. In Explorer select a fileof the type you want to change.
  3. Hold down Shift & Right click the selection.
  4. Choose “Open With”.
  5. Select the program to open the file type.
  6. In the dialog box check the Always use this program to open this file.
  7. Click OK
  8. The association are now made

Submitted by Mike Clohessy

Added 6/28/97

When you double click on a data file, the application associated with that file’s extension is stated the the file is loaded.
To change a the application associated with a particular file extension:

  1. Open a Folder
  2. Go to View / Options / File Types
  3. Scroll down until you see the particular file extension(s) you want to change. This will be in the File type details: section towards the bottom of the dialog box.
  4. Click on the Edit button
  5. In the Actions box, double click on Open
  6. In Application used to perform this action:, enter the name of the application you want to open when you open a file with the extenstion. You can enter it manually or browse to it.
  7. Click on the Ok, Ok, and the Close buttons.

Extracting files from Win95’s CAB files

Note from Bob: The submitted tip will only extract files that start with the name you specificed.
To extract a file from an unknown cab file, where it will search through all cab files, from the command line, enter:

for %p in (x:\win95\*.cab) do extract %p filename

Where x\win95 is the location of you cab files and filename is the name of the file you are looking for.
To do this in a batch file, use two % signs instead of one.

Recovering Damaged Text Files

Submitted 2/18/98

Here’s a handy tip to recover a corrupt or damaged text file through Word 97.
It doesn’t have to startout a Word file either. This can be used to recover any file that contains text.

Here’s how you do it:

  1. Open Word 97
  2. Click FILE->OPEN and click the file you wish to recover to select it.
  3. Down near the bottom of the page on the “Files of type” section, choose “Recover text from any file”
  4. Click “Open”.

Submitted by Melissa Gaugert

Setting Swap File Size

Added 2/14/98

If when you first start your computer, a swap file is being created. You can speed the boot process by specifying this as the minimum swap file size.

  1. Boot your system and don’t open any applications
  2. Note the size of your swap file (WIN386.SWP)
  3. Open the System Properties dialog box (right click on My Computer and select Properties)
  4. Click on the Performance tab
  5. Click on the Virtual Memory button
  6. Check Let me specify my own virtual memory settings
  7. If you have a hard drive or partition that is not ofter used, you can change the location
  8. For the minimum size, select the size (or slightly larger) of the swap file when you first booted.
  9. Don’t select a maximum. Let it default to the rest of your hard drive space.

Defragmenting the Swap File

Added 2/14/98

Normally when you use Windows95’s Disk Defragger, this will not defrag the swap file.

To defrag the swap file:

  1. Open the System Properties dialog box (right click on My Computer and select Properties)
  2. Click on the Performance tab
  3. Click on the Virtual Memory button
  4. Check Let me specify my own virtual memory settings
  5. Check Disable virtual memory (Note: This will cause the system not to use a swap file)
  6. Click on the OK button
  7. Answer Yes to the warning
  8. Click on the Close button
  9. Reboot when prompted
  10. You system will reboot.
  11. Check to see that there is no swap file. If one still remains (WIN386.SWP), you can safely delete it.
  12. Defrag your system as you usually do
  13. Now reset the swap file to your previous setting and reboot. (Note: Do not leave your system running without a swap file)

Another method submitted by [email protected] is to create a small 200-300 meg partition on your hard drive and put your swap file there.

ScanDisk with OEM SR2

Added 2/11/98

To alter the way the DOS Scandisk gets used during a SR2 bootup, you can modify the \WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANDISK.INI file.

Added 11/29/96

With the new OEM version of Windows95, if the system was not shutdown cleanly,
the next time it is started, it will stop and prompt you before running ScanDisk.
New options are available for the MSDOS.SYS file to configure how ScanDisk will start.

  • AutoScan=0 will disable this feature
  • AutoScan=1 will stop and prompt you before starting ScanDisk. After 1 minute it will start automatically. This is the default setting
  • AutoScan=2 will start ScanDisk if needed automatically

Substituting Drive Letters

Submitted 1/11/98

You can use the DOS SUBST command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to set a drive letter to a local or networked drive and directory.
This way you only need to go to a new drive letter rather than needing to go several levels deep into a directory structure.
For example:

SET SYST=D:\SYST
SET UTIL=%SYST%\UTIL

SUBST G: %DATADIR%\GRAPHICS
SUBST H: %DATADIR%\HTML
SUBST I: %DATADIR%\HTML\intrepid
SUBST M: %DATADIR%\MIDI
SUBST T: %TEMP%
SUBST U: %UTIL%
SUBST W: %DATADIR%\HTML\smulder
SUBST Z: %DATADIR%\DL

Submitted by Stan Mulder

Shutting Down or Restarting Windows95 from an Icon

Submitted 12/24/97

To Shutdown Windows95, create a shortcut to:
rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows

To Restart Windows95, create a shortcut to:
rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec

Note: This will also run the DOSSTART.BAT file if you have it. There is an easy way to not use this file and boot to DOS Mode. See my section on Booting to DOS Mode

Submitted by Jeff Pilch

Saving Space Using WinZip

Submitted 10/11/97

Do you have a folder with lots of .txt ot other files that when “ZIPPED” really compress?
Try this to save valuable disk space:

  1. Zip all the files into one big “ZIPPED” file.
  2. Then delete the UNZIPPED files and keep the ZIP file in the original folder.
  3. Then when you want to see a particular file, open the main “ZIP” file but don’t extract the files, just double click the file of interest right in the WinZip screen and it will open.
  4. If you modify the file and save your changes in the normal fashion, WinZip sees the change and asks if you want to update the file in the ZIP to which you of course say yes or Ok.

The net result is your files take up a lot less disk space and the files are easily accessable. (I have a group of .txt files that ZIPPED are just over one Meg but unzipped are over 7.5 Megs!)

Submitted by Mocha

Office97 and Plus Pack Themes

Submitted 9/13/97

Plus Pack users who install Office 97 will experience crashes when using the THEMES.EXE to change their desktop.
The file must be manually replaced with a new one on the Office 97 CD-ROM.
It is not done by default during the Office installation.
The warning is buried deep in the setup instructions and easily missed.

Note from Bob: You can download the patched version of the file at THEMES.EXE- Updated Themes.exe version 4.40.311

Submitted by Larry Stone

Opening a Files for Editing

Submitted 5/10/97

I would call this a Web Authoring Tip, but it has many other uses…

Adding an ‘Edit’ option to HTML Documents Options Menu.

When I double click my *.htm files it always fires up my browser.
Well sometimes I want to edit that document instead. I can put Notepad in the Send To Folder to ease this problem. Here is another way to deal with this that is a bit slicker:

  1. From Windows Explorer, select View then Options
  2. Click the File Types Tab.
  3. Select the type you want to add edit for (in my example this would be ‘Netscape Hypertext Document’ or *.HTM
  4. Click the Edit Button.
  5. From the Edit File Type panel click the New button.
  6. Action is: &Edit, Application used to…. is: c:\windows\notepad.exe %1
  7. Click OK, then Close, then Close.

Now when you secondary (right) click an HTML Document select Edit
from the menu (or press E) and you are now looking at the source in Notepad.

You can use a similar process for Graphic files (JPG, GIF, etc) to send them to your favorite Graphics program.

Submitted by Eric Sandoz

Opening Associated Files from a DOS Box

Submitted 4/25/97

For a file with its associated application, say Word for Windows, and a data file, FILE1.DOC

At a DOS prompt, type START FILE1.DOC (or just file1 if it’s unique). Word comes up and loads the document.

Submitted by Marc Linn

Using Another E-Mail Package when Exchange is Installed

Added 3/22/97

Normally when web browsing, if Exchange is installed, and you click on a e-mail address
it will default to opening up. If you want to change it to another e-mail program:

  1. Open up a Folder
  2. Select View / OptionsClick on the File Types tab
  3. Scroll down to URL:MailTo Protocol
  4. Click on the Edit button
  5. Under Actions, highlight open
  6. Click on the Edit button
  7. Under Application used to perform action
  8. From here you can browse to the e-mail program you want to use

Eudora Pro has an option to set that automatically. Other programs may have switches you need to include.

Pegasus needs a -T %1 for it to automatically insert the e-mail address

Power Surfing

Submitted 3/18/97

This tip works especially well if you have a large monitor and run at a high resolution…

If you want to really power surf the web, open up more than one browser. Arrange them on the screen so that you can see at least part of each one at all times.

Once this is done, you can now drag links from one browser to another. This saves you from having to use the back button constantly, especially if you are on a page like a search engine, where there are lots of links and you want to try a bunch of them.

Also, if you encounter a web page with frames, and you want to break out of the frames, you can drag a link to a new browser. No more frames.

(You can also right-click a link and choose “Open in New Browser”.)

Here’s an example of using two browsers…
Let’s say you are going to be using a search engine for the next hour or so. Start two browsers and tile them vertically. (Minimize all programs except the two browsers, and right click a blank spot on the taskbar, then choose ’tile vertically’). Now drag the edges of the browsers so that the browser on the left is about 3 inches wide. Drag the edges of the browser on the right so that it takes up the rest of the screen. Now, using the browser on the left, open your favorite search engine and do a search. When the list of hits are displayed, drag a link into the browser on the right.

This lets you see all the hits from the search engine while you are surfing those sites… no more hitting the ‘back’ button all day long.

Submitted by John M.

Lotus 123 Release 5 Lockup

Submitted 12/18/96

If your Lotus 123 Release 5 for Windows grays out the spreadsheet and locks up, here’s what to do:

  1. Go to Control Panel, System, Device Manager Performance, Graphics
  2. Move the bar to the left until the problem goes away.
  3. You’ll have to reboot and experiment each time.
  4. When the problem goes away, go back to System and move it up one notch to tweak it.
  5. That way you’ll be going as fast as you can with the graphics limit.

Submitted by Thomas Wilson
[email protected]

Wildcards with DIR and File Find

Added 11/29/96

In addition to the usual wildcards for doing such things as a DIR or File Find,
new options are available with Windows95. The following are a few examples:

COM – All files and folders that have COM in the extension
*ABC* – All files and folders with ABC somewhere in the name
*ABC – All files with ABC as the last characters in the name (no including the extension)
*ABC? – All files with ABC as the second to last characters in the name
?ABC* – All files and folders with ABC as the second through the fourth letters in a name
?ABC? – All files and folders with at least one letter before and after the ABC

ScanDisk Command-Line Switches

Added 11/24/96

Scandskw

drive: – Drive letter of disk you want to scan
/A or /ALL – Scans all local, non-removable hard drives
/N or /NonInteractive – Start and closes ScanDisk Automatically

Defrag Command-Line Switches

Added 11/24/96

Defrag

drive: – Drive letter of the disk you want to defrag
/all – Defrag all local, non-removable drives
/F – Defrag files and free space
/U – Defrag files only
/Q – Defrag free space only
/concise – Display the Hide Details view
/detailed – Display the Show Details view
/noprompt – Immediately starts Defrag

Fixing Page Fault in MPREXE.EXE

Added 9/25/96

Occasionally, after Exchange is installed, you will get errors that indicate that MPREXE.EXE caused a page fault in KERNEL32.DLL
To solve the problem, delete the .PWL file associated with your login ID.
Another solution is to download the Password List Update (278 K) to repair the existing PWL file.

Auto-Dialing for 32-bit Internet Applications

Submitted 7/11/96

If your 32-bit Internet applications do not automatically invoke your
Windows 95 Dialer, here is a way I found to enable this feature.

  1. First, bring up an internet application such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.
  2. Next, manually dial into your internet provider by double-clicking your connection icon.
  3. Once connected, go to the Control Panel and double-click on the Internet icon.
  4. Once the window open, uncheck the checkbox titled “Dial whenever an Internet Connection is needed”.
  5. Click the check box again and make sure there is a check in the checkbox.
  6. Next, click the APPLY button.
  7. Finally , click the OK button.

Once you do this, close your internet application and disconnect from your internet provider.
Re-start your Internet application and the Windows 95 dialer should start up.
NOTE: From my experience, all Internet applications will be effected and will automatically start the Windows 95 dialer.

Submitted by J. Walker
[email protected]

DOSSTART.BAT File

Submitted 6/23/96

There’s a file name DOSSTART.BAT in the WINDOWS directory. By editing this file you will be able to configure how to start DOS whenever you exit Windows to DOS mode.
This is just like an AUTOEXEC.BAT file that starts up your system.

Submitted by Robo
[email protected]

Fixing Corrupted Exchange Files

Submitted 5/8/96

To replace corrupted files in MS-Exchange run
c:\program files\microsoft exchange\mlset32.exe

Normally, just removing exchange won’t delete the old files.
If it should happen that one is corrupted it won’t be replaced by the original from the CD when exchange is added again.
Running the program above launches the original exchange setup applet which guides you through the original install process.

Submitted by Geoff J. Wiener
[email protected]

Emergency Recovery Utility

Submitted 5/8/96

Microsoft includes their Emergency Recovery Utility(ERU) on the 95 CD-ROM
This utility makes a backup of the registry and other important system files.
In some cases Windows 95 can be fixed by restoring the registry with this utility.

The ERU program is in the \OTHER\MISC\ERU directory on the Win95 CD.
If you have the floppy version of Win 95, the utility can be found at Microsoft’s web site
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/download/eruzip.exe

ERU is also a good way to keep recent backups of all your important system files!

Submitted by Kirk Davis
[email protected]

Turning off the ending = with Exchange

Added 4/9/96

When using Exchange, sometimes other e-mail packages will end
each line with a = character.

To turn this off:

  1. Open the Control Panel
  2. Double Click on the Mail / Fax icon
  3. Highlight Internet Mail
  4. Click on Properties
  5. Click on Message Format
  6. Uncheck Use MIME when sending messages

Using the Mouse to copy text in a DOS program

Added 3/30/96

If you want to use your mouse to select an area to copy while you are in a windowed DOS program:

  1. Right click on the icon that starts the program
  2. Select Properties
  3. Click on the Misc tab
  4. Check the QuickEdit box

This eliminates the need to select text by using the pull down menu.

Using Exchange with more than one phone number

Added 3/29/96

If you set up exchange to connect using the modem, you can only have one phone number listed.
If you have more than one phone number available for your provider, you would need to create another profile,
which would have your e-mail to go to two mail boxes.

To get around this problem, simply select Network for the connection.
Connect first using either phone number and then start Exchange
Then no matter what phone number you used to connect to the internet,
all your e-mail will be in one place.

Backing up the Registry

Use CFGBACK.EXEon the Win 95 CD. It is in the /OTHER/MISC/CFGBACK directory.
It will save up to 9 copies of the registry in*.rbk file format.
You can restore any of these when necessary.

Submitted by KJ King

Adding NOTEPAD to SENDTO

Submitted 1/11/96

Create a shortcut to notepad.exe in the C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO directory.
Then, you’ll have the option to view a files contents by right-clicking it and “sending” to the notepad.
Immensely useful for deciphering old set-up files (or .DOC files that aren’t Word files, READ.ME etc.)

Submitted by Mike Blackmer
[email protected]

Eudora Pro for Win95

Added 12/27/95

If you are using the Internet Explorer and send e-mail, Win95 defaults to using Exchange.
If you would rather use Eudora Pro as your e-mail program:

  1. Start Eudora Pro for Win95
  2. Select Tools
  3. Select Options
  4. Select Mapi
  5. For the section Use Eudora MAPI Server, select Always

Now when you e-mail from within the Internet Explorer, Eudora will come up as your
e-mail program.

Norton Utilities

Submitted 11/5/95

If the readings on the amount of hard drive space is showing
more than is possible

  1. Go into Norton Recycled bin
  2. Hit empty Norton Protected files

This will now give you an accurate reading.

Submitted by K.J. King
[email protected]

Using EDIT

Added 9/29/95

The DOS based text editor that comes with Windows95 has some advantages
over the one that came with prior versions of DOS.

  • It will let you load multiple files.
  • It will let you call wild cards from the command line (e.g. EDIT *.BAT).

EDIT can also be used on prior versions of DOS.
Just copy EDIT.COM to your old DOS directory.

Creating Distribution Lists for Exchange E-Mail

Added 9/26/95

  1. Start Exchange.
  2. Open up the Address Book.
  3. Create a New Entry.
  4. Select Personal Distribution List from the menu.
  5. Type in the Name of the List as well as any notes.
  6. Click on the Add/Remove Members button.
  7. Select the people you want on the distribution list.
  8. You can use the Windows Ctrl or Shift with left mouse button to select multiple entries.
  9. Click the next two OK buttons.
  10. To send to your Distribution List, simply create your e-mail as usual and select it from the Address book.

Using Memmaker

Submitted 9/23/95

Here’s a blast from the (supposed) past:

  • Run Memmaker from the MS-DOS prompt.
  • It will reboot in MSDOS mode and then run as before.
  • When you open DOS Prompts and DOS games they will have many of the TSRs in HIMEM
  • I have 637K Conventional memory for all DOS apps!

Submitted by Dan Rhodes
[email protected]

Signatures Using WordMail

Added 9/21/95

If you are using WordMail that comes with Office95, you can send e-mail using Microsoft Word.
Exchange will automatically detect the addition and start WordMail when you create a new e-mail or reply to an existing one.

It will use Word’s spell checker, most of the WinWord text formatting capabilities (centering, full justification, bold, italics)
a special Mail button bar and quite a few new features. It is certainly worth trying out.

This may sound like MS hype but I’m actually quite impressed

To include a signature:

  1. Start a new message (Ctrl-N)
  2. Type in your signature.
  3. Highlight your signature text.
  4. From the pulldown menu, select Edit / Autotext.
  5. Type in signature for the name.
  6. Click on the Add button.
  7. Now when you send any message, this text will be added to the beginning.

Advantages are:

  1. By adding the text to the beginning of the file, a reply will have your signature at the end of your reply, not at the end of their message.
  2. You can format text with Bold, Italics, Underlines etc. Anyone using Exchange can also view them

Adding New Document Templates

Submitted 9/3/95

  1. Save a blank file with the program for the documents you wish to create the templates, into the hidden directory \WINDOWS\ShellNew.
  2. Then open the Registry Editor and add the key “ShellNew” under the extension related to that document (ie. .BAS, .ORG, .DXF)
  3. Add a new substring and name it Filename
  4. Double-click Filename and type the name of the blank document you just saved.
  5. Now you can right-click on the desktop, select New and you’ll see the option to create a document-type icon for the application you just selected.

I have found a lot of variations and options on this tip.

Submitted by Xavier Flix
:[email protected]

New XCOPY Switches

There are quite a few new switches to the XCOPY command. To get a full listing, type XCOPY /?. Below are some of the additions over DOS 6.X.

  • /C – Continues copying even if errors occur
  • /I – If destination does not exist and copying more than one file, assumes that destination must be a directory
  • /Q – Does not display file names while copying
  • /F – Displays full source and destination file names while copying
  • /L – Displays files that would be copied
  • /H -Copies hidden and system files also
  • /R – Overwrites read-only files
  • /T – Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. Does not include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes empty directories and subdirectories
  • /U – Updates the files that already exist in destination
  • /K – Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only attributes
  • /Y – Overwrites existing files without prompting
  • /-Y – Prompts you before overwriting existing files
  • /N – Copy using the generated short names

Problems with older Win 3.X programs

There is a program, MKCOMPAT.EXE in the SYSTEM directory. If allows you to change several settings that could help with problem programs.

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