Desktop Tips

 

Desktop

Restoring a Lost Desktop – Added 3/15/00
Making Desktop Changes Permanent – Added 10/16/98
Easy Shortcuts on the Desktop – Submitted 8/14/98
Unable to Create Shortcuts on the Desktop – Added 1/3/98
Repositioning a Background Bitmap – Added 4/6/97
Adding Shortcuts to Desktop Without “Shortcut To” text – Submitted 1/24/97
Removing Items from NEW on the Desktop – Added 7/28/96
Adding the Device Manager to your Desktop – Added 5/27/96
Changing Desktop Folders – With No Registry Changes – Submitted 12/14/95
Updating the Desktop – 11/28/95
Minimizing all windows – 9/24/95/95
Turning on AutoArrange – 9/13/95
Quick access to your Desktop – 9/3/95
Turning off Desktop Icons
Removing the Network Neighborhood icon
Changing the Startup and Logoff Bitmap screens

Icons

Creating Shutdown, Restart and Logoff Icons – Added 1/8/00
Increasing the Icon Cache – Submitted 10/30/99
Make Icons 256 Color 16-Bit – Submitted 7/19/99
Removing Shortcut Arrows – Submitted 3/28/99
Changing a Folder’s Icon – Submitted 8/14/98
Fixing Corrupted Desktop Icons – Updated 5/25/98
Removing the InBox from the Desktop – Submitted 12/29/97
Customizing Individual Folder Icons – Submitted 11/22/97
Removing the Recycle Bin – Submitted 11/16/97
Having Icons with No Name – Updated 9/28/97
Changing Drive Icons – Added 4/6/97
Removing the InBox and Recycle Bin Icons from the Desktop – Added 9/8/96
Modifying Default Desktop Icons – Added 7/27/96
More Removing Shortcut Arrows – Submitted 3/12/96
Changing Application Icons – Submitted 1/21/96
Removing the shortcut arrows (potential problem) – 11/5/95
Removing the shortcut icon arrows – 9/18/95
Restoring corrupted icons
Renaming the Recycle Bin

Start Menu

Organizing the Start / Programs Listing – Added 5/29/01
Having your Favorites and Start Menus Sort Alphabetically – Added 11/9/99
Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu – Added 10/17/98
Moving the Start Button – Submitted 7/4/97
Aligning Drop-Down Menus to the Right – Submitted 4/25/97
Removing the Start Button – Submitted 11/24/96
Customizing the Start Button’s Name and Icon – Added 5/28/96
Adding Options to the Right-Click of the Start Menu – Submitted 5/20/96
Adding the Desktop to your Start Menu – 11/17/95
Getting rid of Click here to continue – 11/4/95
Changing or Removing the Start Menu Icons – Submitted 6/29/96
Adding the Control Panel icons to the Desktop – 10/2/95
Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu – 10/2/95
Speeding up the Start Menu

Misc

Easy Access to Folders from the Toolbar – Added 9/9/01
Creating a New E-Mail Shortcut – Added 1/31/00
Creating 3D Window Effect – Added 1/8/00
Full Window Drag ( Without Plus! ) – Submitted 5/25/98
Getting Screen Shots – Submitted 4/12/98
Increasing the Size of the Scroll Bar – Submitted 1/11/98
Adding Send To the Recycle Bin – Submitted 10/11/97
Adding AnyFolder and Mail to SendTo – Submitted 3/7/97
Easier User Interface – Submitted 1/24/97
Changing the clock to 24-Hour Time – Added 10/20/96
Adding Drives to the SendTo List – Submitted 6/29/96
Adding a Protected Briefcase – Submitted 6/23/96
How to make the task bar autohide – Added 5/15/96
Closing Nested Folders – Added 2/28/96
Moving and Resizing the Taskbar – Submitted 1/21/96
Correcting Corrupted Fonts – 1/11/96
Creating document scraps – 9/13/95
Turing off Windows Animation
Using old Window’s Groups
Changing the My Computer or Recycle Bin icons
Removing the Tildes in filenames

 Easy Access to Folders from the Toolbar

Added 9/9/01

You can quickly access commonly used folders from your Toolbar

  1. Right click on an open area of the Toolbar
  2. Select Toolbars / New Toolbar
  3. Browse to the directory you want to add
  4. Now on the toolbar you will see the name of that folder displayed.
  5. Click on the >> to open any sub-folders as well.

Organizing the Start / Programs Listing

Added 5/29/01

As you add more and more programs, the listing of them in Start / Programs can get fairly long.
One solution is to categorize your programs into several groups, create a folder for those groups, and move the shortcuts to those folders.

For example:

  1. Start the Explorer
  2. Go to Windows / Start Menu / Programs
  3. Create new folders with the categories you want (e.g. Graphics, Utilities, Internet etc.)
  4. Now move the shortcuts to those programs in Windows / Start Menu / Programs to whichever category you decide.

This can greatly reduce clutter and make it a lot easier to find your programs.

Note: Windows2000 and WindowsXP Users will need to go to the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs directory

Restoring a Lost Desktop

Submitted 3/15/00

If you ever lose the Desktop but Explorer is still running with the Start Button,
you can do this to bring back your Desktop in a Windows box.

  1. Click Start
  2. Click Run
  3. Type a period ” . “
  4. Then press Enter

Submitted by John Crossland

Creating a New E-Mail Shortcut

Added 1/31/00

To create a shortcut that will open your default e-mail program starting a new e-mail,

  1. Right click on an open area of the desktop
  2. Select New / Shortcut
  3. For the Command Line, enter mailto:
  4. For the title enter something like New E-Mail
  5. When you click on this your default e-mail program should start with a new e-mail form.

Creating 3D Window Effect

1/8/00

You can create a nice 3D effect for your windows

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Colors
  3. Make sure the following setting are there:
  • ButtonHilight=128 128 128
  • ButtonShadow=255 255 255

Creating Shutdown, Restart and Logoff Icons

Added 1/8/00

To create the icons, create a shortcut on the desktop.

For Shutdown, the command is C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows

For Restart, the command is C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindowsexec

For Logoff, the command is C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 0

Having your Favorites and Start Menus Sort Alphabetically

Added 11/9/99

If your Start Menu Program or Favorites are not sorting alphabetically, it is easy to fix this:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/MenuOrder
  3. Under here is are Favorites and Start Menu folders
  4. In each there is a value called Order
  5. Simply delete (or rename this) and restart Winodws
  6. Your Favorites or Start Menus should now sort alphabetically

Increasing the Icon Cache

Submitted 10/30/99

  1. Run Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
  3. Create a new string called Max Cached Icons
  4. Give it a value of 10000
  5. This will increase response time in windows and give the Shellicon cache file more elbow room.

Submitted by Paul Barker

Make Icons 256 Color 16-Bit

Submitted 7/19/99

  1. Open the Registry
  2. Hit Ctrl+F
  3. Type Shell Icon BPP
  4. When found, right click the Shell Icon BPP icon
  5. Click Modify
  6. Change the value from 4 to 16
  7. Click Ok
  8. Close the registry
  9. Restart your computer

Submitted by Wes

Removing Shortcut Arrows

Submitted 3/28/99

An easy way to remove those irritating arrows from your desktop shortcut icons and not change their properties

  1. Right click the Desktop / Properties / Appearance tab
  2. Select Item
  3. Scroll for Icon
  4. The default size is 32
  5. Change this to 30
  6. Clicking Apply

Submitted by Larry McDonald

Download

Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu

Added 10/17/98

  1. Open up the Explorer
  2. Go to \WINDOWS\Start Menu
  3. Right click in the right-hand panel
  4. Add a new folder
  5. Name it Control Panel.{21ec2020-3aea-1069-a2dd-08002b30309d}
  6. This makes getting to the Control Panel items a little easier

Making Desktop Changes Permanent

Added 10/16/98

To make changes to the Desktop like window size, positon after rebooting:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
  3. Create a New Binary Value
  4. Name it NoSaveSettings
  5. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

Easy Shortcuts on the Desktop

Submitted 8/14/98

Here is an easy way to put shortcuts on the Desktop where they can easily be moved to other group icons.

  1. Using the Explorer, create a SHORTCUT to the \Windows\Desktop directory in your \Windows\SEND TO directory.
  2. Now whenever you want to make a shortcut and move it to the desktop:
  3. Just make the shortcut you want using Explorer
  4. Right click on that shortcut
  5. In the pop up menu select the Send To and Desktop shortcut.

Submitted by Jerry Airaudi

Changing a Folder’s Icon

To change the icon of a Folder on desktop:

  1. Using the Explorer, move the folder from the Desktop directory to another directory on the hard drive
  2. Right click on the new folder and select “Create Shortcut”
  3. Move the shortcut to the Desktop
  4. Right click and select a new icon

Submitted by Kim Schmidt

Full Window Drag ( Without Plus! )

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER /ControlPanel /Desktop /DragFullWindows
  3. On “DragFullWindows” properties change 0 to 1

Submitted by Fatal III

Fixing Corrupted Desktop Icons

Updated 5/25/98

Easier way to reset icons then deleting SHELLICONCACHE.

There’s no need to exit Win95 and delete the SHELLICONCACHE file in order to reset icons that you may have changed (like Network Neighborhood).

  1. Go to Control Panel, Display, Appearance Tab.
  2. Select Icon from the Item drop down list.
  3. Change the Size up or down one and apply.
  4. Change the Size back to your original and apply.

Submitted by Duane Anderson

Submitted 2/28/98

If your Start Menu is slow or your icons are black for some reason, it means your Shelliconcache file is corrupt and should be deleted.
Delete the hidden file C:\WINDOWS\SHELLICONCACHE
It will be recreated the next time you start Win95

Submitted by Tim Berger

Getting Screen Shots

Submitted 4/12/98

If you need to get a screen shot, and you do not have a screen capture program, try this:

  • Hit the Print Screen key. This copies a bitmap of the full screen into the Windows clipboard. Start up a graphics editor and paste it in.
  • Alt + Print Screen will capture only the active window.

Submitted by V. Sahker

Increasing the Size of the Scroll Bar

Submitted 1/11/98

How to adjust the width of the scroll bar:

  2. Select Properties
  3. Select the Appearance tab
  4. Go to the item list and find scrollbar.
  5. Increasing the value in the Size field will increase the scrollbar width.

Submitted by Scott K. Ibara

Unable to Create Shortcuts on the Desktop

Added 1/3/98

If you can’t create shortcuts on your Desktop, you might have a corrupted registry.

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew\Command
  3. Make sure it has a value of:
  4. RunDLL32 AppWiz.Cpl,NewLinkHere %1 if you don’t have IE 4
  5. or RunDLL32 AppWiz.Cpl,NewLinkHere %2 if you have IE 4.0 or IE 4.01

Removing the InBox from the Desktop

Submitted 12/29/97

A faster way to remove “Inbox” from the Deskop is to

  1. Right mouse click on “Inbox”
  2. Select delete
  3. It will then tell you “you cannot store the inbox in the recycle bin. . .etc”
  4. Click “Yes”
  5. Wait 2 secs and it’s gone.

Submitted by Mark Weber

Customizing Individual Folder Icons

Submitted 11/22/97

To change a folder’s icon:

  1. Open Notepad and enter two lines,[.ShellClassInfo]
    IconFile=file name,number
    (e.g. IconFile=C:\Icon\CustomFolder.ico,0)
  2. Save the file as DESKTOP.INI in the folder you wish to change.
  3. Click Start -> Run, type in the command line,
    ATTRIB +S “folder name”
    (e.g. ATTRIB +S “C:\Custom Folder”)
  4. Open Explorer or My Computer and refresh (press F5 key).

This tip only work Windows 95/NT 4.0 + IE 4.0 with shell integration, or Windows 98/NT 5.0.

Submitted by Nariaki Ogami

Removing the Recycle Bin

Submitted 11/16/97

To remove Recycle Bin from the desktop:

  1. Run REGEDIT.
  2. Find NAMESPACE key in left pane (HKEY_Local_Macine \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Explorer \ Desktop \ Namespace)
  3. Expand NAMESPACE (click ‘+’ box)
  4. Delete the value RECYCLE BIN in right pane

Submitted by Jeff Pilch

Adding Send To the Recycle Bin

Submitted 10/11/97

Add a SHORTCUT TO THE RECYCLE BIN in your SEND TO folder.

That way you can just right click on a file you want to delete, and send it to the recycle bin without having to confirm each time.

Submitted by Roger Hinton

Having Icons with No Name

Updated 9/28/97

Normally you have to have a name for an icon, just spaces are not allowed.
To create an icon with no name attached:

  1. Make sure NumLock is on
  2. Highlight the Icon you want to change
  3. Right-Mouse click and select Rename
  4. While holding down the Alt key, type 0160
  5. Now the icon will have no name below it.

To Create Multiple Icons with No Name – From John R.

  1. Follow directions detailed above
  2. With the second icon simply add one space-bar character AFTER the 0160 number.
  3. Each successive icon gets an additional space-bar character at the end (to prevent a duplicate naming error).

Submitted by John R

Moving the Start Button

Submitted 7/4/97

How to move or close the start button!

  1. Click on the Start button
  2. Press the Esc key
  3. Press the Alt and the – keys together
  4. This will give you a menu, you can move or close
  5. But if you move it you need to use the arrow keys and not the mouse.

Submitted by Mick Jones

Aligning Drop-Down Menus to the Right

Submitted 4/25/97

All dropdown menus can be aligned to the right.
This features becomes useful when trying to access
menus with submenus that appear directly to the right.

  1. Open the Registory editor (e.g. regedit.exe)
  2. Goto \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
  3. Create a string entry called “MenuDropAlignment”
  4. Set its value to 1
  5. Reboot

Note: Will not work under NT 4.0.

Submitted by Maki Ishizaki

Repositioning a Background Bitmap

Added 4/6/97

Normally, you only options for displaying a background bitmap are tiled, centered, or stretch to fit (with the Plus Pack).
You can edit the registry and have a third option which is to place the bitmap anywhere on your screen by specifying the X and Y coordinates.

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Control Panel / Desktop
  3. Create new Strings called WallpaperOriginX and WallpaperOriginY
  4. Give them values to position them around your desktop
  5. The bitmap must be smaller than your desktop size

Changing Drive Icons

Added 4/6/97

To change a drive’s icon when you open My Computer

  1. Create a file called AUTORUN.INF on the root of your hard drive
  2. Enter the lines

[autorun]
ICON=Name of the ICON file

For the name of the icon file you can either specify the path and name (e.g. ICON=C:\WINDOWS\ICONS\MY_ICON.ICO) or
a specific icon in a library (e.g. ICON=ICONFILE.DLL,2)

Adding AnyFolder and Mail to SendTo

Submitted 3/7/96

Previous examples of adding items to the SendTo usually require editing the Registry.
An easy way around this is to use the following methods.

To add ANYFOLDER:

  1. Open the Explorer
  2. Go to \Windows\SendTo
  3. Right click in the right hand panel
  4. Select New / Text Document
  5. Name it anything with a .otherfolder extension

When you want to send files to another folder:

  1. Select the files with Explorer
  2. Right Click
  3. Select Send to and the name you just created
  4. You them have the option of copying or moving the file to a folder of your choice

To add Mail:

  1. Open the Explorer
  2. Go to \Windows\SendTo
  3. Right click in the right hand panel
  4. Select New / Text Document
  5. Name it anything with a .MapiMail extension (ignore any warnings about the file extension)

When you want to Mail files as attachments:

  1. Select the files with Explorer
  2. Right Click
  3. Select Send to and the Mail name you just created
  4. This allows you to easily mail multiple files

Submitted by Will Raresheid

Adding Shortcuts to Desktop Without “Shortcut To” text

Submitted 1/24/97

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to:HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer
  3. Add binary value to Explorer:link=”00,00,00,00″
  4. Now You can make Shortcuts to desktop without Shortcut To” text.

Submitted by Janek Kivisild
[email protected]

Easier User Interface

Submitted 1/24/97

Add a menu item named “Open THIS folder!” to each of your cascading menus off of the Start menu.
This makes it easier to put items wherever you want them!

  1. Go to Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs \ (etc.) in the Explorer
  2. Start right click/dragging folders to the desktop, one by one.
  3. Rename them and left click/drag them back to the same folder.

It takes a little while, but when you are finished you have a much easier interface to work with.

Submitted by Gordy Robbins
[email protected]

Removing the Start Button

Submitted 11/24/96

  1. Click on the start menu button twice, so there is a dashed line around the button
  2. Press Alt and the minus sign
  3. Choose Close to make the start button disappear, or move to move it to the right!

Submitted by Justin Nachod

Note from Bob: – You have to re-boot to get it back again, or:

  1. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete
  2. Highlight Explorer
  3. Click on the End Task button
  4. Select No to doing a full shutdown
  5. Wait a few seconds and the click on the End Task button

Changing the clock to 24-Hour Time

Added 10/20/96

  1. To change the display of the clock on the taskbar to 24-hour format:
  2. Open the Control Panel
  3. Double-click on the Regional Settings icon
  4. Click on the Time tab
  5. In the Time style section select H:mm:ss

Removing the InBox and Recycle Bin Icons from the Desktop

Added 9/8/96

To remove the InBox from your desktop, without needing to run the Policy Editor:

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ Desktop \ NameSpace
  3. Below that should be a few keys
  4. Rename the key {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}. I usually put another character before or after the curly braces.
  5. Restart Windows and the InBox icon should be gone
  6. You can do the same for any other items you don’t to show such as the Recycle Bin or The Internet icons

Changing or Removing the Start Menu Icons

Submitted 6/29/96

  1. Download Microangelo and install it.
  2. Create a blank.ico file.
  3. Put it in a directory (C:\Windows. Then double click on the Microangelo Engineer to run it.
  4. When you get it up on the screen click on the “start” tab. You will see a list of all the icons in the start menu.
  5. Highlight the first one (programs) and select “Change”. It will bring up a dialog box – select “browse”.
  6. Go to the directory that contains the blank icon and select it. Hit OK until you get back to the main
  7. Engineer window and do all the rest exactly the same way.
  8. When you have finished changing them all to the blank icon, Hit “Apply”.
  9. Hit your start button and look to see if all the icons are invisible. (They should be.)
  10. Close out Micro Engineer and you’re finished.

Submitted by Kristy Shanks

Adding Drive to the SendTo List

Submitted 6/29/96

  • I have recently found that if you want to send something from A: drive or from any where to any drive, you can just make a short cut of that drive in subdirectory SENDTO.
  • For example I have two hard drives, a Floppy Drive, and a CDROM
  • After I have make a copy of each of my drive I will be able to send a whole directory of E:\XXX from the CDROM drive to A: drive or any other drive that i have had made the short c t in the SENDTO subdir of WINDOWS.

Submitted by Robo
[email protected]

Adding a Protected Briefcase

Submitted 6/23/96

You can make your briefcase a shortcut on the on desktop so if you have multiple users on your PC and you don’t want to have a password for your briefcase, you can at least protect it from inadvertent deletion by just making the briefcase a hidden file or in a different location other than \Windows\Desktop\My Briefcase, then send a copy or shortcut to the desktop.

Submitted by Tony Stewart
[email protected]

Customizing the Start Button’s Name and Icon

Added 5/28/96

To change the name of the Start button:

  1. Copy EXPLORER.EXE in your Windows directory to another directory
  2. Start a hex editor (I’ve been using Diskedit from Norton)
  3. Edit EXPLORER.EXE
  4. Search for the string 53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74
  5. This is the word Start with the letters separated by a null character
  6. The section you are in should also have the words “There was an internal error…” also separated with the null character immediately following
  7. Now just replace the Start letters with any of your choice (up to 5 characters only)
  8. Exit Windows
  9. Boot to DOS
  10. Copy your new Explorer file over the original

To change the Start button icon:

  1. Copy USER.EXE in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory to another directory
  2. Use an icon editor that can replace icons in executable files
  3. Edit USER.EXE and replace the flag icons with the icon of your choice
  4. Boot to DOS
  5. Copy the new USER.EXE

The same can be done with NT 4.0, just the offset will be different but the location to just before “There was an internal error…” is the same.

Adding the Device Manager to your Desktop

Added 5/27/96

This allows you to quickly see all the devices attached to your computer.
I use it a lot to select Refresh when I add new external SCSI devices that were not
powered up at startup. This way you do not need to restart the computer. To add the Device Manager Icon:

  1. Right click on an open area of your desktop
  2. Select New / Shortcut
  3. Type in C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL SYSDM.CPL, SYSTEM, 1
  4. Replace C:\WINDOWS with whatever directory you installed Windows95
  5. Click on the Next box
  6. At the next dialog box type in Device Manager
  7. Click on the Finish when you are done

Note: Replacing the 1 with a 3 will bring up the Performance Status

Adding Options to the Right-Click of the Start Menu

Submitted 5/20/96

To add an option to the Right-Click of the Start button:

  1. Go to Control Panel, View, Options
  2. Click on the File Types Tab
  3. Scroll down until you see File Folder
  4. Click on Edit
  5. Click on New
  6. Type in the Name you want to in the Action box
  7. Type in the Application you want to use

A good option to add is an MS-DOS Prompt:

Try this c:\command.com /k cd %1
It also puts the shortcut on a regular folder.
This command will open a DOS window with that folder as the current directory.

Submitted by Paul Alderson
[email protected]

How to make the task bar autohide

Added 5/15/96

  1. Click the right button on a blank area of the task bar
  2. Select Properties
  3. Select Autohide
  4. Click OK

This will make the task bar slide off the screen when the cursor moves away from it,
and it will slide back on when the cursor is moved near it again.

The same can be done for the MS Office task bar. The “sliding” effect is nice, and can free up some desktop space.

More Removing Shortcut Arrows

Submitted 3/12/96

‘lnkfile’, ‘piffle’ and ‘internetshortcut’ are the three places
that I have seen the isshortcut arrow.
The best way to deal with this is to rename the ‘isshortcut’ to
‘isshortcutbak’ by right clicking on the ‘isshortcut’ then
select rename and add ‘bak’ to the end.

Submitted by Charles Muckle
[email protected]

Closing Nested Folders

Added 2/28/96

If you have several nested folders (folders within folders) and want to close them all,
simply, hold the Shift key while closing the last folder
This will close all previous ones as well.

Changing Application Icons

Submitted 1/21/96

To have a wider choice of application icons:

  1. Right click on the icon shortcut
  2. Chose Properties
  3. Click on the Program tab
  4. Chose Change icon
  5. Click on Browse
  6. Select Files of type All Files
  7. Browse to the directory where your icon files are kept
  8. You can even use some bitmap files for you icons

Submitted by Cengiz Lugal
[email protected]

Moving and Resizing the Taskbar

Submitted 1/21/96

You can move the taskbar by pointing on a corner panel and dragging it
It is easier to move if you close all your windows first

You can also resize it by moving the mouse to the edge and dragging it larger or smaller.

Submitted by Adrian Aisemberg – Israel
[email protected]

Correcting Corrupted Fonts

Submitted 1/11/96

If you have a problem with your non-true type fonts, here’s what you do:

  1. Open the Control Panel
  2. Double click on Fonts
  3. Search for the “Monotype Sorts” font
  4. Delete this Font

Submitted by Leslie Mayo
[email protected]

Changing Desktop Folders – With No Registry Changes

Submitted 12/14/95

  1. From the Explorer, create a folder somewhere OTHER than the desktop, and call it something like “Desktop Folders.”
  2. Move all your desktop folders into that folder.
  3. Create shortcuts to all of those folders on your desktop.
  4. Now, you are free to change the icons of each shortcut individually, to anything you like!

Submitted by Jim Andrews
[email protected]
Win95 Page

Updating the Desktop

Submitted 11/28/95

If you want to update the desktop, for example after you’ve been changing the registry.

  1. Right-Click anywhere on the desktop
  2. Press F5

[email protected]

Adding the Desktop to your Start Menu

Submitted 11/17/95

Create a shortcut to the Explorer on your Desktop

  1. Right click on the Start button
  2. Choose Open
  3. Go into the Programs Folder
  4. Drag the Windows Explorer Icon on your Desktop using the RIGHT Mouse button
  5. Choose copy here

Change the command line switch

  1. Right click on the Shortcut you created
  2. Choose Properties
  3. Choose Shortcut
  4. Type in following command line as target:
    • C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /root,
    • The last “,” is vital!
  5. If you want the two pane Explorer view ad the switch ,/e
  6. Then rename the Shortcut to “Desktop” or whatever you choose and drag the icon onto the start button.

Submitted by Christine Koch

Removing shortcut arrows

Submitted 11/5/95

One problem when removing shortcut arrows is that
if you delete a desktop item, it will remove it.
If it is a shortcut it will just remove the icon.
If it is not a shortcut, then it will remove the program.
Having the little icon arrow is one way to tell the difference

Submitted by KJ King

Getting rid of Click Here to Continue

Added 11/4/95

  1. Start the Registry Editor
  2. Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer
  3. Create a binary value and call it NoStartBanner
  4. Double-click on it and give it a value of 01 00 00 00
  5. You will need to repeat the same steps for HKEY_USERS / .Default / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer

Changing the Desktop and Explorer Folder Icons

Added 10/24/95

The following steps will change the icon that is displayed as the default Folder icon.

  1. Start the Registry Editor.
  2. Search for “Shell Icons”.
  3. This will bring you to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / explorer / Shell Icons.
  4. Double-click on the one has the value name of “3” in the right pane.
  5. Type in the new icon you want to use.
  6. If you have a DLL file specified, you need to count for the location of the particular icon you want to use, starting at 0.
  7. To reset the icon cache, use a program such as Tweak with comes with the PowerToys from Microsoft.

Note: I haven’t experimented with too many of the other icon changes possible.

Adding Control Panel Icons to the Desktop

Added 10/2/95

This is an easy one..

  1. Simply open up the Control Panel.
  2. Right Click and Drag the icon you want to your desktop or folder.
  3. This will create a shortcut for that icon.
  4. It could come in handy if there are always certain items you need to get to quickly.

Create a Control Panel menu directly below the Start Button

Added 10/2/95

  1. Click the Start Button once with your right mouse button. You should see a right-button menu (called a context menu because it offers different choices in different contexts).
  2. You should see the items Open, Explore, and Find on the context menu. Click Explore with your left mouse button.
  3. An Explorer file management window should open. A directory tree should appear in the left pane, with the right pane displaying the contents of the Start Menu folder.
  4. Right-click any empty space within the right pane. A context menu should appear. Click New and then Folder.
  5. The Explorer will create a highlighted icon called New Folder. Type in the following string, all on one line, replacing the words New Folder with this new line. You must type the period, the curly braces, all four hyphens, and the hexadecimal numbers exactly as shown. After the closing curly brace, press Enter. 
    Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Other Folders can be added following the same instructions.

  • Dial-Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
  • Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
  • Inbox.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
  • My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
  • Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
  • Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
  • Desktop.{00021400-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
  • Briefcase.{85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
  • Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

Minimizing All Windows

Added 9/24/95

To minimize all windows:

  1. Press Ctrl-ESC ESC to bring up the Task Bar
  2. Right Mouse Click on an open area of the Task Bar
  3. Select Minimize all Windows

This makes it a lot easier to minimize windows when all your open applications are full screen.

With the Microsoft Keyboard, you can accomplish the same thing by pressing the Window-M key.

Removing the Shortcut Icon Arrows

Submitted 9/18/95

  1. Open REGEDIT.EXE
  2. Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
  3. Open the Key LNKFILE
  4. Delete the value IsShortcut
  5. Open the next Key PIFFILE
  6. Delete the value IsShortcut
  7. Restart the Win95

Submitted by David Wysinger
[email protected]

Turning on AutoArrange for Folders

Added 9/13/95

To make all folders keep AutoArrange turned on:

  1. Open up an existing folder
  2. Select View / Arrange
  3. Arrange the Icons the way you would like, (e.g. Name, Size,etc.)
  4. Select View / Arrange again
  5. Select AutoArrange
  6. Press the Ctrl-key while you close the window.
  7. This folder should now have AutoArrange always selected.

This should allow you to create new folders that have AutoArrange selected by default.
You only need to specify by Name, Size, etc. if you want to change it from the default you set above.
Note: I have only tested this on a few computers. Please give me feedback regarding any problems.

Creating Document Scraps

Submitted 9/13/95

If you are using Microsoft Word 7.0,
you can highlight a section of the document then drag and drop the highlighted area to
your desktop. Windows will create a file for you with a name something like
“Document Scrap From…” followed by the first few words you selected

Submitted by Charlie Williams
[email protected]

Quick Access to Your Desktop

Submitted 9/3/95

How do you access your darn desktop when you have a ton of applications open?
Well you could right click on the taskbar and do a minimize all, but that can be slow.
Instead:

  1. Open a browser window (double-click on “My Computer”)
  2. If there is no toolbar, select View from the menu and select Toolbar.
  3. Then from the dropdown list-box in the toolbar select desktop.
  4. Now minimize it and forget about it.
  5. The next time you want to access your desktop just click the desktop window on the taskbar.
  6. As long as you don’t close the window when you shutdown, it will reopen when you start windows again.

Submitted by Tim LaDuca
[email protected]

Additional Note from Bob: You can also drag the Desktop folder to the start menu.
Then you just press Ctrl-ESC and click on Desktop

Restoring Corrupted Icons

  • If you use a graphic Card and you change the resolution, sometimes the icons are bad.
  • End Win95 and restart. When you see the starting message press F8 then type standard.
  • After this start of Win95 exit and restart.
  • Change back to your Resolution and restart.
  • The icons should be corrected.

Submitted by Thomas Lange
[email protected]

Turn Off Window Animation

You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows.
This tip makes navigating Windows 95 a lot faster especially for those that don’t have
super fast video cards.

  1. Open Regedit
  2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  3. Control panel
  4. Desktop
  5. WindowMetrics
  6. Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right pane.
  7. Select new/string value.
  8. Name the new value MinAnimate.
  9. Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on “Modify”
  10. Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit
  11. Close Regedit and all programs then reboot.

Submitted by Jim Asikis
[email protected]

Renaming the Recycle Bin

  1. Start the Registry Editor
  2. Type Ctrl-F to bring up the Find Menu
  3. In the Find What box type Recycle
  4. Double click on the Recycle Bin in the right pane
  5. Type in the new name under Value Data
  6. Restart Win95

Turning off Desktop Icons

If you want to turn off all the icons on your desktop:

  1. Start the System Policy Editor
  2. Select File / Open Registry
  3. Select Local User
  4. Select Shell / Restrictions
  5. Select Hide all items on Desktop

All Icons will now be hidden.

Note: One side effect is the your CD will no longer automatically play when it is inserted.

Submitted by Carl Robinson
[email protected]

Adding in Old Windows Groups

If you are setup to dual boot between your old Win 3.x and want to add in the old groups, just click on the *.GRP file in your old windows directory. The programs will be added to your list under Programs in the task bar.

Note: Any DLL’s the programs require will need to be copied.

Submitted by KJ King
[email protected]

To speed up the Start Menu

  1. Start the REGEDIT program
  2. Search for the word desktop
  3. This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400…
  4. Right Click on the right panel
  5. Pick NEW / String Value.
  6. Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word.
  7. Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest.
  8. Exit REGEDIT
  9. Restart Windows

To change the My Computer or Recycle Bin icon

  1. Open Regedit
  2. Find My Computer or Recycle Bin
  3. Tab to the left panel
  4. Double click on the highlighted line
  5. Double click on DefaultIcon in the left panel
  6. Double click on DefaultIcon right panel
  7. Type in the value for the new icon
  8. Note: DLL files can be used. Specify the location of the new icon with the filename,#

Remove the tildes in short filenames

  1. Open Regedit
  2. Go to Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  3. Right Click on the Right pane
  4. Select New / Hex
  5. Add the value NameNumericTail= 0

To remove the Network Neighborhood Icon

  1. Start POLEDIT. It is on the CD in \Admin\Apptools\Poledit
  2. Open Registry
  3. Select LocalUser
  4. Select Shell
  5. Select Restrictions
  6. Select Hide Network Neighborhood

To change the Startup and Logoff screens

Startup Screen

  • Create a 320×400 bitmap in the root directory and name it LOGO.SYS
  • You can use LOGOW.SYS file in the Windows directory as a starter

Logoff Screens

  1. There are several files called LOGOX.SYS
  2. They are actually bitmaps 320×400 that just have a different extension
  3. The hidden one in the root directory LOGO.SYS is the startup logo.
  4. There are two files in the Windows directory.
  5. LOGOW.SYS is the Wait while Shutting down … screen
  6. LOGOS.SYS is the You may now shut-off or Reboot screen
  7. To edit them, rename them with a BMP extension and use your favorite graphic editor
  8. You can edit these files or create you own
  9. They just need to be the same size

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