After arranging icons and setting the display to what you want, ie large icons, hold down the CTRL key while closing the folder. This saves the settings. (Didn't always work for me! See further down, use Tweak UI.) Or use Ezdesk. Or see next tip.
*** From: Windows 95 Tip of the Day [Make Your Window Settings Stick]
STICK IT! (PART 1 OF 3) 25 Jun '96
About a month ago, we told you that we weren't aware of a foolproof way to make your windows settings (Auto Arrange, Large Icons, and so on) stick, and asked if anyone knew of a solution. As you might expect with over 50,000 subscribers, we received lots of responses, and of those, we chose three helpful techniques to share with you. The first involves going into the Registry, and here our rule bears repeating: Enter the registry at your own risk! (Tune in tomorrow for a Registry-free method.)
One at a time, set up all your windows the way you want them. Now, open up the Registry Editor and navigate your way to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explo rer. Right-click in the right pane, select New, then select DWORD Value. Name the new value NoSaveSettings, and hit Enter. Right-click on NoSaveSettings, choose Modify, and in the Value data box, enter "1." Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
Your windows settings are officially stuck to those you specified before adding NoSaveSettings to the Registry. You can change a window's settings temporarily, but the next time you open that window, its settings will revert back to the ones you started with.
If you ever get the urge to revise your window settings (other than temporarily), simply go back to the same place in the Registry Editor, click the NoSaveSettings value with the right mouse button, choose Modify, and change the Value data to '0.' Close the Registry Editor, make the changes to your windows settings, then go back and make them stick again by resetting that value to '1.'
(We should also mention that you can delete the NoSaveSettings value
altogether—not that you'd ever want to—by clicking it with the right mouse
button, choosing Delete, then clicking Yes to confirm.)
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STICK IT! (PART 2 OF 3) 26 Jun '96
Yesterday, we showed you how to make your windows settings stick using the Registry Editor. But if you'd prefer not to go anywhere near the Registry--no way, no how--there's another way to make a window's settings stick. (This one, however, is a little less permanent.)
Make any changes you want to a window's settings, then pull down the View
menu, choose Options, and make a change, such as changing your Browsing
options. (If you have no desire to change anything, just select an option
and then unselect it--the point is to make the Apply menu active.) Click
Apply, click OK, and your windows settings will be stuck like glue.
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Inbox icon on the Desktop
This is the icon to start Microsoft Exchange which is the universal Inbox
for emails, faxes etc.
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*** Q: How do I delete icons from Control Panel? I've just installed a Windows 3.1 utility which I no longer need, but it has stuck an icon into my Control Panel and I can't figure out how to get rid of it. I can't press DEL and it stubbornly refuses to be dragged into the Recycle Bin.
A: Each control panel icon has an associated CPL file. To get rid of your
unwanted icon do a Find Files or Folders on *.cpl and delete the one that
corresponds to the culprit.
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You can change the size of your icons and their labels to suit your style.
First right-click an empty spot on the desktop and choose Properties.
Click the Appearance tab. Choose Icon from the Item list, then modify the
Size number (the default is 32). To change the look of the icon label,
choose a different font from the Font list, and adjust the size by editing
the number under Size. When you're done, click OK.
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Dynamic Bit-Map Icons
Want to turn the icon for each of your .bmp files into a thumbnail of the
actual image? After backing up your Registry files (see "Making the
Registry Social"), launch RegEdit and go to the
HKey_Classes_Root\Paint.Picture\DefaultIcon folder as if you were
navigating Explorer. Double-click the (Default) entry in the right-hand
pane. Replace the contents of the 'Value data' field with %1, click OK,
and exit RegEdit. Your new bit-map thumbnail icons will show up when you
next start Windows. (This doesn't work with other graphic formats.)
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You can drag icons into your documents... This will create a
static link to that icon, just drag 'My Computer' onto a new Wordpad
doc, and double Click to see!
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Do your desktop icons move around? Mine stay where I put them from session to session.
Mine stay where you last put them MOST of the time. But then all of a sudden, the hard drive churns, then wham, all my icons are rearranged in my groups or all the icons go to the left of the desktop. Seems to do this at random. Anyone else see this??
*** SOLUTION: ***
1) Arrange all your icons to your hearts content, then exit Win95 and restart. Then start System Policy Editor (Start/Run, type: C:\Poledit\Poledit.exe). File menu/ Open Registry. D/click on Local User, d/click on Shell, D/click on Restrictions, then select "Don't Save Settings on Exit". Click OK - click file menu and then save the registry. From now on Win95 will not save any new settings.
If make any new changes (delete or add new icons etc) go into Poledit and deselect "Don't save settings on exit" i.e. change it back to default which is to save the settings on exit.
* For any changes in the registry to take effect, you must exit and restart Win95.
2) Use Tweak UI, much easier: Under Explorer tab, can toggle the "Save Settings on Exit" !!!
After arranging, restart with the "Save Settings" on, then turn off the
"Save Settings". Remember to redo this when you add or delete or rearrange
desktop or icons.
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Eliminating Network Neighborhood Icon
(This is for stand alone computers, networked with SLIP or PPP, only!)
-->Install and Run the System Policy Editor.(Its under admin\apptools\poledit.)
-->Select File|Open Registry
-->Double-click on "Local User" - Navigate the tree as follows: Local User > Shell > Restrictions Under the shell restrictions, set "Hide Network Neighborhood" so that it has a checkmark.
-->Click OK
-->File|Save the registry
OR USE TWEAK UI, EASIER!
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Save Custom Icons in Library Files
Q. I create many custom program icons using an icon editor. I would like to store these icons in .dll files (as Windows itself does) for convenience and better compatibility with Windows 95. The only way I've found to do this is to copy an existing icon library and replace individual icons with my own (which my icon editor supports). Is there a simpler way to move a group of icons into a new .dll file?
A. You're in luck. James M. Curran wrote a simple command-line utility,
called icondll.com, that does nothing more than copy .ico files into a .dll
file. You can find the free program on PC World Online. Enter icondll /?
for usage instructions.
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Changing The Start Menu Icon
Normally, the little icon on the START button is the little Windows flag.
If you'd like to change it, copy the file:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE to a temporary file, say USERX.EXE and then
simply use your favorite icon librarian program to open USERX.EXE.
Inside, you will see icons used throughout Win95, including the START
button icon
(you'll have to set your librarian to show you only the 14x14 icons in the
file, however, the Windows flag should be the only one you see under
14x14).
This was very easy to do using the latest version of Microangelo's (2.0) Icon Librarian utility. From here, Microangelo will let you launch Icon Studio to let you edit it. There aren't many 14x14 icons out there, so chances are you'll have to do one by hand, or you can use Icon Studio to shrink a larger image.
The reason you copied USER.EXE to USERX.EXE and worked on the latter, is that Windows 95 uses USER.EXE while Win95 is running, SO, when you've saved your change into USERX.EXE, you'll have to restart in DOS mode to copy USERX.EXE to USER.EXE and then restart Windows to see the change. BE SURE TO MAKE A BACKUP of the original USER.EXE if you ever want to undo the change!
There are different sizes of the Windows flag in this file, so I suspect
that some installations out there might be using a different size image
(ie. 16x16) for different resolutions, so you may have to try editing one
of the other sizes included in the file.
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Is it possible to get rid of the Icons for My Computer and Recycle Bin from the desktop? I don't use them, Explorer gives the same possibilities ...
Get rid of ANY icon in 5 seconds - and get them back when you change your mind - in 3 seconds! -- without Poledit, regedit and whatever-edit!
Click right mouse button on the desktop. Select Arrange Icons. Uncheck "Auto Arrange".
1. Drag the My Computer (or Recycle Bin, or Network Neighborhood) icon to the lower edge of the screen.
2 Drag any other icon and place it above the icon you want to hide.
3. Press the left mouse button and drag a SELECTION RECTANGLE around both icons. Both icons will be highlighted. Release the left button.
4. Click on the upper icon and drag it -- and the lower icon with it -- downward until the lower icon disappears below the screen edge. Voila!
5. Click on desktop to remove the selection. Drag the upper icon to it's place.
To restore the hidden icons: Right click on desktop... Line up icons... Here you are! This way. Even for those who (like me) hates POLEDIT (once I played with it ... and *then* my mailbox got trashed... no, thanks). My record is 5 mouse clicks to hide the icon -- who wants to beat it?
For 32 bit progs only: My Computer/Ctrl Panel/ Add/Remove Program. This way
if removing the progs later use the same "Add/Remove Prog" so will restore
everything to previous condition. (or use 3rd party programs such as
Inwatch etc.)
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Install Shortcut (Link old programs)
Right click "Start", Left click Explore, H/lite "Desktop" at the top, click File menu, New, then choose "Shortcut" for single program, or "Folder" for group item , Command line, Browse, d/click the dir'y, then d/click the relevant .exe file.
eg. To link old games from WFWG: Highlite Desktop, File/New/Folder, this
creates a new empty folder, give it a name. Highlite the new folder,
File/New/Shortcut, browse to select the relevant exe file to create each
game one by one.
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Q: When I first installed Windows 95, setup asked me if I would like to save my old Windows and DOS files. I said "yes." This took up about 7MB of disk space. When I go to uninstall them it is says An error occurred while trying to remove Old Windows 3.x and MS-DOS system files. Uninstallation has been canceled. If I can't uninstall it, it's a big waste of disk space! HELP!
A: I'm assuming you want to delete the files that Windows 95 saved from
your old Win3.1 and DOS configuration. These files are saved in a hidden
file called undo.dat. By default it is placed in the root directory but
you might have to do a search if its not there. Just delete that file.
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Copying INSTALL - Configuration to several Pcs
Get your hands on the Resource Kit, the kit explains how to set up and
configure Setup batch files. This will allow you to set up the same
configuration on every computer.
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HOW TO COPY FROM ONE H/DISK TO ANOTHER:
Q: I have windows95 machine with 400 MB hard disk and now i want to replace the hard disk with ahigher capacity.Can i duplicate/copy the contents of the original hard disk to the other without again reinstalling everything on the new hard disk.
A: Yes, you can copy one hard drive to another. You can do this in DOS or in Win95,but you still need a Win95 boot disk to start off.