MS Windows 95 Tips

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TIP #2: THE LITTLE YELLOW SPEAKER THAT COULD (those with sound cards)

The next time you want to change your system's volume, don't waste time opening the Control Panel, double-clicking Multimedia, and adjusting the volume on the Audio tab. The control you need is right inside that little yellow speaker on the Taskbar. Click it once to access volume control, or for a full-featured control panel, right-mouse click the speaker and choose Volume Controls.

TIP #3: SPACED-OUT ICONS

When you use the Auto Arrange or Line Up Icons option on the desktop or in an open window, you'll notice that Windows 95 lines up all the icons in neat little rows, the same distance from one another. If you'd rather they line up closer together, or further apart, change your icon spacing.

Right-mouse click the desktop, select Properties, and click the Appearance tab. Under Item, select Icon Spacing (Horizontal) or Icon Spacing (Vertical) and type a new number next to Size. (The default for horizontal is 60, for vertical 43.) Click Apply or OK to make your new settings stick.

TIP #4: YOUR TYPING TEACHER WOULD BE SO PROUD OF YOU

In an open Explorer or My Computer window, you can jump to your file or folder of choice by typing its first few letters. The trick is not to type too slowly. If you do, you'll end up at the first file or folder that starts with the first letter you type, then the first file or folder that starts with the second letter you type, and so on. But if you type fast, Windows 95 reads the whole combination of letters together.

TIP #5: BIGGER BUTTONS
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See those three buttons at the top right of every Windows 95 window that allow you to minimize, restore (up or down), or close a window? If you find them a little too small to grab onto, you can change their size.

Right-mouse click the desktop and select Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box. Click the Appearance tab, and in the Item list, select Caption Buttons (or click any caption button in the preview). Adjust its Size, and watch the preview to see the resulting buttons. When you like what you see, click Apply or OK. (Note: Changes affect the Taskbar, too.)

TIP #6: HAPPY TRAILS

If you have a hard time following your mouse pointer across the screen, ask Windows 95 to trail it. The pointer trails option displays a number of pointers along the pointer's path, making it easier to track visually.

Click on the Start Button and select SETTINGS/Control Panel, double-click on the Mouse Icon. Next, click on the Motion Tab and select Show Pointer Trails. Finally, move the lever toward Long or Short, depending on the length of the trail you want, and click on OK. Try moving that pointer around and your mouse now has a tail!

TIP #7: FINDERS KEEPERS

If you've just completed a Find that you know you'll need again, keep it around for future use. It's a lot quicker than having to type in all those conditions again.

Once you've completed your search, pull down the FILE menu and choose Save Search. Doing so places an icon that represents that find on the desktop. (Of course, you can move it wherever you want, such as into a folder you've set up just for finds.)

To conduct the same search in the future, double-click the shortcut. Find will open with all the conditions set--all you have to do is click Find Now.

TIP #8: FREE UP HARD DISK SPACE

Everyone likes to freeing up hard disk space. One suggestion is to search your system for *.ZIP and *.AVI files (and other types of video files you might have), and delete the ones you don't need.  ZIP files most times are left over from Internet downloads. Once an application is installed, you probably don't need the ZIP file it was packaged in (unless it's something you know you'll need to reinstall).

Video files (*.AVI) also take up quite a bit of space. For example, you can free up 7 MB of precious space by deleting the *.AVI files from your c:\Windows\System folder.

TIP #9: ABORT STARTUP FOLDER LAUNCHES

To temporarily abort all StartUp folder launches, hold down the SHIFT key as Windows opens. Programs listed in the StartUp folder won't open this time, but will be there next time.  To selectively launch these unopened programs, open the StartUp folder and doubleclick on any icon.

TIP #10: MOUSELESS MOVES

You can move or resize open Windows applications using only your keyboard.

First, touch ALT/Spacebar to bring up a menu.

Touch S, then use the arrow keys to resize the windows
Press M and move the window using the arrow keys

Touch the [ENTER] key to keep the window change you've made, OR
[Esc] to return the window to its previous state.

TIP #11: HOTKEYS

Assign hotkeys to your most frequently used programs. Rightmouse-click on a program and select Properties. Click on the Shortcut Tab; in the Shortcut Key field type in the hotkey combination you want to assign, then click on OK. Assigning a hotkey this way will allow you to switch to the program if it's already running on your Desktop.  A shortcut's hotkey combination will launch a program only if it's on the Start menu or the Desktop.

TIP #12 - GOOD THINGS IN SMALL PACKAGES

Are those icons that are cluttering your desktop getting you down?  Bring them down to size and give yourself more room. Rightmouse click on the Desktop and select Properties. Click on the Appearance Tab, then the Icon drop-down menu. Select Icon, then pick a size of 16 (the default is 32). Click on OK. (this works best if you make the words under the icons as short as possible). 

TIP #13 - SAVE YOUR SEARCHES

If you frequently run the same search query within Win95's Find utility, here's how to automate it. 

Open the Options menu and put a check next to Save Results.  Run your search and select File/Save Search.  This places a small FND file icon on your Desktop that's automatically named for your search values.  To access the same search again-- including your previous results--doubleclick on the FND icon.

TIP #14 - WHAT DAY IS IT?

Working too hard?  Lose track of time? 

Whatever your excuse, if you have Windows NT/95 on hand, you'll always know what day it is. 

To see the date, all you have to do is hold the mouse pointer over the clock on the right end of the Taskbar. 

In a second or so, Windows flashes a little box showing the day's date, no matter what day you thought it actually was.

TIP #15 - ALT+TAB, WITH A DIFFERENCE

You can use ALT + TAB to quickly switch to ANY open application or window on your desktop: 

1. Hold down the ALT key. 
2. Press TAB.   A box appears showing icons for each of your open windows and a description of which icon is selected. 
3. Press TAB until the window you want is selected. 
4. Release the ALT key. You're switched immediately to the new application window.