A Potpourri of Windows Tips

by Lee Alexander

Close Multiple Windows

If you open a series of windows such as multiple documents or spreadsheets, you can close the windows by holding down <Shift> as you click on the title bar X of the last window.

Send To Menu

To add/remove items from the menu use Start | run and type in sendto then hit Enter. This opens your SendTo folder where you may add or delete applications, folders, or shortcuts.

Program that Accesses the Internet

Svchost.exe is required to access the Internet via your browser. If a new program uses svchost to access the Internet, your firewall may ask for permission without mentioning svchost.

Compress Old Files

Available in Windows 2000 and XP, but only for the NTFS file system, Disk Cleanup (part of Accessories | System Tools) can compress files older than 50 days. Files are de-compressed on the fly when you open them. This may take a bit longer but could save some HD space.

Control IE's Size

Use a Java script to create links to quickly set the size of the displayed window. Create the link in the Address Bar and then drag it to the Links bar. Two popular sizes could be as follows:
javascript:resizeTo(1024,768);moveTo(0,0) and javascript:resizeTo(800,600);moveTo(0,0).

Change font size in Office XP Help

Because the Help is HTML based and formatted through Cascading Style Sheets, you must change the way you view Web pages in general. We want to get to Internet Options. There are a number of paths – one of the easiest is via the Control Panel & ?Internet Options. On the General (tab) page, clk on the Accessibility button and check the box “Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages,” clk OK. This change will also force Internet Explorer to display all Web pages using the font size specified with View | Text Size.

Add sound to time consuming tasks

If you start a long task such as defragging, downloading a large file, or sorting a large database there is a good chance it will be interrupted if you leave the computer unattended. By adding a sound file to key interrupts, you can have the PC alert you for required interventions. Many of the associated sounds are soft and brief; they probably would not get your attention if you left the room. Search your computer for .wav files that are longer and louder. Some of the more conspicuous sounds can be found in games, such as Pinball. Warning: they can be annoying but they do get your attention. Apply the sounds to critical events – Asterisk, Critical Stop, Default Sound (or Beep), Program Error, and Question. Go to Control Panel and select Sounds and Audio Devices (or words to that effect). Then navigate to the Sounds tab and select the event and browse for an appropriate .wav file.

Postpone Printing with a .prn File

Printing a web page with the option “print to file,” creates a *.prn file. Windows offers no simple way to print this file but DOS does - copy /b filename .prn prn – provided your printer is attached via the parallel (LPT) port. A free utility from PC World, Peter Lerup's PrintFile , will handle USB printers, as well.

CD R-RWs

Some blank CD-rewritable's aren't as backward compatible as we would like. For example, if you have an optical drive that can record at 12 X, it may not be able to write 24 X rated disks at more than 4 X. Your best bet is to buy media rated at the top speed of your drive.

PowerPoint Animation Player

Some Web sites use PowerPoint to animate graphics. If you do not have PowerPoint on your computer, you can download PowerPoint Animation Player from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads . From the Product/Technology drop-down menu, select PowerPoint | Go. Clk the PowerPoint Animation Player link, then Download to get the 834KB file. When the download is complete, double-click Axplayer.exe to install the update.

Windows updates

To find out if you have installed a specific update, a Microsoft web site will search your computer and give you the code number, date, and if the installation was successful. While on-line, go to Start | All Programs | Windows Update. At the web site, look in the left pane under Other Options and select View installation history.

Restoring the Windows Registry

Windows 98, ME, and XP backup the Registry automatically at regular intervals, but you should still manually do a backup before you tinker with this all important data file.

Windows 98 – go to Start – Run, type in scanreg and hit Enter. With the message that there are no errors (hopefully), click Yes to back up that version, then OK. To Restore the Registry, go to Start | Shutdown and click on Restart in MS-DOS mode – OK. At the C:\Windows> prompt, type scanreg /restore. Make sure you insert a space between the g and the forward slash. You should then see a list from which to select a valid Registry.

Windows 2000 – there is not a really good method in this OS for backing up the Registry. You can use the Export feature in Regedit and it works fine for backing up part of the Registry. Its corollary is Import. Your best bet is shareware such as Super Win Software's Win Rescue 2000 ($25, free trial).

Windows ME and XP – set a Restore point . Go to Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Restore to bring up the System Restore Wizard. There you can set a Restore point or select an earlier point in time.

Helpful E-mail Rule

A large portion of spam e-mails (unsolicited commercial mailings) do not include your name in the To: header. You can direct those messages to a folder other than your Inbox, for example: Not_To_Me. In Outlook Express, go to Tools | Message Rules | Mail (in Outlook, find the Tools | Rules Wizard). Click New , check the box Where the To line contains people . In the section below click on the blue underlined words contains people . In the New Mail Rule dialog box, enter your e-address, your name(s), and any nicknames you receive e-mail under, clicking Add for each entry. Now click on Options and select Message does not contain the people below and OK out. Back in the New Mail Rule dialog box, select Move it to the specified folder. Click on the word specified , and create the new folder.

From then on, any messages that do not have one of the entries in the To: header will be directed to the new folder instead of your Inbox. You should still review the folder to make sure they are spam and not sent to a group you belong to or via BCC (Blind Carbon Copy).

CD Files' Attribute

When you “burn” files to a CD-R they acquire the RO (Read Only) attribute. This makes sense; you can not edit the files on the CD. However, if you copy the file(s) back to your hard drive for editing, the RO attribute will not allow you to do so. Selecting individual files with a right-click and then Properties on the pop-up menu will permit you to change the attribute. This tedious procedure can be avoided by copying the files into a compressed folder before burning them to a CD. Select the files in Win Explorer (use <Shift> for a contiguous selection and <Ctrl> for a non-contiguous one) and right-click a file within the group. From the pop-up menu, select Send To and then Compressed (zipped) Folder. This will create a compressed folder with the name of the file you clicked on and an extension to that name of .zip. Burning the folder (instead of the individual files) to a CD will usually save space and time. You can then get a copy of the files from the CD by Extract All and they will not have the Read Only attribute.

Outlook Express Cleanup

Outlook Express is the e-mail program included with Windows. Most of us know that when you delete a message it does not simply vanish, but is moved to the Deleted Items folder – in case we wish to change our mind. Empty Deleted Items folder will subsequently permanently delete the contents. This does not give you back your HD space; however, if you follow up with File | Folder | Compress All Folders, you will recover HD area and Outlook Express should load faster in the future.

An Inventory of Your Hardware

If you ever need assistance (tech help), chances are your contact will ask you some questions about your computer's makeup. There are a few sources to find out what resides within the case without opening it. To start, you can right-click My Computer desktop icon and select Properties or go to the Control Panel and select System. Depending upon your version of Windows, click on the Device Manager Button or the Hardware tab and then the button. Here you will find a list of your components; double-click on any item to get more detail.

For a more detailed view, try Start | Run and type in DXDIAG. Designed to diagnose Direct X problems, you can find more information about the elements of the computer.

Another source can be found by Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Information. The amount of data you find here can be overwhelming but of good use to technical assistance.

The Good Old Days?

PCs (both IBM compatibles and Macs) with their GUIs (Graphic User Interface) brought many into the fold for home use of computers. Mastering the intricacies of DOS (Disk Operating System) was a daunting experience for some and for others, simply not worth the bother. There is one DOS command that may be worth your time to explore and that is XCOPY. Launch the Command Prompt from Programs and enter xcopy /? to see a list of the switches ( <space>/ is the prefix for a switch in DOS) that makes this command so powerful.

TIP: Upon first entering the DOS environment, type DOSKEY to get an application that allows you to retrieve commands via the arrow keys. To get a printed list of XCOPY's switches, enter xcopy /? > prn.