10 Cool Windows 98 Tricks
by Tim O'Reilly, Troy Mott, Walter Glenn09/01/1999
1. Do I have to wade through the Start Menu to launch most
applications?
In Windows 98, you can run most commands from the command line. And this
doesn't just mean opening up a DOS window. The new Address
toolbar 1 is also a command prompt. While it's advertised for typing in web addresses, you can also type in almost any command line that you could type at the DOS prompt.
For example, it's a lot easier to type sndvol32 in an Address toolbar
to bring up the Volume Control than it is to mouse through the menus:
Start > Programs > Entertainment > Volume Control
You can display the Address toolbar at the top of any folder, but I like to make it a standard part of the Taskbar and keep it visible on the screen at all times. The trick is figuring out the hidden names of all the GUI programs--which is why Windows 98 in a Nutshell shows the executable name for every windows program.
2. How can an understanding of folder locations help me save time?
Many Windows GUI features correspond to folders in the underlying file
system. For example, the Desktop corresponds to the \Windows\Desktop
folder. Any changes to the underlying folder will show up immediately on
the Desktop. For example, move a file into \Windows\Desktop, even
using a DOS command, and an icon will pop up; delete a file and the icon
disappears. There are all kinds of powerful tricks you can perform using
commands or scripts once you realize how UI features correspond to folders.
3. How do I open the same file type with different programs?
When you double-click on a file, the associated application automatically
opens the file. This is great if that's the application you want. But what
if you want to open a file with a different application than the default?
You've probably seen the Open With that appears when you click on a file
whose file type is unknown. This dialog lets you pick any application on
the system to open the file. But how do you get to this dialog for a file
with a default application association? For example, if you have an html
on your Desktop, double-clicking will open your Web browser. What if you
just wanted to open the file with Notepad to make a small edit? Click the
file icon once to select it, then Shift+right-click it. Open With will now
appear in the context menu. (I don't know why this useful option isn't on
the standard right-click context menu!) If you want the application you've
chosen to open all files of this type, just select the "Always use this program to open this file" checkbox before you hit the OK button.
4. Is there a fast and easy way to send files to programs?
The options in the Send To menu (accessed via any context menu) are
determined by the contents of the \Windows\SendTo folder. To add
another Send To recipient, place a shortcut to the desired program in
that folder. For example, if you put a shortcut to winword.exe in that
folder, you could "send" a text file to Word to open it there rather
than using Notepad (which normally opens a file with a .txt extension
under 57K in size). Or add a Notepad shortcut to the \Windows\SendTo
folder to open text files that don't have the usual .txt extension
and they will be opened when selecting Send To Notepad.
5. Can I open files or folders returned in the Find dialog?
Since the search results returned when using the Find option
(Start > Find > Files or Folders) are "active," you can perform
any action you like on the files or folders that appear there. You can
copy them, rename them, move them, make shortcuts to even delete them.
This makes Find a workable alternative to the Desktop or the two-paned
Explorer view as a primary interface for working with files and folder.
6. Is there a way to quickly launch my favorite applications?
Windows 98 comes with the new Quick Launch toolbar located next to the
Start button. By default, it contains shortcuts for Internet Explorer, Outlook
Express, the Channel Bar and the Desktop. You can add shortcuts (and
remove others) that launch your favorite applications by simply dragging
the shortcut into the toolbar. You can also rearrange the order of the
icons by clicking on them and dragging them around. The folder that
corresponds to the toolbar is:
\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch.
7. Can I prevent someone from tweaking my Win98 settings?
Using System Policy Editor it is possible to place restrictions on settings
(the System Policy editor modifies the Registry). For instance, by clicking
the "Remove folders from Settings on Start Menu" box, you prevent users from
accessing the Control Panel via the Start Menu. You can create many
restrictions, including the disabling of the Run prompt, the MS-DOS prompt,
and even the disabling of the Registry editor. If you want to really keep
control over your system, run the System Policy Editor (poledit.exe)
from the Win98 CD-ROM, rather than installing it on your system. You can find
poledit.exe on the CD at: \tools\reskit\netadmin\poledit.
8. Can I customize my shortcut icons?
You can globally modify the look of your shortcut icons with TweakUI,
a utility that can be installed from the Win98 CD. Using the Explorer
tab in the TweakUI program, you can eliminate the "Shortcut to" prefix on
shortcuts and you can also change or eliminate the arrow or even choose a
custom icon image. TweakUI is a Control Panel applet and can be installed
from the Win98 CD at: \tools\reskit\PowerToy. Just right-click on the
tweakui.inf file and select Install. TweakUI has been removed from the
Windows 98 Second Edition CD, but you can download a copy from:
http://www.annoyances.org/win98/features/tweakui.html
9. Can I configure programs to run automatically on startup?
An easy way to do this is to put a shortcut that launches the program
in the StartUp folder: \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp. You
can even start the program minimized on the Taskbar by selecting Run
minimized on the Shortcut tab of the Properties sheet. To control the
launch order of the programs rename the start of your shortcuts with
numbers (e.g., 1Outlook, 2Word, etc.) in the order you want them to run in.
10. Is it worth converting to FAT32?
If you have a FAT (File Allocation Table) or Fat16 file system you
can run the FAT32 Conversion Information Tool (fat32win.exe) to see how
much drive space is saved by converting to FAT32. You can even launch
the Drive Converter wizard to walk you through the conversion process.
fat32win.exe must be installed from the Win98 CD at
\tools\reskit\config. Just copy fat32win.exe from the
\config directory on the CD into the \windows directory on
your local hard drive. Run it by typing fat32win at the
Start > Run prompt. Select the Scan button on the fat32win dialog
and the amount of saved space will be reported. If you want to convert to
FAT32, select the Convert button.
1. The Address Toolbar has slightly different behavior, depending on the version of Internet Explorer (IE5 or IE4) that is installed on your Windows 98 system, and the default browser (IE5, IE4, or Navigator 4) that's been chosen. These differences can best be examined by detailing the main Address Toolbar features: Autosearch, Autocomplete, URL completion, and the running of commands.
Web Autosearch: This feature varies, depending on the browser that is installed and configured as the default.
IE5 (installed and default): You can't type in terms in the Address Toolbar to peform a web search; you need to use the autosearch feature by typing go or ? followed by a space and the term you are searching for. In other words, typing go greyhound in the toolbar will launch IE5 and do one of the following options (based on the settings in the Advanced tab in the Internet Options Control Panel applet): display the search results, go to the most likely site, or go to the most likely site and display the results.
IE4 (installed and default): To perform a web search in the Address Toolbar using IE4, you also need to preceed the term(s) with go or ? and a space to use the autosearch feature. The difference here, however, is that the Yahoo autosearch service is automatically launched and it returns a list of search results in the browser; you don't have the result options that exist in IE5, nor do you have the ability to select different search engines.
Netscape Navigator 4.0 (default with IE4 or IE5 installed): If you are using Navigator 4 as your default browser, you can still use the autosearch feature by typing go or ? with a space followed by the term(s), but it will only return the list of results in the browser using the MSN search engine if you have IE5 installed, or the Yahoo autosearch service if you have IE4 installed. You can't access any of the display options, nor choose different search engines.
With Navigator 4.0 as your default browser, you can type search terms directly into the Address Toolbar. This will run the Netscape Search service and display your search results in the browser.
Autocomplete: The behavior of this feature depends on the version of IE (5 or 4) installed.
IE5 (installed and default): By default the AutoComplete feature is enabled, but the location for toggling this feature is located at: Control Panel>Internet Options> Content tab>AutoComplete button>Use AutoComplete for Web Addresses. With this enabled, a "possible matches" window pops up as you type in the Address toolbar, allowing you to quickly select previous sites, searches, or commands.
IE4 (installed and default): The AutoComplete feature available in IE4 is different than the one in IE5. In IE4 a "possible matches" window doesn't pop up, but matches are suggested for previous sites, searches, or commands and added for you as you type. The location for toggling this feature is located at: Control Panel>Internet Options>Advanced>Use Autocomplete.
Netscape Navigator 4.0 (default with IE4 or IE5 installed): The AutoComplete behavior from the Address Toolbar will be inherited from IE4 or IE5.
URL Completion: Regardless of your default browser (IE5, IE4, or Navigator 4.0), you can use CTRL-Enter to quickly launch sites with a .com extension. For instance, if you type oreilly in the Address Toolbar and then select Ctrl-Enter, the protocol and extension will be added. In other words, http://www.oreilly.com will be sent to your browser.
Running Commands: You can launch any command from the Address Toolbar, regardless of your default browser (IE5, IE4, or Navigator 4.0) as long as its associated filename is listed in one of the following places on your machine:
\Windows\Desktop
\Windows\System
\Windows
any path set in the PATH variable
any path defined in the Registry
If for some reason this isn't working for you, typing file: followed by the command without spaces will launch the application (e.g., file:notepad).
Special thanks goes to Robin Trew for writing in, and to Kevin Bingham for his assistance in testing this.
