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Add your printer to send to for
the Reporting to the MAX including Point of Sale and Non-profit Versions.
Print documents without opening them by adding your printer to the Win9x SendTo menu (accessed when you highlight and right-click on any file in a Windows Explorer or My Computer window).
Open C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO and create a shortcut there for your printer. Your printer will now appear the next time you access the SendTo menu.
Adding links by drag and drop.
To add new links to the Links toolbar, drag and drop from any of these sources: the icon in the address bar, the icon in the upper left corner of the browser window, an entry in the Favorites menu or a hyperlink on a page.
Aggregate your bandwidth.
If you have more than one telephone line, and an extra modem, you can potentially double your connection speed when using Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking by adding the second modem to your original connection.
Once the second modem is installed, open the Properties dialog of the desired Windows Dial-Up Networking connection profile, click the tab that says Multilink and add the second modem to the connection. (Your ISP or dial-up server must support Multilink PPP.) You can use both modems to support one connection at an aggregated bandwidth.
Your modems do not have to be from the same vendor or even connect at the same speed.
Always show me attributes.
You can display file attributes in the Details view for folders and dual-paned Explorer windows.
Select View/Folder Options and click on the View tab. In the Advanced Settings box, select "Show file attributes in detail view”, then click OK.
Another One Minute Life Saver.
A simple way to back up key system files. The OMLS batch file was written so it can run on either Win95 or Win98, but we recommend minor changes for Win98 users.
The lines below should be included in the OMLS batch file to specifically tailor it for Win98.
Remember to replace each instance of e:\vault with whatever drive, path and folder name that points to the destination folder you created.
copy c:\autoexec.bat e:\vault
copy c:\autoexec.dos e:\vault
copy c:\config.sys e:\vault
copy c:\config.dos e:\vault
copy c:\windows\control.ini e:\vault
copy c:\windows\system.ini e:\vault
copy c:\windows\win.ini e:\vault
attrib -r -h -s c:\msdos.sys attrib -r -h c:\windows\user.dat attrib -r -h c:\windows\system.dat
copy c:\msdos.sys e:\vault
copy c:\windows\system.dat e:\vault
copy c:\windows\user.dat e:\vault
attrib +r +h +s c:\msdos.sys attrib +r +h c:\windows\user.dat
attrib +r +h c:\windows\system.dat
Assign keyboard shortcuts to your
favorite applications.
You can assign keyboard shortcuts to any applications that you use frequently, thereby avoiding a return to the desktop or the Start Menu to find the app's icon.
For instance, to assign a shortcut to Outlook, click Start/Programs and then right-click on Microsoft Outlook. Select Properties and go to the Shortcut tab. Near the bottom of the dialog box is a field for Shortcut key.
Tab to this field, press a letter and click OK. Windows will assign the shortcut to that application. For instance, if you press O and click OK, you can now use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+O to launch Outlook at any time, regardless of what else is open.
AutoComplete everywhere.
You probably already know about the AutoComplete feature in the IE4 browser's Address box, but did you know it works for local folders as well? Start to type the pathname to the folder you want to open, and AutoComplete will guess. Once it guesses the right one, stop typing and press Enter.
AutoComplete for local folders.
You probably know about the AutoComplete feature in the browser Address box, but did you know it also works for local folders? Start typing a pathname, and AutoComplete will guess. Once it guesses right, stop typing and press Enter.
Autolaunch DOS.
Keep the MS-DOS Prompt readily available. Right-click on the Start button and select Open.
Double-click on the Programs icon, then drag the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut and drop it on the StartUp icon.
Now double-click on the StartUp icon, right-click on the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut and select Properties.
Select Minimized, then click once in the Shortcut Key box and type in the hotkey of your choice (say, Ctrl+D). From now on, a minimized MS-DOS Prompt will launch at start-up. Whenever you want to enter a quick command, press your shortcut key to bring up the prompt.
Automate disk maintenance.
The Win98 Maintenance Wizard (Start/Programs/Accessories/Systems Tools) will make your programs run faster, check your hard disk for problems and free up hard disk space by auto-running Disk Defragmenter, ScanDisk and DiskCleanup according to a schedule you set.
If you leave your computer on, you can schedule maintenance at off-hours (such as midnight to 3 a.m.) to minimize downtime during work hours.
Automate Windows Log On.
Here is a tip for those readers who have two (or more) computers networked together at home and are bothered by the Log On box that comes up whenever the computer is started.
To cause the Windows Log On box to automatically proceed after a few seconds, you need to make some changes to your system registry.
Click Start/Run, enter RegEdit in the "Open:" field, and click OK.
Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Winlogon and add 3 new string values.
To do so, right click in the open area and add a new string value named AutoAdminLogon.
Right-click on its icon and modify the value to 1. Repeat the same process, making another string value named DefaultUserName .
Modify it by typing in the default users name.
Make one more string value named DontDisplayLastUserName and modify the value to 1. Close the Registry and reboot.
[Note: This does not work if your user name requires a password.]
Auto back-up critical files.
To increase the scope of the automatic backups created by Windows 98, add these two lines to the bottom of "scanreg.ini" in the C:\Windows folder:
Files=10,win.ini,system.ini,control.ini
Files=30,autoexec.bat,config.sys,autoexec.dos,config.dos,msdos.sys
Periodically copy the most recent back up file (rb001.cab through rb005.cab) from the C:\Windows\sysbckup folder to another location.
The .CAB file will contain the eight files listed above plus the system.dat and user.dat registry files.
Back up to your network.
The new Seagate-based BACKUP.EXE utility included with Windows 98 can back up Win98 drives to network disks faster than any other device or method.
You can choose the network location to back up to, and locate the backup data easily.
You can choose the verification option for a backup to a network, but it will add 50 percent or more time to the process; but because of the reliability of network media, verification shouldn't be necessary with disk-based backups.
Keep in mind that a backup operation can clog network lines and affect performance for other users.
Back your backup.
The first time Win98 boots each day, it runs the Registry Checker utility to look for errors, then backs up your Registry and SYSTEM.DAT, SYSTEM.INI, USER.DAT and WIN.INI files.
The backups are stored in CAB files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP and named RB000.CAB, RB001.CAB and so on.
You can't see them unless you set Explorer to Show All Files in My Computer/View/Folder Options/View.
If you don't frequently back up your system, you should at least put a recent backup on a diskette before making Registry changes or installing new software.
Backup selected files on bootup.
An undocumented SCANREG.INI file entry automatically backs up the files of your choice along with the other Registry Checker files, but only if those files reside in your root, C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories.
To specify the files to back up, open SCANREG.INI in Notepad and add the line Files= followed by the folder code (enter 30 for the root directory, 10 for the Windows directory or 11 for the System directory) and the filename, separated by a comma.
You can also add multiple files within a folder; simply separate them with commas. For example, if you wanted to add the SCANDISK.LOG and CONFIG.SYS files (located in your root directory) to your Registry Checker backup, add the following line to your SCANREG.INI file: Files=30, scandisk.log,config.sys.
Bail out of setup
Cancel your Win98 installation at any time by pressing F3. If the file copy phase started, use the Win98 Uninstall utility to recover your previous Windows version.
Before you reinstall Windows 98
Here's what to do if you've saved your Win95 configuration and want to reinstall Win98-and retain the option of uninstalling it and returning to Win95.
Search for WINUNDO.* using the Find utility; you should see the two files that store your Win95 configuration: WINUNDO.DAT and WINUNDO.INI.
Note their folder, then close Find and reboot your PC. When Windows first boots, hold down the Ctrl key to open the Startup menu.
Select Command Prompt Only. At the prompt, navigate to the directory for the WINUNDO files, then create a folder named UNDO on your drive using the MD command.
Type attrib -r -s -h WINUNDO.* at the prompt to remove the attributes of the WINUNDO files.
Use the DOS MOVE command to move the WINUNDO.* files into the UNDO folder.
Restart and reinstall Win98.
Now the Win98 installation program won't know where to find your Win95 undo files, and they'll be safe.
Big (or small) help.
To change the size of text in Win98 Help, you need to modify your Internet browsing settings, because the new Help is based on HTML.
Launch the Internet Control Panel applet, click on the Accessibility button and then on the "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages" item. Click on OK.
Now click on the Fonts button and select anything from the Smallest to Largest option, using the Font Size drop-down menu.
Big, bold letters
Override the fonts used on a Web page by telling IE to always use the text style you prefer.
Select Tools/Internet Options.
Click on the Fonts button, then pick a font and size.
Click on OK, then on the Accessibility button.
Check the two buttons telling IE to ignore font styles and sizes specified on Web pages.
Boost CD-Rom performance.
In Control Panel/System/Performance, select File System and the CD-ROM tab.
Move the Supplemental Cache Size slider to the right to allocate more RAM for caching data from the CD-ROM drive, or to the left to allocate less. Multimedia programs perform better with a smaller cache because they seldom reuse data.
For reading continuous data, such as AVI files, use a higher setting for Optimize Access Pattern.
For reading random data, increase the Supplemental Cache Size and decrease the Optimize Access Pattern.
Bring order to shortcuts.
If you drag and drop a file onto the Start button, Win98 and the IE 4.0 Windows Desktop Update add a shortcut to the top of the Start menu. But if you just drag the file over the Start button without dropping it, the Start menu will open and you can position the new shortcut exactly where you want it. You can also hover over submenus to open them and then drop the shortcut.
Broken Windows Update.
If the Windows Update item on your Win98 Start menu stops working, here's how to fix it.
First, delete the Windows Update entry on the Start menu by right-clicking on it and choosing Delete.
Now replace it with a shortcut to C:\WINDOWS\WUPDMGR.EXE.
Name the shortcut Windows Update.
Build a better backup
Win98 comes with an improved Backup utility. If you want to use it for automatic backups launched by the Win98 Task Scheduler, you'll need to make a change.
Open the Backup utility (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup) and click on the Open button.
Click on the Options button at the bottom of the window and open the Report tab.
Select the "Perform an unattended backup" option.
Bypass the Connect Button
Bypass Dial-Up Networking's Connect button when you dial your ISP.
Open Programs/Accessories/Dial-Up Networking from the Start menu and click on the Connections menu.
Under Settings, clear the "Prompt for information before dialing" box Be sure your browser's default dial-up connection saves and reuses your password automatically, so you can initiate a connection just by launching your browser.
Can't uninstall Win98?
If you reinstall Win98, make sure you do not choose Yes when the installation program asks if you want to save your Win95 system files.
Otherwise, the re-installation will wipe them out-if you chose the save option when you originally upgraded from Win95 to Win98.
In addition, you can't uninstall Win98 if you've compressed your disk or converted to FAT32.
What's more, if your disk was compressed before you installed Win98, you also won't be able to uninstall the operating system.
Cap Internet Temp Files
If your disk space is at a premium, limit space allotted to temporary Internet files.
In Internet Explorer, select View/Internet Options/General and click on Settings. A slider bar lets you decrease the percentage of your hard disk space that can be taken over by these files.
In Navigator, select Edit/Preferences, click on the plus sign next to the Advanced item in the left pane, then click on Cache. Adjust the settings for Memory Cache and Disk Cache to suit your needs.
Cascade submenus on Start Menu.
You can create a cascading folder for Control Panel and Printers (and for Dial-Up Networking under Win95).
Right-click on Start and select Open, right-click on the folder background and choose New/Folder and then enter one of the following lines: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} Dial-Up Net.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
Change power settings.
Win98 will power down Energy Star-compliant monitors after 15 minutes of idle time, and hard drives after one hour. Change these settings by launching Power Management from Control Panel.
Change the default for REG files.
If you export a Registry key to disk or create a special RegEdit script, double-clicking the file automatically merges its content with the Registry.
You can prevent inadvertent merging of REG files by changing the default action to display a REG file in Notepad.
Select View/Options/Filetypes (Folder Options in Win98).
Then select Registration Entries from the Registered Filetype list and click Edit.
Choose Edit and Set Default.
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