Windows 95

Advanced Tips & Tricks for Windows 95

by Jack Gilderland

If you'd like an audible report from your computer on its condition, click here <G>.

Changing the location and size of the Taskbar

You can drag the Taskbar to any of the four sides of the screen, and you can drag an edge of the Taskbar to size it. First, point to a blank area of the Taskbar, hold down the left mouse button and drag the Taskbar to another edge of the screen. Secondly, resize the Taskbar by moving the mouse pointer to the inside edge of the Taskbar. When the pointer becomes a double arrow, drag the mouse pointer in or out to size the Taskbar as you wish. While you're at it you can auto hide the Taskbar if you so desire. Right-click on an empty area of the Taskbar and choose Properties. Check Auto hide which will hide the Taskbar until you move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen containing the Taskbar. If you check Auto hide also check Always on top - otherwise, Auto hide will not work with maximized windows.

Removing the Network Neighborhood icon

If you are not using a network you may want to get rid of the icon on the Desktop. You can turn it off using the System Policy Editor which is on the Windows 95 CD in the \Admin\Apptools\Poledit\ folder as Poledit.exe. Double-click on Poledit.exe and open the default template, Admin.adm, when asked which template you want to use. From the File menu choose Open Registry and then double-click on Local User. Click on the plus sign opposite Restrictions. Click on Hide Network Neighborhood to enable it. Click on OK and then close the System Policy Editor. You'll have to reboot for the icon to disappear.

Speeding up file transfers

You can often speed up file transfer rates by specifying the MaxMTU value in the Registry. CAUTION: Before doing this copy the System.dat and User.dat files in the \Windows folder to another folder so that you'll have a backup copy in case you make a mistake editing the Registry. Now that you've done that do the following. 1) Double-click Regedit.exe in the \Windows folder. Click the + by HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, click the + by Enum, click the + by Root, and click the + by Net. 2) Net will have one or more subkeys numbered 0000, 0001, etc. Highlight each one until you find one that has DeviceDesc set to "Dial-Up Adapter". 3) In the left panel highlight the subkey Bindings under the subkey you found in 2 above. In the right panel there will be a four-digit number immediately to the right of MSTCP. Remember this number (writing it down is not a bad idea). 4) Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Network\MSTCP by clicking as you did in 1 above. Highlight the four digit number subkey under MSTCP that corresponds to the one you located in 3 above. 5) In the right panel is a string named Driver with a four-digit number to the right of NetTrans\. Remember this number. 6) Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans\. 7) Under NetTrans highlight the key whose value matches the one you saw in 5. 8) Right-click the right panel, click New, String Value, type MaxMTU. 9) Double-click MaxMTU in the right panel and enter the value 576, click OK. While you're in the Registry you can also change the RWIN for additional help in speeding up file transfers. For that do the following: go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP\; right-click the right panel; click New, String Value; enter DefaultRcvWindow; in the right panel double-click DefaultRcvWindow; enter 2144; click OK and exit the Registry. You'll need to reboot Windows 95 for the changes to take effect.

Here is a little explanation of what you've done. The default value for MaxMTU is usually 1500, but many routers on the Internet use 576. MTU stands for Maximum Transmission Unit which refers to the number of bytes in a transmission unit. If the unit is larger than the router can handle it is fragmented which slows down the transmission. The transmission unit contains a header (actually two headers) which take up 40 bytes leaving 536 bytes of data in the unit. RWIN stands for Receive Window which determines the amount of data received before requiring an acknowledgement (an ACK) This should be an even multiple of the data in the transmission unit. 4x536=2144 which is why the RWIN is set to 2144.

Bypassing the startup logo

Tired of looking at the Windows 95 logo on start-up? To turn off the logo you need to add an entry to the Msdos.sys file which is in your root directory. In the Explorer open the View menu and click on Options. Under Hidden files check Show all files. Check Apply and then OK. In the Explorer right-click on the file Msdos.sys in the root folder. Click on Properties. Click on the Read-only and Hidden check boxes to turn them off, then click OK. (Make a copy of Msdos.sys on a floppy or in another folder so you have a backup in case you make a mistake.) Right-click on Msdos.sys, choose Open With and find and click on Notepad. When the file opens in Notepad find the section labeled {Options}. Add the line Logo=0. Select SaveAs from Notepad's File menu (make certain the file is named Msdos.sys) and click Save. Close Notepad and reboot. The Windows 95 logo is gone. If you want to bring it back either change the line to Logo=1 or remove it.

Fully automating a login to an Internet Service Provider (ISP)

This will enable you to logon to your ISP with only a double-click of the icon for the connectoid - no need to enter your user name or password IF your ISP uses PAP. First, set-up Client for Microsoft Network if you didn't do it when installing Windows 95. To do this go to Control Panel and open Network. From Configuration click on Add, select Client for Microsoft Network. Click Identification tab. You will then need to enter a name for your computer ("local" will work just fine - or anything you want as long as it is not over 15 characters and contains no spaces) and a description of your computer. You don't need to do anything else here because you're not really installing a network. Click OK. The next time you bring up the connectoid for your ISP enter your password and then check the box to save your password. (If you've correctly installed Client for Microsoft Network the box will no longer be greyed out - you may have to reboot the computer before this will work.)

Your login is now automated, but the next time you start Win 95 you will need to login to the system (use the same name you used when setting up Client for Microsoft Network - no password is needed). To keep from having to login each time you start Win 95 get a file from Microsoft called TweakUI, a component of Power Toys. (Click on downloads and then select the Power Toys set.)After you install Power Toys, open TweakUI, click on the Network tab, check the box for Auto logon and enter the same name and password (if any) you used to logon to Win 95. Click on Apply. Your login is now completely automated!

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Changing names of Desktop Icons

Do you really like My Computer or would you rather call it something else? If your name is Dave you could call it Dave's Computer or, perhaps, Computer Manager - anything you like! You can rename My Computer, Network Neighborhood, Inbox, My Briefcase, and the Microsoft Network. (Changing Recycle Bin requires a different procedure.) Single-click the icon you want to rename, press F2, and type the new name.

Changing desktop icons

Before starting this it is a good idea to make a backup copy of System.dat and User.dat which are in the \Windows folder. After that double-click Regedit.exe in the \Windows folder. Click the + signs in the left panel to get to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT_CLSID and click the + sign by CLSID. Scroll down the left panel until you get to the Class ID for the icon you want to change. Some of the Class ID's are:

    Inbox {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
    Network Neighborhood {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
    Briefcase {85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-0/002B30309D}
    Internet Explorer {FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}
    Recycle Bin {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
When you find the Class ID for the icon you wish to change, click the + sign and highlight Defaulticon in the left panel. Double-click Default in the right panel. Type the name including the complete path of the file which contains the icon you want to use. Place a comma after this (no space) and the number representing the location of the icon in the file. (Just count from the left with the first icon counted as 0.) Click OK and exit the Registry editor. (The Recycle Bin has two icons - one for empty and one for full. Just double-click these in the right panel to assign new icons.)

Another way to do this is by using the complete sets of icons which are on the Microsoft Plus! CD-ROM.

Problems with DOS games under Win 95

If you have problems with DOS games crashing while running under Win 95, right-click on the icon for the game, click Properties, click the Memory tab and check the box for Protected, and then click Apply. This should take care of most, if not all, of your problems.

Speed-up internet access with your own DNS

The worst bottleneck in your internet access is often the link to the DNS used by your ISP. If you install a DNS on your own computer you bypass the ISP's busy DNS and greatly enhance the performance of your connection. To do this you need at least a 486/66 with at least 16 MB of RAM and a 28.8 Kbps modem or faster.

The software for this was written for NT, and the documentation recommmends against running it on Win 95 because of memory leaks in Win 95's TCP/IP stack. Nonetheless, if you've installed all of Microsoft's Win 95 updates, including the ISDN Acclerator Pack, it will run quite reliably. The software to use is Bind95/NT. Obtain this from http://www.winfiles.com/apps/98/servers-misc.html.

The ZIP file contains two directories: DISK1 and DISK2. Unpack this to a temporary directory, keeping this directory structure. Run SETUP.EXE in the DISK1 subdirectory. You'll get a prompt: "Enter this machine's Host name...." Enter local in the dialog box and then enter localhostin the next box. Next you're asked for a subnet. 255.255.255.0 works fine. Accept the default for the directory. Then comes a prompt; "For creation of configuration files, please select the setup you want for BIND." Select caching-only DNS.

When the installation program is finished, you're told that the server is running. It shows up in your current programs as named95. Next you need to open or create a file called C:\WINDOWS\HOSTS with a text editor. If the file doesn't exist create it with the following lines, or if it does exist add these lines if they're not there already:

 
        127.0.0.1     localhost
        127.0.0.1     local.localhost
   

Open the Dial-up Networking folder and right-click on the connectoid icon. Choose Properties in this window, click on Server Type, and click on TCP/IP Settings and choose Server Assigned Name Server Address. Click OK several times to get out of the Properties window. Next, bring up the Network Control Panel. Click on the TCP/IP->Dial-up adapter and click on Properties. Click on the DNS Configuration tab. If DNS is not enabled, click on Enable DNS and enter local in the host box and localhost in the domain box. In the DNS Server Search Order address dialog box, enter 127.0.0.1, click on Add, and click on OK.

When you exit the Network Control Panel, DO NOT restart the system if asked to. Sometimes the installer doesn't place a shortcut in the Startup menu to automatically start the server. Check the Startup settings to see if a shortcut is there. Add one if there isn't. Now you can restart.

A DOS window, named95, comes up minimized. This is the local DNS process. DO NOT shut this down because you need it to access the Net. A problem in Win 95 means that a shortcut can't start this process without a DOS window. If you've done everything correctly, you can now enjoy the extra speed of having your own DNS server!

The following was received from Jonathan Brickman, a consultant with considerable experience with Bind95/NT:

1. Installation failure.

This is actually due to a bug in the install script that does not always show up. The program is successfully installed after this failure; however, it will not run. The workaround is after the installation error hits, set up a shortcut in your Start/Programs/Startup menu to the following:

C:\VAR\NAMED\NDC.EXE START

This will start the server, and the DOS box will disappear after a short time using this method. I have seen at least one circumstance in which other shortcuts have been created, e.g., to "NAMED95.EXE". I suggest that any auto-starting methods created by the installer be replaced by the above shortcut. This one works very well!

2. How to check to see that it is working.

Load a DOS shell window, CD to C:\VAR\NAMED, then run "NSLOOKUP". If things are running properly, "NSLOOKUP" should report that it is using name server 127.0.0.1, which is correct. You may test the server for functionality by typing a hostname (e.g., home.netscape.com). The server should deliver the correct IP address. To exit NSLOOKUP enter "EXIT".

3. Other DNS.

When I originally got the local DNS to work, I had had to turn off all other DNS capability on my machine. I do not know why this was necessary. However, if you are running into problems, make sure all non-local DNS lookups are disabled. Dial-up networking DNS should be set to "Server assigned name server addresses" if you use Dial-up Networking; regardless, the Control Panel Networking icon's DNS should be set to 127.0.0.1, and nothing else.

An Easter egg

An Easter egg is a program inserted in a piece of software to credit the ones who participated in the development of that software. It will give names and sometimes contain pictures and other info. You must enter everything EXACTLY as the directions say. To see this one right-click the desktop, select new and folder. Name it: and now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Do not type the period after "for", press Enter. Right-click the folder again, select Rename and type: we proudly present for your viewing pleasure. Again, do not type a period after "pleasure", press enter. Right-click the folder again, select Rename and type: The Microsoft Windows 95 Product Team! This time DO TYPE the exclamation point, press Enter. Now, double-click the folder and watch the show. I must say, though, this is the most boring Easter egg I've ever seen. Only Microsoft would have the arrogance to waste your disk space with such banality!

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Advanced Tips & Tricks for Windows 95 last revised August 13, 1998