Windows98 Tips and Tweaks

Hmm..There's a lot you ca do with Win98 which is not really obvious.I'm ust putting in a few random things which I use and find interesting.Most of these things I've learnt on the net or plaint experimentation .So here's my two pence to the vast repository of the Net that makes life more interesting. I'm trying to give those which are not widely known .

Important: I'm giving these tweaks for those who like to play with there PC and try to add new functionalities to there system or programs .These are no consultations , and if there is any harm of data or of any other kind , I don't take any responsibilities.
Some tweaks mentioned here may involve editing the Windows registry.If you have neve done this , this might not be the time for you to do this ;Editing the registry may be injurious to your computer's health(and more so than cigarettes , maybe )if you don't know how to handle it .And don't forget to Back-Up the registry befire you edit it .You're warned !

1.Want to see the computer boot up in color ?

First thing , ensure that you have Ansi.sys file is installed (C:\windows\command ).If you don't have it , get one
Add an entry to Config.sys so that the driver is loaded :
Add this to config.sys: Devicehigh=c:\windows\command\ansi.sys
Add this to your Autoexec.bat (at the top ,if you want a colored boot-up) : Prompt $e[3x;4xm$p$g Substituting x with codes given below .firt number is for background color, second for textcolor.$emeans Escape code (ASCII code 27) .$p$g will keep your prompt intact as [Current_path > ] . These will also be the colors for you DOS console .If you want to change them for a console , you can also type the above command at the DOS console .
Colors available are : 0 =Black; 1 = Red; 2 = Green; 3 = Yellow; 4 = Blue; 5 = Magenta; 6 = Cyan; 7 = White.
Needless to say, if you don't want a permanent setting , you can ust make the config.sys entry , skip the autoexec one , and type somethig like Prompt $e[33;47m$p$g everytime you want a coloured console.

Can't defrag your computer ? Try to run defragmenter as the only program : This thing really worked for my system.I'll just redirect you to where you can find this tip. Only thing is , you should be able to restart windows after you are done .Try this link :
http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/shakybill/computerspeed.html

Adding a new program to Send To list :Easier done than said ! Just change to your windows directory.You'll find a Directory named ,well , SendTo .Change to that directory and create a shortcut to the desired applic application there .This a very hady thing to do .For instance , if you add a shortcut to Notepad , you can open any interesting looking file on the fly ,Not to mention addig your own software to the list .

Adding a new program to Windows Right-Click Menu :This is a REGEDIT thing .So, heed the warning above .

Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\]
Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*] ' * 'means it is for all files .
Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell]
Add a new Key , say "abc".ie [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\abc]
Set the default String value to "open with myApp"(or wahatever you want to appear no the pop-up-menu)
Add a new subkey - "command" : i.e. [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\abc\command]
Modify the default String value to C:\Program Files\abcDir\abc %1
where C:\Program Files\abcDir\abc.exe is the Application you wat to launch. %1 means it should be passed the filename as the Parameter .So, leave the %1 part as is and alter the path part to tally your application .
Press F5 to refresh the registry .

How to Avoid Accidental Registry Imports :A big problem of frequen working with REGEDIT is that you get a lot of stray .reg files in your system and if you click on any of them , they are merged to the registry .To stop this , open Folder Options from Explorer, go to File Types , locate .reg in the list ,and press EDIT .You'll find three options in the "Action " box - Edit,Merge and Print .Select Edit and press Set Default .Hereatfter , when you double click on a .reg file ,the defaul action will be Editing and file will open for edit instead of ramming stratigh into your registry .

Adding an Image BackGround to IE Toolbar :I'm sure you're hooked by the various sites that offer bitmapped toolbar for IE. My site also has a link to one such site.But the catch is , if you use there service, u also get a lot of ads and push-tech things in form of Radio Bars. Wary of this, I've took up to this cleaner-clutter free method .

First thing , save a good bitmap image that you need as toolbar , keeping in mind the size ,posttion of address-bar,buttons etc.
Following is the key we need :
Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar] Value Name: BackBitmap Data Type: REG_SZ
Most probably, you won't find the value , so Add the above String value BackBitmap. Set the value to the path of your bitmap - eg C:\mytoolbar\tool.bmp
Restart the machine .

Well , that's all for the time being .I hope you found it useful.If you don't know how to edit windows registry (or don't know what it is )refer reghelp.com . Despite of the warnings , it's not much really if you can ensure that you can restore normalcy when anything goes wrong.In other words, it comes through a little hands-on experience ....and you of couse know where that comes from :-)

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