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Free 95/98 and XP Window Tips

Cleaning Up Your System:  After being on the internet, you should go to "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", and then click on "Disk Cleanup".  A new screen will appear with the heading "Select Drive", and unless you have more than one hard drive, Drive "C" should be showing in the default window.  Click "OK".  A new Screen should appear.  The following boxes should be checked.  "Temporary Internet Files", "Downloaded Program Files", "Recycle Bin", and "Temporary Files".  After these boxes are checked, click "OK".  A screen will appear asking "Are You Sure Want To Delete These Files",  Click "YES".  This will delete unwanted files and avoid slowing down your internet speed.

Disk Defragmenter:  Go to "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", and then click on "Disk Defragmenter".  A new screen will appear.  The top of the screen will say "Select Drive".  "Drive C" should be in the window.  Then Click "OK".  This will compress your hard drive and defrag your files.  This should be done daily.  WHY?  Imagine that every time you open and use a program, small bits tend to fly off in different directions, which will slow down your system and may even lead to a crash of your hard drive.  Okay for you computer geeks out there, we no this is over simplifying,  But we wanted the readers to get the basic idea.

Display:  If you right click anywhere on your Desk Top, a new screen will appear. Click on "Properties".  A new screen will appear saying, "Display Properties".  Click on "Settings".  Under "Colors", you should set it to read either "True Color (24-Bit)" or "True Color" (32-Bit)".  Under "Screen Area", this should be set to "800 x 600 Pixels".  WHY?  Because this is the setting that most Web Sites are designed for, and will allow you a better display while using the internet.

Tired of all this icons on your desktop?:  

Click on any Icon, holding down the left mouse button and drag it down to the Task Bar at the bottom of the screen.  Now the icon should be appearing on the task bar.   Now go back and right click the copy of the icon you dragged to the Task Bar that remains on your desktop and click delete.  You can do this as many times as you wish, at least until the task bar is full.  We don't recommend that you put more than 12 on the Task Bar.  To make room for the icons on the task bar, you will see a small indented line on the task bar with an embossed line to it's right; move your cursor over this until you see a double arrow (pointing left and right),  left click and drag it to the right, this will give you more room on the Task Bar for your desktop icons.  However, leave enough room to allow you to see at least 4 windows, for open programs such as MS Word.

Next:  Do you really need all those icons on your desktop?  Probably not.  Right click on any icon you don't need and delete it.  Don't worry, it won't delete the program.  However, some icons cannot be deleted.  After clearing your desktop, left click on any icon and drag and align them from top to bottom on the left hand side of your desktop.

A better solution:  Click on Start, then Programs, move your cursor to anywhere on the next program list (where it shows Accessories), find the programs you use most, click on that program and drag it up, just below accessories.  Do the same with the next most used program.  You can even place them in alphabetical order, if you choose.  This way your most used programs will be the first appear after Accessories.  

Another Solution:  A bit more complicated.  Click on Start, then Settings, then Task Bar and Start Menu, then Advanced Tab, Click the next Advanced, a Windows Explorer Screen will appear.  Now you should be on Folder "Start Menu", click on Programs, now go to the top of Windows Explorer Screen, Click on File, New, and then Folder.  On the right side of the Explorer split screen a Box will appear with the words "New Folder", Type your name, then hit "Enter" on your keyboard.  Now exit out of the Windows Explorer Screen.  Click on Start, Programs, and find the folder with your name on it, click it once, holding down the left key, drag it up under accessories.   Now find your most used Programs, drag them to your folder, a new screen will appear which says empty, drag that program over to that screen and release the mouse button (note:  The empty screen only appears the first time you drag and drop a program).  Now do the same, with the next most used Program, click on it & drag it to your folder and then drag it over to your new menu and unclick.

Windows XP

Shutdown Shortcut
If you have XP, you can make shutting down a little less tedious by creating a simple shortcut.

1. Right click on the desktop and Create a New Shortcut

2. Browse for the file c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe (or c:\winnt\system32\shutdown.exe)

3. Click Next, name your shortcut, and click Finish.

4. Right click the shortcut and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

5. Next, you'll need to append a command line switch to the target box. Add the switch -l to log off, -s to shut down, or -r to reboot.

We will be adding more tips in the future.