Still More Useful Tips for Windows Power Users

This is part 3 of a collection of tips for Windows users submitted as part of our Aug. 2000 Content Contest. See part 1 and part 2 for more Fast 'n' Friendly tips.

(Continued from part 2)

24. Want your own images and pictures for the startup and shutdown screens (eg. Corporate logo or family pics)?
Follow these steps :

Use your favourite image editing s/w to make a file/files with these properties:

• 256 colour depth (8-bit colour)
• 127k file size (this means using 320x400 @ 256 colours)
• saved as a BMP
• hidden file attribute set on

There are up to 3 files to replace, copy the originals somewhere safe first so you can restore them if needed. You need to turn on Hidden files first to see them :

•  Explorer, View, Options, Show all hidden files.
• LOGO.SYS in root directory/folder, is the startup screen
• LOGOW.SYS in Windows directory, is displayed while shutting down
• LOGOS.SYS in Windows directory, is displayed after shutdown (well, you know what I mean !)

25. If you change hardware and hardware settings a lot, then create and test the Windows Emergency Boot Disk (EBD). Go Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Pgm, Startup Disk tab. One day you WILL need it. You can also tweak it afterwards by editing out the CD-ROM drivers that you don't need, to make it boot faster (OAKCDROM.SYS is the most used I believe).

26. Has your mouse frozen but the keyboard still works ok ? Well, here are some forgotten keyboard shortcuts to get you through (normally the Device Manager dialogs):

• ALT + F4 = exit active program
• CTRL + TAB = display next tab sheet in a dialog box, (SHIFT+CTRL+TAB reverses)
• SHIFT + DEL = cut to clipboard, SHIFT+INS = paste from clipboard (I find these easier to remember than CTRL+X and C) F4 = display the entries in a 'drop-down' (combo ?) box, ALT + cursor-down does same thing too.

27. Want to display fractions in a note or document ? Use these keystrokes:

• ALT + 0188 or ALT + 172 displays ¼ (one quarter)
• ALT + 0189 or ALT + 171 displays ½ (one half)
• ALT + 0190 displays ¾ (three quarters)
• ALso, ALT + 169 displays the registered symbol ®

28. To save ink in your printer's cartridges, try making the draft or economy mode the default (my HP's is called Econofast). Not only will you save ink but it prints a lot faster and you can switch to Normal or Quality mode when you're ready for that final copy. Change it via Settings, Printer, right click on your chosen printer, Properties and then look for the draft mode.

29. When you use the MSDOS Prompt (the DOS box), you can't use long filenames unless you use quotes around them. e.g., CD "Program Files"

30. Do you have a Fax Modem but don't want to leave your PC on all day to receive that fax while your at work ? Then sign up (it's free) for a fax-to-email account and get your inbound faxes emailed to you 24 hours a day ! There are a few to choose from, I use www.efax.com and it works very well, faxes arrive to me within a very short time of being received. You get your own fax number (a US number though, but no big deal) and a fax viewer that incorporates into your email software nicely. (You can pay a small amount per month to use their fax-out service if you want to get rid of that modem completely !)

31. Hold down the SHIFT key while deleting bypasses the recycle bin.

32. Want to see what is in the clipboard at any time ? Go Start, Run, CLIPBRD
 
About the author: Steve Fairbrother is a freelance programmer of large systems working out of Victoria, BC, and currently doing some remote work for a large aircraft corporation in Seattle. Steve has been in I.T. since 1977, doing a mixture of programming and consulting. Amazingly, he says he's still not fed up with it! Computer skills seem to run in the Fairbrother family as his son Jon (age 16) recently won a TeenTech competition on the 'net (via Ace Computer Camps) and was one of only five teen winners from Canada. He went for 4 days to Seattle, visiting Microsoft and staying at Univ. of Washington and, according to Steve, he loved it all!

• Did you enjoy this article? Your feedback is encouraged!

For Further Reading
See part 1 and part 2 of this feature for more.

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