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Tips, Help files
The purpose of this page is to offer suggestions. It is based on my experience fixing various problems that I've encountered and to point the way to places where I've found help. I am grateful to the folks who have shared their insight with me and whenever possible I will try to make reference to those individuals. Also check out the Newsgroup Archives section for more tips. Inside OE 5 - from MVP Tom Kotch this is a great resource for info on keeping Outlook Express 5 up and running smoothly Startup Applications - Too many background applications running - try looking here on this page from the "Pacman's Portal". You can quickly access the Full list from here if you have a fast connection Windows 98 Bugs - Are you looking for the more common or the more obscure bugs in Windows 98? Check this link which goes to a search through the Microsoft Knowledge Base on bugs and fixes for the Operating System. You can narrow your search down further by entering key words in the box at the top of the screen when you get there. Checklist For Posting To Newsgroups - Ron Badour provides helpful tips and suggestions for getting your questions answered when posting to your favorite newsgroup. Thanks Ron! You can download the zipped version here if you wish. Glossary of Technical Terms - You ever wonder what those technical terms or acronyms mean? Here is a link to a site that gives a brief explantion on most of the more common computer tems. Maintaining Your Computer Tips - For new users this link takes you to a Microsoft Site that gives some simple advice on how to keep your system in tip top shape. Fequently Asked Questions About Defrag - Are you having Defrag Problems? Take this link to a page from the MVP "A Troubleshooting Guide to Windows 98\ME" for great tips and links to more knowledge base information about taming the beast. SmartComputings Learning Series - some of my favorite references from the folks at Smart computing. this is a super resource for new users and expereinced users alike!
Learning Guides
- Another excellent resource. This is a link to a series of downloadable learning guides
that are available in HTML, PDF and Windows Help File formats. The author has gone to
great length to make this resource and it is much appreciated. Here is a link to the
home page if you would rather view on line Shrishail's Small Page "Tips.txt"- I had to put this one up at the top. Shep brought this to my attention. Go to your C:\Windows directory, sort by Type and find the files Config.txt, Display.txt, FAQ.txt, General.txt, Hardware.txt, Mouse.txt, Msdosdrv.txt, Network.txt, Printers.txt, Programs.txt, Services.txt, Support.txt and Tips.txt, Display.txt, FAQ.txt, General.txt, Hardware.txt, Mouse.txt, Msdosdrv.txt, Network.txt, Printers.txt, Programs.txt, Services.txt, Support.txt and Tips.txt. This is another "best kept secret". (Shep's site is found in my 10 Top Sites page) "EasyDOS Command Index" - An understanding of basic DOS commands is essential in troubleshooting your computer. The author of this site do a great job of explaining DOS in a concise and easy to understand way. "PC Tune Up" - PC Pitstop runs diagnostics on your PC to identify things that might help improve performance. The process is fully automated, private and safe. After the diagnostics run, we'll give you tips for improving all kinds of things. Best of all, the service is free! "Creating a Startup Disk" - are you having problems creating an Startup disk? "Setting up a Dual Boot System" - do you want to run Windows 9x/Me AND Windows 2000 or XP? Check out this info. It is clearly written and easy to follow. "Using FDISK" - A link to Mr.Scary's great walk through on using this powerful tool "Description of the Windows 95 and Windows 98 Setup Switches" From the MS Knowledge Base Article Q186111 comes a list of switches which can make your installs faster and easier. Again thank Mr.Scary for researching these for us. "Windows98 CAB File Listing" Want to know what's where in the windows 98 Cd CAB files. check this page put together by Bob Cerelli "CabPath.vbs" Change Default Drive Location. If you have Windows Script Host installed, this downloadable Script File will allow you to easily change the Setup Files location. Just unzip and double click to merge to the registry. (Windows Script Host can be installed from the Windows 98 CD just pop it into your drive and go to Control Panel->Add-Remove-> Windows Setup,>Accessories). "Windows 98 Resource Kit" Found on the Windows 98 CD in tools/reskit there is a wealth of information, diagnostic tools, powertoys, addons and more. Included is a comprehensive on line manual and a Tools Console "Restoring WIN95 files if you've gone to WIN 98"- Have you upgraded from Windows 95 to Windows 98 and then found that the Windows 95 backups you made with the backup utility program can't be accessed? James Fewer posted this one. I haven't tried it but it looks like it may be a great tip. This is also found in the Newsgroup Archives section. "Mr. Scary's Internet Explorer Cheat Sheet" Anyone upgrading to IE 5 will benefit from this information. Attila Szabo has done it again for us by providing a comprehensive set of links to the MS Knowledge Base. A must read for everyone using Internet Explorer (4 or 5). "Where Can I Do Some Online Reading About Windows 98"- Mr. Scary has given us another great gift. Take this link to the Newsgroup Archives section and receive a number of links to help you with Windows 98 Exception Errors and General Protection Fault - Ever wonder what those cryptic Windows 95/98 error messages might be related too. WinDrivers.com takes the mystery out of them. "Kernel32.dll Error Checklist" Richard G. Harper has done the work for us. If you are experiencing the frustration of error messages containing the the word "........has caused a ......... in Kernel32.dll..........." check out this link and try some of Richard's great suggestions. "Major Problem With Crashes" Richard G. Harper's response to a newsgroup post asking for insight into what causes many Windows 98 crashes. This is also found in the Newsgroup Archives section. "General Protection Faults" are you plagued by general protection fault messages and just want to lean more about what might cause them? Take this link to the Microsoft Knowledge Base with 40 links to info about this common problem "Windows Shutdown Problems Troubleshooter"- James A. Eshelman treats us to 13 Steps to troubleshooting shutdown problems. This is a comprehensive look at the problem and well worth a read through! This is also found in the Newsgroup Archives section "Access Windows Update Site" Having problems accessing the WindowsUpdate site? Take this link to gain from the experience of Mr. Scary on this one. In addition you might want to check out what I found to work for me. My ideas on this are found in the Newsgroup Archives section under Winupdate Site Problems - Harry Ohrn "Windows Update Site Alternative URLs" - Harry Ohrn. This is from the Newsgroup Archives section. These alternative URLs might get you there when the Windows Update link on your Start Menu refuses to cooperate "The Miracle Cure"
I learned about this from
Max Spyridakis
and later Ron Badour
posted his findings. "Undelete" Have you ever deleted a file and then said "Oh S#%#"? In Win 3.x the Undelete program could bail you out. Windows 95 and 98 have the Recycle Bin but what do you do when you've emptied it, or deleted from a floppy and some programs delete without sending an item to the Recycle Bin. Most recovery programs and services are expensive. I looked for a cheap program that could do this and found Recover4All. It isn't free but at $25 US it is a bargain compared to the hundreds of dollars I've seen asked for other programs. "Run System Tools From The Run Command Line" use your Run Box to quickly launch your system tools like defrag, sysedit, scandisk and others Setting Up MS Fax in Windows 98 - this is found in the Newsgroup Archives section but I felt it needs to be linked to the Tips site as well given the difficulty some folks have when they upgrade to Windows 98 and then wonder "What ever happened to MS Fax?". You can also link to Frank Condron's excellent resource on the subject here as well. "Keyboard Shortcuts " a list of Keyboard shortcuts that was posted to the Newsgroups this is also found in the Newsgroup Archives section. "Product Key
"- Have you ever misplaced your Windows 98 Product Key? It can be
found in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
and look for the String value "ProductKey". But there is a simpler way! Download
this little Java script program and double click it. Your
Product Key will be
instantly displayed. This was posted by Mr.Scary to one of the Microsoft Newsgroups
several months ago. Thanks goes to him! Also if you have messed with your system
and can't boot you might be able to find what you need if you have a file called
SYSTEM.1ST in your C:\ directory. It is a hidden file. You will need to boot
with a Windows 98 Startup Disk that contains Edit.exe. At the prompt change to
the C drive. Then type ATTRIB -H *.* /S to make all files unhidden. Switch back
to A: and type EDIT and then find and load SYSTEM.1ST "Alpha-Numeric Sorting In Dialogue Box Fix" If you have found that when you go to your Open File (or Save/Save As) Dialogue box in your favorite application and the files are sorted other than alpha-numerically you may have pulled your hair out trying to get your reset to stay. Yes you can go to View->Details->Name Button but this becomes very monotonous after awhile and is really a time robber. How to get the dialogue box to open in alpha mode was my question for a long while. The fix is deceptively simple yet I have not run across this anywhere other than in one brief sentence in a computer magazine. "Use DOS To Speed up Windows 98 Installation" Julius Sans Scrupules has sent me some useful suggestion about speeding up the reinstall of Windows 98. This is found in the Newsgroup Archives Section as well. Thanks Jules! "Replacement Windows98 CD ROM" - From the Newsgroup Archives section Ron Badour gives us the number to call if you need to replace your Windows 98 CD
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