Windows 98 Tips & Tricks
by
Want Multicolor Title Bars?
This is a pretty cool trick. Right-click the desktop, select Properties, and then in the Display Properties
dialog box click the Appearance tab. In the dropdown list under the item, select the Active Title Bar. To
the right of that option you will see two settings...Color and Color 2. Use them to select two colors ( or
change only one color ) and then check out the title bars in the preview area. They will fade from one color to the
other. When you find a color combination that you like, simply click OK to keep the change. One more thing: You can also select two
colors for the Inactive Title Bar component as well.
Turn Off That Menu & Window Animation
Tired of all the animation? Give this a try...right-click on the desktop or
select a minimized Taskbar item ( to restore it ). In Windows 98, the menus and windows just don't appear...they
ROLL onto the screen.
If you find this annoying after awhile, you can turn them off by doing a right-click on the desktop,
select Properties, and then click the Effects tab. Go ahead and deselect Animate Windows, Menus And Lists. Then
click Apply or OK. That's it.
Want To Change Those Shortcut Icons?
Are you unhappy with the icons Win98 has chosen for your favorite shortcuts ( any
icon with the little arrow in the lower-left hand corner )? You can change them easily.
Just right-click the shortcut you want to change and select Properties. Now click the Shortcut tab and then click the Change Icon button.
In the Change Icon dialog box, select a new icon and click OK if that's the one you want to keep. Or if you don't see one you like, you can click the Browse button, select another icon file...say, Windows\System\Shell32.dll or
Windows\System\Pifmgr.dll, for example, and then click Open to display it's contents in the Change Icon dialog box. Click OK again to apply the selection to your shortcut. Done.
Change Your Folder Icons?
Changing Folder Icons can't be done in Win98 without, say, a shareware program to help you out. Fortunately, I know of just such a program...AiryFolders, which is available
for download at...
AiryFolders
Once you have the program installed, you need to right-click on a folder that you
want to change and select Properties. Select the New Icon tab, choose Closed or Open, and then click the Change Icon button.
At this point the method is the same as the one for changing a shortcut icon. Simply select a new icon and click OK twice ( or Browse, select another icon files, click Open and so on ).
This is such a nice way to totally personalize your PC to your particular tastes.
Stop Startup Programs
Does your PC have a program(s) that starts whenever Windows starts? Does it irritate you and use resources that you would rather it did not?
Can't figure out how to turn it off? Well, the Win98 System Configuration Utility allows you to turn off any auto-start
program with the simple & easy click of a check box.
Here's how:
- Select Start > Run > and then type...
- msconfig
now click OK and in the resulting System Configuration Utility dialog box, click the Startup tab to display
a list of all those programs that are starting when Win98 starts. Go ahead and Deselect the one(s) you want to stop ( be certain now ) and then click OK.
The next time you start Windows 98, that offending program(s) is no longer anywhere in sight until you want it!
Deleting Icons From Quick Launch Toolbar
Have no use for one of the icons on your Quick Launch toolbar ( those little icons just to the right of the Start button )? You can get rid of it quite effortlessly. Just right-click any
Quick Launch icon--for example, the View Channels icon--and then select Delete and if it is necessary, go ahead and click Yes to confirm your choice. Gone!
You can also get rid of the entire Quick Launch toolbar by right-clicking a blank area of the Taskbar, select Toolbars and
deselect Quick Launch. To retrieve the toolbar, follow the same method but select Quick
Launch.
Adding Icons / Shortcuts To Quick Launch Toolbar
This little trick is even easier than deleting a shortcut icon from the Quick Launch toolbar. You can add any file, any folder or any application shortcut to this toolbar.
Just locate the item you would like to see, whether it be on the desktop, in the Start menu or wherever and then right-click on the item ( and hold ) to drag it to it's desired location on the Quick Launch
toolbar ( to the left or right of an existing icon ). When you see a black line indicating where the icon will reside, just let it go at it's new home and select Create Shortcut(s) Here. Done.
Eliminate The Recycle Bin Confirmation
The Recycle Bin provides a safeguard against accidental file deletions. But having to confirm your deletions
might be a bit too cautious and could well slow down your work! And think about it...how often does the message actually prompt you to do anything about what is inside
your Recycle Bin anyway? If you want to save yourself some time, turn off the Recycle Bin Confirmation
box by right-clicking on the Recycle Bin itself and then choose Properties. Then click on the Global tab and uncheck the box
labeled Display Delete Confirmation Dialog Box.
Official Disclaimer:spider-boy.com is not responsible for user-induced damage to your PC.These Tips & Tricks are provided
in good faith and are meant to ease your use of Win98.Some links on this site connect to third-party web-sites and although
we at spider-boy.com try our best to verify the integrity of each link,we are also not responsible for the content found there.
Thank you and come again...Spider!
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