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Win95 Bits & Pieces by Spider-Boy

Updated 11/25/2000

Easter Egg Inside 3D Text Screen Saver

Are you using the OEM Service Release 2 version of Win95( or any other version that includes the 3D Text screen saver )? If so, check out the Easter Egg. An Easter Egg is a hidden trick inside software... you can activate it by performing certain actions.

Right-click on the desktop > select Properties and then click the Screen Saver tab. Under Screen Saver, select 3D Text and then click the Settings button. Now type...

volcano

on the text line and click OK. Watch the Preview Screen( on the Screen Saver tab ) or click Preview... and you'll see the names of famous volcanoes.

No 3D screen savers on your system? Read on to the next tip.

Use 3D Screen Savers On Older Win95

Even if you are using an older version of Win95, you can still see the Easter Egg...as long as you know someone with a newer version who may be willing to share some files.

All you need to do is copy the 3D Text.scr file( you may also want to copy the files for the other 3D Screen Savers such as 3D Flying Objects.scr, 3D Flower Box.scr, 3D Maze.scr, and 3D Pipes.scr...plus two additional files---GLU32.DLL and OPENGL32.DLL---to the Windows\System folder of the older version of Win95.
Note: If you forget these last two files, it will not work.

Change Icons For File Types

Do you feel that the icons that Win95 uses for files ordinary, plain and boring? Luckily, there is a fix/solution.

Inside an Explorer window, just select View > Options( or View > Folder Options ). Then click on the File Types tab and under Registered File Types...choose the file type you want to alter( icon-wise ). Click Edit and then click Change Icon.
Note: If the Change Icon button is grayed out, then you can't change the icon for that file type. It happens some times.

Select your icon of choice and then click OK...or alternately you can click Browse and then navigate your way to another icon file, such as C:\Windows\System\Pifmgr.dll or C:\Windows\System\shell32.dll and then click Open > select an icon > then click OK. Now click OK two more times and the change is done.

Change Folder Icons

This is a tip I've shared before but is worth a re-run. I hope that you find it as useful as I have.

Unfortunately, Win95 won't allow you to change folder icons( unless they are shortcuts ). But, there is a shareware program that does With AnyFolder, you can assign different icons to each folder. To get a download of this program, go to...

http://www.pcworld.com

and download afolderx.zip( the link above should take you right to it ). Then extract the contents of this file to a location of your choice on your hard drive( an easy place to remember helps )...then right-click Folders.inf and select Install.

Once you have installed AnyFolder, you can change the icon used to represent a folder by: right-clicking on the folder > select Properties > and then click the New Icon tab. Now select Closed or Open( depending on which you wish to change ) > click Change Icon > select a new icon > and then click OK twice. That's it.

System Properties Shortcut

The next time that you need to open the System Properties dialog box, you need not waste your time opening Start > Settings > Control Panel > and double-clicking on the System icon( unless you are already in Control Panel ).

If you are starting out on your Desktop...there is a much quicker way. Just hold down Alt as you double-click on the My Computer icon. Not a well documented shortcut.

Deleting Installed Savers

Have you ever downloaded a screen saver or installed one from disk? This is fine most of the time if you like what you get. But...if it is not to your liking, chances are you'll end up with more than a few that you can do without. I always suggest getting rid of items like this to free up valuable hard disk space( but, by all means...keep the ones that you like ).

The very first place to look for your unwanted/un-needed screen savers is in Start > Settings > Control Panel and click on the Add/Remove Programs icon. Once( and if ), you see the item in the dialog box of installed programs, select it and then click Add/Remove. Now click Yes to confirm the deletion and you are done.

If the screen saver is not shown in the Install/Uninstall list( some won't ), then open the Windows/System folder and look for the matching *.scr file.
Note: You can switch to Details mode and then click the Type column heading. That way all *.scr files will appear together. Now you can delete the file you no longer wish to save and it is gone.