ARMiller's Windows 95 Setup

Software Win98 sites Win98 Setup PCs, Mags Deja News Win95

The information presented below has pretty much run its course, since we switching over to Windows 98. Therefore, I am not regularly maintaining the links.

You can increase the speed of Windows 95 and make it easier to use by following the simple changes described here. For example, Win95 tries to use all of the free memory for a disk cache and all of the free disk space for virtual memory. This results in much disk "thrashing". By restricting the size of the disk cache and virtual memory, you can greatly reduce disk activity. This information was taken from my computer logs based on ideas found in computer magazines and the comp, Microsoft, and Netscape news groups. See PC World Tips for hundreds of ideas (in no particular order). If you find mistakes or have suggestions for improving this page, please send e-mail to armiller@nmt.edu

Some of the fine-tuning steps that follow are simply small adjustments you make to your version of Windows 95 while others involve downloading and installing software from the internet. Some of the software is an upgrade to the earliest version of Win95. Of course, you should not apply the upgrade if you have a newer version of Win95. There are three versions of Win95 known as 950, 950a, and 950B. If you have versions a or B of Windows 95, you should not install the upgrades. To check the version, right click My Computer, the icon on the desktop, and pick the menu item Properties. If the version number is 4.00.950, you should install all the upgrades. However, if the version number is 4.00.950a, it means that at least the main upgrade has been installed. Version 4.00.950B, also known as OSR2, was originally programmed with the changes.

Set Windows Explorer Features
- You can see more information about files by changing Explorer
- Pull down the View Menu and click Details. Now you can see more information about your files
- Pull down the View Menu and click Options
  - Look for a dot next to Show all files. Click if not
  - Remove the dot next to Hide files... if present
  - Look for a check next to Display the full... Click if not
  - Remove the check next to Hide MS-DOS... if present
  - Look for a check next to Include description... Click if not
  - Click OK
Create a working folder on D or E called Scratch
When you download files from the internet, Win95 wants to put them somewhere hard to find. Instead, put these files into your scratch folder.
- Left click on the drive D or E icon in Explorer (or drive C if that's all you have)
- Right click a blank area in the right pane
- Choose the menu items New | Folder
- Look for the highlighted new folder in the right pane
- Rename the new folder "Scratch" by just typing the name
(If you only have drive C, get Partition Magic, to partition your disk into three or four parts. This program does not disturb the data.)
Run Scandisk to check the file system
- Right click the drive letter in Explorer and pick Properties from the menu
- Pick the Tools tab and under Error-checking status, pick Check now
- Pick Standard, then Start
Set the disk cache size so Win95 won't take all your memory
- Make a shortcut to Sysedit so you can use it to change the file System.ini:
  - From Explorer, open the C:\Windows\System folder
  - Left click the file Sysedit.exe
  - Right drag the file to the desktop and select Create Shortcut from the menu
  - Start Sysedit by double clicking the shortcut
- Start Sysedit and select the header of System.ini
- Pick the Search menu header and pick Find
- Type the search string "vcache" and pick the Next button. The heading [vcache] should appear. If not add it to the bottom of the file.
- Just below [vcache] add the lines:
```
       MinFileCache=4096
       MaxFileCache=4096
     
```
  if you have 16 Mb of memory. A value of a quarter the total memory is often recommended. Choose a multiple of 1024.
- Click the menu header File and choose Save
- Close Sysedit by clicking the X in the upper-right corner
Set the virtual memory size and move it to drive D or E
- Defrag the drive to be used for the virtual memory:
  - Right click the drive letter in Explorer and pick Properties from the menu
  - Pick the Tools tab and click Defragment Now
- Right click My Computer | Properties | Performance tab | Virtual Memory
- Left click Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.
- In the Hard-disk drop-down list select the drive letter you want to use
- Set minimum size to at least 24 (Mb). (If you have more than 100 Mb available, set the minimum size to 48.)
- Don't set the maximum size, just let Win95 default to the available disk space
- Click OK and ignore the dire warnings about this action
- While still on the System Properties dialog box, check two more items
- Check that on the Performance tab both File System and Virtual Memory are set to 32-bit
- Still on the Performance page, click on File System | Hard Disk tab and check "Typical role of this machine". If you have 28 Mb of memory or more, and OSR2, select Network server rather than Desktop computer. This will speed up your computer. Unfortunately, there is an error in the programming of the earlier versions of Win 95, that is, versions 4.00.950 and 4.00.950a. If you want to make the change for the earlier versions you need to run the program RegEdit and change four bytes in the registry. See Patching Role Error for details.
- Click on the CD-ROM tab and check that the speed (single, double, etc.) is correct
- Click OK several times to complete
- Reset the computer for the changes to take effect
Set Recycle Bin size
- Right click Recycle Bin
- Adjust maximum size, 0.5% for a 400 Mb drive is 2 Mb.
Change Start menu to small icons so you can have more items on it
- Left click the Start button
- Click Settings | Taskbar
- Click on "Show small icons in Start menu"
- Click OK
Put Control Panel on the Start Menu
The Control Panel has several programs you need to run every so often.
- You can open the Control Panel folder by clicking Start | Settings |Control Panel, but it is faster to put it directly on the Start menu
- In Explorer, expand the Windows folder
- Locate the file Control.exe
- Drag and drop Control.exe on Start button
- Now you can open the Control Panel from the Start menu
Put Your Desktop on the Start Menu
Sometimes your desktop is hidden by windows and so it is hard to get to shortcuts there. If you put a shortcut to the Desktop on the Start Menu you can start these programs easier.
- In Explorer, expand the Windows folder
- Locate the folder named Desktop
- Drag and drop the Desktop folder on Start button
- Now you can open the Desktop from the Start menu
Check for conflicting hardware
- Right click My Computer | Properties | Device Manager tab
- Look for a yellow exclamation mark indicating a hardware conflict (more than one device sharing the same address)
Adjust your screen resolution with Microsoft's QuickRes
If you have version 4.00.950b, skip this section since QuickRes is included.
- Download QuickRes (quick_res.exe) into your Scratch folder
- Click on the QuickRes header to get a dialog box
- In the dialog box, set the download folder to Scratch
- In Explorer, open the Scratch folder and double click the exe file to expand it
- Install by right clicking the Quickres.inf file and selecting Install from the menu
- Start QuickRes by right clicking the icon in the system tray
- Adjust your screen resolution according to the amount of video memory, e.g.,
  - For 1 Mb, choose 800 by 600 pixels and 256 colors
  - For 2 Mb, choose 800 by 600 pixels and High Color (16 bit)
- The resolution change takes effect immediately so you can change it back if you don't like it. Without QuickRes, you have to reset the computer before the resolution is changed.
- Check the display driver software
  - Click on the Change Display Type button
  - See that the description of Monitor type matches the model number shown on the back of your monitor
  - If the name is wrong or generic, look through the listed drivers to find the one that matches yours
- You can delete the QuickRes files in the scratch folder since they have been copied to the Windows folder during installation
Delete useless copies of Mscreate.dir
- When Win95 is installed there may be many useless copies of Mscreate.dir throughout your hard disk. These can be safely deleted.
- Click right on drive C in explorer and select Find
- Type mscreate.dir in the Named box and click Find Now
- Highlight all copies by clicking on one and then typing Ctrl-A
- Press the Delete key to delete them all
Fine tune your system with Microsoft's Tweak UI
- Download Tweak UI (tweakui.exe) into your Scratch folder as you did for QuickRes
- Double click the exe file to expand it
- Install by right clicking the tweakui.inf file and selecting Install from the menu
- Start TweakUI from Control Panel:
  - Click the Start menu
  - Select Settings | Control Panel
  - Double click the Tweak UI icon
- With Tweak UI, adjust the following
  - From the Explorer tab, remove check from Prefix "Shortcut to". Then, each time you make a shortcut, the words Shortcut to will be omitted.
  - From the Mouse tab, adjust mouse settings for left and right buttons
- You can delete the Tweak UI files in the Scratch folder
Identify shortcut targets with Microsoft's Shortcut Target Menu
- Shortcut icons point to the program or file that is started when you double click it. Sometimes you need to know where this file is. The Target program adds a menu item that shows you the target of a shortcut.
- Download Shortcut Target Menu (target.exe) into your Scratch folder
- Double click the exe file to expand it
- Install by right clicking the Target.inf file and selecting Install from the menu
- Now you can right click on any shortcut on the desktop, in Explorer, or in Find. Select Properties | Shortcut to see the target.
- You can delete the Target files in the Scratch folder
Identify contents of folders with Microsoft's Contents Menu
- If you want see the names of subfolders and files in a folder icon or an Explorer folder, you must open it. By contrast, the Contents program adds a menu item so you can more quickly see the contents of a folder or folder icon without opening the folder or icon. And from the menu, you can start programs you see there.
- Download Contents Menu (content.exe) into your Scratch folder
- Double click the exe file to expand it
- Install by right clicking the Contents.inf file and selecting Install from the menu
- Now you can right click on a folder in Explorer and see what files and folders are there and also start any programs you see.
- You can delete the Contents files in the Scratch folder
Let System Agent schedule your maintenance
- System Agent sits in the task bar tray running tasks automatically
- If you don't have it, get MS Plus which installs it for you ( C:\Program Files\Plus!\Sysagent.exe)
- Click right on the System Agent icon and pick Open
- Check that there are at least four tasks: Low disk, ScanDisk (standard), Disk Defragmenter, and ScanDisk (thorough). Put your antivirus program here rather than use its own scheduler.
- Check that the scheduled times are appropriate, change them if not. (Tasks should run during times when the computer is running, but when you are away, say for lunch. Also, ScanDisk should run before Disk Defragmenter. These two only take a minute or two.)
- You can run any scheduled program anytime by opening System Agent, clicking on the item, then pulling down the Program menu and selecting Run Now.
- Close System Agent
Install Quick View to easily look at contents of files
- With Quick View installed, you can easily see the contents of certain files by right clicking in Explorer (or Find) and picking Quick View from the menu
- You may need your Windows 95 CD or disks
- Install Quick View by clicking the Start button and selecting Help
- Select the Index tab, type quick view, pick installing, and click the Display button
- Click the arrow in step 1 of the Windows Help screen to open the Add/Remove Programs dialog box.
- Click the Windows Setup tab
- In the Components section, click the Accessories line and click the Details button
- Scroll down to Quick View and add a check mark if necessary
- Click OK twice
- Now you must activate Quick View for each file type you want to look at
- In explorer click View | Options | File Types tab
- Scroll down to and click on desired type, e.g., HTM
- Click Edit and add a check to Enable Quick View
- Click OK two times
- Now, right click on that type of file in Explorer or Find and pick Quick View to see the contents of the file.
- Quick View can be enabled for many file types including AmiPro (sam) and Excel (xls)
Install Microsoft's Regclean
Get Regclean and run it every other day, and whenever you remove a program or your computer crashes. There initially was a problem with Internet Explorer version 4, but that has been fixed. The new RegClean.exe, version 4.1, is dated 12/30/97 and is safe to use.
- The registry keeps track of all your Win95 programs. If you delete a program improperly, it will not be removed from the registry. Also, programs like Netscape, leave trash in the registry. RegClean will correct the registry to reflect what is actually on your computer.
- Download Regclean (regcln41.exe) into your Scratch folder. (Or see the Knowledge Base article first.)
- Double click regcln41.exe and let it install RegClean.exe in your C:\Program Files\Regclean folder.
- If you have been using an earlier version of Regclean, you can use the same shortcut to start it up. However, if you have not used RegClean before, create a shortcut so you can easily start it up. Use Windows Explorer to open the Regclean folder. Right click the file RegClean.exe, drag it onto the desktop and pick Create Shortcut (or drop it on the Start button). Then you can easily start RegClean.
- Delete the file regcln41.exe from the Scratch folder
- To run RegClean, double-clicking the desktop icon or open the Start menu and click the icon.
- Each time you run RegClean it creates a reg file in the Regclean folder that shows what changes were made. The first time RegClean is run, it may produce a file that is 8 to 50 Kb in size. Run RegClean again and a smaller file 1 to 2 Kb may be produced. Each time you run RegClean, the reg file with the changes, has a different name.
- If you want to look at the changes that were made, enable the Quick View option for the reg file type. To do this:
  - In Explorer, pull down the View menu and select Options
  - Click the File Types tab
  - Scroll Registered file types to Registration Entries
  - Pick that line
  - Check that the associated extension is REG
  - Click Edit
  - Click Enable Quick View to add a check mark
  - Click OK twice to complete
  - In Explorer, open the folder C:\Program Files\Regclean
  - Click right on the file reg to see what lines were removed from the registry
  - You can delete all but the last two or three reg files.
Upgrade Original Windows 95 with Service Pack 1
If you have the newer version of Windows 95 called OSR2, skip on to the next section
- The original version of Windows 95 is 4.00.950. This is the version you can purchase as an upgrade to Windows 3.1 and it was also the version installed on new computers until the middle of 1997. Now, new computers come with version 4.00.950B known as OSR2. If you have the earlier version, you should install Microsoft's upgrade called Service Pack 1 and several updates.
- To see what version you have, move your mouse pointer to the My Computer icon on the desktop and press the right mouse button.
- Pick Properties from the menu and check the version number following Microsoft Windows 95:
```
     4.00.950     Original version. You should upgrade
     4.00.950a    Upgraded original version. Don't upgrade
     4.00.950B    New version. Don't upgrade
  
```
- To upgrade version 4.00.950, download setup.exe into your Scratch folder. It's large; 1.2 Mb. Also see
- Close all running programs except Windows Explorer
- Find the name setup.exe in your Scratch folder and double-click it
- Follow the directions
- Restart your computer
- Installing Udates to Service Pack I
  There are several updates to Service Pack I you can install, but be sure to reset your computer before installing them. These are referenced on the System Update page where directions are given. At a minimum, install the following updates:
  - Kernel32 update resolves a memory leak
  - Update to OLE32 components
  - Update to the 32-bit DLC protocol stack
  - Password list update
- Update to Encrypt Passwords
  After installing the above updates, install an update to Encrypt Passwords, but be careful. There is one version for the original Win95 and another for the OSR2 version. Be sure to get Secupd.exe which is the version for the original Win95.
  - To install the TCP/IP update, go to Microsoft Knowledge Base site Q165402
  - Move to the section where you can download the file Secupd.exe
  - Click to download into your scratch folder
  - Double-click the file, as usual
  - After installation, delete the downloaded file from your scratch folder
- You can check on which updates you have with Qfecheck which is installed with the first upgrade
  - Locate the program Qfecheck.exe in the C:\Windows\ folder by right clicking in Explorer and choosing Find
  - Put Qfecheck.exe into the Named box and click Find Now
  - Right drag the Qfecheck icon onto the desktop and pick Shortcut
  - Double-click the shortcut start it
  - Click on various + symbols for details
  - Click Cancel to close the program
  - Move the icon into the Tools menu for future use
- Skip over the next section which is for Win95 version OSR2
2
Update the OSR2 version of Windows 95
This section is only for the OSR2 version (4.00.950B) of Windows 95. If you have an earlier version of Win95 skip over this section. If you don't know your version, see the beginning of the previous section.
- Update to Encrypt Passwords
  Install an update to Encrypt Passwords but be careful. There is one version for the original Win95 and another for the OSR2 version. Be sure to get the version for OSR2 (Secupd2.exe)
  - To install the TCP/IP update, go to Microsoft Knowledge Base site Q165402
  - Move to the section where you can download the file Secupd2.exe
  - Click to download into your scratch folder
  - Double-click the file, as usual
  - After installation, delete the downloaded file from your scratch folder
- Update for TCP/IP Out-of-Band Issue
  - To install the TCP/IP update, go to Microsoft Knowledge Base site Q168747
  - Move to the section where you can download the file Vtcpupd.exe
  - Click to download into your scratch folder
  - Double-click the file, as usual, to install the newer version of two files: Vtcp.386 and Vnbt.386
  - Delete the file Vtcpupd.exe from your scratch folder
- For more information about OSR2 go here
- A search of the Microsoft Knowledge Base about OSR2 gives this list
Add Notepad or your favorite editor to the Send To menu
- By right clicking on a file name in Explorer or Find, you can send the file to any location shown in the menu. Drive A should already be included in the Sent To menu so you can easily copy a file to the floppy disk.
- From Explorer, expand the Windows folder to find the SendTo folder
- Click on the Windows folder to open it
- Click right on Notepad.exe and drag onto the SendTo folder picking Create Shortcut from the menu
- Open the SendTo folder and click right on Notepad.exe
- Select Rename from the menu.
- Press the End key and press Backspace four times to delete the .exe
- Press Enter
- Now you can send a file to Notepad by right-clicking the file and selecting Send To | Notepad
- You can add other programs such as Lview, a viewer for graphics files such as gif and jpg.
- Download TextPad, a very good editor
Install Resource Meter to monitor your system resources
- If your system resources get below 50%, your computer can crash
- When the Resource Meter is running, there is an icon in the system tray showing resources usage. It has four sections representing 25% each. Green bars show available resources, so when there are three green bars, you have 75% available.
- To start Resource Meter, search for Rsrcmtr.exe in C:\Windows. If you can't find it, you need to install it from the Windows 95 disk.
  - Go to Control Panel and open Add/Remove Programs.
  - Select the Windows Setup tab.
  - Pick Accessories and click the Details button.
  - Scroll down to System Resource Meter and click the box to the left of the icon to place a check mark there.
  - Click the OK button.
  - Put your Win95 CD ROM in place and click OK.
  - If Windows can't find your CD, change the location to the correct drive letter and the win95 folder, I:\win95 for example.
- To start Resource Meter, double-click its icon in the Find window.
- Hold the mouse pointer over the tray icon to see the resources for the three stacks
- Right click the icon and pick Details for more information
- To have Resource Meter automatically start up, put a short cut in your StartUp folder:
  - Expand the Windows folder by left clicking the plus to see the StartUp folder
  - Right drag the file C:\Windows\Rsrcmtr.exe into the StartUp folder and pick Create Shortcut from the menu.
  - Now it will automatically start up each time you start or reset your computer
Install Task Manager to easily switch windows
- You can quickly switch from one open window to another by clicking the corresponding button on the task bar. However, if you have many open windows, only the first letter or two of the names are shown. By contrast, the Task manager gives about 20 letters of each button name.
- To start Task Manager, double click C:\Windows\Taskman.exe from Explorer or Find
- Click its button on the task bar to see the open windows.
- Right drag the file C:\Windows\Taskman.exe into the StartUp folder and pick Create Shortcut from the menu.
- Now it automatically starts each time you start or reset your computer
Install Pkunzip to unzip downloaded files
- Files downloaded from the internet are compressed in one of two ways: exe or zip. Files ending in exe can be uncompressed simply by double clicking them in Explorer or in Find. On the other hand, files ending in zip need to be uncompressed or unzipped by a separate program. One way to unzip a file is copy it to the NM Tech file system and run the unzip program there. Then copy the unzipped files back. Alternatively, download the free program pkunzip.
- Download PKUNZIP.EXE, a small, 29 Kb DOS file. (Right-click on pkunzip.exe and pick Save.)
- Set the download to your Scratch folder
- This uncompressed file is ready to go; move it to say your C:\Windows\Command folder by dragging it with the right button.
- Tell Win95 to automatically use Pkunzip when you double click a zip file:
  - In explorer, left click a zip file you want to unzip. (If you don't have one yet, copy a small file to your Scratch folder and rename the extension to zip.)
  - Hold Shift and right click the zip file
  - Choose "Open With" from the menu
  - Put "Zip file" in the Description of zip files box
  - Click the "Other" button
  - Pull down the "Look in" list and find Pkunzip.exe in the C:\Windows\Command folder.
  - Click the Open button
  - Click OK
  - Delete the phony zip file if you created one
- Now you can unzip any zip file just by double clicking it
Set your time zone
- Windows 95 needs to be set to your time zone if you want to automatically set your clock.
- Right-click on the time at the lower-right corner of the screen.
- Click Adjust Date/Time in the menu
- Click the Time Zone tab
- If the time zone is wrong, click on the drop-down arrow to get all the time zones
- Select your zone and location
- Click OK
Install SocketWatch to automatically set your computer clock
- SocketWatch set your computer clock at regular intervals from time-base locations on the internet. You need a TCP/IP connection that is either direct or dial-up.
- You need a program like Pkunzip to unzip the downloaded file
- Download the larger version of SocketWatch (650 Kb) into your Scratch folder
- Double click the zip file to get several files
- Follow the instructions in the txt file
- SocketWatch automatically selects an appropriate time server on the internet to set your computer clock
- An icon with an electrical socket and clock appear in the system tray when SocketWatch is running
- Register the program for $10 by right-clicking the tray icon and picking properties.
Display the day of the month on your system tray
- TrayDay places an icon in the system tray showing the day of the month
- The icon resembles a page of a tear-off calendar so you can easily see what day it is
- Double clicking the icon puts the full date in your current program
- You can choose from several different date formats
- Download TrayDay into your Scratch folder
- Make a new folder named TrayDay and move the zip file there
- You need a program like Pkunzip to unzip the downloaded file
- Unzip the file by double clicking it
- Double click the file Trayday.exe to start it; the day appears on the tray
- Right drag the file Trayday.exe into your startup folder so it will start each time your restart your computer
- Register the program for $15 according to instructions in the file readme.txt
Analyze and fine-tune your computer with Wintune
- Wintune will tell you many things about your computer and suggest changes to make it run better. Also, if you run it periodically, you can spot changes with time.
- Download Wintune 95, a free program from Windows Magazine.
- You need a program like Pkunzip to unzip the downloaded file
- Unzip the file by double clicking it
Fine tune Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (MSIE4) If you have MSIE4, there are several default settings you should change in improve the performance of your computer. To do this, follow the steps in MSIE 4 Tune-Up

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