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Windows 98
Welcome to the Tips Zone 
Windows 2000 isn't going to be launched until
February of 2000 so Microsoft says. In the mean time we must live with Windows 98 though I
don't have a problem with that others do. Here is a list of links and information for you
to use to get the most out of Windows 98 until the new release.
Page Inedex
I cant seem to get
my scanner to program in, do you think you can help me? Thanks
Kat
Sure Kat, lets see if we can find the answer to your question.
First, I will run on the assumption you have a twain scanner and that you are using Windows 98. That being said, lets get started shall we?
First you will want to find your Windows drivers CD or disks. These will have the drivers on them needed to complete this installation. Once you have them do the following:
Click on the Start button
Select control pannel and click on
the add hardware section.
Once the wizard comes up click the
Nezt button
The Windows Hardware installation
wizard will offer to scan your system for added hardware.
Click Next to allow Windows to
search your system.
The wizard will ask yuu if you want the hardware wizard to search for your new hardware.
Click yes recommended.
Click on the next buton.
The hardware wizard will search for
standard drivers for your new hardware. Make sure that you have the scanners
manufacturer's installation disks or CD in the proper drive.
The rest of the installation is
pretty straight forward, you will have to answer a few qustions in some cases and in
others the process is all pretty much automatic.
Once the installation has finished
the wizard will tell you to retart windows to lock the new drivers into the system
registry, you wnat to do that.
Once windows restarts watch your
screen and answer any questions that may come up. This depends on the type of drivers your
scanner uses that may need addition setup. This is rarely done these days, but you never
know. You should now have your scannere installed and ready to use.
If the above system fails, you will have to install the software manually. I have included
the process below.
If the above method fails for whatever reason, you will need to install these drivers manually. Auh, come on now, you can do this, I promise!
Click on the Start button
Select control pannel and click on
the add hardware section.
Once the wizard comes up click the
Nezt button
The Windows Hardware installation
wizard will offer to scan your system for added hardware.
Once the scan has finished the
wizard will ask you if you want to search for hardware, select, "No I want to select the hardware from a list". After selecting
No I want to select the hardware from a list click the next button.
This is where your scanner
installation software comes in.
Scroll down the list until you get to Imaging Device and select it. Click on
the next button. The screen will say to beginn installation click next, okay, so click
next.
Now you will have some decisions
to make, generally the wizard will lok for files with the extention *.inf*. If you know
where the drivers on your disk are, great, click the have disk button and select the
directory where your hardware drivers are stored. Sometimes these will be in a drivers
directory on your installation disk. If not, this method becomes a hunt. You may need to
visually locate your *.inf* files using Windows Explorer and open it to your installation
disk, if you have one hard drive and the installation is on a CD open it in D:\ where D is
your CD rom drive. If the installtion is on data disks, choose A:\. If you are unsure,
click the browse button. This will open an explorer like window.
Many of the rest of the installation
is pretty self explanitory. Once you have located your drivers, and windows has installed
them, shut down your computer to lock the information into your registry. You then should be able to use your newly
connected device.
Good luck!
Go to my start page for more
information of use to Albionites and Windows users.
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If you don't mind editing the Registry, there's an easy way to change your identity.
(Note: As
always, we recommend that you first back up your Registry files--User.dat and System.dat,
hidden files on the root of your hard drive.)
Open the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run, typing
regedit
and clicking OK. Navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion. In the right pane, right-click RegisteredOwner and
select Modify. Type the correct information on the Value Data line of the Edit String
dialog box, then click OK. Close the Registry Editor, and the new information will appear
in the System Properties dialog box.
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Using the Lasso Technique to
Speed File Management
As you probably know, you can use the [Shift] key to simultaneously select multiple
adjacent files in both My Computer and Windows Explorer. To do so in Windows
Explorer, you simply click on the first file in the group, then hold down the [Shift] key
as you click on the last file. Windows Explorer will select those two files and all the
ones in between.
Well, did you know that you could make the same selection without using the [Shift]
key--or touching your keyboard? A lesser-known alternative allows you to select a group of
adjacent files by clicking and dragging a box around them with your mouse. When you
release your mouse button, Windows Explorer selects all files within the box. We call this
the lasso technique.
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USE ASTERISK TO FULLY EXPAND FOLDER
Want to fully expand a folder in the left pane of a two-paned Explorer window? Select the folder and press the asterisk key (*) on your numeric keypad. The result is a fully expanded view of all folders and subfolders inside.
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For Quick View for other file
types, try adding its shortcut to the Send To menu.
Open an Explorer window and navigate your way to the Windows\System\Viewers folder.
Inside, you'll see Quikview.exe. Create a shortcut to this file in your Windows\SendTo
folder. (Inside a
second Explorer window, open the Windows folder, right-click and drag Quikview.exe into
this window, release the mouse button, and select Create Shortcut(s) Here.) With the
Quikview.exe shortcut selected, press F2 (for Rename), name the file Quick View, and press
Enter. Close all open windows.
Right-click any file, select Send To, then choose Quick View in the pop-out menu. Click Yes to confirm that you want to try the default viewers, and you'll see a preview of your file (in rough form, of course, but that's all you wanted anyway).
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Change MS-DOS file name length
to 255 characters:
You can change the file name length in MS-DOS to accommodate names with up to 255 characters.
To change the file name length in MS-DOS, open the MS-DOS Command Prompt window, type
\Windows\command /u:255
and press Enter. The current MS-DOS window will now support names of up to 255 characters.
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PROBLEM: You've heard that Windows includes a scientific calculator, but your
attempts to find it have been unsuccessful.
SOLUTION: To swap the standard Windows calculator for a scientific one, click on
View on the Calculator toolbar. There are four number systems available: decimal,
hexadecimal, octal, and
binary. Also, you can use the numeric buttons on the calculator or your keyboard numeric
keypad to enter numbers in the calculator.
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PROBLEM: You'd like to be able to display the drop-down lists that appear in
certain dialog boxes without having to reach for your mouse.
SOLUTION: Use the Tab key to activate the appropriate field, then press F4 to
display the drop-down list.
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Microsoft's Windows Update. This one-stop shop lets you know which upgrades are
critical to your system, along with ones aimed at enhancing the OS. Updates.com. This site scans your system and lets you know which updates you
need -- and provides the downloads. It's a relatively new but extremely valuable addition
to the ZDNet family. Do check it out. ZDNet Windows Help Guide. Filled with FAQs, how-tos, tips, forums, resource
links and more, ZDHelp can cure just about any Windows woe.
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Microsoft sets Windows 2000 D-Day Mark your calendars: Microsoft's much-delayed operating system will be released Feb. 17. Company plans to drum up interest at Fall Comdex. By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller Microsoft Corp. will launch its long-awaited Windows 2000 product on Feb. 17, 2000, officials told partners attending Windows 2000 Marketing Day in Las Vegas this week. The company will launch the product in San Francisco at IDG World Expo's Windows 2000 Conference and Expo trade show slated for Feb. 15 through 17 at the Moscone Center, sources said. Word of Microsoft's plans to launch Windows 2000 in February began leaking out earlier this month. Between now and the launch, Microsoft is set to deliver its third and final beta, Release Candidate 3, to a selected group of testers. A subset of the more than 650,000 RC2 testers -- mostly those in Microsoft's Joint Deployment and Rapid Deployment corporate test programs -- will receive RC3. Microsoft will use Fall Comdex to tout RC3 and drum up "excitement and enthusiasm" for Windows 2000, officials told partners. Microsoft still intends to release the final product to manufacturing before the end of calendar 1999. Officials told partners it looks like the product will go "gold" before Christmas. While the Windows 2000 launch is not expected to rival in size or hype the Windows 95 launch five years ago, Microsoft is planning to make Windows 2000 an international launch, officials told the estimated 600 attendees of its Las Vegas event. Microsoft will emphasize four key marketing messages at the Windows 2000 launch, according to partner sources. These are the ability of Windows 2000 to "Internet-enable" businesses; its reliability; its manageability; and its status as the "best platform for new devices" because of its Plug And Play and streaming video support.
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PROBLEM: You want to be able to launch a Windows program with
a hotkey. If the program is already running, you want the hotkey to switch to the program.
SOLUTION: First, create a shortcut to the program and put it on the Windows Desktop (the easiest way is to right-click on a blank spot on the Desktop and select New, Shortcut). When you have the shortcut pointing to the correct program, click inside the Shortcut Key field and hit the hotkey or key combination that you want (for example, the Alt key and a function key). Click on OK. The next time you press the hotkey or key combination, the designated program will spring to life.
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Problem;
Programs are being loaded into your system tray that are not listed in the
START-PROGRAMS-STARTUP.
Your system tray over runith and you do not want or need all those pesky files cluttering up the system tray. What to do?
This tip requires that you edit your system registry.
Remove Startup commands when they are not listed in the START-PROGRAMS-STARTUP
section of your start menu:
First, to open the registry editor, CLICK on the STARTBUTTON. Now click
on RUN type:
regedit in the command line. The system registry editor appears.
Find the host key, "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run".
Check to see if the program you wish to remove is listed here.
If it is, do this:
Click on Registry then on Export
be sure the select branch is checked.
Give it a name and export it to a folder of
your choosing.
Now you may delete the offending file or entry.
While you are in the registry also check:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce
Click on Registry then on Export be sure the select branch is checked.
Give it a name and export it to a folder of
your choosing.
Now you may delete the offending file or entry.
Also check:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
See if your program is listed in any of the above
Click on Registry then on Export be sure the select branch is checked.
Give it a name and export it to a folder of
your choosing.
Now you may delete the offending file or entry.
Restart your computer and see if the program you wanted removed is still in the system
tray.
If it isn't, you have been successful and edited the system registry. Always remember,
when you change or delete any system files, BACK IT UP, BACK IT UP AND BACK IT UP, and if
I forgot to mention it, Back it up!!!
Simple, isn't it?
Really it is, give it a try. If any of the changes you made to the registry cause a
problem, find the file you exported, should be, "your file name.reg".
Double click on that file in Explorer and the entry will be put back just the way it was.
I suggest that you keep the exported registry file for about a month. If you discover no
problems, you can go ahead and delete it safely.
PROBLEM: You're tired of scrolling every time you have to open
a program from the Start menu.
SOLUTION: One time-saver is to create fly-out menus to group similar or related
programs listed on the Start, Programs menu. First, right-click on the Start button and
choose Explore. The
active folder should be Start Menu. If you can't see the Programs folder listed and
indented under the Start Menu folder, double- click on the Start Menu folder. Select the
Programs folder, and
the contents of that folder will appear on the right side of the Explorer window. Choose
File, New to create a new folder under the Programs folder (each folder is a new fly-out
menu). Type
a name for the new folder, then drag related programs into this folder.
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