Tips on the Registry in Windows 95/98 General All Staff
Back Up the Registry
If you mess with the Registry, make sure you have a good backup first. Fortunately, the Windows 95 CD comes with a free Registry backup utility. Create a folder on your hard drive called Registry Backup, select and copy CFGBACK.EXE (and its help file) in the OTHER\ MISC\CFGBACK\ folder of the Win95 CD, then paste it into the new folder. Create a shortcut to the file for easy access.
Change Size of Icons in Regedit
To change the size of icons on the desktop of Windows 95, start REGEDIT.EXE, pull-up folder: HKET_CURRENT_USER/ Control Panel/ Desktop/ WindowsMetrics.
In that folder, 5 keys up from the bottom, you'll see a key labeled:
Shell Icon Size
It should have a value of "32". This is the size of all icons. Now, just change this value by Right-clicking the key, and clicking on Modify.
Change your value. Say OK, exit REGEDIT, and next time your computer reloads the screen, all your icons will be resized to that value.
If you want small icons, it's best to go with a value of "16". For big icons, it's best to go with 48 or so.
Handle with Care
Regedit is a powerful, not well-documented tool that lets you directly modify the settings of the Registry, where all essential information about your system is kept. It's a fabulous tool for exploring, learning or problem solving. (For example, you can use it to wipe out all vestiges of an errant software installation.) However, it's also a fast way to completely hose your system if you don't know what you're doing. So, explore Regedit but do so with all due caution. To access Regedit, click on the Start button, then Run, then type 'Regedit'.
Log Off Ideas
If you have children who operate your PC, you can change these screens to something like a stop sign, a green light, or even the child's favorite cartoon hero!
New Designs for the Log Off Screens
Quite a few of the Preview Program participants who have young, pre-reading age children have complained that the two Windows 95 Log Off screens look so similar as to be confused by someone young who cannot yet read the words.
Well, these can be modified, by the user, to a design that is more suitable for use by young children. Or perhaps you just want to change these screens for your own reasons. It can be accomplished easily. Here's how:
There are two separate files involved, which correspond to the "Wait while shutting down" and "You may safely turn off" screens that are displayed during this sequence. Respectively, they are LOGOW.sys and LOGOS.sys (notice the W & S, for wait and safe?!) and can be found in the Windows 95 root directory.
Even though both have a .SYS extension, they are actually normal .BMP files. To edit these files, simply make backup copies of both of them, and save them into a separate directory, away from the Windows 95 root directory. Do this so you have a back-up of the originals in case your luck with these things is as good as mine!
When you make the back-ups, rename both files so they have .BMP extensions. Now, you are ready to load them into a program like MS-Paint, or Corel Photo-Paint. Edit them in whatever way you like, but make sure that you change nothing with regard to the files resolution or color depth.
When you are finished, rename them (after making another separate backup of the new modified files) back to the original names of LOGOW.sys and LOGOS.sys and copy them back into the Windows 95 root directory, and reboot your computer. If all works the way it SHOULD, the next time you Shut Down, you will see your custom Log Off screens!
Removing Names From Add/Remove Program Folder
If you've ever deleted a program and then tried to remove the name from the Control Panel Add/Remove programs tab, the name doesn't go away, because you have just erased the directory containing the program, instead of using the uninstall utility. Now you can't get rid of the names. Here is how to do it:
From the Start Menu hit Run
Type in REGEDIT.EXE, hit ENTER
Click the + on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Click the + on Software
Click the + on Microsoft
Click the + on Windows
Click the + on Current Version
Click the + on Uninstall
You'll see a list of program names exactly like the one in your window of removable programs. Just highlight the ones you want to erase, then at the top of the box click on Edit, then Delete. Once again, please be careful anytime you are using REGEDIT, you can do some real damage.
