Windows 95 Tips For New Users

The Windows 95 Desktop

When Windows 95 finishes starting, the My Computer and Recycle Bin icons appear on the desktop. Other icons may also be present, depending on what optional components of Windows 95 were installed on your computer. (For example, a Network Neighborhood icon appears if Windows 95 detected and set up network software; an Inbox icon appears if the Microsoft Exchange component was installed.)

My Computer

The My Computer icon is used to explore the files and devices in the computer. Double-click the My Computer icon to display a window showing, among other things, the drives currently recognized by the system. Exploring a drive is as simple as double-clicking on the drive icon, then double-clicking any directory folder which exists on that drive in order to see the files stored with in them.

To explore the devices in the computer, right-click My Computer, then click Properties on the context menu that appears. The System Properties dialog displays. The various tabs on this dialog will display technical information and device settings. Before making any changes here, review the Windows 95 Help and Windows 95 documentation for further information. If the computer is running properly no changes are needed in this window.

Recycle Bin

When a file in Windows 95 is deleted, the file is usually moved to the Recycle Bin. It remains on the hard disk until the Recycle Bin is emptied or until the Recycle Bin is full. By default, the Recycle Bin holds files of a cumulative size equal to 10% of the hard drive's total space. For example, a 340MB hard drive contains a Recycle Bin that can hold 34MB of files before it begins to automatically delete them.

To customize the settings for the Recycle Bin, right-click the Recycle Bin icon, then click Properties. The Recycle Bin Properties dialog displays. Change these settings as desired.

The Recycle Bin may be emptied prematurely in order to reclaim hard drive space or to ensure the immediate deletion of a file. To do so, right-click the Recycle Bin icon, then click Empty Recycle Bin (note that this option is not present when no files are currently in the Recycle Bin). A dialog asks to confirm file deletion. If you are sure that you want to delete a file or group of files, hold down the Shift key while deleting the file(s). Files deleted this way will not be put in the Recycle Bin and can not be recovered.

How to Change the Desktop

To make changes to the resolution, color depth, and other display settings, right-click anywhere on a blank region of the desktop (that is, where there is no icon, text, or window). A context menu appears. Click Properties. The Display Properties dialog appears. Use the Background settings to display an image as the Wallpaper or background of the desktop. Click the Screen Saver tab to change the screen saver or power management settings which determine what the computer does after a set period of inactivity. Click the Appearance tab to change how Windows 95 displays the borders, menus, fonts, and colors used by windows and dialogs. Click the Settings tab to change the resolution or the size of the color palette used by Windows 95.

Shortcut icons can be placed on the desktop allowing programs to be accessed quickly and documents to be viewed. To create a sample shortcut, right-click anywhere on a blank region of the desktop, then click New, then Shortcut on the context menu. The Create Shortcut dialog displays. Click Browse. From here explore the directory folders and files on the hard drive. Double-click the Windows folder in the Browse window. The contents of this window changes. Now move the scrollbar at the bottom of the window until the scrollbar slider is placed completely to the right. One of the files displayed in the list is Winver.exe. Double-click this file. The path and name of the file now appear in the Create Shortcut dialog. Click Finish. A shortcut icon titled Winver.exe now appears on the desktop in the location where the mouse was originally right-clicked. Double-click the icon to launch the program.

Shortcut icons can be removed by clicking once on the icon, then pressing the Delete key on the keyboard. Deleting a shortcut does not delete the program that the shortcut points to. To move a shortcut icon, simply click and drag the icon to another area of the desktop.

What is the Taskbar?

The taskbar at the bottom of the screen is used to manage the programs on the computer. In addition, it can display the date and time and displays icons that represent the status of certain operations on the computer. The Start button is located on the taskbar.

Click Start to display the Start Menu. Most of the Windows programs are found under the Program menu item. Click Programs to display a menu of programs and program groups.

Other items on the Start Menu give quick access to various features of Windows 95. Use Find to locate a file on the hard drive. Use Settings to configure the hardware devices, to install and configure the printer, and to customize the Taskbar. Use Documents to open a document that was recently opened. Use Run as an alternative way to start a program for which the exact path and command is known.

The Taskbar Properties dialog is displayed by clicking Start, then Settings, then Taskbar, as noted above. These settings can be changed in order to customize the Taskbar. The check boxes on the initial dialog are all self-explanatory. Click the Start Menu Programs tab. The dialog now displays options relating to the Programs and Documents menu items. Add or remove any item that appears on the Programs menu by clicking the Add, Remove, or Advanced buttons. Try the following example to learn how this may be done.

• Click Add. The Create Shortcut dialog displays. Click Browse. At this point, explore the directory folders and files on the hard drive. Double-click the Windows folder in the Browse window. The contents of this window change. Now move the scrollbar at the bottom of the window until the scrollbar slider is all the way over to the right. One of the files displayed in the list is Winver.exe. Double-click this file. The path and name of the file now appear in the Create Shortcut dialog. Click Next. The Select Program Folder dialog displays. In this screen select the program folder in which to place the program. For this example, double-click the Programs folder. The next dialog asks for a name selection for the shortcut and Windows 95 offers its own suggestion for the shortcut name. Click Finish. The Start Menu has now been changed. To run this program, click Start, then Programs, then Winver.exe. Winver.exe runs, displaying a version dialog.

To remove the Start Menu shortcut created in the above example, do the following:

• From the Start Menu Programs tab of the Taskbar Properties dialog, click Remove. The Remove Shortcuts/Folders dialog displays, listing all the program folders and shortcuts in the Programs menu. Scroll down the list until the Winver.exe shortcut is viewed. Click Winver.exe, then click Remove. Click Close. Winver.exe no longer appears in the Programs menu.

When a program is running, a button showing the program's name and its icon appear on the taskbar. Switching from one program to another is done by clicking the respective button on the taskbar.

On the taskbar's right end is a small field showing the current time. Certain icons may appear directly to the left of the time, depending on the computer's configuration. For example, if a sound card is installed, a small, yellow speaker icon is present; clicking on this icon will control the sound card's volume. When a document is sent to the printer, a printer icon appears and can be double-clicked to cancel or pause the printing operation. If a modem is installed and currently in use, a small modem icon appears with lights indicating the transfer of data. Different icons may appear in this area of the taskbar under other circumstances.

Accessing Windows 95 Help

Windows 95 includes an integrated help program that can answer many of the specific questions regarding the use of Windows 95.

The following are some of the features of Windows 95 Help.

• Tutorials that show how to get started using Windows 95
• Instructions on how to perform the most common tasks
• Interactive troubleshooters that help identify and solve problems by asking questions and responding to input with specific advice or solutions

To view the list of Help Topics, click Start, then click Help. The Help Topics dialog displays, showing small icons of books and sheets of paper. Books can be double-clicked on to open them and view their contents in the list. The sheets of paper can be double-clicked on to display help topics or start tutorials and troubleshooters.

To look for a specific indexed topic, click the Index tab, then type a word in the text field that appears at the top of the dialog. The topic title that most resembles the word typed in the text field is highlighted. Click Display to move to that topic.

To perform a search through all help topics for a specific word, click the Find tab. If the Find tab has not been used previously, Windows 95 begins the Find Setup Wizard, which builds a searchable database of the words used in Help. Click Minimize database size (recommended). Click Next. Click Finish. Windows 95 then creates the word list that it will use to find words. The length of time needed to create the word list depends on the size of the help file and the speed of the computer.

Once the word list has been created, the Help Topics dialog displays the find controls. In the text field at the top of the dialog, enter the text to be searched for. Directly below the field, the dialog displays a list of highlighted words that match this text. Below this, the dialog displays a list of topics that match the highlighted words in the first list. Highlight one of these topics and click Display to move to the topic.

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