Starting and Stopping The Desktop Taskbar Tweaking Tuning Up Explorer Keyboardese Shortcuts Galore Sound Advice Registry Review Improving Performance Installing Software Custom Looks Net Working Dos Forever THE DESKTOP Change the Size and Spacing of Desktop Icons Although Windows doesn't let you easily change the size or spacing of the icons on the desktop, it can be done. Here are 2 alternatives: EASY METHOD: Simply adjust it in the Control Panel under Display/Appearance/Item/. HARD METHOD: Note that entries not covered below may be adjusted through the Control Panel. Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control panel\ desktop\ WindowMetrics. Double click on any of the following values to change them: IconSpacing: horizontal space between desktop icons, in twips (there are between 12 and 15 twips per pixel, depending on your video driver). IconVerticalSpacing: vertical space between desktop icons, in twips. Shell Icon Size: horizontal and vertical size of desktop icons, in pixels. After you have entered a new value, press OK and then close the Registry Editor and restart Windows for the changes to take effect. Creating a Scraps folder Here is a little-known editing tool available in Wordpad which can be quite useful. Simply by highlighting text, then dragging it from your Wordpad document to the desktop or folder, you can create a "Document Scrap" file with some of the actual text used in the name. Scrap files may be archived or dragged into another Wordpad document. Shortcut to Desktop Properties Right-click anywhere on the desktop, then select properties. Turning off Desktop Icons If you want to turn off all the icons on your desktop Start the Policy Editor Select Local User / Shell / Restrictions Select Hide all items on Desktop All icons will now be hidden. NOTE: There is one side effect, CD will no longer automatically play when it is inserted. Refresh the Desktop without Restarting Windows The results of some of the procedures explained in Tips & Tricks for Windows95 will not take effect until you either restart Windows, or refresh the desktop. These include any changes to the system registry or any system folders. To refresh the desktop without restarting Windows, click on any open area of your Desktop or any icon on your Desktop with the left mouse button and press F5. Renaming the Recycle Bin Start the Registry Editor Search for Recycle Bin Double click on the Recycle Bin in the right pane Type in the new name under Value Data Restart Win95 Removing the "shortcut to" Text Some experience problems trying to remove the "shortcut to" text from the name of shortcuts on the desktop. Apparently Windows 95 is "smart" enough to learn that you don't like this nomenclature. Create a shortcut to your desktop, then immediately edit the name and only remove the 'Shortcut To' text. Repeat this over and over and on the 8th shortcut, Windows will stop adding this text to the name! Creating static links Many document and object icons may be placed into other documents. This creates a static link to the file repesented by the icon. Double-clicking on the icon, launches the file. Unabridged version of Tips and Tricks for Windows 95 copyright © 1995 - 2001 Hanar Software, all rights reserved. Tips and Tricks for Windows 95 Abridged Internet Edition copyright © 1997-2001, Hanar Software and William Foard Publishing, all rights reserved. AmericaToday.com copyright © 1995 - 2001 William Foard Publishing. Microsoft, MS, Windows, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Corporation in no way endorses or is affiliated with Tips and Tricks for Windows 95. All other trademarks are the sole property of their respective owner(s).