STARTING AND STOPPING


Turn off Auto Load of Windows 95
To turn off the Auto Load feature of Windows95, add the following line under "options" section of your CONFIG.SYS or MSDOS.SYS:
[options]
BootGUI=0

Turn off Win95 Logo at startup
Either press Escape during bootup or add the line, LOGO=0, to the "options" section of your MSDOS.SYS

Hide commands in autoexec.bat
If you prefer a more seamless entry into Windows95 you may hide the driver notices executed through the autoexec.bat. Add ">NUL" at end of each line in your autoexec.bat you wish to hide and you won't see them during bootup again!

Booting to DOS
You may boot to DOS by adding the line, BOOTMENU=1, under the "options" section of your CONFIG.SYS or MSDOS.SYS.

Change exit screens
You can change those lovely screens you see as you exit Windows95! Simply start up paintbrush and load up the files LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS. They are just bitmaps (320 x 400 x 256) with a different extension. Change them however you wish.

Changing startup logo
If you want to have another start-logo, place a file named logo.sys in your root directory. Logo.sys must have the same format as logow.sys and logos.sys (320 x 400 x 256) bitmap.

Dual Boot Setup for Win95/Win 3.1-WfWG
Here is a way to maintain both DOS/Win 3.11 and Windows95 operating systems on your computer and choose between them at boot-up. This is a useful method for to continuing to run programs under your old DOS/Win system while testing Win95. Doublespace and Drivespace drives can also be handled with this configuration.
  1. Copy (not move) the whole Windows directory and all its sub directories to another directory like \WIN31. Copy the whole \DOS directory to another directory like \DOS6.
  2. Edit all the INI files in the WIN31 directory to change all path statements from \WINDOWS to \WIN31. The "find and replace" command in most word processors makes this easier, but be sure you save as text files.
  3. Boot your PC and install Win95 SETUP through Window's Program Manager "FILE-RUN." As you install Win95 it will rename your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS. (When you dual boot it renames them back to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT and then backups the Win95 versions as .W40 files).
  4. After Win95 finishes installing and you are on the desktop, use notepad with "select all files *.*" to edit the CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS files and change all \WINDOWS references in them to \WIN31, and all \DOS references to \DOS6 .
  5. In order for the dual boot menu to work, the following lines must appear in the [Options] section of your MSDOS.SYS. (If you use Doublespace or Drivespace disk compression you must change both MSDOS.SYS files - one on the boot drive and one in the compressed drive)

    [Options]
    BootGUI=1
    Network=0
    BootMulti=1
    BootMenu=1
    BootMenuDefault=7 (Use 7 for DOS, use 1 for Win95)
    BootMenuDelay=5 (# seconds to select something else)

    To add these lines, first, open "My Computer." Select OPTIONS from the VIEW drop-down menu. Then select the VIEW tab. Click "Show All Files," and deselect "hide MS-DOS file extensions." Edit MSDOS.SYS with notepad to make sure you have all the above lines. When done, protect the file by restoring the "My Computer" VIEW/OPTIONS to the the original settings.

    To change the attributes, click on the MSDOS.SYS icon using your RIGHT mouse button. Select Properties and uncheck the attribute blocks. Exit and make your text changes, then save the file. Then put the attribute check marks back where they were.
  6. Exit Win95 and reboot. You should now see the boot menu and be able to select which mode you want to boot into. Remember, any programs you install after this will only appear in the system you were running at install time. For example, if you install MS Word under Win95 you will have to install it again under old DOS/Windows if you want to run it both ways. You can install the program to the same directory both times and you'll simply overwrite the files and avoid having two sets of the new program on your hard drive.
Create your own startup tips
Want to show your own tips on the Win95 Welcome screen?
  • Select Start / Run from the Taskbar and enter "Regedit." This will launch the Registration Editor.
  • Press Ctrl-F and search for "Tips." Keep searching "tips" (use F3) until the right-hand half of the window displays a long list of tips.
  • Select "Export Registry File" from the menu and export this to a file called OldTips.reg.
  • Open oldTips.reg in a text editor.
  • DON'T ever change the first three lines of this file since they describe what the other lines are all about.
  • Note the format of the tip lines. Create your own tips using the text editor without line-wrapping. Keep the number in sequential order.
  • Once you are finished, save the edited version with a ".reg" extension.
  • Run the Registration Editor again and select Import Registry File and import this file.

Launch Task Manager
If you press CTRL + ESC will windows is loading, i.e. when it actually starts loading the windows (after the Microsoft logo has finished) it will bring up task manager...not the button bar.

Where is the Windows 95 equivalent of the Win3.11 'STARTUP' group?
If you click the START button, then Settings/Taskbar, you will see the panel to modify the taskbar. Select the "Start Menu Programs" tab, then click on "Advanced." A mini-version of the Explorer will pop up, showing the hierarchy of your START menu. One of the folders listed is "Programs." Double click on the "Programs" folder and you will see a "Startup" folder. Click on the "Startup" folder and you will find the programs automatically launched at startup.

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).