Maximize the web browser window when viewing
this page [using at least 800 by 600 screen resolution].
{Computer Tips page links: (part
1) (part 2)}
Fast Restarting the Computer (aka. Restart
Windows): (for Windows 95 & 98 only)
For those who are still stuck with either
Win95 or 98, and are tired of seeing the computer go through the
whole boot process after selecting the
Restart the Computer option in the Shut Down menu, choose the
'Restart the Computer' shutdown option
[if using Win95 without Active Desktop] or the 'Restart' option (if
using Win95 with Active Desktop or Win98),
hold the Shift key and click on OK to make the computer
restart Windows instead of restarting
the computer. This tip does not work with other Windows OSs (not
even under Windows NT4, 2000, ME &
XP). And this tip is meant for slow computers [less than a
Pentium
2 processor with inadequate amount of
RAM installed] using Win95 or 98 & does not necessarily have to
be used on superfast computers & it
may hang (or produce an error message) while it is trying to
restart Win95 or 98 on fast PCs.
Removing the annoying 'Shortcut to'
prefix on shortcuts: (for all versions of Windows)
For those using Win95, 98, NT4, 2000 or
ME, install the TweakUI 1.33 powertoy from this MS
web page.
Then run TweakUI from the Control Panel
and click on the Explorer tab. On the Settings section of the
Explorer tab uncheck the box that has
the option 'Prefix "Shortcut To" on New Shorcuts'. Then click
on
the OK button to save settings.
There's NO way whatsoever to perform this trick by editing the Registry
with Registry Editor or other 3rd party
registry tools. Windows XP users should get the MS TweakUI 2.0
Powertoy at this MS
page. Windows XP with at least Service Pack 1 & Windows Server
2003 users
should get TweakUI 2.1 at this MS
site. In TweakUI 2.0 & 2.1 click on the Explorer option (do
not click
on the Explorer branch) and in the Settings
section, scroll to all the settings until you find the option
that says 'Prefix "Shortcut To" on new
Shorcuts'. Uncheck that box and click OK.
Removing those annoying shortcut arrows
on shortcut icons: (for all versions of Windows)
For those using Win95, 98, NT4, 2000 or
ME, install the TweakUI 1.33 powertoy from this MS
web page.
For those using WinXP original only (WinXP
without SP1 or higher installed) install the TweakUI v2.0
powertoy from this MS
site. For those using at least WinXP SP1 or WinServer 2003, get
the TweakUI 2.1
powertoy at this MS
site. In TweakUI 1.33, run TweakUI from the Control Panel and
click on the Explorer
tab. In the Shortcut Overlay section
choose None and click on OK to save changes. In TweakUI 2.0 &
2.1,
expand the Explorer branch and click on
the Shortcut option and do the same thing as with TweakUI 1.33.
No more shortcut arrows on those shortcut
icons as they are permanently gone.
Warning:
If Win9x/NT4 users install the Security Update of March 7, 2002 (mentioned
on MS security bulletin
MS02-014 & MS
support KB article 313829) OR if Windows 98 users install the unofficial
SHELL32.DLL
2Gb-4Gb Copy patch
(SHELL98.EXE), you
will no longer have the ability to remove the shortcut arrows
on shortcut icons
regardless of what setting you choose in TweakUI or in any 3rd party tweaking
tools
that customizes
the user interface like Tweaking Toolbox. There are methods of resolving
this minor
problem and all
are found at Axcel216's Windows
98/98 SE Tricks + Secrets - Part 5 page.
Follow the directions
at his page very carefully. Those using Windows 2000 with SP3 or
higher installed,
Windows ME, XP &
2003 are not affected by this minor problem as they can safely remove the
shortcut
arrows using TweakUI
or any other tweaking tools.
Sidenote: The NT4
versions of the MS04-037/KB841356 updates include the latest releases of
the shell32.dll
file for NT4 systems
with and without the IE Desktop Update. The MS04-037 and the MS04-024
shell32.dll
security updates
for NT4 do prevent TweakUI from changing or removing the arrows
on shortcut icons if
the IE Desktop Update
for NT4 is installed as I have tested myself on an NT4 machine.
For those using
WinVista: Download the Vista
Shortcut Manager tool and run it to remove the arrows on
those shorcut icons.
To use or NOT to use 'System Restore'
under Windows ME, XP & Vista:
First, read Fred Langa's articles about
the System Restore feature at the following sites:
[Langa
List Standard Edition 2003-11-03]
[Langa
Letter: Maximizing ''System Restore'' In WinME and WinXP]
A few things about the 'System Volume
Information' folder for the System Restore feature that Fred did NOT
mention in his November 3, 2003 article.
This folder is used in Windows XP systems only and NOT under
Windows Millennium. Windows ME uses
the '_RESTORE' folder instead of System Volume Information.
Either folder is found in the root directory
of the hard drive [ex. 'c:\system volume information' or 'c:\_restore'].
I've also found out that you can not view
the contents of the System Volume Information folder in Windows XP
if the hard drive is using the NTFS file
system instead of the FAT/FAT32 file system [oh, drat!].
Note that WinME users now must install
the Q290700 update
to fix a crucial problem with System Restore
checkpoints being created from September
8, 2001 to the present being used to restore your PC to a time
when it was working properly. My
advice is to enable the System Restore feature if you are trying out demo
editions of any software or trialware
and after removing whatever demo-wares being used, then use
System Restore to restore the state of
the system before the demo-ware was installed. In most cases, it
would be best to turn off System Restore.
To do this in Windows XP, open the System control panel applet
click on the System Restore tab and check
the box to turn off System Restore. In Windows ME, open the
System control panel applet, click on
the Performance tab, click on the File System button and on the
Troubleshooting tab check the option Disable
System Restore and click OK on all the dialog boxes.
Note that the System Restore feature is
not included in Windows Server 2003. To disable System Restore
under Windows Vista, open the System control
panel applet, click on the System Protection settings
and uncheck the drives that you want to
stop monitoring and click OK to save your settings.
Requesting Hotfixes from Microsoft by
Email: [instead of phoning Microsoft support]
See this MSFN.org
Forum page on how to request any hotfix or patch from Microsoft.
It may take a few to
several hours for MS to respond but they
may give you the specified patch. Note that certain hotfixes
obtained this way are not normally needed
unless you experience a problem that can be fixed by asking
for the hotfixes. However, if the
support person responded by email that the hotfix you have requested
is not available, then it is probably
not available anymore [note that the MS support person has to
explicitly state that the hotfix you have
asked for is not available so read the email message very
carefully]. You can also use this
tip to request hotfixes for other Microsoft software such as MS Office,
MS Works, Internet Explorer, Windows Media
Player, etc.
Update: Click
here to go to the MS Support Contact page to request a hotfix from
Microsoft Support.
Also, if you need
to download some hotfixes, check TheHotfixShare.net
site for them.
Warning:
Because hotfixes are not 'publicly available', they may cause some unexpected
problems than
fixing certain problems
on some computers. Be sure to understand the risks involved in obtaining
MS
Windows hotfixes.
Removing the EFS [encrypting file system]
feature from Win2k Pro & WinXP Pro Systems:
Read this
article on how to remove the EFS feature from Windows 2000 Professional
or Windows XP
Professional systems. EFS is not
available on Windows XP Home Edition, even if you are using the NTFS
file system under XP Home edition.
Viewing and Extracting the contents
of MSU Update Packages for Windows Vista & Server 2008:
Read MS
article 928636 on how to view and extract the contents of MSU packages
for Windows Vista
and Windows Server 2008.
Viewing and Extracting the contents
of Windows Installer MSI and MSP files:
You can use MSI
Viewer to view the contents of Windows Installer package files [MSI].
MSI Viewer
requires the KiXForms
library file (kixforms.dll) in order for MSI Viewer to work.
MSI Viewer will not
work with Windows Installer Patch files
[MSP]. To extract the contents of MSI and MSP files, you will
need Heath
Stewart's Patch Files Extractor tool [msix]. The Patch Files
Extractor program is a command
line tool but it can extract files from
MSI and MSP files.
Optimizing Dial-Up Networking [DUN]
Internet Connections: (for 56k modem & ISDN modem users only)
Click
here to view my dunfast.htm file on tips to make your dialup connections
better. Before trying out the
the tips, install the very latest drivers
and firmware updates for your modem. Also set the transmit &
receive buffers (from the Advanced Port
Settings dialog box) to the higest setting. In Win9x, NT4, XP &
Win2003, set the slider all the way to
the right; in Win2k & ME set both the transmit & receive buffer
settings to Maximum. To reach the
Port Settings box, double-click on the Modem control panel applet,
select the modem, click on the Properties
button, click on the Connection tab & click on the Port Settings
button and after you set both settings
at maximum, click on the OK button and on the remaining prompts
to save your settings (if you get disconnected
a lot or have major connection problems, lower the transmit &
receive buffer settings by one unit or
set them at their second highest setting and click OK).
Requirements for Windows 95 before
trying out the tips:
Dial
Up Networking (DUN) 1.4 upgrade for Win95 (which provides 128-bit security)
and the Winsock
2.2
update. Install either the DUN 1.4
update and then the Winsock 2.2 update. I have now confirmed
that the Winsock 2.2 patch does not
overwrite crucial system files from the DUN 1.4 update for Win95.
Other Win95 updates to consider before
making DUN connections more faster & efficient are the
updated Win95
Unimodem V drivers and the TAPI
2.1 update for Win95.
Requirements for Windows 98 1st &
2nd editions before trying out the tips:
Dial
Up Networking (DUN) 1.4 update for Windows 98 first edition (which
provides 128-bit security).
Dial
Up Networking (DUN) 1.4 update for Windows 98 second edition.
For Win98se users with USB or
WDM modems, the Win98
WDM Modem Kit & the Win98se Q308349
update.
Requirement for Windows ME (Millennium
edition) before trying out the tips:
The WinME Q272016
update for those using USB or WDM modems, especially new internal PCI
modems.
Caution: The tips
of optimizing dialup internet connections may not work if you use
PeoplePC Acclerated
Editon or NetZero
Hi-Speed Edition as these "accelerated" software may already optimize your
dialup
connections.
Optimizing Broadband Internet Connections:
(great for cable modem & DSL modem users)
Click
here to view my cabledsl.htm file on tips to make your broadband connection
more efficient.
Enabling Scandisk for Windows to recheck
bad clusters/sectors: (for Win9x & ME systems only)
If you have lots of bad clusters or bad
sectors on floppy & hard drives [after reformatting them or checking
them with Scandisk or other disk checking
utilities] and want to use the space taken up by bad clusters
open the Registry Editor program and go
to the following key:
'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Check
Drive'
Double-click on the Settings variable
and change the last two binary digits to 04 (ex. if the Settings value
is '91 03 00 01' change it to read '91
03 00 04'), close Registry Editor and run Scandisk for Windows &
select the Thorough option when checking
floppy or hard disks. When it encounters a bad cluster it will
prompt you whether to leave it alone,
remove the bad cluster mark or retest the bad cluster. Note:
This
setting is used
once & when you close Scandisk the setting is not saved so you will
have to repeat this trick
again when running
Scandisk again. This tip does not enable rechecking bad clusters
for the DOS
version of Scandisk.
Also be careful after using this tip as clearing some bad clusters on disks
may become
defective again
(aka. turn bad again later on) when rechecking them with Scandisk or other
disk utilities.
Caution: This tip
enables the option under the current user only [if user profiles are enabled].
If you log on
as a different user,
you will have to open Regedit and modify the binary value & then run
Scandisk.
See MS support article
127055
for more information. Also, Win98 users should have already applied
the
Q243450
& Q263044
updates before trying out this tip on large hard drives that are at least
30 gigabytes
as the GUI edition
of Scandisk has problems checking the physical areas of very large hard
drives.
Using Windows
ME versions of Scandisk for Windows & Disk Defragmenter under Windows
95 & 98:
I've noticed when
running the Windows ME versions of Scandisk [scandskw.exe] and Disk Defragmenter
[defrag.exe] under
a Windows ME system, they run faster than the Windows 95/98 versions of
those
programs.
To use the WinME versions of Scandisk & Disk Defragmenter under Win95
or 98, copy the
Scandskw.exe &
Defrag.exe files files from the Windows ME CD onto the Windows folder and
overwrite
the Win95 or 98
versions. If you don't have the WinME CD, you can download 'scanfrag.exe'
from here.
Run the scanfrag.exe
file to install the ME defrag.exe & scandskw.exe files onto the Windows
folder.
Before running Scandisk
or Defrag, always close any programs running in the background,
disable any
screen savers &
temporarily turn off power management functions and close any antivirus
programs that
are active.
For WinME users, temporarily disable System Restore to free up a lot of
space (the Disable
System Restore option
is listed on the Troubleshooting tab when clicking on the File System button
on
the System properties
dialog box; note that turning off System Restore deletes all restore points
created
by System Restore).
Otherwise, Scandisk or Defrag will start all over from the beginning when
being
interrupted by another
program. Also, disable System File Protection (Statemgr) and the
PC Health
Scheduling Application
(Pchschd) programs from the System Configuration utilties Startup tab before
running the Defrag
utility. To see Disk Defragmenter in action, run Defrag and after
you select the
drive you want to
optimize, click on the Show Details button. Note that fragmentation
occurs in EVERY
version of FAT,
including FAT32 and slows down performance either slightly or significantly,
depending
how fast your computer
is & how fast and big your hard drive is. If you have major problems
running
WinME defrag under
Win95, 98 or ME under normal mode, try running WinME defrag in Safe mode.
Note: There
had been some reports on the web that running Windows Disk Defragmenter
or any third party
defragging software
does not improve performance. ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! Defragging
a hard drive
boosts performance,
even by a little bit and possibly extends the life of a hard drive. Hard
drives should
be defragmented
at least once every month & no more than 5 times a month.
Defragging drives
under Windows NT4:
What a bummer!
NT4 does not include a built-in disk defragmenter so you'll have to get
a third party
defragging program.
Download O&O Defrag 2000 Freeware Edition from this
site, run the tool to defrag
hard drives &
removable storage drivers under NT4; O&O Defrag 2000 Free Ed. only
works under WinNT4,
Win2000 & XP.
Other freeware & commercialware defrag tools should also work under
WinNT4 like
Executive Software's
Diskeeper
7 Lite [the lite version of Diskeeper is free, but the full version
is not but has
scheduling &
networking features]. Remember that fragmentation occurs in EVERY
file system, including
NTFS volumes and
degrades overall performance either by a little or by a lot. Better
yet, pay for the
advanced editions
of O&O Defrag or Diskeeper since they include options to optimize registry
and
paging files.
If using Windows 95, 98 or ME, do NOT make any attempts to defrag the paging
file (virtual
memory swap file).
Diskeeper Lite v7.0 can work under Win9x, ME, NT4, 2000 & XP.
Disabling System
File Protection in Windows 2000, ME, XP & Server 2003:
Click
here to view my sfpoff.htm file on how to turn off the System File
Protection feature in Win2000, ME, XP
and Server 2003.
Note that it may be harder to shut off SFP in Win2k with SP2 to SP4 installed.
Turning Off CD
Autoplay: (in all versions of Windows)
For those using
Win95, 98 or ME, open the Device Manager [right-click on the My Computer
icon on the
desktop and choose
Properties (or open the Control Panel & double click on the System
icon) and then
click on the Device
Manager tab]. Expand the CD-ROM drives tree and double click on your
CD-ROM
drive. On
its Settings tab if the option 'Auto insert notification' checkbox is checked
click on it to turn it off
and click OK on
all dialog boxes (and reboot). You can also use the MS TweakUI Powertoy
to disable
Autoplay (especially
for those who are using NT4, 2000, XP & 2003 because the 'Auto insert
notification'
feature is not included
in those versions of Windows). In Windows Vista you can choose the
Autoplay
options from the
Control Panel.
Compacting/Shrinking
the Windows Registry: (for all versions of Windows)
Click
here to view my regsmall.htm file on how to compact the registry.
Because the Windows registry files
never shrink on
their own & always grows, using the tips from the regsmall.htm file
will shrink the registry files
and perhaps make
Windows load a little faster. Those using NT-based versions of Windows
should use
RegCompact to compress
the registry files (which is the best method).
Upgrading Windows
95 from the original or OSR1 release to the OSR2 version:
Click
here to view my osr2upg.htm file on how to upgrade Win95 from earlier
editions to the OSR2 releases.
Cheats & Hidden
stuff in the Windows Minesweeper game:
Click
here to view my winmine.htm file on cheats & some easter eggs for
the Minesweeper game. These
cheats & hidden
features are not found in Windows Vista.
Showing hidden
and 'non-present' devices in Device Manager in Win2000, XP, 2003, Vista
& 2008:
Read this
article by Fred Langa on how to get Device Manager to view hidden and
some non-existent
devices in the Device
Manager applet. This tip does not apply for Win9x, ME & NT4 users.
Adding "Long Filename"
Support for Windows 95/98/ME's File Manager [Winfile.exe] program:
Install the FMLFNS
tool from the Wincorner.com web site. This shareware app will add
the ability for File
Manager to display
long file names. However, read the FAQ
page on any issues with FMLFNS installed
when copying or
moving files with long filenames.
Using Windows
NT4's File Manager [Winfile.exe] program under Windows 2000, XP, 2003 &
higher:
The File Manager
tool from Windows NT4 is not included in Windows 2000 & higher NT-based
Windows
versions but you
can use it under either of those two versions of Windows. If you upgrade
from WinNT4 to
Win2000, XP or 2003,
the File Manager files are not deleted but you can still use File Manager
under the
newer NT-based version
of Windows. To get the File Manager applet (winfile.exe) extract
that file from
the full Windows
NT4 Service Pack 6a package.
Caution: File Manager
will not save the Toolbar settings if used under Win2000 & higher versions
of Windows.
The bug also occurs
on NT4 systems when IE 5 or higher is installed. This is not resolved
in the NT4 SP6
release of File
Manager, so any version of NT4 File Manager with IE 5 or higher installed
has the bug. All
other settings will
be saved. This minor problem is mentioned in MS
article 242114. MS isn't expected to
fix this bug so
don't worry about it.
<> Warning: The
File Manager program from NT4 does NOT work under Windows Vista as it will
crash
with an error message
pointing to a missing SheConvertPathW function in Vista's SHELL32.DLL file.
BREAKING NEWS: David
S. told me by email that he's found a way to get the NT4 File Manager program
to run under Vista.
Go here and read
the instructions on how to get the File Manager tool to work under
Windows Vista and
possibly Windows Server 2008.
Viewing Word, Excel & Powerpoint
documents in Internet Explorer (requires at least Office 97 or 2k installed):
With at least IE 5 & the three Office
programs installed (Word, Excel & Powerpoint), simply drag any Word,
Excel or Powerpoint document into the
IE browser window and you will be able to edit them. This will not
work with Office 95 or earlier.
Note: If the
Open
Document Confirmation Tool is installed, Internet Explorer will ask
you whether to open
or save the Office
document. The Open Office Document Confirmation fix is included in
Office XP, 2003
and 2007.
Using IE 5.x Web Accessories under IE
6 & higher:
Contrary to what MS says about the IE
5.x Web Accessories, I've tested both the regular & Power Tweaks
Web Accessories under IE 6 and most of
them have worked. The regular Web Accessories can be
downloaded from this MS
site (the Images List web accessory doesn't work with IE 6.x, when
choosing the
Images List command it will display an
empty window; no list, nothing). The Power Tweaks Web Accessories
can be downloaded from this MS
site (all of them work under IE 6 except for the 'Copy Location' [NOT
'Copy
Shortcut' command option] when right-clicking
on a page). The Images List Accessory works properly only
in IE 5.x and will display a list in the
window. These IE Web Accessories addons are not supported by MS.
Note: Some of the
IE 5.x Web Accessories apps may work with IE 7.
Disabling & Enabling FTP Folder
View under IE 6.x: [for Win98, ME & NT4 only]
IE 6 does not include the option
to enable/disable Folder View for FTP sites and even if it does the option
(whether enabling or disabling it in IE
6 & higher) does NOT work (the FTP Folder view option first appeared
in IE 5 on the Advanced tab of the Internet
Options control panel applet). To really disable FTP Folder View,
locate the 'msieftp.dll' file in the Windows
System folder:
('c:\windows\system' for Win98 & ME;
'c:\winnt\system32' for WinNT4)
Rename the msieftp.dll file to something
like msieftp.000 or msieftp.--- [do not delete the msieftp.dll file
because you might need it later on if
you decide to use FTP Folder view] and now try browsing any FTP
sites in IE 6 (you now have the regular
view for FTP sites instead of the folder view). To enable Folder
View
for FTP sites simply rename that file
back to 'msieftp.dll' and view any FTP site in the IE 6 window. This
is
not a problem for Windows XP & Server
2003 users as the FTP 'Folder View' option works correctly with
IE 6 under Win2k, XP & Win2003.
Note that this tip may not work properly under WinME if you installed IE
6
on top of IE 5.5 with the SFP feature
enabled. In that case find and rename all traces of the 'ie_extra.cat'
file and then try to rename the msieftp.dll
file & you should get the regular HTML view for FTP sites in WinME.
Installing Windows Desktop Update with
the IE 5.x or 6.x setup program: [under Win9x/NT4 systems only]
If
you want to install (or upgrade) the Windows Desktop Update under IE 5.x
or IE 6 without having to remove either
one
& then installing IE 4.01 SP2 and re-installing IE 5.x or IE 6.x, and
NOT using the IE Administration Kit (IEAK) under
Win9x/NT4
follow these steps (I now have 3 methods, only use one of them since IE
4.01 SP2 is no longer available for
download
& MS no longer supports any version of Internet Explorer earlier than
IE 5.01):
Method
1 - Installing the Desktop Update by running IE 5.x setup using special
parameters [requires Internet Connection]:
1. [For Windows 95 users] Run the IE 5.x setup program from the Run dialog
box with the following line with the quotes:
"C:\Windows Update Setup Files\ie5setup.exe" /c:"ie5wzd /e:IE4Shell_WIN
/I:Y" (if the IE 5.x setup program is stored
in the 'c:\windows update setup files' folder)
[For Windows NT 4 users] Run the IE 5.x setup program from the Run dialog
box with the following line with the quotes:
"C:\Windows Update Setup Files\ie5setup.exe" /c:"ie5wzd /e:IE4Shell_NTx86
/I:Y" (if the IE 5.x setup program is stored
in the 'c:\windows update setup files' folder)
[If the IE 5.x setup program file is in a different folder mentioned here
substitute the name of the folder where you kept
the 'ie5setup.exe' file OR run the IE 5.x setup program from the DOS Prompt
inside Windows from the folder where you
kept the installer file using either of those two commands]
2. Choose your installation options and let the setup program download
the necessary files (including the 'ie4shl95.cab' file
if using Win95 or the 'ie4shlnt.cab' file if using WinNT 4)
3. Watch carefully at the progress dialog box when the IE 5.x setup program
downloads & installs the desktop update
and by the time you reboot, you'll have the desktop update (although you'll
want to disable viewing both Folders and
the Desktop as Web pages after the desktop loads)
Note
that this method requires an Internet connection because the IE 5.x setup
program always downloads the 'ie4shl95.cab'
or
'ie4shlnt.cab' file even if you already have the required installation
file for the Desktop Update. Do NOT use the above
method
if the IE 5.x setup files are on the CD. If you already have all
the required files on the CD or local hard drive use the
next
method below. This method will not work if you are upgrading the
Desktop Update under Windows 98 1st & 2nd editions.
I
found the method mentioned above posted at this
Anandtech.com site.
Method
2 - Adding the Windows Desktop Update option as an IE 5.x installation
option [definitely recommended when
installing
IE 5.x directly from the CD or from a local hard drive & have all the
required files especially the Desktop Update setup
file
(either the 'ie4shl95.cab' or 'ie4shlnt.cab' file)]:
1. Run the IE 5.x setup program normally (not typing those extra parameters).
2. When the License screen appears, open Windows Explorer and browse to
the 'C:\Windows\temp\ixp000.tmp' folder (if
using Windows 95/98) or the 'C:\WinNT\temp\ixp000.tmp' folder (if using
Windows NT 4.0) and look for the 'iesetup.cif'
file [do not click on the Next or Cancel button in the IE 5.x setup
dialog box].
3. Edit the 'iesetup.cif' file in Notepad or Wordpad and locate either
the [IE4Shell_Win] or the [IE4Shell_NTx86] section.
Under either one look for the line that says 'UIVISIBLE=0'. Change
it to read 'UIVISIBLE=1' (Win98 users should
change the line above the UIVISIBLE string that says 'Platform=Win95' to
'Platform=Win95,Win98' in the [IE4Shell_Win]
section) and save your changes.
4. Now accept the License Agreement, click the Next Button, choose the
Install Minimal or Customize Your Browser
option and the Windows Desktop Update option will appear. Click on
the checkbox to select it and click the Next
button to install or upgrade the Desktop Update (yay!).
Note
that the Desktop Update option will no longer be there if you rerun the
IE 5.x setup program. You'll have to use this
method
again if you plan to reinstall IE 5.x & the Desktop Update. I
found this method posted at this
Windows IT Pro site.
Method
3 - Using a batch file (*.bat) to install or upgrade the Desktop Update
[requires IE 5.x or IE 6.x already installed] <>
1. Open the ie4shl95.cab or ie4shlnt.cab file in Winzip or any archiving
utility and extract all the files inside onto a
temporary folder (for example 'c:\temp\ie4shl95' for Win9x; 'c:\temp\ie4shlnt'
for WinNT4).
2. Create a batch file in Notepad with the following lines:
@echo off
start /w RUNDLL32.EXE ADVPACK.DLL,LaunchINFSection ie4shell.inf,DefaultInstall
cls
3. Save the file as an 'install.bat' file and place it onto the temporary
folder where you store the IE Desktop Update
setup files.
4. Double-click on the INSTALL.BAT file to install the Desktop Update.
Do NOT restart the computer yet!
5. Go to the Control Panel, click on Add/Remove programs, click on Internet
Explorer and Internet Tools and choose the
option to Repair Internet Explorer and click on OK to repair IE.
Then click on OK again to restart the computer and the
Desktop Update should work properly after reboot.
<>
Caution: This method may require repairing Internet Explorer 5.x/6.x on
Win95/NT4 systems after performing this method
of
installing the Desktop Update; the Start button, when clicked, may not
display anything; so that means the Desktop Update
was
not functioning properly. To repair IE, double-click on the My Computer
icon, then double-click on the Control Panel icon,
double-click
on Add/Remove Programs, select the Internet Explorer and Internet Tools
entry, choose the option to Repair Internet
Explorer
and restart the computer. This will create some missing Quick Launch
icons & register the Desktop Update. Now
the
newer Explorer interface should work under Win95/NT4. This problem
happens when installing the Desktop Update on top
of
the old Win95/NT4 Explorer-Shell interface. Using this method
will cause the loss of the ability to remove/un-install IE as
some
of the un-install data for IE will be missing. You will no
longer have the ability to un-install Internet Explorer and the
Active
Desktop Update.
These
methods only work if using either Windows 95, 98 or NT 4.0. Windows
98 Second Edition [4.10.2222] includes version
4.72.3609.2400
of the Desktop Update while Windows 98 First Edition [4.10.1998] has version
4.72.3110.1 of the Active
desktop
component (IE 4.01 SP2, IE 5.x & later have version 4.72.3612.1700
of the Desktop Update). And to add the
"Show
File Attributes In Detail View" option in the View tab of the Folder Options
dialog box once you install the Desktop
Update
with the IE 5.x setup program, view the attrib9x.txt
file from my site, copy all the info on there, save the file as a
'attrib9x.reg'
file and double-click on the file to add File Attributes option.
You may also need that file after performing a
'clean'
install of Win98 2nd Edition or using Win98 SE. Both methods of installing
the IE Desktop Update can also work
with
the IE 6.x setup program but under Windows NT 4 only (replace ie5setup.exe
with ie6setup.exe). IE 6.x includes the
Desktop
Update for NT4 and not for Win9x [and IE 6 & IE 6 SP1 will never work
under Win95].
Also
note that before installing the March 7, 2002 [MS02-014] Security Update
under Windows 98, 95/NT4 with Active Desktop
(yes,
the update DOES install under Win95 with Active Desktop from at
least IE 4.01 SP1) the Desktop Update must first be
installed
from IE 4.01 SP1, SP2 or even at least IE 5.x and there's no need
to view the Desktop as a web page. The patch
only
requires the Desktop Update installed in order for the patch to work and
the patch does NOT care whether the View As
Web
Page option for Active Desktop is enabled or not (the patch won't
work under a Win95 system without Active Desktop).
Use
the tip mentioned above to install Active Desktop with the IE 5.x or IE
6.x setup program and then apply the MS02-014
security
patch; NT4 users can ditch the MS02-014 update and install the MS04-037
update which includes the latest shell32.dll
security
fixes.
[click here to go to part 2 of My Computer Tips for Windows page]
[click here to go to my Main page]
Copyright © 1999 - 2008
Noel Piring [aka. the ERPMan]
Warning: Do NOT copy part
or the entire page without my permission.