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All the default Win98 QuickLaunch icons, with the exception of the Show Desktop icon, are specified by a new SCF file format, which is a simple text file that you can edit. To change the icon in a SCF file, launch Notepad, choose File/Open, go to your
C:\WINDOWS\APPLICATION DATA\MICROSOFT\INTERNET EXPLORER\QUICK LAUNCH
folder and select the SCF file you want to edit. Find the IconFile= line and point it to the path and filename of the icon you want. You can also add new items to the Quick Launch toolbar by dragging and dropping a file or folder icon from an Explorer window onto the toolbar.
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A checkbox here and a Registry tweak there should be all you need to streamline the Windows+IE4 interface.
When you install IE4, it adds a cascading menu to the Start menu, letting you display the contents of your Favorites folder without opening a new window. But do you really need yet another cascading menu? If your Favorites folder is well stocked with shortcuts and subfolders, you'll find the new menu nearly unusable. Fortunately, a simple Registry hack lets you eliminate this usability blunder. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Choose Edit, New, DWORD value. Change the default name to NoFavoritesMenu. Press Enter and change the contents of the Value Data to 1. Click on OK and close the Registry Editor. The next time you start Windows, the Favorites menu will still be available from any Explorer window, but you won't see it on the Start menu.
To squeeze every bit of processing speed and power from the system, do not run unnecessary background programs.
You can discover what programs are running in the background on your Windows 98 computer by clicking Start/Programs/Accessories/System tools/System information. This opens a window on the toolbar of that window; select Tools/System configuration utility. You then can choose between tabs to view the system.ini, win.ini, autoexec.bat and config.sys files. Do not tamper with these files unless you know exactly what you are doing. You may click the fifth tab, "Startup," to see what programs are loading automatically when you boot your computer.
Most users will be surprised by the number of programs they have running in the background. They all are listed here, with checked boxes showing they are active. If you feel confident, you can identify programs by their executable files and if you don't want them to load on Bootup, simply uncheck the boxes and reboot your computer.
You can uncheck most of the programs without doing any damage to your system. Do not uncheck System tray or Windows Explorer. If you find you've disabled a program that you want to load on Bootup, just check it and reboot.
With IE4 installed, your Start menu looks exactly the same as before, but there's a crucial difference - you can rearrange program shortcuts by pointing, clicking, dragging, and dropping.
Drag any shortcut to move it to a new position on the Start menu (that's a big change from the original Windows 95 shell, which maintained all shortcuts in alphabetical order).
Right-click to display a pop-up menu that lets you cut, copy, delete, or change properties of any program shortcut.
Hold down the Ctrl key as you drag to copy a shortcut from the Programs menu - drop it on the Start button to add it to the top of the menu, or place it directly on the desktop or the Quick Launch bar.
The single Explorer window in IE4 lets you shift on the fly between Web pages and folder windows. Windows 98 users don't get a choice, but if you installed IE4 over Windows 95 or NT4, you can keep the new Web browser and restore the old Explorer for basic file management. Open Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs option and uninstall the Windows Desktop Update.
By default, Explorer's View menu lets you arrange icons in only four ways: Large Icons, Small Icons, List, or Details. You can, however, turn on a fifth view option called Thumbnails, which displays miniature images of graphics files, HTML documents, and other file types, directly in an Explorer window.
STEP 1 You must specifically enable Thumbnails view on a folder-by-folder basis. Right-click on the folder icon and choose Properties. Check the box labeled Enable Thumbnail View, and then click on OK.
STEP 2 Display the contents of the folder using Explorer. Pull down the View menu and choose Thumbnails. Note that you can't use the View As Web Page option with the Thumbnails view.
STEP 3 The Thumbnails view displays miniature images of compatible file types (including some Office documents) in an Explorer window. If the file type doesn't support thumbnails, you'll simply see the icon.
Under Windows 98, the default Web view of the Windows and System folders displays an annoying warning that requires an extra click before you can view the folder's contents. To bypass this needless message, open the folder and delete or rename its custom Web view template, Folder.htt. (To see this hidden file, you may need to adjust Explorer's display options first: Choose View, Folder Options, click on the View tab, and check the Show All Files box under the Hidden Files option.)
Windows 98 also includes Web View templates for system objects that display in folder windows, such as My Computer and Dial-Up Networking. You'll find all these templates in the Windows\Web folder; delete any .htt files you don't want to use.
Do you really need a Log Off command on the Start menu? If you're attached to a network, the answer is yes - logging off and back on helps you keep your network secure. But on a home machine, where logon dialog boxes simply slow you down, it's easy to get rid of. Start the Registry Editor and locate the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Choose Edit, New, Binary Value. Name the new entry NoLogOff. Press Enter and set it to the following value: 01 00 00 00
Click on OK, close the Registry Editor, and restart to make the change take effect.
Just what is the Active Desktop anyway? IE4's Channel Bar is the most visible sign of the Web-enabled desktop, but the content available via Active Channels is depressingly lame. And how much useful information is there on the Disney channel, or Warner Bros., or the other default channel icons?
We dug deep into the guts of the Active Desktop and found some incredibly useful features. But you'll never know it if you stick with Microsoft's ... default settings. Give the Channel Bar a makeover, and you might find it surprisingly useful. Better yet, take your own favorite sites and download only the pages you want, when you want them. Finally, get rid of that old wallpaper and turn your desktop into a digital photo gallery.
Does Windows sometimes try to dial your Internet service provider automatically? The cause might be a Web subscription that's set for automatic updates. To disable this annoying behavior, open a browser window and choose View, Internet Options. Click on the Advanced tab and clear the checkmark from the box labeled Enable Scheduled Subscription Updates.
With IE4's Explorer, you can type just about anything in the browser's Address box - a URL to open a Web page, a network address to open a folder window, or a reserved name like Control Panel or My Computer. To make this capability available even when no Explorer window is open, add the Address toolbar to the desktop where it will always be visible.
STEP 1 Point to the top edge of the Taskbar until the pointer turns into a two-headed arrow, then drag up to make the Taskbar two rows deep.
STEP 2 Right-click on any empty space to display the Taskbar's shortcut menu. Point to Toolbars, then choose Address from the cascading menu. A checkmark lets you know you've selected the new toolbar.
STEP 3 Click on the Address label; when the pointer turns to a four-headed arrow, drag the toolbar to the position you prefer. Click on the sizing handle (the vertical line to the left of the toolbar) to change the width of the bar.
How should you deal with IE4's ugly, oversize, and nearly useless Channel Bar? Our suggestion: Use it or lose it.
To give the Channel Bar a usability makeover, right-click on unwanted channel icons to delete them. Drag icons for subscribed channels out of their categories and onto the main bar, then delete the unneeded category icons. Finally, grab the sizing handles on the sides of the Channel Bar and reshape it to the dimensions you prefer - channel icons will move automatically.
To remove the Channel Bar, open the Control Panel's Display option. Click on the Web tab, select the Internet Explorer Channel Bar entry from the list of Active Desktop items, and click on Delete.
Using the Windows Desktop Update can give rogue Web pages an unsettling power over the rest of your system. When the Web browser hangs or crashes, your shell will crash, too, locking up the desktop and forcing you to reboot. If you have sufficient system resources (32MB minimum RAM, 64MB preferred for Windows 95 and 98, and 64MB minimum for NT), tell Windows to keep the shell and browser separate. Open the Web browser, choose View, Internet Options, click on the Advanced tab, and check the box labeled Browse in a New Process. Click on OK to close the dialog box, then restart the computer to make the change effective.
Windows 95 and NT4 limit your wallpaper options. You get only one graphic, and you have to center it on the desktop or tile the image. But IE4's Active Desktop lets you add multiple graphic images anywhere on the desktop.
To add a new image, right-click on the desktop, then choose Active Desktop, Customize My Desktop. (Make sure the View As Web Page option is checked.) Click on the New button and say no when asked if you want to visit the Active Desktop Gallery. Enter the full name and path of the image file, or use the Browse button to pick from a folder window. Repeat to add other images, then click on OK to close the dialog box.
Are you frustrated when browsing a favorite site whose linked pages are painfully slow to load? Use IE4's subscription capabilities to speed up viewing. Open the page that contains the slow links (it doesn't have to be the site's home page), and drag its icon from the Address box to the desktop to create an Internet shortcut. Point to the shortcut, right-click, and choose Subscribe. Click on the Customize button, then follow the wizard's prompts to download linked pages one page deep, updating the subscription manually. To load the pages into your browser's cache, right-click on the shortcut icon and choose Update Now. Let IE4 download the pages while you do something else, then choose File, Work Offline, and open the page to browse at top speed.
IE4 is the best Web browser we've ever used. Period. It's fast, flexible, and eminently usable - and we'll bet you haven't even scratched the surface of this powerful tool. For example, did you know there's a single keystroke that zooms the Explorer window to full-screen view, hiding menus, borders, and even the Windows Taskbar so you can view a page unobstructed? (Hint: It's F11.) Have you figured out the secret that lets you launch a Web search from anywhere - even if your browser isn't open? And have you replaced Microsoft's collection of self-serving buttons on the Links bar with one-click shortcuts to your own favorite Web sites?
This collection of simple tweaks, add-ins, and workarounds will help you uncover all those hidden features and more, so you can browse at maximum speed.
Internet Explorer 4.0 is one of the most keyboard-friendly Windows programs ever written. If you're a touch typist, or if you just don't want to switch constantly between the mouse and the keyboard when browsing, it helps to master a few shortcuts. Here are some of our favorites:
Backspace Go to previous page
Ctrl-O Open new location (Web page or folder)
Ctrl-N Open new browser window
Tab/Shift-Tab Jump to next/previous link on Web page
F5 Refresh current page
F6 Switch focus between Address bar, Links bar, and browser window
F11 Toggle between full-screen view and normal view
As you view Web pages, Internet Explorer stores a copy of each downloaded object - Web pages, graphics, ActiveX controls, and so on - in the Temporary Internet Files folder. When you click on the Work Offline option, IE4 retrieves the pages from this cache and loads the cached page instantly. When the cache fills up, Windows should discard the oldest files to make way for new entries, right? In theory, yes, but IE4 doesn't work that way: The cache can behave erratically, keeping some of the oldest cached pages and discarding recently added files.
You can use the Fonts choice on IE4's View menu to adjust the default font size for the current session, but IE4 reverts to the default Medium choice the next time you use the browser. Want to change fonts permanently? Choose View, Internet Options; click on the General tab; and click on the Fonts button. IE4 will use the fonts and sizes you select here for all sessions.
If you use the Web to access bank accounts, online stock trading systems, or other sensitive information, IE4 might be saving information that you'd rather keep private. Fortunately, you can set an IE4 option that prevents it from caching any page you download via a secure connection. Choose View, Internet Options, click on the Advanced tab, and check the box labeled Do Not Save Encrypted Pages to Disk. The change is immediate.
With this option enabled, you may find you're unable to download files from secure sites, with IE4 complaining that your security settings don't let you retrieve the file you clicked on. If you encounter this problem, use a different security option. Follow the procedures listed above, but check the box labeled Delete Saved Pages When Browser Closed. IE4 will keep a copy of secure pages (those whose URL begins with https://) in your cache; it will flush the cached secure pages when you exit IE4.
IE4's Links bar is a perfect way to keep your favorite Web sites a click away. If this row of buttons isn't visible, right-click on the IE4 toolbar and click on Links from the shortcut menu. Don't waste space with the default buttons, either - replace them with your own links to speed up Web surfing. Although there's no limit to the number of shortcuts you can create, adding too many will scroll the toolbar off the screen, defeating its purpose.
STEP 1 To clear away the default buttons, right-click on each button and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. To add the current page to the Links bar, drag its icon from the Address box.
STEP 2 To make the most of this one-row toolbar, keep each shortcut's label as brief as possible. To rename a shortcut on the Links bar, choose Favorites, Organize Favorites, then double-click on the Links folder and highlight the name.
STEP 3 IE4 lets you add folders to the Links bar - when you click on a folder icon, the contents appear in a drop-down list. Right-click on the title at the top of the list to adjust icon size and other properties.
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