Windows98 Tips

The following section contains tips that are specific to Windows98.
Most of the other Tips listed at this site will work for
both Windows95 and 98.

 Removing Unchecked MSCONFIG Startup Entries

When using MSCONFIG to uncheck programs that you don't want starting, they still remain in the list.
This is generally a good idea since if you make a mistake, you can easily add them in again.
But if you are sure you want them removed and not displayed:

1. Start Regedit

2. Go to the follow registry keys and remove any items you don't want displayed

3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run-
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run-

 Finding the Win9X Product Key

C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductKey" C:\Windows\System.dat

Assigning WAV Files When You Open a Folder

You can assign a different .wav file to play when you open any folder in windows explorer.

1. You must know a litle html
2. Create a .wav or midi file or use one you already have.
3. Save the file to the C: drive in any directory.
4. Go to Windows Explorer and highlight the folder
5. Click View on the toolbar and choose Customize this Folder.
6. Click Create or edit an HTML document.
7. Click next and click next again.
8. Now just insert your html code for your file and then save.
9. Go to your folder and it should play your file.

Helping to Reduce Modem Timeouts

If you are experiencing a lot of modem timeout with you system, 
you can change the SLOWNET value in the Registry

1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net\0000 (0001 etc)

3. Change the SLOWNET value from 01 to 00

Hardware Information Utility

There is a hardware diagnostics utility that is installed with Windows98 that lets you view your hardware, registry, conflicts etc.

From the Run box, enter HWINFO /UI

You can view the hardware you have, what portion of the registry is pointing to it, conflicts, drivers used, I/O, IRQ, DMA # usage, and more.

The results are somewhat color coded.

• File attributes are magenta

• Registry entries are green

• Configuration Manger info is  brown

• Warnings are blue

• Error messages are red 

Changing the Version Displayed on the Desktop

If you display the version number of Windows98 on the desktop, you usually get something like Windows 98 4.10.1998 or whatever the release date was in the lower right-hand corner of the desktop.

You can change that to any other 20 characters (11 for "Windows 98 " and 9 for "4.10.1998")

"Windows98 " is in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KRNL386.EXE file.
"4.10.98" is in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE file.

1. Make copies of both files - KRNL386.EXE.ORG and USER.EXE.ORG - this is to have a backup just in case

2. Copy C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KRNL386.EXE to KRNL3861.EXE

3. Copy C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE to USER1.EXE

4. Use a hex editor (I like Ultra-Edit) to edit both files

5. For KRNL386.EXE search for the first instance of "Windows 98 ". It should be just before Debug Windows 98

6. Change this to whatever 11 characters you want

7. For USER.EXE search for the first instance of the version number (4.10.1998 or whatever yours displays). It should be just before Monitor%d

8. Change this to whatever 9 characters you want

9. Boot to DOS.

10. Copy USER1.EXE to USER.EXE

11. Copy KRNL3861.EXE to KRNL386.EXE

12. Restart the computer

Note: While I haven't had any problems with this for the past several days, I take no responsibility if this does have some issue at some future date.

Enabling Fast Shutdown

To turn on this feature:

1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Shutdown

3. Create a string called FastReboot

4. Give it a value of 1

Showing the Windows Version on the Desktop

To show the version of Windows you are using on the desktop

1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop

3. Create a new String Value called PaintDesktopVersion

4. Give it a value of 1

5. Reboot the computer

Restoring the Column Display to the Start Menu

Normally with Win98, the Start Menu keeps added additional programs to the bottom on a long list.
To get it to display in multiple columns:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Right-click an unoccupied area in the right pane.
4. Click New / String Value.
5. In the name box that appears, type StartMenuScrollPrograms
6. Double-click this and give it a value of false

Restoring the Explorer's Attrib Column in Win98 SE

With a clean install of Win98 SE, the Attrib column in the Explorer is no longer there.

To restore it, download and install Restore Attrib Column in Explorer

Adding the URL History to the Start Menu

If you browse the web a lot and want fast access to recent sites you visited, you can put your history list on the Start Menu.

1. Right click on the Start button

2. Choose Explore

3. Right click on the right pane

4. Choose New / Folder

5. Name it URL History.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}

6. The label isn't critical. The period, braces and CLSID number are.

If you want to search for the string to enter:

1. Start Regedit

2. Search for URL History Folder

3. Right click the CLSID key

4. Choose Rename

5. Press Ctrl-C to Copy

6. In the Explorer window, press Ctrl-V to paste it in.

Removing or Changing the Windows Update Feature

To remove the Windows Update icon from the Start / Settings group:

1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

3. If it is not already there, create a new string value NoWindowsUpdate and give it a value of 1

4. Log off and back on again

To remove the Windows Update icon from the Start menu (top group):

1. From the command line run Wupdmgr.exe -shortcut. No restart of the computer is required.

To redirect the Remote URL:

1. Start Regedit

2. NoWindowsUpdate should remain 0

3. Either create or go to the following registry key string value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Update

4. Create a string value called Remote URL

5. For the value, enter the appropriate remote web address.

To redirect the Local URL

To replace the Windows Update local page (WUM.htm) with some other local page and have the appropriate local URL point to it:

1. Start Regedit

2. NoWindowsUpdate should remain 0

3. Either create or go to the following registry key string value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Update

4. Create a string value called Local URL

5. For the value, enter the appropriate local web address.

Putting the Desktop Back on the Quick Launch Bar

1. Create a shortcut targeting: C:\Windows\System\Show Desktop.scf
2. Drag it to a toolbar.
3. Then delete the residual shortcut from the desktop.

If you should delete the the Show Desktop icon from the Quick Launch toolbar, you can easily get it back again.

1. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
2. Create a Text file called ShowDeskop.SCF with the following contents:
   
   [Shell]
   Command=
   IconFile=explorer.exe,3
   [Taskbar]
   Command=ToggleDesktop
    
3. This will put the shortcut back on your Quick Launch toolbar.

Backing Up and Restoring the Registry

You can backup the registry in one of two ways:

From the Command Prompt

1. Boot to Windows98's DOS

2. Go to the \WINDOWS\COMMAND directory

3. Run SCANREG /backup

While within Windows98

1. Run SCANREGW /autoscan

Backups are located in the \Windows\Sysbckup folder in the RB0xx.CAB file. Where xx is replaced by the different backups. The default setting is to keep 5 versions. See the next section, ScanReg.INI Settings, for how to change several of the default settings.

To restore a backup, you need to be in Windows98 DOS.

1. Go to the \Windows\Command directory

2. Run SCANREG /restore

3. From here you can select which one you want to restore

ScanReg.INI settings

Both ScanReg and ScanRegW use the settings in the Scanreg.INI file located in the \Windows directory.
You can change several of the default settings

Backup=1 - Run ScanReg at startup and make a backup automatically. Registry backup is skipped altogether if this is set to 0

Optimize=1 - Run ScanReg to optimize the registry, reducing its size to improve performance. Registry automatic optimization is skipped if this is set to 0

MaxBackupCopies=5 - The number of backups to store. Valid entries are 0-99

BackupDirectory - Backup directory where the cabs are stored. The default is C:\Windows\Sysbckup

Additional system files to backup - Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3, Filenames are separated by a comma ',' ; The Dir Code can be:

• 10: windir (ex. c:\windows)
• 11: system dir (ex. c:\windows\system)
• 30: boot dir (ex. c:\)
• 31 : boot host dir (ex. c:\)

Disabling Web View in the Win98 File Explorer

If you want to disable Web View you can either delete or rename the \Windows\Web directory. Now when you click on Web View in the Explorer, nothing will happen.

Removing Log Off Username from the Start Menu

To remove the Log Off line on your Start menu

1. Start RegEdit

2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

3. Create a new DWORD Value

4. Name it NoLogOff

5. Give this entry and add the value 1

6. Logoff and back on again to reset the registry

Link Wizard

The Link Wizard scans all of the link files on your system. If the associated program is not found, the Link Wizard will give you the option of removing it.
You can find the Link Wizard in the RESKIT / DESKTOP directory of your Win98 CD. The file name is CHKLNKS.EXE

Restoring Your Registry

Has your registry recently been damaged? To determine whether your registry was recently damaged, restore the registry from the previous day's backup.
To restore the registry from the previous day's backup:

1. Hold down the CTRL key as you restart your computer.
2. On the Startup menu, select Safe mode command prompt only.
3. Type C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANREG /RESTORE, and then press ENTER.
4. When you are prompted, select Previous Day's Registry.

Note: If you restore a previous registry, you may need to reinstall any programs that were installed after the registry backup was made.

Power Management Troubleshooter

If you are having a problem with setting your power management, there Power Management Troubleshooter tool available either on the Win98 CD or on the web. This a program that can help you determine the device or driver that might be interfering.

It is on the CD at \Tools\Mtsutil\Pmtshoot\Pmtshoot.Exe or the web at Power Management Trouble Shooter (158 K)

See Microsoft's site for More Information.

Bypassing the Need to Register Win98 to get the Automatic Upgrades

There talk about hacking the Windows 98 Registry to bypass the obligation of register them into Microsoft, in order to be eligible to get Automatic upgrades.

1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Welcome\
3. Select the CurrentVersion folder
4. Double click the RegDone entry on the right side and set the value to 1
5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Welcome\
6. Select the RegWiz folder
7. Right click at right panel and add a new string
8. Set the string name to @
9. Double click this new entry and set the value to 1

Using Windows98's Disk Cleanup

Windows98 has a built-in utility called Disk Cleanup.
You can run it from either the Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup or directly run CLEANMGR.EXE

Select the drive you want to clean
From here you can delete:

• Temporary Internet Files
• Downloaded Program Files
• The Recycle Bin
• Temporary Files
• Non-Critical Files

You can also view the files before they are deleted

If you have the Plus Pack for Windows98, you can install the Disk Cleanup addition.
It will build a index of several other file-types.
They are:

• Archives (Zip)
• Backup
• Clipart
• Icons and Cursors
• Empty Folders
• Fonts
• Help Files
• Lost Cluster Files
• Multimedia Files
• Screen Savers
• Setup Files
• Temporary Files
• Text Files
• Wallpaper Files
• Zero-Byte Files

You can then delete any individual files you want. You can also sort by name, type, size, date or location.

Note: If you want to run this last program directory, it is \ PROGRAM FILE \ PLUS! \ CLEANUP \ FILECLN.EXE
This program will also run on Win95, NT 4 and NT 5 without the Plus Pack being installed.

Hiding the Windows98 Version on the Desktop

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
3. Add a String Value
4. Name it PaintDesktopVersion
5. Give it a value of 0
6. Reboot the computer

Disabling the Active Desktop

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Create a new Binary Value
4. Name it NoActiveDesktop
5. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

Running the Windows Update Manager

To run the Windows Update Manger, connect to the Internet and run WUPDMGR.EXE

Disabling the Windows Update Manager

To disable the Windows Update Manager, make the following registry edit

1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
2. Add ad DWORD entry called NoWindowsUpdate
3. Give it a value of 1

Disabling Automatic Private IP Addressing

A Windows98 computer on a LAN and configured for DHCP will first try to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server.
If that fails they will assign themselves an IP address from the 169.254.x.x range. This range is only for small, private networks.
This is a advantage for those users setting up a small local LAN. They don't need to worry about assigning IP addresses for their computers.
However, there are situations where you might want to disable this feature. For example, a laptop user that has a network adapter installed but is not connected to their local LAN.
 

If you don't want this feature, you can disable it by:

1. Starting Regedit

2. Go to Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ DHCP

3. Add a DWORD entry with the name IPAutoconfigurationEnabled

4. Give it a value of 0x0

5. Restart the computer

This will disable Automatic Private IP Addressing but not DHCP

Adding Shortcuts to the Desktop

An easy way to add a shortcut of a program to the desktop is to:

1. Right click on the icon

2. Select Send To / Desktop as Shortcut

Adding Shortcuts to Menus

If you drag a shortcut to the Start Menu and drop it, you will get a shortcut on your Start Menu.
To add it to a Program group below the Start Menu, hover it there for a second or two and the group will expand.
You can then insert the shortcut into that Program Group.
A divider line will be displayed to let you know where you will be placing the shortcut.

To move a shortcut, left-click on it and move it to the new location.

Gradient Fill Title Bars

If you have Win98 and are using at least 16 bit color, you can have a gradient fill for your title bars.
The effect is that your title bar gradually changes color from left to right.
To enable this:

1. Right click on an open area of the Desktop

2. Right-Click

3. Select Properties

4. Click on the Appearance tab

5. Pull down the Item list

6. Select Active or Inactive Title Bar

7. You can select Color and Color2 (only if you have 16 bit or higher color saturation)

Now your title bars will have a gradient fill

Installing the OEM Version Over Win95

Normally you can't install the OEM Version of Windows98 if you have an existing Win95 on your system.
To get around this problem:

1. Boot the PC with the Windows 95 Emergency Startup Disk to the MS-DOS prompt but make sure your CD ROM drivers are loaded on the disk and have access to the CD_ROM drive.
2. Run the MS-DOS editor EDIT and create a dummy file NTLDR (no extension) in the root dir C:\
3. In the Windows95 directory (usually C:\WINDOWS), rename the file WIN.COM.
4. Start the Windows 98 Setup with: SETUP.EXE /NTLDR
5. You will be prompted for the directory to load Windows98 into, by default if you already have Windows95 loaded and are upgrading, it will have c:\windows.000 make sure you change it to c:\windows or it will load Win98 in another directory.

Adding Microsoft Fax or Windows Messaging

If you want to install Microsoft Fax or Windows Messaging, these don't normally show up as options.
They are on the Win98 CD in the Tools\Oldwin95\Message\US directory.
Run WMS.EXE to install Windows Messaging
Run AWFAX.EXE to install Microsoft Fax

Right Mouse Click and the Start Menu Programs

A new way you can use the Right Mouse click with Win98 are with the programs listed in the Start Menu and the menus below it.
You can now Delete, Rename, Cut, Copy, Sort, Drag Shortcuts to the desktop and more.
You can even move them to different parts of the Start Menu.

Changing the Names of the Programs on the Quick Launch Toolbar

In case you want to change the name that gets displayed when you hover your mouse over the icons in the Quick Launch Toolbar,
the icon names can be changed in c:\windows\application\microsoft\internet explorer\quick launch

ScanReg

Windows98 has a DOS mode registry scanning program
Several switches can be used with this program

/BACKUP - Backup the registry and related system configuration files.
/RESTORE - Choose a backup to restore.
/OPT - Optimizes the Registry by removing wasted space. This will be done automatically by Win98 if there is more than 500K of wasted space
/FIX - Repair the registry.
/COMMENT="<comment>" :- Adds the specified comment to the CAB file while backing up.

Installing the Resource Kit

From the CD in the \TOOLS\RESKIT directory, you can install the Windows98 Resource Kit.
The following is an excerpt from a document included on the CD that lists all the programs that can be installed.

1. BATCH.EXE: Microsoft Batch Setup utility. Creates files for automated installation of Windows 98 and components.
2. CHDOSCP.EXE: Code Page Changer. Changes the Code Page used for MS-DOS-based programs to match Windows 98 Regional Settings.
3. CHECKLINKS.EXE: Link Check Wizard. Finds and eliminates dead links and shortcuts.
4. CLIPTRAY.EXE: Clip Tray. Optimizes and manages the Clipboard.
5. FAT32WIN.EXE: Fat32 Conversion Information Tool.
6. INFINST.EXE: Windows 98 Inf installer Utility.
7. LFNBACK.EXE: Long Filename Backup Utility.
8. MINITEL .TTF Files. Minitel font emulation files for HyperTerminal.
9. NETMON: Network Monitor. Service for remote monitoring of network performance on Windows 98 client machines.
10. QUIKTRAY.EXE: Quick Tray. Organizes the icons in the Windows 98 system tray.
11. POLEDIT.EXE: System Policy Editor. Sets administrative policies to define configuration settings for individual users, individual computers, or groups of users.
12. PWLEDIT.EXE: Windows 98 Password List Editor.
13. REMOTREG: Microsoft Remote Registry. Service for remotely viewing and editing the Registry on Windows 98 client machines.
14. RPCPP: Remote Procedure Call Print Provider. Service for administering network printers from Windows 98 machines.
15. SNMP Agent: Windows 98 SNMP network protocol agent.
16. TEXTVIEW.EXE: Text file viewer. Quickly displays the contents of text files.
17. TIMETHIS.EXE: Time This. Scripting tool that times how long it takes for the system to execute a given command.
18. TWEAKUI.EXE: Power Toy. Enhances and customizes the Windows 98 desktop.
19. TZEDIT.EXE: Time Zone Editor. Creates and edits time zone entries for the Date/Time icon in Control Panel.
20. USBVIEW.EXE: USB Viewer. USB Device information and troubleshooting tool.
21. WAITFOR.EXE: Scripting tool that causes the computer to wait for a signal sent over the network.
22. WHERE.EXE: Command-line tool that reports the location of a specified file on the hard disk.
23. WINDIFF.EXE: File and Directory comparison. Compares the contents of files or directories and reports differences.
24. WINSET.EXE. Command-line/scripting tool that sets global environment variables for Windows 98.
25. WSHADMIN.HLP: Windows Scripting Host Administrator's Guide. Guide to running scripts and designing applications for Windows Scripting Host.

Increasing Drive Performance

You can likely increase your Hard Drive or CD ROM performance by:

1. Opening up the Device Manager
2. Double click on the CD or Hard Drive
3. Click on the Settings tab
4. If you have a DMA box that is not grayed out, check that box
5. Reboot when prompted
6. When Win98 starts again, see if that box is still checked.
7. This is especially beneficial with the newer UDMA drives which are supported by Win98
8. This will also greatly reduce CPU utilization during hard drive activity.

Configuring for Single Click

One of the configuration changes you can make with Win98 is to have the mouse only need a single click to open programs or shortcuts.
To make this change:

1. Open any folder, the Explorer or My Computer
2. Select View / Folder Options
3. Check Custom, based on settings you choose
4. Click on the Settings button
5. The last section, Click items as follows allows you to configure Win98 for single click

Running the System File Checker

To check the integrity of key system file, you can run SFC.EXE in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory
It can restore corrupted files, check for changed or deleted system files, as well as restore default settings

System Information Utility with Win98

To check on various system configurations such as:

• Hardware Resources and Conflicts
• System File Checker
• Registry Checker
• Version Conflict Manager
• Hardware Components and more
• Save System Settings

Run the System Information utility from Start/Accessories/System Tools/System Information

System Configuration Utility with Win98

There is a program called MSCONFIG.EXE located in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
With it you can configure your

• Startup Options
• CONFIG.SYS
• AUTOEXEC.BAT
• SYSTEM.INI
• WIN.INI
• Programs that are starting from the Registry

You can then easily check or uncheck any of the items in each section

Adding Programs to Windows98 Quick Launch Bar

With Windows98, you can have programs on the tool bar where they can be quickly launched.
This area of the toolbar is right next to the start button.
To add a program, simply right-click and drag it there
When prompted, select Create Shortcut
To access the program, press Ctrl-Esc to bring up the toolbar and click on the program's icon

Installing Pinball with Win98

Normally you can't install Pinball from the original Win95 Plus Pack if you are running Win98.
To get around this:

1. Insert your Win98 CD
2. Go to the \Tools\Mtsutil folder
3. Copy the PINBALL.INF to your hard drive
4. If your CD is in other than the D: drive, edit the file by changing the line layoutfile = d:\pluslayt.inf to reflect the location of your CD.
5. Insert the Plus Pack CD for Win95
6. Right-click the PINBALL.INF and select Install.
7. If you receive a dialog box requesting FONT.DAT, simply type in the correct drive letter.
8. It will automatically copy the Pinball files to your hard drive.
9. You can find the Pinball game by going to Start / Programs / Accessories / Games, and then clicking Space Cadet Table

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