                Windows 95 Setup/Config/Tweak Hints/Tips/Tricks

                            (My Own Windows 95 tips)


* IMPORTANT : BACKUP Win95's Registry and System Files (SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT,
              SYSTEM.DA0, USER.DA0, MSDOS.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS,
              SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI) BEFORE ATEMPTING TO MAKE ANY CHANGES !

* NOTE: The following tips/tricks/speedups/fixes have been discovered and
        tried by me, but with no guarantee they will also work on your
        Windows 95 system!
        So take extreme CAUTION when modifying your System settings!
        Faulty changes to your System settings may result in system crashes
        or/and lockups!


MYTIPS95.TXT Topics Contents:

COMPLETE MSDOS.SYS REFFERENCE
MSDOS.SYS ATTRIBUTES
DOS MEMORY
DUAL BOOT
REGISTRY BACKUP/RESTORE
MS-DOS PROMPT
SET TEMP
DEFRAG/SCANDISK
DOS HIGH
LOCALLOADHIGH
WORD VIEWER
CLOSE BATCH
SWAP FILE
EXTRACT
MSD
LASTDRIVE
MEDIA PLAYER
CONTROL PANEL
DITCH DRVSPACE
WIN SWITCHES
FIRST LOGO
SWITCHES
SYSTEM.INI
ANYTHING GOES
CFGBACK




COMPLETE MSDOS.SYS REFFERENCE

1. The [Paths] section:
[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS  (default)
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS  (default)
HostWinBootDrv=C
UninstallDir=C:\
2. The [Options] section:
[Options]<1>        Default                                    Nondefault
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BootDelay       =2  Initial startup delay (seconds)<2>
BootFailSafe    =0  Enables Safe Mode for system startup
BootGUI         =1  Automatic Windows 95 startup               Start command prompt
BootKeys        =1  Startup keys F4, F5, F6, F8 enabled
BootMenu        =0  Hide startup menu (press F8 to display)    Show startup menu<3>
BootMenuDefault =1  Indicated menu option is highlighted<4>
BootMenuDelay   =30 Delay (seconds) before running highlighted
                    menu item (only if BootMenu=1): 1-99
BootMulti       =1  Startup key F4 enabled                     F4 disabled<3>
BootSafe        =1  Safe mode startup available
BootWarn        =1  Display safe mode startup warning & menu
BootWin         =1  Enable Windows 95 as operating system      Enable previous OS
DblSpace        =1  Load DBLSPACE.BIN (if present)
DoubleBuffer    =1  SCSI controller needs double-buffering
DrvSpace        =1  Load DRVSPACE.BIN (if present)
LoadTop         =1  Load COMMAND.COM or DRVSPACE.BIN at top of
                    640K memory
Logo            =1  Display animated logo as Windows 95 opens<5>
Network         =1  Networking enabled<6>
<1> Default action is taken if a line doesn't appear in the [Options] section.
    Except as noted, nondefault action is opposite to default.
<2> Delay allows time to press the function key. Default is 0 if BootKeys=0.
<3> If BootKeys=0, then BootMenu=1 and BootMulti=0 don't change default action.
<4> Menu option 3 is highlighted if a previous Windows 95 load failed.
<5> Logo=0 may solve 3rd party memory management conflicts.
<6> Network=1 must be present or the Safe Mode with Network support doesn't
    appear as option 4 on Startup Menu.


MSDOS.SYS ATTRIBUTES

To edit MSDOS.SYS in DOS mode, create a batch file named SYS95.BAT, with the
following lines:
@ATTRIB +A -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
@ATTRIB -A +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
and run "SYS95" from any DOS prompt (under Win95 OS ONLY !).
I assumed that your bootup drive is drive C: and that you have the directory
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND mentioned in your path, in AUTOEXEC.BAT. EDIT.COM should
be in \WINDOWS\COMMAND by default.
Some prefer to dual-boot: keep the ol' DOS (and Windows 3.1x) and install
Win95 in a separate directory. That's when you have the choice, at bootup
time, to boot in your new Win95 configuration, or chose to boot to your old
version of DOS (and eventualy use Windows 3.1x, if you kept it on your hard
disk).
If you reboot with your old DOS version (6.00 and up), MSDOS.SYS is renamed
MSDOS.W40, so the appropriate batch file would be:
@ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.W40
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.W40
@ATTRIB +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.W40
Name this batch file SYSW40.BAT. Run SYSW40.BAT ONLY under MS-DOS 6.xx OS
(on Win95/31 dual-boot systems)!


DOS MEMORY

You might need, at some point, to exit Win95 to plain ol' DOS (version 7.00),
to play a stuborn DOS game or to start a weird DOS application. That's
because Win95 takes over your system's memory resources (even if releases
some for DOS programs, but not enough for some of them).
Example: a DOS game like Magic Carpet 1 by Bullfrog, CANNOT BE PLAYED FROM
INSIDE WIN95, AT A DOS PROMPT (try to use solution C described bellow, if B
doesn't work).
Falcon 3.0 flight simulation on CD-ROM, on the other hand, requires at least
608KB of low DOS memory to start.
So you have 3 solutions:
A. Create custom autoexec.bat and config.sys for each of your DOS games, and
reboot your computer with that particular configuration, just to play a game,
and then reboot with the regular Win95 OS (time consuming), or
B. Other DOS games, like "STNG: A Final Unity" by Spectrum Holobyte, or
"Magic Carpet 2" by Bullfrog, can be played through a PIF file, from inside
Win95, by alocating all conventional memory (600KB or more) and at least 8MB
of extended memory to the PIF settings. For this to work you need to delete
your autoexec.bat and config.sys files (and reboot) and if you'd like to have
custom environment variables, place WINSET.EXE (located on your Win95 install
CD-ROM, in \ADMIN\APPTOOLS\ENVVARS) in your Startup group (create a shortcut
for it), and enter any SET PATH= or/and SET <variable>= lines into Winset's
command line (and restart Win95).
Good news: Bullfrog released the new "Magic Carpet 2" that can be played
from within Win95. Beware: this game requires at least 8MB of extended RAM
to play, and 16MB for high resolution graphics!
The new Lucas Arts game "The Dig" can also be played in a DOS session from
inside Win95 (with the apropriate PIF settings, stated in the game's
documentation). Or
C. Try to get as much memory as you can, out of the Win95 operating system
and JUST EXIT WIN95 and start your DOS program/game, without rebooting.
When you're done playing your favorite game, you can return anytime to the
Win95 interface by typing "WIN".
To make sure you CAN exit Win95 to DOS prompt (when you answered "Yes" to
"Restart the computer" from the Start icon), you will HAVE to:
<1> Add/modify the line:
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:512 /L:160 /U:160 /P /F
or something similar as the LAST line in your CONFIG.SYS. That is provided
you have a copy of COMMAND.COM in your boot drive's root directory (copy
COMMAND.COM from \WINDOWS\COMMAND to your boot drive's root folder).
If the PATH= line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT is pretty long (in MS-DOS 7.00 you
can exceed the 127 character long path limit), change "/E:512" to "/E:624"
(in the above example), to make sure you can fit the entire path statement
into the environment memory pool. You'll need something bigger than "/E:624"
ONLY if you have VERY long PATH=, PROMPT= and/or WINPMT= and some other SET
lines/statements in your AUTOEXEC.BAT (increase environment size to "/E:800"
or "/E:1024"in the above example).
<2> Move the file LOGOS.SYS from your Win95 directory (default is \WINDOWS)
to any other folder (i.e. create a special folder called \WINDOWS\LOGO).
Also move the files LOGOW.SYS and LOGOS.SYS from \WINDOWS to \WINDOWS\LOGO.
<3> Add/modify these lines in the [Options] section of MSDOS.SYS:
[Options]
BootGUI=0 -> To prevent the automatic start of Win95 after processing the
             autoexec.bat file
BootKeys=1 -> Startup keys enabled: F4-F8
BootMulti=1 -> Allows bootup with your ol' OS (MS-DOS 6.xx) as a choice
               (if you kept it on your hard disk)
BootWin=1 -> Enables Win95 as OS
BootMenu=1 -> Shows Boot menu options
BootMenuDefault=5 -> To boot with the "Command prompt only" option (see the
                     "Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu below)
BootMenuDelay=3 -> Delay in seconds until keypress if no option is chosen
When you boot with all these MSDOS.SYS options, you will be presented with
the following startup screen (you'll have 7 choices if you're not connected
to a network):
Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu
=================================
 1. Normal
 2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
 3. Safe mode
 4. Step-by-step confirmation
 5. Command prompt only
 6. Safe mode command prompt only
 7. Previous version of MS-DOS
         Enter a choice: 5
F5=Safe mode Shift+F5=Command prompt Shift+F8=Step-by-step confirmation[N]
"Normal" (choice 1) allows you to boot into Win95 OS, option 5 "Command
prompt only" boots to MS-DOS prompt without loading the "WIN" module in
memory (Win95 doesn't process the Registry), and if you want to boot with
your ol' DOS version, choose option 7.
To be able to edit MSDOS.SYS, you need to change its attributes. Run these
commands from DOS prompt:
ATTRIB +A -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
ATTRIB -A +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
or create a batch file with these lines, name it SYS95.BAT, and place it
in a directory in your path (specified on the PATH= line in AUTOEXEC.BAT).
<4> Exit Win95 (click "Shut down", "Restart the computer" and answer "Yes").
<5> Put all your DOS mode drivers/TSRs that you were running in the ol' DOS
(6.00 and up) and that will need to run your DOS games (CD-ROM driver, Mouse
driver, Sound driver, Smartdrv) back into your AUTOEXCEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
(load them HIGH with "DEVICEHIGH" in CONFIG.SYS and "LH" in AUTOEXEC.BAT)
and reboot.
You can also create startup files with multiple bootup choices (in MS-DOS
6.xx fashion).
You will notice a difference, after booting straight to DOS mode with the
new MSDOS.SYS, when you run "MEM /C /P": the module "WIN" is not in memory
anymore, and you have only one instance of "COMMAND" loaded (therefore you
have more low RAM available (with a little luck you can have up to 624KB)!
I found out that in this configuration, I can start ANY dos program/game,
and NOT run out of memory (624KB of free low RAM!), with ALL drivers/devices
TSRs loaded in upper memory (above the 640KB limit), using Win95's own
EMM386.EXE to alocate all extended RAM memory as expanded (using the "AUTO"
switch).
Here is an example of loading the MS-DOS 7.00 memory managers in CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE X=C000-C7FF I=B000-B7FF M3 D=256 RAM AUTO ALTBOOT NOTR
The switch "NOTR" is not documented (prevents EMM386 from detecting a Token
Ring Network Adapter, which detection may hang some machines). "NOTR" is NOT
enabled by default (you need to add it to EMM386.EXE's line yourself!).
By the way: try to avoid the "HIGHSCAN" switch on the EMM386.EXE line! It may
be dangerous to your health (it may hang your machine on bootup!). The "RAM"
switch does the same job on searching the Upper Memory Area (UMA) for unused
UMB-s (Upper Memory Blocks).
NOTE: for more info on HIMEM.SYS/EMM386.EXE parameters, pop in your Win95
install CD-ROM, change to your CD-ROM drive, go to the \OTHER\OLDMSDOS folder
(found on the Win95 install CD-ROM only) and  run "HELP" from the CD-ROM:
HELP EMM386.EXE
and press enter, and then:
HELP HIMEM.SYS
and press enter.
You will also NEED to read the text files CONFIG.TXT and MSDOSDRV.TXT located
in \WINDOWS by the default Win95 install, if you want to mess with your
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, to adapt them to your needs.
NOTE: ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR STARTUP FILES BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES !!!


DUAL BOOT

Step by step installation for a dual-boot menu for DOS 6.xx+Win 3.1x and
Win95/DOS 7 on your system:
You have the choice of the OS to boot with. Doublespace/Drivespace drives are
handled with this setup. Use this method to keep running your old programs
under the old DOS6/Win31 system while testing the new Win95 OS:
1> Copy/duplicate the whole Windows 3.1x directory and all its subdirectories
to another directory, like \WIN3. Copy \DOS to another one like \DOS6.
2> Edit all the INI files in the WIN3 directory and change all references
from \WINDOWS to \WIN3 (open them with a plain text editor: EDIT.COM does the
job). Start a Search/Replace pattern for all \WINDOWS instances to be replaced
with \WIN3. Also, while running the new copy of Win31, delete the REG.DAT file
(found in \WIN3), and then open File Manager, go to the \WIN3\SYSTEM
subdirectory of the current running Win31 copy, and double click on all the
.REG files there, to create a new/updated REG.DAT file. You will also have to
modify all the program groups and all items in them, to point to the new
location of Win31 (the new \WIN3 directory).
3> Open your MS-DOS 6.xx version of AUTOEXEC.BAT with a text editor, and rem
the PATH= line. Copy it, and paste it as the next line, and modify the
Windows directory to point to \WIN3, and \DOS to read \DOS6. If you also
load IFSHLP.SYS (the Win31 32bit disk access driver) in your CONFIG.SYS,
change its path also to point to \WIN3. If you load HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE
from your Win31 directory, you will have to modify their path too, to point
to \WIN3. If you load them from \DOS, (default MS-DOS 6.xx directory), change
their path to \DOS6.
4> Reboot, restart Win31 and install Win95's SETUP through Win31's Program
Manager: File/Run. Win95's install will rename your old CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files to CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS. In the dual boot menu, if
you choose to boot with the "Previous version of MS-DOS", Win95 renames them
back to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, and backups the Win95 versions with the
.W40 extension (AUTOEXEC.W40 and CONFIG.W40).
5> After Win95 install is done, at Win95's desktop use Notepad with "select
all files" to edit CONFIG.DOS and AUTOEXEC.DOS and change all \WINDOWS
references in them to \WIN3, and all \DOS references to \DOS6.
6> The following lines MUST appear in the [Options] section of your MSDOS.SYS
file (if you use Doublespace/Drivespace disk compression you must change
both MSDOS.SYS files: the one on the boot drive and the one on the compressed
drive):
[Options]
BootGUI=1
Network=0
BootMulti=1
BootMenu=1
BootMenuDefault=7  => to boot in MS-DOS 6.xx. Use 1 to boot with Win95 OS.
BootMenuDelay=30   => default number of seconds to select another option.
To add these lines, first, open "My Computer" and use the menu bar to
VIEW - OPTIONS - VIEW - Show All Files, and also uncheck "hide MS-DOS file
extensions". Then double-click on the MSDOS.SYS icon and look. If it doesn't
have all the above lines, you'll need to edit this file and put them in.   
Since the MSDOS.SYS file is "read-only-hidden-system" you'll need to first
change the file attributes and then use the notebook editor to insert the
new line(s). Then you'll have to change the attributes back to their original
states when done to protect the file.
To change the attributes, click on the MSDOS.SYS icon using your RIGHT mouse
button. Select Properties and uncheck the attribute blocks.
Exit, make your text changes, then save the file. Now change the MSDOS.SYS
attributes back to: hidden, system, read-only.
7> Exit Win95 and reboot. You should now see the dual boot menu and be able
to select which mode (OS) you want to boot into: the first option: "Normal",
allows you to boot into Win95, and option 7, "Previous version of MS-DOS",
lets you boot with your old DOS+Win version (MS-DOS 6.xx+Win3.1x). The boot
menu that you will see next time, looks like this (if you are not connected
to a network):
Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu
=================================
 1. Normal
 2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
 3. Safe mode
 4. Step-by-step confirmation
 5. Command prompt only
 6. Safe mode command prompt only
 7. Previous version of MS-DOS
         Enter a choice: 1
F5=Safe mode Shift+F5=Command prompt Shift+F8=Step-by-step confirmation[N]
8> Any programs installed after this will ONLY appear in the system you were
running at install time!
Example: if you install MS Excel (the 16bit old version) under Win95 you have
to install it again under DOS6+Win31 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 to avoid having 2 sets of the program on your hard
drive. If you have 2 different versions of the same application, one for
Win31 and the other for Win95 (32bit application, incompatible with Win31),
install them in different directories (one for Win95--installed thru Win95's
setup, and one for Win31--installed thru Win31's setup).


REGISTRY BACKUP/RESTORE

If you make changes to the Registry, and you end up not being able to
restart/load Win95, there is still a chance: reboot your computer in DOS
mode (MS-DOS mode is required for all procedures mentioned here), and type:
REGEDIT
and press enter. You will be presented with this screen:
Imports and exports registry files to and from the registry.
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] filename1
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] /C filename2
REGEDIT [/L:system] [/R:user] /E filename3 [regpath]
/L:system       Specifies the location of the SYSTEM.DAT file.
/R:user         Specifies the location of the USER.DAT file.
filename1       Specifies the file(s) to import into the registry.
/C filename2    Specifies the file to create the registry from.
/E filename3    Specifies the file to export the registry to.
regpath         Specifies the starting registry key to export from.
                (Defaults to exporting the entire registry).
... Which means YOU ARE SAVED! (only IF YOU BACKED UP the registry files
beforehand!).
Microsoft designed a DOS mode for editing the registry, when everything else
fails. To make it work, load Win95, run Regedit, click Registry, click
Export Registry File, choose your backup folder (let's say \BACKUPS), then
type in a name for the exported file and save it as SYS95. The file will be
saved with the .REG extension. Now go ahead and mess with the Registry as
much as you want. If Windows doesn't restart/load/work after your newly made
changes, exit Win95 to MS-DOS mode (or reboot with the "Command prompt only"
option, if you have the boot menu present on your screen), and type:
REGEDIT /E C:\BACKUPS\SYS95.REG
to backup the Registry in MS-DOS mode, into the SYS95.REG file.
To recreate the Registry from SYS95.REG, type:
REGEDIT /C C:\BACKUPS\SYS95.REG
and press Enter.
Win95 saves a backup copy of the Registry itself, as SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0,
in \WINDOWS. If, for any reason you can't restart Win95, boot in MS-DOS mode,
and change the names of these two files back to the original:
CD\
MD \BACKUPS
ATTRIB -H -R -S \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB -H -R -S \WINDOWS\USER.DAT
MOVE \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT \BACKUPS
MOVE \WINDOWS\USER.DAT \BACKUPS
ATTRIB +H +R +S \BACKUPS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S \BACKUPS\USER.DAT
ATTRIB -H -R -S \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DA0
ATTRIB -H -R -S \WINDOWS\USER.DA0
REN \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DA0 SYSTEM.DAT
REN \WINDOWS\USER.DA0 USER.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S \WINDOWS\USER.DAT
and press Enter after each line. You can create a batch file containing all
these lines and run it after you exit Win95 to DOS prompt (if something
happened during your last Win95 session, and you can't restart Win95 with the
present configuration files).
If you didn't back up the Registry, so there is NO SAVED FILE to recreate the
Registry from (and there is no valid backup made by Win95), there is still a
LAST CHANCE: in your boot drive's root directory, you can find a hidden file
called SYSTEM.1ST (contains all the original registry settings you first
started Win95 with, when you installed it). Copy it as SYSTEM.DAT to your
\WINDOWS folder:
MD \BACKUPS
ATTRIB -H -R -S \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
MOVE \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT \BACKUPS
ATTRIB -H C:\SYSTEM.1ST
COPY C:\SYSTEM.1ST C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H +R +S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +H C:\SYSTEM.1ST
and press Enter after each line (same as above: create a batch file with the
above lines, and run it in DOS mode).
You will now have to start customizing/setting up Win95 again from ground up
(but at least NOW it's working).


MS-DOS PROMPT

To go to the ol' MS-DOS command prompt screen from Win95 (which is so well
hidden by Microsoft under Windows GUI interface), there are 2 ways:
1. Click Start, Programs, MS-DOS prompt icon to start a DOS prompt session
inside Win95. Type "EXIT" to return to the Win95 interface.
To remind yourself that you are running a Windows DOS session, add/modify
these lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT to read:
SET PROMPT=Outside Windows 95 DOS Prompt!$_$P$G
SET WINPMT=Type EXIT and press ENTER 2 return 2 Windows 95!$_$P$G
The SET WINPMT= statement line is what you'll see as prompt, during your
DOS session, and you won't forget to go back to Win95 when you're done in
your DOS session.
2. To go to the real DOS (version 7.00, called MS-DOS mode, which is
actually the 16bit layer underneath Windows), click Start, Shut Down,
choose "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode", and click Yes.
Your PC will perform a warm reboot, if you don't hold down the Shift key
(if no modifications are made to your MSDOS.SYS file), loading the DOS
real-mode 16 bit drivers specified in DOSSTART.BAT, located in your Win95
folder (Win95 renames it AUTOEXEC.BAT).
To boot to DOS with different configurations, if you need to run different
(weird) DOS programs/games with high memory requirements, make as many
desktop (or create a new DOS Games folder) shortcuts to MS-DOS prompt as
you want, give them different names (similar to your DOS programs/games),
and right click on each one of them, choose Properties, to create custom
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to load your real mode drivers/TSRs necessary
for each application/game and reboot with that specific PIF file/icon
settings.
When you set up a Program Information File (PIF) to run an MS-DOS program
in MS-DOS mode, you can select the "Specify a new MS-DOS configuration"
option. If you select this option, you can create a CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT file to be used when you run that MS-DOS-based program.
When you run a program in this manner in Win95, the CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files in the boot drive's root directory are renamed to
CONFIG.WOS and AUTOEXEC.WOS, and the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
specified in the PIF are copied to the root directory. Also, the entry
"DOS=SINGLE" is added to the top of CONFIG.SYS specified by the PIF to
cause Win95 to start in DOS mode only, and then go back to Win95's GUI,
when you're done in DOS.
If you turn your computer off or restart it while it is running in MS-DOS
mode, the PIF-specific CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are retained in
the root directory, and the computer restarts in MS-DOS mode, without
letting you return to Win95. If this happens, remark the DOS=SINGLE line
at the begining of the CONFIG.SYS. Reboot, and now you can return to
Win95's GUI.
When you quit the MS-DOS-based program properly, the PIF-specific
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files in the root directory are replaced by
the original files.
PIF specific CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are created ONLY if you
select the "Specify a new MS-DOS configuration" check box for an MS-DOS
program that will run in Win95's DOS mode.


SET TEMP

Undocumented! If, for any reason, you decide to choose a different "temp"
directory for storing Windows 95/Windows 31 temporary files (i.e. let's
say a RAM disk), you will need to add these 2 lines to your CONFIG.SYS:
SET TMP=D:\TEMP
SET TEMP=D:\TEMP
considering D:\TEMP the new "temp" directory on your RAM drive, created
by loading this device driver in your CONFIG.SYS (Win95 users):
DEVICEHIGH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\RAMDRIVE.SYS <parameters>
To create the new directory D:\TEMP, add this as the last line to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MD D:\TEMP
Then delete the Win95 default "temp" directory: C:\WINDOWS\TEMP (and if
there are SET TEMP= or/and SET TMP= lines in autoexec.bat you'll have to
remove/remark them, too). Reboot.
If the "temp" variable is not mentioned in your config.sys, Win95
automaticaly creates the default "temp" directory at startup.
NOTE: For RAMDRIVE.SYS complete refference, read its topic in
      MSDOSDRV.TXT, found in your Win95 folder (default \WINDOWS).


DEFRAG/SCANDISK

To have Defrag run unattended every time you start Win95, create a shortcut
for Defrag with this command line and place it in the Startup folder:
C:\WINDOWS\DEFRAG.EXE /ALL /F /NOPROMPT
meaning: defragments all your hard (and RAM) drives, performs full,
unconditional defragmentation and it won't prompt you when it's done
(automatic exits the program when the job is done).
Same for Win95's ScanDisk: to run Scandskw unattended, type in the Scandskw
shortcut command line box:
C:\WINDOWS\SCANDSKW.EXE /A /N
to scan all your hard (and RAM) drives, performing a standard scan (no
surface scan) and to exit upon completion, without prompting you for
confirmation.
If you installed System Agent that comes with MS Plus! (a must have), you
can schedule Defrag and ScanDisk to do periodic unattended "runs" on your
hard drive(s) using the above switches.
Windows 95 Disk Defragmenter switches:
DEFRAG [drive: | /all] [/F | /U | /Q] [/noprompt] [/concise | /detailed]
drive:     Drive letter of the disk to be optimized
/ALL       Defragment all local, nonremovable drives
/F         Defragment files and free space
/U         Defragment files only
/Q         Defragment free space only
/CONCISE   Display the Hide Details view (default)
/DETAILED  Display the Show Details view
/NOPROMPT  Unattended mode: do not stop to display confirmation messages.
Windows 95 ScanDisk switches:
SCANDSKW [drive:] [/A] [/N] [/P]
drive:          Specifies one or more drives to be checked
/A or /All      Checks all local, nonremovable hard disk drives
/N or /Non      Interactive Starts and closes ScanDisk automatically
/P or /Preview  Runs ScanDisk in Preview mode (doesn't actually write
                changes to disk)
dblspace.nnn
or
drvspace.nnn    Checks the specified unmounted DoubleSpace or DriveSpace
                compressed volume file, where nnn is the filename extension
                for the hidden host file.
NOTE: the DOS version of ScanDisk has same switches (can only be used AFTER
      you exit Win95 to MS-DOS prompt). Type "SCANDISK /?" for more info.
Those of you who purchased the Microsoft Plus! Package for Windows 95 can
achieve all the above by scheduling SysAgent to do all the chores (you'll
still need to add these switches to the Defrag and Scandskw command lines).
IMPORTANT: There is A DANGEROUS UNDOCUMENTED SCANDISK SWITCH (MS-DOS mode),
to be avoided by all means !!! Here it is:
SCANDISK /O
It deletes all Long File Name (LFN) references, without any way of
restoring the lost LFN-s !!!


DOS HIGH

With all the TSRs/drivers/devices loaded in the upper memory area (UMA),
using "DEVICEHIGH" in CONFIG.SYS and "LH" in AUTOEXEC.BAT, you may be able to
get a maximum of 623KB of conventional memory at DOS prompt OUTSIDE WIN95,
when you choose to Shut down the computer from the Start/Shut Down menu,
without using any special memory management "advanced" features (provided by
most of third party memory managers outhere: QEMM, NetRoom, 386MAX). You'll
NEVER need more than 619KB of conventional RAM EVER for ANY DOS program!
This is possible because Win95 can move the FILES, STACKS, LASTDRIVE and FCBS
to the upper memory area (above the first 640KB). The BUFFERS are moved to
the high memory area (HMA), the first 64KB of RAM above the first meg.
These new features are implemented in the Win95 OS and can be achieved by
adding these lines to the beginning of your CONFIG.SYS file (the numeric
values here are only the average example, and you should change them to suit
your own system needs):
DOS=HIGH,UMB,NOAUTO
BUFFERSHIGH=10,0
FILESHIGH=60
LASTDRIVEHIGH=H
FCBSHIGH=1,0
STACKSHIGH=0,0
or go with the "conservative" version (let the OS do the work for you):
DOS=HIGH,UMB,AUTO
BUFFERS=10,0
FILES=60
LASTDRIVE=H
FCBS=1,0
STACKS=0,0
The AUTO switch doesn't need to be mentioned (it's the default).
NOTE: For more info about these new Win95/DOS 7.00 features READ these 2 text
      files found in your Win95 folder: CONFIG.TXT and MSDOSDRV.TXT.


LOCALLOADHIGH

For maximum DOS memory in a Windows DOS session, add/modify the line:
LocalLoadHigh=1
to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, found in the Win95 folder (default is
\WINDOWS). This will give you an extra 2-8KB (or more, depending on your
system configuration) of conventional (low) memory in a DOS session.
Default Windows setting in SYSTEM.INI is: LocalLoadHigh=0.
If you run the DOS mode TSRs/drivers/devices loaded high in your CONFIG.SYS
and AUTOEXEC.BAT files (loaded with "DEVICEHIGH" and "LH" by EMM386.EXE),
and have a memory configuration (on bootup, before launching Windows) of
less than 16KB of free upper RAM (the Upper Memory Area: UMA, is the first
384KB of memory above the 640KB boundary), make sure to remove the following
line, or better, remark it with a semicolon (;), in the [386enh] section
of your SYSTEM.INI file, located typicaly in C:\WINDOWS, like this:
; LocalLoadHigh=1
If this line has a numeric value of "1", you won't be able to start Windows
with less than 16KB of free upper memory on some systems!
This applies to Windows 3.1x (386 enhanced mode only) as well as to Win95.


WORD VIEWER

For those of you who would like to view Word files, without having MS Word
or MS Office installed, the Windows 95 install CD-ROM provides a viewer:
pop in your Win95 setup CD-ROM, then in Explorer double-click your CD-ROM
drive icon, go to the \OTHER\WORDVIEW folder, and run SETUP. That's it. Now
look in the Accessories folder: you'll find an icon for Wordview. Now you
can view those .DOC files without garble (Wordpad doesn't provide the
Word-type filters for viewing such files).


CLOSE BATCH

To have DOS style batch files close upon completion, when you run them from
a Win95 desktop shortcut icon:
Right click on the icon, click Properties, select the Program tab, and
check the "Close on Exit" box. Click OK.


SWAP FILE

Undocumented and DANGEROUS IF NOT DONE PROPERLY!
Windows 95 uses by default a permanent, resizable swap file (WIN386.SWP),
found in your Win95 folder (default \WINDOWS). If you are a dual-boot user
(you're still running Win31+DOS6 and Win95/DOS7 on the same drive), you
are probably using the Win31 permanent swap file (386SPART.PAR), located
in the root directory of your Windows drive (usually C:\).
Win31's permanent swap file CAN ALSO BE USED by Win95 as its own!
*** FIRST BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM/REGISTRY FILES (WIN95 AND WIN31 VERSIONS)!!!
To enable this undocumented feature, you need to edit Win95's SYSTEM.INI
file, located in your Win95 folder (default \WINDOWS) and add/modify these
lines in the [386enh] section:
PagingDrive=C:
MinPagingFileSize=10320 => defines the lower limit of the swap file (if
                          Win31's permanent swap file size is 10240KB!)
PagingFile=c:\386spart.par => to use Win31's permanent swap file as Win95's.
Edit SYSTEM.INI with a text editor (Notepad). Save changes. Restart Win95.
IMPORTANT: you have to specify the correct size of your Win31 swap file
           in hexadecimal system. Example: if you chose a 10240 KBytes
           permanent Win31 swap file (in the 386 Enhanced icon in Control
           Panel), then the Win95 swap file size MUST be 10320 KBytes (as in
           the above exmple). The principle is to choose a multiple of 1032
           KBytes in Win95's SYSTEM.INI to match Win31's swap file size
           specified as a multiple of 1024 KBytes in Win31's SYSTEM.INI.
In this example 386SPART.PAR is 10,567,680 bytes (10MB) in length.
Win95 provides a way of (re)sizing its own swap file thru the Device Manager.
Access it by right clicking on "My Computer", then click Properties, click
the Performance tab, click Virtual Memory, and click "Let me specify my own
virtual memory settings". Change the Minimum value to 10 (the above example).
BE AWARE: Win95 might delete the line "PagingFile=c:\386spart.par" from
SYSTEM.INI's [386enh] section, after you resized the swap file thru the
Device Manager. If this happens, add the line yourself (no quotes).
You will have to reboot after clicking OK, to make the changes take effect
(Win95 will prompt you to reboot anyway).
In Win31's SYSTEM.INI file, you MUST have the following lines in the [386enh]
section, to make the 32bit disk/file access work:
device=*pageswap
device=*PAGEFILE
device=*wdctrl => ONLY for IDE/EIDE hard drives smaller than 528MB (default),
; or if you have a hard disk bigger than 528MB, use this one:
; device=wdcdrv.386 => for Western Digital IDE hard drives bigger than 528MB
                       (version 2.6),
; or this one:
; DEVICE=MH32BIT.386 => ONLY for Conner PCI EIDE hard drives bigger than
                        528MB (version 7.02).
device=ios.386 => loads protected mode Windows 386 enhanced device manager
device=vxdldr.386 => loads the virtual extended memory driver for handling
                     32 bit disk access in Win31
device=vcache.386 => enables Win31's 32bit file access in Win31 !
32BitDiskAccess=on => turns on 32bit FastDisk access in Win31!
PageBuffers=32 => to increase the number of paging buffers (optional)
PermSwapDOSDrive=C => default, uncompressed (fastest) swap hard drive
PermSwapSizeK=10240 => Win31 permanent swap file size in KBytes (Win95's swap
                      file size in this case MUST be 10320 KB) !
... And this line, in the [vcache] section of SYSTEM.INI (Win31):
minfilecache=4096 => if you chose a 32bit file access size of 4096 KBytes
                     (4MB) through Control Panel, 386 Enhanced icon, Virtual
                     Memory, Change Virtual Memory Settings, Use 32bit File
                     Access, Change size. Choose a MinFileCache of 4MB ONLY
                     if your system has at least 16MB of RAM installed!
                     A Win31 MinFileCache greater than 4MB won't increase
                     performance significantly anyway.
WDCDRV.386 and MH32BIT.386 Win31 protected mode 32bit drivers can be found on
AOL. Go to keyword Western Digital and from the Software menu download
WIN31.EXE for wdcdrv.386 (or for Conner hard drive owners, bring up the File
Search icon, type in MH32BIT, and download the file 32BIT.EXE).
You can (probably, I didn't test it with other drive brands!) use WDCDRV.386
for all main brand models IDE (and EIDE) hard drives larger than 528MB that
support Win31's 32bit disk access feature (also called FastDisk).
In Win31's SYSTEM.INI, you can use only ONE of the 3 drivers mentioned above
depending on the size/model of your hard drive (Windows default is *wdctrl,
but you'll need a custom driver if your IDE hard drive/s is/are bigger than
528MB).
If you have a SCSI hard drive you'll have to get a 32bit Windows 3.1x disk
access driver from your drive manufacturer (only for the SCSI hard drives
supported by Win31's 32bit feature).
Reboot. Now you can safely delete Win95's default swap file, WIN386.SWP,
found in your Win95 folder.
MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY (AND CHOOSE YOUR OWN SWAP
FILE SIZE IN WIN31 ACCORDING TO YOUR NEEDS AND THE AMOUNT OF MEMORY (RAM)
INSTALLED IN YOUR SYSTEM) ! Otherwise you may get a:
1. "Corrupt Windows swap file" message when you run Win31, and you'll have
to delete and reassign a new permanent swap file in Windows 3.1x's Control
Panel !
2. Or a VFAT error message (or a 32bit disk access error) when trying to
load Win95 !
If your PC has 4MB of RAM, choose a 48MB swap file (really hope you have
more RAM than that, to have Win31/95 work decently on your system).
If your PC has 8MB of RAM, choose a 32MB swap file.
If your PC has 16MB of RAM, choose a 24MB swap file.
If your PC has 32MB of RAM, choose a 12MB swap file.
If your PC has 64MB of RAM, choose a 8MB swap file.
These are my own estimates (you'll figure out your own, to have your Win31
or/and Win95 system run properly).
Windows 95 users: after making such modifications, ALWAYS check the Device
Manager's Performance tab for any "MS-DOS mode 16bit access drivers"
messages, that would impair disk performance under Win95! You SHOULDN'T
have any such messages to start with (the File System and Virtual Memory
lines should all state "32-bit" and you should see this message at the
bottom: "Your system is configured for optimal performance")!
Good luck!


EXTRACT

When you run EXTRACT from a DOS prompt, you'll see this:
Microsoft (R) Diamond Extraction Tool - Version (16) 1.00.0530 (04/3/95)
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corp 1994-1995. All rights reserved.
EXTRACT [/Y] [/A] [/D | /E] [/L dir] cabinet [filename ...]
EXTRACT [/Y] source [newname]
EXTRACT [/Y] /C source destination
  cabinet  - Cabinet file (contains two or more files).
  filename - Name of the file to extract from the cabinet.
             Wild cards and multiple filenames (separated by
             blanks) may be used.
  source   - Compressed file (a cabinet with only one file).
  newname  - New filename to give the extracted file.
             If not supplied, the original name is used.
  /A         Process ALL cabinets. Follows cabinet chain
             starting in first cabinet mentioned.
  /C         Copy source file to destination (to copy from DMF disks).
  /D         Display cabinet directory (use with filename to avoid extract).
  /E         Extract (use instead of *.* to extract all files).
  /L dir     Location to place extracted files (default is current directory).
  /Y         Do not prompt before overwriting an existing file.
This is a MS-DOS utility, located in the \WINDOWS\COMMAND folder, to extract
Win95 files from the installation Cabinet files located on your Win95 install
CD-ROM (or on your Win95 install floppies).
It's useful if you want to copy any of the Win95's installation files to your
hard disk. For example, run:
MD C:\EXTRACT
EXTRACT /A D:\WIN95\WIN95_02.CAB *.DRV C:\EXTRACT
to extract all the .DRV files from all the WIN95_*.CAB files to the \EXTRACT
directory. You need to have the Win95 CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive, or the
target Win95 install floppy in drive A:
EXTRACT /A A:\WIN95_02.CAB *.DRV C:\EXTRACT
To automate the task of extracting necessary files from Win95's .CAB install
files, create a batch file with these lines (and name it EX.BAT):
@C:
@CD\
@MD \EXTRACT
@CD \EXTRACT
@EXTRACT D:\WIN95\MINI.CAB %1 %2
@EXTRACT /A D:\WIN95\WIN95_02.CAB %1 %2
@EXTRACT /A D:\WIN95\PRECOPY1.CAB %1 %2
@EXTRACT /A D:\PLUS_1.CAB %1 %2
Put EX.BAT in a directory in your path specified on the PATH= line, in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT. From now on, when you need to extract a particular file, run:
EX <file_name>.<extension>
Replace <file_name> with the name of the file you're looking for, and
<extension> with the file's extension. Example:
EX MSDOSDRV.TXT
Extract will search all Win95 and MS PLus! CAB files on the Win95 or MS Plus!
CD-ROM, and extract the specified file(s) in the \EXTRACT directory, created
by the batch file.
For those of you who have the floppy disk version of Win95 install, look up
the EF.BAT file included in this archive, to extract any CAB file from any
Win95 install floppy CAB file (make sure you have the first floppy in your
3.5 inch drive A before running EF.BAT).
For those who have the Win95 install CD-ROM, use the ECD.BAT file included
in this zip, for the same purpose (CAB file extraction). Make sure you have
the Win95 install cd-rom in the drive before running ECD.BAT. 

MSD

MSD.EXE is the MS-DOS based MicroSoft Diagnostics utility, that you might
need one day (hope not...), to run to see how your System, Memory, Devices,
TSRs, Video, Mouse, Disks, Ports, etc. are configured and if there is any
hardware conflict.
The MSD.EXE file is located on your Win95 install CD-ROM, in the \OTHER\MSD
directory. It is not installed by Win95's setup by default.
You need to manually copy MSD.EXE from the Win95 CD-ROM to a directory in
your path (default is \WINDOWS\COMMAND). Type:
MSD
and press Enter, from the DOS prompt (try first to run MSD from outside
Win95, in MS-DOS mode, by choosing to boot with the "Command prompt only"
option, for example).
Play around with the screens, and if you want, you can print/save to a file
a full report of your system configuration.


LASTDRIVE

If you don't specify a LASTDRIVE= line in your CONFIG.SYS, Win95 sets
the last drive on your system to Z by default, similar to:
LASTDRIVE=Z
in CONFIG.SYS.
If you are not connected to or using a network, you lose a few hundreds
bytes of low or upper memory, because you probably have a total of 3 to 9
drives on your system (about 7 if you use a disk compression utility,
like MS-DOS's Drvspace or Dblspace).
Every additional drive letter mentioned by the LASTDRIVE statement takes
up 96 bytes of memory.
If you use Drvspace/Dblspace/Stacker, or other disk compression utility,
add/change the LASTDRIVE= line to read:
LASTDRIVE=M
If you don't use any disk doubler/compression utility, change to:
LASTDRIVE=D
if you have 1 hard disk and 1 CD-ROM drive installed.
If you have 1 hard disk and 2 CD-ROM drives, set:
LASTDRIVE=E
If you have 2 hard disks and 2 CD-ROM drives, set:
LASTDRIVE=F
NOTE: Before making any changes to your system files, back them up:
      AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (located in C:\ root).
From a DOS prompt, run:
MEM /C /P
and write down how much conventional/upper memory you have.
Then open CONFIG.SYS with Notepad, put LASTDRIVE= as one of the first
lines (after the DOS=HIGH,UMB line), save changes, and reboot.
Go to that MS-DOS prompt again, and run:
MEM /C /P
again, to see if you gained any amount of upper or/and conventional
memory.


MEDIA PLAYER

Undocumented! You can configure Media Player (MPLAYER.EXE, installed in
\WINDOWS by Win95 install) to open, play once, and then close any of the
media clip files (AVI, FLI, FLC, MID, RMI, WAV, MPG, MPE, MVB, MOV etc).
In Explorer click View, Options, and then the File Types tab. Choose the
file type you want to be played once and then closed by Mplayer (any of
the media files listed above, if listed on your Files Types list).
In the File Types window, choose for example the MIDI Sequence (RMI, MID)
files, click Edit, highlight Actions:, click Play, click Edit, and then
Browse to find Mplayer.exe. In the "Application used to perform action:"
box, type a space after "C:\WINDOWS\Mplayer.exe", and then type
"/play /close". The text in the box should look like this (skip the
quotes-unquotes):
C:\WINDOWS\Mplayer.exe /play /close
Click OK, click OK again, and OK again one last time. Now you should be
again in Explorer's main window, back where you first started.
You can repeat this operation with all media clip files listed above
(and more if you have any installed by your software).
From now on, when you double-click a MID or RMI file, Mplayer will play
the file once, and then exit, without prompting you for action, or
waiting for you to manually click all the necessary buttons. This is
also useful for previewing new media files.
You can now create a shortcut to play and then close automatically your
favorite media clip file (MID, RMI, WAV etc.), on the desktop, or in
the Startup folder, when you load Windows 95. Enjoy!


CONTROL PANEL

Open Explorer, click View, click Options, and then the Files Types tab.
Click New Type..., and type Control Panel in the "Description of type:"
box. Then type CPL in the "Associated extension:" box. Now click the
"New..." button at the bottom, type Open in the "Action:" box, and then
type C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE in the "Application used to perform action:"
box. Click OK, then OK again, and OK one more time. Now you should be
back in Explorer's window, where you started.
From now on, when you double-click on a .CPL file in Explorer (located
in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder), that particular Control Panel File
opens the same as it would from the real Control Panel, and you can
change the settings for that item.
The same thing can also be achieved in File Manager, all you need
to do is Associate any of your .CPL files, located in \WINDOWS\SYSTEM,
with C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE.


DITCH DRVSPACE

If you don't use (and I strongly recomend NOT TO) Drvspace, the disk
compression utility that comes with Windows 95 (and updated by the MS
Plus! Package for Win95), it's good to free some disk space and delete
all Drvspace related files. In Explorer, or in File Manager start a file
search, begining with the root folder (default is C:\) for DRVSPACE
files. Type in the search box: DRVSPAC*.* and click OK. You will get
a list of all Drvspace files (with the following extensions: .BIN,
.DLL, .DRV, .VXD, .EXE, .HLP, .INI, SYS, etc...). Highlight all these
files and delete them. Don't worry about making backup copies, you can
always find them on your Win95 install disk(s).
Some of these files might not show in the Find windows, because you need
to set Explorer (or File Manager) to display ALL SYSTEM FILES INCLUDING
HIDDEN FILES.
If you ARE using Drvspace, DO NOT DELETE ANY DRVSPACE FILES YET!
Better, upgrade your hard disk, (a 1GB hard drive sells now for under
$200). To be able to delete the files, UNINSTALL Drvspace first, then
reboot your system, and now delete all related Drvspace files.
Drvspace only slows down your system (and it's not 100% safe), and of
course, is a temporary solution for getting extra disk space. You'll
end up looking for another hard drive some day, anyway.


WIN SWITCHES

When you run WIN /? from a DOS prompt, you get this screen:
Starts Windows.
WIN [/D:[F][M][S][V][X]]
/D    Used for troubleshooting when Windows does not start correctly.
  :F  Turns off 32-bit disk access.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: 32BitDiskAccess=FALSE.
  :M  Enables Safe mode.
      This is automatically enabled during Safe start (function key F5).
  :N  Enables Safe mode with networking.
      This is automatically enabled during Safe start (function key F6).
  :S  Specifies that Windows should not use ROM address space between
      F000:0000 and 1 MB for a break point.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: SystemROMBreakPoint=FALSE.
  :V  Specifies that the ROM routine will handle interrupts from the hard
      disk controller.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: VirtualHDIRQ=FALSE.
  :X  Excludes all of the adapter area from the range of memory that Windows
      scans to find unused space.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: EMMExclude=A000-FFFF.
These switches are meant to provide you with options for starting Win95 in
special modes (safe, bootlogged, etc.), if you are having problems running,
and/or loading Win95 on your system.
For example, to start Win95 in safe mode, run:
WIN /D:M
which is similar with using boot option 3 from the "Microsoft Windows 95
Startup Menu".
To be able to load Win95 manually, after your PC is done processing your
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, from the DOS prompt. or from your AUTOEXEC.BAT,
you will have to edit MSDOS.SYS (a hidden, read-only, system file, located
in C:\ root), and add/modify the line BootGUI to read:
BootGUI=0
in the [Options] section.
To edit MSDOS.SYS in DOS mode, create a batch file named SYS95.BAT, with the
following lines:
@ATTRIB +A -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
@EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
@ATTRIB -A +H +R +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
and run "SYS95" from any DOS prompt under Win95.
SYS95.BAT is included in this archive.
Hope you never have to use these WIN.COM switches...


FIRST LOGO

Do you remember the logo that showed up on your screen when you first
booted into your freshly installed Windows 95?
You can have that logo displayed anytime as your Win95 bootup logo.
Just extract the file called SULOGO.SYS from the WIN95_10.CAB cabinet
file found in the \WIN95 folder on your Win95 install CD-ROM.
Use the DOS mode batch file ECD.BAT included with this archive (for
those of you who have the Win95 install cd-rom). Run the following
command line from any DOS prompt:
ECD SULOGO.SYS
ECD.BAT will create the \EXTRACT folder on your C: drive, and will
extract SULOGO.SYS there. Now you need to move SULOGO.SYS to your boot
drive's root directory (default is C:\). You can also remove the now
empty \EXTRACT folder.
Next time you'll boot into Win95 you'll see the new logo displayed as
your startup screen.
NOTE: To have a logo displayed on Win95 startup, you need to add/modify
      a line into the [Options] section of your MSDOS.SYS file, a
      hidden, read-only, system file found on your root directory of
      your boot drive (usually C:\) to read:
      Logo=1
      To edit MSDOS.SYS run SYS95.BAT (a DOS batch file also included
      in this archive) from any DOS prompt.
Hope you'll like this logo.


SWITCHES

SWITCHES=/E:288
Use this command ONLY in your CONFIG.SYS file as your config.sys first line
(for more info about the SWITCHES command, read the CONFIG.TXT text file
located in your Win95 folder, default \WINDOWS).
With the value chosen above, Win95 moves 288 bytes of Extended BIOS (EBIOS)
to the conventional memory area. Valid values for /E: are 48-1024. You may
gain up to 1KB (1,024 bytes) of conventional memory by using this line!
I had a gain of 768 bytes of low memory using this SWITCHES line!
You also need to have the lines bellow in your config.sys:
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
for this to work.
You need to adapt the /E: parameter value on your SWICHES line to your own
system configuration. Begin with 512:
SWITCHES=/E:512
reboot, and go to a DOS prompt. Now run:
MEM /C /P
You'll see that the first module loaded in memory (on your MEM screen) is
SYSTEM. Look at the conventional memory footprint of this module (you may be
able to decrease it by lowering the value on the SWITCHES=/E: line).
Decrease it by 64 to begin with, which means the new SWITCHES line will look
like this:
SWITCHES=/E:448
Reboot, and repeat the operations above (go to a DOS prompt, and then run
MEM /C /P).
Compare the new SYSTEM module size in low memory. If it's smaller now, then
decrease the SWITCHES value again by 64, and keep repeating these steps until
you won't have any more conventional memory gain. Keep the value that gives
you a maximum low (conventional) memory (the smallest SYSTEM module low
memory footprint).
There is another useful parameter to use with the SWITCHES command:
SWITCHES=/F
The /F parameter skips the 2 second delay before processing the startup
files at bootup (the /F parameter is valid for all MS-DOS versions above
6.00 and including Windows 95, which is actually loaded on top of MS-DOS
version 7.00).
Better, use both parameters on the same SWITCHES line (you can't have two
SWITCHES lines in your config.sys):
SWITCHES=/E:288 /F
Happy tweaking!


SYSTEM.INI

These are some helpful lines to add to the [386enh] section of your
SYSTEM.INI file, found in your Win95 folder, default \WINDOWS.
Open SYSTEM.INI with Notepad:
MinSPs=4  => to increase the spare stack pages (to prevent possible stack
             fault situations);
EMMExclude=A000-FFFF  => not to allow Windows to search for unused RAM
                         in the upper memory area (UMA) on startup: safer on
                         some systems (especially if you still have any real
                         DOS mode TSR-s/devices/drivers loaded in your
                         CONFIG.SYS or/and AUTOEXEC.BAT files);
DMABufferSize=64  => to give your 16bit sound card have enough room to play
                     music (MID, RMI, MOD) files (16bit DMA channel HI-FI
                     stereo buffer size);
PageBuffers=32  => for better/faster hard disk buffered operations.
NOTE: Backup your SYSTEM.INI before making any changes !


ANYTHING GOES

You can choose any .BMP, .ICO, .CUR, .ANI, .PCX, .GIF etc. format
(or create your own bitmap/image/picture with any of these mentioned
extensions) as your mouse pointer(s).
Open Control Panel, double-click Mouse, and browse through your image
files folders (choose "All files" from the browser menu), and pick
let's say an ICO file (with a pleasant/funny/apropriate shape/size,
to be your default mouse pointer).
Click OK and you'll see your mouse pointer change to the image of that
file instantly. You can repeat this operation with any or all your
Win95 mouse pointers.
If you downloaded Paint Shop Pro (or Lview Pro), or/and an icon/image
editor (like Muangello), you can create/edit/modify/convert a BMP to
an ICO format, or the other way around (this is only an example).
You can even decrease the size of a full screen BMP (let's say in
Paint Shop Pro) to let's say 32x32 pixels, in 256 colors, and make
that bitmap your main mouse pointer.
The same principle applies to any of your Desktop/Program Files or
Folders shortcut icons. Right-click on a desktop shortcut icon, click
Properties, then click Shortcut, and then click Change Icon. Browse
through your image files folders (with the "All files" choice
highlighted), and highlight any BMP, ICO, GIF, PCX, CUR, ANI etc.
file. Click OK.
You can do also do all this in Explorer (don't you love Windows 95
already?!). In Explorer's main window click View, Options, File Types,
highlight the desired file type, and click Edit. Now click Change
Icon, and browse through your folders with the "All files" choice,
highlighted, until you find an image/bitmap/icon/cursor/etc to your
liking. Click all the OK buttons till you clear all the dialog boxes.
NOTE: I included in this archive 50 icons (16x16 pixels, 16 colors) in
      the ICO format, that you can use as shortcut icons for your
      favorite programs/games, or/and as mouse pointers.


CFGBACK

I found a neat little Registry backup utility called CFGBACK.EXE, located
in the \OTHER\MISC\CFGBACK folder on the Win95 install CD-ROM. Using it,
you can backup up to 9 copies of your Registry files (SYSTEM.DAT and
USER.DAT).
You can choose any destination (hard, floppy or tape drive) for the backup
file, and you can restore the Registry from any of the backed up files
anytime. You can even "program" CFGBACK through System Agent (MS Plus!
users) to do periodical backups of your Registry files.