Hi again folks,


This is my new/updated/improved (version 10, Freeware) of Windows 95
and MS-DOS 7.00 Setup/Config/Tweaking Hints/Tips/Tricks text files.
Download W95-10.ZIP into an empty directory/folder and unzip it with
Winzip 32bit version 6.x for 95/NT, found in the AOL Win95 Software
area (keyword WIN95), in the "Hot! - Top Windows 95 Files" area.
These files contain among other things real solutions to real problems
that people like you might encounter at some point, especially with
Win95 (I'm trying to update/improve these files and add new tips).
Read these plain text files for details (open them with Notepad):
- READ1ST.TXT (read this one first!)
- MYTIPS95.TXT (my own Win95 tips)
- TIP95AOL.TXT (tips I picked up from AOL, and by helping other
  Windows users solving their problems)
- MEMORY.TXT (my own technical tips on solving memory problems in
  Windows/DOS)
- DESKTOP.TXT (Win95 desktop tips)
- REGISTRY.TXT (Win95 Registry tricks/fixes/speedups)
- REGIONS.TXT (technical info on DOS memory regions mapping)
- EMM386.TXT (technical info on DOS/Windows memory managers)
- NEWLOGO.TXT (my own tips on how to change Win95 desktop
  wallpaper/startup logo)...
- 50 Windows icons (for your favorite programs/games)
- SECRETS.TXT (MS-DOS undocumented/secret features)
... All these, and much more, on how to:
- Install Windows 95 in a dual-boot environment (DOS 6/7, Win 31/95)
- Exit to ol' DOS prompt from Win95
- Tweak your Registry to improve performance in Win95
- DOS 7/Windows 95 tips/hints/tricks
- Mess with your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to squeeze maximum
  conventional DOS memory
- Mess with your MSDOS.SYS to bring the Win95 OS at your feet
- Work better/faster/easier in the Windows 95 environment
- MS-DOS secrets
- How to eplace the boring Win95 startup logos and Win95 desktop
wallpaper...
... in a few words, how to make your (computing) life easier.

Hope you'll find something useful in here.
I will try to update/revise/improve these files periodically.
Thanks a million times for all your e-mail encouraging me to keep on
doing this! A lot of folks told me they found something of interest
or/and helpful in these files, so I believe it's worth doing all this
work.

Enjoy!

I welcome e-mail on any problems you might have running Windows 95/3.1x
or/and MS-DOS 7.00/6.xx on your system. For comments/ideas/questions/etc...
send me a "wire" at:
axcel216@aol.com

... And look up my new Web page at http://home.aol.com/AXCEL216
(always under construction...)


... If I've got your attention so far, read on...



            Windows 95 Setup/Startup/Tweaking Configuration TIPS



I M P O R T A N T  =  BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE:

*** BACKUP YOUR STARTUP FILES: AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS AND MSDOS.SYS, BEFORE
    MAKING ANY MODIFICATIONS !

*** USE WIN95'S BACKUP UTILITY TO BACKUP YOUR WIN95 REGISTRY FILES, BEFORE
    MAKING ANY MODIFICATIONS: SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, SYSTEM.DA0 AND USER.DA0
    (hidden files found in the Win95 folder: \WINDOWS is default) !

*** READ TIP95AOL.TXT, MYTIPS95.TXT, for valuable Windows 95 information !

*** Read REGISTRY.TXT on Windows 95 Registry tricks/fixes/speedups.

*** Read DESKTOP.TXT for valuable Win95 desktop tips.

*** Read MEMORY.TXT, EMM386.TXT, REGIONS.TXT (technical info) to understand
    how MS-DOS's memory management work, and how to optimize your system's
    conventional/upper/extended/expanded memory areas in DOS and Windows.

*** Read SECRETS.TXT for details on secret (undocumented) DOS features
    Microsoft forgot to tell us.

*** All the batch files mentioned in these text files are included in this
    archive (the .BAT extension files).

*** Also READ the text files: MSDOSDRV.TXT and CONFIG.TXT, located in your
    Win95 folder (default \WINDOWS), on how to customize your CONFIG.SYS command
    lines and devices/drivers !

*** There are 50 icons (16x16 pixels 16 colors) included in this archive, you
    can use them as alternate icons for your shortcuts (or as mouse pointers).



                    Windows 95 Recomended Hardware Requirements


* Bare minimum hardware requirements to run Windows 95 (Microsoft guidelines):
- 386DX/33 (questionable)
- 4MB RAM (questionable)
- 540MB IDE hard disk (questionable)
- 1MB DRAM video card (way too slow)
- VGA 14 inch monitor (way too small)...
... not !

* Average minimum recommended hardware to run Windows 95:
- 486DX2/66 (minimum Pentium 75MHz recommended)
- 8MB RAM (12MB minimum recommended)
- 850MB IDE hard disk (1GB minimum hard disk recommended)
- double-speed CD-ROM with at least 300KB/sec transfer rate (quad-speed
  CD-ROM with 600KB/sec transfer rate recommended)
- 16bit FM stereo sound card, Sound Blaster compatible (16bit wavetable
  stereo sound card, Sound Blaster compatible recommended)
- 14,400 bps modem/fax (28,800 bps modem/fax recommended)
- 1MB DRAM 64bit video card (2MB VRAM/WRAM 64bit video card recommended)
- 15 inch 1024x768 SVGA monitor (17 inch 1200x1024 recommended).

* When it comes to the amount of RAM memory chips, hard disk capacity, video
card accelerator performance, CD-ROM drive speed, modem speed, sound card
fidelity, and most importantly CPU speed and class, NOTHING IS TOO MUCH!
Ideal PC system optimally tuned to run Windows 95/NT (to date) if money is
not an obstacle (!):
- Pentium Pro 200MHz full tower with 1MB sync burst 10 nanosec SRAM
external sync burst cache
- PCI 2 PI/O mode 4 EIDE motherboard controller
- 6 32bit PCI card open slots, 6 16bit ISA card open slots
- 6 open 5 1/4 inch external drive bays, 2 open 3 1/2 inch external drive
bays, 6 open 5 1/4 inch internal drive bays
- 3 button high-resolution wireless mouse
- high resolution, wireless pen tablet
- 4GB SCSI wide, A/V, fast mode 2, 8ms random access hard disk with 1MB
read-ahead buffer
- 64MB 60 nanosec BEDO RAM
- 8 speed SCSI CD-ROM drive with 1200KB/sec transfer rate, 110msec random
access time and 1MB read ahead buffer
- 16bit plug-and-play wavetable stereo sound card General Midi and Sound
Blaster compatible with: 4MB ROM sound samples, 32 midi channels, 64 note
poliphony, reverb, chorus, 3D surround stereo, 214 instruments, with
dynamic high resolution microphone
- external Dolby Surround Sound Pro Logic (DSP) 100W/channel HI-FI stereo
sound amplifier with AC3 and THX + 2 three-way 150W front speakers + 1
75W center three-way center speaker + 2 75W two-way rear speakers + 1 150W
super bass speaker
- ISDN plug-and-play 238,000 bps error free modem/fax voice duplex
- 8MB VRAM/WRAM 192bit video card accelerator: MPEG 1 and 2 capable,
accelerated video and integrated 3D
- 4GB 14msec SCSI optical, rewritable, removable cartridge disk drive for
backups
- 1024x768 true color PAL/SECAM/NTSC video capture/record/playback card
with FM radio stereo/cable ready TV digital tuner, with high resolution
video camera for video confferencing
- high speed 16500AF UART buffered serial ports
- EPP/ECP enhanced two-way mode parallel ports
- 21 inch 0.22 dot pitch, plug-and-play flat screen, 1600x1200, trapez,
pincushion, moire, color match, on-screen controls, infrared remote control
monitor
- 1200x1200 dpi 16 million color match, 16MB DRAM, 14 page/min laser printer
- 2400x2400 dpi, single-path, flat-bed, cooled, 34bit true color scanner
- 12 button with castle + hat, programable, 3D digital joystick.
(Yeah, right... Dream on...)

... And now back to the real world:



                         General Guidelines



* To backup ALL Windows 95 vital system files:
- SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, SHELLI~1, SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI and CONTROL.INI
  located in your Win95 folder, usually \WINDOWS
- DRVDATA.BIN and DRVIDX.BIN, located in the folder \WINDOWS\INF
- AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and MSDOS.SYS, located in the root folder of your
  boot drive (usually C:\),
I created the batch file BAK95.BAT (included here).
If your Win95 boot drive is different than C:, change it. Also change the
name of your actual Win95 directory, if you installed Win95 into a directory
other than \WINDOWS. 
To make this work, you need to download PKZIP.EXE, part of the PKWare version
2.04g Shareware Package (the most popular file compressing utility) found on
AOL, in most software areas (including Win95 area), usually in the Essential
Utilities area (or bring up the File Search screen, type PKZIP.EXE in the
keyword box, and then click the "List matching files" button).
Create a new directory/folder on your Win95 boot drive (usually C:), name it
ZIP and then install all PKZIP/PKUNZIP related files in the newly created
\ZIP folder.
Now you're ready to run BAK95.BAT. After running BAK95, look for the newly
created 95BAK.ZIP archive file in your \ZIP folder.
NOTE: In my next Win95 Tips Files issue, I'll add a batch file to restore
Win95's vital files from the 95BAK.ZIP archive.


* To edit MSDOS.SYS in DOS mode, I created 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
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
also be in a directory in your path (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 dual-boot (read the 4th topic in MYTIPS95.TXT on dual-boot) and
choose to boot with your ol' MS-DOS version 6.xx, MSDOS.SYS is renamed to
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
I called this batch file SYSW40.BAT. Run SYSW40 ONLY under MS-DOS 6.xx OS!
Both SYS95.BAT and SYSW40.BAT are included here.


* For hints on how to adapt MSDOS.SYS to your system, read MYTIPS95.TXT (the
first 3 topics).
If you want to edit MSDOS.SYS yourself, here is SYS95.BAT to help you do just
that (run SYS95.BAT only under Win95 OS, not from any other previous OS
version!). I presumed that your Win95 boot drive is C: (default).


* Make the desired modifications to your startup files (AUTOEXEC.BAT,
CONFIG.SYS and MSDOS.SYS) located in your boot drive's root directory (ONLY
AFTER you BACKED UP your old files!).
You will need to change the attributes of your MSDOS.SYS back to: system,
hidden, read-only, before rebooting. Use the batch file SYS95.BAT (included
here) for this purpose.


* With a little luck (and a lot of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT tweaking) you
may be able to "squeeze" a few more KBytes of conventional RAM out of your
machine.
To see how much memory you have in your configuration, type:
MEM /C /P
at DOS prompt, OUTSIDE Win95, and press enter (read the topic "MS-DOS PROMPT"
in MYTIPS95.TXT on how to exit to DOS from Win95).
To see how your devices/TSRs/drivers are loaded, and the upper memory setup,
type this at DOS prompt, outside Win95:
MSD
and press Enter. Then press "M".
To see the exact location of each driver (listed with "mem /c /p" command),
type:
MEM /M <device_name>
at DOS prompt, outside Win95. Type the device name WITHOUT extension.
Example (if you load MOUSE.COM from your autoexec.bat):
MEM /M MOUSE
and press Enter.
The display will show you exactly the conventional/upper memory regions where
that particular device is loaded and how much memory it takes (read
REGIONS.TXT for more info about MS-DOS upper memory regions).


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.


* Just for fun, you may want to replace your LOGO.SYS file (located in the
root folder of your boot drive, usually C:) with this one, included here.
FIRST backup your own LOGO.SYS file (move it to another folder) and copy this
one to C:\ root (default). You'll see it next time you'll start Win95. Hope
you'll like it.
LOGO.SYS is just a Bitmap with another extension. You can open/view/modify it
with MSPaint (included with Win95), Lview Pro, or Paint Shop Pro etc...
HINT: LOGO.SYS (and the other 2 bitmaps found in your Win95 folder: LOGOW.SYS
and LOGOS.SYS) MUST be 320x400x256 colors to show up properly at
bootup/load/shutdown time !
Read NEWLOGO.TXT (included here) for detailed info on how to change the
default Win95 boot/startup/close logo(s) to the one(s) of your choice.


* To use EXTRACT.EXE (Microsoft's DOS program to extract files from the
Win95 installation .CAB files), here are 2 versions:
- EF.BAT, if you have the floppy version of Win95 installation disks;
- ECD.BAT, if you have the CD-ROM version of Win95 installation disk (this
one can also be used to extract files from your Microsoft Plus! CD-ROM).
EXTRACT.EXE is installed by default in your \WINDOWS\COMMAND directory.
Use the batch files with DOS wild cards. Example: to extract all *.SYS files
to the same (\EXTRACT) directory/folder, type:
MD \EXTRACT
ECD *.SYS
and press Enter after each line, if you have the Windows 95 CD-ROM.
Type the file's name to extract only a particular file. Example:
ECD MSDOSDRV.TXT
You may need to change your CD-ROM drive letter in ECD.BAT, if it is other
than D:, and your 3.5' floppy drive letter, if it's other than A: in EF.BAT.
To see a complete list of all CAB files in Win95's compressed installation
files, create a DOS batch file (name it LISTCAB.BAT and place it in a
directory in your path), with these lines:
@C:
@CD\
@MD \EXTRACT
@FOR %%x IN (D:\WIN95\*.CAB) DO EXTRACT /D %%x >> \EXTRACT\LISTCAB.TXT
@EDIT \EXTRACT\LISTCAB.TXT
NOTE: Change D: to your own CD-ROM drive letter and C: to your own primary
(boot) hard drive letter, if different than above.


* I included my own AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files (the Win95
and DOS 6.22/Win 3.11 versions). DOS 6.22 versions are named AUTOEXEC.DOS and
CONFIG.DOS. Open them with any text editor (Notepad).
The file MSD95.TXT gives an idea how my Win95 memory configuration looks like,
running Microsoft's Diagnostics version 3.00 utility (MSD), OUTSIDE Win95.
I also included my own memory configurations, using:
- MS Windows 95's own EMM386.EXE and HIMEM.SYS,
- Helix NetRoom's RM386.EXE ver 3.04 (latest update) and
- QuarterDeck's QEMM386.SYS ver 8.01 (their latest updated release).
Read DOS95MEM.TXT to see my "outside Win95" memory configurations with all
three memory managers described above.
For my memory configurations WITH WIN95 STARTED (at a DOS prompt inside
Win95), read WIN95MEM.TXT.


* For NetRoom (Helix) or QEMM (Quarterdeck) users, you will NEED to add or
modify the following lines to your SYSTEM.INI file (found in your Windows
directory, typically C:\WINDOWS), in the [386enh] section:
SystemROMBreakPoint=false
EMMExclude=A000-FFFF
DualDisplay=true
for Windows to run with NetRoom or QEMM managers's special features enabled!
NOTE: The last QEMM upgrade version 8.00, and the last NetRoom version 3.00,
do not need the first two lines above to work with Windows, ONLY IF YOU DON'T
USE ANY OF THEIR SPECIAL FEATURES (EBIOS/Video BIOS moving to upper/extended
memory)!
The line "SystemROMBreakPoint=false" is only needed if you use QEMM's Stealth
or NetRoom's VidCloak/SysCloak features (I have no experience with 386MAX or
BlueMax).
Open SYSTEM.INI with Notepad, make the changes and save the file. You need
to restart Windows.


* Helix Cloaking Multimedia Package users: DO NOT USE CACHECLK.EXE disk cache
with the Win95 OS (it may not want to load) !
Try not to use ANY special memory management feature (QEMM's "Stealth" or
NetRoom's "VidCloak" and/or "SysCloak") that move the Video ROM/Extended ROM
BIOS to upper/extended memory or above the 1st meg! Windows 95 is not very
happy about these "moves" (some DOS programs especially are "allergic" to
these advanced "features"). These guidelines are for thgose of you who don't
need more than 625KB of low memory free in DOS mode.


* With all the TSRs/devices/drivers loaded in the upper memory area you may be
able to "squeeze" a maximum of 625KB of free conventional memory outside
Windows 95 (at DOS prompt OUTSIDE WIN95: choosing to boot with "Command prompt
only"), without using any 3rd party memory management special features (and
you'll NEVER need more than 620KB of free low RAM EVER to run ANY DOS program
or game, made in the past 3-4 years for IBM compatibles)!

NOTE: For detailed info on running Windows 95/MS-DOS 7.00 with your own 3rd
      party memory manager READ your memory manager documentation (QEMM,
      386MAX, NetRoom, BlueMax, etc...) !



... AND CREDITS

My machine is a Zenon Z-Titan 90MHz Pentium PCI, with 32MB RAM, using a
1.08GB Western Digital Caviar AC31000H EIDE hard drive, an ATI Technologies
Mach64 WinTurbo PCI with 4MB VRAM video card and an internal 28.8/14.4 kbps
Apache MicroDirect modem/fax.
I use a 17 inch 0.26 dot pitch Optiquest 4000DC 1200x1024 color match,
on-screen controls, EPA and DPMS compliant, non-interlaced monitor.
I use a Creative Labs SoundBlaster 16 ASP sound card with a Wave Blaster 2
daughter card and a double-speed proprietary IDE CD-ROM drive made by
Matsushita-Kotobuki and sold By Creative Labs as 2X OMNI-CD.
I'm running both Windows 95, and 3.11 for Workgroups+MS-DOS 6.22, with
Win95's dual-boot feature installed (in DOS mode, outside Windows, I have
625KB of free low memory).


Trademarks:

- MS-DOS 6.xx, MS-DOS 7.00,
- MS Windows 3.1x,
- MS Windows for Workgroups 3.1x and
- MS Windows 95
  are trademarks of Microsoft (COMERCIAL programs);
- DosMax 2.1 is a trademark of Phillip B. Gardner (SHAREWARE);
- NetRoom 3.x is a trademark of Helix Software (COMERCIAL);
- QEMM is a trademark of QuarterDeck Systems (COMERCIAL).


I am now working with Windows 95/MS-DOS 7.00 on my machine and I'm going
to post new tips online as soon as I'll come up with new ideas.


Regards and best of luck!