
				FASTELL 0.11 BETA
			      by  Antti Kirjavainen

What is Fastell?
Fastell is a shell for Windows 95/98/ME. It hasn't been tested in NT4  or Windows
2000, and it wouldn't probably work, because it requires, that Windows  has  been
installed into C:\WINDOWS. I will fix this requirement in  the  next  version, so
that you can use Fastell, no matter into which directory your  Windows  has  been
installed. Fastell has no computer requirements, any computer  running  at  least
Windows 95 will do fine. 800 x 600 or higher resolution is recommended.

What does Fastell look like?
It looks like Windows Explorer, but it's a lot faster and more stable.

So why did I made few things in Fastell different, than in Explorer?
For speed. Start Menu -> Programs has been made this way  just  to  increase  the
speed of the shell. The programs don't appear in taskbar, because I haven't found
a way to make it very fast that way. It would have slowed the speed of the shell. 
And, there's Alt + Tab key combination, which you can use to switch  between app-
lications, it's very handy. I left Documents out of the start menu, because I ha-
te that thing in Explorer. It would have been very easy to add into Fastell.

How do I install Fastell?
Copy FASTELL.EXE to the same drive where your Windows is (Windows must be instal-
led to C:\WINDOWS), and open SYSTEM.INI in your Windows directory. Change the li-
ne SHELL=EXPLORER.EXE (if you are using other shell, this line contains the file-
name of that shell) to SHELL=(Fastell's path), eg. if you copied FASTELL.EXE  to
C:\WINDOWS, the line is SHELL=C:\WINDOWS\FASTELL.EXE. Then,reboot your computer.
Remember, that shell usually works only from the same drive, where Windows is.

What are the known bugs (2 bugs)?
If you open and close desktop many times, it leaves memory in use. You  can  free
it by using Fastell settings -> Free up memory. Always on top has caused  crashes
when using Visual Basic with it on. Other Microsoft Visual  Studio  programs  may
also cause this kind of behaving. The function has worked with 99,9 % of programs
so it's almost safe to use, just switch it off before opening Visual Studio prog-
rams. If it causes crashes with other applications,please send e-mail to me. The-
se bugs will be fixed in the next version.

What will the next version be?
The next version will probably be 1.0. It will contain many new  settings,  pass-
words and Login-screen example. You can also change  Fastell's  colors  and  make
shortcuts with Fastell. I have a long list of, what I will add  to  Fastell,  you
will see them, when the new version comes out.

If Fastell says that a DLL- or OCX-file is not found download VB6 components from
my page: http://www.sunpoint.net/~akirjavainen



Please send comments, ideas, bug reports, etc. to akirjavainen@mail.htk.fi