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Tips & Tweaks February 2005 • Vol.3 Issue 2	Add To My Personal Library
PC Yesterday Tips For Maintaining Windows 3.x/95 Systems

You must decompress DriveSpace drives before you upgrade to Windows Me/2000/XP or you will be unable to access the files on those drives.

Is there a faster way to copy a diskette than by using Windows Explorer? (Win95)

If you want to copy the entire contents of a diskette, double-click My Computer, right-click 3½ Floppy (A:), and select Copy Disk. Follow the instructions Windows provides. I am currently using DriveSpace to compress my drive and gain additional file storage space.

I am considering upgrading to a later version of Windows. Will I still be able to use DriveSpace? (Win95)

Windows 98 supports DriveSpace but cannot convert DriveSpace files to FAT32, the more efficient file system the newer OS uses. Windows Me recognizes DriveSpace drives but cannot decompress and open files on them. Windows 2000/XP do not recognize DriveSpace drives at all. Consequently, if you are upgrading to WinMe or later, you must decompress your DriveSpace drives if you want to access the information on them. For instructions on decompressing your drive, refer to the next tip.

A second option if you have two drives (physical or virtual) and you are installing Win2000/XP is to install the new OS on the second drive. This establishes a dual-boot scenario and lets you continue to boot into Win95 and access the compressed drive.

I need to install Windows on a computer that does not have a CD-ROM drive, and my installation media is on CD. How can I install Windows without purchasing a CD-ROM drive? (Win3.x/95)

There are two solutions to this dilemma, both of which require access to a PC with a CD-ROM drive. If you have a network and one computer has a CD-ROM drive, use the network connection to copy the entire CD from the drive to a folder on the second computer's hard drive. If you do not have a network, download and install (on both PCs) a compression utility such as WinZip (www.winzip.com) that will let you span multiple floppy diskettes. Create a compressed archive of the installation CD-ROM on the floppy. Copy the entire archive to a folder on the CD-less PC and decompress it. When the contents of the CD-ROM are present on the second computer's hard drive, locate the Setup program and run it from there.

If you have exceeded Win3.x's limit on program groups (40) or items (50), consolidate or rearrange them or you will be unable to add new ones.

Program Manager will not let me create a new program group. What is wrong? (Win3.x).

Win3.x limits the number of program groups to 40 and the number of items within a group to 50. If you are at your limit, delete unwanted groups or items or combine ones you want to keep.

I always forget to empty the Recycle Bin. Can Windows empty it automatically? (Win95)

Microsoft designed the Recycle Bin as a fail-safe that lets you restore deleted files. As such, there is no way to instruct Windows to empty the Recycle Bin automatically. However, you can bypass the Recycle Bin and delete files immediately and permanently.

1. Select the file in Windows Explorer or on the Desktop.

2. Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you also press the DELETE key. (You can also press the SHIFT key as you drag the item to the Recycle Bin.) Click Yes when the Confirm File Delete dialog box appears.

How can I decompress my compressed DriveSpace files and drives? (Win95)

DriveSpace decompresses each file it opens, so if you open a file and save it to a decompressed media or drive, it will decompress it. To decompress an entire drive, open DriveSpace and click the drive you are decompressing. From the Drive menu, select the Decompress Drive option. Click Start and DriveSpace will scan the drive for errors and decompress the drive.

You must have enough room on your drive for all the decompressed files once decompression is complete. If your drive is full, delete files or move (open and resave) them to diskettes or a Zip drive to free enough space.

Windows 3.x users will not find any leading tax preparation software that supports their OS, but if they have an Internet connection and access to email, they can work with an online e-file company that offers tax preparation assistance.

I would like to use computerized tax preparation software to prepare my taxes this year. Do any of the programs support my OS? (Win3.x/95)

None of the leading, current-generation programs run on Win3.x machines, and unfortunately, because tax laws change every year, you cannot purchase an older, Win3.x-compliant version and obtain reliable results. Additionally, many of the larger online tax preparation sites require Internet Explorer 5 or above (which Win3.x does not support). However, many authorized IRS e-file providers that offer tax preparation assistance, such as Easy-Efile (www.easy-efile.com), support any computer with an Internet connection and access to email.

Win95 users have more options. Industry leader Intuit TurboTax (www.turbotax.com) and H&R Block's TaxCut (www.hrblock.com), support Win95 provided you have at least 32MB of RAM and the necessary hard drive space (65MB for TurboTax; 150MB for TaxCut) for the installation. However, unless you also have IE 5.5 or a more recent version installed, you will not be able to take advantage of online features including electronic filing. TaxACT (www.taxact.com), from 2nd Story Software, also supports Win95 and has less taxing system requirements: 16MB of RAM, 37MB of hard drive space, and IE 4 or above for online features.

Can I restore groups in Program Manager? (Win3.x)

It's easy to restore three system groups (Main, Accessories, and Games). Win3.1 also restores the Startup group (it will be empty). Win3.1 will restore the default items in each group, leaving other user modifications intact. Win3.0 will restore the three default groups (users will lose modifications) and may experience other problems. Win3.0 users and Win3.1 users who want to restore the default program items and lose their modifications should visit the Microsoft Knowledge Base (support.microsoft.com) and review article No. 86895 before they begin. In both OSes Windows will leave all other groups intact.

From within Program Manager, open the File menu and select Run. At the command line prompt, type setup /p (note the space between setup and /p) and click OK. Windows will read the Setup.ini file and rebuild the existing groups. For a list of the program items Win3.x will restore, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for article No. 84773.

There is no way to re-create other groups you accidentally delete or damage; you must re-create them manually. However, it is possible for a single, corrupt group to prevent Windows from displaying other groups. If you are receiving error messages regarding a specific damaged group, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for article No. 81214 for instructions.

By editing the FILES setting in CONFIG.SYS you may reduce the number of errors that occur when you try to run DOS and its programs.

When I attempt to open a DOS program inside Windows, I receive an error message. What is causing this? (Win95)

Several issues can cause Windows to generate an error message when you try to run DOS. One of the most common, and easiest to fix, is an insufficiency of file handles. File handles are numbers Windows assigns to certain files it opens. The OS uses these file handles as internal identifiers. The default number of file handles in Win95 is 30, and the OS can easily consume those. Increase the number of file handles to at least 80 for best DOS performance; you may need to experiment with this setting to find the optimum number.

1. From the Start menu, select Run, and type sysedit in the Open field. Click OK.

2. Locate the C:\CONFIG.SYS window (look at the top of each window for the titles) and click it to bring it to the front.

3. Locate the FILES= setting and change it to FILES=80 (or whatever number you like; any number up to 200 is safe). If you do not see a FILES= setting, type one on a new line at the bottom of the file.

4. Close the window and click Yes to accept the prompt. Restart your computer.

Windows' Disk Defragmenter utility will not run. How can I resolve this issue (Win95)?

Numerous issues will prevent Disk Defragmenter from executing properly. First, you should terminate any background programs, such as antivirus protection, before you run the utility.

You can start by checking the System Tray, a group of icons at the bottom right of the screen, to see what is running. Right-click each and select Close or Exit. You may also want to disable your screen saver. Right-click the Desktop and select Properties. Click the Screen Saver tab and select None from the Screen saver drop-down menu. Click OK.

You can also run Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode, which prevents background programs from running. To enter Safe Mode, restart your computer and press the F5 key when you see the Windows Startup menu. (You can also press F8 and select Safe Mode from the Startup menu.) Then, you can run Disk Defragmenter as usual.

Disk Defragmenter may also hang if your hard drive is too full. The amount of space you need depends on the level of fragmentation, but you should have at least 10% (usually more) available drive space. Delete unneeded files and empty the Recycle Bin before you defrag your drive. (This also makes the defragmentation process much faster.)

by Jennifer Farwell

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