Advanced Find options
There may be times when you can not remember the name of a file. Windows’ Find utility has several options for locating your file. Complete the dialog box in Find with whatever information you have for the file on the Name & Location, Date, and Advanced tabs. For example, perhaps you had worked on a Microsoft Word document but can not find it. Select START, Find, Files Or Folders. On the Look In line, click the down arrow and select the drive on which the file is located, or if you can not recall it, select My Computer. Now click the Date tab, select the Find All Files, click the down arrow next to this option and select Last Accessed. Next select Between and complete both date fields with last known date. Finally, select the Advanced tab, click the down arrow next to the Of Type box, and select Microsoft Word, click Find Now, and the resulting list will include all Microsoft Word documents opened on that last known date.

Alphabetical programs
When you add a new program to your computer, it appears at the end of the list in the Programs menu. If you use Win98/Me, you can re-sort this list so it appears in alphabetical order by clicking the Start button, Programs. Put your mouse cursor anywhere in the Programs menu and right-click. Now in the pop-up menu, click Sort By Name. 

Automated updates
Although Win98 can’t automate as much of the “automated updates” process as WinMe, it can do part of it. Visit the Windows Update site, click the Product Updates button and Windows Update will check your system for installed components. When it has finished this task, select the Windows Critical Update Notification component from the list of available downloads. Once installed, this component adds a new task icon to your Scheduled Tasks window so you can now set it to run at a convenient time.

Character map
The Character Map accessory displays many special symbols you can use alongside your standard letters and numbers. If you use the same symbol over and over, there’s no need to open the Character Map every time. When you do it the first time, notice the ALT-XXXX (the "xxxx" replaced by some number) in the lower-right corner of the window. Next time you want this symbol don’t use the Character Map just turn on Num Lock, press the ALT key, and hold it down while you press those numbers on the keypad. The Character Map is also useful when you type words that have foreign character accents. To use this tool, select Start, Program, Accessories, and Character Map. In the dropdown list under Font, select the one you are currently using in your document. Now locate the character you need, double-click it to add this one to the Characters To Copy box, and then click the Copy button. At this point switch over to your document, place the cursor where you would like the character to appear, and select that application’s Paste command. Once accustomed to using the Character Map, you can add a character to a document using a simple keystroke. For example, inside the Character Map, select any character, and you will see a four-digit number next to Keystroke: Alt+ in the lower-right corner of the dialog box. You need to memorize this number. Henceforth, from inside any document, turn on the Num Lock key on your keyboard, hold down the Alt key, type this four-digit number on your numeric keypad, and the character appears on your screen.

Closing Windows
There are three ways to close a window. Almost everyone knows that a window can be closed with the “X” caption button at the top right of a screen. You can also close it using the icon in any open window’s upper-left corner of the screen. It may vary depending on the particular window, but closing a window works the same—double-click the “X” or icon. If you have numerous windows open and you need to minimize all of them quickly, just click a blank area of your taskbar with your right mouse button and choose Minimize All Windows from the menu that pops up. 

Computer’s clock
“Road Warriors” may be interested in this tip. To adjust the time zone on your system’s clock to reflect the current time when traveling about the country, double-click the Time Display in the Taskbar to open the Date/Time Properties dialog box, click the Time Zone tab and select the correct time zone from the drop-down list. If the time zone honors daylight savings, be sure to click the Automatically Adjust Clock for Daylight Savings Changes” check box and then click OK. If, on the other hand, your computer’s internal clock runs a little slow, you can use the Internet to sync it with the National Institute of Standards and Technology server with the official atomic time. The freeware utility for Win9x/NT is available at http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?58056:5295731.

Computer sounds
You can change the default sounds your computer makes to denote an error, illegal action, etc., by clicking Start, Settings, Control Panel, and then double-clicking the Sounds icon. Next choose the event you want to change in the top list. Now use the Name drop-down list to change the sound associated with a particular action and click OK. If you want to preview the sound before you apply the change, select the sound and click the Play button to the right of the drop-down list.

Cursor’s blink rate
If the cursor’s blink rate is too slow, it can be mistaken for the letter “I.” If too fast, you may have difficulty seeing it. To change the blinking rate, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, double-click the Keyboard icon, click the Speed tab, adjust the Cursor Blink Rate slider, and then click OK.

Desktop resolution
At times we have all wished for a way to put more information on our desktop. If you are one of these folks, there is an answer to this dilemma, e. g. the greater the resolution, the more Win95 squeezes on the desktop, which solves this problem but it does make everything smaller. If you can live with this solution, then right-click the desktop, select Properties, and in the resulting Display Properties dialog box click the Settings tab. In the Desktop control of the Display Area box, click and drag the lever closer to More and the numbers under the lever and the desktop preview will change. Now click OK twice. When the new look appears on your screen, click Yes to accept the change or click No to go back to the Settings tab.

Disable User profiles
To disable User Profiles, restart your system, and when you see the Logon dialog box, click Cancel. Open the Control Panel, double-click Passwords, and select the User Profiles tab. Select All Users Of This PC Use The Same Preferences And Desktop, and click OK. Restart Win95, and user profiles will be disabled.

Disable User Logon
After disabling the User Profiles, unfortunately the Logon dialog box still appears every time you start Win95. To make it disappear, change the current password to no password. Open the Control Panel, double-click the Passwords icons, and on the Change Passwords tab, click the Change Windows Password button. On the Old Password line, enter your current password. Press the Tab key to move down to the New Password line, then press Enter. You'll see a dialog box indicating that your password has been successfully changed.

DVD
Win98 supports the new DVD computer drives. DVD drives can read both audio CD-ROMs and DVD disks. To play a DVD disc in your DVD player, you simply put the disk into your drive and wait for the DVD Player window to open. If the window doesn't open automatically, you can open it manually by clicking the Start button and then choosing Programs, Accessories, Multimedia, and DVD Player. After the DVD Player window opens, you can play, pause, stop, and eject the disk by using the same buttons you use when operating the CD Player.

Dual capability
If you have a big desk, Win98 and WinMe let you do two things. First, you can plug a special TV card inside your computer that lets you watch TV on the computer monitor. Second, you can plug a second video card inside your computer, put a second monitor onto your desk, and watch Windows on two monitors all at the same time!

Faster connections
Two (2) telephones + 2 modems = 1 connection that will give you more bandwidth. By using Win98 Dial-Up Networking, you can add a second modem to your original connection and wind up with aggregated bandwidth that speeds up the connecting process. After you install the second modem, choose the Properties box of the desired Windows Dial-Up Networking connection profile, click the Multilink tab, and add the second modem to the connection. Your Internet Service Provider or dial-up server must support Multilink PPP. The modems can be from different vendors and can even connect at different speeds.

File extensions
Win98 hides filename extensions from you by default. If you need or want to see those filename extensions, from any folder, choose View, Folder Options. Next, click the View tab. In the Advanced settings area, scroll down to the Files and Folders section, and click to remove the check mark from the "Hide file extensions for known file types" check box. Finally click OK.

Filenames
If you’re a Windows user who has recently upgraded to Win98, you may not realize that your filenames have been freed, so to speak. With the upgrade Microsoft now enables you to take full advantage of your allowable 255 characters by using multiple words and spaces between the words. Punctuation and some other symbols are not allowed, but you can use @, #, $, %, and ). If you try to pass off an illegal character, Win98 arrests your attention with an on-screen error message. In those cases, creativity can bail you out, such as substituting the word “third” for 1/3.

Folder appearance
With Win98 you can change the appearance of your folders to a Web style by clicking on Start, Settings, Folder Options, and then clicking the radio button for Web style. If you then want to customize your views, select the Custom button and click the Settings button and OK.

Summary
At this point if you're not going to buy a new computer but are thinking of upgrading Win95/98, it's probably better to move directly from one of them to WinMe. The Win98 FAT32 file allocation system and some of the other improvements in OS Release 2 (OSR2) aren't compatible with all hardware that handles Win95. According to the June 2001 PC Magazine, Microsoft will discontinue support for Win95 by December 31, 2001 and Win98/NT 4.0 Works Station by June 30, 2003. So, perhaps a more prudent move would be to bite the bullet and buy a new computer later this year with WinXP pre-installed rather than upgrade your current computer with a new OS.