... Windows Tips 'n Tricks 11 ...
As he teaches, so he learns.

The Mouse utility on the Windows Control Panel lets you change all kinds of mouse button and pointer settings. The Mouse Properties dialog box contains three tabs:

• Buttons. Use the options on this tab to switch between a right-handed or left-handed button configuration (left button: normal select, normal drag; right button: context menu, special drag … or versa visa, visa versa, versa versa, visa visa, whatever); slow down or speed up the mouse's double-click speed; or (not found in all Windows versions) turn on or off the ClickLock feature that enables you to highlight or drag through a selection without continuously holding down the mouse button.

• Pointers (Win 98 calls this tab "Motion"). With the options on this tab, you can change the icon that is used as the mouse pointer when you're doing different stuff in Windows.

• Pointer Options. The options on the Pointer Options tab enable you to modify the speed of the mouse pointer; add or remove mouse trails, and add a new mouse if you get one after installing Windows.

Lost mouse, broken mouse, complete lack of mousing-space on desktop: There's a single solution to all of these problems. Go have lunch. No, seriously, you can:

1. Choose Control Panel, Accessibility Options.

2. Click the Mouse tab.

3. Click the Use MouseKeys box.

Now you can use the keyboard for everything the mouse may have done. For example, the 5 key performs left-clicks, the INS holds down the mouse button while dragging, and DEL releases the button.

Liven up your Windows environment by choosing a different mouse pointer. Depending on the software that was installed for your mouse, you may have quite a selection of pointers to choose from. Even putting aesthetics and whimsy aside, a mouse pointer that's larger than the Windows Standard may provide some relief from eye strain. To choose a different mouse pointer, click Start, point to Settings, and choose Control Panel. Double-click the Mouse icon. In the Mouse Properties dialog box, click the Pointers tab. Choose a pointer scheme from the Scheme drop-down menu. The set of pointers available in that scheme will be displayed in the box below it. Click OK to apply the change.

You can make your mouse pointer easier to track on your screen if you turn on the mouse trails, or cursor "ghosts" that shadow the mouse pointer as it moves. Mouse trails are especially useful in presentations to aid your audience in following your movements. To enable mouse trails, click the Start button, point to Settings, and select Control Panel. Double-click the Mouse icon and click the Motion tab. Select Show Pointer Trails and use the slide bar to adjust the length of the trails. Click OK to apply the change.

Being able to slide your windows around comes in handy when you're trying to use Help options or selecting options in a program. You can easily move your windows around your screen if you're NOT running them in expanded mode (full screen). To move a window, just click and hold on the very top of the window you want to move. Then, when you move your mouse, the window will move along with it.

One way to delete this icon is to edit the Registry. (As always, back up your Registry files--User.dat and System.dat, both hidden files in the Windows folder--first.) For an easier way, see the section "Registry" on these pages (see menu).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace.

Click on each of the keys under NameSpace until "The Microsoft Network" appears under Data in the right pane. Once you've located the correct key, right-mouse-click it (in the left pane), select Delete, and click Yes to confirm. Close the Registry Editor, refresh your desktop (click it once, then press F5), and watch as the MSN icon disappears.

The way I get this off my desktop (hey, real estate is expensive here in NYC), is to use the TweakUI program.

There are several ways to select multiple files in a folder. If you want to select just a few, hold down the Ctrl button while you left-click your selections. Also, if you have multiple selections that you DO want, and just a few that you DON'T want, then hold down the Ctrl button, click those files you DO NOT want, then go to the Edit menu and select Invert Selection and presto. Everything you did not select is now selected. You can also left-click a single file, press Ctrl, then A, and everything within the folder will now be selected.

To install multiple language support in Windows, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. Click the Windows Setup tab.
4. Click the Multilanguage Support check box to select it.
5. Click OK.

To enable support for a specific language after doing the above, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click Keyboard.
2. On the Language tab, click Add.
3. Click the language you want to use and then click OK.
4. Click OK.

If you have Internet Explorer 4.0 or 5.0 installed, you can turn My Computer into a toolbar by dragging it from your desktop and dropping it onto a Web Page. Now you have a page listing your computer's key components. You can now make that new page one of your Favorites and access any component of your computer from that page.

The My Computer window, like so many other parts of Windows 98, has a fairly direct connection to the Internet. Choose View, Toolbars and you'll see that you can display an Address bar. While this has a drop-down list of the drives on your computer, it is also receptive to Web page addresses. Type a URL there, such as http://www.geocities.com/buddychai/ and the My Computer window changes to an Internet Explorer window displaying that Web page.

Did you notice that there's a "Work Offline" choice in the File menu? Although My Computer can act as a Web browser, looking more and more like Internet Explorer, there are times when you don't want it to, such as when you want to look at files on your own computer. That's when you choose Work Offline to keep Windows from repeatedly trying to connect to the Net.

Wouldn't you feel a lot more special if your "My Computer" had a more personal name, so it's really yours? It's so easy to do and so rewarding:

1. On your desktop, click the My Computer icon.
2. Press F2, or click the name, or right click and click Rename.
3. Type a new name (such as "Hal's Computer") in the name box.

Or, if you're feeling less kindly toward your PC, you could type something like, "The One-Eyed Electronic Beast That Takes Up All My Time" ... You're finished. And you never have to feel like one of the nameless, faceless masses again.

No, that's not supposed to be silly. That's exactly what you are going to do.

1. Right-click My Computer and click Properties. Here's a little trick: Hold down your Alt key and double click any file, and you'll get the Properties window.
2. GENERAL tab … gives you just that, general information: the System version, to whom it is registered, the registration number, the name of the manufacturer, and the amount of physical memory (RAM) you have.
3. DEVICE MANAGER tab … gives you a load of information: drives, modem, keyboard, monitor, mouse, and most other hardware on your computer. Just click away there and the information becomes available. You can also remove some hardware readings that might not be correct, and which is then corrected upon rebooting.
4. HARDWARE PROFILE tab … forget it, leave it alone.
5. SYSTEM RESOURCES tab … again, tells how much total RAM, how much of it is free, your virtual memory (32 bit, for example), whether or not you have disk compression on your computer, and other details that might not be important to know.

You can always click the question mark in the upper right hand corner, drag it down to any part of the window, release it, and get an explanation of what you are looking at.

Buttons ought to be obvious. If the toolbar buttons in the My Computer window aren't clear to you, add some text labels.

1. Right-click toward the right-end of the toolbar where there isn't yet any button.
2. In the pop-up menu, click the Text Labels choice to put a check beside it. Now each button should have its own underlying explanatory name.

Open a My Computer window. Now open the View menu and choose Toolbars, Links. A new toolbar joins the standard tools at the top of the My Computer display area. On the left end of the Links toolbar is a Toolbar Control Handle. This is a vertical bar with a raised 3-D appearance. Place the mouse cursor above it and it changes to a two-headed arrow cursor. Drag this handle to the right or left to display more or less of the toolbar.

Drilling down through several folders in My Computer can leave a trail of open windows behind you and make a mess of your desktop. Close them all in one quick step by holding down the Shift key while clicking the Close button of the last window you opened.