To Change The Startup And Logoff Screens

Startup Screen
Create a 320x400 bitmap in the root directory and name it LOGO.SYS
You can use LOGOW.SYS file in the Windows directory as a starter
Logoff Screens
There are several files called LOGOX.SYS
They are actually bitmaps 320x400 that just have a different extension
The hidden one in the root directory LOGO.SYS is the startup logo.
There are two files in the Windows directory.
LOGOW.SYS is the Wait while Shutting down ... screen
LOGOS.SYS is the You may now shut-off or Reboot screen
To edit them, rename them with a BMP extension and use your favorite graphic editor
You can edit these files or create you own
They just need to be the same size

To Remove The Network Neighborhood Icon

Start POLEDIT. It is on the CD in \Admin\Apptools\Poledit
Open Registry
Select LocalUser
Select Shell
Select Restrictions
Select Hide Network Neighborhood

Remove The Tildes In Short Filenames

Open Regedit
Go to Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Right Click on the Right pane
Select New / Hex
Add the value NameNumericTail= 0

To Change The My Computer Or Recycle Bin Icon

Open Regedit
Find My Computer or Recycle Bin
Tab to the left panel
Double click on the highlighted line
Double click on DefaultIcon in the left panel
Double click on DefaultIcon right panel
Type in the value for the new icon
Note: DLL files can be used. Specify the location of the new icon with the filename,#

To Speed Up The Start Menu

Start the REGEDIT program
Search for the word desktop
This should be in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID / {00021400...
Right Click on the right panel
Pick NEW / String Value.
Name it MenuShowDelay, all one word.
Select a value from 1-10, 1 being the fastest.
Exit REGEDIT
Restart Windows

Adding In Old Windows Groups

If you are setup to dual boot between your old Win 3.x and want to add in the old groups, just click on the *.GRP file in your old windows directory. The programs will be added to your list under Programs in the task bar.
Note: Any DLL's the programs require will need to be copied.

Turning Off Desktop Icons

If you want to turn off all the icons on your desktop:
Start the System Policy Editor
Select File / Open Registry
Select Local User
Select Shell / Restrictions
Select Hide all items on Desktop
All Icons will now be hidden.
Note: One side effect is the your CD will no longer automatically play when it is inserted.

Renaming The Recycle Bin

Start the Registry Editor

Type Ctrl-F to bring up the Find Menu
In the Find What box type Recycle
Double click on the Recycle Bin in the right pane
Type in the new name under Value Data
Restart Win95

Turn Off Window Animation

You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize windows. This tip makes navigating Windows 95 a lot faster especially for those that don't have super fast video cards.
Open Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Control panel
Desktop
WindowMetrics
Right Mouse Click an empty space in the right panel.
Select new/string value.
Name the new value MinAnimate.
Doubleclick on the new string value (MinAnimate) and click on "Modify"
Enter a value of 0 for Off or 1 for On then hit
Close Regedit and all programs then reboot.

Restoring Corrupted Icons

If you use a graphic Card and you change the resolution, sometimes the icons are bad.
End Win95 and restart. When you see the starting message press F8 then type standard.
After this start of Win95 exit and restart.
Change back to your Resolution and restart.
The icons should be corrected.

Quick Access To Your Desktop

How do you access your darn desktop when you have a ton of applications open?
Well you could right click on the taskbar and do a minimize all, but that can be slow.
Instead:
Open a browser window (double-click on "My Computer")
If there is no toolbar, select View from the menu and select Toolbar.
Then from the dropdown list-box in the toolbar select desktop.
Now minimize it and forget about it.
The next time you want to access your desktop just click the desktop window on the taskbar.
As long as you don't close the window when you shutdown, it will reopen when you start windows again.
Additional Note: You can also drag the Desktop folder to the start menu. Then you just press Ctrl-ESC and click on Desktop

Creating Document Scraps

If you are using Microsoft Word 7.0,
you can highlight a section of the document then drag and drop the highlighted area to your desktop. Windows will create a file for you with a name something like "Document Scrap From..." followed by the first few words you selected

Turning On Autoarrange For Folders

To make all folders keep AutoArrange turned on:
Open up an existing folder
Select View / Arrange
Arrange the Icons the way you would like, (e.g. Name, Size,etc.)
Select View / Arrange again
Select AutoArrange
Press the Ctrl-key while you close the window.
This folder should now have AutoArrange always selected.
This should allow you to create new folders that have AutoArrange selected by default.
You only need to specify by Name, Size, etc. if you want to change it from the default you set above.

Removing The Shortcut Icon Arrows

Open REGEDIT.EXE
Open the Key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Open the Key LNKFILE
Delete the value IsShortcut
Open the next Key PIFFILE
Delete the value IsShortcut
Restart the Win95

Minimizing All Windows

To minimize all windows:
Press Ctrl-ESC ESC to bring up the Task Bar
Right Mouse Click on an open area of the Task Bar
Select Minimize all Windows
This makes it a lot easier to minimize windows when all your open applications are full screen.
With the Microsoft Keyboard, you can accomplish the same thing by pressing the Window-M key.

Create A Control Panel Menu Directly Below The Start Button

Click the Start Button once with your right mouse button. You should see a right-button menu (called a context menu because it offers different choices in different contexts).
You should see the items Open, Explore, and Find on the context menu. Click Explore with your left mouse button.
An Explorer file management window should open. A directory tree should appear in the left pane, with the right pane displaying the contents of the Start Menu folder.
Right-click any empty space within the right pane. A context menu should appear. Click New and then Folder.
The Explorer will create a highlighted icon called New Folder. Type in the following string, all on one line, replacing the words New Folder with this new line. You must type the period, the curly braces, all four hyphens, and the hexadecimal numbers exactly as shown. After the closing curly brace, press Enter.
Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Other Folders can be added following the same instructions.
Dial-Up Networking.{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}
Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Inbox.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Recycle Bin.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Network Neighborhood.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Desktop.{00021400-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
Briefcase.{85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Fonts.{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

Adding Control Panel Icons To The Desktop

This is an easy one..
Simply open up the Control Panel.
Right Click and Drag the icon you want to your desktop or folder.
This will create a shortcut for that icon.
It could come in handy if there are always certain items you need to get to quickly.

Changing The Desktop And Explorer Folder Icons

The following steps will change the icon that is displayed as the default Folder icon.
Start the Registry Editor.
Search for "Shell Icons".
This will bring you to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / explorer / Shell Icons.
Double-click on the one has the value name of "3" in the right pane.
Type in the new icon you want to use.
If you have a DLL file specified, you need to count for the location of the particular icon you want to use, starting at 0.
To reset the icon cache, use a program such as Tweak with comes with the PowerToys from Microsoft.
Note: I haven't experimented with too many of the other icon changes possible.

Removing Shortcut Arrows

One problem when removing shortcut arrows is that
if you delete a desktop item, it will remove it.
If it is a shortcut it will just remove the icon.
If it is not a shortcut, then it will remove the program.
Having the little icon arrow is one way to tell the difference

Adding The Desktop To Your Start Menu

Create a shortcut to the Explorer on your Desktop
Right click on the Start button
Choose Open
Go into the Programs Folder
Drag the Windows Explorer Icon on your Desktop using the RIGHT Mouse button
Choose copy here
Change the command line switch
Right click on the Shortcut you created
Choose Properties
Choose Shortcut
Type in following command line as target:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /root,
The last "," is vital!
If you want the two pane Explorer view ad the switch ,/e
Then rename the Shortcut to "Desktop" or whatever you choose and drag the icon onto the start button.