Assigning WAV Files When You Open a Folder

You can assign a different .wav file to play when you open any folder in windows explorer.

You must know a litle html
Create a .wav or midi file or use one you already have.
Save the file to the C: drive in any directory.
Go to Windows Explorer and highlight the folder
Click View on the toolbar and choose Customize this Folder.
Click Create or edit an HTML document.
Click next and click next again.
Now just insert your html code for your file and then save.
Go to your folder and it should play your file.

Helping to Reduce Modem Timeouts

If you are experiencing a lot of modem timeout with you system,
you can change the SLOWNET value in the Registry

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\
Services\Class\Net\0000 (0001 etc)

Change the SLOWNET value from 01 to 00

Enabling Fast Shutdown

To turn on this feature:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Shutdown

Create a string called FastReboot

Give it a value of 1

Showing the Windows Version on the Desktop

To show the version of Windows you are using on the desktop

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop

Create a new String Value called PaintDesktopVersion

Give it a value of 1

Reboot the computer

Finding the Win9X Product Key

C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductKey" C:\Windows\System.dat

Disabling Web View in the Win98 File Explorer

If you want to disable Web View you can either delete or rename the \Windows\Web directory. Now when you click on Web View in the Explorer, nothing will happen.

Removing Log Off Username from the Start Menu

To remove the Log Off line on your Start menu

Start RegEdit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

Create a new DWORD Value

Name it NoLogOff

Give this entry and add the value 1

Logoff and back on again to reset the registry

Restoring Your Registry

Has your registry recently been damaged? To determine whether your registry was recently damaged, restore the registry from the previous day's backup.
To restore the registry from the previous day's backup:

Hold down the CTRL key as you restart your computer.
On the Startup menu, select Safe mode command prompt only.
Type C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANREG /RESTORE, and then press ENTER.
When you are prompted, select Previous Day's Registry.
Note: If you restore a previous registry, you may need to reinstall any programs that were installed after the registry backup was made.

Hiding the Windows98 Version on the Desktop

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add a String Value
Name it PaintDesktopVersion
Give it a value of 0
Reboot the computer

Disabling the Active Desktop

Start Regedit
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Create a new Binary Value
Name it NoActiveDesktop
Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

Running the Windows Update Manager

To run the Windows Update Manger, connect to the Internet and run WUPDMGR.EXE

Disabling the Windows Update Manager

To disable the Windows Update Manager, make the following registry edit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Add ad DWORD entry called NoWindowsUpdate
Give it a value of 1

ScanReg

Windows98 has a DOS mode registry scanning program
Several switches can be used with this program

/BACKUP - Backup the registry and related system configuration files.
/RESTORE - Choose a backup to restore.
/OPT - Optimizes the Registry by removing wasted space. This will be done automatically by Win98 if there is more than 500K of wasted space
/FIX - Repair the registry.
/COMMENT="" :- Adds the specified comment to the CAB file while backing up.

Installing the Resource Kit

From the CD in the \TOOLS\RESKIT directory, you can install the Windows98 Resource Kit.
The following is an excerpt from a document included on the CD that lists all the programs that can be installed.

BATCH.EXE: Microsoft Batch Setup utility. Creates files for automated installation of Windows 98 and components.
CHDOSCP.EXE: Code Page Changer. Changes the Code Page used for MS-DOS-based programs to match Windows 98 Regional Settings.
CHECKLINKS.EXE: Link Check Wizard. Finds and eliminates dead links and shortcuts.
CLIPTRAY.EXE: Clip Tray. Optimizes and manages the Clipboard.
FAT32WIN.EXE: Fat32 Conversion Information Tool.
INFINST.EXE: Windows 98 Inf installer Utility.
LFNBACK.EXE: Long Filename Backup Utility.
MINITEL .TTF Files. Minitel font emulation files for HyperTerminal.
NETMON: Network Monitor. Service for remote monitoring of network performance on Windows 98 client machines.
QUIKTRAY.EXE: Quick Tray. Organizes the icons in the Windows 98 system tray.
POLEDIT.EXE: System Policy Editor. Sets administrative policies to define configuration settings for individual users, individual computers, or groups of users.
PWLEDIT.EXE: Windows 98 Password List Editor.
REMOTREG: Microsoft Remote Registry. Service for remotely viewing and editing the Registry on Windows 98 client machines.
RPCPP: Remote Procedure Call Print Provider. Service for administering network printers from Windows 98 machines.
SNMP Agent: Windows 98 SNMP network protocol agent.
TEXTVIEW.EXE: Text file viewer. Quickly displays the contents of text files.
TIMETHIS.EXE: Time This. Scripting tool that times how long it takes for the system to execute a given command.
TWEAKUI.EXE: Power Toy. Enhances and customizes the Windows 98 desktop.
TZEDIT.EXE: Time Zone Editor. Creates and edits time zone entries for the Date/Time icon in Control Panel.
USBVIEW.EXE: USB Viewer. USB Device information and troubleshooting tool.
WAITFOR.EXE: Scripting tool that causes the computer to wait for a signal sent over the network.
WHERE.EXE: Command-line tool that reports the location of a specified file on the hard disk.
WINDIFF.EXE: File and Directory comparison. Compares the contents of files or directories and reports differences.
WINSET.EXE. Command-line/scripting tool that sets global environment variables for Windows 98.
WSHADMIN.HLP: Windows Scripting Host Administrator's Guide. Guide to running scripts and designing applications for Windows Scripting Host.

Increasing Drive Performance

You can likely increase your Hard Drive or CD ROM performance by:

Opening up the Device Manager
Double click on the CD or Hard Drive
Click on the Settings tab
If you have a DMA box that is not grayed out, check that box
Reboot when prompted
When Win98 starts again, see if that box is still checked.
This is especially beneficial with the newer UDMA drives which are supported by Win98
This will also greatly reduce CPU utilization during hard drive activity.

Running the System File Checker

To check the integrity of key system file, you can run SFC.EXE in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory
It can restore corrupted files, check for changed or deleted system files, as well as restore default settings.

System Configuration Utility with Win98

There is a program called MSCONFIG.EXE located in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
With it you can configure your

Startup Options
CONFIG.SYS
AUTOEXEC.BAT
SYSTEM.INI
WIN.INI
Programs that are starting from the Registry
You can then easily check or uncheck any of the items in each section

Hardware Information Utility

There is a hardware diagnostics utility that is installed with Windows98 that lets you view your hardware, registry, conflicts etc.

From the Run box, enter HWINFO /UI

You can view the hardware you have, what portion of the registry is pointing to it, conflicts, drivers used, I/O, IRQ, DMA # usage, and more.

The results are somewhat color coded.

File attributes are magenta

Registry entries are green

Configuration Manger info is brown

Warnings are blue

Error messages are red

Changing the Version Displayed on the Desktop

If you display the version number of Windows98 on the desktop, you usually get something like Windows 98 4.10.1998 or whatever the release date was in the lower right-hand corner of the desktop.

You can change that to any other 20 characters (11 for "Windows 98 " and 9 for "4.10.1998")

"Windows98 " is in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KRNL386.EXE file.
"4.10.98" is in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE file.

Make copies of both files - KRNL386.EXE.ORG and USER.EXE.ORG - this is to have a backup just in case

Copy C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KRNL386.EXE to KRNL3861.EXE

Copy C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\USER.EXE to USER1.EXE

Use a hex editor (I like Ultra-Edit) to edit both files

For KRNL386.EXE search for the first instance of "Windows 98 ". It should be just before Debug Windows 98

Change this to whatever 11 characters you want

For USER.EXE search for the first instance of the version number (4.10.1998 or whatever yours displays). It should be just before Monitor%d

Change this to whatever 9 characters you want

Boot to DOS.

Copy USER1.EXE to USER.EXE

Copy KRNL3861.EXE to KRNL386.EXE

Restart the computer

Note: While I haven't had any problems with this for the past several days, I take no responsibility if this does have some issue at some future date.

Restoring the Column Display to the Start Menu

Normally with Win98, the Start Menu keeps added additional programs to the bottom on a long list.
To get it to display in multiple columns:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Right-click an unoccupied area in the right pane.
Click New / String Value.
In the name box that appears, type StartMenuScrollPrograms
Double-click this and give it a value of false