Add Microsoft Plus! 95 on NT 4.0
If you are dual booting and have Windows 95's Plus! pack installed on the system as well as NT 4.0, you can copy the files "themes.cpl" and "themes.exe" from your Win95 SYSTEM subfolder and copy them to your WINNT\SYSTEM32 folder.
After rebooting, you should now see a "Desktop Themes" icon in Windows NT's Control Panel and be able to take full advantage of any installed desktop themes.
Run Explorer in Separate Memory Process
You can have each Explorer window run in a separate process if you use this registry trick. This will ensure in most cases that you still have taskbar and desktop access when a particular Explorer window freezes. In order to activate this feature, do the following:
- Run the registry editor and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer
- Create a new DWORD value called "DesktopProcess" (no quotes)
- Set it's value to "1" (no quotes).
- Exit the Registry Editor, reboot the system.
To undo this, delete the value created in step two.
Run 16-bit Programs in Separate Memory Process
When you run a 16-bit application in Windows NT 4.0, you are offered the option via a check-box of whether or not to run 16-bit programs in a separate memory space. This prevents 16-bit programs from crashing your other applications if the 16-bit applications crash. In order to run 16-bit programs in a separate memory space:
- Make sure you check "Run in separate memory space" when running 16-bit programs from the Start Menu's "Run" command.
If you have a shortcut to a 16-bit program you can right click-it and select "Properties." There is an option within the shortcut that allows you to load the application into a separate memory space (if it is 16-bits) each time it is run from that particular shortcut. You can also enable the running of 16-bit programs in a separate memory space by default:
- Simply by editing the Registry Editor
- Navigating to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ WOW\
- Once there, set the "defaultSeparateVDM" value to "yes" (no quotes) in all lowercase letters.
Note: When you run 16-bit applications, the check-box
will not be checked if you used the registry trick,
but the feature will be enabled.
Quick Control Panel
In Windows NT 4.0 you can gain faster access to the Control Panel by using this shortcut. Follow these steps to add a cascading Quick Control Panel
menu directly on your Start Menu.
- Right-click the Start button, choose "Explore."
- Right-click in the right-hand pane and choose "New, Folder."
- Name it: (No quotes)
"Quick Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
Now, when you click on the Start button, you will see "Quick Control Panel" at the top. Move the mouse over it and see your new Quick Control Panel that includes all the NT 4.0 Control Panel icons.
Reducing Windows NT 4.0 Start Menu Delay
To reduce the time it takes for the Start Menu to display the next subfolder as the cursor moves over it, run REGEDIT and edit:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\ Desktop
Double click on MenuShowDelay and set it to 100. Must reboot for this to take effect.
Add Items To SendTo Folder
If you would like the ability to send files to a program not normally listed on the SendTo Folder, you can easily add the desired program
to your SendTo menu by following these simple steps. To see your current list of available SendTo programs, right click a file on your desktop and move the mouse over "SendTo." To add new SendTo items, do this:
- Create a shortcut to the desired program, move the shortcut you created to C:\WINNT\Profiles\UserId\SendTo.
- Substitute the desired user-name for "UserID" above and substitute your Windows NT 4.0 path for "WINNT" in the above example.
Suggested additions are: Recycle Bin, NotePad, Command Prompt, and any other frequently used application that would be a useful inclusion in your "SendTo" menu. Just be careful not to clutter it too much.
Add a Windows Key to your keyboard
If you wish you had a Windows Key on your keyboard but you don't, and you don't want to shell out money for a new keyboard when your existing one is
perfectly fine, then make one. All you must do to complete the operation is the Keyboard Remap Kernel Toy and your Right Ctrl or Right Alt key.
You can download the kernel toy for keyboard remapping at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/bin/W95KRNLTOYS.EXE
Just click the Windows 95 Keyboard Remap link. Download the file to any location of your choice, then open Keyremap.exe to extract its contents.
Right-click the Keyremap.inf file and select install.
Next, open the Control Panel, open Keyboard properties, and select the Remap tab. Under Right-hand Side, select the key you want to use--such as Right
Alt--in the left-hand box. In the right-hand box (still under Right-hand Side), select Windows. Click OK, and you now have a Windows key. To test it
press the key you used once and the start menu pops up.
Web Browse in a new Memory Process
In Internet Explorer 4.01/5.0 and higher, if you right-click on "Internet
Explorer" on your desktop and choose "Properties" there is an optional check-box for:
"Browse in a new process" or "Launch browser in a separate process"
This means, if checked, that Windows will open each
instance of Internet Explorer in its own separate memory-space process. So if
one Internet Explorer window crashes, the others should still continue to work
normally.
