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Windows 95

Boot Up / Power Down

I got this one from the system commander startup.

To turn off the anoying Windows logo at startup, put:

LOGO=0

in your msdos.sys file.

This speeds up booting and allows you to see cool driver and BIOS info that you normally lose

Stopping the Reboot Now

This is pretty helpful when you install something new and you get the famous nagging Reboot Now? ...

1. Answer No to the above question (if applicable).
2. Choose Start, Shut Down ..., Restart.
3. Hold the SHIFT key whilst clicking on Yes.
4. Only Windows will "reboot"

Another one ...
Hold the SHIFT key while your 'puter boots up, it'll boot up in Safe Mode.

Saving time on Windows reboot

To just restart Windows (not the entire computer), select "Restart the computer" from the Shutdown dialog box and hold the SHIFT key down as you click OK.

This will restart Windows, but not reset your computer, which is faster than rebooting if all you want to do is reset your software.

When you click on the Start button and then choose Shut Down from the menu, you can hit Enter afterwards instead of having to click on the OK button.

One button Shutdown

Want a quick way to shut down your PC? Create a shortcut on the desktop with the following command line:

C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows

This has the same effect as clicking on the Start button and then clicking on Shut Down.

1. check your start/programs/startup programs
2. check your c:\windows\win.ini for the line "load = "
3. Run regedit, and do an Edit/Find and type in "RunServicesOnce"
Then click Find Next. After searching a minute or two, you should see keys called Run, RunOnce, RunOnceEx, RunServices, and RunServicesOnce. Click on the Run and RunServices keys to see what starts up from the registry.

This information is useful to track down system startup problems, or when you hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and say "what the heck are all those things?"

Often, you can remove most of them without affecting your systems operation in any negative way. Just be careful.

During bootup, if you don't want to see all of the manufacturers' device lines as the devices are recognized (such as "CD-ROM found on MCD000"), edit your config.sys file and put a >nul at the end of each line that you don't want to see.

Example:
device=c:\windows\system\blah.sys >nul

This sends whatever messages to the nul device (nothing), as opposed to the default device which is the display driver (your monitor).

Go Away Logo!

To no longer see the ridiculous Windows 95 logo at the time of startup, edit the MSDOS.SYS file and add the line: LOGO=0 under where it says [Options].

Example:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=0
BootGUI=1
LOGO=0

Where'd DOS go?

If you have a need to boot into DOS during bootup instead of Windows 95 taking over automatically, you have two options:

1) You can press the F8 key as soon as you see "Starting Windows 95 . . ." on the screen, or

2) You can edit your MSDOS.SYS and put this line under the [Options] section: BootMenu=1

Powering down the correct way . . .

Always go to Start / Shutdown and select "Shutdown" before turning the power off on your system. Failure to do this will leave lots of nasty temp files around on your hard disk and can cause you problems.

Welcome to YOUR Windows

If you want to change the main bootup image welcoming you to Windows 95, follow the instructions in the  "It's MY Windows now!" tip, except open up LOGO.SYS from the root directory (C:\).

It's MY Windows now!

Want to customize the look of your Windows? All you have to do is open up LOGOS.SYS and LOGOW.SYS in Window's Paint program (under Accessories). These are cleverly disguised bitmaps (.bmp) and can be changed to whatever you like. Just make sure you keep the dimensions the same.

The LOGOS.SYS (found in the Windows directory) is the image you see when you shut your computer off (the screen that says "It's now safe to turn off your computer"), and the LOGOW.SYS (also found in the Windows directory) is what you see before you get the "It's now safe to turn off . . ." message.