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Windows 98

Task Management

• Reboot into DOS Mode
• Type Win /D:M
• Press Enter

Windows will reboot into Safe Mode. Quickly, I might add.

Refer to the Win.com Help by typing Win /? in a DOS window (or DOS Mode) for more troubleshooting options.

One-click Restart

Create a shortcut on your desktop with the following as properties:

C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 8

Faster shut down

Sick of the options window you get when you choose Shut Down... from the Start Menu? Here's how you can ditch it:

Create a new shortcut on your desktop (right-click on a blank area and choose New >> Shortcut). Type C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE User,ExitWindows in the Command line: box.

Next time you want to shut down the computer, double-click the shortcut (you can put it on the taskbar Quicklaunch area for easy access if you want) and Windows will shut down without that annoying menu.

Rebooting Windows Only

To reboot Windows only without rebooting the whole system:

From Start choose Shut Down ... then Restart

Hold the SHIFT key until you see Starting Windows on the screen.

To boot with minimum drivers loaded hold down the CTRL key instead while rebooting.

More What's running in the background?

For an even more in-depth look at what's running in the background, go to Start-->Accessories-->System Tools-->System Information.

From here you can see right down to the bottom of the well--all 16 and 32-bit applications running or modules loaded will be listed.

Turn 'em off at random and see what happens! Or, more sensibly, don't. :)

This is a good place to look because it tells you where things are loading from and what's causing them to load, so you can zero in on "mystery guests."

What's running in the background?

Visit www.teamcti.com for a program called PRC view.

It's an absolute gem in finding applications running in the background. By far and away better then using the Task Manager.

Reviving Explorer

For all of you out there who have ever crashed explorer but not the kernel (run an alternative shell like LiteSTEP), here are two tips for getting back to a functional shell.

1. If all you want to do is shutdown, just hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and select Shutdown. Your system will be safe to turn off (as Windows will politely tell you).

2. If you are feeling lucky and don't want to go offline or end any currently running programs, just double-click with the left mouse button anywhere on the "desktop". The Task Manager will appear, and from the Run option under the File menu, you can run your shell as if you had just started Windows (for most people, run c:\windows\explorer.exe).

Find out more of what's running in the background . . .

The taskman application is fine for telling you what "application" is running, but for a true indication of the actual "tasks" running in the background, simply press Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

No, this won't reboot your computer, but will tell you all of the tasks running in the background. You can then shut down a running task (great when tasks stop responding to the system, which I use definetly too often for my taste). If you computer gets really messed up, then you can shut down the computer even if you can't get to the Start button.

Find out what's running in the background . . .

There is a cool way to find out what is running (task-wise) in the background.

Go to Start and Run...

Type in "taskman" (without quotes) and you will see what programs are running. It won't show you what drivers/devices are going, though, only the main programs.