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BOOT CAMP 062
POWERTOYS AND TWEAK UI
Every time we mention the Windows utility Tweak UI in Faqs!
Facts! Fax! -- and that seems to be most weeks -- we receive a small flurry of
letters and e-mails from readers having trouble finding, installing and
occasionally using the software. We've got the message; this week's Boot Camp
takes a closer look at this extremely useful little program.
Tweak UI (the UI stands for user interface) is one of a
suite of 'tools' for Windows 95 called
PowerToys, they are designed to help advanced or adventurous PC users customise
Windows and make it easier to use. PowerToys were developed by the same team
that created Windows 95 and is distributed as unsupported freeware, which
basically means if anything goes wrong you can't expect Microsoft to bale you
out. That's fair enough as it is made quite clear before installation that you
use them entirely at your own risk, and after all, they are free... As it
happens problems are rare, you can install and use PowerToys with a reasonable
degree of confidence but please don't complain to us if it all goes horribly
wrong!
PowerToys was created specifically for Windows 95 and
Microsoft warns that it is not suitable for Windows 98 PCs. There are good
reasons for this -- several utilities won't work with Win 98 -- but many users,
including myself, have been using various PowerToys utilities on Windows 98 for
the past 18 months without any major problems. However, the most useful element
of PowerToys -- namely Tweak UI -- is included on the Windows 98 CD-ROM, so
there's no need to miss out; we'll deal with the installation issues in a moment,
but first, what are the PowerToys and what can they do for you?
There are several versions of PowerToys doing the rounds on
the Internet and published on computer magazine cover mount CD-ROMs. They
usually contain between 12 and 15 utilities, most of which you probably won't
ever need or be interested in, but for the record you can expect to see some or
all of the following:
CabView -- reads the contents of 'cabinet' folders (usually
found on installation discs)
Clock -- displays a large analogue or digital clock on your
screen
Contents Menu -- fast way of opening up files and folders
Desktop Menu -- a handy taskbar icon that lets you see the
contents of your desktop
Explore From Here -- quickly opens Windows Explorer
Find 1.2 -- drag and drop enhancement for Find on the Start
menu
FlexiCD -- Taskbar icon for playing audio CDs
Quick Res -- Taskbar icon for changing screen resolution
Send To X -- adds extra options to the Send To menu
Shortcut Target Menu -- displays a shortcut's target
properties by right-clicking on the icon
Telephony Location Selector -- telephone dialler utility for
laptop/mobile PC users
Tweak UI -- customise Windows and the way it works
XMouse -- focus follows mouse pointer, without clicking
Tweak UI deserves a bit more of an explanation. Basically it
makes the kind of detailed changes to Windows that are usually only possible by
editing the Registry files, (a no-go area for novices!). It covers a lot of
ground including mouse and menu responses, getting rid of little annoyances
like those arrows on shortcut icons, clearing out the Document History folder,
deleting redundant references to programs on the Add/Remove list, customising
Windows Explorer, repairing icons, the Registry, file associations, and so on. Suffice
it to say your PC is incomplete without it, but where do you start?
First find your PowerToys. If it's on a freebie magazine CD-ROM
the best advice we can give is to follow the supplied installation instructions
as they vary from disc to disc. PowerToys is available from numerous sites
around the Internet, including Microsoft's own but it tends to move around a
bit. The most recent known address is listed under Contacts. When you find it
you will be invited to download a file called 'W95powertoy.exe', it's not very
large and should only take a couple of minutes with a 28.8kbs modem. Save the
file in a new folder that you created in advance in Windows Explorer using the
'New' item on the File menu. Call it 'Powertoys' or something that you will
remember and can later find when the download is complete.
Open up your Powertoys folder and double click on
W95powertoy.exe. It will automatically decompress itself to create around 30 or
so new files. Before you do anything look for one called Readme.txt, and read
it! It contains a lot of important information, including how to uninstall the
software!
Early releases of PowerToys used to be a swine to install but
the current versions are fairly painless. To install a particular PowerToy -- including
Tweak UI -- the usual procedure is to right-click on the relevant *.inf file
and choose the 'Install' option from the menu that appears, it's as simple as
that. PowerToys with a '.exe' extension can be run by double clicking on the
file.
Windows 98 users should load their CD-ROM, either wait for
it to automatically start and click the 'Browse this CD button' or go to
Windows Explorer and open the CD from there. Look for a folder called Tools,
open it, then Reskit, and lastly PowerToys. Read the Readme file then right
click on Tweakui.inf and it will install itself.
Once installed a Tweak UI icon appears in Control Panel.
When opened you will find all of the options neatly tabbed. Be warned; it is a
powerful weapon and can make changes that might be difficult to undo, so read
and understand what each function does before you use it!
Next week -- Inside Outlook Express
JARGON FILTER
DECOMPRESS
Files sent over the Internet are often 'compressed' to make
them smaller and faster to send. However, in order to use the files they have
to be decompressed or extracted on the host PC. Some compressed files come with
their own automatic extraction utility, others -- usually with the extension
*.zip -- depend on a separate program on the PC to 'unzip' the files
REGISTRY
A large, constantly changing file in Windows 95 and 98
containing details of how your PC is set up and configuration information for
all the programs stored on the hard disc
TOOLS
Small programs or applications that modify or change the way
things work or happen on a PC
TOP TIP
If you are constantly fussing over fonts for your documents then
there's a very handy feature in Windows 95 and 98 that allows you to quickly compare
typefaces according to style and design. From the Start menu go to Settings,
then Control Panel and double click the Fonts icon. Go to the View drop-down menu
and click on 'List Fonts by Similarity'. Now all you have to do is click on the
drop down 'List Fonts…', choose a font and you will be presented with list of
comparable typefaces, ranked according to similarity.
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