Win95 FAQ Part 9 of 14: Maintanence
gor...@intouch.bc.ca
Last-Modified: 1998/11/08
Posting-Frequency: Every two months
URL: http://www.orca.bc.ca/win95/faq9.htm
Subject: 9. Maintaining a clean installation of Windows 95, and annoyances
(Details at the Win95 Annoyances FAQ)
* 9.1. How do I remove (this desktop item)...
+ 9.1.1. ...Inbox?
+ 9.1.2. ...Network Neighborhood?
+ 9.1.3. ...My Computer?
o 9.1.3.1. How do I rename My Computer?
+ 9.1.4. ...Recycle Bin?
o 9.1.4.1. How do I rename the Recycle Bin?
+ 9.1.5. ...The Microsoft Network (tm) ?
* 9.2. How do I remove (this annoying startup program)...
+ 9.2.1. ...programs in the StartUp group in the Start
Menu?
+ 9.2.2. ...programs that don't seem to be in the StartUp
group?
+ 9.2.3. ...programs that aren't even listed in WIN.INI or
The Registry!
* 9.3. How do I remove Start Menu entries?
+ 9.3.1. ...on computers using User Profiles on networks?
(They keep coming back!)
* 9.4. How do I de-activate that dumb "Documents" menu?
* 9.5. How do I completely remove...
+ 9.5.1. ...Windows 95 components?
+ 9.5.2. ...programs "Designed for Windows 95"?
+ 9.5.3. ...drivers for unused hardware and printers?
+ 9.5.4. ...Internet Explorer (tm) ?
+ 9.5.5. ...The Microsoft Network?
+ 9.5.6. ...dumb Windows 3.x programs? (How to use third
party un-installers)
+ 9.5.7. ...old DOS and Windows 3.x files?
+ 9.5.8. ...Windows 95?
* 9.6. How do I stop the constant hard drive access?
+ 9.6.1. Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory?
+ 9.6.2. More on memory and disk cache tuning
* 9.7. Does RAM compression really work? (no.)
* 9.8. How do I stop the constant floppy drive access?
* 9.9. How do I stop the constant CD-ROM access when there's no
disk in the drive?
* 9.10. How do I set up user profiles so I can keep my own
desktop clean?
+ 9.10.1. Why user profiles is a really cool and useful
feature, even for stand alone computers!
* 9.11. What are .gid files? Are they safe to remove?
* 9.12. What are "mscreate.dir" files? Are they safe to remove?
* 9.13. Can I remove the "failsafe.drv" directory?
* 9.14. Can I remove the "~mssetup.qt" directory"
* 9.15. Top ten mis-conceptions about removing annoying items
+ 9.15.1. How to back up your Registry before you goof it
up
OK, so you don't want the Net Neighborhood cluttering your desktop
because you only have an Internet connection, or your Win95 takes up
too much hard drive space, or whatever. Maybe your system runs too
slow and you want to speed it up. Maybe you heard about some cool
utility that'll speed up your computer. Read about it here.
More important, read the Win95 Annoyances FAQ for more details, if
you think I'm missing something. This is where most of this info came
from. BE WARNED: I do not recommend Registry hacking via REGEDIT to
clean up your system! All my tips here demonstrate methods without
using REGEDIT; rather they use Policy Editor. POLEDIT works with
stand alone computers to directly edit the Registry, as well as
creating policy files. Current versions of TweakUI
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/powertoys.htm) also do the
job of removing annoying items without too much damage.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.1. How do I remove this desktop item...
* 9.1.1. ...Inbox?
If you don't have MS Exchange installed, you can remove this icon
by just right-clicking it and selecting "Delete". If you don't use it
but it's in your computer, run Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup, and
de-select all the MS Exchange and MS Fax components. The next time you
re-start the Inbox icon will not be there.
If you want to keep Exchange but still remove the Inbox, you'll have
to resort to a registry hack or TweakUI.
* 9.1.2. ...Network Neighborhood?
If all you use is Internet access and don't use any other Win95
networking, you can run Network Control Panel, and remove all network
components but the Dial-up Adapter and TCP/IP. This will remove the
Net Neighborhood and all other Win95 clients from your system.
NOTE: This will also disable password caching!
If you use Win95 clients as well, you can hide it with Policy
Editor in Default User/Shell/Hide Network Neighborhood, or with
TweakUI. You can also hide individual components of Net Hood. NetWare
NDS networks have additional Net Hood restrictions you can enforce as
well.
* 9.1.3. ...My Computer?
You can't hide the icon itself, because it still points to Control
Panel, Printers, and Dial-up networking. You can hide the drives
themselves, however, from Policy Editor; Default User/Shell/Hide
drives in My Computer.
According to Annoyances, you can also make up a "blank" icon
(using any freeware icon editor) and use MS Plus to change the icon to
it. Also, rename the "My Computer" to a single space. The icon's still
there, but no one will see it. You might also want to drag this
invisible icon to an inconspicuous place on your desktop.
The Zero Administration Kit
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/zak/)also contains tools to hide My
Computer and a host of other icons.
* 9.1.3.1. How do I rename My Computer?
Right-click on it and hit "Rename".
* 9.1.4. ...Recycle Bin?
This requires a Registry Hack. The Zero Administration kit also
does this.
* 9.1.4.1. How do I rename the Recycle Bin?
This also requires a Registry Hack but Norton Utilities for Win95
allows you to rename it. Other Recycle Bin hacks (such as Desktop
Toilet) do the job as well.
* 9.1.5. ...The Microsoft Network (TM) icon?
I would just say Don't Use MSN, but you can right-click on the icon
and delete it; it's just it will re-appear whenever you log in to MSN.
If you choose not to use MSN (Good for you!) you can remove it from
Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup. The MSN icon won't go away until
the next reboot, but it will go away. TweakUI will let you remove it
too.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.2. How do I remove...
* 9.2.1. ...programs in the startup group in the Start Menu?
The Start Menu (And desktop as well) are just directories with
shortcuts inside. You can right-click on the Start Menu and hit Open,
then find the startup folder and delete the shortcuts in it. You can
also right-click on the Taskbar, get Properties, and in Start Menu
Items tab, hit "Remove".
* 9.2.2. ...programs that don't seem to be in the startup group?
Some Win 3.1 thinking programmers (like at ATI) put their programs in
WIN.INI's load= line in the [boot] section. Don't they trust
themselves with the Registry yet? You can run SYSEDIT.EXE and delete
the offending load= line from WIN.INI.
Programs that insert themselves in the Registry, using the
CurrentVersion\Run key, run before WIN.INI gets touched. You can
remove these using Policy Editor; Default Computer/System/Run.
Interesting note: "Run Services" shows programs that run even before
you get a log in prompt. Some anti-virus software may insert
themselves here (Some viruses could insert themselves here too!)
* 9.2.3. ...programs that aren't even listed in WIN.INI or The
Registry! (IE: Norton Anti-Virus)
Programs can actually start in one of a few places. Check all of
these:
* The Startup group in the Start Menu (Right-click on the Start
button and hit Open or Explore)
* WIN.INI (Start / Run / SYSEDIT.EXE, look in WIN.INI for load= or
run= lines)
* System Agent (If you have MS Plus you can cause programs to start
on bootup regardless of user profiles)
* The Registry part 1
(HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or
RunServices)
* The Registry part 2 (HKCU\
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run / this one can vary
for each user if you have User Profiles)
You can access the Registry parts using POLEDIT as well as REGEDIT. If
it's not in one of these you can always run that program's uninstaller
(provided they included one).
------------------------------
Subject: 9.3. How do I remove Start Menu entries?
Right-click on the Taskbar and get Properties, get Start Menu
Programs, and hit "Remove". Then pick and choose.
You can also right-click on the Start button and hit Open. Then pick
and choose the shortcuts you want to delete.
* 9.3.1. ...on computers using User Profiles on networks? (They keep
coming back!)
Yes I know. Win95's supposed to update the network copy of the
shortcuts on log-out, but sometimes they just keep coming back. Delete
them from your Home directory or MAIL directory as well to keep them
from coming back.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.4. How do I de-activate that dumb "Documents" menu?
Normally you can right-click on the Taskbar, hit "Start Menu
Programs", and hit "Clear Documents Menu" to clear it. But it will
just fill up as you work with Win95.
MS has a Power Toy that clears this folder on exit. TweakUI 1.1
includes this feature. Try that before you try any of the hacks below.
There's a Registry Hack that relocates the Documents menu (the
RECENT folder) to the Recycle Bin, and if you have "Remove
immediately" turned on it will keep that menu clean, but there IS a
safer way.
In AUTOEXEC.BAT include this line:
DEL %WINDIR%\RECENT\*.*
An even more effective way to keep the documents menu clean, and still
enjoy its functionality during a single Win95 session, is to insert a
command into System Agent, if you have MS Plus! installed. Write a
batch file with the above command in it, then add it into System
Agent. Schedule it to run "On Startup". This method won't work if you
use User Profiles, but there's a work-around for that if you used
WINSET to copy the %USERNAME% variable. Use this style of batch
file instead:
DEL %WINDIR%\PROFILES\%USERNAME%\RECENT\*.*
NOTE: DOS programs run from System Agent should have "Background:
Always Suspend" turned OFF! Also, instead of inserting the program
itself into System Agent, insert its PIF file instead.
Additional NOTE: You can run PIF files from the Registry, from load=
in WIN.INI, or in the startup group as well, in case you don't have
System Agent.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.5. How do I completely remove...
* 9.5.1. ...Windows 95 components?
All the OS components are in Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup. You
can add and remove them from there, and Win95 deletes the required
files from your hard disk as well.
Other additional components you add in this requester (like dial-up
scripting) are removable from the main Install/Uninstall tab.
* 9.5.2. ...programs "Designed for Windows 95"?
All programs Designed for Win95 have an uninstaller you can access
from Add/Remove Programs/Install/Uninstall. If not, complain to the
publisher of the program. If that doesn't work, complain to Microsoft,
who awarded the logo to them.
A program's uninstaller will remove its components and Registry
entries, if properly written. If the program included extra
subsystems, such as DirectX or QuickTime, their uninstaller will
usually leave them for other programs to use. These extra subsystems
should also have their own uninstaller.
* 9.5.3. ...drivers for unused hardware and printers?
Printers are rather conveniently removed; if Explorer realizes you
removed a printer and no other printer uses its drivers, it will offer
to delete the offending files.
Other hardware drivers will remain, however. So, if you want to remove
files used by a given piece of hardware, run Device Manager and
bring up that device's properties. Bring up the "Driver" tab, copy
this list where the driver files are, and delete them after you remove
that device. You have to look BEFORE you remove the device, and not
AFTER, or the list disappears with the device entry.
* 9.5.4. ...Internet Explorer (TM) ?
If you use MS-Plus you need to remove Internet Explorer from Plus'
uninstaller. IEXPLORE 2.0 will have its own uninstaller, but the
uninstaller will keep the Internet Setup Wizard and its control
panel entry in tact. You can always re-run the setup wizard even if
you installed a different browser to replace IEXPLORE. It also keeps
the Internet Mail client for MS-Exchange installed, which won't
disappear unless you remove Exchange.
NOTE: According to Win95 Annoyances, IEXPLORE will keep many pieces of
itself in the system after you uninstall it this way. IEXPLORE 2.0
does a better job of uninstalling itself, but it still keeps the Setup
Wizard, mail client for Exchange, and auto-dialer in tact. You should
keep these really, but you can delete the "Program
Files/Plus!/Microsoft Internet" folder afterwards.
To keep the file type registrations in tact, you should re-install
your browser of choice after you uninstall Internet Explorer.
IEXPLORE's uninstaller will destroy any changes you made to .HTM and
.HTML file type entries.
* 9.5.5. ...The Microsoft Network?
Remove the BillNet icon from the Desktop, then remove BillNet from
Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup,. This will remove the main MSN
control program and the Exchange mail client, but it will install a
"Set up the Microsoft Network" installer in its place. You can simply
delete the Program Files/The Microsoft Network folder completely
afterwards, even though it says "This will impact one or more
registered programs." Big deal.
Win95 Annoyances says the BillNet icon's Delete option goes away after
you remove it from Add/Remove Programs/Windows Setup. I found,
however, that the icon will go away by itself after you re-start.
There's always TweakUI as well.
* 9.5.6. ...dumb Windows 3.x programs? (How to use third party
uninstallers)
Get a decent Designed for Win95 uninstaller if you want the
flexibility of removing Win 3.1 apps cleanly.
The only uninstaller which actually works (that I saw, anyway) is
CleanSweep 95 from Quarterdeck, but it only works if you install
the Win 3.1 program AFTER you install CleanSweep.
To use CleanSweep, just try running any program called "SETUP" or
"INSTALL" or any number of variants. The CleanSweep monitor kicks in
and asks you if you want to monitor the installation. On occasion, a
Setup program might not like this (and crash the install monitor), in
which case you can manually start logging (by clicking on the Install
Monitor in the Taskbar) before running the setup program, and manually
stop it.
Also available now is Remove-IT 95 by Vertisoft. This program does a
great job of completely nuking The Microsoft Network, including all
Registry entries.
My Boss, Jim Farewell, firmly believes you should use a "Professional
Uninstaller" to monitor all app installations, including Designed
for Win95 ones. OK, have it your way. Just be prepared.
* 9.5.7. ...old DOS and Windows 3.x files?
Win95 Setup will maintain your old DOS and Windows, if you chose to
install on top of your existing Windows setup. Later on, you can
remove the old DOS and Windows files from Add/Remove
Programs/Install/uninstall.
If you installed Win95 in a different directory, you can also simply
delete the old DOS and Windows folders in Explorer. Win95 Setup
would've included your old DOS directory in your path, however, so
maybe leave that one alone until you decide you don't need the old DOS
utilities anymore.
* 9.5.8. ...Windows 95?
You can also uninstall Win95 from Add/Remove
Programs/Install/uninstall, if you installed on top of your existing
Windows. If you installed in a different directory, however...
1. Re-boot the computer with your old DOS disk
2. From the DOS prompt, type SYS C: (This restores the original DOS
system files)
3. Rename CONFIG.DOS to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.DOS to AUTOEXEC.BAT
4. Re-boot off the hard drive
Then you can remove your Win95 directory, PROGRA~1 directory, and any
hidden or system files you don't recognize. The easiest way to do this
is run Win 3.1 File Manager, and have "Show Hidden/System Files"
turned on in View/File Types".
------------------------------
Subject: 9.6. How do I stop the constant hard drive access?
Win95 is always swapping between its RAM and the hard drive's swap
file, especially on 8 MB systems or systems with several programs
running at once. To ease the swapping:
1. Edit SYSTEM.INI; add this to the [vcache] section:
[vcache]
maxfilecache=1024 (on 16 MB systems, or 512 on 8 MB systems)
2. Right click on My Computer, hit Properties, hit "Performance", and
go through these settings:
* File system/hard disk: read ahead size: 16 KB (Any smaller will
make Win95 unstable)
* File System/CD-ROM caching: reduce to around 250 KB, no less, and
pick the "right" type of read-ahead access for your speed of
CD-ROM (Making a double-speed drive use a quad-speed read-ahead
doesn't always work!)
* Virtual memory: Let Windows manage VM; it keeps the swap file as
%WINDIR%\WIN386.SWP which you can erase in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Remove
any swap file-related entries in SYSTEM.INI also.
You will find these settings give the quietest hard drives, even with
disk compression used!
NOTE: Norton Navigator will cause additional disk swapping, because it
maintains more shortcuts in the Start Menu which will verify that
their targets exist.
* 9.6.1. Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory?
If you let Win95 manage virtual memory, it will try to grow/shrink the
swap file as required. On systems with low disk space this is actually
a GOOD thing, because it doesn't instantly eat hard drive space. On
systems with large hard drives this will become an annoyance, and the
swap file will fragment, slowing down swapping.
Others (many others) suggest letting the swap file grow is a GOOD
thing on big systems, because large programs can "Bottom-out" on fixed
swap files. If you choose to let Win95 manage virtual memory, include
this line somewhere in AUTOEXEC.BAT:
DEL C:\WIN95\WIN386.SWP
So when your computer re-starts Win95 will re-build the swap file
unfragmented. While you're at it, you can kill the contents of the
TEMP directory the same way (DELTREE /Y C:\WIN95\TEMP\*.*).
* 9.6.2. More on memory and disk cache tuning
Alex Nichol explained a few things to me about the "Typical role of
this machine" setting in My Computer / Properties. He explains that
the "Typical Role" affects two special caches; the path cache
(Directory cache?) and filename cache. Since a machine designated as a
"Network Server" often has several different files open at once, it
has larger filename and path caches. "Notebook Computer" also sets
aside larger path and filename caches so you're using less battery
power accessing the filenames and directories.
This setting does not affect the main file cache (VCACHE) however, nor
would it affect any real mode disk caching such as SmartDrive for
devices driven with DOS drivers. You can adjust VCACHE in SYSTEM.INI,
and if you use SmartDrive at all you can specify two parameters for
file cache size as you always could in DOS.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.7. Does RAM compression really work? (No.)
Those programs were for Win 3.1 apps that ate ridiculous amounts of
GDI memory (System Resources), where they fixed inadequacies in the
operating system. Win95 has larger resource limits, and properly
written Win32 programs won't use them... as much.
Please save your money and effort, and stay away from this bogus
software. If you really need to run 500 programs at once, get Windows
NT Workstation. Or get an Amiga.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.8. How do I stop the constant floppy drive access?
This is evidence of shortcuts and PIF files pointing to files on
floppy disks.
When Win95 builds its Start Menu, it checks all the shortcuts to see
that they point to something intelligent. This will lead to floppy
access when you view the Documents menu, for example.
Whenever you run a DOS program, Win95 builds a PIF file for it. If the
program ran from a removable disk (like a floppy or CD-ROM) it will
store the PIF in %WINDIR%\PIF.
To stop the constant floppy access from these shortcuts, right-click
on the hard drive with Win95 in it and hit "Find...", then in the
search space, type "*.lnk;*.pif", then hit the Advanced tab and in the
"Containing Text" box, type "A:". Hit Find.
That search should generate a list of shortcuts pointing to drive A,
including those in your RECENT, and PIF folders. Delete them from this
window. Don't delete any shortcuts in the "SendTo" folder, but you
should be able to safely delete the rest. The random floppy access
will stop once you do.
To avoid getting this random disk access again, avoid launching
documents and programs off floppy disks. Instead, open documents from
the program they came from, and run DOS programs by opening a DOS
prompt first, then switching to A: and running it from there.
Also see how to Delete the Documents menu on startup.
NOTE: Norton Navigator will cause even more floppy access, because it
maintains more shortcuts at a time, especially floppy file shortcuts!
------------------------------
Subject: 9.9. How do I stop the constant CD-ROM access when there's no disk in the drive?
Win95's CDFS auto-detects disks when inserted, so Explorer can
properly update the drive and folder windows. It also looks for an
AutoPlayer on the disk (autoplay.inf) and will launch it. Because of
this continuous checking, the CD-ROM drive light will flash. If it's
an IDE drive, your HD light will flash along with it.
You could use real mode CD-ROM drivers and MSCDEX instead, but this
leads to very pathetic performance. I would say ignore it and don't
worry, because this auto-detect takes about 0% processor time. But if
you insist on being annoyed by it:
Bring up My Computer/Properties and select Device Manager. Bring up
properties for the CD-ROM drive, and turn off "Auto-Insert
Notification". This is also advisable for CD-ROM changer owners,
otherwise it will scan all of your platters when you insert the
cartridge. Maybe turn it on for the first platter and leave it off for
the rest; CD-ROM changers show up as multiple drives, because each
platter has its own SCSI LUN ID.
TweakUI also lets you turn off autoplay, but it does not stop
auto-insert notification, so it won't have any effect on this
annoyance.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.10. How do I set up user profiles so I can keep my own desktop clean?
User Profiles go a long way in keeping your computer clean, if you
have several users using it.
Go to Passwords Control Panel (which is always there even for
non-networked machines) and in the User Profiles tab, select "Each
user has their own settings". Also turn on the Custom Desktop and
Custom Start Menu.
* 9.10.1. Why user profiles is a really cool and useful feature,
even for stand alone computers!
Read all about it in Page 7 here. You can keep custom settings
for every Win32 app, not just for the desktop and start menu. It's
also good if you destroy your Registry by accident; at least half of
it is saved.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.11. What are .gid files? Are they safe to remove?
.GID files are help index files. They include word lists for the
matching help file.
Yes they're safe to remove, but when you access the help file next
time, WINHLP32 will re-build the .GID file. Also, some Win32 programs
require the .GID file be present. To re-build a deleted .GID file,
open the help file from Explorer.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.12. What are "mscreate.dir" files? Are they safe to remove?
These are directory index files that MS Office "Fast Find" makes when
you first access a directory. You can remove these, but FastFind will
re-create them when you access the folder again. To keep them from
coming back, remove the Fast Find shortcuts from your Startup group.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.13. Can I remove the "failsafe.drv" directory?
If you don't use disk compression you can remove this. Otherwise
don't. Win95 uses the programs here to undo interrupted compression
tasks. The programs in here are actually Win 3.1 programs, that run in
the special DOSX environment, to do compressed drive conversions and
such.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.14. Can I remove the "~mssetup.qt" directory"
I don't know why MS Office 95 leaves this thing there, but yes, you
can remove it. It only contains another directory called ~pp.t which
is equally useless.
------------------------------
Subject: 9.15. Top ten misconceptions about annoying items
10. Microsoft blatantly put them there as ads
9. Microsoft blatantly put them there to take up disk space
8. You have to use REGEDIT to remove them
7. You need a RAM compression program to run Win95 (NOT!)
6. Letting Win95 manage virtual memory is a good thing (heh heh...)
5. Win95 removes competing programs (nonsense! I use WP 6.1 and it
doesn't disappear, though Win95 Annoyances claims that programs can
disappear)
4. You need third-party uninstallers for Win95 programs (Get the Win95
programs fixed!)
3. You can happily delete DLLs etc not listed in WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI
(But what about the Registry?)
2. You can delete SYSTEM.DAT (Not unless you want to re-install
Win95... heh heh)
1. Win95 scans your hard drive and reports its contents to Microsoft
(Big Brother is watching you... not)
* 9.15.1. How to back up your Registry before you goof it up
Yes, you will probably try one of the registry hacks you read about in
Win95 Annoyances. Well, before you do so, boot to "Command prompt
only", and do this:
CD %WINDIR%
ATTRIB -H -S -R *.DAT
COPY SYSTEM.DAT SYSTEM.BAK
COPY USER.DAT USER.BAK
Then you can re-boot and happily tweak away using REGEDIT and POLEDIT.
If you do screw up and you can't re-start Win95, then go back into
command prompt only and re-copy SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT.
SYSTEM.DAT is more critical than USER.DAT; the distinction is more
important when you use User Profiles, because each user has their
own USER.DAT.
--
==============================================================================
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