Windows 95 Secrets

Windows 95 Secrets

Setup Switches
Easter Eggs
Startup/Shutdown screens
Installation Not on the First Drive
Uncommon Keyboard shortcuts

Setup Switches

These options are used with the Windows 95 SETUP.EXE program and change the way Windows can be installed. While case is not normally important, if the option is in upper case, the option MUST be in upper case to work.

/?	Show some but not all switches available

/c	Bypass running the disk cache program SMARTDrive

/d	Ignore the current Windows configuration if present (like WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI)

/l	Use Logitech mouse during setup

/n	Run setup without a mouse

-s	Use an alternate SETUP.INF file

/t:	Specify the folder to store setup temporary files (any files that exist in the specified folder are deleted)

/id	Skip check for free space

/ig	Special support for older Gateway and Micron computers with older BIOS

/ih	Run SCANDISK in the foreground /im Ignore memory check

/iq	Do not check for crosslinked files if SCANDISK fails, or is disabled from running by using the /is switch

/is	Do not run SCANDISK during setup

/it	Do not check for TSRs that normally interfere with Windows Setup

/IW	Skip question for license agreement

/nm	Ignore the CPU type check and install anyway. For example, Windows 95 will complain if the processor is a 386SX (like anyone is using one today), this option lets Windows install anyway.

/NTLDR	Allow installation even if a prior version of Windows is not found. This is typically used when installing a new drive, and the PC came with a crippled OEM version of Windows that will refuse to install.

/p	Pass a string of one or more options onto the Setup detection manager, separated by semicolons. See Microsoft switches document for more details. Some of the more useful options include: /p b Prompt before running each detection module /p f Ignore the current registry and rebuild a completely new one. This is very useful if the registry is completely corrupted, and you have no backup to use. /p g=3 Verbose progress - so you can see what hardware detection hangs during setup and possibly exclude it.

Easter Eggs

Product Team - Windows 95A and later: On the desktop right click on the desktop and select new folder. Name the folder "and now, the moment you've all been waiting for" and press enter. Right click on the folder again and type "we proudly present for your viewing pleasure" and press enter. Right click on the folder again and rename it to "The Microsoft Windows 95 Product Team!" and press enter. Double click on the folder to activate the Easter egg.

Product Team - Windows 95B and later - Right click on the desktop, click properties, then click on the Screen Saver tab, Choose 3-D text as the screen saver, and click on settings. In the Display Text box type "volcano", and then click ok.

Startup/Shutdown screens

To remove the startup screen, unhide the file C:\MSDOS.SYS. In the DOS box, type ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS. Exit the DOS box. Edit the file and under the [Options] section add (or change the line if present) to LOGO=0

To change the startup and/or shutdown graphic screens, you can substitute a 320x400 pixel bitmap of your choice (no other size will work). The files to replace reside in your Windows directory, and have the non-bmp names:

Windows Startup screen - logo.sys
"Please wait while Windows is shutting down" - logow.sys
"It is now safe to shut off your computer" - logos.sys

You may wish to save the originals first by renaming the file you plan to replace. For example, change LOGO.SYS to LOGO.OLD. Then copy your own bitmap (bmp) file, renamed and relocated to the Windows directory.

Installation Not on the First Drive

For expert users, Windows, in some situations, can run and boot from a second drive. Be aware this may not work. If you want to try it, the process is to first install Windows on the first physical hard disk C. This disk drive is then switched with another drive (usually changing drive jumpers if IDE). The new "first drive" without Windows must not have any extended or logical partitions.

Using System Commander to boot the OS, specific under Settings, OS Specific options, be sure that all partitions on the first drive are hidden. When Windows on the second drive is selected from the System Commander OS selection menu, it will boot properly and appear as drive C: (even though it is running from the second drive).

Microsoft does not support this configuration. We've seen it work on systems, but it also may fail to boot on your specific system (although it will not hurt anything). Please be aware that V Communications can't help you, should it not boot properly, as it appears Windows is sensitive to some hardware configurations. It may be one of the reasons Microsoft does not support it.

Uncommon Keyboard shortcuts

Shift-F10	Right-click selected item
Alt-Esc	Switch to Taskbar's "next" open window
Alt-F4	Close active window
Alt-Spacebar-C	Close active window
Alt-Spacebar-N	Minimize active window
Alt-Spacebar-R	Restore closed active window
Alt-Spacebar-X	Maximize active window
Alt-Tab	Show and Switch between open windows (hold Alt and continue to press Tab)
Ctrl-Alt-Del	Display the Close Program dialog box (with end task and shutdown options)
Ctrl-Esc	Display Start menu
Ctrl-F10	Switch focus to menu commands (in any Explorer window)
Ctrl-Shift-Tab	Rotate through dialog box tabs in reverse
Ctrl-Tab	Rotate through dialog box tabs
Ctrl-+	Autosize the columns in Explorer and some other applications (use Num-pad "+")
Windows-E	Open Explorer
Windows-F	Open the find dialog box
Windows-R	Open the run dialog box