
From: gordonf@vcn.bc.ca (Gordon Fecyk)
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.setup.win95,comp.os.ms-windows.networking.win95,comp.os.ms-windows.apps.compatibility.win95,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Windows 95 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Part 9 of 14
Followup-To: comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.setup.win95,comp.os.ms-windows.networking.win95,comp.os.ms-windows.apps.compatibility.win95
Date: 14 May 1996 01:46:09 GMT
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Summary: These postings list many questions asked in said newsgroups,
         and answers them as best as I can.  I make references to other
         Web sites and FAQs when appropriate.  Visit the WWW home of
         this FAQ (http://www.intouch.bc.ca/win95) for the appropriate
         links.  This section is the 9th one: Maintanence and Annoyances
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Archive-name: windows/win95/faq/part09
Last-Modified: 1996/04/29
URL: http://www.intouch.bc.ca/win95/faq9.htm

9) Maintaining a clean installation of 
Windows 95, and annoyances 

(Details at the Win95 Annoyances FAQ) 

How do I remove (this desktop item)... 
...Inbox? 
...Network Neighborhood? 
...My Computer? 
How do I rename My Computer? 
...Recycle Bin? 
How do I rename the Recycle Bin? 
...The Microsoft Network (tm) ? 
How do I remove (this annoying startup program)... 
...programs in the StartUp group in the Start Menu? 
...programs that don't seem to be in the StartUp group? 
...programs that aren't even listed in WIN.INI or The Registry! 
(IE: Norton Anti-Virus) 
How do I remove Start Menu entries? 
...on computers using User Profiles on networks? (They keep 
coming back!) 
How do I de-activate that dumb "Documents" menu? 
How do I completely remove... 
...Windows 95 components? 
...programs "Designed for Windows 95"? 
...drivers for unused hardware and printers? 
...Internet Explorer (tm) ? 
...The Microsoft Network? 
...dumb Windows 3.x programs? (How to use third party 
un-installers) 
...old DOS and Windows 3.x files? 
...Windows 95? 
How do I stop the constant hard drive access? 
Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory? 
Does RAM compression really work? (No.) 
How do I stop the constant floppy drive access? 
How do I stop the constant CD-ROM access when there's no 
disk in the drive? 
How do I set up user profiles so I can keep my own desktop 
clean? 
Why user profiles is a really cool and useful feature, even for 
stand alone computers! 
What are .gid files? Are they safe to remove? 
What are "mscreate.dir" files? Are they safe to remove? 
Can I remove the "failsafe.drv" directory? 
Can I remove the "~mssetup.qt" directory" 
Top ten mis-conceptions about removing annoying items 
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 a 'Net 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. 

NOTE: For some un-fathomable reason I couldn't reach 
www.creativelement.com, where the original annoyances FAQ 
resides. As a result, I can't link to any of its pages! So, no links to 
Registry hacks I'm afraid. If you have links complete with 
bookmarks (Maybe your connection's better than mine; i*Star 
sucks somtimes) pass them on to me please. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove The 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 and you 
want to get rid of it, 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 this _Registry Hack._ 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove 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. You can also hide 
individual components of Net Hood. NetWare NDS networks have 
additional Net Hood restrictions you can enforce as well. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove 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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I rename My Computer? 

Right-click on it and hit "Rename". 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove the Recycle Bin? 

This requires a _Registry Hack._ 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I rename the Recycle Bin? 

This also requres 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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove 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 must delete the 
icon BEFORE you de-install MSN or the Delete option goes away. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove 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". 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove programs that don't seem to be in the StartUp 
group? 

Some Win 3.1 thinking programmers (like at ATI) put their programs 
in SYSTEM.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 SYSTEM.INI. 

Programs that insert themselves in the Registry run before 
SYSTEM.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!) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I remove programs that aren't even listed in 
SYSTEM.INI or The Registry! (IE: Norton Anti-Virus) 

I haven't figured Norton Anti-Virus out yet! That's so weird; they 
aren't in the load=, or in the Registry, or even in AUTOEXEC.BAT; 
yet the anti-virus monitor can still load! I think they hack into one of 
the Win95 core system files somehow. 

The best bet is to un-install the offending program with its un-installer. 
All "Designed for Win95" programs have an un-installer. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 

...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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 

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 SYSTEM.INI, or in the StartUp group as well, in case you 
don't have System Agent. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove 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/Un-install tab. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove programs "Designed for Windows 
95"? 

All programs Designed for Win95 have an un-installer you can access 
from Add/Remove Programs/Install/Un-install. 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 un-installer will remove its components and Registry 
entries, if properly written. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove 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 disapears with the device entry. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove Internet Explorer (tm) ? 

If you use MS-Plus you need to remove Internet Explorer from Plus' 
un-installer. IEXPLORE 2.0 will have its own un-installer, but the 
un-installer 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 disapear 
unless you remove Exchange. 

NOTE: According to Win95 Annoyances, IEXPLORE will keep 
many pieces of itself in the system after you un-install it this way. 
IEXPLORE 2.0 does a better job of un-installing 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 un-install Internet Explorer. IEXPLORE's 
un-installer will destroy any changes you made to .HTM and .HTML 
file type entries. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove 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. 
So, remove the icon first, then un-install BillNet. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove dumb Windows 3.x programs? 
(How to use third party un-installers) 

Get a decent Designed for Win95 un-installer if you want the flexibility 
of removing Win 3.1 apps cleanly. 

The only un-installer which actually works (that I saw, anyways) 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. 

My Boss Jim Farewell, firmly believes you should use a "Professional 
Un-Installer" to monitor all app installations, including Designed for 
Win95 ones. OK, have it your way. Just be prepared. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove 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/Un-Install. 

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I completely remove Windows 95? 

You can also un-install Win95 from Add/Remove 
Programs/Install/Un-Install, if you installed on top of your existing 
Windows. If you installed in a different directory, however... 

Re-boot the computer with your old DOS disk 
From the DOS prompt, type SYS C: (This restores the original 
DOS system files) 
Rename CONFIG.DOS to CONFIG.SYS and 
AUTOEXEC.DOS to AUTOEXEC.BAT 
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". 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 these two lines to the [vcache] section: 

minfilecache=384 (At least keep some cache there)
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 un-stable) 
File System/CD-ROM caching: reduce to around 250 KB, no less 
Virtual memory: manually manage the swap file, and pick a fixed 
swap file size: 20 MB for 8 MB systems, 32 MB for 16 MB 
systems 

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory? 

Only if you're low on disk space should you let Windows manage 
virtual memory, otherwise a fragmented swap file will slow down 
program swapping. Specify a fixed swap file size as per the 
suggestions above. 

Win95 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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Does RAM compression really work? (No.) 

Those programs were for Win 3.1 programs that ate ridculous 
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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I stop the constant floppy drive access? 

This is evident 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! 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 

Why user profiles is a really cool and useful feature, even 
for stand alone computers! 

Read all about it 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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Top ten mis-conceptions 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 disapear, though _Win95 Annoyances_ claims that 
programs can disapear) 

4) You need third-party un-installers 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) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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%
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 distiction is 
more important when you use User Profiles, because each user has 
their own USER.DAT. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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