I'll Swap You..

Since we’re on the topic of hard disk partitions, I should also mention a system performance-enhancing tip. To prepare for optimizing your swap file, you should consider creating a separate partition exclusively for the use of your swap file. The best thing to do is to place this partition on another hard disk apart from the hard disk that will contain Windows 95.

Also, when setting up the partition, make sure that you allocate this space as the last partition of whatever hard disk you are using. The reason is that hard disks save data from the outside of the disk inward. By specifying the last partition for your swap file, you will guarantee that it is located on the innermost tracks of your hard disk and will therefore access the fastest.

To figure out how large a swap file you should set up, just use this simple rule of thumb: Use 2.5 times the amount of physical memory you have for your hard disk swap file partition. For example, if you have 32MB of memory in your system, you should set up a swap file of 96MB. If you have 64MB of memory then you should set up a swap file of 160MB.

This may seem like an incredible waste of hard disk space, but consider that the average hard disk is now 3.2GB. Even a 160MB partition reserved for the swap file is only 5% of your total disk space. That is a small price to pay to have an efficiently running Windows 95 setup.

TIP: Remember to always use the last partition for your swap file. Even if you must use the same hard drive that Windows will be set up on, ensuring that the swap file resides on the last partition guarantees the fastest access times.

Oh, Tweek Me!

As was mentioned previously, Windows 95 defaults are a compromise between safety and performance. To be able to effectively manage your system, you’re first going to need to make changes in the way Windows 95 presents key information to you.

The first change that every user should make is the Explorer view. When you double-click on My Computer and then double-click your C: drive, you’ll get a view of the files and folders on your system from Windows Explorer. However, the problem with Explorer is that it defaults to hiding critical system files and file extensions. If you don’t change these options, you won’t even be able to find the registry files.

I Can See Clearly Now

In Windows Explorer, choose the View pull down menu and select Options. On the View tab, you’ll want to choose "Show all files" and disable the hiding of registered file extensions. The other option of showing the full path name in the pane can be enabled or disabled depending on your personal preference. I usually toggle this on. Also, under the General tab I usually choose to navigate folders with a single window. This keeps desktop clutter down since it won’t open a new instance of Explorer every time you drill down to the next level of sub-directories and files.

The last thing you should do is go back to the top level view of all the drives attached to your PC and stretch the Explorer window so that it is big enough to display all your drives, and the Printer, Control Panel and Dial-Up Networking folders. Don’t worry if you make this fairly large since nothing is more time consuming or annoying than trying to scroll both vertically AND horizontally in a small window when there are lots of files in a directory. Once the Explorer window is sized and positioned the way you like, click on the X in the upper right corner to close it. These settings will be saved and used the next time you open Explorer.

TIP: Enable the Explorer toolbar under the View pull down menu. This will add a row of handy shortcut icons that allow you to manipulate files and views in the Explorer pane. The toolbar also includes a drop down list that allows you to move between different drives on your system quickly.

Gag Me with a Registry

Perhaps the single greatest annoyance with Windows 95 remains the Windows registry. These are special files that Windows 95 uses to track the status of hardware and software installed in your PC. The greatest failing of the Windows registry is the seemingly random way it is used by third party software applications. There doesn’t appear to be a standard in place which dictates what is written to the registry and how it is to be removed once the information is no longer needed.

Over time as you install and remove applications, the registry gets clogged with more and more invalid or unused keys. Your registry file has the potential to grow many times its initial size and that, in turn, will make your system run more and more slowly. There is both good news and bad news with regards to how to remedy this situation.

Click to continue . . .

The Bad News

You might as well get used to the fact that you should reinstall Windows 95 including all your Windows applications and games at least once a year. While this task is especially time consuming, it is also the only guarantee that you will have of bringing your system back to a pristine, optimized configuration.

Those of you who have tape drives or other types of suitable backup media should backup your whole system immediately after you’ve got Windows 95 and all your applications installed the way you want. Tape drives can be found very inexpensively and I highly recommend their use. The drive will pay for itself many times over if you need to restore Windows 95 to a pristine condition or to recover from a hard disk crash.

TIP: Regular backups of your system not only insure against data loss, but it can also be a real time saver when you want to restore your Windows 95 setup to a pristine condition.

The Good News

The good news is that software tools do exist that will help you to keep the registry from getting out of control. Use of these software tools between your annual Windows 95 attic cleaning will help to minimize the effects of registry creep. One particularly good piece of software is called UnInstaller – which is sold in a box reminiscent of Tide laundry detergent. This software is the safest method to remove unwanted applications, program folders and registry settings.

Another good tool is Norton Utilities. It includes a program called Registry Tracker which can take a "snapshot" of your registry. By judicious use of this program, you can see what changes were made to the registry every time you add or delete an application. This will allow you to determine which registry keys to delete if you wish to remove that application at some later date. Just remember to make a printout of this information and store this in a safe place.

The last tool is a freeware application by Microsoft called RegClean. You can search for it on Microsoft’s site or you can go to www.winfiles.com to grab the latest version. RegClean is a pretty simple application that searches your registry for errors. It then fixes them and creates a backup file that you can use to restore your registry to its pre-fixed condition.

I know many of you are thinking that many Windows 95 applications already come with an Uninstall utility. Windows 95 also has the ability to remove installed software by using the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Windows 95 Control Panel. Why in the world should you pay good money to own these software tools? Well, what can I say? If Windows 95 or these Uninstall applets worked like they were supposed to, I don’t suppose applications like UnInstaller or Norton Utilities Registry Tracker would be necessary or marketable.

Before we leave the topic of the Windows 95 registry, I would like to leave you with a simple caveat. Backing up the registry files to a safe place prior to making any drastic changes is not only a good idea, but will probably save you countless hours of anguish in case you accidentally corrupt both the registry and registry backup files.

TIP: You can find the registry files in your Windows directory. The files are called SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT.

For Control Freaks Only

Most of the changes that need to be made to get Windows 95 running like greased lightning revolve around settings in the System applet in the Windows 95 Control Panel. When you double-click on the System icon, you’re presented with several tabs: General, Device Manager, Hardware Profiles and Performance.

As mentioned previously, the General tab will give you a basic summary of what version of Windows 95 you’re running, the registration number, processor type and amount of system memory. Device Manager and Hardware Profiles are used to manage the hardware on your system. These items aren’t necessary for the scope of this article and we can, for the moment, ignore them. The last tab is listed Performance, and that’s where we want to in Part III.

Go to Part III....