Restore The "Attributes" View In Explorer In Win98SE
Word on the street is that you may lose the "Attributes" column in Windows Explorer's Detail view after upgrading to Win98SE. If this has happened to you there is an easy fix.

• Download this file: FixAttributes.reg to a temporary directory.
• Close all programs. Launch Explorer and find the file you downloaded. Right-click on it and choose Merge.
• Close Windows Explorer and then launch it again. You may need to reboot for the changes to take effect.
• Enjoy!

Launch Win9x Programs With a Typed Command Done The Easy Way
Are you keyboard-centric? Would you prefer to quickly hit WinKey+R and type in one or two letters to launch a program? There is an example of how you can edit the Registry manually to launch Notepad by typing just one letter in the Customizations section. However, AliasBuilder is a script that automates the entire process in either Win9x or Win2K. When double-clicked, an input box appears asking the you for an executable file for which you'd like an alias created. Next, an input box asks for the alias. In our Notepad example, the user would input C:\Windows\Notepad.exe as the executable file and N as the alias. Now, any time the letter N is entered at the Start/Run command line, an instance of Notepad will launch. The script works by making additions to the AppPaths Registry key. You will be warned if a chosen alias is already in use so as to avoid Registry overwrites.

You can download AliasBuilder here.

Fix Picture Preview In Windows Explorer
The solution to a typical Win9x problem, losing the preview feature in Windows Explorer can be rectified easily. All it takes a little work and a quick download. This is what to do:

• Download this file to a temporary directory: FixPix.inf. Make note of where you've stored it, you'll need it later.
• Next you need to check to see if you can use this file to fix your preview problems.
  • Launch Windows Explorer and drill down to C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer and take a look inside. If the file Iexplore.exe is in this sub directory then go to the left pane and right click the folder itself.
  • Select Properties and make sure that the DOS file name for this folder is INTERN~1. If it is you're OK -- you can use this fix. If not, STOP, delete the .INF file and do not proceed.
• What this .INF file will do is delete all the problem Registry entries for .JPG (all sub-types), .GIF and .BMP file types and then rebuild them with the default Win9x standards (.JPG and .GIF with Internet Explorer and .BMP with MS Paint). If you have different associations for these file types you'll have to re-associate them after you're done fixing the preview problem.
• OK, now we're all set. To repair the preview feature in Windows Explorer first make sure that you have Explorer set to view all folders "as Web Page".
• Double check that you actually have a problem. Go to a folder in Explorer and highlight a .JPG or .GIF or .BMP file and see if it previews.
• If it doesn't, while still in Explorer go to the directory with FixPix.inf in it and right-click it. Choose Install.
• Done. You should have your preview feature back and the default association for picture files.
• To re-associate the files with some other program, follow this procedure for each of the file types:
  • Launch Windows Explorer and find a .JPG file.
  • Hold down the SHIFT key and right-click the file. Choose Open with....
  • Wait for the dialog box and make sure that the little box that says Always use this program to open this type of file is checked and then select the program with which you'd like that file type to be associated.
• Microsoft has also addressed this issue. Read about it here.
• That's it. All fixed. Enjoy!

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