| Send To |  My Files |  Start Menu clutter |  Sort by Name |  Defragmenting |  Scanning for errors |

---

Send To

If you want to use the same application to open multiple file types or use multiple applications to open the same file type, you can achieve this via the Windows "Send To" option. For example, you may prefer WordPad to Notepad for text files or Adobe Photoshop to Paint for bitmaps.

• Via My Computer, open "C:\Windows\Send To" and keep this window open

• In this example find Wordpad.exe using Start -> Find -> Files or folders for Win98 or Start -> Search -> For Files or Folders for WinMe

• Once found it should be in the C:\Program Files\Accessories directory

• Right-click on the file and choose "Create Shortcut" from the options. It will create a shortcut on the Windows Desktop

• Right-click on the new Desktop shortcut and rename it to "Wordpad"

• Right-click on the shortcut again and select "Copy"

• Switch back to the "C:\Windows\Send To" window and right-click "Paste"

• This creates a shortcut to "WordPad" in the "Send To" directory. You can delete the one on the Desktop

• Now, find a suitable text file, right-click on it, choose "Send To" from the options listed and you should see "WordPad" in the list displayed

• Left-click on the thumbnail below to see an example of the finished set-up :-

My Files

Have you ever downloaded programs or files from the internet or copied from a CD that you wanted to keep and reference in the future but forgot where on your hard drive you stored them?. The easiest way is to create a dedicated folder for them.

• Double-click on "My Computer" and open the "C:\" drive folder

• Right-click in this window and choose "New -> Folder" from the options listed

• A folder called "New Folder" will have been created

• Right-click on this folder and "Rename" it to "My Files" or a name you'll remember. This is where you can save those important files

• You may also want to create separate directories under "My Files" such as "Drivers", "Programs", "Demos", etc for different file types.

"Start Menu" clutter

With the current size of hard disks and number of programs that people tend to have installed at any one time ever increasing, the Windows "Start Menu" can get very "cluttered", often overlapping to multiple columns. The reason for this is that every program you install includes an entry for the "Start Menu".

Some of the better installation methods help because they allow you to choose the location within the "Start Menu" but this is the exception rather than the norm. You have to set this up before you can make best use of it though.

With a bit of thought and a knowledge of how, you can achieve results like the example shown below by clicking on the thumbnail :-

• Double-click on "My Computer" or "Windows Explorer" and open the "C:\" drive folder

• Open the "Windows" folder and click on "Show Files" to display the contents of this folder 

• Open the "Start Menu" and then "Programs" folders

• Create a new folder in the "Programs" folder, calling it what ever is appropriate (ie, Games) as shown in the thumbnail below :-

• If you have programs already installed and want to move them just drag the folders they are in into the new folder you created (left click once on the folder name - holding the button down - and move it over the new folder name)

• When you install new software, navigate back to C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs as described above and move any new folders added in the same way

If you follow the instructions above, all it does is move the shortcuts for a program - it doesn't affect the program itself. If you un-install the program at a later date - you must remember to delete the folder from the location you moved it to above.

Sort by Name

When you install new programs or add new "Favourites" via Internet Explorer you'll find there added to the bottom of the appropriate lists. This can be annoying and many users prefer to arrange them alphabetically for easy reference.

You can download a utility called QSort 98 to do this for you but you don't need it. A simpler way is to click on Start -> Programs and then right-click. One of the options available towards the bottom is "Sort by Name". Choosing this will re-order the items in the currently displayed list. Doing the same with the Internet Explorer Favourites list results in the same.

Click on the thumbnail below for an example of this at work :

Defragmenting

If you use your PC on a regular basis you should look to be defragmenting your hard drive every week, especially if you download a lot of files or browse the web often.

Why defragment?

The reason behind this is that each file on your PC needs space to be spaced in. As files are deleted, the space freed up is not always available to the next file you save as it may be too small. Therefore the new file is saved elsewhere. Repeat this over a period of time and you end up with a disorganised drive with gaps everywhere. When you subsquently save a large file, Windows can't find a large enough area of continous space and has to save it in multiple areas which of course means it takes longer to re-load later.

Internet Cache

As you browse the net, Internet Explorer saves the images and pages displayed to your hard drive so that i can quickly load them next time you visit a page. A lot of pages are updated on a regular basis so the copy on the hard drive becomes out of date and useless. These files are stored in C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files. You should therefore flush the contents of this directory on a regular basis as follows :-

• Right-click on the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop and select "Properties"

• Click on the "General" tab

• Click on the "Delete Files" in the "Temporary Internet Files" ares and follow the prompts

• Click on the thumbnail below for an example :-

Windows "Temp" directory

As with browsing the internet, another area that can fill up over time if left unchecked is the C:\Windows\Temp directory. This is where Windows stores temporary files from archives (such as zip files), documents, etc as you work on them. Therefore you need to look at the dates of the items in this areas and decide if they're needed. In general if they're older than a week you won't need them.

A great utility that empties these directories for you as well as other areas you may not be aware of is Windows Washer from Webroot Software.

Let's Defragment

After you've cleared the files as above (and those from the Recylced Bin!) you can start the defragmenting process. By defragmenting your hard drives it will re-arrange your files in a way that they're easier to access and optimize the space available.

• Disable any screensaver you may have active via a right-click on the desktop -> Properties -> Screen Saver

• Disable any regularily scheduled activities via Task Scheduler on the Taskbar

• Click on Start -> Programs -> Acessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

• Click on "Settings" and make sure "Rearrange program files so my prgrams start faster" is enabled as well as "Check the drive for errors"

• Click on "Ok" and then wait until the process is completed

Scanning for errors

If your PC locks up for some reason and you have to hit the "Reset" button, scanning of your disk drives for errors will be carried out automatically but you can also do this manually.

• Disable any screensaver you may have active via a right-click on the desktop -> Properties -> Screen Saver

• Disable any regularily scheduled activities via Task Scheduler on the Taskbar

• Click on Start -> Programs -> Acessories -> System Tools -> ScanDisk

• Make sure "Automatically fix errors" is enabled

• Click on "Start" and then wait until the process is completed