Some Tips on Making Windows 95 run more efficiently

Some Tips on Making Windows 95 run more efficiently

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): As Jakarta's toll road fee hops again, life goes
on and operating system changes. Now that most of the tools that
I need to accomplish my tasks are already available in Windows 95
version, I finally feel comfortable enough to move completely to
the new environment -- almost one year after its official
release. And, just when I am moving to Windows 95, Windows 4.0 is
already being talked about as its logical replacement, since most
Win95 application software can also run in Windows 94. Boy, can
we ever keep up with all these?

Well, since we have to work and do not just play around with
our personal computers, I think we should be careful in making
our moves, at least as far as operating system is concerned. Like
so many other things in life, it is not always the case that the
new is better than the old. Take my favorite CorelDRAW!, for
instance. The new Windows 95 version -- CorelDRAW! 6.0 -- had
only some minor changes that I did not even bother to review. In
fact, I still strongly regret having paid US$ 275 for the
upgrade.

Nonetheless, here I am in the new, much hyped world. And here
are some tips that I would like to share with those of you who
have just started to work in Windows 95. I just assume a Windows
95 already installed on one's PC and procede with how to make it
run faster.

But, a small reminder before I go on: the "Control Panel"
folder is probably the most important starting point. One can
access this folder by clicking on the "Start" button, "Settings",
and "Control Panel". One should better study carefully each of
the files that the folder contains; particularly the "Display",
"Add new hardware", "Add/remove new software", and "System"
files. One should open them one by one in order to learn what one
can do with their help.

Fine tuning

The most important thing to keep in mind is that Windows 95
will not run efficiently as long as one still uses the old
Windows 3.x 16-bit device drivers. Therefore, the first thing to
check is whether any of these old drivers are still being used by
one's Windows 95. Find the "My Computer" icon on the desktop
(it's usually located on the top left corner of your screen), and
click on it with the right mouse button. Click on the
"Properties" menu item, and the "System Properties" dialog box
will appear. One can learn a lot about one's PC through this
dialog box, including about its performance. By the way, one can
also access this dialog box from the "Control Panel" folder; just
click on the "System" icon, which is usually the last one on the
bottom row.

Go to the "Performance" tab -- one can move by hitting the
right arrow or clicking directly on the tab. If the system does
not perform optimally, there will be a window that provides some
explanation as to what is wrong. One can also click on the
"Details" button found under the window to get more detailed
explanation.

If, on the other hand, it performs as it should, the file
system and virtual memory should be both working in the 32-bit
mode. If one has compressed one's hard disk(s) with Windows 95's
32-bit DriveSpace utility and has a PC Card (the new name of
PCMCIA card), one should also work in the same 32-bit mode.

If a problem occurs and Windows 95 runs in the DOS
compatibility mode, one can go back to the "Device Manager" tab,
and double-check the offending device driver. One should then
replace it with the new, Windows 95 version. Like many other
things in life, the Internet is the best place for the latest
version of device drives, although one may have a hard time
finding one's way around until one gets to their source.

Before one quits the "System Properties" dialog box, one
should go back to the "Performance" tab and check whether the
other subsystems are optimized. Check the file system performance
further by clicking on the "File System" button. The typical role
of the PC should be set correctly, whether it is intended to work
as a desktop PC, a notebook or a network server. More
importantly, the read-ahead optimization's sliding button should
be at the "Full" end.

If one has a CD-ROM drive, one might just as well move to the
"CD-ROM" tab. If one has more than 8 MB of RAM, one can set the
cache size to "Large"; if one has 8 MB or less, set the sliding
button to the left. Also, set the optimization according to the
maximum speed of one's CD-ROM drive: Single-speed, Double-speed,
Triple-speed, or Quad-speed and higher.

Click "OK" to go back to the "Performance" tab, and click on
the "Graphics" button. Check the graphics accelerator whether it
is running at full speed. Then click "OK" again to return to the
"Performance" tab. Click on the "Virtual Memory" just to make
sure that it is set to be managed automatically by Windows 95.
Unless one is really short on hard disk space, one would better
let Windows 95 manage it by itself. If, however, one has very
limited space, one can then specify the maximum size of the swap
file thus leaving some space for new data. If necessary, one can
also force Windows to move the swap file to a different hard disk
-- preferably a faster one.

The display

During installation, Windows 95 also detects what kind of
graphics card one has. One will probably encounter no problem if
one has a popular brand graphics card on one's PC. It may also
happen that the operating system installs a generic video driver
for the graphics card that one has. Of course, this will not
necessarily bring about the best performance. So, while at it,
one can check whether the right display driver is installed.

Go to the "Control Panel" folder again, and click on
"Display". Or, click on the desktop and click on "Properties". On
the dialog box that appears, click on the "Settings" tab, and
then click on the "Change Display Type" button. See whether
Windows is using the correct display driver. Otherwise, put the
diskette containing the Windows 95 display driver that is
supplied by the hardware manufacturer in the drive and click on
the "Change" button. The rest is just a matter of clicking on the
"OK" buttons.

If one has downloaded the software driver from Internet,
chances are that the file is compressed using PKZIP or LHARC. If
that's the case, open a DOS window, create a temporary
subdirectory on the hard disk, copy the file into it together
with the right decompress utility, and decompress it. Then, in
order to install the new driver, specify the location of the
files in the dialog box that appears after clicking on "Change
Display Type".

One of the readers of this column was very kind to provide me
with the latest version of the driver for the Diamond Stealth 64
graphics card that I installed on a friend's new Pentium PC.
Since the file was compressed, I followed the above mentioned
procedure. After the right driver is installed, however, Windows
95 will definitely run more smoothly.

What to do if one does not have the right software driver for
the display card? One can select the closest one from the list of
installed drivers that Windows 95 has copied to one's hard disk
during installation. If worse comes to worse, use the generic
SuperVGA driver, and select the highest refresh rate that one's
monitor can handle.

Keep it lined up

Icons can move around, particularly if one haven't played with
Solitaire often enough to master the art of the mouse perfectly.
What to do to avoid unruly display of icons? In each folder
opened, click on "View" first, then "Arrange Icons", and then
"Auto arrange". This would allow the icons to line up in the
proper order even if one resizes the folder's window.

Windows 95 Desktop can also become cluttered because the icons
are scattered everywhere. The quick remedy is to click with the
right mouse button anywhere on the desktop, and to choose
"Arrange Icons" from the list that appears. Again, use the "Auto
arrange" option. This would give the desktop a tidier look.

Stay tuned for more tips.