Welcome to Silicon Mountain Training. Today we're going to show you what Windows 95 can do.
You might as well throw away all those confusing manuals that come with this program,
because this video will explain the differences in previous Windows programs compared to this new version,
and also provide a base of knowledge to help you run this program.
If you're new to Windows, don't worry. We will help you understand this program.
For those who already have Windows experience, this video will show you the improved user-friendly interface
and demonstrate the power of a 32-bit multitasking environment.
You will also learn tricks and tips to improve your computer's efficiency, sharpen user skills,
and see the benefit of the plug-and-play functions.
Windows 95 Installation
From DOS or Windows, start up the setup program on the Windows 95 setup disks, or CD-ROM.
Setup will run scan disks, which will correct any data storage problems on your hard drive.
This is a function built in the Windows 95 to optimize your computer's abilities.
Select OK to start the scan disk, and after it has been completed, a scan of your hard disk drive,
the Windows 95 program will copy the necessary files to get information it needs to run your computer.
Setup will then ready the Setup Wizard, which is a utility that simplifies the setup process
and eliminates some tedious procedures.
Next, choose where you want to install Windows 95.
By the default process, C colon backslash Windows will be selected, since this is the common PC procedure.
Choose Next. Setup prepares the desired directory and also checks for available hard drive space.
If it finds there's not enough space, then it will recommend Setup Options.
If Setup determines that there is enough hard drive space, it will go to the Setup Options screen.
You are presented with four options, and may choose one of them.
Typical, the most common and the default selection, will install the standard amount of utilities
and programs needed to run Windows 95.
Laptop is used to run its namesake and is useful for people on the go.
Minimal is for those who don't have enough free hard disk space,
or for those that just want to install the basics that will operate Windows 95.
Custom is the fourth and final choice.
Only use this if you are accustomed to Windows.
This gives you the control of what you will use and discard extras that are not needed.
This option is only for the advanced Windows user.
Choose the Setup option you want, then click Next.
Setup will analyze your computer for hard drive installed.
Be patient, because this process might take a while.
After identifying all the hardware and making notes of your previous selections,
Setup will install the program on your hard drive.
When this is finished, Setup will restart your computer and will open Windows 95,
while continuing to update files.
There are many ways to set up Windows 95, and each configuration and finalization will be different.
Simply follow the steps and the program will do the rest.
Changing from Windows 3.1 and DOS to Windows 95.
The people who will have the hardest time using Windows 95 are the experienced Windows and DOS users.
It will require a slightly different mindset than most software that Windows and DOS users are accustomed to,
and the transition from Windows 3.1 and DOS is not complicated, just tedious.
From the new shell to the absence of DOS, Windows 95 is completely different.
This may scare some faithful users into not updating into the new operating system,
but there's no need to worry.
We will discuss the basics, plus a little more to get you started.
Anything we will not discuss can be found with online help, accompanied with Windows 95.
Some things are too easy.
The components of a window are pretty much the same as in other Windows versions.
There is a control menu, minimize button, maximize button, close button, title bar, and a menu bar.
These are still the same components, but with just a little different look.
You may also notice that the key commands aren't listed in the menus like they used to be,
but if you're one of those who must use them, don't worry, it still works.
There are underlined letters in menus that are shortcuts.
You can use these shortcuts by pressing ALT and then the underlined letter at the same time.
If you don't like a lot of windows open at the same time, you can change it
so that every time you open a new folder, the contents of it will replace what's in the currently open window.
There are several reasons why Windows 95 is different from other versions of Windows.
One is that Windows 95 uses a 32-bit program, which means that it has better graphics, runs faster, and it is multitasking.
This means that you can run several programs at once without worrying about your system crashing.
Windows 95 doesn't use a program or a file manager.
Now those programs are combined in one area called My Computer.
Remember how difficult it was in the early versions of Windows to come up with a creative eight-letter file name?
It was hard to remember what it meant to recover your data.
What about that three-letter extension? Well, no more of that.
Now you can have a file name up to 255 characters in length and you can use spaces and punctuation.
That makes it easier to remember.
But you can only do this if you have software that has a design for Windows 95 logo.
If you don't, then you must still use the eight-letter file name plus the three-letter extension.
Windows 95 boasts a friendly interface which makes it easier to use.
The primary design goal of this program was to make it easy for new users.
It is designed to minimize the number of clicks to perform various tasks, which speed up the operator's work.
It only takes a single click to initiate.
There is no need to hold down the mouse button while moving the pointer over to the selected area.
Click once on the Start button and move the mouse pointer over a group.
And if there is a drop-down menu for that selection, it will pop up.
When you obtain the program you want, it only takes one more click to select your choice.
And that's how simple it is.
When Windows 95 is started up, you'll see what's referred to as your desktop.
This is intended to simulate a real desktop, and it is object-oriented.
It allows you to put things where you want them.
On your desktop, there's an icon titled My Computer.
And to see what it contains, double-click on the icon.
You will see that this contains a list of all the utilities on your PC.
It lists all drives, the control panel, and printers.
It uses folders for subdirectories and icons for programs and documents.
There is a recycle bin that is also on your desktop.
This is your trash and is where all of your deleted files go.
It's nice because the files are not erased until you empty the recycle bin.
So if you put something in there by accident, you can still save it before you empty your trash.
To do this, double-click the recycle bin icon.
Drag the item that you want to save either onto the desktop or to the directory that you want it in.
Windows 95 is a document-oriented program, and it is not application-oriented like other versions of Windows.
It lets you begin creating a document without choosing an application.
To open a document, click the right mouse button while the pointer is over the desktop.
Choose New.
Then, from the drop-down menu, select Microsoft Word 6.0 Document or another kind of document.
Your choices may be different depending on the software that is in your computer.
After doing this, an icon will appear on your desktop.
Double-click on it to begin typing and editing.
There are three main areas that you need to know to be able to use Windows 95 successfully.
They are the taskbar, the explorer, and the control panel.
The first area we'll discuss will be the taskbar, which can be found at the bottom of your screen.
It is always on top by default.
This makes multitasking capabilities easily accessible.
This tool is used to start up an application or jog between applications that are currently open.
Each time a new application is started or a new window is opened, a command button for that window is shown on the taskbar.
You can customize the taskbar to fit your needs.
You can move it to any edge of the screen by dragging it there like this.
Or you can make it have room for two rows of buttons like this.
Click on the top edge and expand the size just enough to fit the two rows of buttons.
This is useful if you are running several programs at the same time because it's easier for you to read the button functions.
On the taskbar, you will find the start menu.
The settings menu provides quick access to taskbar's own properties.
You can hide it and have it pop up only when the mouse pointer is over that area or when control and escape keys are pressed together.
You can also choose whether or not to show the clock and change the time of the clock.
Just double-click it.
You have the choice to display small or large icons in the start menu.
You can also remove a file from the start menu and still have it saved in the hard drive.
Or you can add a shortcut to the start menu by choosing Add.
Type in a name or click and browse to find the file you want.
Click Next.
Select the folder to place it in.
Click Next again.
Then select a name for the shortcut.
Click Next.
Choose an icon.
Then click Finish.
You can also drag these programs to the start menu.
The Documents menu shows the last 15 documents you had open.
This allows easy access to them.
A document can be represented by any file, and you can clear these items from the document menu if you'd like to.
The Settings menu provides quick access to control panel programs, which provides a list of all the program groups, printers, and fonts.
It also allows you to access the taskbar's own properties.
The Find menu will search disk drives for a particular file or folder.
It can search by name or partial name, extension of files, time and date last modified, size, or even text in the document such as a word, phrase, or expression.
This makes it much easier to find data.
Help Topics is basically the same as in any other Windows versions.
With Help in Windows 95, the Search and Index are combined into one function.
You can either scroll through an alphabetical list or type in the topic of your search.
The Help feature in Windows 95 contains hypertext links and jump buttons that will help take you there directly.
This makes getting on different topics much easier.
The Run menu allows you to activate programs directly without an installed icon.
Shutdown is the same thing as turning off your computer.
There is no more exit windows because you no longer exit to DOS, and that's why shutdown was created.
You must click on it before turning your computer off.
Otherwise, files and temporary files created may be lost, which is bad for your computer.
When you click on Shutdown, you will have a few options.
They are to turn the computer off, restart the computer, restart in MS-DOS mode, or close all programs and log on as a different user.
The second area is the Explorer.
The Explorer provides more capabilities than the File Manager.
It allows you to view the file system and all available resources, including attached peripheral devices.
You can view the contents of various folders by expanding and collapsing branches of the tree diagram.
This is a graphic of the system's resources, and it is found on the left side of the Explorer window.
The right side of the Explorer window displays the contents of the folders selected on the left side.
Just double-click to open the documents, folders, or applications.
Windows Explorer allows you to copy and move files from one directory to another.
It also allows you to create shortcuts.
To do this, drag the file to the desktop or copy the file and then paste the shortcut on the desktop.
You can set the Windows Explorer to show or hide three-letter DOS file name extensions.
Maybe you would rather have a desktop that is not cluttered.
To accomplish this, you can operate almost exclusively in the Explorer mode.
Also, every Windows 95 folder window can display a Mini Explorer.
The third area that you should understand is the Control Panel.
Its purpose is to provide a centralized location for all utilities needed to set up or configure your computer's system software and hardware.
In the Control Panel, you will find several applets, which are small-scale applications.
There is a System Applet, which allows you to review all physical and hardware devices present, and where possible, change their configuration.
It also lets you view CPU, RAM, and hard disk controllers.
There is a Display Applet, which combines all of the controls that affects your computer's screen display.
With this applet, you can change or preview desktop patterns, wallpaper, and screensavers.
It lets you customize things such as colors of windows, font types, font sizes, and the color of text.
It can also configure your display type by choosing the number of colors in the screen resolution.
There is the Printers folder, which contains the printer setup and printer control.
No more Print Manager.
The Passwords applet is the final one we'll discuss.
This function allows you to permit different users on the same computer to have their personalized profiles and desktop settings.
There are many ways to customize Windows 95 to your preference.
You can change the background. This can be done one of two ways.
The first is to click on Start, then go to Settings, and then to the Control Panel.
After choosing that, select Display.
You will have the choice of changing the background, screensaver, settings, and appearance,
which can change the color of the menu bar, font size, or font type.
You can use the preset choices or customize your own and save this information.
The second way you can change it is by clicking the right mouse button on the background.
This will bring up a menu that will let you choose properties.
You can also rename items on your desktop.
To do this, move the mouse pointer over the icon, then to change the name, click the right mouse button.
Choose Rename, and then type in the new name, and either press Return or click somewhere else on the screen.
You may be a little surprised to find out that the mouse buttons are different from previous programs.
The left mouse button is used to single or double click,
and the right mouse button will bring up a menu about the item you click on.
These items on the right click menu are the most commonly used items in Windows 95.
When it is on the desktop and you click it, you have the choice to arrange icons by the way you choose,
alphabetically, by size, or date last accessed.
You can line up icons, and it is possible to paste or paste shortcut.
New gives you the choice of a new folder or shortcut.
You can also choose properties, or can choose to minimize all windows at once.
You can do this by clicking the right mouse button over the taskbar area, and then choose Minimize All Windows.
You can change the mouse properties by using the buttons function to make it right or left handed.
By default, the mouse is set for right handed.
This means that the left button functions as normal select and normal drag.
The right button is a context menu and special drag.
When you click and drag with the right mouse button like this, you have a menu of options appear.
If you choose to make it left handed, these properties are just reversed or switched.
By selecting pointers, you can choose what type of pointer you want.
You can even choose 3D pointers or an animated hourglass.
It is also possible to choose what size pointer you want.
If you select Motion, you can set the pointer speed and turn the pointer trails on or off.
Pointer trails are generally used on laptops.
The General category is used to tell you the type of mouse that is being used.
You can have as many shortcut icons on your desktop as you want.
These will allow you easy access to areas that you frequently use.
You can then drag the item with the right mouse button to the desktop.
Another way to create a shortcut icon is to copy the program or folder.
Then go to the desktop, click the right mouse button and then choose to paste shortcut.
Windows 95 has three wizards which are special applets that guide you step by step through a particular process.
The two wizards we will discuss are the add printer wizard, which you can access by double clicking the add printer icon.
There is also the new device installation wizard, which you can activate by double clicking on add device in the control panel folder.
This is typically used for non-plug and play devices.
Plug and play is a very important feature of Windows 95.
Without it, you would have to switch cables around, change settings and just keep trying until you got lucky and it worked.
With plug and play it's much easier.
The way it works is that first your system identifies the devices on the motherboard plus the external devices.
This would be disk drives, a keyboard, your video display and other adapter cards.
Then the system determines the resource requirements of each device and also determines which have been fixed requirements and which can be reconfigured.
Next it allocates the resources remaining after considering other devices in use.
After that, it creates a final system configuration and stores resource allocation data for this configuration in the registry.
It also searches the system directory to find the required device driver that is needed.
If the device driver is missing, it will be prompted to insert the manufacturer's floppy disk.
Then it loads the driver into memory.
Finally, it completes startup operations.
Windows 95 Advanced Functions
Eliminating programs no longer needed from the startup group
It is always a good idea to have programs in your startup group, but it bogs down your computer to load programs that aren't needed anymore.
The process for eliminating these programs isn't very difficult.
Begin by clicking the right mouse button on your taskbar.
Choose properties from the context menu.
Click on the start menu program tab, choose the remove button, and this will display a list of files and folders.
Use the remove shortcuts and folders window to choose the groups or files you want to terminate.
Then, click the remove button.
Remember that this doesn't kill the program completely, it just removes it from the shortcut application that channels it into the startup group.
Switching screen resolutions in Windows 95
Right click anywhere on your desktop and choose properties from the context menu that appears.
Click the display tab in the properties box.
Then, it's possible to adjust resolution by using the slider bar to drag left or right.
After you've made a selection, Windows 95 will display the new resolution.
You will also see a prompt to verify that the selection made was the right one.
If it doesn't look good, Windows 95 offers a default that goes back to the original resolution.
But to do this, you must tell the program not to accept the change.
Font manipulation
It is possible to see samples of your fonts by double clicking on the folder in your control panel.
This is a way to access a list of fonts that are already installed in your computer.
Double click on the icon that represents the font that you would like to preview.
There is a similarity program that allows you to match your fonts to other computers that offer different selections.
You can choose the fonts folder, then select the view menu and click list fonts by similarity.
Then choose the font you want.
Now you will see a list of fonts that are similar to the ones selected.
After that, you can select an example of a similar font by double clicking on the appropriate icon.
Quick system check
Does your system seem a bit slower after adding Windows 95?
We'll show you a quick way to check your system.
Begin by activating the system monitor.
This is a set of utilities that monitors the CPU for functionality.
You can check hard disk access time, memory that's in use, and many other subsystems.
Click the select utilities box and then choose the system you want to monitor from the view menu.
At this point, it is possible to check the performance of any system listed.
Putting the control panel in the startup menu
The Windows 95 control panel is extremely important.
It offers control of your system settings and commands.
If you plan on installing lots of software and possibly adding some new hardware,
the control panel needs to be easily accessible.
To bring the control panel to the startup menu, right click the start button.
Then choose explore from the context menu.
At this point, you may click on any empty space in the right hand side of the explore window.
Next, from the context menu, choose new and click on the folder.
This is done to create a new folder under start.
Now you're ready to enter a command over new folder.
Type controlpanel ZIEC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D
This will display the control panel when you click on the start button.
Make a new boot disk
When you're upgrading the Windows 95, it's a great time to remove all the glitches from your hard drive disk.
Before you do anything, backup your database.
You can use floppies or a tape backup system works even better.
Then, from DOS, use the commands fdisk then format backslash s, which will create a fresh boot disk.
Next, restart your computer to the C prompt.
Then install Windows 95 from floppies.
This takes longer than installing the program from a CD-ROM application,
but it puts a completely flawless operating system on your hard drive disk.
Once Windows 95 is activated, reinstall Windows 95 from the CD-ROM drive.
This will give you access to applications, drivers, and media clips on your disk.
When you've completed this process, run your regular scan disk and defrag programs.
Now your hard disk drive is in perfect working order.
At this point, reinstall DOS and other Windows programs that you plan on using.
Now you can restore your database to a squeaky clean operating system.
Key commands.
F2 will allow user to remove a file, directory, or any other item selected.
F3 is used to find folders and files.
F5, this will recover a window in my computer in Explorer.
F6 is used to switch from left and right areas of the Explorer.
Alt-F4, this will close any Windows application or the Windows 95 operating system.
Control-Escape, this will display the Start menu.
Control-A, this key command will allow you to select all in Explorer or My Computer.
Control-G, go to the Explorer.
Shift and right-click on an icon, then select Delete.
This will allow you to delete a file directly, without wasting time using the recycle bin.
Shift-F10 will allow you to see the shortcut for any item or icon you've selected.
Next, to shut down your PC, click Start, then Shut Down.
Wait for the screen to indicate that the computer is ready to be shut off.
It is important to wait for this acknowledgement because turning off your computer too quickly can cause a loss of information.
This concludes our look at Windows 95.
We hope that this video has helped to simplify the process of learning the software,
enjoy the new user-friendly interface, and make your life a little easier.
Thank you for choosing Silicon Mountain Training,
and consider our product anytime that you would like to learn about the latest software and hardware.