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Windows 98 / ME: Tweaking Windows Me

What Russian does not like fast driving? What user does not dream of digging into the registry and applets of the new OS and find something nontrivial? After a while after installing the system, this itching becomes simply unbearable. And it's not at all idle curiosity - just everyone wants to organize a workplace that is most effective and adapted specifically to his personal preferences and habits.

Means of OS

As our readers already know, Windows Me is the closest relative of Windows 98 SE, slightly retouched and hung with various (useful and not so) trinkets. Accordingly, in the setup issues, these two operating systems are very similar to each other. For example, the first thing you should definitely do after installing Windows Me is to enable DMA support for IDE disks. Given the speed characteristics of modern hard drives, this setting, even with a very large stretch can not be attributed to "thin" - without it, the disk subsystem will, as they say, "creep." Why not do it automatically, like in Windows 2000? It is unlikely that "housewives" should understand such nuances.

Those who have had enough time with the configuration of Windows 98 can easily configure other options: the minimum size of virtual memory and its location, the typical role of the computer, the parameters of working with CD-ROM drives and other removable drives. All this is done, of course, in the System Properties applet. There, the attentive user will also find some adjustments for the new System Restore subsystem.

On a typical "working" PC, by default, about 50 MB of unnecessary multimedia programs

The next obvious task is to configure the working environment. This is just the area where there have been noticeable changes: some applets have disappeared, others have appeared. System Information, for example, from a small handy utility turned into a hulking HTML monster, and the Policy Editor disappeared as such. There is no more editor of Sysedit configuration files, although this solution is generally understandable: AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS are no longer used, and WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI (which are also gradually discarded) can be viewed and manipulated by other means. However, in some situations, especially if you are a fan of experiments, some kind of Sysedit analogue would still work, and in this case third-party developments will come to the rescue, for example "unofficial Sysedit" .

Mysterious utility Msconfig was present in Windows 98 - it was also in the Windows \ System folder and did not appear in the program menu. In Windows Me, its role has significantly expanded, in particular, it is intended to replace AUTOEXEC.BAT: with its help it is most convenient to edit the operating environment variables and to adjust (if necessary) international support for DOS-programs. In addition, Msconfig allows you to view and edit WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI, a list of automatically loaded programs and static VXD drivers, activate the process of selective initialization of the OS, extract the necessary files from the distribution, etc. In a word, this utility interferes with the operation of the OS on Sufficiently low level, as a result of which incorrect actions can lead to the most unpredictable consequences. This is, apparently, and causes its "secretive" existence - in the end, the new OS is designed for "housewives."

In Windows Me, there are more convenient tools for customizing the user interface (migrated from Windows 2000). First of all, this is Taskbar and Start Menu Properties and Folder Options, which are called, for example, from the Control Panel. The first applet allows you to disable the personalized Start menu (it just makes me nervous), and also turn icons of some system applets / folders into the menu for faster access to their content. Thus, the Control Panel, Favorites, My Documents, etc. are deployed. In previous versions, this would have to be thoroughly digested in the registry.

With the help of Folder Options various Active Desktop parameters and visual folder design elements are regulated, for example, tooltips, as well as the mode of storing the settings of each folder. If you are more concerned with performance, rather than all sorts of decorations and hypothetical conveniences, it is better to stick to the minimalist approach and simply disable such "bells and whistles."


Additional utilities

The vast majority of system settings are actually keys and parameters in the registry. The only problem is how to find out what, where and for what needs to be changed. To seek out such subtleties and understand them is a thankless task, so it's always nice when someone else does this job for you.

Just before the preparation of the article, a new version of TweakUI 1.33 appeared, which since the days of Windows 95 is developed by one of the programmers Microsoft Raymond Chen (Raymond Chen). This popular utility - the progenitor of a whole class of programs for fine-tuning Windows - in August was almost "not ordered to live long." Microsoft was going to officially stop its development and distribution (although all this, basically, was based on the author's enthusiasm), but then changed her mind, having listened to the wishes of users.



With TweakUI, the Open / Save dialog boxes can be made even more convenient
TweakUI 1.33 supports all current versions of Windows, including Windows 2000 and Windows Me (so it is sometimes called TweakUI 2000), and automatically identifies the OS and accordingly activates one or another of its options. As in the previous releases, it is possible to configure various special effects, the function Auto Logon, change the names of system folders. What is more important, with the help of the new version, you can not only disable the most hidden Active Desktop elements, but even forbid the very possibility of re-activating this subsystem. Checking the function of this function is quite simple: the Display Properties window will change the appearance of the Background tab, and the Web tab will disappear altogether; Some settings in the Folder Options will not be available, and so on.

Users of Windows Me and Windows 2000 will especially like the adaptation of the standard Open / Save system dialog boxes, in particular the left-hand panel for quick folders (in TweakUI 1.33, the Open tab is responsible for this). Now you can specify not only system folders, but also arbitrary paths (though manually, although the visual choice from the directory tree would be more convenient).

One of Microsoft's most questionable and constantly criticized solutions is the integration into the OS of numerous applications that are often installed against the user's will. Windows Me in this plan outpaced all previous versions: Windows Movie Maker, Windows Media Player 7 and many other large and small programs will be installed regardless of your desire. It's not even about saving disk space - with fewer hard drives, few people care about its deficit, but that also has a negative impact, for example, on defragmentation time. And in general, it is not too pleasant to realize that you have a lot of useless junk on your disk, intended for unknown purposes.

In previous publications about Windows Me ( "Computer Review", # 35, 2000 ) this problem was discussed with the example of the PCHealth subsystem. However, our advice does not go to any comparison with what real professionals know how. Of course, it's about Shane Brooks (Shane Brooks) and his notorious utility 98lite . However, the new OS is supported only by the preliminary version of the 98lite IV Pro ($ 25), but what it opens up the possibilities! A few mouse movements I was able to clean up and Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Media Player 7, and even more than 100 MB of absolutely unnecessary (at least me) utilities and components (for more details on 98lite, see "Computer Review", # 21, 2000 ) .

Do not sleep and other software developers. Popular utility X-Setup 5.7 ( Xteq Systems ) works with all versions of Windows, including Windows Me. In fact, this is an analogue of TweakUI, but with much greater capabilities. With its help you can configure not only the user interface, but also the parameters of many system services, applications and even hardware. Although the program does work correctly in Windows Me, the vast majority of settings have been preserved since the days of Windows 98 (which was to be expected), and the specific features of the new OS are almost not reflected. However, the version of X-Setup 6.0 is already being prepared, in which more full support of Windows Me is expected.

Another interesting utility - Tweak-Me from the company Totalidea Software , specializing in clever programs to optimize the operation of Windows 9x. It can defragment and free up RAM, configure the disk cache, adjust OS boot parameters and Internet connections (MTU, etc.). However, although the developers present Tweak-Me as the first tool for fine tuning Windows Me, it's more correct to talk about compatibility with the new OS than about using its special functions (which is understandable, since the subsystems working with memory and disks obviously did not undergo any significant Changes). Thus, Tweak-Me is interesting mainly in that it is a professional set of utilities, executed in the spirit of "all-in-one", for a rather moderate fee of $ 20 (there is also a fully functional trial version).

Although Tweak-Me, of course, does not belong to the category of necessary utilities, it's quite interesting to tinker with it

It remains only to remind the fans of the "quick ride" about the potential danger of the described procedures and the need for special protective measures. In the case of Windows Me, just before the experiments, create a control point in System Restore and prepare an emergency diskette. And the most universal rule: in all experiments be guided by common sense