Make better use of the dir command in Windows 98!
One of the most common commands that's used at the MS-DOS prompt
in Windows 9x is the dir command. To get the most out of the dir
command, examine some of its useful options.
/a switch
The /a switch filters out directory entries that don't have the
attributes set that were specified on the command line. For
example:
dir /a:h
This command returns a list of entries in the current directory
that have the Hidden attribute set. Here are the other attributes
and their single letter switch codes that can be specified on the
command line:
d (Directory)
h (Hidden)
s (System)
r (Read-only)
a (Archive-ready)
If you want to list the subdirectories within the current
directory but not list any files, issue the following command:
dir /a:d
You can also reverse the filter, listing all the files in the
current directory but none of its subdirectories, by adding the -
operator, such as:
dir /a:-d
/o switch
The /o switch lets you sort selected files using the normal
selection arguments based on these codes:
n (Name)
e (Extension)
g (Group directories first)
a (Access date--most recent first)
s (Size--smallest first)
d (Date and time--earliest first)
For example, the following command lists all the .doc files in the
current directory in order of size, with the smallest file first:
dir *.doc /o:s
It's also possible to reverse this filter, listing all the .doc
files in the current directory in order of size, with the largest
file first, by adding the - operator:
dir *.doc /o:-s
/v option
The /v option (for Verbose) opens up some good information in the
directory listing that isn't normally visible without running
additional commands on the selected files. Here's an example:
dir *.* /v
This command returns a list of files and subdirectories in the
current directory, along with the following information:
Real vs. allocated disk size
Last modified and last accessed dates
Attributes for each entry, which would otherwise require that you
run the Attrib.exe command
At the end of the listing, the /v option also returns the
percentage of the drive currently in use.
Automatic dir command activation
Windows 9x has a reserved environment variable called DIRCMD,
which is used specifically with the dir command to automate
command-line options.
For example, if you decide that you always want to list the
selected files with the largest first, with the Verbose option
turned on, open the MS-DOS prompt window and enter this command:
Set DIRCMD=/o:-s /v
Now, when you run a dir command, it automatically applies these
options. To make options permanent through reboots, add them to
the Autoexec.bat file. Clear the options by entering the following
command in the MS-DOS prompt window:
Set DIRCMD=
Change your monitor's resolution in Windows ME!
You can increase the portion of a Web site your browser is able to
display at once by increasing your monitor's screen resolution.
Most monitor resolutions are set to 640 x 480 pixels by default.
However, changing this to 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 pixels (if your
monitor is large enough and capable of supporting it) increases
the monitor display area by reducing the size of the objects it
displays.
To change the screen resolution on a Windows Me system, open
Control Panel and double-click on the Display icon. Select the
Settings tab and then drag the Screen Area slider to change the
current screen resolution. You may wish to save your work before
fiddling with your resolution settings, since you may need to
reboot your computer for the new settings to take effect.
Edit the Registry Safely in Windows XP!
Windows XP has a vast number of configuration dialogs, but some
adjustments can be performed only by directly editing the
Registry. Frequently, tips involving Registry tweaks include stern
warnings to back up the Registry before making any change. The
Windows XP Backup applet can back up the Registry along with other
elements of the System State, but the resulting data file can
occupy hundreds of megabytes. You're better off saving a system
restore point each time you're about to edit the Registry. Better
still, you can use Regedit to back up only the Registry keys that
will be changed.
Click on Start | Run and enter Regedit to launch the Registry
editor. To back up an individual key you plan to edit, navigate to
the key and right-click on it. Choose Export from the menu, and
save the key to a REG file. Open the REG file in Notepad and
insert a few comment lines that describe the source and purpose of
the tweak. (To create a comment line, simply put a semicolon at
the start of the line.)
Now go ahead and make all the changes to Registry keys and values
specified by the tip you're applying. Any time you add a new key
or value, make a note of it with another comment line in the REG
file. When you're done, save the REG file and close Notepad.
If later you want to undo this Registry tweak, just double-click
on the REG file and confirm that you want to add it to the
Registry. This will restore any deleted keys or values and will
restore the original data for any values whose data was changed.
Note that this will not remove new keys or values that were added;
that's why you need to make comments about such changes.
Right-click on the REG file and choose Edit, which will open it in
Notepad. Check for comments about keys or values that were added,
and if you find any, use Regedit to delete them. You can delete
the REG file itself once you've completed this process.
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