Key Technical Information -- July 1996 Shortcut

KEY TECHNICAL
INFORMATION

July 1996

What .DLL's are Used by Your .EXE's
Simply right-click on the application, and select 'quick view'.

Checking Your System Settings
Under the Control Panel, in System/Devices, you can print either a detailed or summary report of your system settings. This includes interrupts, DMA channels, and port addresses. You can also right-click on 'My Computer', and select 'Properties' from the menu. Select the 'Device Manager', and double-click on 'Computer'.

Changing Your Configuration

Changing Your IRQs
To change an IRQ to a specific value:

Select 'Control Panel/System/Devices'
Double-click on the device you want to change
Select 'Resources' for that item
Select the listing for the 'Interrupt Request'
The 'Change Setting' button will now be usable; click on it
'Edit Interrupt Request' will allow you to change it; it will also tell you if another device is already using your new choice

Working With the Registry

The Registry is a central storehouse of information about your computer, containing all of your system settings in one database. Generally, it maintains your interface information, the information for the current user, the hardware and software settings, and information about plug-and-play components. Futher, all Windows 95 - specific programs are to store their settings within this file.

This file can be modified using RegEdit, the Registration Editor. However, you need to be careful when doing so. An incorrect entry can render your machine unbootable.

Before you work with the Registry, you should back up your registration database by:

copying system.da0 and user.da0 to a floppy, and,
forcing RegEdit to write a backup copy to a file named 'file.reg' by using the command line switch "/e".

In the event you corrupt the Registry, you can restore it in two ways:

using the RegEdit command line switch "/c" to restore from file.reg, or,
executing the following commands in MS-DOS mode:
1. attrib -h -r -s system.dat
2. attrib -h -r -s system.da0
3. copy system.da0 system.dat
4. attrib -h -r -s user.dat
5. attrib -h -r -s user.da0
6. copy user.da0 user.dat

For further information on the Registry, see Frank's Registry Information.

The original version of this page can be found at the Windows 95 Tips & Tweaks site. This is a great site with tons of power user tips and info on customizing Windows 95.