Windows 3.x Tips

Making it more stable...

Add the line MaxBPs=768 to the [386enh] section of system.ini. This reduces GPFs a lot.

Avoid high and true color video modes-- stick with 256 colors or even 16 if you can bear it.

Making it easier to use...

Use something else to boot with other than Program Manager. Set shell=(program name) in the [boot] section of system.ini. Program Manager really is an awkward way to start programs. Try Calmira or Winbar, which have a cool Windows 95 interface.

If windows doesn´t start automatically, add "win" as the last line in your autoexec.bat file.

If there's a window you just can't get at, access the task manager (hit ctrl-esc) and select cascade or tile windows.

To avoid loading the programs in the Start Up group, hold down the shift key as windows starts.

See our utilities section! There are several great free programs that make windows 3.x easier to use!

Making it more secure...

ProgMan Protection
You can disable many of the features of Program Manager. At the end of the PROGMAN.INI file, create a section called [Restrictions]. In the section add any or all of the following lines: NoFileMenu=1 (to remove the File menu and disable command hotkeys), NoRun=1 (to prevent anyone from selecting Run from the File menu), EditLevel=4 (to disable altering program groups and icons), NoSaveSettings=1 (to disable automatically saving settings) and NoClose=1 (to make it impossible to close Windows except by rebooting).

Misc....

Have ScanDisk run automatically when Win 3.x starts if it crashed the previous time. First, get a copy of the DOS version of ScanDisk from a Windows 98 or higher machine. Then, instead of starting Windows by using "win" in your autoexec.bat file, put this batch file as the last command. Run the batch file without parameters for further instructions and an example of usage. (Thanks to Tony Fuller.)

Put a semicolon in front of lines you edit in win.ini or system.ini rather than deleting them. This remarks the line out, instead.

Start windows without a logo by using "win :" to start it.

Some files you can delete...
Files that start with ~grb (screen save info file made when switching out of DOS apps). Files that start with ~woa. (application swap files -- normally deleted when the application terminates)

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