Using More Than One Modem at a Time

If you have two phone lines in your home and want to use them both to dial out,you can use MultiLink, which will effectively double your connection speed.


01. Create a dial-up connection like your normally would.

02. Right click on the icon and select Properties

03. Click on the Multilink tab

04. Click on Use additional devices

05. Click on the Add

06. Click on the other modem you would like to use

07. If your ISP allows, you can use the same phone number, otherwise enter an additional phone number to dial.

08. You should now connect with both modems.

09. You can confirm this by opening up your dial up connection in the System Tray after you connect.

Changing the Names of the Programs on the Quick Launch Toolbar

In case you want to change the name that gets displayed when you hover your mouse over the icons in the Quick Launch Toolbar,the icon names can be changed in c:\windows\application\microsoft\internet explorer\quick launch

Adding Shortcuts to Menus

If you drag a shortcut to the Start Menu and drop it, you will get a shortcut on your Start Menu.

To add it to a Program group below the Start Menu, hover it there for a second or two and the group will expand.

You can then insert the shortcut into that Program Group.

A divider line will be displayed to let you know where you will be placing the shortcut.

To move a shortcut, left-click on it and move it to the new location.

Restoring the Column Display to the Start Menu

Normally with Win98, the Start Menu keeps added additional programs to the bottom on a long list.To get it to display in multiple columns:


01. Start Regedit

02. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

03. Right-click an unoccupied area in the right pane.

04. Click New / String Value.

05. In the name box that appears, type StartMenuScrollPrograms

06. Double-click this and give it a value of false

Hardware Information Utility

There is a hardware diagnostics utility that is installed with Windows98 that lets you view your hardware, registry, conflicts etc.

From the Run box, enter HWINFO /UI

You can view the hardware you have, what portion of the registry is pointing to it, conflicts, drivers used, I/O, IRQ, DMA # usage, and more.

01. The results are somewhat color coded.

02. File attributes are magenta

03. Registry entries are green

04. Configuration Manger info is brown

05. Warnings are blue

06. Error messages are red

Helping to Reduce Modem Timeouts

If you are experiencing a lot of modem timeout with you system,you can change the SLOWNET value in the Registry


01. Start Regedit

02. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net\0000 (0001 etc)

03. Change the SLOWNET value from 01 to 00

Changing Programs That Start Automatically

WindowsXP has a similar program, MSCONFIG, that was available in Windows98.
This allows you to view and change what programs are automatically started each time you log in.

The new version also allows you to view and edit the boot.ini file (as well as check for errors and use several advanced switches)

Auto-Dial Internet Connections (Win98)

If Win98 is not automatically dialing your Internet Connection:


01. Open up the Dial Up Networking box

02. Click on Connections / Settings

03. Uncheck Prompt for information before dialing