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By Paul Rogers
Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Hopefully you'll get the Task Manager pop-up screen. Look for a task, which is identified as "not responding", click on it to highlight it, and click on End Task. Whatever wasn't "saved" is lost. But you've got a good chance to get the system back.
If it works, don't just continue. Often there are some internal things messed up that cause the system to be unstable. Click Start | Shutdown | Restart.
It's unlikely that you'll be able piece back together the bits and pieces—that is an option reserved for "mission critical" applications—so don't try to save the scraps. You should have backups for restoring a corrupted file. And trying to restore a piece of the file system inappropriately can create a multitude of other errors to be corrected. I know from experience.
You should run Scan Disk often, every week or two, just to make sure there are no corruption problems developing on the hard drive: Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scan Disk
You must behave as though all other computers are cesspits of infection. First some rules:
Calling them viruses is quite apt. You must apply the same sort of quarantine procedures as a hospital might. It is possible to handle an infected diskette without infecting your system sometimes, if you really know what you're doing and are extremely careful and lucky.
In order to infect your system, a virus must gain "execution control". That means:
Avoid anything like that. The point is that some kinds of files, which have no way of ever getting control of the CPU, cannot be infected and couldn't transfer it even if.
The general rule is, unless you have explicit expectations of receiving a known attachment from a specific person, and this is it, ignore all attachments. Purge them if possible!
There is one thing you can do that helps. By default Windows hides the file extension of file types that it has registered. That's dangerous! Many virus attachments rely on that. An attachment file might appear to be named picture.gif, an innocent seeming GIF image file, when in fact its name is really picture.gif.exe, a virus infected executable file, and Windows is graciously hiding the "complication" of file extensions from you. Opening this "image" executes the virus, and ZAP you're toast. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to create files with names like that, but these virus writers aren't playing "by the book" anyhow.
To turn it off, go to Windows Explorer, View | Options | View and uncheck "Hide MS-DOS file extensions for file types that are registered." Then when you see a file extension ending in ".EXE", no matter what is in front of it, know that this is an executable file that can and probably will infect your computer with something nasty!
I'm an old-timer. I usually use the old word "directories" when the new Windows/Macintosh paradigm uses the Folders concept. They're the same things for most purposes.
Do everything you can to keep things that come together, that belong together, together, and not mixed up with other things. Every software package needs to be kept in a separate directory from every different package. Everything else, including your files, needs to be in a different directory. Don't put your Word documents, letters, etc., in the Word directory, for example. This enables a software package to be deleted or updated without losing unintended material.
Most software packages expect to create their own directory either in the "root", "C:\", or perhaps in "C:\Program Files". Those should be considered privileged locations. When any directory gets too many things in it, it becomes more difficult to find a particular thing. "Divide and conquer."
Don't be afraid to create directories as necessary. Try to create a logical hierarchical structure to your directories. Usually you'll find you haven't started with a general or abstract enough first few levels. Note that I try to let the stuff that is rather closely associated with Windows 95 go into the directories the package designers suggest, but put all the packages I add as individual selections under a directory I call "Extensions", sometimes "WinApps".
If at some later time you get a "better idea" for a directory structure you can always use Explorer to create the new higher level directories, and "drag and drop" the old directories where you want them. The major catch is for programs that have been added to the "Start Menu". There is a shortcut in the start menu entry for that program that points to the location of the program using the old directory structure. If you really want to do it anyhow you can either delete the old entry using Start | Settings | Taskbar, then add it again (use "Browse"), or you can find and edit the shortcut on the "Shortcut" tab. If you're going to use the delete/add route, don't just delete the whole folder you see—there may be more than one program in the folder you'll have to add again.
There is no similarity imposed by Windows 95 on the structure of the file directories and the structure of the folders in the Start Menu. You can make different structures, and probably will because the file directory structure will be necessarily more extensive and complex. But do try to make them somewhat similar. You can use the drag and drop with the folder structure of the Start Menu, but this doesn't change the Shortcut pointers.
In Windows95 you can create a file name with a blank or space in it. Don't do that! It causes some programs that use the old DOS rules to fail. You can use the Underscore, uppercase on the hyphen key, or just run the name together and use capitalization to mark the words.
Run Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter often, say once a month. It's more effective if you empty the trash bin first.
Explore different places to put your Task Bar. Some places are easier to use than others. I usually "hide" it and drag it to the left side of the screen. When I move the mouse to that edge of the screen, the taskbar pops out. Works for me!
That's: Start | Settings | Taskbar | Auto Hide
You're using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, aren't you? You really should consider using Netscape. Many of the computer viruses around rely on features built into MSIE to do their dirty work, and they rely on its popularity for their ability to spread explosively. You cannot rely on using Netscape as your sole protection from "catching" a virus but it will help. It might also save you from the need to send e-mail to everyone you know telling them that you recently sent them an infected message! Yes, things will be different using Netscape, but those differences provide the protection.
When you're web browsing, get used to using the Back button and don't follow links so far that you can't find your way back. It's easy to get yourself lost until you learn strategies for web browsing and navigating. Learn how to use Netscape's Go button, but remember it only presents about a dozen of the previous addresses.
There are two tricks some webmasters use to try to trap you at their website. Sometimes they will cause the browser to start up a second window that overlays the first. There is no "back chain" in the new window, so Back and Go don't go anywhere. You can detect this by looking at the task-bar, or moving the cursor over it if it is "hidden". Just terminate the new window and you'll get the previous window you came from.
The other trick they may use is to have you sent to a page which does nothing but transfer you to the page which displays their content. You are only aware of the second, until you try to follow your Back chain. You try to go back, and immediately get transferred forward again. Sometimes if you double click you can go two steps back before the browser has a chance to transfer you forward. Usually the transferring page isn't named, so appears blank in the list shown by the Go button. You can use the Go button to step over this blank entry, if you've caught it soon enough—remember the dozen or so entries it can display? The rest aren't forgotten, you can still use the Back button to fall back to previous pages. It isn't as easy to use but in Netscape you can go to the Window | History screen for an ordered list of every page you've been to recently (as defined in Preferences).
Don't forget to empty the trash. Stuff in the Recycle Bin is still on the disk, taking up space until you empty it, or until it gets to be 10% of the disk space. Until then deleted files can be retrieved, after then they're really gone.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 by Paul Rogers. All rights reserved.