Want to know the size of all the files and folders (and files within those folders) in a particular directory (or folder--whatever you want to call it)? In a previous tip, we told you about TreeSize, accessible from 'http://www.windows95.com/apps/explorer-addons.html' It's a great little shareware utility that provides you with every folder's size at a glance--something Explorer fails to do. However, Explorer does offer a neat little trick. In Explorer's left pane, click on the plus sign of the directory whose size you wish to determine. Now select all the contents of the right pane, files and folders alike, by clicking on the top entry, holding down Shift, and clicking on the bottom entry. Right click on the entire selection, choose Properties, and you'll see the total number of files and folders, as well as their combined size.
FTP, short for File Transfer Protocol, allows you to upload files to a Web server or an FTP server. A good FTP package is WS_FTP from Ipswitch. Go to 'http://www.ipswitch.com/downloads/index.html#WS_FTP' and download an evaluation copy. If you maintain your own Web site and update your pages frequently, it's a must-have piece of software. If you like WS_FTP and decide to use it beyond the 30-day evaluation period, it costs $37.50
Another excellent program is CuteFTP, which is the one we are currently using. To get a demo copy, go to http://www.cuteftp.com. Its registration cost is $39.95.
If you're a keyboard person and a mousephobe, you'll be happy to know there's a keyboard equivalent to pressing the right mouse button: with an item selected, press Shif+F10. Once the context menu is expanded, just use your up or down cursor keys to highlight the command you want, then press Enter. And here's another keyboard tip: In an open window, pressing F10 shifts the cursors focus to the first menu (typically, File). Press the down cursor key to expand the highlighted menu, or press the left or right cursor keys to select another menu.
In a previous tip, we showed you that Shift+F10 is the equivalent of pressing the right mouse button, and that F10 moves the cursor's focus to a window's first menu (File). We've got another keyboard shortcut for you. Tired of clicking that straight-line caption button every time you want to minimize a window? Press Alt+Spacebard+N instead. To minimize all open windows, press Ctrl_Esc (to open the Start menu) then Esc (to close it), and finally, press Alt+M. It seems like a lot of steps, but after a couple of times, you'll get the hang of it.
If you have a hard time following your mouse pointer across the screen, ask Windows 95 to trail it. The pointer trails option displays a number of pointers along the pointer's path, making it easier to track visually. Open the Control Panel and double-click on Mouse. Next, click on the Motion tab and select Show Pointer Trails. Finally, move the lever toward Long or Short, depending on the length of the trail you want, and click on OK. Try moving that pointer around and your mouse now has a tail!
Got a laptop computer and having problems seeing the cursor? Does it seem to get lost every ten seconds? Then switch to a more highly visible cursor. Click on START | SETTINGS | CONTROL PANEL | MOUSE | POINTERS. Highlight NORMAL SELECT, then click on BROWSE. Select a cursor with a color that will show up well on your laptop screen. One that has worked well for us in most cases is EDARROW3.CUR, which is a large bodied yellow arrow. When you find one you like, highlight it, click OPEN, then close all the open control panel windows.