Tips and Tricks on Using OS/2 and Object Desktop 

In the text below, italicized words mean that this feature is specific to Object Desktop. 

Did you know...? 

     You can open the "Settings" notebook by: 

     1. double clicking on the object with the "Right Mouse Button" (button 2). 

     2. double clicking on an open area of a folder, with the ALT key held down, to open the folder settings. (including the desktop!) 

     You can remove the default Warp LaunchPad by editing your config.sys and changing this line: 

     SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS,LAUNCHPAD 

     to 

     SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS 

     You may then delete the regular Warp LaunchPad object on the desktop.

     You can re-size the Control Center or Tab LaunchPad when its title bar is turned off by simply grabbing the edges like any other window
     and sizing it.

     You can move the Control Center or Tab LaunchPad by right-clicking (button 2) on an open area in either window and dragging the window
     to the destination.

     You can create multiple copies of Object Desktop objects like any other object (for best results, right-click on the object and chose "Create
     another..."). For instance, you could have several Control Centers on screen that are modified your way. Or you could have multiple Tab
     LaunchPads that are configured for your needs.

     You can keep programs or windows that you were running, the last time you had OS/2, up from starting when you reboot by adding this line
     to your config.sys: 

     SET RESTARTOBJECTS=STARTUPFOLDERSONLY

     You can keep windows (such as the Tab LaunchPad) in each of your virtual desktops by selecting the second Virtual Desktop page in the
     Control Center settigns noteboook and highlighting the open window that you want available in each of your desktops.

     You can "retrieve" open windows to the current virtual desktop (as opposed to switching to the virtual desktop that the open window is
     already in) by selecting the Virtual Desktop page in the Control Center settings notebook and clicking the "Retrieve window" button.
     Alternately, you may chose "Retrieve windows" from the Control Center pop-up menu.

     You can create a second Tab LaunchPad and have it show only the currently running tasks by deleting all tabs. When you do this, the tabs
     portion of the window disappears and leaves only the Task area. Configuring your Tab LaunchPad this way makes moving from program to
     program very easy.

     You can drag and drop colors and fonts onto most of the components of Object Desktop. For example, you can drag and drop colors onto the
     various status bars on the Control Center.

     You can remove unwanted "sections" of the Control Center (such as CPU meter) by opening the settings on the Control Center, choosing the
     "Sections" page and removing the sections you don't want from the visible list. Some users have reported that removing the CPU meter can
     improve performance.

     If you use the Object Desktop Object Archives feature, and want some Info-Zip options not support by our implemenation, you may take
     advantage of enviroment variables which can be set in your CONFIG.SYS which affect all zip operations. This is documented in the
     distribution archives of the Info-Zip program. For example, you may choose to place all temporary files generated by Info-ZIp into a temp
     directory of your choice by setting the following variable in your CONFIG.SYS: 

     SET ZIPOPT=-b c:\temp 

     alternately, you may choose to set the "highest" level of compression possible by Info-Zip by setting the following variable in your
     CONFIG.SYS: 

     SET ZIPOPT=-9 

     Please read the Info-ZIp documentation for more details. Note that all zip options should be contained in one "ZIPOPT" setting in your
     CONFIG.SYS.

     To enable a very rapid file and object browser with little or no overhead and maximum screen real-estate efficiency, open the settings
     notebook for the OS/2 Drives folder and 

     -choose "Small size" icon from View page 1. 

     -choose "Flowed" view from View page 1. 

     -choose "Always maintain sort order" from the Sort page. 

     -enable "Browse" mode from the Object Desktop Performance page. 

     -enable "HyperDrive" from the Object Desktop Performance page. 

     Once configured this way, the Drives object rapidly navigates your system's hard drives and arranges your data in a sorted, easy-to-read, and
     nimle display.

     You can disable that annoying "Drive Not Ready, Retry, Return Error to Program, Abort" pop-up box by adding AUTOFAIL=YES to your
     CONFIG.SYS 

¸ 1996-2000 by Stardock Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Last modified on 02.22.00