10. Freely customize Windows colors (in the Control Panel) to give your computer a personal look. But if your memory is low or hard disk is slow, don't use wallpaper or screen savers; they take a lot of resources.

9. Multitask. Under Windows, you don't have to close one program to start up another. From your active Windows program, use the Task List to switch to Program Manager. Then select and activate the icon of the new program you want to run.

If Windows is running, the Task List will always be there to let you switch between your active tasks. You can see the task list by pressing CTRL+ESC (that is, holding CTRL and pressing ESC). Then select the task you want and choose "Switch To".

If you’re at a Windows screen, use a mouse and have wallpaper turned on, you can bring up the task list by double-clicking your mouse on any visible patch of wallpaper.

If you’re at a DOS screen, you can check if you are actually in Windows by seeing if CTRL+ESC brings up the Windows Task List. Press ENTER again to return to your DOS task. (Typing WIN at a DOS prompt will also tell you this, but it only works at the DOS prompt.)

Use the task list to see if a program is already active before you start it. If it is active, just "Switch To" it from the Task List. This avoids starting multiple copies of the same program and helps keep you from running out of memory. If it’s not active, switch to the Program Manager and start it.

Hot switch between your two most recently used applications with ALT+TAB.

Finally, don’t run too many tasks at once. Windows, esp. Windows 3.1, can quit working.

8. To make your icons and groups stay where you put them, and to protect your arrangement of groups and icons against accidental change, clear the clear the "Auto Arrange" and "Save Settings" flags on the Options menu. Then use SHIFT+ALT+F4 to save your settings whenever you change them. instead of relying on Windows to save them for you when you exit Windows. This also relieves you of having to exit Windows to save your settings.

7. CTRL+Z undoes your most recent change in most Windows programs, even when you are typing text into dialog boxes. If you make a mistake while typing something into a field, you can restore it to what it was with CTRL+Z.

6. Use the Windows clipboard to avoid retyping the same text over and over.

It’s easiest to get to the Windows clipboard by using its "hotkeys. " CTRL+INS copies highlighted stuff from screen to the clipboard. SHIFT+DEL copies highlighted stuff from screen to clipboard and then clears it from the screen. SHIFT+INS copies stuff from the screen to the clipboard. You’ll usually use it for text but graphics can go into the clipboard too.

The Windows clipboard hotkeys also work when you’re typing text in dialog boxes.

5. Make your text-based DOS programs run in Windows screens by pressing ALT+RETURN (holding ALT while pressing RETURN) while the DOS program is on the screen. This lets you see more than just one DOS job at a time. If you use a mouse, you can use the Windows clipboard to cut and paste text between DOS or WINDOWS program screens too.

4. Make up a group in Program Manager that includes your most frequently used applications. This will prevent your having to open twenty groups (also called "folders") when you look for your tools. Create the new group by opening the File Menu in Program Manager, then choose "New", then pick "New Program Group." Give the group a helpful or humorous Description so that it will stand out. You can leave the Group File field blank. After you choose OK, you’ll see a new, empty group window. Fill the new group by copying icons for your frequently-used programs from other groups.

To copy an icon using the mouse, move the mouse to the icon, press and hold the CTRL key, then press and hold the left mouse button, As you move the mouse, you’ll see the original icon stay put while the copy moves with the mouse. You can drop this icon copy into your new group by moving the mouse to the destination group and letting go of the mouse button.

To copy an icon using the menus, first highlight the icon you want to copy. Open the File Menu in Program Manager, then choose "Copy". You’ll get a dialog box with a pick list of possible destination groups. Select the one you want and choose OK.

3. Make Windows start your most frequently used programs automatically. Copy the icons for these programs into the STARTUP group. See Hint #4 about how to copy icons.

2. Assign shortcut keys to your most frequently used programs. This allows you to really quickly switch to an active program, or to launch a program from Program Manager if the program is not already active. From the Properties screen, click on the Shortcut Key block and press the keystroke combination you want to assign to the program. From now on (or until you come back to this screen to clear that box), your chosen shortcut keys will switch to that program.

Bring up the Properties screen for any icon. From the Program Manager screen, highlight the icon whose properties you want. From the File menu, choose "Properties."