Using the Windows 3.x Program Manager with Windows 95

Some users may not feel comfortable moving to the new Windows 95 interface immediately after you upgrade their computers from Windows 3.x. To ease their transition, you can use the a Windows 3.x Program Manager.

When you replace Windows 3.x with Windows 95, you can choose to include Program Manager on the Windows 95 desktop. Program Manager does not support the following Windows 95 functionality:

• You cannot copy an item from a Program Manager group to the Windows 95 desktop, and you cannot copy My Computer, Network Neighborhood, Control Panel, or the Printers folder to a Program Manager group.

  The folders that were created when you installed Windows 95 are not designed to work with Program Manager. Program Manager recognizes files only.

• When you copy a shortcut to a Program Manager group, the shortcut's name is truncated to eight characters.

  In this case, Program Manager uses the filename (minus the extension) for the shortcut's name. For example, if you copy the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut from My Computer to a Program Manager group, the MS-DOS Prompt description is shortened to MS-DOSPR. This occurs because the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut uses the MS-DOS name MS-DOSPR.LNK. To rename the shortcut, click it, click the File menu in Program Manager, and then click Properties. In the Description field, type a new name.

• When you copy a shortcut or other item to Program Manager, the item's icon is lost.

This occurs because the icon created in the Program Manager group references a file with an .LNK extension. Because Program Manager does not recognize this extension, a generic icon appears. To change the icon, click it, click the File menu in Program Manager, and then click Properties. Click Change Icon, and then select a different icon.

• You cannot quit Windows 95 by quitting Program Manager. To quit Windows 95 or restart your computer, click the Start button, and then click Shut Down.

Tip For a comparison of Windows 95 and Windows 3.x features, see "If You've Used Windows Before" in online Help.

If you want to run Windows 3.1 Program Manager, it must be installed during Windows 95 Setup.

To install the Windows 3.1 Program Manager during Windows 95 Setup

1. In Windows 95 Setup, choose Custom as the Setup Option type.
2. In the Computer Settings dialog box, click User Interface, and then click Change.
3. Click Windows 3.1 (Program Manager), and then click OK.

After Setup, a shortcut for Program Manager appears in the StartUp folder. This causes Program Manager to start every time Windows 95 is started.

After users grow familiar with the Windows 95 interface, they will probably prefer to use it to run applications and manage files. At this point, you can remove the shortcut to Program Manager from the StartUp folder.