QD3 V3.73 (C) 1993-1997 - HINTS.TXT



*** WINDOWS 95 USERS PLEASE READ README95.TXT NOW! ***



This file contains hints and tips for improved user efficiency. Some items

are configuration options that you can customize to your needs, others are

simple methods that you can adopt for improved performance.



1. If you do not intend to use a mouse with QD3, disable mouse support.

   This prevents QD3 from initializing the mouse which takes about half

   a second every time you start the program. Disable mouse support in

   the general section of configuration.



2. If you find that you have to press B frequently to see the DOS screen

   after executing a command, try enabling the Pause After Execution

   option in the general section of configuration. This option should be

   enabled by default unless you have upgraded from an older version.



3. Setup menu items for commonly used applications and utilities and

   assign hotkeys to them. You don't need to remember the hotkeys, just

   use the menu hotkey information display ( press I ).



4. Most of the tagged file commands have alternate key combinations

   which you may find easier.



   Here are some examples        Method 1        Method 2

   ----------------------------  ------------    -------------

   Copy tagged files             CTRL+C          C       ENTER

   Delete tagged files           CTRL+D          D       ENTER

   Move tagged files             CTRL+M          M       ENTER    



5. Instead of running around trying to find a specific directory use the

   GOTO command ( G ) to quickly locate any directory on any drive.

   Enter the first few letters and press ENTER, QD3 will give you a list

   of matching directories to choose from.



   NOTE! Remember to re-scan the directory trees occasionally ( ALT+G )

   QD3 does not automatically update these trees.



6. If you want to log a drive, change the sort order or change the

   filespec in the other window just use the ALT key combination instead

   of jumping backwards and forwards between windows.



   Examples

   ---------------------------

   ALT+F   Change filespec in other window

   ALT+L   Log drive in other window

   ALT+S   Change sort order in other window



7. To quickly log another drive, try using the plus and minus keys.

   The PLUS key logs the next available hard disk drive.

   The MINUS key logs the previous available hard disk drive.

   You can also use ALT PLUS and ALT MINUS to log the other window.

   You can also configure QD3 to quick log CDROM drives in the

   general section of configuration. ( ALT+C )



9. If you are working in a directory with a large number of files and

   you find yourself waiting for QD3 to re-read the directory every time

   you do somthing, try changing the filespec to limit the number of files

   QD3 has to read each time. You may also need to do this if there are

   more than 1000 files in a directory and you wish to sort them.



10. If you are working with tagged directories but you do not need to know

    how many files/bytes they contain, you can disable the option to

    "Count files when tagged" under COPY OPTIONS. Now, tagging a directory

    will count as 1 file with 0 bytes instead of counting up all the files

    and bytes in all the sub-directories.



11. If you're worried about overwriting sensitive files you can secure

    specific directories, including sub-directores, to prevent any files

    from begin deleted or overwritten by QD3. Simply change to the

    directory you wish to secure and press CTRL+ALT+S. To secure the

    entire drive, change to the root directory and secure it including

    sub-directories. You can even secure floppy drives.



12. Under Windows 95 you can use the START command to utilize Windows

    associations. For example, set up a QD3 association for .DOC files

    with the command line "START %F". This will pass the file to Windows

    which will start up your Word application as if double-clicking the

    same file in Windows.



13. Un-documented parameter %W uses Windows 95 long filename. See hint 14

    for a very good use of this parameter.



14. Preserving Windows 95 long filenames. If you want to backup your

    long filenames before doing anything that may lose them such as

    archiving, do the following for each directory.



    Select all the files you want to preserve. Ie CTRL+T for all files.

    Press CTRL+B to create a batch file

    Type in the following command and press ENTER:      REN %F "%W"

    Call the batch file something appropriate like:     RENLONG.BAT



    This will create a batch file call RENLONG.BAT in the current

    directory. If you lose the long filenames, such as after archiving,

    just run RENLONG.BAT to restore the long filenames.



    Future versions of QD3 may automate this process for you.



If you discover any other ways to increase performance, please let me know

and I will add them to this list.