Below is the old property box:

You can see where you would change an icon, browse for a command line, start it minimized, etc.  Various tabs may exist on your computer depending upon the version of Windows, the software installed on that computer, and the configuration of that PC.

The next section will cover the different parts of the new "Tabbed Properties Dialog Box" for Windows 95.

Almost everything in Windows 95 has "Properties". Properties are just a way of saying:  "What is associated with this thing, what color is it, and what should it do when I use it." Below is a property sheet for a Word Document: To open this window, I right clicked on a Word document, and then picked - Properties. You can do this in Explorer or by finding a file in My Computer.      The summary tab lists information you would enter in the File, Summary Info box of Microsoft Word. the statistics lists when the file was made, changed, and who last saved it, and the dates tab gives you a way to change the dates of file.  Other types of things (like a drive, or different type of file) will have different things to set.

As you can see - the general tab gives you information about the drive. What is its name, how big is it, how much is it used, etc.  The Tools tab gives you information on when you last ran a scandisk or defrag on this drive. It also gives you a couple buttons to let you run those preventive maintenance tasks now.   The compression tab only gives you information if you are viewing properties of a drive that has been compressed with Drive Space (Or the one that comes with MS Plus - Drive Space 3).   The Norton tab is there only if you have installed a program called Norton Utilities 95, and it gives its own version of the tools tab.

Below is an example of the properties of drive C:

A Few other notes about properties:

 If you right click on an icon that is a shortcut, you will notice a "Shortcut" tab. On this page there is a button that will allow you to change the icon for that shortcut.

Files that actually do something (programs, *.exe, *.bat, *.com, *.pif) will have a few -slightly different - tabs and options to them. Other than perhaps changing the working directory, users should not change too many items on these sheets because it could cause the program to stop running.

Some software programs you buy to "add-on" to your system will often add tabs to your properties boxes, and extra options to your pop up menus. (Norton Utilities, Keyview, FirstAid, various Anti-Virus programs.) So if you see something extra on your computer, OR something missing, it does not mean that there is something wrong with your PC.