SCOUG OS/2 For You - September 1999

Q.  Dear Mr. Know-It-All,

I really like the Connections folder with the little icons, cool buttons and lines. How do it make my own?

A.  One of the great things about OS/2 is the flexibility provided by the Workplace Shell. The distinct appearance of the Connections folder is nothing more than a Workplace Shell folder opened in tree view with some special settings.

• Create a Folder or start with an existing folder.
• Open the Properties notebook.
• Select the Menu tab.
• Click on Open As.
• Click on the Properties button and set the Default action to Tree view.
• Select the View tab. Click on the + sign to go to page 2. Set the format to lines. Set the Icon display to small size.
• Close the Properties notebook.
• Add objects to the folder.

Don't open the folder until you have added some objects. It will look goofy and you might think you've done something wrong.

Q.  Dear Mr. Know-It-All,

It seems as though IBM updates the Feature Installer every two weeks. Every time I run fisetup, it trys to reset my Desktop and my system locks up. What am I doing wrong?

A. This appears to be a timing conflict where the installer resets the Desktop while the Workplace Shell is still digesting the changes made by the installer. Run the install from an OS/2 command prompt using:

When fisetup finishes, check fisetup.log for errors. As always, you need to do a normal shutdown and reboot your system after installing the Feature Installer.