Using Microsoft Fax in Windows 98
If you used the Microsoft Fax feature of Windows 95's mail program, Microsoft Exchange or
Windows Messaging, you were probably surprised to learn that Microsoft Fax doesn't appear
in Windows 98's mail program--Outlook Express. However, you'll be glad to know that if you
want to be able to use Microsoft Fax in Windows 98, it's available on the Windows 98 CD.
To use it you must locate the \tools\oldwin95\message\us folder on the Windows 98
CD. Then, double-click on Wms.exe to install
Windows Messaging. Once you've installed Windows Messaging, double-click on Awfax.exe to
add Microsoft Fax to Windows Messaging.
Get express e-mail from your Windows 98 desktop with e-mail shortcuts
If you frequently send electronic mail to the same person,
you can create a shortcut on the desktop that will instantly open a preaddressed message
in your e-mail client (for example, Microsoft Outlook Express). To create an e-mail
shortcut:
1/ Right-click a blank area on the desktop.
2/ Point to New and click Shortcut.
3/ Type mailto: and insert the e-mail address after the colon, leaving no space.
4/ Click Next.
5/ Select a name for the shortcut and click Finish.
Speed up my programs in Windows 98?
The improved Disk Defragmenter in Windows 98 gathers the program files that you use most
office and moves them to faster parts of the hard disk. To run Disk Defragmenter:
- From the Start menu, point to Programs, Accessories, and
System Tools, and click Disk Defragmenter.
- Click Settings, and make sure that the option to Rearrange program files so my programs
start faster is selected and click OK.
- Click OK to start the process
Give open windows more pizzazz with folder backgrounds
In Windows 98, you can give nearly any folder a different background using the Customize
This Folder wizard. When you open the window, your icons will be set against a picture or
graphic background of your choice. To add a special folder background, such as a corporate
logo or personal picture:
- Open the folder you want to customize.
- From the View menu, click Customize this Folder.
- Select Choose a background picture and click Next.
- Select one of the backgrounds available in the list, or click Browse to find one of your
own pictures, and click Next.
- Click Finish.
NOTE: Keep in mind that if the background is too fancy or dark, you may have trouble
viewing your icons!
Your one stop disk drive information shop
As you probably know, you can right-click on any drive icon in Windows 98's My Computer
window, select Properties from the context menu, and see a graphical display of the used
and free space on that disk. However, if you have multiple disk drives, performing this
operation on each one can be time consuming. Fortunately, Windows 98 can display the same
information about all your disk drives in one tabbed properties sheet. Here's how: Open My
Computer, select all the disk drives that show up in the window, right-click on the last
one, and select Properties from the context menu.
This technique can be used with network drives, removable disk drives, and floppy disk
drives as well.
Get the latest scoops from Microsoft
When you install Windows 98, you'll see a new and welcome addition to the top of your
Start menu--Windows Update. This link connects you to a
Microsoft Web page where you can find the latest drivers and update information, as well
as technical support information for Windows 98. If you click the Update Wizard, you'll be
prompted to register your copy of Windows 98 (if you haven't already), and then the Wizard
will scan your system, identifying and listing any updates your system needs. None of the
updates are automatic, so you can decide whether and when to update your system.
Installing on a system running Windows NT
You cannot install Windows 98 over any version of Windows NT,
but they can exist together on a single system. However, for compatibility reasons, it is
recommended that you install each to a separate hard disk or partition. If Windows NT is
already installed, Windows 98 Setup will add itself to the Windows NT boot menu to allow
the user to multi-boot between Windows 98 and Windows NT.
If you can no longer boot Windows NT, you should boot from the Windows NT recovery disks
and choose the Repair option to restore the Windows NT boot files.
When installing Windows 98 on a system with drives created with Windows NT, you may
receive the following error:
"Setup has detected that your hard disk has a 64K-cluster FAT partition. Because
ScanDisk does not work on disks with this cluster size, Setup cannot continue. To complete
Setup , you must repartition your hard disk, format the partition with a FAT file system
that has a cluster size of 32K or less, and then restart Setup."
Running Setup with the "/is" parameter (e.g., Setup /is) will bypass ScanDisk
and avoid this problem.
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Installing
in a system running OS/2
Setup will not run on OS/2. You need to start MS-DOS and run
Setup from the MS-DOS prompt.
NOTE: If you are upgrading over OS/2 on an HPFS partition, you must have your OS/2 disk 1
available during Setup.
If you start MS-DOS from a floppy disk and then run Setup, you will no longer be able to
start OS/2 after Windows 98 has been installed. You must delete the Autoexec.bat and
Config.sys files that OS/2 uses before running Windows 98 Setup.
If you want to remove OS/2 from your computer after you have installed Windows 98:
1. Back up the data files you want to keep onto a floppy disk or network drive.
2. Delete the files in each of your OS/2 directories and subdirectories, and then delete
the OS/2 directories.
3. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click View, click Options, and click Show All
Files. Then, delete the following OS/2 files:
Ea data.sf
OS2ldr.msg
OS2krnl
OS2boot
Wp data.sf
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Setup Error Messages
This section lists specific messages that you may encounter
during Setup and provides information about what to do next.
"Previous version of Setupx.dll" message:
Setup detects that an earlier version of SetupX.dll or NetDi.dll is in use. This may be
because there are open applications on your computer. If you want Setup to replace the
existing file and automatically restart your system, click OK. Or, to keep your existing
version of SetupX.dll and NetDi.dll, click Cancel to quit Setup, close any open
applications, then run Setup again.
Several programs are known to cause this error:
* Diamond's "In Control Tools"
* Ensonics AudioPCI sound card drivers
* Aztech sound card drivers
* Hayes Modem configuration utilites
* Some Windows Printing System utilities (Canon BJ series)
If Windows 98 Setup still gives this error after rebooting, you should run Setup from the
MS-DOS command prompt.
Message SU0018
"Setup cannot create files on your startup drive and cannot set up Windows 98. There
may be too many files in the root directory of your startup drive, or your startup drive
letter may have been remapped."
The root folder of a drive holds a maximum of 512 entries (files or folders). This message
indicates that Setup has detected too many directory entries in the root folder of your
computer, and Setup cannot create the files it needs to set up Windows 98. Move or delete
some files from the root folder of your drive, and then run Setup again.
This error message can also appear if your startup drive letter has been remapped. Several
things could cause this:
* You have mapped a network drive to C. If this is the case, remap the network drive.
* You have a LastDrive=C: statement in your Config.sys file. Remove the LastDrive
statement, or set it to equal another drive.
* A third-party partitioning or boot manager program has remapped the drive. Consult the
program documentation.
You may need to uninstall the program before installing Windows 98.
"Unrecoverable Setup Error" Message
"Unrecoverable Setup Error. Setup cannot continue on this system configuration. Click
OK to quit Setup."
This error could be caused by various conditions.
Long File Names Error Messages
If you see the message "Setup has detected that the program, Long File Names, is
installed in this directory.
Setup cannot continue." quit Setup, and then remove Long File Names from your
computer by using the Uninstall feature in Long File Names. See "View Software"
for more information.
Not Enough Memory Messages
If you encounter an Out of Memory message, you can increase conventional memory by
commenting out TSRs and loading device drivers into the upper memory area.
For information on how to perform these steps, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article
Q134399, "How to Increase Conventional Memory for MS-DOS-Based Programs" at
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q134/3/99.asp
Not Enough Disk Space Messages
You can recover disk space by completing any or all of the following steps:
* Right-click Recycle Bin, and then click Empty Recycle Bin.
* Delete the contents of your Internet browser cache folder.
* Delete files with the extensions .bak and .tmp.
* Delete unused program folders (be sure to back up data first).
* Delete the old MS-DOS folder, unless you intend to configure your computer to run both
Windows 98 and MS-DOS. (First, be sure you have a start disk that supports access to
the CD-ROM drive.)
* Delete the hidden file Winundo.dat from the previous installation of Windows 95.
* Delete the old Windows 3.1 folder, unless you intend to configure your computer to run
both Windows 3.1 and Windows 98.
Setup Cannot Write to the Temporary Directory
This message may appear because there is insufficient disk space for the temporary
directory. If space is available on another drive, use the following command line to
change the temporary directory location:
Setup /T:<drive letter>:\TEMP
If you do not have space available on another drive, free some disk space, and then run
Setup again. See the "Not Enough Disk Space" Messages section for files that can
be deleted.
CAB File Error Messages
CAB file errors are most frequently caused by one or more of the following: virus, low
conventional memory, bad media, or hardware, especially CD-ROM drives.
If you already created a Startup Disk, quit Setup, shut down your computer, insert the
Startup Disk, and then restart the computer. This action creates a
controlled environment from which to run Setup. Then run Setup from the MS-DOS command
prompt.
To recover from corrupt CAB file error messages, try copying the Setup files to your hard
disk and running Setup from your hard disk, using these steps:
1. You need an extra 200 MB free on your hard disk and a temp directory to store files.
2. Boot off the Windows 98 Startup Disk and choose the option to load your CD-ROM drivers.
If you do not have access to your CD-ROM drive when
booting off the Windows 98 Startup Disk, you must load the drivers that came with your
CD-ROM drive.
3. Change drives to the CD-ROM drive letter indicated by the MSCD001 prompt on the screen
and switch to the Win98 folder. Type: Copy *.* <destination drive and the temp folder
you created>
4. Change to that folder and run Setup, choosing Safe Recovery if prompted.
If you have Multimedia Cloaking and are installing Windows 98 from floppy disks, Setup may
not run successfully. If you see messages about Setup not
being able to read .cab files, follow these steps:
1. Remove the line referencing Cacheclk.exe from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Run Setup again.
Message SU0010, SU0012, SU0015, or SU0016
If you receive one of these messages during Setup, see "Installing Windows 98 on a
System Running Windows NT" and "Installing Windows 98 on a System Running
OS/2" for more information.
Message SU0011
If your hard disk is password-protected, Setup will not complete successfully. You must
first remove the password protection. For more information, see your computer
documentation.
Message SU0013
To set up Windows 98, your startup drive must be an MS-DOS boot partition. If your startup
drive is formatted as HPFS or NTFS, you must create an MS-DOS boot partition before
running Setup. For more information about creating an MS-DOS boot partition, see your
computer documentation.
You may also receive this error if you have third-party partitioning software such as EZ
drive or Disk Manager installed. If so, reboot your system and run Setup from an MS-DOS
command prompt.
Standard Mode Messages
If you get any of the following error messages, remove any memory managers (such as
EMM386.exe, QEMM, or 386Max) from your Config.sys file, and then run Setup again.
Standard Mode: Invalid DPMI return.
Standard Mode: Fault in MS-DOS Extender.
Standard Mode: Bad Fault in MS-DOS Extender.
Standard Mode: Unknown stack in fault dispatcher.
Standard Mode: Stack Overflow.
NOTE: If you still have problems, add EMM386.EXE back into your Config.sys file and
exclude all ranges. For example,
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe x=A000-FFFF
If you encounter these messages or if your computer stops responding during Setup, turn on
double-buffering in SmartDrive. Several SCSI hard drives and some ESDI drives require
double-buffering.
To turn on double buffering, add the following line to the beginning of your Config.sys
file:
device=c:\windows\smartdrv.exe /double_buffer+
where "c:\windows" is the path to your Windows directory.
"Setup Could Not Back Up Your System Files"
Message
If you see this error message while Setup is saving your system files, you may not
have enough disk space, particularly on compressed disks. Free up space on the drive you
are saving your system files on (the default drive is C) by removing unneeded files.
Uninstall can require up to 75 MB on many systems. If Setup is not offering you the choice
of saving your system files, you may be very low on free disk space.
"Cannot Continue on This System Configuration"
Message
If you get this message, you may have an older, incompatible disk partition. Before you
run Setup, you will need to back up your data and then repartition
your disk.
Message SU0167
A file or folder called Desktop exists on your computer.
Rename or move your current Desktop folder, and then run Setup again.
Message SU0410
Setup cannot open a required file, possibly because the file is missing or damaged, or
because your computer does not have enough memory.
If you have already created a Startup Disk, quit Setup, shut down your computer, insert
the Startup Disk, and then restart the computer. Then, run Setup from the MS-DOS command
prompt.
"Cannot Copy File" Messages
Try skipping the file; it may not be essential. If Setup does not complete successfully,
or Windows 98 will not run, quit Setup, shut down your computer, insert the Startup Disk
into the floppy drive, and restart the computer. Then run Setup from the MS-DOS command
prompt.
SU99xxxx Messages
SU99 is a prefix that is added to all errors that Setup does not have a specific error
message for. These errors are often caused by low conventional memory. If you have already
created a Startup Disk, quit Setup, shut down your computer, insert the Startup Disk, and
restart the computer.
Then, run Setup from the MS-DOS command prompt.
"Setup does not have enough conventional memory to check your computer's hard
disks."
-or-
"Setup could not check the hard drives on your computer."
If you receive either of these errors, Setup was unable to run ScanDisk to check your hard
drives. This could be because of low conventional memory or your disk contains errors that
Scandisk cannot fix when run from Setup. To work around these errors, reboot your system
to MS-DOS mode and run ScanDisk /all. Then, run Setup again. If Setup still fails, reboot
to MS-DOS mode and run Scandisk /all /surface. This will take a little longer, but it will
ensure your hard disks are in good shape. If, after running ScanDisk with these options,
Setup still won't continue, you should run Setup /is to bypass
ScanDisk.
NOTE: Bypassing ScanDisk is not recommened and should only be used if you are positive
your disk(s) contain no errors. If there are still errors, Setup may fail and your system
may no longer boot.
Editing the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
Your computer's Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files tell your computer what programs and
devices to load on startup (for example, a virus-scanner program to Autoexec.bat file may
direct your computer to automatically load). Windows 98 Setup will not run properly with
some programs and devices. To remove or disable such a program or device, you may need to
edit the Config.sys and/or Autoexec.bat files.
To edit the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files:
1. In Windows 3.1 or 3.11, click File, click Run, type Sysedit, and then press ENTER. In
Windows 95, click Start, click Run, type Sysedit, and then press ENTER.
2. In the Config.sys or Autoexec.bat dialog box, type REM at the beginning of any line(s)
that you want to disable.
3. Save changes and restart your computer.
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HARDWARE NOTES
This section includes notes on specific system configurations
that may prevent Setup from installing Windows 98 successfully.
Sager NP8200 or Wedge Technologies 466/DX2
IMPORTANT: If you install Windows 98 on a SagerNP8200 or Wedge Technologies 466/DX2
laptop computer, you will not be able to use your computer, even if you reinstall a
previousversion of Windows.
Plug and Play Network Cards and 16-Bit Real-Mode Drivers
When you need to run the 16-bit real-mode driver for your network interface card
(NIC) (which is common if you use DLC or another real-mode protocol), your Plug and Play
card may appear not to function because the 16-bit NIC drivers load before Windows 98 has
a chance to turn on Plug and Play cards. In addition, some 16-bit NIC drivers do not
recognize Plug and Play cards (most NE2000 Plug and Play clones fall into this category).
>>>To use your Plug and Play card with a 16-bit NIC driver:
1. Run the Softset utility that comes with your Plug and Play card, and then set the card
to non-Plug and Play mode.
2. Double-click Network in Control Panel, and then remove the network card.
3. In Control Panel, double-click Add New Hardware and follow the instructions on your
screen. Windows 98 will detect your network card.
If you change to a 32-bit protected-mode NIC driver in the future, you can run Softset
again to turn on Plug and Play mode for your card.
Intel EtherExpress 16 NICs and PCI Computers Your system may not respond or you may
experience initialization problems if you are using an Intel
EtherExpress 16 NIC in a PCI computer with certain Diamond Speed Star PCI video cards.
These problems are not related to Windows 98; they occur on a variety of operating system
platforms. If you experience other problems with your EtherExpress 16 in a PCI computer,
replace the card before you report the problem to Microsoft.
If you have one of these video cards, contact your vendor about getting a new video BIOS
update.
- Diamond Speed Star PCI video card with BIOS version 1.01
- Diamond Viper PCI VGA Video Adapter
- Diamond Stealth video card, Bios v1.03
IBM Thinkpad Model 750x/755x/360x
If you have one of these models (including submodels such as C, CE, CX, CS, and CSE),
before you install Windows 98 check the IBM bulletin board or the THINKPAD forum on
CompuServe for updated BIOS and/or Mwave drivers for your computer.
If you don't upgrade your BIOS, you may have problems if you move the mouse while your
computer is turning suspend mode on or off.
Some utilities for Windows 3.1, such as Long File Names, need
to be upgraded or used differently with Windows 98.
To obtain a version of View Software that works with Windows 98, call (800) 536-8439 in
the United States.
Outside the United States, call (415) 856-8439.
MEMORY MANAGERS
If you have QEMM installed on your computer, it is recommended that you remove it from
your Config.sys file before you set up Windows 98. You can add it back after Windows 98 is
installed.
The following memory managers are incompatible with or may cause problems with Windows 98.
It is recommended that you remove all references to them from your Config.sys and
Autoexec.bat files and useEmm386.exe and Himem.sys, which are provided with Windows 98, to
manage memory instead.
Allemm4.sys - All Charge 386 Version 3.1
HPemm386.sys and HPemm486.sys
HPmm.sys - HP Memory Manager (must remove before Setup)
Iemm.sys Memory Manager
Intel(R) Expanded-Memory Emulator (Ilim386.sys)
Maximizer Memory Manager (Maximize.com)
NetRoom Memory Manager (RM386.sys)
QMAPS Memory Manager Version 5.16
UMB PRO Version 1.07
NOTE: The documentation for 386MAX recommends you not set the EXT parameter below 64. If
you set this parameter to 0, Setup will fail.
NOTE: If you remove the line containing Rm386.sys from your Config.sys file, you may need
to install Himem.sys, which comes with Windows or MS-DOS. You can do this by adding the
following line to your Config.sys file:
device=<path>\himem.sys
The <path> is the location of your Windows or MS-DOS files (for example, C:\Windows).
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DISK-CACHE PROGRAMS
Before you run Setup, it is recommended that you remove any third-party disk-cache
programs and replace them with Smartdrv.exe, which is provided with Windows 98.
If you are running one of the following disk-cache utilities, remove it. In some cases,
Setup will remove it for you.
386MAX Disk-Cache utility (Qcache.exe) (Do not use with SmartDrive.)
Cache.exe Disk-Cache utility
Cache.sys Disk-Cache utility
Flash Disk-Cache utility (Flash.exe) (do not use with SmartDrive.)
Hyperdisk Disk-Cache utility (do not use with SmartDrive.)
Icache.sys Disk-Cache utility
IBMcache.sys Disk-Cache utility
Mace Disk-Cache Utility (Mcache.sys)
Norton Speed Drive Disk utility (SPEEDRV)
Norton Utilities Version 5.0 and 6.1 (DISKREET, NCACHE)
PC-Cache (PC Tools disk cache utility) (must remove before Setup)
PC-Kwik Disk-Cache utility (Pc-kwik.exe)
PC_Kwik Disk Accelerator
PC-Kwik Version 1.59 (Pck.exe, Pskscrn.exe, Pckey.com)
PC Tools(TM) Disk-Cache utility (Pc-cache.com)
Secretdisk II Disk-Cache utility (Fast512.sys) (Do not use with SmartDrive.)
Super PC-Kwik Disk-Cache utility (Superpck.exe)
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SETTING
UP A DUAL-BOOT CONFIGURATION WITH WINDOWS NT
To set up a dual-boot configuration on an x86 computer,
install the operating system in the usual way, and then edit the Boot.ini file as
described below. All system startup info is stored in the Boot.ini file, which is
automatically created during Setup at the root of your computer's hard disk.
>>>To edit the Boot.ini file:
1. In Windows Explorer, click View, click Options, and then click "Show all
files."
2. Make sure "Hide file extensions for known file types" is not checked, and
then click OK.
3. Right-click the Boot.ini file, and then click Properties.
4. Click to clear the Read-only check box, and then click OK.
5. Right-click the Boot.ini file, click Copy, right-click a blank area of the Explorer
dialog box, and then click Paste. A backup copy with the file name "Copy of
Boot.ini" will be created.
6. Double-click the Boot.ini file.
7. Add the name and location of the alternate system in the [operating systems] section of
the file, as in the following example:
[operating systems]
C:\Winnt="Windows NT 4.0"
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
8. Save and close the Boot.ini file.
9. Right-click the Boot.ini file, and then click Properties.
10.Select the Read-only check box, and then click OK.
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CREATING
AN MS-DOS STARTUP PARTITION
To set up Windows 98, your startup drive must be an MS-DOS
startup partition. If your startup drive is formatted as HPFS or NTFS, you must create an
MS-DOS startup partition before you run Setup. For more information about creating an
MS-DOS startup partition, see your computer documentation.
USING TERMINATE-AND-STAY-RESIDENT (TSR) PROGRAMS
AND DRIVERS APPEND (MS-DOS)
Do not use the APPEND utility with Windows 98. It prevents
Windows and Windows-based programs from creating valid Well-Formed-Path (WFP) names for
the files they are using. (A WFP is the complete name of a file, including the drive
letter and full path specification, starting from the root directory.)
Autocon Version 2.0e, Bootcon Version 1.60, and Boot.sys
These programs enable you to select from different configurations when you start your
computer. Because Windows 98 Setup modifies only the first sections in your Config.sys and
Autoexec.bat files, you may have to modify these files manually after Setup. For more
information, see the program documentation.
Cubit Version 3.01
When you are using Cubit with Windows 98, do not compress the Windows System folder or any
file that is loaded from your Config.sys file.
Before you upgrade to Windows 98, make sure that the earlier version of Windows is
decompressed on your hard disk. You may recompress the files after you have successfully
set up Windows 98.
Doubledisk Version 2.5
Windows 98 may try to access "phantom" disk drives if you use it with
Doubledisk. Phantom drives occur when you use Doubledisk to create a compressed drive. For
example, if you have drives A, B, and C on your computer and you use Doubledisk to create
drive F, Windows 98 and MS-DOS recognize drives D and E as valid drives, even though they
do not exist. You can use the DRVOFF utility to prevent Windows from recognizing
phantom drives. To order a copy of the DRVOFF utility, contact Vertisoft.
Infinite Disk Version 2.1
Infinite Disk version 2.1 does not work properly with Windows 98. Either remove Infinite
Disk software from your computer before you run Setup, or contact your software dealer for
a version of Infinite Disk software that is compatible with Windows 98.
>>>To remove Infinite Disk from your computer:
1. Decompress any compressed files.
2. Remove the following lines from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files:
iddrv.sys
idres.exe
protect /c
3. Restart your computer, and then run Setup again.
NetWare(R) NetBIOS
In many configurations, the NetWare NetBIOS TSR is incompatible with Windows 98. In most
cases, Setup will detect NetWare NetBIOS and remove the startup command from your
computer. However, if you have NetWare NetBIOS set up to start from a location other than
your Autoexec.bat file (for example, from a different batch file), Setup cannot detect it.
In this case, you need to remove NetWare NetBIOS manually.
Windows 98 includes an IPX/SPX-compatible protocol that you can use instead of NetBIOS.
For information about configuring Windows 98 to work with it, see Networks.txt.
Newspace Version 1.07
Windows 98 is incompatible with this disk-compression utility.
Norton Desktop for Windows (Ep.exe)
If the data-recovery program Erase Protect (Ep.exe) is loaded from your Autoexec.bat file,
disable it when you set up Windows, especially if you are upgrading over a previous
version of Windows. Because Erase Protect tries to save copies of all deleted files, you
can run out of disk space while running Setup.
It is recommended that you run Erase Protect with a permanent swap file. If you are using
a temporary swap file, exclude files that have a .tmp or .swp extension from erase
protection.
Norton Disklock Versions 3.01 and 3.5
Norton Disklock versions 3.01 and 3.5 do not work correctly with Windows 98. Either remove
this software from your computer before you run Setup, or contact Symantec product support
for a version of Disklock that is compatible with Windows 98.
For information about how to remove Disklock from your computer, see the Norton Disklock
documentation.
PC Tools Deluxe(TM) Version 7.1 (DATAMON)
If you load PC Tools DATAMON using the \SENTRY+ option, Setup may fail if you are low on
disk space. Do not use the \SENTRY+ option when you are loading DATAMON.
Do not load DATAMON after loading SmartDrive. If DATAMON is loaded after SmartDrive, your
computer may fail. See the PC Tools documentation for information about how to remove
DATAMON.
PC Tools Deluxe Version 6.0 (DESKTOP)
If you try to start PC Tools from the command prompt within Windows, your computer may
fail or restart itself.
These problems also occur if you use MS-DOS commands from a command prompt within Windows.
Version 7.0 of PC Tools may correct these problems.
However, do not load DESKTOP from a command prompt if it was loaded before you started
Windows. If you do, your computer may fail when you quit Windows. It is recommended that
you run DESKTOP from its PIF, provided with Windows 98.
SUBST (MS-DOS)
You may encounter problems with SUBST during Setup, but you can safely add it back after
you have installed Windows 98.
UNDELETE
If you are running UNDELETE with the SENTRY option, Setup may have problems and you may
run out of disk space during Setup. It is recommended that you remove UNDELETE from your
Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files before running Setup.
NOTE: The SENTRY option creates a hidden directory named Sentry. When you delete a file,
UNDELETE moves the file from its current location to the Sentry directory. Before you
remove UNDELETE from your Config.sys or Autoexec.bat file, free disk space by using the
UNDELETE/PURGE command
on all drives.
If you do not remove Undelete, Setup will disable this command for you.
1/ Windows 98 Setup offers users the option of backing up
their previous version of Windows in case Windows 98 needs to be uninstalled later. To
enable this option, you must select the Save Your System Files option when prompted during
Setup. Setup will then create the following hidden files necessary to uninstall Windows
98:
* Winundo.dat
* Winundo.ini
* Winlfn.ini
NOTE: Deleting these files will prevent Windows 98 from
being uninstalled.
2/ If Setup did not complete successfully and you want to
restore your previous versions of MS-DOS and Windows 3.x, or Windows 95, you can run
UNINSTAL from the \Windows\Command directory on your hard disk, or from your Startup Disk.
If you saved your files on a drive other than C, you can use the /w option to specify the
drive where the files are located. For example:
uninstal /w e:
where e: is the drive containing your previous system files.
You will need real-mode CD-ROM drivers loaded so you can access the Windows 98 CD. If you have run Windows 98 Setup before and have created a Startup Disk, you can use the CD-ROM drivers included on that disk. If you do not have a Startup Disk, you will need to run the installation program that came with your CD-ROM hardware.
Hold the CTRL key down while your computer is booting.
This will take you directly to the Windows 98 Boot Menu (the F8 key is still functional,
but there is no "Starting Windows 98" prompt in Windows 98, so
it's hard to know exactly when to press it).
Installing Win95-OSR2 Over Win95
Start the Win95B or Release 2.5 setup from Windows (Normal
or Safe mode). Stop at the dialog box that reads License Agreement.
Don't click on Next. Press Ctrl-Esc to open the Start menu,
then select Run. In the Run dialog, type NOTEPAD.EXE and press Enter.
In Notepad, find the folder WININST0.400, which OSR2 creates and
open file name: SETPPP.INF
Inside this file, insert the line: OEMUP=1 after the [data]
heading, like this:
[Data]
OEMUP=1
Save your changes to SETUPPPP.INF and close Notepad.
Press Alt-Tab to return to the OSR2 installation windows and continue from there to
finish.
If you're like me, then you may notice that the Netscape blink tag gets old and annoying VERY quickly. If this is so, and you are using one of the most recent versions of Netscape, you have the ability to remove this with the Registry Editor! Just go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Netscape \Netscape Navigator\Settings and change the text string Blinking from Yes to No.
Using Netscape to Upload via FTP
A little-known feature of Netscape Navigator for Windows 95
is its ability to upload files via FTP. Simply connect to an ftp server using the
following syntax:
ftp://username:password@ftp.hostname.com/directory_name/
If you'd rather not put your password in directly, simply leave it out and Netscape will
prompt you for it when it tries to connect (that way, it won't be displayed in the
Location window). Once you're connected, you can click and drag files from the Windows 95
Explorer into the Netscape window to upload them to the server.
IE users: do you find that the loading of your browser is sluggish? We thought this tip might help - When you load IE, it looks through your history folder first, so clear your history cache completely. Set the "Clear History" part of the Navigation tab to 0 (so it doesn't collect history). Now go to your history folder, and delete the contents of it. This speeds up the browser immensely !. You can also clear the disk cache for greater performance.
Getting Rid Of The Compressed Drivers
Can't get those stupid Compressed drivers out of memory even if your hard drived is not compressed? Well this is how you do it! First, find the hidden file MSDOS.SYS in the root directory and edit the properties. Take OFF Read-Only and put ON Archive, Hit OK. Now edit MSDOS.SYS through NotePad and add the following lines right under options:
[options]
drvspace=0
dblspace=0
BootWarn=0
After you have completed this, save the MSDOS.SYS file and edit properties. Put back ON Read-Only and turn OFF Archive, hit OK, and reboot the computer.
This will free up a huge chunk of memory. Mine went from 512k of conventional memory to 617k WOW! Now I can run all of my MS-DOS programs. Note: This works only on Uncompressed Drives and you should always make a back up MSDOS.SYS before editing it.
Here's one of my favorite applications of Explorer switches.
Create a batch file that loads two instances of Explorer, each with custom switches. For
example, this batch file opens one copy of Explorer with a dual-pane view showing the
contents of the hard disk, and another with a single-pane view showing the contents of the
Start menu folder:
@echo off
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER /e, C:
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER C:\WINDOWS\
START MENU
This batch file is great if you're new to Win95 and expect to fiddle with your Start menu
a lot. If you want to use this example, type the above three lines in a Notepad document,
name it MENU.BAT and put it in your Windows directory. Create a shortcut to it on your
desktop and give it a custom icon if you like.
Do you have a Logitech mouse? This hack will let you use the
middle mouse button as a doubleclick! Save this as "midclick.reg" and double
click it!
**start of midclick.reg**
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Logitech\ MouseWare\CurrentVersion\SerialV\0000]
"DoubleClick"="001"
**end of midclick.reg**
When you install older Windows 3.1 or DOS applications on Windows 95, they may try to place unnecessary programs or configuration lines into your AUTOEXEC.BAT files. These programs will waste memory and may even cause incorrect operation. One common example of this is SHARE.EXE, which is put into AUTOEXEC.BAT by many database programs. Another is SMARTDRV.EXE, the Windows 3.1 disk cache. Windows 95 has built-in support for file sharing and disk caching, so neither of these programs is necessary.
Windows 95 displays a logo both when it starts up and when it
shuts down. My system boots faster and shuts down faster than ever since I disabled those
logo's. Here's how:
You can add your own logo to the startup process by renaming
the LOGO.SYS file and then renaming your own *.BMP file and renaming it to LOGO.SYS. Of
course this will NOT be displayed if you have set your LOGO to 0 in the MSDOS.SYS file.
The Shutdown logos are in the WINDOWS directory and are: logos.sys and logow.sys. Remove
them for a clean shutdown.
Forget pressing that F8 key every time
At just the right time to display the startup menu. Too much of a hassle! Use the
following method to automatically display it for 10 seconds and then go to a normal boot
of Windows 95 if nothing is pressed:
You can also add BootKeys=0 to this list if you wish all the Function keys to be disabled while booting to Win95. This is a good option if you want people to not mess with your carefully set up system by starting in an unexpected mode.
Compressed hard disks and diskettes must be mounted before they can be accessed. Hard disks mount automatically when Windows 95 boots, and compressed diskettes are mounted as soon as Windows 95 detects them. But if you aren't running Windows, compressed diskettes aren't automatically mounted. To mount a compressed diskette, use the ScanDisk utility with the parameter /MOUNT followed by the diskette's drive letter. The DOS command looks like this:
SCANDISK /MOUNT A:
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Take a quick screen shot of your Windows 95 session by pressing the Print Screen key on your keyboard. Start up Paint (Start menu/Programs/Accessories/Paint), select Edit/Paste and--*voila!*--your screen has been captured for posterity.
Never run a DOS disk defragmenter, Norton Disk Editor or any other disk-repair utility from a DOS window within Windows. Such utilities can cause serious damage if a Windows application tries to access the hard disk at the same time. To avoid tragedy, exit Windows first, then run the DOS utility.
Sometimes, you need to log in to an online service or BBS
using a plain ASCII interface. Here are the proper settings for some of the more popular
services and networks:
CompuServe: VT100, 7E1, full duplex
GEnie: VT100, 8N1, half duplex
TymNet: VT100, 8N1, full duplex
SprintNet: VT100, 8N1, full duplex
Most BBSes: VT100, 8N1 or 7E1, full duplex
Almost all Internet sites: VT100, 8N1, full duplex
(Both Prodigy and AOL autoconfigure, so you can't reset the settings.)
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Hello? Anyone Home?
To test that your modem is functioning, go to the DOS command line in Windows 3.x or Windows 95 and type ECHO ATDT >COMx, where COMx represents the port you're testing. If you're trying to test COM1, for example, type ECHO ATDT >COM1. If you hear a dial tone, it's working just fine. To cancel the dialtone, type ECHO ATH >COMx.
Change
OEM Info
Change the information + logo displayed by right clicking my computer, properties.
With preinstalled Windows systems. There are 2 files located in the Windows system
directory called
OEMLOGO.BMP and OEMINFO.INI
The text in OEMINFO.INI can be changed with any text editor.
The Bitmap file OEMLOGO.BMP can be created with paint.
If you make it an 16 bit bitmap then a white background color will be made transparent.
If you don't have these files you can create your own here is an example for
the OEMINFO.INI
[general]
Manufacturer=MY-BRAND
Model=FAST
[OEMSpecific]
SubModel=
SerialNo=
OEM1=
OEM2=
[Support Information]
Line1=If you have problems
Line2=Don't call me
The OEMLOGO.BMP must be created with an image program.
Control
the size of VCache
Windows 95 does not use Smartdrive to cache the hard drives in your system.
Instead, it uses 32bitVCache that dynamically grows and shrinks as the need arises (not to
be confused with Swapfile, which operates in a similar manner). If you have more than 32MB
of physical memory, VCache may be using more memory than it can efficiently manage. You
can limit the maximum amount of physical memory VCache uses by adding the following lines
to the System.ini file (instead of the Registry - go figure!):
[vcache]
MinFileCache=512
MaxFileCache=2048
The above values are in Kbytes.
Keeping Windows 95 running fast
Add the following lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
rem rem Check for TMP files and Remove them rem
if not exist %TEMP%\*.TMP goto EndTMP
attrib %TEMP%\*.TMP -r -a -s -h
del %TEMP%\*.TMP
:EndTMP
OSR2
Cluster size
Fdisk /fprmt will allow you to put FAT32 on a partition smaller than 512MB.
Format {Partitionletter]:/z:n where n is a number 1, 2, 3, 4 will give you 512byte, 1k, or
2k clusters depending on the value of n and the size of the partition. On a 540MB
partition n=1 will give you 512byte clusters.
Quick Defrag for multiple drives
Have Multiple drives or multiple partitions?
Create a Quick Defrag Menu on your right mouse click context menu.
Here's how:
Goto Explorer, View (on Menu) / Options.
Click on File Types Tab and scroll down to Drives.
Click Edit, Then New.
In the Menu Line Print Quick Defrag!
In the Command Line Print "c:\windows (or win95)\defrag.exe "%1" /noprompt.
This will immediately invoke the Disk Defragmenter with no prompts and will exit as soon
as it is done.
Then goto My Computer and right mouse select a drive and select the Quick Defrag!
and it will begin automatically! It's great if you have several real or DriveSpace Drives
on your computer
Truncate
Long File Name
In Win95 a filename can be up to 255 characters, with as many spaces and periods as
desired.
Unfortunately, Microsoft's way of converting long names to the short version is bye adding
a tilde (~) and a numeric character to the end of a file: (e.g. "Web page.txt"
would be webpag~1.txt). To get around this:
start regedit.exe to open the Registry.
Navigate the same way you do in Explorer to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\FileSystem.
Right-click in the right pane.
On the pop-up menu click New,
then Binary Value.
Type NameNumericTail and press enter.
Double-click the new value and type 0 (zero) as the complete binary value.
Click OK and restart Windows.
Now, the 8.3 character versions of the filenames will be as
close as possible to that of the long name
(e.g. Thiscomputer.doc will be thiscomp.doc and not thisco~1.doc).
It will only start adding numbers if you have more than one shortname with the same
result.
Get
rid of INBOX icon
Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\
Desktop\NameSpace\
Look for the key 00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046,
that has a default value of Inbox.
Delete the entire key (not just the default value), and close the Registry Editor.
Click on the desktop, and press F5 to refresh the desktop so that this change will take
effect.
By default, Windows Explorer opens at the root of drive C,
but you can change it to open (and expand) any drive and folder you want.
For example, if you want Windows Explorer to open at the My Documents folder:
1. Right-click the Start menu and click
Open.
2. Double-click the Programs icon.
3. Right-click the Windows Explorer shortcut and click Properties.
4. Click the Shortcut tab.
5. In the Target text box, add My Documents to the end of the default
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e,C:\ leaving no space,
and click OK.
Adding
to the Links toolbar
If you've configured Internet Explorer 4.0 to display the Links toolbar
(View/Toolbars/Links) you know that it provides you with quick access to several
of Microsoft's Web sites. However, did you know that you could easily add links
to your own favorite Web sites to the Links toolbar?
Doing so is easy and you can either delete the existing links or simply add your links to the Links toolbar. When you're connected to your favorite site, simply drag the Web site's URL from the Address box and drop it on the Links toolbar. You can also pull down the Favorites menu and drag various Internet shortcuts to the Links toolbar
Creating
a FAT32 Emergency Boot Disk
Did you know that the Windows 98 CD-ROM contains a program that you can run to
quickly create a Boot Disk that's capable of creating and reading FAT32
partitions? The program is called Fat32ebd.exe and it's located in the
Tools\Mtsutil\Fat32ebd folder on the CD-ROM. Just place a disk in the floppy
drive and double-click on the Fat32ebd.exe file. Then follow the on-screen
instructions to create the bootable disk. When finished, we recommend
write-protecting the disk to protect it from viruses
Exploring
Windows 98's DVD support
As you know, among Windows 98's many impressive features is its built-in support
for DVD, which is an acronym for either digital versatile disk or digital video
disc--the verdict on this one is still being decided.
Regardless of the acronym, DVD is a new technology that was designed from the
ground up specifically for multimedia applications. In the June issue of Inside
Microsoft Windows 98, we'll take a look at Windows 98's DVD support features and
explain how they work. As we do, we'll look at some products that exemplify
DVD's possibilities. Don't miss this issue!
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One
view for all your folders
With Windows 98 it's a breeze to set global view options for all open folders
because you can do so from any open folder window. Just open a folder window and
select the viewing options that you want to apply to all folders. Then, select
Folder Options from the View menu and click the View tab. In the Folder Views
panel click the Like Current Folder button, click Yes to confirm, and then click
OK to close the Folder Options dialog box.
You'll see the changes the next time you open a new folder window.
Plugging
Windows 98's Registration Wizard leak
By now, you've probably heard about the leak in Windows 98's Registration Wizard
that compromises your privacy by exposing unique ID numbers that identify you
and your PC. The ID numbers are only supposed to be available to Microsoft and
were designed help Microsoft identify registered users of their products.
However, it has been determined that the numbers are also attached to files
created with Office applications, and even more alarming, that the numbers are
available via Internet Explorer to any Web site developer who knows how to
access the ID number. For more information on the Registration Wizard leak,
follow the links at the bottom of the page.
To see the leak in action, point your browser to Phar Lap Software's Windows 98
RegWiz privacy leak demo page at
http://security.pharlap.com/regwiz/index.htm
While Microsoft is working on a solution to this Registration Wizard leak, you
may want to plug the leak immediately. Fortunately, you can do so simply by
disabling the Registration Wizard. To begin, select the Run command on the Start
menu. When the Run dialog box appears, type the command
regsvr32.exe -u c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll
in the Open text box and click OK. You'll then see a dialog box containing the
text string ``DllUnregisterServer in c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll
succeeded'' that informs you that the operation was a success. (To reenable
the Registration Wizard, you'll use the same command, but substitute a -c for
the -u.)
Now, return to Phar Lap Software's Windows 98 RegWiz privacy leak demo page and
click the Refresh button. When you do, you'll see that the demo page can no
longer access your ID numbers.
The Registration Wizard also creates an easily identifiable document on your
hard disk called Reginfo.txt that can leak information about you. To prevent
this, simply rename, move, or delete the Reginfo.txt file.
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