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- Using Microsoft Fax in Windows 98
- Get express e-mail from your Windows 98 desktop with e-mail shortcuts
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- Speed up my programs in Windows 98?

- Give open windows more pizzazz with folder backgrounds
- Your One stop disk drive information shop.
- Get the latest scoops from Microsoft.
- Installing on a system running Windows NT.
- Installing in a system running OS/2.
- Setup Error Messages.
- Hardware Notes.
- View Software.
- Memory Managers.
- Disk-Cache Programs.
- Setting up a dual-boot Configuration with Windows NT.
- Creating an MS-DOS Startup Partition.
- Using TSR Programs & Drivers Append (MS-DOS).
- Removing Windows 98.
- Real-mode CD-ROM drivers.
- Windows 98 Boot Up Menu.
- Installing Win95-OSR2 Over Windows 95.
- Kill The Blink Tag.
- Using Netscape to Upload via FTP.

- Speed up the browser power.
- Getting Rid Of The Compressed Drivers.
- Explorer Times Two.
- Use the mouse to the max.
- Keep an Eye on AUTOEXEC.BAT.
- Loose the Logo.
- Forget pressing that F8 key every time.
- Detecting Doubled Diskettes.
- It's Worth a Thousand Words.
- Don't Defrag in a DOS Box.
- Letter-Perfect Settings.
- Hello? Anyone Home?
- Change OEM Infomation.
- Control the size of VCache.
- Keeping Windows 95 running fast.
- OSR2 Cluster size.
- Quick Defrag for multiple drives.
- Truncate Long File Name.
- Get rid of INBOX icon.
- Seeing your Files.
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Adding to the Links toolbar
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Creating a FAT32 Emergency Boot Disk
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Exploring Windows 98's DVD support
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One view for all your folders
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Plugging Windows 98's Registration Wizard leak

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.

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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.

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View Software

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.

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REMOVING WINDOWS 98

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.

Real-mode CD-ROM drivers

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.

Windows 98 Boot Up Menu

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).

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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.

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Kill The Blink Tag

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.

Speed up the browser power

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.

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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.

Explorer Times Two

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.

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Use the mouse to the max

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**

Keep an Eye on AUTOEXEC.BAT

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.

Loose the Logo

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:

  1. Use Explorer and find MSDOS.SYS in your root directory.
  2. Make a copy of your MSDOS.SYS file to a TEMP directory or so.
  3. Rightclick MSDOS.SYS and select PROPERTIES.
  4. Change the attributes, uncheck all boxes.
  5. Open a DOS session and type EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
  6. Add LOGO=0 to the [Options] section of the MSDOS.SYS file
  7. Save the file
  8. Change it's properties again to include read only.
  9. Restart your system......VOILA!

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.

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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:

  1. Use Explorer and find MSDOS.SYS in your root directory.
  2. Make a copy of your MSDOS.SYS file to a TEMP directory or so.
  3. Rightclick MSDOS.SYS and select PROPERTIES.
  4. Change the attributes, uncheck all boxes.
  5. Open a DOS session and type EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
  6. Add BootMenu=1 to the [Options] section of the MSDOS.SYS file
  7. Add BootMenuDefault=1 to the [Options] section of the MSDOS.SYS file
  8. Add BootMenuDelay=10 to the [Options] section of the MSDOS.SYS file
  9. Save the file
  10. Change it's properties again to include read only.
  11. Restart your system......VOILA!

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.

Detecting Doubled Diskettes

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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It's Worth a Thousand Words

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.

Don't Defrag in a DOS Box

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.

Letter-Perfect Settings

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Seeing your Files

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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