Tiplord Windows 95 &Windows 98 Tips


Bookmark me Annoyances Boot Disks Customizing Device Manager
FAQ Hardware Networking Setup Switches Shortcuts
Software Help Updates Tip Ring Home

FAQ 1


1. Administrive, copyrights, etc


1.1. What are FAQs?

FAQs are Frequently Asked Questions. FAQs minimize traffic on USENET by providing answers to common questions, before users post those questions on newsgroups. If people knew about FAQs and used them, we wouldn't need ridiculous high speed links just to distribute USENET news. Read the FAQs when available. Save copies. Give copies to your friends.

Read all about FAQs and get others from the FAQ archives at rtfm.mit.edu and their mirror sites.

[Back to top]


1.2. What is Windows 95?

Microsoft's newest "low end" operating system for Intel based computers. In my opinion, they designed it to wean DOS users off that 20 year old operating system and into some current stuff. It replaces DOS and previous versions of Windows entirely.

In addition to completely re-working the user interface, Win95 brings over large amounts of Windows NT technology, allowing app writers to write for both operating systems. One of Microsoft's requirements for Designed for Windows 95 products is that the product must also run on Windows NT Workstation 3.51.

It also (supposedly) helps you manage your hardware, your software, your time, etc better. It's also supposed to make you rich, good looking, sexually irresistible, and permanently wonderful. Heh heh... (Regarding this, there's supposedly a law suit in progress against MS's over-advertising of Win95. Details to come)

[Back to top]


1.3. Why did you write this FAQ about Windows 95?

The traffic on comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc is ridiculous. Other Win95 FAQs I read were too sparse, too technical, too anti-Microsoft, or otherwise too un-useful for the common folk. Also, Microsoft's FAQ, which shipped with the CD-ROM version, was pathetic and full of useless advertising. But ultimately, I wrote it for the experience, so I can say, "Hey, I made a Web page!" I hope this page is useful to you out there.

This FAQ tries to get the big questions answered while going into some technical detail for those who care. Where content goes beyond the scope of this FAQ, I link you to appropriate sites.

[Back to top]

1.3.1. Why did you cross-post this FAQ to all the .win95 newsgroups?

Because I was asked to. One of the initial letters I received in response to the FAQ was to have me post it in the FAQ archives for news.answers, so non-WWW people could use it. And not everyone has FTP either; people using the Vancouver CommunityNet have no FTP access at all! Well to get in the archives I had to actually post it to, not only news.answers and comp.answers, but the groups directly concerned with the questions in the FAQ. I wouldn't have received approval from rtfm.mit.edu to cross-post if I wasn't supposed to.

[Back to top]

1.3.2. Why did you include all the .win95 groups in the Followup-to header?

Originally, the .answers moderators' FAQ checker would reject the FAQ if it didn't include a followup-to line containing all the groups in question. I've started using only the .win95.misc group as the followup-to group for the bi-weekly FAQ, and I'll do the same for the other FAQ pages pending .answers moderators' approval.

[Back to top]


1.4. Whose work did you include in this FAQ besides yours?

These people:

  • Rich Graves: He runs the win95netbugs FAQ. He has excellent tech information but is very anti-Microsoft. He heeds help; he can't maintain the netbugs FAQ, so if you think you can do it, ask him.
  • Jim Farewell: My ex-boss, who allowed me all the resource material from Microsoft he had, and his computers. If it wasn't for this guy's patience and resources, the FAQ wouldn't be so comprehensive.
  • Creative Element: They run the Win95 annoyances FAQ, and they have plenty of brute-force methods for making Win95 work the way THEY want it to work.
  • Richard Evans: Who lent me his web server space to allow you all to preview this FAQ.
  • Glen Ninow: He runs The InterNet Store (With special emphasis on the capital 'N' in 'InterNet') and graciously offered his web server space to me for the permanent home of this FAQ, and his computers for me to bash after Jim Farewell handed me my pink slip. :p
  • Ben Goetter: He is writing a book on writing MAPI applications for MS Exchange, and has an excellent Exchange FAQ.
  • Sue Mosher: Excellent work keeping us updated on the Windows Messaging updates.
  • William Hartley: He prepared a .HLP version of this FAQ

And then there are those who gave suggestions since the first release... sorry it took so long guys:

  • Ed Babin [ebanin@faa.gov] for some tape backup corrections
  • Michael Thomas [mthomas@computerland.net] and too many others not listed here, for encouragement
  • Kurt C. Joseph [josephk@qnet.com] for the advice in running Win 3.1 within Win95
  • Jack H. Pincus [jhpincus@cris.com] for the good news regarding Corel's version of WordPerfect for Win95
  • William Hunt (E-MAIL address unknown) for the RNAAPP lockup fix and Eric Mitchell <eric@staff.feldberg.brandeis.edu> for telling me that it DIDN'T work
  • Eric again for the Documents Menu clean-up program, from MS Power Toys
  • Jeff Lawson <jeffl@refresh.jpl.nasa.gov> for the Modem Break script to get SLiRP working with Win95 dial-up networking
  • Gordon McAndrew (gmcandrew@aec.env.gov.ab.ca) for the pioneering work into making TAPI work over packet radio
  • Anthony Humphreys (anthony@istar.ca) for the nice package of MS Exchange add-ons, and FAQ page 10 corrections
  • cassell@heart.cor.epa.gov for spelling corrections
  • "S. Dawson" <sdawson@emporium.on.ca> for pioneering work into Banyan's VINES client for Win95
  • Alan R. Miller <armiller@nmt.edu> for corrections in FAQ page 9
  • dlamzaki@mail.telis.org (Demetrio Lamzaki) for encouragement in the face of OS/2 religious fanatics
  • danielbourdon@infini.net for the Rendering Subsystem/MS Fax clairification
  • perin@onyx.interactive.net for making a BOOTP client for Win95
  • hintgy@eexi.gr (and others) for telling me about the WinWord 7.0a / MS Fax mail merge bugfix
  • shampurj@inforamp.net for Corel WP 7.0 verification. Sorry folks, it don't work in NT. No Logo.
  • stbrown@nacs.net for nominating this FAQ answer as the funniest quote in the FAQ. Go to the bottom of section 3.1 to find the line.
  • Several users: for SUBST.EXE clairification
  • harrigan@infinite.ihub.com for telling me about IMAP4, MHS, and Newsgroup clients for Exchange (Search for ExpressIT! 2000 on the WWW)
  • Volker Hejny (hejny@piggy.physik.uni-giessen.de) for adventures in DriveSpace 3 :-) and some clairifications
  • Dwight Jones <djones@imagen.net> for telling me about changing MAC addresses in the dial-up adapter
  • Breidavik Gistiheimili [breidavik@isholf.is] for VCPI information: Games that need VCPI services won't run in a Win95 DOS session
  • John English [J.English@bton.ac.uk] for publishing this and many many other FAQs on their Student Info CD-ROM from the University of Brighton, in the UK (And for giving me a copy)
  • Vincent Hsieh [vincen77@ms2.hinet.net] for translating the FAQ to Chinese (I don't have the URL; somebody PLEASE give it to me)
  • Jeremy Parkinson <jeremyp@InfoChan.COM> for alerting me to the missing Alias Monitor file from HP's web site (Another reason to keep HP on my Lamers page)
  • leungel@netvigator.com for suggestions to put a dual modem question in FAQ page 8
  • Witalka, Jerome JRV" <jjw1@PO9.RV.unisys.com> for pointing out errors in FAQ page 9
  • joe@copstalk.com for COPStalk info; finally, a Designed for Win95 AppleTalk client
  • Serg V. Shubenkov <serg@nsi.net.kiae.su> for mirroring my site in Moscow!
  • Jon Jacobik <jonj@donnahalper.com> for the ultimate Win95 FAQ question: "How do you get Microsoft's attention to a problem like this?" (Answer: Return your copy of Win95 and phone MS Tech support asking for your registration card back!)
  • Oliver Knorr (orknorr@cip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de) for experience in making User Profiles work on a non-centralized network
  • Howard Harkness (noUCEaccepted@here.either) for more Corel WP 7.0 lameness reports... I expected better from Corel.
  • The brave souls who mail-bombed anyone who gave me sh*t for cross-posting the FAQ. I got a couple of nasty responses but I never heard from then ever again... heh heh heh... Perfect example of how The Net polices itself

[Back to top]


1.5. What other FAQs are out there?

Too many... use them.

Win95 Annoyances http://www.creativelement.com/win95ann/index.html

The one on the Win95 CD-ROM even though it sucks now

Sue Mosher's Exchange/Windows Messaging FAQ: http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/

Do a search at Infoseek where they seem to have a lot of dinky sites, but nothing serious

[Back to top]


1.6. What other resources are out there?

There's Microsoft's Windows 95 Resource Kit, which makes a great start, but will quickly become a doorstop after you get sick of the sales talk in there.

Definitely check out the Microsoft Knowledge Base, (http://support.microsoft.com/support/) which has a lot of stuff who you might've thought only Technet users had access too. They recently re-did their search engine, so you can search on phrases like "Confirmed bugs" or "Bugs fixed", or "Files available for download". This stuff is right to the point.

www.windows95.com keeps a well updated library of software.

Do a search on Infoseek or Yahoo! or wherever, for other Win95 pages. They're starting to show up finally.

I won't recommend any magazines as of yet, because they're all full of MS ads and other un-productive junk.

[Back to top]


1.7. Whose trademarks did you use?

Windows, MS-DOS, MS Exchange, MS Plus, Internet Explorer, DriveSpace: Microsoft Corp
NT: Northern Telecom (Go figure)
Norton Utilities, Norton Anti-Virus, Norton Navigator, etc: Symantec Corp
Colorado Backup: Hewlett-Packard Corp
Macintosh, AppleTalk: Apple Computer Inc
Pentium, Pentium Pro: Intel Corp
Netscape: Netscape Communications Inc
LANtastic: Artisoft Corp
Disk Manager: Ontrack Systems
DrivePro: Microhouse
Stacker: Stack Electronics
OS/2: IBM Corp
TCPMAN: Trumpet Communications
NetWare, MHS: Novell, Inc
CleanSweep 95, QEMM: Quarterdeck
SoftRAM: Synchronys Software (Evil, evil, evil, evil...)
Award BIOS: Award software
MR BIOS: Microid Research
Sound Blaster (whatever kind), AWE32: Creative Labs
Graphics Ultra/Pro/Expression: ATI
WinCIM: CompuServe Inc
WinFax: Delrina Communications/Symantec
[Back to top]


1.8. What restrictions do you put on the use of this FAQ?

Distribution and mirroring are encouraged so long as the source is quoted, and it's distributed in full. (Unfortunately I can't control broken news gateways that won't distribute the FAQ pages... sorry). Translation to other languages and other formats is encouraged provided the intended content remains the same.

[Back to top]

1.8.1. Disclaimers:

As MS fixes the bugs and as vendors come up with new products, this info may be in-accurate. Check with other sources (like the references above) if you are in doubt of any info I have here. I would appreciate updates and comments and you will receive recognition for your work.

The opinions in this FAQ are mine, except where directly quoted and linked from. They do not reflect the opinions of my employer or the provider of this web space. Especially as I often argue with both of them about these topics.

I can't be responsible for any damage this information causes you or your equipment. Try to avoid using REGEDIT. RTFM. RTFFAQ. Ask Questions. But don't come crying to me or sic your lawyers on me if you broke your computer. I can't fix it.

[Back to top]