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This Windows Notes page was created so that I could share some of the information that I have gained over the years working with computers and Microsoft Windows. Hopefully some of this information will be helpful to you.
If you use any of the information from this Web site, please give credit where credit is due. Some tips were gotten or derived from different sources and/or trial and error and research on my part. Please list my Web site, CVibes.net, as your source for that particular tid bit.
Important:
As always, before updating or modifying any part of Windows or using any of these tips:
All of the information, instructions, and recommendations on this web site are offered on a strictly "as is" basis. Remember "Murphy's Law."
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Use of this product may be hazardous to your long filenames.
(Source: Windows Magazine, March 1996 p.248)
Is this a bug or a feature? If you run Windows 95 and
need to send a diskette to someone who doesn't, page 689 in the Windows 95 Resource Kit
explains how to enable the Windows 3.1 file system. Here's one of the options in its
entirety:
At the command prompt, run SCANDSKW /O to remove long filenames and all extended file attributes from the disk. To remove long filenames from removable disks, include the drive letter with the command; for example, SCANDSKW /O A:
Caution: If you use SCANDSK /O to remove long filenames, ScanDisk will check all fixed disks and will repair disk errors without warning you. Changes made with SCANDSKW /O cannot be reversed.
Depending on how you interpret the caution, you might think SCANDSKW /O A: will perform as stated and hard disk errors may or may not be fixed. It's anyone's guess, though, because the caution doesn't cover the inclusion of a drive letter on the command line. You might guess that doing so would limit the action to just the specified drive.
Guess again. SCANDSKW /O A: does just what it says to drive A: and then some. It "fixes" your hard disk by truncating every long directory and filename on it – without warning. And as the last line in the Caution puts it, changes made with SCANDSKW /O cannot be reversed. Gotcha!!
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Symptom: When you attempt to run Pitfall and Pitfall says that it needs to be run from the CD-ROM and the Pitfall CD-ROM is in the CD-ROM drive.
Resolution: If you have Microsoft's PowerToys installed, you should try disabling FlexiCD. Right click on the CD icon that is on the task bar, then choose "Exit FlexiCD."
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(Source: Chin)
Symptom: Windows 95 locks up after disconnecting.
Resolution: Download and install Microsoft's ISDN Accelerator Pack 1.1
The Microsoft ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack (msisdn11.exe) includes an updated Dial-Up Networking utility which should correct the "lock up after disconnecting" problem.
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(Source: Niki Chin)
The Microsoft ISDN Accelerator Pack 1.1 (msisdn11.exe) includes an updated Dial-Up Networking utility that has new features.
The new DUN will allow you to turn off "Prompt for information before dialing" which will let the profile run immediately without you having to press OK at the "Connect To" window.
Open Dial-Up Networking then choose "settings" from the "Connections" menu and then disable "Prompt for info before dialing" by clearing the check mark. Do this only after you have been able to make a successful connection to your ISP.
The new DUN also incorporates the same functions as SCRIPTER.EXE did. i.e. Link a DUN profile to a script, allow you to step through a script, etc.
During installation, SCRIPTER.EXE is deleted from "C:\Program Files\Accessories" without warning.
ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack (msisdn11.exe) can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/software/servpak1/sphome.htm.
You don’t have to have ISDN to install the ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack.
If you want to delete the ISDN utilities and leave the new DUN, open Control Panel, open Add/Remove programs, click on the "Windows Setup" tab, click on the word "Communications", click on the Details button, click on the check mark for "Microsoft ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack" to deselect it, click on the OK button to close the Communications window, click on the OK button to initiate the removal of the "Microsoft ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack."
This tip was published in the vol. 16 no. 11 issue of PC Magazine.
(If you have this issue, please let me know what the month and page number is. Thanks)
You can check out Neil J. Rubenking's comments in " Free Secret Update for Dial-Up Networking"
This tip was also published in the Feb. 1997 issue of Windows Sources: Control Panel: Scroll down to "Livingston's Top Picks."
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Released: July 22, 1997
Microsoft Dial-Up Networking v1.2 Upgrade with PPTP for Windows 95.
This is an update to the DUN that was included with the ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack.
It includes PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol) which will allow you to setup a virtual private network using the Internet.
You will need your Windows 95 CD-ROM or disks to complete the installation.
DUN v1.2 also includes an update to the Windows 95 WINSOCK. Run C:\WINDOWS\MSDUN\WSOCKUPD.EXE after DUN v1.2 is installed.
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Released:
The Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade (DUN 1.3) provides additional features for the Dial-Up Networking components that were first introduced in Windows 95. DUN 1.3 includes all of the features of the DUN 1.2 release, and all of the features of the earlier ISDN 1.1 release. These features include support for internal ISDN adapters, multilink support for two ISDN channels, connection-time scripting to automate non-standard login connections, and PPTP client support.
Available from Microsoft's Windows 95 Download Page.
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Choosing Shut Down from the Start Menu gives you several choices, including restarting your computer. However, to restart Windows without restarting your computer, saving time and aggravation, use either of the following methods:
One time:
Hold down the Shift key while pressing OK in the Shut Down box.
To make an icon on your desktop:
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(Source: Brian Livingston, InfoWorld, March 25, 1996 p.33)
Step 1. In the Windows Explorer, click View, then Options. Turn on the Show All Files option, if it isn't already on.
Step 2. On the Windows 95 CD-ROM, select the files Win95rk.hlp and Win95rk.cnt in the \Admin\Reskit\Helpfile folder. Copy these two files into your C:\Windows\Help folder.
Step 3. Make your C:\Windows\Help folder the current folder in Explorer. Make a copy of the Windows.cnt file and name it Win95cnt.bak as a backup.
Step 4. Open Windows.cnt in Notepad or any plain-text editor. Near the top of the file, you should see several lines that begin with :Index. Immediately after the last :Index line, add the following new line:
:Index Win95 Resource Kit=win95rk.hlp
Step 5. Press Ctrl+End to move to the end of the file. After the last line, add the following new line:
:include win95rk.cnt
Make sure to end this line with a carriage return. Be certain you can move your cursor below your new :include line, to ensure there is a blank line there.
Step 6. Save and close the file. That's it.
There's no need to restart Windows. You can immediately click the Start button, then Help, to see the addition.
You should find eight new "books" (Help chapters) at the end of your Help list: Installation, Networking, System Management, and so forth.
List of Documentation Errors in the Windows 95 Resource Kit .HLP file is available in Article ID: Q135849 at Microsoft's Web site.
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(Source: Win95 Resource Kit)
Use R:\OTHER\OLDMSDOS\INSTSUPP.BAT to install the old MS-DOS files from the CD-ROM to your disk. This modifies SETVER.EXE so that the commands will work.
If you don't use INSTSUPP.BAT you can run SETVER.EXE and change the version number of each program from v7.0 to the version of MS-DOS that you were running prior to installing Windows 95. e.g. v6.22. You need to be in the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ directory when you run SETVER.EXE
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If your are having a problem where Microsoft Backup crashes after completing a backup and attempting to do a compare, you should try installing the Backup Update available from Microsoft's System Updates Web page.
Sometimes Microsoft Backup will report errors with tapes that were preformatted. I now format tapes using Microsoft Backup before they are first used, preformatted or not. I have not had a problem with any tapes that were formatted using Microsoft Backup, yet.
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It's been reported that the version of Word for Windows in Microsoft Office 97 can open documents created by the version of Word in Office 95 but could produce a "corrupt file" message in Word 97.
The problem originates in Word's Fast File Save option.
If the file contains minor internal errors, the Fast File Save option makes a Word 95 file unreadable to Word 97.
Apparently, Word 97 can read files that have its own flavor of internal errors, but not files with Word 95's internal errors, and vice versa.
The work-around is to turn off Fast File Saves in Word 95 and Word 97.
(Tools menu, Options command, Save tab)
While you're at it you probably should turn on (check) "Always Create Backup Copy."
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