Microsoft Windows 9x (95, 98, ME)

• Windows XP Information at Microsoft.com
• Windows 98 Information at Microsoft.com
• Windows 95 Information at Microsoft.com
• Windows 9x/ME/2000 Tips, FAQs, News
• Windows 9x information at non-Microsoft sites
• Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles
• Windows 9x Notes by Chin
• Windows 2000, Windows NT Server and Workstation
• Computer Viruses, Hoaxes and Anti-Virus Utilities

Windows XP Information at Microsoft.com

You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP

You may lose data that is stored in the All Users folder and default program templates and settings that are stored in the Default User folder after you reinstall, repair, or upgrade Windows XP. You may be missing Start menu shortcuts, items in the Startup group, and documents, pictures, or music files that are stored in the Shared Documents folder.

This problem can occur after you perform any of the following actions on a computer that has Windows XP preinstalled by a computer manufacturer (also known as an Original Equipment Manufacturer, or OEM):

• You reinstall Windows XP in the same folder by clicking Upgrade (Recommended) after you run Winnt32.exe, or by clicking the Install Windows XP link on the "Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP" screen that appears when you insert the Windows XP CD-ROM. This is also known as performing an in-place upgrade or an in-place installation.
• You repair Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, pressing ENTER to set up Windows XP, and then pressing R to repair the selected installation.
• You upgrade the Windows XP Home Edition installation that was preinstalled by your computer manufacturer to the retail version of Windows XP Professional.

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q312/3/69.ASP

Windows 98 information at microsoft.com

Microsoft Windows 98 Home Page:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/

Microsoft Windows 98 Downloads:

This page allows you to download individual items to your system without using Windows Update. http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/corporate.asp

Microsoft Security Advisor

This page provides a list of security-related issues on Microsoft products. Security Bulletins/Warnings, Introductory information on ways to secure your systems, etc. http://www.microsoft.com/security/

Microsoft's Knowledge Base:

Information about resolving some problems with software and hardware. Note: Works best with JavaScript enabled. http://support.microsoft.com/support/

Windows 95 information at microsoft.com

Windows 95 Download Page:

Updates and add-on's for Windows 95.
Dial-Up Networking, PowerToys, Password List Update, Windows Sockets 2 Update, Administrative Tools, and lots more.

Microsoft Security Advisor

This page provides a list of security-related issues on Microsoft products. Security Bulletins/Warnings, Introductory information on ways to secure your systems, etc. http://www.microsoft.com/security/

Microsoft's Knowledge Base:

Information about resolving some problems with software and hardware. Note: Works best with JavaScript enabled. http://support.microsoft.com/support/

RegClean v4.1a: Description and General Issues  ( December 31, 1997 )

A free Microsoft utility that may be the solution to the problem of accumulating junk in your Registry. RegClean does not fix every known problem with the registry. It does not fix a "corrupt" registry; it fixes only problems with some of the entries that are in a normal registry. RegClean.exe (size: 800,136 bytes)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q147/7/69.asp  

Also check out Brian Livingston's May 11, 1998 article, You can tweak your system while you wait for Windows 98.

Microsoft Management Home Page:

Systems Management Server v1.2, Microsoft Management Console, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Directory Service Administration, Web Administration for Microsoft Windows NT Operating System, Windows Scripting Host (WSH), Web-Based Enterprise Management, Policy-based Management, Zero Administration Kit. http://www.microsoft.com/management/

Microsoft Windows 95 Update to Enhance Password Security From "Market Bulletin -- Spring 1997" by Windows 95 Product Team:

Microsoft was made aware of a security issue involving the vulnerability of network passwords on computers running Microsoft� Windows� 95 to a malicious program. http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/passwordmb.htm

Windows 9x/ME/2000 Tips, FAQs, and News

Winmag.com:

http://www.winmag.com/

Power Win2000

The free, weekly newsletter about Windows 2000.
http://www.winmag.com/columns/powerw2k/ To subscribe, go to http://www.winmag.com/subscribe/

Mike Elgan:

"My name is Mike Elgan. I'm the former editor of Windows Magazine (which ceased publication with the August 1999 issue) and president of the Computer Press Association. I write and speak on pocket computers, PCs and related hardware, software and services as well as the Internet.

My areas of professional interest include the Microsoft Corporation, the PC industry, mobile computing, Y2K and all versions and flavors of Microsoft Windows.

If you're interested in any of these subjects, I invite you to subscribe to my free e-mail newsletter, the Win Letter.

If you're interested in reading about the 3Com Palm connected organizer, please take a look at my new e-mail newsletter, the Palm Reader." http://www.elgan.com/

Annoyances.org:

Tips, how-to's, Windows 9x FAQ. http://www.annoyances.org/

Computer Clinic

Windows 95 OSR2 FAQ. http://www.compuclinic.com/.

Frank Condron's World O'Windows:

A collection of useful news, resources, and tips about Microsoft's current and future versions of Windows, including Windows 95/98 and Windows NT.
Also includes Company/Driver Information which lists over 810 companies with updated device drivers and software. http://www.conitech.com/windows/

Help! Windows:

Tips and troubleshooting advice from expert Ziff-Davis editors. http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/windows/

RegEdit: Windows Registry Guide:

Tips, tricks and tweaks for getting the most out of your Windows 95, 98 and NT system. http://www.regedit.com/

System Internals:

"The Systems Internals Web site provides you advanced utilities, technical information and source code related to Windows 9x and Windows NT/2K internals... Everything here is written by us." http://www.sysinternals.com/

Undocumented Secrets for Windows 95/NT at ZDNet:

If you're not running the latest version of Windows 95 or Windows NT, your system is less stable and less powerful than it should be. Microsoft has released all sorts of piecemeal improvements (and at least a few bug fixes) to Windows 95 since the first retail version. Likewise, Windows NT has its share of updates, published on a more or less quarterly basis as service packs. http://www.zdnet.com/pccomp/features/fea0597/secrets/sub4.html

Windows 95 Networking FAQ:

This FAQ concerns problems you might encounter with Win95's networking features after you have set everything up according to the directions, such as they are. http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~llurch/win95netbugs/faq.html

Windows 95 Tips & Tricks:

http://www2.hunterlink.net.au/~ddrge/win95/w95tips.html

Windows98.org

Links to News, Tips, Reviews, etc. about Microsoft Windows 98.      http://www.windows98.org/

Win98Central.com

News that affects Windows 98 and Windows 2000. i.e. Security holes, Viruses, etc. http://www.win98central.com/

WindoWatch:

An Electronic Windows Magazine of the Internet. http://www.windowatch.com/

Windows 9x/ME Support Articles & FAQ Files by James A. Eshelman

Experiments in Windows 98/ME Memory Management Troubleshooting Shutdown Problems in Windows 95, Windows 98 & Win ME / Windows Power Toys FAQ / Resources vs. Memory FAQ / Computer Health / Getting Rid of BSODs. Getting rid of the "Blue Screen of Death" / Partition Planning / Start Menu Goodies / Broad-based Problem Solving Technique / How to have a boot log generated on every startup / Registry Compaction / UPGRADE TIPS: Win98 to Win98 Second Edition / How to do a clean reinstall of Windows 98 / Batch File Commands. http://www.aumha.org/articles.htm

Fred's most-popular WinMag columns and feature articles

http://www.freetune.com/most_popular_pages.htm

Windows 9x/ME Information at non-Microsoft Sites

20 Questions about Windows 98 by C|NET

http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Techno/Win98/

98lite: Windows 98 without IE by Shane Brooks 

"98lite is a unique application I developed that breaks the tight integration between Windows98 and Internet Explorer, opening up a range of new possibilities for configuring Windows98. These possibilities are realised by implanting the leaner and faster Explorer shell from Windows95 onto the improved core of Windows98. You keep all the great Windows98 improvements to the hardware support, drivers, memory management, Fat32 and improved networking, but the Explorer95 interface is considerably faster and consumes fewer computer resources."   http://www.98lite.net/    

arachnoid.com:

Home of Arachnophilia. A 32-bit HTML Editor for Windows 95 and Windows NT. Imports, automatically converts fully formatted text, tables, outlines from any Windows 95-compliant application. Supports up to 6 Web browsers. Supports CGI, Frames, JavaScript development. Fully user-customizable toolbars provide frequently used tags. Multiple document interface with full drag & drop capability. Built-in tutorials on HTML development, JavaScript, the Internet. Cost is $0.00. Please read about CareWare.

This site also contains some interesting reading: How we confuse symbols and things, Why are computers so hard to use?, Interview with an Extraterrestrial, Computer Math, The Constancy of its Affections, How to Buy a Computer, and a book, "Confessions of a Long-Distance Sailor" by Paul Lutus. http://www.arachnoid.com/

The Cobb Group:

Inside Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 95 Professional, Inside Microsoft Office 95, Inside SCO Unix, Inside OS/2, plus links to several other resources on the net. http://www.cobb.com

Ctl3d32.dll:

If you are receiving this error message,

This application used CTL3D32.DLL, which is not the
correct version. This version of CTL3D32.DLL is designed only for Windows
NT systems.

then check out this Web site for an explanation and the proper version of the file. http://www.cyberramp.net/~chuckw/ctl3d.htm

Also, check out Brian Livingston's January 12, 1998 article in InfoWorld: Here are new ways to avoid DLL hell on your desktop for some of the programs that contribute to this problem.

CTL3D32.DLL v2.31 on my computer is 27KB (27,136 bytes) 3/31/1996 12:00 AM. Others my have different dates and times but the version and size should match.

Download.com:

Windows 95 specific, 32-bit, software. DOWNLOAD.COM is the new home of WIN95.COM. http://www.download.com/

HyperTerminal Private Edition:

Microsoft gave you HyperTerminal for free in every copy of Windows 95 and NT. We give you HyperTerminal Private Edition free for personal use. It fixes HyperTerminal bugs and adds much-requested features like Telnet support, answer mode, redial on busy, Zmodem crash recovery, and a snappy splash screen. The frequently-asked-questions section is helpful for both HyperTerminal and HyperTerminal Private Edition users. FTP http://www.hilgraeve.com/htpe.html

Jumbo shareware site:

Software for DOS, Windows 3.1 and Windows 9x. http://www.jumbo.com/

NoNags:

Free32-bit software for the Windows platform. All software is tested and rated. NONAGS will not list programs that have nag messages, are demos, have time limits or disabled features. http://nonags.com/

Windows 95 System Updates by Ben Jos Walbeehm 

Lists updates to the OS. Includes the proper filenames, version numbers, and quirks.    http://www.walbeehm.com/win95upd.html   

Windows 98 System Updates by Ben Jos Walbeehm 

Lists updates to the OS. Includes the proper filenames, version numbers, and quirks.    http://www.walbeehm.com/win98upd.html

Windows Sources DriverFinder:

Over 100 new Windows 95 and NT 4.0 drivers. Lets you search for drivers by keywords, or by selecting a category (Operating System, Category, Manufacturer). And if by some chance the DriverFinder doesn't come up with what you're looking for, fill out a form and they'll try to find it and add it to the database.  http://www.zdnet.com/windows/driverfinder/   .
Drivers Stuck in Neutral? DriverFinder to the Rescue Story at ZDNet.

Windows Sources Software Warehouse at ZDNet:

Registry Cleaner. http://www.zdnet.com/wsources/content/current/warehous.html

WinFiles.com:

Windows 95, NT, 98 and CE 32-bit, software. Previously known as Windows95.com http://www.WinFiles.com/

ZDNet Software Library:

http://206.66.184.152/index.html

Paint Shop Pro:

A powerful and easy to use image viewing, editing and conversion program, supports over 30 image formats. With numerous drawing and painting tools, this may be the only graphics program you will ever need. http://www.jasc.com/pspdl.html

Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles

Microsoft's Knowledge Base:

Information about resolving some problems with software and hardware. Note: Works best with JavaScript enabled. http://support.microsoft.com/support/default.asp

How to Query the Microsoft Knowledge Base Using Keywords

Describes how to more effectively query the Microsoft Knowledge Base by using keywords, including Microsoft product-specific keywords. By using keywords, you may be able to find the article or articles that may help to resolve your issue or question. http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q242/4/50.ASP

List of all KB articles

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/peropsys/windows/kb/index.txt

How to Troubleshoot Registry Errors

Knowledge Base Article ID: Q131431
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q131/4/31.asp

Locating and Excluding RAM/ROM Addresses in the UMA

Article ID: Q112816. This article describes how to locate adapter RAM and ROM addresses in the upper memory area (UMA) by using the Microsoft Diagnostic (MSD) utility and/or excluding memory ranges on the EMM386.EXE line in the CONFIG.SYS file. http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q112/8/16.asp

Command-Line Switches for Windows Explorer

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q130/5/10.ASP

How to Have Windows Explorer Default to the %SystemRoot% Drive When Started

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q257/5/18.asp

Take Control of Explorer

Make Windows Explorer work your way. Command line switches are the key.

try: Explorer /e,/select,c:\

This opens a two-pane Explorer view with none of the drives expanded. This is handy if you have multiple drives and use them all frequently. http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2425962,00.html