95 Only Undocumented Secrets BY ED BOTT AND WOODY LEONHARD Insider's tips and tricks Microsoft doesn't want you to know about Turbocharge Windows 95 Running Older Apps Rule the Windows Registry Take File Control Web Site Menu Stealth Windows Upgrades Reset Your System Clock Net Connections Quick Trash Recycle Bin Bypass ScanDisk Hackerproof Your System Monitor Your Apps Unlock NTFS Disks Command Line Control NT Easter Eggs Squeeze More Memory in OSR2 X-Ray Your Options Display Your Options Taming TCP/IP Connections Get Ready for NT ---------- Running Older Apps By making a few little tweaks to Windows 95's Control Panel settings, you can realize some big performance gains. Start by double-clicking on the Control Panel's System icon, then clicking on the Performance tab. Next, click on the File System button. You'll see two settings in the resulting Hard Disk dialog box: The setting labeled Typical Role of This Machine determines how much space is set aside in main memory to handle path and filename caching. The default Desktop Computer choice allocates space for a paltry 32 paths and 677 filenames, whereas the Network Server choice bumps those settings up to 64 paths and 2,729 filenames. Even if your computer is used strictly for desktop applications, change the Typical Role box to Network Server. Unfortunately, if you're using the original release of Windows 95--not the recently updated version titled OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2)--you'll have to take an additional step to correct a bug in the Windows 95 Registry. Use the Windows 95 Registry Editor (see "Rule the Windows Registry" for an introduction to the Registry Editor) and change the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ FSTemplates\Server\NameCache to a9 0a 00 00, and \PathCache to 40 00 00 00. The Read-Ahead Optimization slider establishes how much additional data Windows 95 should fetch every time you retrieve data from your hard disk. Read-ahead buffering improves performance by reducing the number of times your machine has to go out to the relatively slow hard disk to get data. Set the slider all the way to the right, giving Windows 64K of read-ahead buffering. Cache In: Speed up your system by telling Windows your PC is a network server. Read Ahead, Please Next, click on the CD-ROM tab in the File System Properties box. The Supplemental Cache Size slider adjusts the room Windows 95 sets aside for read-ahead buffering of your CD. The first three steps on the slider add 64K or 128K each to the cache; the final three steps add 256K apiece. The box labeled Optimize Access Pattern For doesn't control access speed to your CD; the setting's real function is to reserve even more buffer space for caching CD reads. The Single-Speed Drives and No Read-Ahead settings don't increase the buffer size. But the double-, triple-, and quad-speed settings add 50K, 100K, and 150K of cache, respectively. If you use your CD drive frequently, move the Supplemental Cache Size slider to Large, and specify that you have a Quad Speed or Higher CD, even if you don't. The combination will set aside about 1.2MB for CD caching, and ensure that your CD will run as fast as possible. Speedier Swap File Finally, go back to the System Properties box and click on the Virtual Memory button. Usually Windows 95 does a very good job of managing virtual memory, also known as the swap file. But if you use memory-intensive apps like Microsoft Office 97 or Adobe Photoshop, a few judicious adjustments in Virtual Memory may speed things up. If you have more than one physical drive, put the swap file on your fastest hard drive. First defragment the drive where the swap file will be located.To minimize swap setup time, set the minimum and maximum size of the swap file to the same number, approximately 2.5 to 3 times the size of your main memory.For example, if you have 16MB of RAM, set it to 48MB. Click on OK and restart Windows to kick in your new swap settings. Quick Tip Running Older Apps Create Compatibility: Run Win 3.1 apps with a little help. Windows 95 ships with a little-known utility that lets you run renegade DOS and Windows 3.1 programs in Windows 95. The key to making these programs work with Windows 95 is using the settings stored in the [Compatibility] section of the Win.ini file. If you open C:\Windows\Win.ini, you'll see entries like these: [Compatibility] ACAD=0x8000 AMIPRO=0x04000010 Each entry tells Windows 95 how to force the program to work--for example, "Lie about Windows version number," or "Give application more stack space." Fortunately, you don't need to memorize these settings. Simply click on File, Run, type in MKCOMPAT, click on File, Choose Program, and check off the appropriate restrictions. ---------- Rule the Windows Registry Many undocumented Windows 95 and Windows NT tricks require you toedit the Windows Registry--a step you should never take lightly. Changing a seemingly innocuous Registry entrycould make your entire system unstable, or even unbootable. Start the Windows 95 Registry Editor by choosing Run from the Start menu, then typing regedit, and hit Enter. If you're using Windows NT 4.0, type regedt32 to start the NT equivalent. In both registry editors, keys appear in the left pane and values in the right. Before you make any changes to a key, back it up. In Windows 95, first select the key, then choose Registry, Export Registry File. In Windows NT, select the key, then choose Registry, Save Key. If you mess up the Registry beyond repair, restore or merge that backup file to return the original setting. One by One Don't make a lot of Registry changes at once. Take things slowly, changing one or two keys at a time, and test thoroughly after each change. With Windows 95, use the Microsoft Configuration Backup program to make a full backup of the Windows 95 Registry (you'll find this utility on the Win 95 CD in the folder \Other\Misc\Cfgback). Don't bother with Windows 95's Emergency Recovery Utility (\Other\Misc\Eru\Eru.exe), though, because it frequently fails to work. Key Concerns:Edit the Windows NT (left) and Windows 95 registries to customize your desktop. With NT, you've got a number of built-in safety nets for the Registry Editor. For starters, run rdisk -sto save the current configuration before making any significant changes. If things go wrong, reboot and press the space bar when prompted, choosing the Last Known Good configuration. Also keep in mind the NT Registry Editor's Options menu setting for Read Only Mode--handy if you want to look but not touch. And if you're an administrator, it lets you control which users can read or change the Registry. ---------- Take File Control Windows installation programs can be so . . . impolite. That's especially true when an app grabs file extensions without asking your permission. For example, if you install Netscape Navigator 3.01 over Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01, Navigator rewires connections to files with the .HTM and .HTML file extensions; it also shanghais URLs. Internet Explorer does the same thing. Whichever browser you installed last will be the one that starts up when you double-click on a file that ends in .HTM or .HTML, regardless of which browser you prefer. Powerful Associations: Don't do it the hard way, file type by file type. Restore file associations via the Registry. Easy Does It Don't put up with this inconvenience; restore your preferred associations. It's a lot easier than you think, as long as you plan ahead. When you finally get Windows 95 or NT 4.0 set up to your liking, save those settings by using the Registry Editor. First startthe Registry Editor, then selectthe folder labeled HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Choose Registry, Export Registry File. (The equivalent NT command is Save Key.) Then give the exported file a meaningful name--for example, Saved Associations.reg. Later, when an application insists on rearranging the file associations to suit itself, simply restore your preferred settings by double-clicking on the *.reg file. If you're running NT 4.0, launch the Registry Editor, choose Registry, Restore, then selectthe file containing the backed-up settings. Quick Tip Web Site Menu Web Sighting: See your site History. Ever wish you could have a handy list of all the Web sites youmost recently visited? If you use Internet Explorer, it's easy. In Windows 95 or NT 4.0, start Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Start Menu. Right-click on Explorer's right pane. Choose New, Folder. Type in this new name: Internet History.{FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000} and hit Enter. You must type the numbers in braces exactly as they appear here. Click on the Start button, then choose Internet History. All your most recently visited URLs will fly out to the right of the menu. Click on one, and Internet Explorer will spring into action, loaded with the specified page. ---------- Stealth Windows Upgrades 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. Service Packs Microsoft posted its only comprehensive bug fix for Windows 95, Service Pack 1, over a year ago. You'll find the complete package at www.microsoft.com/windows/ common/contentw95uga.htm.You can also access the updated Windows 95 Driver Library from this Web page. You'll find up-to-date service packs for NT 4.0, organized by country, at ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/ winnt/winnt-public/fixes/. More Fixes If you install Windows 95's Service Pack 1, you'll need a fix for the fix. The password encryption routine in Service Pack 1 was defective, resulting in potentially scrambled password (PWL) files. Install the updated component from www.microsoft.com/windows/ software/passwd.htm to get things working properly again. Check for additional Windows 95 fixes at www.microsoft.com/windows/ common/aa2719.htm; NT users can find recent updates in a Hotfixes directory alongside the NT service packs at Microsoft's FTP site. Plus Pack Freebie Although it's billed on Microsoft's Web page as a Windows 95 update that enables Font Smoothing, when we downloaded w95gray.exe from www.microsoft.com/ truetype/free.htm and installed it, we discovered that Microsoft is giving away all the features of the Display applet's Plus tab--a key part of the commercial add-on Plus Pack. Microsoft may have changed its mind by the time you read this, but for now this is one of the great online bargains. Font smoothing, also known as anti-aliasing, makes fonts on your screen appear less jagged. If your video card supports 16-bit (High Color) or 24-bit (True Color) display, the effect is well worth it. The other Plus display features--which include more colorful default icons and the ability to see a window's full contents as you drag it--make this download a must. NT 4.0 users needn't worry: All the Plus features are built into the shrink-wrapped release. Free Font Fix: Microsoft is giving away much of the commercial Plus Pak in the guise of an anti-aliasing upgrade. More Font Stuff While you're at Microsoft's TrueType page, pick up some other free font goodies for Windows 95 and NT. The Font Properties extension provides additional information--including version info, technical details about kerning, and whether a font can be embedded in a document--when you right-click on a font name. On the same page, Microsoft is also giving away a set of TrueType fonts: Arial Black, Comic Sans, Georgia, Impact, Trebuchet MS, and Verdana. Even if you don't build Web pages, you're likely to run into these fonts if you visit Web sites built with Microsoft tools. Power Toys How many times have you been stuck in an application running full-screen--maybe it's taking a long time to finish, maybe it's frozen your system--and you just want to get back to the Windows 95 Desktop? Hitting Alt-Tab doesn't work, and clicking on the window'sMinimize button is a waste of time. Try the unsupported Microsoft Power Toys application called Desktop Menu, which adds a small icon to the Windows Taskbar. Click on that icon to pop up a menu containing all your Desktop icons, then switch to the application or file you want. Download the most recent Power Toys collection from www.microsoft.com/windows/ software/Power-Toy.htm. About half the applets in the collection, including the FlexiCD player, also work with NT 4.0. Don't forget to check the documentation carefully before installing. Quick Tip Reset Your System Clock Tell Time: Set your clock to sync with a PC on the network or across the country. Does your system clock get out of sync from time to time? If you're connected to a Windows 95 or NT 4.0 network that has a computer with a reliable clock, resetting your computer's clock to match the networked computer's clock is easy. At the command prompt, type NET TIME \\computername /SET /YES. Set the master clock with a free utility to do the job for you, such as Bruce Adelsman's AtomTime95 1.2a, one of PC Computing's 1,001 Best Downloads. ---------- Net Connections Check When Windows 95 or Windows NT won't take you where you want to go on the Internet, you're usually faced with two questions: Is your Net connection working? Can you connect to your destination, such as www.pccomputing.com? Both Windows 95 and NT 4.0provide you with the tools you need to find these answers fast--if you know how to use some undocumented utilities. Check Your Work Start by testing your Net connection. Assuming you use a dial-up connection to reach the Net, establish the connection by double-clicking on the correct entry in the Dial-Up Networking folder. Now open an MS-DOS Prompt window (or a Command Prompt if you're at an NT machine) and type PING 198.105.232.1. That command sends a stream of packets to the Microsoft FTP server. If you get four replies, your TCP/IP connection is working. If you get an error message it means you need to recheck your configuration. Hookup Help: Run Windows' included Internet utilities to help troubleshoot your connection. Step by Step Next, use a different command to see if you can access a functioning Domain Name Server (DNS)--one of the Internet hosts that translates names like ftp.microsoft .com into IP addresses like 198.105 .232.1. To try to reach the PC Computing Web site, return to the command prompt and type TRACERT WWW.PCCOMPUTING.COM; the resulting list shows all the connections necessary to get from your computer to the Web site. (If your workstation is behind a firewall, this command may not work.) Now What? If either of those tests fails, open the Run dialog box and type WINIPCFG, then hit Enter. (If you're running NT, type IPCONFIG.) The Windows IP Configuration dialog box will appear. Click on More Info. Then get your Internet service provider on the phone and step through the settings. Most likely your IP address or DNS settings are entered incorrectly. ---------- Trash Recycle Bin Wish you could dump the Recycle Bin from your Windows 95 or NT 4.0Desktop? Unlike many other built-in Windows Desktop icons, which you can move, rename, or delete, the Recycle Bin just sits there. To make the Recycle Bin obey your every whim, open the Registry Editor. In the left pane, select HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ ShellFolder. Double-click on the Attributes value in the right pane and change it from 40 01 00 20 to 70 01 00 20. (If you're running NT 4.0, the starting value may be different, but still change it to 70 01 00 20.) Click on OK and exit the Registry Editor. Disappearing Act: Edit a registry key to delete the Win 95 or NT Recycle Bin. Throwaway Next, right-click on the Recycle Bin. Note that you can rename it now or even delete it! Don't worry about getting rid of the icon: Deleting it won't destroy your Recycle Bin. Your old trashed files are still accessible from Windows Explorer, in the folder C:\Recycled (Win 95) or C:\Recycler (NT). To bring the Recycle Bin back, simply right-click on the Desktop, click on New, Folder, and name the resulting icon Recycle Bin.{645ff040-5081-101b-9f08-00aa002f954e}. You can also edit the Registry to delete the Desktop's Inbox icon. To do so, find the Registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {00020d75-0000-0000-c000-000000000046}\ ShellFolder and delete its Attribute value. Then click on Edit, New, Binary Value, and create a new value called Attribute, setting it to 70 01 00 20. Quick Tip Bypass ScanDisk Edit It Out: Skip ScanDisk at start-up by editing your Msdos.sys file. Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) is filled with improvements, but it also contains one major annoyance. When you restart OSR2 after an abnormal exit, Windows insists on running ScanDisk. To bypass the ScanDisk ordeal, use Windows Explorer to remove the read-only attribute from C:\Msdos.sys. Then use Notepad to add the line AUTOSCAN=2 to the [Options] section. Don't forget to reset the read-only attribute after saving the file! ---------- Hackerproof Your System You lock your front door every time you leave the house. You certainly don't expect a stranger to walk in, but why make it easy for them? Take the same security precautions with your Windows NT 4.0system, and be extra vigilant on a shared system installed in a public place. Keep Out Any would-be data thief who powers on a PC after you sign off can press Ctrl-Alt-Del to start the log-on process anew. By default, NT "remembers" the username of the last person who was on the system and displays it in the log-on dialog box. Make the hacker's job twice as difficult by hiding this entry, forcing him to guess your username as well as your password. This tip assumes you've selected a suitably difficult password of at least 10 characters, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers without spelling a word. No Welcome Mat: Use the Windows NT Registry Editor to add these three values to the WinLogon subkey. They'll make it harder to get in your system. Start the Windows NT Registry Editor (Regedt32). In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, select the subkey SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Choose Edit, Add Value, and create a new value named DontDisplayLastUserName, of type REG_SZ. Enter 1 as its contents. To deliver an extra deterrent to casual snoops, edit two additional values in this subkey, LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText, both of type REG_SZ. Enter Warning! as the LegalNoticeCaption and use a suitably dire threat in the LegalNoticeText value: Unauthorized access will result in immediate termination! Save these changes and then exit the Registry Editor. The next user who presses Ctrl-Alt-Del will see not one but two blanks in the log-on dialog box, along with a stern warning of the consequences of logging on without permission. This should keep out all but the most persistent hackers. ---------- Monitor Your Apps Use NT's Task Manager to take control of your apps. To start it up, press Ctrl-Alt-Del and click on the Task Manager button. The Applications tab is a task list; right-click anywhere within the window to switch to the easier-to-read Large Icons view. When you right-click on a file, the bottom choice in the menu lets you match a running program with its main process. Take It to Task: Keep tabs on your apps with NT's Task Manager. Take Charge The Processes tab monitors applications and system services. Use it to track down hidden programs that may be draining system resources. The CPU column shows what percentage of the CPU is being used by each task, while the MemUsage column identifies how much system memory each task is gobbling up. When system resources are scarce, use these measurements to determine which tasks to end first. If one process runs too slowly or consumes too many CPU cycles, right-click on its entry and reset its Base Priority from Normal to High or Low. Whatever you do, don't select the Real-Time priority. That setting gives the selected process carte blanche to grab every available CPU cycle, without ever yielding to other applications. If you use the Task Manager regularly, don't close it; instead, click on the Minimize button. As long as it's open, you'll see the Task Manager icon, which itself is a surprisingly accurate gauge of CPU usage. Quick Tip Unlock NTFS Disks Insecure Data: Access an NTFS disk with this driver. There's no way to tap the data on a secure NTFS disk, right? Wrong. Microsoft doesn't want you to know, but it's possible. A group of developers created a driver that will workfrom a DOS prompt or in a previous version of Windows. Download the most recent version of the NTFSDOS driver from www.ntinternals.com, then follow the instructions to create a boot disk that will let you read the files on an NTFS-formatted volume. Two caveats: You can't write to a disk using this driver, and it doesn't work with multipartition volumes. The mere existence of this program is a sobering reminder that a lock and key is just as important as a good password. ---------- Command-Line Control You probably do most of your Windows 95 or NT file chores in Explorer. While it's handy for moving files from folder to folder, it's utterly useless when you need to rename a group of files. Or when you want to quickly select a subset of files in a given folder. Or when you'd like to automate a repetitive process with the help of a batch file. For those tasks and many more, a command line is essential. If you're a Windows 95 user, the MS-DOS Prompt window is adequate for these tasks. Surprisingly, one of the most useful Windows 95 command-line utilities is actually a holdover from the MS-DOS 5.0 era, but it doesn't even earn a mention in the Windows 95 Help files. The next time you open an MS-DOS Prompt window, make your first entry Doskey.It uses a mere 5K of memory, but it gives you the ability to scroll through a buffer of old commands using the up and down arrows. Press F7 to select from a list of commands you used in the current session. NT Command and Control If you really want to see what a command prompt can do, upgrade to Windows NT 4.0. With virtually no publicity, the NT 4.0 development team beefed up the built-in command processor to impressive proportions. For starters, a Doskey-style command buffer is built in; just use the up and down arrows to step through the buffer. The current command line is also fully editable--the Home, End, and left or right arrow keys move the insertion point through the command without disturbing its contents. At least 18 DOS-style commands have been added or enhanced under NT 4.0. For example, Change Directory (CD) now includes a /D switch that lets you change drives and directories in one command--handy for batch files. Likewise, the Make Directory (MD) command lets you create an entire directory tree with a single command. To see a summary of the command extensions, type CMD /? | MORE. You can even make a simple registry adjustment that lets you automatically complete a filename or a directory name, even if you haven't typed that command before. Open a Command Prompt window and type REGEDT32 to start the NT Registry Editor. Select the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Command Processor, then find the Completion Char value in the right pane and double-click on it. Set its contents to 9 (the ASCII value of theTab character). Save your changes and close the Registry Editor. Now you can type 2 or 3 characters of a folder name or filename and press theTab key to have the NT Command Processor automatically complete the entry. For example, type CD PR, then press Tab to log onto the Program Files folder with a minimum of keystrokes. If more than one file or folder name begins with that sequence of characters, keep pressing Tab to cycle through the entire list. Easy Read: Make that NT Command Prompt a bit easier on the eyes. Change the black-on-white default colors to something more readable. Colorful Options NT also makes it simple to replace the hard-to-read, white-on-black color scheme of the Command Prompt. Right-click on the Start button and choose Open, then double-click on the Programs folder to find the Command Prompt shortcut. Right-click and choose Properties. In the resulting dialog box, click on the Colors tab. Use the radio buttons to select text and background colors from a palette of 16 choices, including easy-on-the-eyes combinations like black on gray. Finally, be aware of a confusing incompatibility between Windows 95 and NT 4.0, which use different algorithms for generating short filenames. If you've become accustomed to the Windows 95 style, you'll need a constant reminder of the difference once you switch to NT. Use the Environment tab on theControl Panel's System dialog box to add the dircmdvariable; set it to /X, and NT's Command Processor will routinely show you both the long and short filenamesat the same time when you issue the dir command. Quick Tip NT Easter Eggs NT Diversions: Uncover two surprises in the Display applet. OK, so Easter eggs aren't productivity tools. But they're still fun. Windows NT 4.0 includes two Easter eggs hidden in its 3D Text screen saver. To make them appear, right-click on the Desktop and choose Properties; in the Display Properties dialog box, click on the Screen Saver tab. Choose 3D Text (OpenGL) from the list of screen savers and click on the Settings button. In the box labeled Text, enter the word Volcano. Make any other adjustments, then click on OK. Click on the Preview button and NT will display the names of volcanoes on the West Coast spinning on the screen. Repeat the process, but enter Not Evilas the text to see the names of NT developers. ---------- Squeeze More Memory in OSR2 Yes, there's a significant update to Windows 95, but you can get it only when you buy a new system or motherboard. Even if you recently purchased new hardware, there's no guarantee you have the so-called OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2). To find out if you're running OSR2, open the System Properties dialog box (find its iconin the Control Panel, or right-click on the My Computer icon and choose Properties). The OSR2 release identifies itself as version 4.00.950 B. (At a DOS prompt, the VER command tells you this is version 4.00.1111.) The original retail version is 4.00.950. Who Needs MemMaker? Use Advanced Program Settings instead. Old Memories If you're trying to free up lots of lower memory (perhaps for an old DOS game), you'll find that OSR2 doesn't ship with the familiar DOS MemMaker utility. Don't panic; you don't need it. You can configure Windows 95 to manage conventional memory for each application. Make a copy of the MS-DOS Prompt shortcut, right-click on its icon, and choose Properties. On the Program tab, click on the Advanced button. Check the box labeled MS-DOS Mode, then click on Specify a New MS-DOS Configuration. Click on the Configuration button, and check the EMS box. Add NOEMS to the end of the EMM386 line. If you use DriveSpace, add the line DeviceHigh=C:\Windows\Command\Drvspace.sys/ move to the end of Config.sys file shown in the scrolling box. Change Device= commands to DeviceHigh= for any drivers except Himem.sys, and insert LH before any drivers in Autoexec.bat except the mouse. Try it. You'll be amazed at how much memory you can free up--more than MS-DOS could ever give you. ---------- X-Ray Your System Do you know what's really installed on your Windows 95 or NT computer? Here's some help. Windows 95 users can find abundant hardware details in the System Properties dialog box. The tree-style listing includes every installed device and driver on your system. Double-click on the Computer icon at the top of the Device Manager tab to uncover a wealth of hidden information. For an inventory of all the Windows 95 updates you've installed, download the Windows 95 Update Information Tool, Qfecheck.exe, from www.microsoft.com/kb/ articles/q161/0/20.htm. Ultimate Update: Keep track of all your hardware and software. Inside NT If you're running NT, you can get an exhaustive listing of every aspect of a local system's configuration with the help of the Windows NT Diagnostics program, Winmsd.exe. (It's installed by default in the common Administrative Tools group.) If you're logged on with administrative privileges, you can gather information about other NT machines on the network. Finally, there's NT's Hardware Query Tool, which does an exhaustive Plug and Play-style interrogation of your hardware, whether or not it's supported by NT. Put a blank floppy disk in drive A:, then double-click on the Makedisk icon in the \Support\Hqtool folder of the NT CD-ROM. Use this bootable disk to restart your computer and begin the program. Quick Tip Display Your Options Menu, Please: Make Windows NT display its boot menu indefinitely. At start-up, Windows NT 4.0 provides a boot menu that lets you choose which operating system you want to launch. If you run multiple versions of NT or dual-bootDOS or a previous version of Windows, you'll use this menu regularly. By default, this menu remains onscreen for 30 seconds. You can adjust the setting to a more reasonable 5 seconds using the Control Panel's System applet. But if you want the menu to wait indefinitely for your choice, you must manually edit the Boot.ini text file. Find the file in the root of the boot drive, right-click, choose Properties, and clear the read-only attribute. Now open Boot.ini using Notepad and look in the [boot loader] section; change the Timeout value to-1, save the file, and restore its read-only attribute. ---------- Taming TCP/IP Connections You've decided it's time to network all the Windows 95 and NT 4.0 machines in your office. Perhaps you've even resolved to set up a simple intranet using Windows 95's Personal Web Services. For all the right reasons, you've chosen the industry standard, TCP/IP, as your default network protocol. For security's sake, you want to restrict Internet access to specificdial-up accounts or to a proxy server. So far, so good. But when you open the Network applet in the Control Panel and try to add TCP/IP to each workstation, Windows asks for a barrage of technical details: IP addresses, DNS servers, gateways, and subnetmasks. Do you really need to register your own domain name and buy a block of assigned IP addresses from your Internet service provider? If your network is strictly private, the answer is no. Instead, follow these step-by-step guidelines, which are not documented in any Windows 95 manual. To set up TCP/IP you must provide a unique IP address--a 32-bit numeric identifier usually expressed as four groups of 8-bit decimal numbers (0 to255) separated by dots, as in 192.168.0.1. If your Internet service provider or company network includes a Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) server, you can tell Windows 95 or NT 4.0 to obtain an address automatically. If there's no DHCP server available, you must enter a valid IP address or you'll get an error message at start-up. On a strictly local network, you can choose your own IP addresses from three blocks of IP addresses specifically set aside for private networks. Don't just choose an arbitrary set of numbers! Assuming your network will have no more than 254clients, you should establish your own Class C network. Pick a Number: Configuring your Windows network is a snap if you select the right settings. Step 1: Pick a network ID. On a Class C network, the network ID consists of the first three numbers in the IP address. All the machines on your network will use the same number, which must be chosen from one of the following ranges: 10.x.y, replacing x and y with any number between 0 and 255--for example, 10.137.229; or 172.x.y, replacing x with any number between 16 and 31 and y with any number between 0 and 255--for example, 172.18.200; or 192.168.x, replacing x with any number between 0 and 255, as in 192.168.10. Step 2: Tack on a unique host ID for each machine. The final number in each IP address must be unique. Start with 1 and work your way up to 254 (avoid using the broadcast addresses 0 or 255 for the final number in any IP address). A typical range of valid private addresses is 172.18.200.1, 172.18.200.2, and so on. Step 3: Use the correct subnet mask. For a Class C network, this setting must be 255.255.255.0 for all the workstations on your network. Step 4: Leave gateway and DNS settings blank. Your workstations will communicate with one another by broadcasting packets of information around the network; gateways and DNS servers are strictly for access to the Net. Whether you use Windows 95 or NT4.0 you'll enter these numbers using the Control Panel's Network applet. From Windows 95, select the Configuration tab; from Windows NT, select the Protocols tab. Then click on the TCP/IP protocol entry, and click on the Properties button. Once you've assigned private addresses to a group of machines, an individual machine can still connect with the Internet via a dial-up connection. Open the Dial-Up Networking (DUN) folder and create a new connection. The TCP/IP Settings dialog box lets you define an IP address and gateway, as well as DNS Servers exclusively for that connection. When you send a TCP/IP request via the modem, Windows will use this address; the network card in the computer will handle addresses on the private network. Quick Tip Get Ready for NT Set to Go? Before you upgrade to NT, run this tool. Windows NT 4.0 is notoriously finicky about the hardware it runs on. If you're considering an upgrade to NT 4.0, wouldn't you like to know about any compatibility problems before you start the setup program? You can get a full system evaluation with the help of the unpublicized Microsoft Compatibility Tool 1.0. Download the program from www.microsoft.com/windows/ common/ntcompto.htm, then run it to create a set of bootable floppy disks that you use to run a detection and inspection program on your system. The results compare your hardware against the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List and give you a report on whether you can feasibly upgrade your hardware. _________________________________________________________________ ZDNet Home Page ZDNet Search Subscribe to PC Computing ZDNet Ad Marketplace Special Ads _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1997 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. 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