Rich's Ramblings

by Rich Schinnell

Oh boy! Am I going to get it from Bill Gates and company.

This month I am going to let you in on what I have been doing with Windows95 and my trials and tribulations. I have three instances that might be interesting. Of course, by the time you read this, some of you will already have experienced some of it, but hopefully not the aggravating parts.

First, I thought it would be interesting to try to install the new Windows95 on a minimum configuration computer. I have a spare machine that I use for testing, a 386-40 with 4MB of RAM, Intel Ethernet adapter, SVGA, and a 120MB hard disk.

I thought this would be the ideal test bed; I know many of our members who have similar configurations. I had to free up some disk space since this machine doesn't have a CD-ROM on it. I copied all the Windows95 installation files (over 36MB) to a subdirectory on the hard disk via my Novell network. I ended up with a bit over 50MB of free space. I had Windows 3.1 installed and operating. I felt that I could at least install a minimum system on this computer.

It did install, but I could not install much of the extra Windows95 goodies on the system, like the MSN (Microsoft Network). If you are into the practice of watching paint dry or grass grow, and you have this minimum system, then go for it. Anyone that would try to install and use Microsoft Windows95 on a minimum configuration is either a glutton for punishment or should contact me; I know someone who has some land in Florida to sell. <G>

Seriously, please reconsider if you only have 4MB of RAM. It is truly aggravating; the computer keeps reading and writing to your hard disk for every little thing. I would recommend a true minimum of 8MB of RAM, a 486-33, and at least 100MB of free disk space. My opinion of Microsoft's minimum configuration is that it's like telling you that all you need for a cross country trip--with the spouse, dogs and 2 kids--is a little red wagon.

I thought the installation would never complete. It took over an hour to install on top of my Windows 3.1. After it was installed, it seemed that everything took forever. Opening a window, changing the profile on a program, setting up the desktop. . . . all were real slow. It seemed to take forever to get anywhere.

I think that Microsoft is leading unskilled users down the garden path with their "minimum configuration" logic. In order to talk more users into upgrading to Windows95, they are not being 100 percent truthful. Don't believe them. You must have at least a 486/33, 240MB hard disk with 8MB of RAM. A CD-ROM is highly recommended. Or you're going to be disappointed, aggravated, and will eventually call one of the Help Line people (and they will tell you that you just don't have enough memory or computing power).

I finally decided that I was through with my daily punishment and picked the option to remove programs. Choices on the Add/ Remove Programs menu was: Remove Windows 3.1 or remove Windows95. Guess which one I picked?

It did a pretty good job of removing itself and restoring all my DOS and Windows 3.1 files to their original configuration.

One thing to watch out for is the ~ (tilde) character in filenames. Those are used by Windows95 to point to long file names (yes, with Windows95, you create long-named files such as "Letters from Home"). I had to manually go through and delete all directories and files with the tilde in the filename. I found a lot, and there were also several hidden system files in weird subdirectories. Get rid of them all, and you should be back to having a normal machine. Some tape backup programs and utilities might choke on these names. Although a tilde in the filename is not illegal under regular DOS, a fiename with a tilde is a good indication that Windows95 created the file or directory.

Bottom line: I learned a lot. Don't try it unless you're a
skilled professional and have taken your aggravation pills for the day.

On to the next machine. I picked up a new toy (the one who dies with the most toys, wins!).

I have a Toshiba laptop 486DX/4-75MHZ with an internal 2X CD-ROM, 12MB of RAM. 500MB hard disk, and a 10.4" color screen. Additionally, I purchased a Megahertz PCMCIA credit card style plug in 10BaseT Ethernet and 1.44bps modem. I installed all the goodies that I usually like in Window 3.1, like WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows, Qmodem Pro for DOS, and Internet files.

Now on to the setup for Windows95 to see how things go.

Hint #1: It is usually a good idea to first set up the computer
exactly how you like it, log onto your network if you have it, and then install all your bells and whistles before you begin installing Windows95.

I proceeded to run the Windows95 Setup program from the CD-ROM. I let it pick all the defaults for installation, and everything went very smoothly. It only took about a half hour for me to be up and operating under Windows95. The Install program was able to recognize my Megahertz PCMCIA Ethernet card that was connected to my Novell NetWare 3.12 server and ask me for my USERID and PASSWORD. I was then able to use all my network features as the gods in Utah intended. I was elated that it all worked without too much aggravation. BUT. . . .

Being the careful and suspicions person that I am, when asked, I told the Install program to keep a complete backup of my previous Windows and DOS system files. This would allow me to recover from disaster, when it strikes. That was hint #2

It's a good idea and I recommend that all of you select this option; I somehow messed things up, and the modem communications port 2 ended up being set up for 5 data bits and IRQ 5. There seemed to be no recovery from this problem; I used the wonderful online help, and it wasn't!

I finally decided to uninstall Windows95 to see if that would help get my modem back in operation. I did, and then I went back to my modem's install software which worked wonders for my communications port. Back to COM2 and IRQ 3.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I then went back to the INSTALL.EXE program on the Windows95 master disk. All went well this time, and everything seemed to work. I was able to use my Novell network and Internet communications program without any problems. Until. . . .

I decided to take my portable (as you should be able to) to one of my customer's offices, and hooked it up to his LAN. It didn't seem that difficult; I changed a few things like USERID and such, and I was connected to the LAN. Piece of cake. Watch out for network protocol changes like Novell's 802.2 and 802.3 changes. (Non-network types can ignore this advice.)

But when I brought it back home to connect to my own network, there was no way to get logged back on to my own Novell server! I tried everything in the book and still no-go. So guess which option I picked from the Uninstall menu again?

An additional problem that I had: every time I tried to use Qmodem Pro for DOS, it rebooted the computer. Neat way to do a soft boot. <G> That is a definite negative on the laptop and Windows95. It worked in regular DOS but not in a DOS window under Windows95. I'm still working on that. I believe that the problems are the PCMCIA modem card and the DOS card drivers. Hopefully, Megahertz will have some Windows95 card drivers by the time you read this.

The nice thing about having the Windows95 upgrade on CD-ROM is that it takes only about a half hour to uninstall and then re-install. I'm getting pretty good at it by now. God forbid that I didn't have a CD-ROM. If I had to resort to floppy flipping, I would have given up a long time ago. With CD-ROMs below $100, most people should really have one. They are pretty easy to install, at least most times.

Bottom Line number two: Laptops are great, and if you have the computing power, RAM, and hard disk space, it works! Never remove your old Windows 3.1 from the uninstall menu until you are 100 percent sure that you're really ready to embrace Windows95 full time.

Now for the good part. I have been a beta tester for Microsoft Windows95 since the days it was still called Chicago. I've installed about 20-30 different beta versions and submitted my comments and bug reports to Microsoft via their Internet server (Microsoft.com). With each new beta, I was seeing the bugs that I (and probably others) reported show up as being corrected, so someone does read those bug reports.

I am in a unique situation in that my main computer is a Pentium 90, with 32MB of RAM. (Remember, it was Bill Gates who said "No one will ever need more than 640K of RAM.")

I have a device in the front of my tower case that contains a hard disk. It is removable, and I can substitute different hard disks for the C drive. I have three Caviar 2200, 220MB hard disks. Each has a different operating system installed. (My D: drive is a 540MB.) This physical configurations allows me to turn the power off, remove the C drive, and replace it with another hard disk without changing the CMOS table. I have my old favorite DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1. This is what I retreated to each time everything went to heck in a handbasket. I also have IBM WARP installed on one of the disks, and the third's reserved for my Windows95 testing.

The convenience of being able to retreat back to a good configuration was a real lifesaver as some of the beta versions went off into never-never land. The last 12 or so versions were getting much more stable, and the last build--950-rx series--was really a pleasure to install and use. I had minimal problems with it, and now, because I have been a good boy, Microsoft sent me a copy of the "gold" CD-ROM version (that's techie talk for the final release version).

I am pleased. Some of the neat things about it is that I like to run some of my favorite DOS programs, like Qmodem Pro for DOS. See, I am not a 100 percent Windows convert yet! Of course, my laptop still has problems with QMPRO, but not my desktop, which ever further enforces my idea of the PCMCIA card problem. I like the DOS version as it is old-shoe, and the characters on the screen are large and easy to read. It works very well as do most of my DOS programs. Some of the Windows 3.1 programs have locked up a few times, which reminds me of one neat feature in Windows95: it allows you to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and end the task without anything else being disturbed. That is a big plus.

Because I was so good, Microsoft also sent me two CD-ROMs: Microsoft Office and Access for Windows95. Big deal; they both die on January 1, 1996, which means that I would have to purchase the regular version to continue using them. Thanks Bill!

Bottom line number three: If you have a power machine, plenty of RAM, and acres of hard disk space, go for it. Remember, as always, backing up is a really good idea. Test all your regular applications to make sure that they work properly and TEST TEST TEST.

Final recommendation: Buy a tape backup. I see that Iomega has tape backup units for $99. Buy theirs or someone else's. It doesn't make any difference whose; just purchase one. And while you're at it, prepare a system bootable disk with all the drivers that you would need to boot your system with if you end up reformatting your hard disk. Remember FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM. It's very important to also copy all your tape backup/restore software to this disk. Having a tape backup is OK, but it is very difficult to restore the information from your tape if you don't have the restore software on a floppy. With everyone now snapping up the 1.2 gigabyte hard disks for less than $350, they'll be living on the thrilling edge if they don't have a tape backup.

Final bottom line: Remember that Windows95 is "Plug n Play," which translates (sometimes) to "Plug it in and then play with it to get it working!" (I know that this expression isn't original.)

Rich Schinnell is the President of Capital PC User Group, retired from the USN and the Vitro Corporation. He enjoys helping people learn to use their computers. He has as many toys as the next person. Rich is one of the founding members of CPCUG and does some consulting on the side when he is not volunteering in the CPCUG office, keeping the staff in line. He can be reached in the evenings at (301) 949-9292, on the Internet at

schinnel@cpcug.org or the MIX as Rich.Schinnell@mix.cpcug.org.

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