PCG FAQ

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We wrote this FAQ to answer the many questions we receive on this topic from our clients and other inquiring minds in the many electronic communities we frequent. Thanks to Dan Butler for his contributions to this FAQ.

Essential Tips for Configuring Windows 95

Pretend you're sitting down at a brand spanking new PC and all you know about its history is that it's running Windows 95. This FAQ presents the steps you need to perform to properly configure the PC, ranked in order by importance.

1. Make a complete backup, heck, make two.

Whether this is your PC or someone else's, always perform a complete backup operation (two, even!) before proceeding. And make sure to test that a Restore operation on some random file works properly.

2. Verify that there are no device conflicts.

The quickest way to look for device conflicts is to right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, choose Properties, and click the Device Manager tab in the System Properties dialog box. Next, whether you view devices by type or connection is a matter of personal preference. Conflicts will be represented by either a red X (the device has been disabled) or a yellow exclamation mark (problem, but device not completely disabled). If there are any such conflicts, you have a number of options: call the PC OEM's technical support line or call Microsoft at 206-635-7000 and start the 90-day "free technical support" timer on Windows 95. Alternately, if it's not a new machine or the Microsoft support timer has expired, you can do anything from posting to a newsgroup to calling Microsoft's fee-based technical support line at 206-635-7000 to researching the matter in the Windows 95 Resource Kit. (The Win95 Resource Kit is available in on-line help form on your Win95 CD; look for \Admin\Reskit\Helpfile\Win95rk.hlp.)

Note: in the System Properties dialog, make sure you carefully check Device Manager's list of installed devices and verify nothing's missing and also check the Performance filecard to be sure your File System and Virtual Memory are both 32-bit, and check for the tell-tale (and reassuring) "Your system is configured for optimal performance" notice. Otherwise you're running in the sub-optimal MS-DOS compatibility mode.

3. If you've got a CD-ROM device installed, make sure Win95 recognizes its correct speed setting.

In the System Properties dialog box described earlier, click the Performance tab then click the File System button. From the File System Properties dialog box, click the CD-ROM tab, then choose the appropriate setting from the "Optimize access patterns for" drop-down list box, for example, if you've got a triple-speed CD-ROM, make sure you select "Triple-speed drives" from the list. Click OK twice to clear all dialog boxes.

4. If you've got a printer device(s) installed, make sure Win95 recognizes how much physical RAM is in the printer.

Go into Control Panel, double-click the Printers icon, right-click the default printer, select Properties, click the Device Options tab, and verify that the Printer memory setting matches your printer's physical memory capacity (which you can check via the printer's various test mode outputs). Click OK to close the printer's Properties dialog box.

5. Configure your StartUp exactly the way you want it, not the way it came from the manufacturer (or former owner).

If you don't like the PC's current StartUp configuration, now's the time to change it. There are several different ways to get shortcuts into the StartUp folder (typically C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp). Regardless of the method you employ, the end result is the same — putting a shortcut (.LNK file) into the StartUp folder that points to an application or document you always want running (open) when your system starts.

6. Create a Desktop folder shortcut and put it in StartUp.

If you create a shortcut to your Desktop folder (typically C:\Windows\Desktop) and place that shortcut in your StartUp folder, you'll get a Desktop folder running every time you start your system. This Desktop folder window won't display lower-level system icons like My Computer, Network Neighborhood, InBox, Recycle Bin, etc., but there is a technique for doing so (it's beyond the scope of this FAQ; see Ronald Beekelaar's article "The Ultimate Start and Send To Menu" in Woody's Underground Office newsletter Volume 1 Issue 10; for more information about this newsletter see http://www.wopr.com/wuon/wuon.htm).

7. Close all running apps and run a thorough ScanDisk on your local hard disk(s).

Running a thorough ScanDisk is a great way to quickly check the integrity of a hard disk. You can typically locate the copy of ScanDisk that ships with Windows 95 via Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / ScanDisk. For "Type of test" choose Thorough; click Options and choose "System and data areas" and make sure the "Do not perform write-testing" check box is cleared (check or clear the "Do not repair bad sectors in hidden and system files" at your own discretion, we typically leave this box cleared); click OK; leave the "Automatically fix errors" check box cleared if you want ScanDisk to prompt you about error corrections otherwise check it and ScanDisk will do as much repairing as it can without asking you each time; click Advanced and choose Always for "Display summary", "Append to log" for "Log file", "Make copies" for "Cross-linked files", "Convert to files" for "Lost file fragments", then check both "Invalid file names" and "Invalid dates and times" in the "Check files for" group, check "Check host drive first", now click OK; finally, click Start. If you're burning in a new PC, you might want to do this daily or even hourly to really exercise the disk drive.

8. This may seem obvious, but test each peripheral thoroughly.

Just because Device Manager says a device is installed properly doesn't mean it's functional. Always do a reality check on each peripheral, for example, make sure the A: floppy drive can successfully read, and write, diskettes; pop an audio CD in the CD-ROM drive and make sure it plays satisfactorily; and so on.

9. Examine the Properties for each installed device and make sure all settings are correct and optimal.

It's important to work your way through all the devices listed in Device Manager one by one, select each one, click the + icon in the tree to expand the detailed device listing, then click the Properties button. From there, explore all the settings available and make sure they are satisfactory.

10. Make a Startup diskette and test it.

To make a Windows 95 Startup diskette (functionally equivalent to a "boot diskette" of the MS-DOS era), start Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, from the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box click the Startup Disk tab, then click the Create Disk button. Windows 95 will take it from there. Once the diskette has been created, shut down your PC cold, insert the Startup diskette, and power the PC back up to make sure the diskette works properly.

11. Use Microsoft Plus! to install Dial-Up Networking Server and System Agent.

Although Windows 95 ships with Dial-Up Networking client software, it lacks the server side of the equation. Dial-Up Networking Server allows your PC to be the recipient of a remote dial-up request. For this feature you need a copy of Microsoft Plus!. Install the component called Dial-Up Networking Server (takes about 320 KB). Once installed, double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, then double-click the Dial-Up Networking icon, select Connections from the menu bar, then choose Dial-Up Server. This displays the Dial-Up Server dialog box from which you can proceed to configure your PC as a dial-up server.

Microsoft Plus! also comes with the indispensable System Agent, a utility that allows you to run disk maintenance utilities at regularly specified intervals or even when your PC is idle. System Agent requires about 1033 KB of disk space. Once installed, System Agent puts an icon in your task bar tray; right-click on this icon and you can either Open or Suspend System Agent. For now choose Open and from this dialog box you can configure every aspect of System Agent's behavior: low disk space notification, ScanDisk, defragmentation, and programs of your own choosing.

12. Do away with your Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files.

If the PC sitting in front of you was a Windows 3.x machine in a previous life, the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files may contain superfluous statements that Windows 95 really doesn't need to run properly. Although a complete discussion of boot-up file commands is beyond the scope of this FAQ, the general rule of thumb is to eliminate as many of the commands in these files as possible, even eliminating the files themselves. That said, if you're going to experiment in this area, be sure to have a recently tested Startup diskette handy and to keep backup redundant copies of Autoexec.bat and Config.sys so you can return your system to its prior state if needed. An example of a command you might want to keep in Autoexec.bat is DOSKEY, so that any MS-DOS windows you open in Windows 95 automatically have access to DOSKEY's handy command stack.

13. Remove any superfluous applications being started via the Run= and Load= statements in your WIN.INI's [windows] section.

If the PC sitting in front of you was a Windows 3.x machine in a previous life, verify that no leftover junk is cluttering up your WIN.INI's Run= and Load= statements, located in the [windows] section of that file. Your WIN.INI file is located in your Windows folder (typically C:\Windows). You can edit it with Notepad or the utility Sysedit (Sysedit is in your System folder, typically C:\Windows\System). As with Autoexec.bat and Config.sys experimentation, be sure to have a recently tested Startup diskette handy and to keep backup redundant copies of WIN.INI so you can return your system to its prior state if needed.

If you've reached this point in our checklist then the PC humming away in front of you has certainly been well-scrubbed and should be heeling nicely.

The Naked PC
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