Tips On Windows 95/98/Me

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Installing Windows 98

The Windows 98 Setup wizard makes changing operating systems easier than ever. You can install Windows 98 in two ways. The method you use depends on your current computer setup.

Before You Begin

Before you install Microsoft® Windows 98, make sure your computer meets the following minimum system requirements:

Upgrading from Windows 95

When you upgrade from Windows 95, Setup automatically transfers your previous system settings and installed programs.

Note During Setup, the Windows 98 Setup wizard automatically restarts your computer several times.

To upgrade to Windows 98

Start Windows 95.  Close all programs, including any anti-virus programs.

Insert the Windows 98 CD into your CD-ROM drive. If a message appears asking if you want to upgrade, click Yes. The Windows 98 Setup wizard starts. You're finished with this procedure. Follow the instructions that appear. If a message doesn't appear, click the Start button, click Run, and then proceed to Step 5. The Run dialog box appears. In the Open box, enter the path and file name of the setup file. That is, type the drive letter, followed by a colon (:), a backslash (\), and the word setup

Click OK. The Windows 98 Setup wizard starts. Follow the instructions that appear.

Upgrading from Windows 3.1

When you upgrade from Windows 3.1, Setup automatically transfers your current system settings and installed programs.

Note During Setup, the Windows 98 Setup wizard automatically restarts your computer several times.

To upgrade to Windows 98

Start Windows 3.1. Close all programs, including any anti-virus programs.

Insert the Windows 98 CD into your CD-ROM drive. Open Program Manager. On the File menu, click Run.

The Run dialog box appears. In the Open box, enter the path and file name of the setup file. That is, type the drive letter, followed by a colon (:), a backslash (\), and the word setup Click OK.

The Windows 98 Setup wizard starts. Follow the instructions that appear.

Performing a New Installation

If you perform a new installation, Setup installs Windows 98 in a new folder and doesn't transfer any existing system settings. Windows 98 becomes your default operating system and uses standard system settings. Because this is an entirely new installation of Windows, you'll need to reinstall any existing programs and hardware you want to use.

Note During Setup, the Windows 98 Setup wizard automatically restarts your computer several times.

To perform a new installation using the CD-ROM version of Windows 98

Insert a Windows 98 Startup Disk in the floppy disk drive.

Note For information about creating a Startup Disk, see Chapter 6, "Advanced Issues."

Restart your computer. The Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu appears.

Insert the Windows 98 CD into your CD-ROM drive. Type the number 1 and then press ENTER.

A series of scans is performed, and then the MS-DOS prompt appears. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the word setup and then press ENTER. A message informs you that Setup is going to perform a check.

If this message doesn't appear, your computer can't locate your CD-ROM drive. For information about installing the correct CD-ROM driver, consult your drive documentation or contact your hardware manufacturer.

Press ENTER. Microsoft Scandisk checks your disk drives for errors. When Scandisk finishes, press X.

After Setup initializes, Windows 98 Setup begins. Follow the instructions that appear.

Note If you're using the upgrade version of Windows 98, Setup may ask you to insert your original Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 disks.

What's New?
1. DVD Player: Windows 98 comes equipped with a DVD player so that you can watch movies on your computer. 2. TV Tuner: You can now watch TV with Windows 98. 3. Applications Launch faster: Windows 98 features Disk Defragmenter as part of its Windows Maintenance Wizard. Disk Defragmenter keeps track of the applications you use most, and puts the files needed to run those applications together on your hard disk and in the order needed for launching them. As a result, Windows 98 is able to launch your applications up to 36% faster. 4. More colors and display better: More color and display choices in Windows 98 for example, you can make the Active Title Bar Blue and green. 5. Better Dial Up Networking: Better dial up networking services and wizards to help you. 6. Active Desktop: This is a feature that lets your desktop meet the web. For example, you can have a scrolling stock ticker right on your desktop show the latest stock reports. 7. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or 5.0: Windows 98 has a built in web browser to let you surf the net. Microsoft Internet Explorer is a great browser and there is a Internet Connection Wizard to help you get started. The first version of Windows 98 comes with Internet Explorer 4.0, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) comes with Internet Explorer 5.0.
There are more features but I just wanted to name a few.
Windows 98 Errors
Some of the problems in Windows 95 are still in Windows 98.
1. My keyboard and mouse aren't working!
Check to see if your keyboard and mouse are plugged in correctly, or restart the computer without touching any keys. For your mouse, check to see if your mouse is plugged in correctly, and make sure you have the correct drivers for it, if it still doesn't work, get a new mouse.
2. The shortcut is invalid.
Check to see if the shortcut is too the right program, or check to make sure the file that the shortcut is too is still on your computer. If not, just delete the shortcut or make a new one.
3. Programs and programs pop up when I start my computer.
Edit the Startup group by deleting the shortcut to the programs. If that doesn't work, then open the program and edit the program preferences.
4. Whenever I left click, it brings up a right click menu.
This is very annoying, so just click on the taskbar and it should work. If not, restart your computer.
5. Illegal Operation.
Annoying, Annoying, Annoying. Restart your computer and see what happens, if the problem still consists, uninstall and then reinstall the program. If it still doesn't work, throw the software out.
6. I am very low on space.
Empty the Recycle Bin and then right click on the recycle bin and select Properties and then choose the option Don't send files to the Recycle Bin and then click OK and next go through your hard drive and delete unneeded/unused files. Or click Start, then Programs, then Accessories , next click System Tools and choose Disk Cleanup. Now choose the drive you want to clean up and select a clean method.

LOADING WINDOWS 95/98 from hard drive
First you need to copy file's from CD-Rom
Insert a wins boot disk with CD support
Select START COMPUTER WITH CD-ROM SUPPORT.
Note: 9x Is for the version you are loading, i.e. 95/98 do not type X
At a:\> type
A:\>c:\ enter then type
C:\>md WIN98SE Enter then type
C:\>cd WIN98SE Enter then type
C:\WIN98SE>Copy D:\WIN98SE enter then (Where D is you're CD Rom)
C:\WIN98SE>Setup enter
Note: if you’re drivers for sound cards, modems, printers
Are on CD Rom you have to load them from Device Manager

Tips & Tricks

Forcing users to enter password during login

 Unlike Windows NT/2000, the login window in Windows 9x/Me can be easily bypassed by pressing the [Esc] key or by clicking Cancel. So, it's possible that a third person who turns on your PC can gain access to your personal information. To prevent this from happening, first make sure that the user profiles are created and enabled for each user, and that the 'Include Start Menu and Program Groups in User Settings' option in the Control Panel is enabled for each user.
  Reboot the PC in safe Mode by hitting the [F8] key during Startup and choosing Safe Mode from the Boot Options. This is very important because if something goes wrong, you can always reboot your computer in Safe Mode and rectify the problem.
         Type regedit in Start>Run.       Find the following key in the Registry: HKEY_USERS/Default/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run. In the right hand plane, right-click and choose New String Values, and rename it as FixLogon . Finally, open the FixLogon entry you have just created (by double-clicking on the right plane of the registry Editor window) and specify the following command as its Value data : rundll.exe user.exe,EXITWINDOWS  .  Reboot your PC to save the changes. If you want to restore the old settings, delete this key. Now when you click Cancel or press [Esc] .... computer shutdows :)

Creating Security Policies

  You can get a higher level of security with your windows machine. If you create user profiles on your PC. Go to Control Panel, double-click the Users option and follow the wizard to create a new user for the computer.
     If you are using Windows 95, you have to select the passwords option to go to the User Profiles tab. Enable users can customize the preferences and restart the computer. In the login window, type in your name and password, and windows will prompt you for creating a new profile. Now ,with user profiles created, you can use the System Policy Editor to restrict access to new users (or those who just hit the cancel button at the login menu). Before using Policy Editor, back up your registry and other password files. Restart the computer, and at the login prompt , press cancel. This represents a setting for an unauthorized user. Start the Policy Editor by typing poledit in the Start>Run . Go to File>Open Registry and double-click on Local Users. Check or uncheck the various options to restrict acccess by an unauthorized user. Click OK when you are finished. The settings you choose are the ones a person will find when he/she logs in with new name or hits cancel at the login prompt.

Start your computer in Safe mode with command prompt.  *note*- You must log on as the administrator or a user that has administrator rights. At the command prompt, type  %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe  and then press [Enter].

Right-click on the desktop , go to New , then to shortcut. A pop-up windows comes instructing you to enter command line prompt.
Use this path if your operating system in Windows 95/98/Me .
    c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows
Note-> 'C' is the drive where Windows is installed.

Use this path if your operating system is Windows XP
    SHUTDOWN -s - t 01

  Click Next and finish.

It's quite easy to back up the Windows 95/98/Me registry. Open the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Run dialog Box uder the start menu. Click on the Registry menu, and select Export Registry File. Verify the following items in the Export Registry File dialog box :
       Save in : Desktop ( for example)
       File name: Registry Backup
       Save as type: Registration Files
       Export range: All
   Click Save and Exit the Registry Editor. Check that an icon labeled 'Registry Backup.reg' is on the Desktop.
Once you have made a backup of the registry, you can make whatever edits you had set out to do. It is always advisable to make one edit at a time since it is easier to rectify.
   If the change you made works fine then delete .reg file on the desktop. If the change you made is not desireable, then you backup will come handy. Double click on the Registry file backed up on the desktop - it will restore the registry to its previous state.
    Windows 9x has a feature in which after each successful start, a backup of that registry is made and saved. Just in case something does go wrong, this backup can be used to restore the system to a previously known 'good' state.
    To restore the registry, restart in MS-DOS mode and change to the Windows folder,
    C:\>cd windows
    C:\windows>
  Type the following commands and press [Enter] after each one. Note that the extension is .da0 and is the number zero.
   attrib -h -r -s system.dat
   attrib -h -r -s system.da0
   copy system.da0 system.dat
   attrib -h -r -s user.dat
   attrib -h -r -s user.da0
   copy user.da0 user.dat
Now restart your computer. This will restore your registry to when you last successfully started your computer.
   Windows 98 has an additional means of backing up the registry. This is done by using the scanreg command by typing scanreg /backup at the command prompt. The registry will be backed up and will return to DOS prompt. If you need to restore the registry, you have to type the following command at DOS prompt : scanreg /restore
Scanreg will check your registry and display the list of available backups. Select the backup at the top of your list. This is the backup you made earlier. Press [R] to restore the backup. When the restoration in complete, type win and press [Enter] to start Windows.
       These methods will not work for Windows NT/2000. Windows NT/2000 has additional security protection that prevents this backup from being restored.
   Windows NT provides many ways to backup the registry, one of them being the rdisk utility. Go to Start>Run and type rdisk /s . Click OK and saving Configuration window appears. When this is completed, the setup window opens. Click Yes to create an Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). When you have finished following the onscreen prompts, label the disk 'Emergency Repair Disk' and include the current date. Keep this disk along with the three NT setup disks. These will come in handy ( the setup disks and the ERD) if Windows NT becomes unbootable.
   If you want to restore the registry to its previous state, boot with the first disk of the three Windows NT setup disks. When the computer has booted, click Repair and choose Registry. You will have a choice of which parts of the registry to restore.
  In Windows 2000, go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Backup. Click on Tool and then on Create an Emergency Repair Disk. When prompted, insert a disk into the floppy drive and click OK.
  To restore settings from your Windows 2000 CD, the Windows 2000 setup disk, and the ERD. During the restoration process, yuo can press [F1] for more information about your options. Using the ERD will restore your settings to the time Windows was first installed. Using the setup disks will restore the settings to the last time you updated the setup disk.
 

I am using Windows Me, and face the following problem. When I click the tab of Windows Setup in the Add/Remove option in Control Panel, I get a dialog box with the error saying " Rundll32.exe has caused an error in Setupx.dll" How do I rectify this problem .

Sol -  Most likely, the Setupx.dll and/or the Setupx32.dll file in your system directories have got corrupted. You will have to reinstall the files first. To do that go to Start>Program>Accessories>System Tools>System Information and click on the Tools tab and select System Configuration Utility. Click on the Extract file option and give the names of the two files, Setupx.dll and Setupx32.dll and specify the directory where your windows installation files are present.
   In case you get an error saying not being able to extract file because files are in use, then you will have to use a boot disk to boot into DOS and use extract command to extract the files.
   If replacing the files doesn't work, as a last resort, try using the same files present on Windows 98 SE instead of your Windows Me files.

I need to convert FAT16 to FAT32 in Windows ME. How do I do it ?

Sol - To convert a FAT16 partition to FAT32, you must follow these steps:

    Create a Windows Me startup disk and restart your computer in command prompt with the Windows Me startup disk in the floppy disk drive, without CD-ROM support. At the command prompt, type cvt c: assuming c: is the drive that you want to convert to the FAT32 file system.
    If Windows is not installed in the default folder and you receive a bad command or file name error message, type c:\windows_folder\command\cvt.exe c:  at a command prompt. - Here 'c:' is the drive in which Windows is installed , 'windows_folder' is the Windows folder, and 'c:' is the drive that you want to convert.
    Press [Enter] so that ScanDisk can check the drive for errors before the file system in converted. After this, the amount of free space that you gained by converting to FAT32 is displayed. Remove the startup disk and press [Enter] when prompted restart your computer. Note that the File system reportedly does not convert correctly if you have both the FAT16 and FAT32 file system on your drive.

Whenever I start my computer I get an error message that a file dfs.vxd needed to run Windows or Windows applications is missing. To which application does this missing file belong and how do I get it back ?

 Sol-  The missing file is part of your Windows operating system, and the error you get normally occurs when you change Network logon method (say from Windows family logon to Client for Microsoft Networks). You can extract the file by running sfc from Start>Run in Windows 98 SE. The file is located in net9.cab file of your Windows 98 installation.
   Alternatively, if there is no need for this file, you can search the registry for instances of the file and delete the registry key. Remember to back up your registry before you make any changes to it . To edit the registry, go to Start>Run and type regedit. In the menu that comes, find (Edit>Find) the string dfs.vxd and delete the entries that come up.

My computer vendor installed the original version of Windows 98 SE. While installing, he registered Windows in the name of 'abc' instead of my name. How do I change this to my name without reinstalling Windows  ?

Sol - You don't need to reinstall Windows for this. You can change this information by editing the registry. In the     registry    editor       ( go to Start>Run , type, regedit)  and  navigate  to  the  key, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MS Setup(ACME)\User Info.         In the right pane, change the value of DefName and DefCompany to the ones that you want. Exit the registry Editor and restart your computer. This will change.

I read somewhere where it suggested a quick restart shortcut, using the target c:\Windows\rundll.exe user.exe, ExitWindowsExec. But this command does not restart my PC, although the quick shutdown shortcut works fine. I think the above command is wrong. Please suggest the appropriate command.

Sol - The shortcut is correct. Sometimes. it may not work because of a program that refuses to quit. you can try the following. :  Open notepad and type @exit. Save it as, say, restart.bat. Make sure that you get the extension right. Now make a shortcut for this on the desktop. Right-Click on the shortcut and click on properties. Click on the program tab and check the close on exit box. Click on advanced button. Select MS-DOS mode and uncheck ' Warn before entering MS-DOS mode'. Click OK twice. Now when you double click in this shortcut , the system will restart.

Whenever I try to install Windows Me on my windows 98 SE, setup runs well till 10% of it is complete but then shows the following message ,'Setup cannot copy the files to your computer. error-Suo325.'

Sol - This problem arises when a corrupted .cab file has been copied to the hard disk. This corruption can be caused either by a virus or by failing hardware, but the most likely reason is scratched , dirty or damaged CD-ROM . Try cleaning the CD-ROM or replace it. Also make sure that your PC is not infected by a virus. If this does not help , you need to check the possibility of failing hardware.

When I right-click on Start, I can see the options Open, Explore, and find in the context menu. Can I add more options to this context menu, which can open applications ?

Sol - Yes, you can add your own options in this context menu. To do so, open Windows Explorer, Go to View>Folder Options> File Types. (*Note* -> In higher version of Windows OS , Folder Options will be in Tools option) . Here, click on Folder and click Edit. Now click on New and specify a name for the action that would appear in the menu. Also specify the program that would execute this action. Click OK, and close. You will now see your own option in the context menu.

I have installed Windows Me on one of our systems. Our accounting software requires the lines Files=100 and Buffers=80 settings in the Config.sys file. When I entered these settings in the Config.sys file and reboot the system the size of the file becomes 0 bytes and I can't get the files=100 setting. Please help.

Sol - Windows Me doesn't have real-mode DOS and therefore doesn't process Config.sys or Autoexec.bat at startup. Instead, these files are maintained internally by Windows Me for backward compatibility with applications that except to find them there. Any changes to these files will be overwritten each time the system boots, so you cannot add or modify the lines of these files this way.
  To add this functionality, make use of undocumented feature. Add the lines, PerVMFiles=100 and PerVMBuffers=80  to the [386Enh] section of the system.ini file. This should allow you to make use of the software with the additional settings that you need.

My hard disk is partitioned into two drives, namely , C and D. Whenever I double-click the D drive in Windows Explorer, it says ' Windows cannot find AcroRd32.exe. This program is needed for opening files of type File. Location of AcroRd32.exe '. However, I don't get this message when I double-click in the C drive. What could be the problem and how do I fix this ?

Sol - Your drive has been assigned a default operation of opening in Acrobat Reader. To change this, go to View>Folder Options>File types. Click on the drive and then click on Edit. Here you will find that the Acrobat Reader option will be set as default (it will be marked bold). Just click on Set as Default till none of the options are marked bold. Click OK and exit back to Windows Explorer. Restart Windows Explorer and double-click on the D drive to see if the problem is fixed.

I want to run Windows disk defragmenter after I shut down Windows, or start or restart it. Is this possible ?

Sol - Yes, there is a way to do this so that Windows Disk Defragmenter will start every time Windows starts(or restarts), just before windows login. To do this, find the defrag.inf file in the Win95/98 CD ( it is usually in the \tools\mtsutils\defrag folder). Next, right-click the file and select Install. It will now run every time you boot up, before anything else starts.
   Disabling the options is a bit tricky though, as you will have to edit the registry though, as you will have to edit the registry for this. Go to Start>Run , type regedit. Now navigate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce and remove the defrag string. This will disable the option.

My CD's do not auto run in my PC. However, the same CD autoruns on my friend's machine. How do I fix this ?

Sol - The problem occurs if there is an incorrect entry in the registry. Be careful while editing the registry, it's advisable to make a backup first. Go to Start>Run, type regedit , and click OK. Navigate to the following key : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer  and modify the binary value for the NoDriveTypeAutoRun key to  0000 95 00 00 00 . This should take care of the problem.

 

If My system won't boot, what do I do ?

No POST (Power On Self Test)
 First and foremost check if the power cable is properly fitted.
 Then check if the toggle switch is on ( found behind the computer cabinet, SMPS)
 After this try switching on your machine and check for signs of the (lighting up of the power LED on the front   panel)
 If you can hear a whirring sound (fans and the hard drive rotating) then it means that the SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) is fine. If not and the machine sounds dead with no signs of power then try replacing the power cord, otherwise it means that the SMPS is dead.
 If the machine shows signs of power and still does not POST then either some PCI device has come loose or some component has failed.
 You can investigate the problem further if your BIOS emits a  peculiar beep code. The following is a common list of beep codes for the popular Award BIOS:
 1. One long beep: Memory problem
 2. One long, then two short beeps: Video error
 3. One long, then three short beeps: Video error
 4. Continuous beeping: Memory problem
 5. Alternating high-low beeps: CPU not working


Windows 98 FAQs
1. Does Windows 98 support FAT32?
Yes, Windows 98 was designed for FAT32.
2. Will I be able to dual boot with Windows 98?
Yes but I would use some special software for it.
3. Will my older DOS software run on Windows 98?
Yes, it will run great with Windows 98.
4. Does Windows 98 support dual processors?
No, sorry on Windows NT 4.0 does.
5. I see no antivirus software like in Windows 3.x, where is it?
Not there, but its in Microsoft Plus! 98. A separate program. You're better off purchasing McAfee Anti-Virus or Norton Anti-Virus.
6. Where can I get any Windows 98 updates?
From the Microsoft Website.
7. My drive isn't FAT32, will Windows 98 install?
Yes, Windows 98 setup has a FAT16 to FAT32 conversion setup. Windows 98 will run fine on FAT16 though.
8. Will my Windows 95 and 3.x software run on Windows 98?
Yes, there are some cases with certain programs though. Check for the latest version of that program.

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