| UO Computing Center Microcomputer Services |
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| On Campus Network Access With Windows 95 |
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Outline of This Document This document is somewhat long as there is much information to convey concerning networking issues and Windows 95. Below is a quick summary of each section. The key information that you will need to network your PC with Windows 95 is your machine's IP address (explained in the section entitled "Finding Your Machine's IP Address"), possibly some information about the network hardware in your machine, and what type of networking options you want to have available. Here is a quick summary of each section.
Getting your installation of Windows 95 to work with on-campus network resources can be done in a number of ways. This document is going to suggest one way of upgrading a machine from that already has network access from Windows 3.1x to Windows 95 and will discuss what to do if you are using Windows 95 on a machine that has never been networked at the University of Oregon . In order to go through the steps in this document you will need to know some information before beginning. If your machine is already on the University of Oregon network (referred to as UOnet) you will need your machine's IP address and/or machine name. You may need to know the type of network adapter card (also known as an ethernet card), the IRQ that this card is set to, and the I/O address range the card is using. Before you begin to worry about these technical issues , you should know that in most cases you will only need your machine's IP address since Windows 95 should take care of the other technical details during installation. The next section entitled "Finding Your Machine's IP Address" will tell you how to determine your machine's IP address. Finally, you should decide what type of network connectivity you require. There are three possibilities at the University of Oregon . The most common configuration on campus is to have both Novell network and TCP/IP networking access. The third type of network access you can have with Windows 95 is called Microsoft Networks. You should not confuse Microsoft Networks with The Microsoft Network which is an on-line service that Microsoft offers for a cost and requires a modem to use. Below is summary of the three network types.
TCP/IP NetworkingAllows you to run applications such as Netscape, Telnet, FTP, Eudora (a mail program) News readers, Gopher, etc. These programs give you access to machines and resources on the Internet.The network protocol used in this case is referred to as TCP/IP.
Novell NetworkAllows users to access Novell file servers and their resources located at the University of Oregon . Many departments place files and applications on Novell file servers that can be used by members of a department. A userid and password is required to login on a Novell file server. The network protocol that is referred to is called IPX/SPX.
Microsoft NetworksLets users of Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, and Windows 95 see and share each other's files, folders, drivers, and printers. With a Windows NT server you can also control how Windows 95 users access resources on their machines (useful in lab situations). Most users at the University of Oregon do not need this type of network access at this time. The network protocol used for Microsoft Networks is called NetBEUI.
What is an IP address? An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique number assigned to your machine which allows you to access Internet resources and which can allow others to access your machine, via the Internet, if you so desire. To use any TCP/IP application your machine must have an IP address. When your network card was originally installed in your machine it was registered with Network Services at the University of Oregon . Network Services then assigned the card in your machine an IP address. If you have a new machine that has not been registered with Network Services you should contact them at 346-4395, or via e-mail at nethelp@oregon.
Here are some methods for determining your machine's IP address.
BANNER users who access BANNER via the red LAN Workplace icons should not upgrade to Windows 95 since LAN Workplace is configured with specific keyboard mappings for use with BANNER. Also, the Novell Netware client which Microsoft provides does not fully support Netware version 4.x. Both Microsoft and Novell have said that they will have Netware clients for Windows 95 by the end of 1995 which fully supports Netware 4.x. Specifically the Netware client does not support the Novell Netware Directory Structure (NDS) under version 4.x of Netware. In terms of users at the UO this should not affect anyone since only a select few system administrators are actually using the full capabilities of Netware version 4.x. All the version 4 Novell file servers on campus have been configured to be backwards compatible with Netware version 3.x users. This means that you can use the Microsoft Client for Netware Networks which comes with Windows 95 without problems.
From a Non-Windows 95 MachineOnce you have configured your machine correctly to access the UOnet you may want to get some more or new network software to use with Windows 95. This software is available from the ZEUS Novell public domain file server. On this file server you will find a generic Network Applications installer for Windows 95. This installer includes current versions of Netscape (including helper applications fully preconfigured to work properly), Eudora (a mail program), WinVN (a news reader), and an FTP and Telnet client. Windows 95 comes with a Telnet and FTP program. The Telnet program is acceptable. The FTP program contains only a command line interface. From any networked PC on campus which has access to the Novell network you can get this software by going to the "F:\LOGIN>" prompt and typing:
You will now see the public domain menu system. Go to the following menu choices to create a disk set of the Network Applications Installer for Windows 95:
You will need five or more, high density, 3 [omega]" diskettes to copy the software. NOTE: If you do this from the DOS prompt from within Windows 95 this will work. When you exit the public domain menu system this will log you out from the ZEUS Novell file server. At this point you will lose your Novell network drives. The easiest way to get your drives back is to reboot your machine. This is a bug in Windows 95 that will, hopefully, be resolved in the coming months. To avoid this problem see the next few paragraphs on an alternate way to get and install network applications for Windows 95.
From a Windows 95 MachineAfter you have your network connection working in Windows 95 you can do the following:
From extensive testing and experience Microcomputer Services recommends that you use only the built-in Windows 95 network drivers when configuring your machine for networking use. This means if you are loading Novell, TCP/IP, or Microsoft Network drivers in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and/or CONFIG.SYS files that you should remove these statements from these files and follow the instructions in the next section, "Detailed Steps for Installing Network Components", to connect using these protocols with only the Windows 95 drivers. The networking protocols built into Windows 95 that are discussed in this document all use 32-bit client software, all load in to your machine's extended memory (this means you have more free memory to run DOS applications), are much more stable, and can show performance improvements of up to 300%. Furthermore, loading some of your networking components at the DOS level and others in Windows 95 can lead to unpredictable results when using network software. Below is a list of possible commands that you might see in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (located in the C: directory on your machine's hard drive) that you should REMark out by putting the word "REM" in front of the line that contains the command.
Possible AUTOEXEC.BAT Commands
These commands may vary as shown above. You may see NETBINLANWP.BAT, or CALL LANWP.BAT instead of LANWP.BAT. You will also not see all of these commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are a Windows for Workgroups user you will also need to REMark out the line IFSHLP.SYS located in your CONFIG.SYS file. Another way of removing these commands would be to make backup copies of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files and then delete the lines listed above. If you have already installed Windows 95 on your machine some or all of these lines may already be REMarked out. You should now restart your machine. After restarting you ready to setup Windows 95 for the type of network connectivity that you need. If you have not already installed Windows 95 then do so now and return to this document after completing installation. If you have already installed Windows 95, then some of the steps listed below may have been completed for you by the installation routine.
In this section you will be given step-by-step instructions with some screen shots about how to get each network protocol to work on your machine. These protocols are:
Most users at the University of Oregon use TCP/IP and Novell network access. If you connect to a Novell file server to share files, run programs, or use print services be sure that you know your username and password and the name of the Novell file server that you use. Finally, and this is the most important piece of information that you will need, be sure that you have your machine's IP address available. If you are unsure of what this is refer back to the section, "Finding Your Machine's IP Address", before continuing. We begin with an explanation for opening up the Network Control Panel and the concept behind adding network components using this Control Panel. NOTE: All of the instructions to follow assume that you are not loading any network drivers in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file.
Opening the Network Control Panel
This is the Network Control Panel opening screen. Under the section entitled "The following network components are installed:" you may see nothing, or you may see a few of the items listed in the image above. We will assume that you do not see anything. What you will be doing in the following sections is adding network components for each protocol you wish to use, and then you may be required to enter some configuration information for each of these components. Windows 95 may tell you that you need to restart your computer for the changes you just made to take effect. We suggest that you make all the changes at one time and then restart your computer once you are finished. The next sections explain what to enter for each of the "tabs" in this dialogue. You will note that the Network Control Panel opens with the default tab configuration being shown. If you single-click on either "Identification," or "Access Control" you will see a different part of the Network Control Panel dialogue. There is also a list titled "Primary Network Logon" in the middle of the dialogue. Below we discuss what to enter for the Identification and Access Control tabs, and for the "Primary Network Logon" list.
Identification Tab in the Network Control Panel
This dialogue is useful for those who are planning to configure their machine to use the Microsoft Networks (NetBEUI protocol) feature of Windows 95. There are three fields in this dialogue and they are "Computer Name," "Workgroup," and "Computer Description." The "Computer Name" field is the name of your computer as you want it to appear to someone else on the network. You can place most anything you wish in this field. The "Workgroup" field is a little more complicated. This is the name of the Workgroup (or zone) under which you work. Oftentimes a Workgroup will be defined by a Windows NT server that you login on this server to get access to printers and other resources. On the UO campus this is not a common situation as most people login on Novell file servers instead. You can place anything you want in the Workgroup field and then change this after you get your machine working on the network. After you are properly connected you can double-click on the Network Neighborhood icon, then double-click on the Entire Network icon. You will see a list of all the Novell file servers and Microsoft Networks Workgroups that are defined at the UO. If you see a Workgroup (these icons appear as three small computers in a triangle) that looks appropriate for your department or what you are doing then you go back to the Identification tab and change your Workgroup field to be the same. Your machine will now appear in this Workgroup with other machines already in the Workgroup. If you place a Workgroup name in the Workgroup field under the Identification tab that is different from already existing Workgroup names then your Workgroup name will appear under Entire Network in the Network Neighborhood and your computer will appear inside this Workgroup. Finally the "Computer Description" field is the text that appears when a user looks in individual Workgroups on the network, goes to the "View" menu and chooses the "Details" menu choice. The machines in the Workgroup will then be shown with a Comment field that includes the text entered in the "Computing Description" field under the Identification tab.
Access Control Tab in the Network Control Panel
The "Access Control" tab specifies how you want to give others access to your computer's hard drive, files, and folders. This is only pertinent if you install the Microsoft Networks (NetBEUI protocol) feature of Windows 95. Unless you login on a Windows NT server you will most likely want to click the "Share-level access control" button. Once you have installed Microsoft Networks support and restarted your machine you can then share individual disks, folders, or files by right-clicking on the item you wish to share and choosing "Sharing..." in the menu that pops up.
Primary Network Logon ListIf you click on the down-arrow located to the right of this list you may see a number of different options. Your primary network logon is the first network that asks you for your userid and password when you start Windows 95. If you are installing TCP/IP, Novell Netware, and Microsoft Networks support then this list will contain the choices "Client for NetWare Networks", "Client for Microsoft Network", and "Windows Logon." These choices will only be visible after you have configured each of these choices by following the instructions in the sections to come. If you are only adding TCP/IP network support then the only choice will be "Windows Logon." Many users at the UO have accounts on Novell NetWare file servers. If this is your situation and you want to be able to use the Microsoft Networks protocol and the Novell NetWare network at the same time then you should choose "Client for NetWare Networks" as your primary network logon. If you have an account on a Windows NT machine and you add the Client for Microsoft Networks then you can choose this client as your primary network logon. Choosing one client over the other does not mean that you cannot connect to both type of network services. If your Windows password and username, Novell password and username, and Microsoft Network password and username or all the same then you will only be asked for your password and username once during system startup. If any of your usernames or passwords are different between different networks then you will be asked for each password and userid that is different. If you are asked to change a password on one account (say your Novell file server account) in the future and your passwords are no longer synchronized, then Windows will start to ask you for the other password when you start your machine. This is normal and part of the built-in security features of Windows 95.
We will now begin by discussing adding TCP/IP network support, then Novell Netware (IPX/SPX protocol) support, and the last section will cover adding Microsoft Networks (NetBEUI protocol) support. When you are done with this section, if you have configured your machine to use TCP/IP networking, then you must register your machine with Network Services to let them know that you are now using Windows 95. You will need your machine's IP address (see the section titled, "Finding Your Machine's IP Address") to do this. Instructions on how to register your machine can be found near the end of this document in the section titled, "Registering Your Machine For Use With Windows 95."
At this point it is time to begin entering the specific information concerning your machine that TCP/IP will need. In order to do this you should highlight the TCP/IP entry listed in the window described by "The following network components are installed:" After highlighting TCP/IP click on the "Properties" button. You will now see the dialogue shown on the next page. Note that there are six tabs in this dialogue. You will need to enter information or select options in four of these tabs. Finally, if the entry for TCP/IP in the original windows looks more like "TCP/IP -> Some Ethernet card name" do not worry. This just means that the TCP/IP protocol is binding to your installed network card. If TCP/IP appears just as TCP/IP do not worry as this should change after you restart your machine. If you have problems after completing the instructions in this guide and suspect that your network card is not working please see appendix A (titled "What to do If Your Network Card is Not Working").
Now click on each tab shown below and enter the information as listed.
IP Address
DNS (Dynamic Name Server) Configuration
WINS (Windows Internet Name Server) Configuration
GatewayAt the UO there are numerous smaller networks (called subnets) that make up the larger UOnet. Your machine is located on one of these subnets. The gateway for a subnet at the UO is of the form 128.223.xx.1, where "xx" is the subnet where your machine is located. To figure out what you should enter you need to know the IP address of your machine. If you do not know this refer to the previous section titled, "Finding Your Machine's IP Address" for help. If, for example, your machine's IP address was 128.223.99.99, then the gateway address for your machine would be 128.223.99.1. In the "New gateway" box enter your gateway address (i.e., 128.223.xx.1) and then click on the "Add" button. If you do not know the IP address of your machine (or the subnet on which your machine is located) you can skip this step. You should not need to enter the gateway address, but this is insurance to make sure that your TCP/IP connectivity works well. At this point you are done configuring your TCP/IP protocol. You should click on "OK" to return to the original dialogue for the Network Control Panel. Windows 95 may tell you that you need to restart for the changes you just made to take effect. If you are going to be configuring more networking protocols (Novell Netware or Microsoft Networks) then click on "No" and follow the instructions in the next sections. If you are finished, then click on "Yes" and restart your machine at this time. Remember to choose the correct Primary Network Logon before you restart your machine. If you are unsure of what this should be see the section titled, "Primary Network Logon List" located a few pages back in this guide.
At this point it is time to enter some specific information about how you want to access the Novell NetWare network on campus. In order to do this you should highlight the "Client for NetWare Networks" entry listed in the window described by "The following network components are installed:" After highlighting this click on the "Properties" button. You will now see the NetWare client dialogue. Note that there are two tabs in this dialogue. You will need to enter information only for the default tab called "General."
General Information
At this point you are done configuring your Novell NetWare protocol. You should click on "OK" to return to the original dialogue for the Network Control Panel. Windows 95 may tell you that you need to restart for the changes you just made to take effect. If you are going to be configuring more networking protocols (TCP/IP or Microsoft Networks) then click on "No" and follow the instructions in the next section, or the previous section. If you are finished, then click on "Yes" and restart your machine at this time. Remember to choose the correct Primary Network Logon before you restart your machine. If you are unsure of what this should be see the section titled, "Primary Network Logon List" located a few pages back in this guide.
At this point it is time to enter some specific information about how you want to access the Microsoft Network on campus. In order to do this you should highlight the "Client for Microsoft Networks" entry listed in the window described by "The following network components are installed:" After highlighting this click on the "Properties" button. You will now see the Microsoft Networks client dialogue. There is a single screen of information at this point.
At this point you are done configuring your Microsoft Networks protocol. You should click on "OK" to return to the original dialogue for the Network Control Panel. Windows 95 may tell you that you need to restart for the changes you just made to take effect. If you are going to be configuring more networking protocols (TCP/IP or Novell NetWare) then click on "No" and follow the instructions in the previous sections, otherwise click on "Yes" and restart your machine at this time. Remember to choose the correct Primary Network Logon before you restart your machine. If you are unsure of what this should be see the section titled, "Primary Network Logon List" located a few pages back in this guide.
This section assumes that you have configured your machine to include TCP/IP networking. This section also assumes that you know your machineís IP address. If you do not know your machine's IP address you can refer to the section titled, "Finding Your Machine's IP Address" at the start of this document. Windows 95 requires some extra information to work correctly on the University of Oregon network known as UOnet when it is using TCP/IP applications. In order to get this information you need to notify Network Services in the UO Computing Center that you have upgraded your machine to Windows 95. To do this you should send them an e-mail message to the address nethelp@OREGON requesting that the network entry (also known as a "bootp" entry) for your machine be changed to reflect that you are now running Windows 95. On the next page is a sample message:
To: nethelp@oregon Subject: Request to change bootp entry for my machine Message text: Hello, I've just upgraded my machine to Windows 95. My machine is configured to work on the network and I need to have the entry for my machine changed to reflect that I'm using Windows 95. My machine's IP address is 128.223.xx.xx The "xx.xx" in the IP address listed above is specific to your machine. You should receive a reply from Network Services within a day saying that your entry has been updated. Note that Network Services does not do this type of update over weekends. If you do not send in a request to update your machine's network entry then you might notice that your machine suddenly drops its network connections after being connected for certain periods of time. You should not lose your connection unless you stay connected for 36 hours or more at a time, however we have noticed some erratic behavior before this time period expires with some unregistered Windows 95 machines during our testing of Windows 95 networking.
If you have completed configuring Windows 95 for the networking protocols that you wish to use and you are not connecting with the network it is possible that your Network Card is configuration is not working properly under Windows 95, or that your card has never been registered with Network Services. If you have a new machine with a network card or a new network card in your machine, then you should contact Network Services at 346-4395 (9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday) to arrange a time when someone can come to your location to properly install the card and make sure that it is registered. When your card is registered your machine will be given an IP address. If you still need to configure Windows 95 networking after the network card has been configured be sure to get your machine's IP address from Network Services. You can request that this be sent to you via e-mail by Network Services. If your network card was working before you installed Windows 95 then it is possible that Windows 95 has incorrectly detected your card, or your card's settings. If you know what type of network card you have, or if you know the way your card is setup (Interrupt ReQuest number and I/O range) then you may be able to get your card working with Windows 95. You can call Microcomputer Services for help (see the start of this guide for specifics on contacting Microcomputer Services) and we will try to step you through getting your network card to work. If you do not know what type of network card is installed in your machine or any of its settings then you may need to contact Network Services to have someone setup the card in your machine. This guide has been written to allow an end user to configure their Windows 95 machine to work with the University of Oregon network known as the UOnet. This guide is also meant to help the user understand some of the technical terms and concepts behind the different networking solutions that are available at the UO. If you still have questions after reading this document, or you have other microcomputer-related questions, you can stop by room 202 of the Microcomputer Support Center at the Computing Center, send e-mail to microhelp@oregon, or call us at 346-4412. We are open from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. |
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