Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

COMPUTER BITS BY GEOFF COHEN gcohen<at>pcug.org.au Making the Internet connection Microsoft’s new Windows 95 includes software for access­ing the Internet. Here’s a look at how it all works. It seems that every time you open a newspaper or magazine there is an article on the Internet but they aren’t all that helpful in telling you what you need to get on-line. The popular press can’t seem to talk about anything except censorship, while the computer magazines do not usually describe exactly how to make the connection, from the point of view of a normal PC user who has little or no on-line experience. This article remedies that situation. Before going into the details, however, we’ll give a brief background on the Internet. The Internet (or Net) is the largest computer network in the world, with over 4,000,000 computers connected to it. Most PC users, except for the lucky ones who have network connections at their work or university, connect to the Net using a modem via one of the many Internet Service Providers (ISP). The Net gives access to a staggering amount of information and provides func­tions such as news­ groups (Usenet), file transfer (both download­ing and uploading), email and chat facilities (for “talking” to other Net users). How do I connect Whether you like it or not, Microsoft’s new Windows 95 is the operating system that the vast majority of PCs will be using in the future. And because it includes the necessary networking software, a large proportion of PC users will inevitably connect to the Internet from Windows 95 via the Microsoft Network (MSN). Personally, after using a preview (beta) version of Windows 95 for a few weeks, and despite some of my friends saying that I need to see a shrink, I definitely prefer it to Windows 3.11. A caveat though – I am not as impressed with the software for the Microsoft Network and I still prefer Netscape as an Internet navigator. However, I will concentrate on Micro­soft’s offering in this column. What hardware do you need to get onto the Internet? If you are going to use Windows 95 to connect to the Internet via the Microsoft Network, the minimum system you should use, without having a verrrrrry slow system would be: • Processor: 486DX2-66 CPU • Memory: 8Mb RAM (12-32Mb preferred) • Hard Disc: 250Mb absolute minimum, with 500Mb-1Gb really needed for Win 95 and Office 95. At the moment, I am using a Pentium 100 system with 32Mb RAM, a 4Gb Seagate SCSI-II hard disk, a 17-inch monitor and a 4Gb DAT tape backup. On this system, Win 95 runs very nicely indeed but this much power is not really needed. My other PC is a 486DX2-66 with 12Mb RAM and the performance is slower but still quite acceptable. I use an old fashioned mechanical switch box to allow either PC to use the modem (I really should do this in software sometime but perhaps it is another case of better never than late). Modems Fig.1: you can change the modem settings at any time by clicking on “Modem Settings” in the control panel. 66  Silicon Chip One essential item of hardware is a modem. I would not recommend buying a modem that is slower than 28,800 bps and would strongly suggest buying a V34 modem. I am currently using a VFAST modem (Maestro 288FM, 28,800 bps) but I am going to upgrade it to V34, as the VFAST protocol does not always connect at it’s maxi­mum speed when dialling some brands/ models of modems. Fig.2 (left): this is the opening screen when you first log onto the Microsoft Network. On the other hand, V34 is now a worldwide standard and should always connect at full speed (assuming a good phone line, of course). Fortunately, it is relatively cheap to upgrade my Maestro from VFAST to V34. Of course, a modem from Netcom or any other major manufacturer will also be OK (I always try to buy Australian). Setting up Win 95 After you have (probably) spent large sums of money upgrad­ing your system and have Windows 95 up and running, you need to set up “The Microsoft Network”. The setup Wizard that comes as part of the software covers this quite well. The Wizard will first ask you to set up your modem by clicking on Yes in a control panel. In my case, the Wizard only found a “Standard Modem”, so I clicked on “Change” and manually selected my modem from the list. This ensures that the maximum speed of the modem is selected. The Wizard is also useful as it finds the correct serial port. If necessary, you can change the modem settings at any time by clicking on “Modem Settings” in a control panel (see Fig.1). Next, if not already done, you will be asked to set up the Microsoft Exchange. Select “The Microsoft Network” and if you have a Fax/Modem it’s a good idea to select “Microsoft Fax”. Unless you are on a network and have Microsoft Mail, I recommend Fig.3: this is the main Microsoft Network screen (Microsoft Central). that you do not tick “Microsoft Mail”. When “The Microsoft Network” icon appears, answer the ques­tions. Note that what the Americans call the “Area or City code” we call the STD code. Also you should select the Nationwide 131400 number – this is a bit slow at 9600bps but is going to be upgraded to 14,000 very soon and to 28,800 early next year. When you connect to MSN this first time, a screen appears to tell you what is happening and the software downloads a form. You then have to fill out your personal details, as well as your credit card details, so Microsoft can get their pound (or is it kilogram now?) of flesh and charge you each month for your on-line access time. This is currently $5.00 per hour plus the local phone call to connect to MSN. When you have answered all the questions, I strongly recom­mend that you write down the Logon name and Password you select­ed. If you are sure no unauthorised person will use your account, tick the “Remember My Password” box (this saves a lot of hassles Fig.4: to access Newsgroups, you click “Categories”, then “The Inter­net Center” and browse to your heart’s content. October 1995  67 all this interesting stuff. Whenever you find a place you may want to visit again, it is an excellent idea to either make a shortcut or add it to your “Favorite Places”. This will save all the keystrokes or mouse clicks next time you want to return to the same location. Also, to make searching easier, I always select the Toolbar, as this has a few buttons, such as “Up One Level” and “MSN Central”, which make life a little easier. Remember though that this is costing you around $5.00 per hour, so you should go to Tips (see Fig.5) and learn to do as much as possible off line. You can also select File, Explore, to get a view of the Net as seen by the Windows Explorer (see Fig.6) Newsgroups Fig.5: the software includes “Tips For New Users”. You should learn to do as much as possible off line. To access Newsgroups, click “Categories”, then “The Inter­net Center” (see Fig.4). All you need to do now is click on the newsgroups you want to explore and browse to your heart’s cont­ent. Email The Inbox is where your received mail is stored. You can also select “Compose”, “New Message” to send mail to anyone in the world, provided they are on the Net. Just click on the “Send” icon when you have finished the message. Other service providers Fig.6: a view of the Microsoft Network, as seen by the Windows Explorer. This is accessed by clicking File, Explore. remembering passwords), then click on “Connect”. You then connect for the first time (see Fig.2). A popup screen asks you if you want to load the Inbox; eg, if you have some mail. When I did this, I received a welcome message from Microsoft. One nice thing about the MSN software is that you can use the normal Windows commands to view or print these messages. 68  Silicon Chip The main Microsoft Network screen (Microsoft Central) will also come up (see Fig.3). The options that I mainly use are “Categories” (for accessing the Newsgroups) and “Email”. There is also a wealth of places to visit on “MSN Today”. You only need to start clicking away to explore the Net but remember the $5.00 per hour fee – it’s very addictive and you can soon run up a sizeable bill searching through If you already have an existing Internet account which you want to use instead of, or as well as, an MSN account, and you had a 16-bit version of the software running Windows 3.11, it should run with no problems on Win 95. For example, I have Trum­pet Winsock 2.1, Netscape 1.2B5 and Free Agent 1.0 (an excellent newsreader, available at http://www.forteinc.com/ forte/agent/freagent.htm). If you want to try using 32-bit software, there is an auto­mated dialler available at http://WWW.NetEx.NET: 80//w95/windows95/internet/. This improves on the abysmal “Dial Up Networking” that Microsoft provides, which does not even have an automatic redial facility (or, at least, it was so well hidden that I couldn’t find it). Finally, readers should note that all my tests were made with a late beta version of Win 95. The final offering may give slightly different results to the screen captures shown here. SC