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Windows 95 requirements. 80386DX or higher machine at least 4 MB of RAM (8 MB recommended) mouse VGA or better monitor hard drive with at least 20 MB of free space. Installing Win95 over 3.x.
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Windows 95 requirements • 80386DX or higher machine • at least 4 MB of RAM (8 MB recommended) • mouse • VGA or better monitor • hard drive with at least 20 MB of free space
Installing Win95 over 3.x • On a computer with Win3.x, you can install Win95 in same directory, which will install it on top of existing Windows • configuration information obtained from existing SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, and PROTOCOL.INI files and moved into Windows 95 Registry. • Existing settings will work automatically when Windows 95 is first started. • Existing Windows 3.x Group (.GRP) files imported into Registry
Installing 95 in own directory • If you install Win95 in new directory, you can preserve the old DOS or Windows environment. • To boot to both operating systems, must configure the system with dual boot options. • How do you configure a dual boot? • Set MSDOS.SYS file’s BootMulti= 1
Windows 95 core files: • KERNEL32.DLL and KERNEL386.EXE • contain Win95 core and load device drivers. • GDI files provide graphical device interface • USER files provide the user interface. • WIN.INI included for compatibility with older 16-bit software. • Can use SysEdit to edit SYSTEM.INI, PROTOCOL.INI, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, AUTOEXEC.BAT (Start/Run, type “sysedit”).
Windows 95 registry • Configuration information in Win95 is stored in the registry, located in WINDOWS/SYSTEM folder • Registry takes over many of the functions of SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files • Can be viewed and edited with regedit.exe • Each time Windows boots successfully, existing registry files are backed up with DAO extension
Registry Keys: • Hierarchical organization of 6 keys: • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT • HKEY_CURRENT_USER • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE • HKEY_USERS • HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG • HKEY_DYN_DATA • Know what each one of these does!
Registry files • Registry files are USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT • Each time the system succesfully boots, backup copies of the registry are saved as USER.DA0 and SYSTEM.DA0 • If Windows 95 starts and is missing either USER.DAT or SYSTEM.DAT, it will restore from the backup copy
Windows 95 memory • Swap file in Win 95 called WIN386.SWP • initial size set automatically by Windows • can change size in Device Manager/Performance/Virtual Memory • default swap file setting in Win95 usually results in huge swap file size- much larger than needed- best to set to 2-3 times the amount of RAM in system • CONFIG.SYS is necessary only if you have 16 bit device drivers
MDDOS.SYS • In Windows 95, this is hidden, read-only located in root directory of boot drive • used for startup options • See Meyers 610-11 for options you can set here • Most important: • BOOTMULTI=1 to boot other operating system
File Allocation Tables (FAT) • FAT indexes hard disk contents and files • Windows 95 (a) uses FAT16 • OSR2 - Windows 95(b) - supports FAT32 • FAT32 features: • reduced cluster size (4K) compared to FAT16- resulting in much less wasted cluster size • no limit to number of root directory entries (limit of 255 in FAT 16) • FAT 32 stores 2 copies of boot sector, so if one copy is damaged, can recover backup
More about Win95 • Windows 95 supports VFAT- Virtual FAT • 32-bit Protected-Mode FAT File System • provides support for long file names • Windows 95 doesn’t use SMARTDRV disk caching utility - replaced with VCACHE, a protected mode drive
Windows 95 boot process • Win95 initially starts in real mode, loads any 16-bit legacy drivers, then switches to protected mode for 32-bit operations • Five phases of boot process: • Phase 1 Bootstrap with the BIOS • Phase 2 Loading DOS drivers and TSR files • Phase 3 Real-mode initialization of static virtual device drivers (VxDs) • Phase 4 Protected-mode switch over • Phase 5 Loading of any remaining VxDs
Windows 95 log files • Windows 95 maintains log files that track system performance and can be used to assess system failures. • SETUPLOG.TXT logs bootup events • DETLOG.TXT detected hardware devices • BOOTUPLOG.TXT logs Startup procedure • stored in the drive’s root directory • All three are text files that can be viewed with any text editor
Win 95 Boot Modes • Normal mode -loads all normal startup and Registry files. • Logged - Normal mode, but system maintains an error log file that contains steps performed and outcome. (BOOTLOG.TXT) • Step-by-Step Confirmation displays each startup command line-by-line and waits for confirmation before proceeding • enables you to isolate faulty startup command • press F8 key at Startup menu
Safe Mode • Bypasses several startup files - particularly, the Registry, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and the SYSTEM.INI’s [Boot] and [386enh] sections. • Loads keyboard, mouse, and VGA drivers • If Win95 determines that a problem is preventing system from starting, it attempts to restart the system in Safe mode. • Safe mode can also be accessed by typing Win /d:m at the DOS prompt, or by pressing the F5 function key during startup.
Windows 95 features • Plug and Play support • Filenames up to 255 characters • Troubleshooting and evaluation tools (Start/Programs/Access/System Tools): • System Monitor tracks performance of system resources • Resource Meter is a bar chart displaying percent usage of the System Resources, User Resources, and GDI resources.
Suggestions... • The best way to prepare for the Windows 95 questions is to actually work with the software- get familiar with the interface, know how to change settings, etc. • For example, make sure you know: • how to configure virtual memory • Device Manager/System/Performance/Virtual Memory • how to change disk cache settings • Control Panel/System/Performance/File System
More hands-on things to know • where to edit the registry (careful!) • Start-run-regedit • how to make a boot disk • Control Panel/Add Remove Programs/Startup Disk • note that this won’t keep a copy of the registry; but a program called ERU.EXE on the Win95 CD will make an emergency recovery utility to enable you to save all important Windows files, including registry, to a floppy • Where to troubleshoot hardware conflicts, etc. • Device Manager (yellow exclamation point indicates conflict)