Windows 98 Professional Reference

About the Authors

Bruce A. Hallberg (lead author) has been in the computer industry since 1980. He has consulted nationally on accounting, distribution, and manufacturing system implementations for small, medium, and large (Fortune 1000) companies. He is presently Director of IS and Corporate Services for a public biotechnology company headquartered in the Silicon Valley area of California.

Since 1992, he has been actively authoring and co-authoring over 15 books on a variety of computing topics, best-sellers on subjects like Microsoft Office, Excel, and Windows NT.

Joe Casad (Development Editor and author) Joe Casad is an engineer and finite element analyst who has written widely on PC networking and system administration. He has worked with Windows NT, UNIX, and VMS systems. Mr. Casad is an author of The MCSE Windows NT Server and Workstation Study Guide, MCSE Networking Essentials Training Guide, and the Windows NT Server 4.0 Professional Reference. He is the former managing editor of Network Administrator magazine.

Christa Anderson is a contributing editor to
Windows NT magazine and contributor to and coauthor of several books on networking and network operating systems, including the best-selling Mastering Windows NT Server (Sybex). Formerly of a DC-area consulting firm, in 1995 she moved her consulting and writing business to Charlottesville, VA to take advantage of the city's better parking and more numerous bookstores.You can contact her at [email protected].

Scott Downie spent too many of his formative years in the classroom. Degrees in electrical engineering, music theory, and the history of science left him with deep mental scars and an abiding wanderlust. When not a ward of the state (i.e. enrolled as a student), he has analyzed Sidewinder air-to-air missile data, pumped up the volume as a sound engineer, tuned pianos and harpsichords, taught classes in electronics technology, played keyboards and bassoon in various ensembles, taught classes in the history of science, functioned as the senior music editor and technical director for a player-piano company, designed sounds for a PC sound card, created printed manuals and online help for Windows and Macintosh software, and worked to maintain the high quality and reliability of Intel products. He is always on the lookout for more MIPS, higher bandwidth, and a bigger
monitor.

David Egan is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and a recognized applications programming and systems administration expert in UNIX, Windows NT, VMS, Novell, and DOS environments. David has developed UNIX courses and UNIX & NT Integration courses for American Research Group, a subsidary of Global Knowledge Network. With an excess of 18 years of information technology and training experience, David has consulted internationally for a diverse client base ranging from financial and sales organizations to manufacturing, government, and engineering institutions. Having firsthand knowledge of needs analysis, network design, installation, security, performance tuning and systems management, David has conducted public and in-house seminars for numerous Fortune 1000 companies. His project management background, diverse educational experience, and command of the leading network operating systems make David Egan one of the industry's most respected instructors and course developers.

Kevin Frank is an MCSE and is currently Senior Project Leader at Penguin Putnam Inc. He is managing several projects including the implementation of Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 with a rollout of MS Outlook to over 1,000 workstations. Prior to this, Kevin served different Fortune 500 companies as a member of project teams that installed, supported, and customized document imaging systems on the NT platform. He is fluent in Visual Basic as well as versed in two proprietary 4GL Lisp derivatives. He has written extensively for several business re-engineering projects. He can be reached at [email protected].

Christopher Gagnon is a Network Analyst and Consultant with an Atlanta-based software development firm. He has worked with Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, and several practice
management firms in the healthcare industry. He has served as Network Administrator on several occasions and knows only too well the politics and technical nuances of this unique environment. While he's not reading trade magazines and technical manuals, he enjoys playing his didgeridoo, chasing his cat, and reading about theoretical physics. He currently resides in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Georgia with his wife Keshly and their daughter Paige.

Grant King is a software developer, author, and attorney who lives in Atlanta with his wife Nancy and daughter Elizabeth. He has been either the lead author or a contributing author on several books and articles relating to 32-bit Windows operating systems and software development. He also maintains The Windows Mill, a Web site devoted to news about Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. Grant received his B.A. from The University of the South and his J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law where he graduated magna cum laude. His email address is [email protected].

James M. Spann is a Microsoft Certified Professional who has spent the last six years working as a trainer and lecturer in the computer industry. James received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1984 and immediately started working as a computer and networking troubleshooter. From there, James advanced to the Director of Information Systems for a large investment corporation headquartered in Orlando, Florida. In 1992, James went out on his own and began working with Spann & Associates, Inc. to provide training and consulting services to Fortune 500 companies and government clients. Since then, Mr. Spann has logged more than 5,000 hours teaching classes in both the United States and Europe. Most recently, James has started another new company in Lake Mary, Florida. This new company, Surf Solutions, Inc., is dedicated to providing networking and Internet solutions to small businesses in the Orlando metropolitan area. James can be reached at [email protected].

Robert Ward is best known as the founder of the C/C++ Users Journal, Windows Developers Journal and System Administrator. In addition to writing numerous technical articles for these and other magazines he has also authored Debugging C (Que) and coauthored Windows Custom Controls. He has worked as a consulting digital engineer and was named Professor of the Year while teaching computer science at McPherson College.

Bob Willsey MCSE, MCSD, MCT has 19 years of experience in the computer field, including 15 years with Burroughs / Unisys Corporations and four years teaching Microsoft courses. Mr. Willsey is a Microsoft Certified Trainer; currently, he teaches and consults for QuickStart Technologies, Inc. His experience includes Windows NT, Windows 95, TCP/IP, SMS, and Visual Basic, and he has experience supporting Novell and proprietary mainframe systems.

Serdar Yegulalp has been writing both as a freelancer and staffer for a number of computer publications, including Computer Buyer's Guide and Handbook and Computer Retail Week, and has contributed to other MCP books in the past, including the Platinum Edition Using NT 4.0 and Windows 98 Installation and Configuration Handbook. He is currently Associate Technology Editor for WINDOWS magazine, where he writes and researches on Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT 5.0. Email him at [email protected].

Dedication

For Christy and Calliope.
- Bruce A. Hallberg

To the makers of the shape-note hymns.
- Joe Casad

Acknowledgments

The biggest debt of gratitude owed for this book is to Joe Casad, who originally proposed it to Macmillan Computer Publishing sometime prior to August of 1997, which is when I first heard about the project. Joe is the Lead Editor on the book, and he played a far greater role in doing this job than is normally seen. Not only did he initially propose the project, but he also worked up the initial outline, and kept it in front of various people at MCP during the long gestation period before we actually began writing (since Windows 98 was originally going to be known as Windows 97, we thought we were going to finish the book and have it on the shelves in 1997!). Not only did Joe act as Development Editor, but he also wrote several chapters of the book. His job as Lead Editor meant that he had to coordinate the work of all the authors and technical editors, review all the text, adding in his ideas and comments as we went along. Having worked with more than 20 Development Editors over the years on various projects, I can state with certainty that Joe is the cream of the crop. His comments and suggestions were invariably helpful, and reflected a profound knowledge of the Windows family of operating systems. Most of the quality of this book can be attributed to Joe's efforts. And besides his skills, he was a delight to work with!

Also playing key roles were the book's Technical Editors, who check every screen shot, statement, tip, and sentence for technical accuracy. We were greatly aided by the capable reviews of Brad Lindaas, Walter Glenn, and Bill Bruns. They performed quick and technically accurate work, and caught mistakes that crept into the original manuscript.

Because this book had a long incubation period, there were several Acquisitions Editors who worked on the project, although foremost is Jane Brownlow, who took over just as we began serious work on the project (and so bore the brunt of the work). Jane's job is a tough one; she's chiefly responsible not only for finding the qualified team of authors who worked on the project and negotiating the contracts involved, but also had to shepherd all of us so that we were able to meet the deadline for the book. During the months I worked with Jane, she proved to be efficient, organized, helpful, and pleasant. She was also unfailingly polite, even when cracking the whip! Also taking some earlier responsibility for performing the AE duties on the book were Sean Angus, Jack Belbot, and Jeff Koch.

Special thanks go to the copy editor, Daryl Kessler who worked behind the scenes to edit the book for grammatical accuracy. Project Editor Tom Lamoureux had the challenging task of coordinating with editors and the Production department to ensure all the text and figures were in the correct places and the book got shipped on time. He deserves kudos for his outstanding work.

For the people in the Production department (whom I unfortunately never get to meet) who lay out the pages, fix up the graphics, do the line art, and generally make everything look spiffy and readable, thank you very much for your tireless and excellent work. Seeing the final product that you produce is what makes writing these books worth the months of slavery!

Finally, I'd like to thank Don Fowley of MCP for his support and guidance over the years.

-Bruce A. Hallberg

I wish to thank all who played a part in creating the Windows 98 Professional Reference. My personal acknowledgments must begin with Jack Belbot, who first approached me about working on this book, and Sean Angus, who was largely responsible for defining my role. Thanks also to Jeff Koch, who supervised the outline process and supplied leadership throughout the project, and to the others at Macmillan who helped this book along: Tom Lamoureux, Daryl Kessler, and Craig Small.

Each of the authors brought something unique to this book; I will always consider myself as having been part of a very formidable team: thanks to Christa Anderson, Grant King, Jay Spann, Dave Egan, Bob Willsey, Scott Downie, Serdar Yegulalp, and Robert Ward, and to the book's technical editors, Brad Lindaas, Bill Bruns, and Walter Glenn. Special thanks to Robert Ward, my computer-writing mentor, without whom I would not now be leading a different life. If we were a team, the star of our team was certainly lead author Bruce Hallberg. Bruce's knowledge of the networking business, and his talent as a writer, are at the core of this book's vision. I don't think I've ever seen anyone write with such freshness, energy, and precision about the practical affairs of network administration, and all under circumstances that a lesser voice would have considered desperate. I felt privileged to have had the opportunity to work with him, and I would jump at the chance to work with him again.

I would also jump at the chance to work again with Ms. Jane Brownlow, who deserves a special note of gratitude for investing her considerable talent and energy into this book. Jane is a master of her craft. I don't know how to describe her contribution other than to say that, when she showed up, things suddenly started to happen and we all suddenly knew what we were doing. She knew when to call and when not to call, when to worry and when not to worry. I honestly believe this book wouldn't have happened without her, and if there is ever an Acquisition Editor's Professional Reference, I think she should write it.

Thanks to my family for their support and love throughout the tumultuous completion of this project, especially to my wife Barbara Dinneen, who underwent the knife of Julius as the year (and the operating system) turned '97 to '98, but who still managed to carry on with a job, a house, three children, and new diapers while her helpmate writhed before five computers and a deadline.

-Joe Casad

Windows 98 Professional Reference is a book for administrators of large and small networks--those who toil to keep systems running and users content. You'll find detailed advice on configuring, troubleshooting, and networking Windows 98. The goal of this book is to provide a well-written description of Windows 98 and to deliver the best available coverage of topics such as configuration, networking, ODBC, optimization, and Windows scripting.

How This Book Is Organized

Windows 98 Professional Reference is divided into seven parts, each covering an aspect of Windows 98 operations. Within the parts, each chapter focuses on a pertinent Windows 98 topic.

Part I: Introducing Windows 98

Chapter 1, "Deploying Windows 98," describes the new features of Windows 98 and discusses configuration options. This chapter also looks at networking scenarios and explores desktop configuration options.

Chapter 2, "Installing Windows 98," describes the steps you'll need to take before you install Windows 98 and discusses the installation process in detail. You'll learn about dual-booting Windows 98 and you'll learn how to create a CD-ROM-enabled boot floppy. This chapter also shows how to customize Windows 98 Setup using installation scripts.

Chapter 3, "Network Installation," shows how to install Windows 98 across the network. This chapter describes the network installation process and looks at special issues concerning network installations from Windows 3.x and NetWare. You'll also learn how to create a network boot disk using Windows for Workgroups or NT Server's Network Client Administrator.

Chapter 4, "Windows 98 and Total Cost of Ownership," describes Microsoft's Zero Administration initiative and discusses some of Zero Admin features in Windows 98.

Part II: Configuring Windows 98

Chapter 5, "Understanding Windows 98 Configuration," provides an overview of Windows 98 configuration components that will be discussed in great detail in later chapters: the Registry, User Profiles, System Policies, and Hardware Profiles.

Chapter 6, "Control Panel," describes the applets of the Control Panel. Control Panel is often the first stop for Windows 98 configuration. This chapter describes how to use each of the common Control Panel applications.

Chapter 7, "System Policies," describes the purpose of System Policies and explains how to configure System Policies in Windows 98. You'll learn about user and group policies and about using Windows 98's System Policy Editor.

Chapter 8, "User Profiles," describes how you can customize the user environment with user profiles, and how you can set up network-based roving and mandatory user profiles that follow the user to other network workstations.

Chapter 9, "Hardware Profiles," shows how Windows 98 uses hardware profiles. A hardware profile is a predefined description of system hardware. You can use hardware profiles with a portable computer to adapt quickly to a change in docking state.

Chapter 10, "Mastering the Windows 98 Registry," is a guide to the Registry, the center for Windows 98 configuration information. This chapter describes the structure of the Registry and shows how to navigate the Registry using Windows 98's Registry Editor. This chapter also shows how to back up and restore the Registry and describes some Registry tips and tricks.

Part III: Windows 98 Operations

Chapter 11, "Windows 98 Architecture and Application Support," describes Windows 98 System architecture. The chapter describes scheduling and multitasking, time-slicing, and other concepts. The chapter also describes the Windows 98 memory model and discusses Windows 98's support for Win32, Win16, and MS-DOS applications.

Chapter 12, "Supporting Devices," describes what you'll need to know to support devices in Windows 98. The chapter discusses IRQ, DMA, and I/O Port settings. This chapter also describes Windows 98 Plug and Play and discusses how to install and troubleshoot system devices.

Chapter 13, "Printing," discusses Windows 98 printing components and shows how to install and manage printers in Windows 98.

Chapter 14, "Multimedia," provides a thorough discussion of multimedia support in Windows 98. This chapter describes how to install multimedia devices and also provides some background on Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Digital Versatile Disk (DVD). This chapter also discusses Copecs, TV tuners, and video and sound support. You'll also find a section on multimedia troubleshooting.

Chapter 15, "OLE, COM, DCOM, and ActiveX," discusses Windows 98's COM architecture. This chapter also describes both the theory and the procedures behind embedding and linking OLE objects. The chapter also includes a discussion of DCOM and Windows 98's DCOMCNFG utility.

Chapter 16, "Windows 98 ODBC Connectivity," describes client/server data database concepts and shows how to implement ODBC in Windows 98.

Chapter 17, "File Systems: File and Disk Resources," describes how to manage disks, files, and file systems in Windows 98. This chapter provides some background on hard disks and partitions, and discusses Windows 98's FAT and FAT32 file systems. This chapter also describes how Windows 98 handles long filenames and discusses system hardware and disk operations. And, the chapter also describes how to format, compress, and degragment disks in Windows 98.

Chapter 18, "Viruses in Windows 98," discusses strategies for virus protection in Windows 98.

Chapter 19, "Windows 98 for Portables," describes Windows 98 features designed to support portables. The chapter discusses PC Card devices and features such as power management, infrared monitor, and briefcase.

Chapter 20, "Backup and Restore," discusses tools and strategies for performing backups in Windows 98.

Part IV: Networking Windows 98

Chapter 21, "Understanding Windows 98 Networking," describes Windows 98 network architecture and discusses some basic networking concepts. This chapter describes how to install and configure network components: adapters, services, protocols, and clients. This chapter also discusses some common LAN cabling schemes and shows how to implement user-level and share-level security. The chapter also includes a discussion of Windows 98 logon options and a section on finding resources in Windows 98. And, this chapter includes a look
at Windows 98 peer-to-peer networking concepts.

Chapter 22, "Peer-to-Peer Networking,"takes a look at Windows 98 in the workgroup environment.

Chapter 23, "Windows 98 in Windows NT Domains," provides a brief look at some of the networking features available to Windows 98 clients on a Windows NT domain. This chapter also shows how to implement remote administration of a Windows 98 machine and how to install Windows NT Server tools, which allow you to administer an NT network from a Windows 98 computer.

Chapter 24, "Windows 98 with NetWare/InternetWare Networks," describes Windows 98's support for NetWare networks. You'll learn how to install NetWare clients and how to operate on a NetWare network from Windows 98.

Chapter 25, "Windows 98 with TCP/IP," describes the TCP/IP network protocols and shows how to install and configure TCP/IP in Windows 98. This chapter also discusses IP address assignment options, including Windows 98's new Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA), and describes Windows 98 name resolution features. This chapter also describes Windows 98's TCP/IP tools and provides a complete discussion of IP addressing.

Chapter 26, "Windows 98 and Remote Communication," discusses Windows 98's Dial-Up Networking features and shows how to implement Dial-Up Networking. This chapter also discusses Dial-Up Server and shows how to implement a virtual private network using Windows 98's new Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).

Part V: Windows 98 and the Internet

Chapter 27, "Internet Browsers in Windows 98," discusses Windows 98's Active Desktop and provides detailed instructions for configuring and using the two most common Internet browsers: Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator.

Chapter 28, "Setting Up Windows 98 for the Internet," describes how to set up a Windows 98 computer to access the Internet.

Chapter 29, "Windows 98 as an Internet/Intranet Server," describes Windows 98's Personal Web Server and shows how to administer a Web site using Personal Web Manager. This chapter also describes Windows 98's two Web content tools: Home Page Wizard and FrontPage Express.

Chapter 30, "Internet Security," describes Windows 98's Internet security features and provides advice on how to protect yourself from threats from the Internet.

Chapter 31, "Mail Management in Windows 98," shows how Internet email works. This chapter also discusses common encoding formats, describes the structure of an email message, and shows how to configure a typical email client.

Part VI: Customizing Windows 98

Chapter 32, "Windows 98 Configuration Files," describes Windows 98 startup configuration files msdos.sys, io.sys, config.sys, autoexec.bat, win.ini, and system.ini.

Chapter 33, "Windows Scripting with Windows 98 Scripting Host," is a complete tutorial on VBScript and Windows 98's new Windows Scripting Host. You can use Windows Scripting Host to run custom scripts that perform complex tasks on your network.

Chapter 34, "Automating Tasks," shows how to schedule tasks to run automatically in Windows 98 using Windows 98's Task Scheduler and Scheduled Tasks Wizard.

Part VII: Troubleshooting and Optimizing Windows 98

Chapter 35, "Tools and Strategies for Optimizing Windows 98," provides methodologies for optimizing performance in Windows 98. The chapter looks specifically at optimizing virtual memory, file systems, hard disks, graphics, printing, network operations, and applications. The chapter also discusses Windows 98 performance tools, such as Windows Tune-Up Wizard, Resource Meter, and System Monitor.

Chapter 36, "The Windows 98 Boot Process and Emergency Recovery," describes the Windows 98 boot process and provides techniques for solving boot problems. The chapter discusses how to troubleshoot boot problems using Windows 98's System Configuration Utility.

Chapter 37, "Tools and Strategies for Troubleshooting Windows 98," discusses Windows 98 troubleshooting strategies. This chapter also shows how to use Windows 98's troubleshooting tools, such as Microsoft System Information, Version Conflict Manager, Registry Checker, Dr. Watson, and System File Checker.

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