Windows 98/4.10.1525/Beta Guide

Contents
General Information................................................................................................................. 6

Welcome!............................................................................................................................ 6

Responsibilities of a Beta Tester............................................................................................. 6

Before You Start..................................................................................................................... 7

Read this Guide.................................................................................................................... 7

Installing the Software.............................................................................................................. 8

Changes we have made to the Memphis installation.................................................................. 8

SETUP Release Notes........................................................................................................... 8

Technical Support - Internet Newsgroups.................................................................................. 12

Using News Reader Programs.............................................................................................. 12

Newsgroup Frequently Asked Questions and Answers............................................................ 12

Configuring Microsoft Internet News and Outlook Express...................................................... 13

Memphis Web Site................................................................................................................. 15

Connecting to the Web site.................................................................................................. 15

Feedback........................................................................................................................... 15

Administrative................................................................................................................... 15

Cannot Access the Memphis Web Site.................................................................................. 15

Reporting Problems via MSReport........................................................................................... 18

Set up MSREPORT............................................................................................................ 18

Write good MSREPORTs.................................................................................................... 19

Submit problem report files using FTP.................................................................................. 19

Providing additional hardware information............................................................................ 21

Compatibility Issues with other Beta Products........................................................................ 21

Questions and Answers........................................................................................................... 22

Technical Assistance with Setup.............................................................................................. 24

Backing up Windows 95...................................................................................................... 24

Make an Emergency Boot Disk............................................................................................ 24

Creating a Bootable Floppy.................................................................................................. 24

Uninstalling the Memphis environment................................................................................. 24

Installing Windows 95 Memphis onto a newly formatted hard disk........................................... 25

Installing Windows 95 Memphis onto a blank hard disk (OEM Setup)....................................... 25

Welcome!
Welcome to Memphis, the next major release of Windows.

This document describes setup, bug submission, and newsgroup support options, as well as covering general Q&A. This release represents a developer’s release of the Memphis base code, new hardware support, and other features described in this document but not a beta of the complete Memphis product. We believe that this is a solid release and a good platform for testing hardware and application compatibility.

YOUR participation and YOUR timely feedback are critical to the success of this product! Please install this product on as many different hardware configurations as possible, and report both your successes and your problems as soon as possible. Successes should be reported using our web-based survey tools, while bugs should be reported using the web-based bug report tools or MSReport.

Responsibilities of a Beta Tester
1.      Install and use the software promptly.

2.      Test the product for application and hardware compatibility, and report problems and suggestions promptly.

3.      Ensure that the pre-release software is used only by the beta test participants at your site in accordance with the Microsoft Corporation License Agreement included in this document.

4.      Understand that the increased level of contact (such as phone calls from Microsoft to you) is for the beta test period only. At the conclusion of the beta test program, normal product support will be available.

5.      Allow Microsoft access to the designated beta test equipment if necessary.

6.      Understand that a pre-release product may contain problems that could affect normal office productivity. You should expect some down time, and you might encounter loss of data. You should back up your system before installing the pre-release software, and often during the beta test program. Microsoft is not responsible for any problems resulting from the use of this pre-release software.

7.      Upon notice of completion of the beta test, destroy all of the pre-release software and beta program documentation.

8.      If you manufacture products that are designed to be compatible with Windows 95, you may be asked to provide loaner copies of your products for our test labs. This includes new PCs, adapter cards, disk drives, software, etc. If you want to loan your latest products to ensure that your products are adequately covered, contact your Microsoft Account Manager or send email to IHV@microsoft.com. PC Manufacturers should ensure that the new Windows 95 Hardware and Integration Labs have final production copies of all of your machines to ensure broad test coverage, and enable our engineers to rapidly diagnose reproducible problems in our labs.

Before You Start
First, a word of caution. Although we have put much effort into the verification of this software, it is pre-release software that will be used by every application that you run. Microsoft strongly suggests that you back up any important existing data and programs before you install or run any of this software. Also, whether you intend to use FAT32 or not, be sure to make a new Startup disk when running Setup. Startup disks created with the released version of Windows 95 are not compatible with Memphis

Setup requires approximately 90 MB hard disk space to complete.  Of this, about 45 MB is temporary space used during setup, and about 45 MB is components that are installed to the hard disk. If you are already running a build of Memphis, the final disk space used will be much less.

If you are running an earlier build of Memphis with IE4 integrated, or have IE4 running on your system already, please switch to the old shell before installing this version of Memphis.

Sites using this software may encounter minor problems, and in rare cases, it is possible that some sites may encounter loss or destruction of data. Microsoft is not responsible for any problems resulting from the use of this beta software.

Read this Guide
Please read both of these documents before installing Memphis. These documents contain important beta and product information that you may need.

The documents are organized as follows:

Beta Guide

 * General Information
 * Installing the Software
 * Technical Support – Internet Newsgroups, Web site
 * Administrative Issues – change of address, etc.
 * Reporting Bugs
 * General Q&A

Release Notes

 * General Information
 * Installing the Software
 * What’s New in Memphis – Highlights
 * Application Notes – Feature Descriptions and Known Issues

Installing the Software
Run SETUP.EXE from the \Memphis directory of your CD and follow any prompts that are presented'''. \Memphis\Setup.exe'''

Changes we have made to the Memphis installation
We have made several changes to Memphis installation that makes the process easier and more reliable.


 * When upgrading over Windows 95, Memphis uses the same settings as the current installation, and so is able to proceed through the setup process more quickly with less user interaction.  Once file copy is complete no other user input is required before the Windows Desktop is presented to run an application.


 * Legacy hardware detection now takes place during Memphis’s first boot, after all plug and play devices have been set up, enabling detection to run more quickly and reliably.


 * You have the option of backing up system files on your hard disk so that you can uninstall Memphis and return to your previous Windows 95 installation.


 * The Emergency Boot Disk (EBD) now contains a generic real mode ATAPI CD-ROM driver, making compatible CD-ROM devices available when running from the EBD. This driver is not guaranteed to work with all CD-ROM devices but is offered as a possible replacement if the real-mode drivers that came with your machine are unavailable. See “Create a Bootable Floppy” in the Technical Assistance section at the end of this guide for more details.


 * Memphis changes the way Windows handles file version conflicts during setup. Previously, when setup tried to overwrite a file that had a larger version number or different codepage than the one being copied users would be presented with a message box asking them whether they wanted to keep the old file or upgrade to the new one.  Memphis now automatically upgrades to the new file and backs up the one that was already on the machine in the C:\Windows\VCM (for "Version Conflict Manager") subdirectory.  A list of all the files backed up in this manner along with their destination directories and the dates on which they were backed up is kept in the C:\Windows\VERBACK.LOG text file.  If there are no version conflicts during setup, the VCM subdirectory and VERBACK.LOG file will not be created.  Multiple versions of the same file may be backed up in the VCM directory:  Setup will alter the backed up file names as needed and make note of these changes in VERBACK.LOG.  This new behavior only occurs during Memphis setup.  Version conflicts encountered during software updates after Memphis has been fully installed on the machine will be displayed to the user as before. For beta, the only way to recover a conflicting file is to copy the file back manually.  We will be developing UI that will help with this capability.

SETUP Release Notes

 * Setup hard disk space requirements -  The amount of free hard disk space required by the Win 95 to Memphis upgrade is determined by the cluster size of the target partition and the number of components already installed in Windows.  Memphis requires at least 90 MB of free hard disk space with the smallest cluster size and minimum installed components to complete.  This number can be as large as 243Mb to install to a clean partition with the largest cluster size and all components selected.  If Memphis stops the setup due to a lack of available free hard disk space this will be calculated to your specific combination of these variables.  You can do the following to free additional hard disk space.
 * Empty recycle bin
 * Empty www cache
 * Delete tmp and bak files
 * Backup/move off the partition msdos programs

Note: This does not include the optional Win95 uninstall file (winundo.dat) which can be up to 50 Mb depending on your system. This file can be located, at user discretion during setup, on a separate drive/partition if available.


 * Low Disk Space Warning  In some circumstances, you can get a low disk space warning that allows the user to continue, only to get another disk space message later on in setup that blocks from continuing.  The second dialog is the more important one and hard disk space must be freed up to the amount indicated in the message.


 * My Documents Folder  Previous testers may have a “My Documents” folder on their desktop.  The old “My Documents” folder should be renamed to “Obsolete Desktop My Documents Folder” during setup.  Likewise, the “Public Documents” folder gets renamed to “Obsolete Public Documents Folder”. A new “My Documents” icon will be added to the desktop.  This is not truly a folder, it’s just a shell extension shortcut to the root My Documents directory.  All files from the “Obsolete” directories should be moved elsewhere (the new “My Documents” folder perhaps) and the directories should be deleted.


 * Scanning your registry produces a “Registry error (7)”. When installing Memphis on top of any previous version of Windows 95 or Memphis you may receive a registry error 7 during setup.  You are given two options.  Yes to continue with setup and No to exit setup.  Select Yes to continue with setup.  This will skip over the registry scan portion of setup.  We are currently investigating why the error 7 message is given during setup.
 * If you press CANCEL during setup, you must reboot before trying to run Setup again. This will be fixed in future releases.


 * Xircom 10/100 or Intel 10/100  Cardbus If you try to logon to the net it fails because the card is rejecting data packets.  A new driver is being sought after from the OEM’s.


 * 3COM Etherlink III PCMCIA  Fails to be correctly identified.  Find the new drivers/inf files on the 3com web page. Once installed works normally.


 * Policy Editor and Default User - Disable system policies restricting the Default User before installing Memphis.  Windows is launched during setup without prompting for a login to reduce required input and improve performance.  A policy restricting the Default User will be invoked without a Windows login, potentially preventing setup from finishing.


 * "Starting Windows 95" dialog may no longer be presented at boot.  By default, the 2 second delay for the user to hit F8, F5, or F4 for the different boot options has been eliminated.  The user will not have much time to respond with the function keys.  To gain access to the menu, hold the CTRL-key down during the Post to display the boot menu.


 * Running Setup from a msdos prompt  "Setup cannot find high memory manager" repeats. When trying to install from real-mode [command line mode, MS-DOS mode] some machines will show the error "Setup cannot find a high memory manager and cannot continue."  If this happens, add DEVICE= line to your CONFIG.SYS for HIMEM.SYS.


 * Notebooks that have a shared bay for both CDrom and Floppy Disk can not make a boot disk during Setup.  Following the prompt to insert a diskette into drive A will require the floppy drive to replace the cdrom.  Switching devices causes a reboot in most, if not all machines and the lose of the boot media in the removed cdrom driver.  When the prompt appear asking for a floppy disk press cancel to bypass the boot disk creation tool.


 * Number Nine Imagine 128 Display Adapters, with the original display driver, may have to either set up from MS-DOS or change your display driver to VGA to prevent setup from hanging. There is a new I128 driver in Memphis. After you install Memphis, you will not have to do this for future upgrades during the beta program.


 * Setup on Toshiba Infinia will disable In Touch module – This is not currently supported by USB but will be fixed in a future release.


 * Sharp Laptops: The SHARP laptops have an APM BIOS which prevents Memphis from running on them. Workaround: Don’t install Memphis Beta1 on SHARP laptops


 * Diamond – InControl Applet, Must not be running during Memphis Setup.  Edit the Win.ini and remove the executable from the load or run lines.


 * Aztech Systems – PnPchk Applet, Must not be running during Memphis Setup. Edit the Win.ini and remove the executable from the load or run lines.


 * USR Winmodem, Must not be running during Memphis Setup.  Edit the Win.ini and remove the executable from the load or run lines.


 * Monitors and mice – can be miss identified.  The monitor can be identified as a generic plug and play monitor which can be user selected correctly.  The Glidepad pointer found on many portable computers is identified as the generic PS2 mouse and should be reinstalled with OEM drivers. The MS Wheelmouse is identified as a PS2 mouse and should not be reinstalled with original floppy disk drivers. Functionality should be unaffected. Kensington Thinking Mouse is made non functional.  Reinstall with OEM drivers delivered with the mouse.  The MS PS2 Mouse can be non functional when setup is complete.  Edit the [386Enh] section of system.ini with Mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd


 * Memory Managers, In order for detection to run properly, users need to remove conflicting managers from the config.sys, otherwise a dialog on 1st boot will ask to remove it.

emm386 (only if they use the highscan option)

emm386 do not use inclusion range B000-C7FF

qemm

386max


 * Compaq LTE 5xxx portables -  Setup or Installing New Hardware may hang during Hardware Detection when the machine is docked. If this happens, just restart the machine and let the Setup Safe Recovery continue. It will skip over the detection code that hangs, and complete setup normally.


 * IBM Aptivas: On some newer IBM Aptivas with a factory load, you will run into a fatal exception 0D (trap 13) after third boot during the last phase of setup.  This is caused by Tela-lit, the driver that enables the animated icons on the desktop.  This can be avoided by disabling the “desktop effects” prior to upgrading. Steps to avoid the trap 13:

Right click on the “Desktop effects” icon in the Systray (next to the clock).

Select “exit”, this will temporarily disable the animated icons on the desktop.

Proceed with the setup normally.

If the effects are listed in “Startup”, they will be enabled by default after setup finishes.

If they are not, enable them by running C:\PROGRAM FILES\IBM\APTDESK\MVSLOADER.EXE after setup finishes.


 * Novell Client32 fix is available through the Novell Company to provide the correct installation parameters.


 * Intel EtherExpress PRO/10+ and Intel 82595- These Ethernet cards set the default Duplex Setting to "Force Half Duplex", instead of "Auto Negotiate.On 2nd boot during setup you will be prompted with: “Setup can not access the network to complete the installation”.

Do you want to:

· Reboot (Recommended if you skipped logging on.)

· Change your network settings before continuing?

· Continue without access to the setup files? (Not recommended)

Select the 2nd option, and change the Duplex Setting Property on the net card to "Auto Negotiate" select OK and continue with setup.


 * Setup sometimes creates a C_ directory off of the Start Menu - This is usually seen on clean installs, and will be fixed by the next beta release.  You can safely delete this menu item.


 * Startup Disk

1.      Recommended. Due to changes in the real-mode and protect mode kernels to support FAT32, original Windows 95 Startup disks are not compatible with Memphis Startup disks. When setting up Memphis for the first time you will be prompted to make a new Startup disk.

2.      To run setup, copy the OAKCDROM.sys and MSCDEX.EXE to the C: along with the autoexec.bat and config.sys. This will allow you to boot from the c:\ drive and maintain access to the Cdrom drive through the reboot process.


 * Net Login Message  If you inadvertently type the wrong id/password to log on the network you will not be prompted to change it, even during a restart.

Workaround

1.      Click Start, run, type Regedit.

2.      Click Edit on Menu, select Find, Type autoLogon (all one word)

3.      Delete the autologon. Value

4.      Reboot AND computer network will appear.

·        If you format your hard disk, you will need a Startup disk (which has a generic CD-ROM driver) or your interface card and drive manufacturers real-mode CD-ROM driver. These drivers are customized for each device. If you do not have these drivers you should contact your vendor. If this is not possible please read “Creating a Bootable Floppy” in the Technical Assistance section.

·        Disk tools can not be set to run in unattended mode via Task Scheduler. Manual execution has not been affected.

·        Performance settings are lost during setup. To change the values after upgrading, do the following:

Workaround

1.      Right-click My Computer

2.      Click the Performance Tab

3.      Click the File System button in the Advanced Settings group.

4.      Change the drop-down list box to the desired value.


 * You should back up your core configuration files and Registry using the ERU and CFGBACK utilities on the CD-ROM before installing. These can be found in the \other\misc\eru and \other\misc\cfgback directory. Just run eru.exe and cfgback.exe and follow the instructions.


 * If you receive any version conflict dialog boxes during Setup, you should answer “No to All” to ensure that the Memphis version of all files is installed.


 * Setting up English Memphis over localized or Pan-Euro Windows 95 is not supported. You cannot update a non-English version of Windows 95 to English Memphis. Instead, you must do a clean install of Memphis. This is the same as Windows 95 - you can convert from English to other Pan-Euro versions of Windows 95, but you cannot convert Pan-Euro versions to English.


 * “Unable to find VREDIR.VXD during Setup” – On certain clean install scenarios net setup is trying to install the file NETAPI.DLL during first boot.  NETAPI.DLL is not one of the files that we currently copy to the local install directory on first boot, and so setup was unable to install it.  Furthermore because of a subtle bug in SETUPX, it was misreporting the file it was unable to find--saying it was VREDIR.VXD instead of NETAPI.DLL.  This will be fixed in the next release.


 * Unable to configure some PCI devices behind PCI bridges - In some rare cases of devices behind PCI-PCI bridges Memphis may be configuring devices in conflict with each other.  In some cases Memphis does not even show any problems in Device Manager - no yellow exclamation marks.  In most cases we do show the yellow exclamation mark and indicate a resource conflict. There is no workaround – you will need to reinstall an older build or wait for an updated build.

Technical Support - Internet Newsgroups
Microsoft uses Internet Newsgroups for beta support. If you are new to Internet newsgroups, you will find that they operate similarly to CompuServe forums. Private newsgroups are accessed from a dedicated news server. Name and password authentication is required for access to newsgroups. Memphis contains a built-in news reader, or you may use third-party news readers.

NOTE:  You must be enrolled as a valid beta site to access the Memphis newsgroups.

Using News Reader Programs

 * The News Server for this beta program is:  betanews.microsoft.com


 * Your “User Account” is: your Beta ID


 * Your password will be sent to you by e-mail or by letter.  If you have not received your password within 5 business days of receiving your beta kit, please e-mail us at memreq@microsoft.com. The people who monitor this e-mail alias can only help you with administrative issues. This alias does not answer technical support questions.


 * All support for this beta will take place in the newsgroups beginning with:                      microsoft.beta.memphis.


 * PLEASE configure your regular “friendly” name, e-mail address, and organization for your chosen News Reader program. Microsoft support personnel will not respond to postings that use alternative names.


 * You may need to log onto your Internet Service Provider prior to starting your News Reader.  You can use MSN with the Internet access by opening your Dial Up Networking folder and double-clicking on the MSN connection, or by having Auto-Dial selected in the Control Panel - Internet.


 * Most News Readers include the ability to “Subscribe” to specific newsgroups. This is just a data file located on your local computer that provides a way to “group” the newsgroups into two categories - subscribed and unsubscribed.  Subscribing to newsgroups makes it easier to follow topics you find interesting.  No information on subscribed vs. unsubscribed newsgroups is stored on the server, sent to Microsoft, or available to any other users on the Internet.


 * Once you are connected, you may have to Download Newsgroup Headers.  You will also have to “Refresh”  Newsgroup Headers in order to see newer postings, including your own postings.


 * Please read the Readme files and use the Help information provided with the news reader program to learn more about subscribing, downloading, reading and posting.


 * These newsgroups are provided for the purpose of beta test feedback and support for Microsoft products.  We expect all beta testers as well as Microsoft engineers to keep all postings relevant to the purpose of the newsgroup, and to maintain polite and professional postings at all times.


 * There is a technical Hotline for emergency problems when you can not access the newsgroups.  This hotline goes to a voicemail system that is checked periodically.  Please use this only for no-boot or cannot-access-newsgroup problems.  For other problems, the newsgroups will have a better response time.  The hotline number is 206-703-1904.

I have not received my account and password information.  When should I expect to receive it?
''Your account and password should have been sent to you by e-mail at about the time your beta kit was mailed. However, if we did not have an e-mail address on file for you, we have mailed the information to you by US Mail. Please allow five business days after you receive your kit for the information to arrive. If you have not received the account and password by then, please feel free to contact us at memreq@microsoft.com.''

Will I receive one account/password for all the Microsoft betas that I am participating in?
''For any beta that you are registered for with the same Beta ID number, you should receive one account and password. However, we may find it necessary to periodically change this account. In this case, we will resend the account information before changing over to the new account.''

For previous betas, Microsoft paid for my time on CompuServe.  Will Microsoft pay for my time on the newsgroups?
''Due to the way Internet access works, we cannot monitor which Internet sites are being accessed to suspend charges during the specific time you're online, even if you are using MSN. You are responsible for any charges that you incur while on the Microsoft newsgroups. Many ISPs, including MSN, offer unlimited access times for a low monthly fee. You may want to investigate these pricing policies.''

I have tried to use my News Reader to see the Microsoft newsgroups, but I am having problems.  Where can I get help?
''This document gives you a lot of information for accessing newsgroups. Anything beyond what is provided here is probably specific to your individual network connection. It is also possible that your proxy server does not pass NNTP requests. You will need to talk with your network manager to find out if there is a way to do this on your network. It may require accessing a specific server.''

I was able to connect to the Microsoft newsgroup server before, but now I cannot. What has changed?
''If you were able to connect to the newsgroups before, chances are the problem is on our end. You should wait for few hours and try again. We will also try to post newsgroup status on the web site, so you might check there. We update our access list daily so it is possible that the update had some problem with your account. If you cannot access the newsgroups for more than two days, please feel free to ask us to check your account by sending e-mail to memreq@microsoft.com.''

My company has a firewall that is preventing me from accessing the Microsoft newsgroups.  Can Microsoft help?
''If your ISP or proxy server has a firewall that prevents your connecting to the betanews server, you will have to coordinate with your provider concerning methods for gaining access. You may have to use a dial-up Internet provider such as MSN, or an alternative independent Internet service provider, to gain access.''

Configuring Microsoft Internet News and Outlook Express
Microsoft Internet News is a “News Reader” that lets you read bulletin board discussion groups, such as the USENET, using NNTP-based news servers. If you install Internet Explorer 4, Microsoft Internet News has been updated to Outlook Express.

Getting Set Up
The first time you run Microsoft Internet News, you will be asked for the following information:


 * The name of your news server (betanews.microsoft.com).


 * Your account name and password on this server.  You will need to use your Beta ID as your account name, and the password that was sent to you separately by e-mail or letter.


 * Your full e-mail address. For example, “PatSmith@acme.com”  This is the address that people should use when responding to a message that you post into a discussion group.


 * Please use a valid email name in case Microsoft support engineers need to contact you via email to help understand or resolve a problem.


 * Please set your friendly name to your real name when using Microsoft support forums.  Microsoft engineers will not respond to or support aliases or pseudonyms.

If you do not know all of these items, or are unsure, then your service provider or mail administrator should be able to provide it to you. You can add or change any of this information at a later time using the appropriate news reader menus.

If you have problems…

 * Check your connection to your Internet service provider.


 * Try subscribing to a group before reading it.


 * At this time, you must either establish the connection to your Internet provider manually before reading news, or else use Autodial (in the Internet control panel)

Connecting to the Web site
The web server can be accessed at:http://winbeta.microsoft.com/Memphis

You might want to add a link to your Favorites so you don't have to remember this. You will now be connected to the WINBETA Web Site for Memphis. If you are unable to access the Web site, see the following section, “Cannot Access the Memphis Web Site.”

Installation Survey
Your continued participation in the Memphis Beta Project requires the completion of an Installation Survey subsequent to each Beta release. Data collected through this survey will improve our ability to measure the Beta's coverage of third party products. Please take the time to complete this survey today.

Submitting Bug Reports via Web
The Memphis Beta Project will serve as a testing vehicle for many new support tools, including a Web-based Bug Reporting tool. Development continues on this tool, guided by your feedback.

Application Compatibility Survey
The Memphis Team would like to ensure that all applications run as well, if not better, on Memphis than they run on Windows 95. Your feedback will help us achieve this goal. Please complete the Application Compatibility Survey for each application you test on Memphis.

Display Driver Upgrade Report
The Memphis Team is gathering data on third-party display drivers for improving the upgrade process. Please complete the Display Driver Upgrade Test Procedure described in the release notes under "Device Drivers". Your feedback will help us eliminate any compatibility problems with the latest third-party software.

Address Change
You will now be able to submit address change via the Web. Please follow the links to the address change page and submit all your new information. Updates are not dynamic; it may be several days before your changes are reflected on the Web site.

Nominate a friend as a beta site
The Memphis Beta Team is looking for a few good testers... who could better recommend people with what it takes to Beta test operating systems than you? All we ask is that you take two minutes to fill out the Nominate a Beta Tester survey.

Note: The Memphis Beta Group reserves the right of approval. Referrals are not acknowledged by the Memphis Beta Group - please refrain from inquiring as to their status.

Cannot Access the Memphis Web Site
We are aware that difficulties accessing winbeta.microsoft.com have plagued a number of Beta sites. In an attempt to alleviate a majority of the connectivity issues, we have moved Winbeta off of NT Challenge/Response password authentication. You should now have access to the WWW (HTTP/port 80) server irregardless of your Internet access. If you cannot access the FTP site only, you may be accessing the Internet through a firewall that does not permit the passage of FTP (ports 20,21) packets.

** Note** Winbeta is optimized for Internet Explorer 3.0 +- it utilizes frames as well as ActiveX controls. If you visit the site using a browser lacking support for either frames or ActiveX, much of the site's functionality will be inaccessible.

In an attempt to narrow the scope of your access issue, a test account has been established with rights to the root directory of the server. If you are unable to connect to the server with the Beta ID and password the Microsoft Beta Group has provided you, please try connecting to the root of the server using the following: http://winbeta.microsoft.com or at a command prompt type the following to test the FTP site: ftp winbeta.microsoft.com

When prompted, enter the following account information:

Username:         Winbeta

Password:          123456789abcde

If you are unable to connect to the Web site using the test account, please refer to the following section titled, "Troubleshooting Suggestions". If you are successful connecting with the test account you have eliminated all but administrative issues with your account. You may use the form provided on the WWW site to request confirmation of your Memphis Web site access privileges.

Note: The size of this project has grown significantly over the past several months and it will continue to grow exponentially. Please take this into consideration, and only request assistance if you suspect your user account on the server has not been established.

Following is a list of troubleshooting steps and additional information concerning security on the Internet.

Troubleshooting Suggestions
If you are unable to access the Memphis Web site, you may be experiencing one of the following:


 * 1) Your Memphis Beta account has not been processed.  Please allow seven business days before inquiring. If, after seven business have passed, you still have not received a Beta ID and password, please use the test account to request its verification as outlined in the preceding section.
 * 2) Access control privileges are not set correctly on the server. If you suspect the issue is with your user account, request its verification as outlined in the preceding section.  If the account is found to be valid, the issue you are experiencing is detailed in this section.
 * 3) The browsers’ configuration may be at fault.  The following troubleshooting suggestions address issues you may be experiencing:1) Use the same 14 character password you use for the newsgroups.2) Check the registry.  If you have an extra entry for the service provider, you must manually remove it.  In Regedit, view:HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\system\currentcontrolset\control\securityprovidersIts value should be “msnsspc.dll” without the quotes.
 * 4) If you can access from home but not work, and you can access other HTTP sites, there may be an issue with a router between you and winbeta.microsoft.com.  Try the following from a command prompt within Windows:tracert winbeta.microsoft.comThis will display the IP address of each router that directs your packet until it hits its destination (winbeta.microsoft.com).  If it does not reach its destination, your issue is not with the Web server.
 * 5) You may be experiencing a friendly name resolution issue.  To test your DNS settings, try using the IP address for the site: If you connect to the Web site using the IP address, the issue is with your DNS server. A workaround is to add this address and a corresponding friendly name to the HOSTS.SAM file in your Windows directory. To do so:- Add Winbeta.microsoft.com to the file using the given example as a template- Save the file as "HOSTS", removing its ".SAM" extension.

More Information
Following are definitions of commonly used terms relating to Internet security.

Firewall
A system or combination of systems that enforces a boundary between networks to prevent unauthorized access of private networks. Firewalls prevent the passage of packets between separate networks.

An Internet firewall system permits one to take advantage of many of the services offered on the Internet, while limiting exposure to attack. Firewalls may consist of a collection of hardware and software components that collectively provide a protected channel between networks with differing security. Potential paths to the private network are limited by configuring the firewall to only accept packets from IP addresses and/or ports of the TCP/IP protocol that have been designated by the system administrator.

Proxy Server
A program that deals with external servers on behalf of internal clients. Proxy clients talk to proxy servers, which relay approved requests to real servers, then relay the server's response to back to the clients.

Proxy servers make a firewall safely permeable to users behind the secured entrance, while closing entry ways in the private network to potential attacks. The proxy server must act as both a server and client. It serves proxy clients when accepting approved requests for external servers, and requests services from those servers on behalf of its clients. Proxy servers are commonly used for corporate networks that are connected to the Internet - Internet Service Providers may use them as well.

Set up MSREPORT
If you were unable to send us a bug via the web, you can still use MSReport as a backup. To use MSReport, please follow these steps:


 * 1) Set up MSReport.  To set up MSReport, go to the \betaonly\msreport directory and run Setup.
 * 2) Read the MSReport Help file, it contains many valuable tips about using the new program.
 * 3) Fill in the User and Machine information sections before reporting your first problem.
 * 4) IMPORTANT:  Report all Beta bugs in the “Memphis” folder.  You must explicitly select the “Product” folder before entering a new bug.  This allows a single tool to be used for different products.  Please DO NOT submit Memphis bugs in the MSReport folder(s) (those are for bugs against the MSReport tool), or in any other folder (if you have previously been aa beta tester).  As those programs may not be active anymore, or may be part of another group, using those folders will cause your bug report to not be processed correctly. You may want to delete the corresponding directories from your hard disk to avoid using them by mistake.
 * 5) Internet Explorer, Mail, News, Java and NetMeeting all have custom Web pages and do not use MSReport.  To report specific bugs in these applications, please see the Internet location in the Release Notes document.

Bug report confirmation for all bugs submitted should be received in less than two business days via Internet email. Possible reasons why you may not have received confirmation mail for each bug report are:


 * Our system may be experiencing delays in sending confirmation mail due to heavy load and increased processing times.
 * Your bug report could not be entered into our database due to corruption of the file. The most common cause of this is sending the file in ASCII mode when using FTP. Please make sure to submit MSReport files in binary mode, as ASCII mode will render the file unprocessable. Consult the beta support notes, or any documentation you have for your FTP or terminal program for information on setting the binary mode for file transfers.
 * Your MSReport files contain an invalid Internet address. Examples include using a comma instead of a period, or incorrectly placing space characters in the email address. Note: placing two or more valid email address causes an invalid email address in our processing system. Please use only one Internet address in MSReport.
 * You created a subdirectory under the bupload directory.  Please do not use subdirectories as our automated bug processing system will not process your bug reports.

If you have not received confirmation mail within two business days for all bugs submitted, please resend you report. If you do not receive confirmation mail after resubmitting your reports, please post a message with the name(s) of the file(s) you uploaded and we will assign an engineer to investigate the situation.

NOTE:  You should not use MSReport with Large Fonts enabled - many of the dialog boxes will not display properly.

'''NOTE:  If you are using a previous version of MSReport, this beta comes with version 1.1. Please install the new version and use it.'''

Write good MSREPORTs
Please include all relevant information when you report a problem. Clear, thorough bug reports are necessary for us to track down, reproduce and debug problems. Problem reports should:


 * Include all necessary or relevant files


 * Include an accurate description of the hardware and software configuration, including networking.


 * Have a good description of the problem.


 * List steps to reproduce if possible.


 * Indicate whether the problem occurs on the released version of Windows 95 (build 950) or OSR-2.


 * Have a good description of what happens when you hit the problem, including the exact text of any error messages you encounter.


 * Make sure you Create the Bug Report in the correct folder in the left-hand pane of the MSReport tool.

Submit problem report files using FTP
The preferred method for submitting bug reports is to use the new Web page forms. If you are unable to use those, the second best solution is to use the MSReport utility and upload using FTP. If you are unable to access the FTP site, alternative solutions are listed later in this document.

FTP Clients
If you do not have an FTP client, you can use the command line FTP client that ships with Windows 95. For detailed information on using the Windows 95 command line FTP client, please refer to the Windows 95 Resource Kit (included on your CD in help-file format in the directory \ADMIN\RESKIT\HELPFILE\WIN95RK.HLP).

Many corporations have an internal FTP client that they recommend that you use. Contact your MIS department to find out if your company has a recommended FTP client.

There are also many good Windows 95-based FTP clients available on the Internet. One that many people use is WS_FTP32, available from http://www.csra.net/junodj/ws_ftp32.htm. Another place to look for FTP clients is: http://www.windows95.com/apps/ftp.html.

If you use these clients available from the Internet, you are responsible for ensuring your compliance with any applicable license agreements.

Uploading Bug Reports
You should upload your bug reports to the FTP site: “transfer.microsoft.com”. Please upload all bugs to the /Bupload/Memphis directory. Note that /Bupload is a hidden directory! Just go ahead and “CD /Bupload/Memphis” and it will work.

In order to FTP, be sure you are “winsock-enabled.”  Typically you will be winsock-enabled if you are already accessing the internet.

Using Windows 95 FTP Client from MS-DOS Prompt

 * 1) Log onto your Internet Service Provider.  You can also use MSN with the internet access as an Internet Service Provider by opening the Dial Up Networking connections in My Computer and connecting directly to MSN.
 * 2) Start an MS-DOS box.
 * 3) Type: "ftp transfer.microsoft.com" at the C:\ prompt.
 * 4) The system will respond with:
 * 5) You will be prompted for a user name. Type in "anonymous":
 * 6) You will be prompted for a password.  Type in your email address.Anonymous access allowed, send identity (e-mail name) as password.Password: (nothing will show up here when you type in your email address)
 * 7) Type in "binary" and "prompt" in order to set the file transfer type to binary, and to turn off interactive mode.
 * 8) CD to the /Bupload/Memphis directory: CD /Bupload/Memphis
 * 9) Type in "mput  on your computer.  The example below assumes you are "FTP-ing" the file "report1.bug" from the "c:\bugs" folder on your hard drive.ftp> mput c:\bugs\report1.bugThat will commence the upload.

Using WS_FTP32
The following instructions are provided for the convenience of our customers using the popular WS_FTP32 client software.

If you are using WS_FTP32 on your machine, you can configure the following fields:


 * 1) Profile Name: this is what you would call this particular connection.  For our bug upload server it might be something like "Bug Upload Profile."


 * 1) Host name: This would be transfer.microsoft.com.


 * 1) User Name: Fill in this field with “ANONYMOUS”.


 * 1) Password: Fill this in with your email name.


 * 1) Remote Host: Fill this in with /bupload/memphis


 * 1) Local PC: This is the folder (ex: c:\bugs) where you have your bug reports stored on your local machine.


 * 1) Press the save button and you’re ready to connect.

To connect and upload a bug report using WS_FTP32:


 * 1) Hit the Connect button in WS_FTP32. You should see the status bar flash, then a directory listing on the server should appear.


 * 1) Using the controls on the right side (the host), navigate to the upload directory, \Bupload\Memphis, you need.  If you are going to send a bug to the upload directory, you will only have write access without read access. This means that you won’t be able to see your files once you’ve uploaded them.


 * 1) Send your bug files.

Providing additional hardware information
If you are using the new Web Bug Report page, hardware information is automatically collected. If you are using MSReport, you can use the following procedure to upload more accurate hardware information than the manual fields in the MSReport hardware description.

Here's how to generate a simple hardware log file:


 * 1) Install a Generic/ text only printer via control panel/ Printers
 * 2) Goto Control Panel/ System/ Device manager.
 * 3) Hit print.
 * 4) Choose All devices and system summary
 * 5) Choose Print to file.
 * 6) If needed, hit setup to change the printer to a non-fax printer.
 * 7) Let it print, name it Devman.txt
 * 8) Include the resulting text file devman.txt with the bug report.

This file includes: Bios/ CPU info, IRQ status, I/O Status, Memory Status, DMA Status, Drive Info, Device and driver info.

Compatibility Issues with other Beta Products
Please indicate in your bug reports WHENEVER you are using other Microsoft Beta software, whether as part of a direct beta program or from our Internet Web site. It is important that we understand the beta program interactions.

If you are using third party beta software, and can indicate so in your bug report without violating your NDA terms, please do so.

Can I install this product over existing Windows 95 installation?
''Yes. This release will upgrade Windows 95 PCs, and be preinstalled on new PCs by PC Manufacturers. We encourage you to upgrade over existing Windows 95 PCs (including the original release, as well as over OSR-1, OSR-2 and Detroit updates), and report any upgrade or software compatibility problems ASAP.''

Can I install this product over existing Windows 3.x or Windows NT machines?
''No, this is designed as a Windows 95 upgrade. It will not upgrade over Windows 3.x. Downgrading over Windows NT would be a very complex task that will not be supported. We are working on a 3.1 upgrade version, but it is not supported in this code.''

Can I set up my PC to Dual Boot different Operating Systems?
''Dual boot will NOT work with FAT32 hard drives at this time. This is simply because at this time, other operating systems, including the original release of Windows 95 and all versions of Windows NT to date, as well as earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS, do not recognize the FAT32 partition, and do not have the code necessary to understand it.''

''If you are not using FAT32, then you can set up a system for dual-boot with Windows NT using the exact same procedures used for Windows 95 (see the Windows 95 Resource Kit for details). You can also dual-boot with older versions of MS-DOS and Windows 3.x and this release of Windows, using the F4 boot-to-old-MS-DOS feature. You can NOT, however, set up a single PC to dual-boot the original Windows 95 release and this update. This replaces Windows 95 with updated files and features.''

I installed the software on a new PC that came preinstalled with Windows 95 from a PC Manufacturer. My display driver, or other preinstalled software doesn’t work the way it used to.

''There are three possibilities here.
 * One, of course, is that you’ve found a bug in either Windows 95 or the preinstalled software on the PC. ''


 * The second is that the PC Manufacturer has enhanced capabilities drivers (such as display drivers), customized for their specific hardware.  Windows 95 attempts to provide a very robust set of drivers that offer the best performance possible for the widest range of customers.  However, many hardware vendors offer new, improved, or enhanced versions to the PC Manufacturers for new PCs as a value-added extra.  It is not always possible for Windows 95 to support these enhanced features in the base product.  If you suspect that you may need to reinstall an enhanced driver, check to see if the PC Manufacturer supplied you with a drivers diskette, or a tool on the hard disk to create such a diskette.  (TIP:  You might also look in the \windows\options\cabs directory if it exists on your PC. Many manufacturers use this standard directory for enhanced drivers and INF files).  Note that using third-party display drivers with Memphis will disable the multiple display support feature, as the third-party drivers do not yet support this new feature.


 * The third case is if the image is no longer centered on your monitor.  It may be that the optimal refresh rate chosen by setup for your monitor is different than you were previously using.  Simply use your monitor controls to adjust the position on the monitor, and you should not have any more problems.

In either of the first two cases, please report the issue to Microsoft. If it’s a bug, we’ll try to fix it. If it’s an enhanced driver we don’t support, we will try to leave it in place, or explore alternate solutions to provide the best possible customer experience.

If I beta test this product, how will I get the final version for my PC?
''We will provide a courtesy final CD to all of our active beta testers. Active means uploading bug reports, participating in online discussion forums, and participating in beta surveys. ''

What do I need to do if I’ve successfully installed the product, and don’t see any glaring hardware-related bugs right away?
Please complete the Upgrade Survey Form located on our web site.

How can I get other people at my company or other companies included in this beta?
''You can send us the following information via the Memphis Web Site. Also you can email "MEMREQ@microsoft.com". This will be processed by an automated processing system, so please fill in all of the information.''

BetaID: (if you have one from a previous Microsoft Beta)

Name:

Title:

Company:

Address (no PO boxes):

City, State/Province, Zip/Postal code:

Phone:

Fax:

Internet Address (email):

Company Type (Indicate all that apply):

Press

PC Manufacturer (OEM)

Hardware/Peripheral Manufacturer (IHV)

Software Developer (ISV)

Corporate/Business

Individual End User

How do I notify the beta program of new contact information such as a new mailing address or new email address?
''You can change you address via the Memphis Web site. If you can not connect to the web site, please submit your address change request to MEMREQ@microsoft.com with your beta ID.''

Backing up Windows 95
'''You should back up your core configuration files and registry using the ERU and CFGBACK utilities on the CD ROM before installing. ''' These can be found in the \other\misc\eru and \other\misc\cfgback directory. Just run eru.exe and cfgback.exe and follow the instructions.

Note on Backup:  Memphis includes a new backup utility. If you currently have the Windows 95 Backup on your system. This new backup will be able to restore from Win95 backups in the next beta, but right now, the format is not supported.

Sites using this software may encounter minor problems, and in rare cases, it is possible that some sites may encounter loss or destruction of data. Microsoft is not responsible for any problems resulting from the use of this beta software.

There are two possible installation paths for Memphis. You may reformat your hard drive and install Memphis to a clean hard drive. OR Unlike OSR2, you can upgrade your current version of Windows 95. We recommend you upgrade your current version of Windows 95.

Make an Emergency Boot Disk
Better yet, make several! You can make an EBD during setup when prompted during the setup process. You can also make a Startup Disk afterwards using the “Add/Remove Programs” Control Panel, Startup Disk tab, which is the same as an EBD. You can also SYS a floppy disk after installing Memphis. Your existing boot floppies (of any version of a MS operating system) will not be able to recognize a FAT32 disk partition. Moreover, you will not be able to start the Memphis version of Windows if you boot your system with a build 950 startup disk. You MUST use a new boot floppy disk made with this new release of Windows 95 if you want to be able to get to your data when booting from floppy disk. It is therefore a good idea to have several spare bootable floppy disks with the new, FAT32-aware system files on them.

Creating a Bootable Floppy
Use a text editor to create an AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the root of the Emergency Boot Disk that contains the following line:

MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd0001 /V /M:12

Then add the following line to the CONFIG.SYS file already present on the root of the Emergency Boot Disk after “DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS”:

Device=ATAPI2CD.SYS /D:mscd0001 /i:0

Reboot the machine with the Emergency Boot Disk in the

Uninstalling the Memphis environment
An option to backup your current Win95 operating files is offered during the normal Memphis setup procedures. This recovery capability is only successful if you do not compress your primary partition after you have upgraded to or clean installed Memphis. If for any reason you would like to return to your original Win95 configuration and have not compressed the primary partition since installing Memphis you can execute the program UNINSTAL.EXE located in the \windows\command subdirectory. The program will copy your original Win 95 environment back to your windows directories. The backup files can only be executed one time and is not perserved to run twice. The only way to obtain a Memphis uninstall capability is to recreate the backup file set by installing Memphis a subsequent time.

Be advised that the backup file set of Win95 has no long file name support. The only way to reinstate long file name support is after Win95 has been reinstalled, run the program :\>SULFNBK /r. The program is on your Startup disk and on the CD.

Installing Windows 95 Memphis onto a newly formatted hard disk
If you intend to start with a freshly formatted hard disk, you will need to either SYS your hard disk after formatting it and then install real-mode CD-ROM drivers, or create a boot floppy that contains both the real-mode drivers for your CD-ROM and the MSCDEX driver. Your PC System Vendor or SCSI Adapter Card Vendor should have provided appropriate drivers and/or documentation with the hardware. If you have a new PC preinstalled with Windows 95, it may be set up to allow you to create a CD-aware boot floppy using the “Microsoft Create System Diskettes” utility (mscsd.exe). This is an optional utility and some PC manufacturers provide this tool for your convenience. If your manufacturer did not provide this on your hard disk, you will have to make the boot disk manually.

'''CAUTION:  Each of the following procedures involves reformatting your hard disk, which destroys all of the data on it. If you intend to use one of the following procedures for installing Memphis and your hard disk contains data you wish to save, back up the data to a second medium before proceeding and restore the data after the Memphis installation is complete.'''

The best way to prepare a clean hard disk for setup is to:


 * 1) FDISK your hard disk.  Note that if you want to format the hard drive using FAT32, boot from a Memphis Startup disk (for instructions on how to create a Memphis Startup disk prior to installing Memphis see step 1 of the following section.  After booting from the Startup disk, run FDISK.EXE on the Memphis CD and answer Yes when prompted to enable large disk support.  To delete all existing partitions, create a new primary DOS partition and make sure it is marked as “Active"You can also create a Startup disk (bootable floppy)* During Memphis Setup.     Or* Using the Add/Remove Programs option in the Control Panel
 * 2) Install your real-mode CD-ROM IDE or SCSI drivers, either using the manufacturer’s installation disk or by manually copying from your original Windows 95 files before formatting your hard disk.  This real mode configuration is first tested on a boot floppy and then transferred to the hard disk after it has been formated.  It’s a good idea to test this procedure on a boot floppy before formatting your hard disk.
 * 3) Re-boot the system using the boot floppy, and format the disk with FORMAT.COM, with the /s switch, of the Memphis CD.
 * 4) Run Setup from the \memphis directory of the CD ROM.

Installing Windows 95 Memphis onto a blank hard disk (OEM Setup)

 * 1) Copy the contents of the bootflop directory (in the \BetaOnly directory on your beta CD-ROM) to a freshly formatted diskette.  The diskette can be formatted with Windows 95, but you must copy the IO.SYS and COMMAND.COM files from the bootflop directory on your beta CD in order for it to become an MS-DOS 7.1 boot disk (7.1 is the version of MS-DOS included with Memphis).
 * 2) If necessary, use the ATTRIB command to remove the read-only attribute from the following files:ATTRIB -R A:\AUTOEXEC.CDATTRIB -R A:\CONFIG.CDATTRIB -R A:\DRVCOPY.INF
 * 3) Rename the Autoexec and Config files on the boot floppy as follows:REN A:\AUTOEXEC.CD AUTOEXEC.BATREN A:\CONFIG.CD  CONFIG.SYS
 * 4) Copy your hardware vendor-supplied DOS CD-ROM drivers to the floppy disk.
 * 5) Modify the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and DRVCOPY.INF files as needed for your CD-ROM and, if necessary, SCSI adapter card. This is a complex process and varies depending on your hardware, so we cannot provide direct support for individual cards.  Follow the comments in the files to determine what changes need to be made.The DRVCOPY.INF file is essential for setup from a boot floppy.  It will copy your real-mode CD ROM drivers to the hard disk during installation and update the config.sys and autoexec.bat on the hard disk so that the CD ROM is accessible during the restart at the end of setup.
 * 6) Boot from your boot floppy diskette and it will automatically run OEMSETUP.EXE from your beta CD-ROM.  If your disk is unpartitioned (e.g. if it is a brand new disk that has never been FDISK’d, or if you have used FDISK to delete all its partitions), then as part of the Setup process, the disk will be partitioned (followed by a reboot) and formatted.  If the disk is larger than 512MB, it will be partitioned and formatted using the FAT32 file system.
 * 7) Once OEMSETUP.EXE has begun copying files, remove the boot diskette from drive A: so that it will boot from the hard disk at the conclusion of OEMSETUP.  Note that on an unpartitioned disk, OEMSETUP will reboot the system after partitioning it.  It must reboot off the floppy during this second boot.  Then it will format the drive and begin copying files; you should remove the floppy before it reboots again after the file copy is complete.