dacs.doc electric

Random Access

Instant Replay: September 1999

Bruce Preston, Moderator

Q. I can play audio CDs using the CD drive on my Windows 95 machine, but I am unable to play .WAV, .MP2, or other files like these. I can read application data from the drive. In Device Manager, the CD-ROM is identified by make and model, but it has a yellow triangle with a black exclamation point character on it. The sound card is by Yamaha.

A. Playing audio from the CD is done by a mechanism that is separate from the one that gets data--when you play an audio CD, the PC software is acting only as a control agent to start or stop the drive, move to a different track, etc. The audio signal is passed from the CD drive directly to the sound card via the "audio cable," typically a three-conductor cable. The control signals are sent from the PC software through the "data cable," which is typically a "ribbon" cable. That you can read data means that the system recognizes the CD and data can flow out of it. That you have the yellow triangle indicates that the appropriate device driver components (software) for the various audio players are not correctly installed. To repair this, you should first make sure that you have the most recent device driver--go either to the Yamaha Web site, or to the site of the major machine that put in the card (Compaq, DELL, Gateway, etc.). If the sound card was bundled with the machine, check the CD that came with the machine as well. Once you have the correct driver(s), try to delete the devices. For some integrated devices, Device Manager will not let you delete a specific device that is "attached" to another one--if device manager complains, try the next one on the list, etc. After deleting the drivers, restart the machine, and when Windows finds the device, do NOT let it install drivers (It will use the existing ones rather than your new ones). Once booted, go into Device Manager, and select Properties, then Change Driver, Have Disk, and then browse to the location of the files you have downloaded.

Q. I am thinking of going from Windows 95 to Windows 98 Second Edition. Should I, and if so, is there thing to be concerned about?

A. Windows 98 Second Edition (a.k.a. Windows 98 SE) is Windows 98 with all of the bug fixes and patches for Y2K, Internet Explorer security patches, etc. In addition, instead of the Internet Explorer 4 plus security patches, which is what you get if you apply all of the Service Packs to Windows 98, it has Internet Explorer 5. Some members of the audience reported having migrated machines from Windows 95 to Windows 98 SE without problems. A few reported problems that were traced to leftover Windows 3.1x device drivers for things such as tape drive. The consensus was that if the machine is Windows 95 and is operating well, then Windows 98 SE should upgrade well. If the machine is not stable, then Windows 98 SE might fix it, but is likely to inherit the instability--often caused by obsolete 16-bit device drivers. If it is already Windows 98, then apply the free upgrade downloads; the only thing you will not get is Internet Explorer 5 (you will get Internet Explorer 4 with all of the security upgrades). The best approach, if you can do it, is to install Windows 98 SE on a "clean" machine--i.e. FDISK and FORMAT the drive, then install Windows 98 SE. Be absolutely sure that you do not have ANY applications running when you do the install/upgrade. Especially make sure that antivirus software is completely disabled.

Q. Windows 98 SE is an "upgrade" release that expects to find an operating Windows on the hard drive. How do you install it if the drive has just been FDISKed and FORMATted?

A. The license requirement (and enforcement by the "sniffer" in the installation process) is that you have a valid license for a previous Windows product. Id does not, however, have to be operational on the machine. To do the clean install (detailed method is described in the "Knowledge Base" or "KB" on the MS Web site: Search for "Install boot floppy and CD"), you need to create a bootable floppy to start the machine and see the CD-ROM. Then boot from this floppy and run E:\SETUP (booting from floppy will create a "virtual" drive D:, so your CD will become E:) During the install process, the "sniffer" will complain that it cannot find your previous Windows release and will offer to look for it on removable media. Put an earlier release of Windows 9x in the CD drive, or the first installation floppy for Windows 3.xx in the A: drive. If you use a Windows 3.xx floppy, be prepared to put as many as three other diskettes in the A: drive when asked. The diskette number varies--I often have had it ask for diskettes 1,2,3 and 6. Once you have installed Windows 98 SE, you will then have to (re)install all your applications. It is a lot of work, but it will also mean that you don't have anything on the machine that doesn't belong there.

Q. I have a pair of machines with Windows 98 on them. For testing purposes, I need a machine that has Windows 95 on it! Can I "downgrade" 98 to 95?

A. If the machine came with 98 on it, you can not "uninstall" back to 95--you will have to wipe the disk clean (FDISK and FORMAT) as described above.

Q. Every three or four days my machine won't boot when I turn on. It complains about registry problems and advises me to reboot. I do so, and everything is fine. How do I determine what is causing the problem?

A. The only suggestion we could come up with is to get in the habit interrupting the boot by pressing the F8 key right after the "Starting Windows 95" or "Starting Windows 98" message appears on the screen, and selecting the "Logged" option. If your machine boots with a screen from the machine vendor (such as Compaq) you may have to hit the Esc key to see the "Starting Windows 9x" message. This will cause Windows to write to a file start and complete status for every item in the boot process. When it fails, you will have an indication of what happened. If it doesn't fail, you will have a fairly sizable file (BOOTLOG.TXT?) on your hard disk. Rename a "clean" boot for reference, and then when you have a problem, compare the two.

Q. I upgraded from Juno 1.49 (text messages only) to 3.0 (attachments allowed), and now I have a real mess. I had to reload 1.49. Any suggestions?

A. Members had been able to install 3.0, but most reported that they installed as a new install rather than as an upgrade. You might try saving all of your current settings, then wiping 1.49 off and installing 3.0 as if you were a new account.

Q. I have two notebook machines and would like to transfer data between them using the infrared port.

A. The simplest solution is to use LapLink for Windows 95/98/NT. The cheapest solution: Get a LapLink cable and use the "direct cable connection," but this doesn't use the infrared solution. Note: If you are using Windows 95, be aware that the "direct cable connection" has a bug--both machines must be set up to use COM1, or both must use COM2, but you can't have one on COM1 and the other on COM2. To use the infrared ports you need software that knows about the infrared port. There aren't many of them.

Q. I tried to register at a collector's Web site and it wouldn't let me, saying that it would not accept registrations from a user with a "free e-mail" e-mail address. Why?

A. A recent article in one of the industry watch newspapers (sorry, don't remember which one) reported that the majority of fraudulent transactions in e-commerce are originated by users of free e-mail accounts. Since there is no way to find out who the free account user really is. Since there is no traceable contract with an Internet Service Provider (with a charge card behind it), many vendors attempt to reduce their exposure to fraud by not working with free accounts.

Random Access

Instant Replay: September 1999

*Bruce Preston, Moderator*
Q. I can play audio CDs using the CD drive on my Windows 95 machine, but I am unable to play .WAV, .MP2, or other files like these. I can read application data from the drive. In Device Manager, the CD-ROM is identified by make and model, but it has a yellow triangle with a black exclamation point character on it. The sound card is by Yamaha. A. Playing audio from the CD is done by a mechanism that is separate from the one that gets data--when you play an audio CD, the PC software is acting only as a control agent to start or stop the drive, move to a different track, etc. The audio signal is passed from the CD drive directly to the sound card via the "audio cable," typically a three-conductor cable. The control signals are sent from the PC software through the "data cable," which is typically a "ribbon" cable. That you can read data means that the system recognizes the CD and data can flow out of it. That you have the yellow triangle indicates that the appropriate device driver components (software) for the various audio players are not correctly installed. To repair this, you should first make sure that you have the most recent device driver--go either to the Yamaha Web site, or to the site of the major machine that put in the card (Compaq, DELL, Gateway, etc.). If the sound card was bundled with the machine, check the CD that came with the machine as well. Once you have the correct driver(s), try to delete the devices. For some integrated devices, Device Manager will not let you delete a specific device that is "attached" to another one--if device manager complains, try the next one on the list, etc. After deleting the drivers, restart the machine, and when Windows finds the device, do NOT let it install drivers (It will use the existing ones rather than your new ones). Once booted, go into Device Manager, and select Properties, then Change Driver, Have Disk, and then browse to the location of the files you have downloaded. Q. I am thinking of going from Windows 95 to Windows 98 Second Edition. Should I, and if so, is there thing to be concerned about? A. Windows 98 Second Edition (a.k.a. Windows 98 SE) is Windows 98 with all of the bug fixes and patches for Y2K, Internet Explorer security patches, etc. In addition, instead of the Internet Explorer 4 plus security patches, which is what you get if you apply all of the Service Packs to Windows 98, it has Internet Explorer 5. Some members of the audience reported having migrated machines from Windows 95 to Windows 98 SE without problems. A few reported problems that were traced to leftover Windows 3.1x device drivers for things such as tape drive. The consensus was that if the machine is Windows 95 and is operating well, then Windows 98 SE should upgrade well. If the machine is not stable, then Windows 98 SE might fix it, but is likely to inherit the instability--often caused by obsolete 16-bit device drivers. If it is already Windows 98, then apply the free upgrade downloads; the only thing you will not get is Internet Explorer 5 (you will get Internet Explorer 4 with all of the security upgrades). The best approach, if you can do it, is to install Windows 98 SE on a "clean" machine--i.e. FDISK and FORMAT the drive, then install Windows 98 SE. Be absolutely sure that you do not have ANY applications running when you do the install/upgrade. Especially make sure that antivirus software is completely disabled. Q. Windows 98 SE is an "upgrade" release that expects to find an operating Windows on the hard drive. How do you install it if the drive has just been FDISKed and FORMATted? A. The license requirement (and enforcement by the "sniffer" in the installation process) is that you have a valid license for a previous Windows product. Id does not, however, have to be operational on the machine. To do the clean install (detailed method is described in the "Knowledge Base" or "KB" on the MS Web site: Search for "Install boot floppy and CD"), you need to create a bootable floppy to start the machine and see the CD-ROM. Then boot from this floppy and run E:\SETUP (booting from floppy will create a "virtual" drive D:, so your CD will become E:) During the install process, the "sniffer" will complain that it cannot find your previous Windows release and will offer to look for it on removable media. Put an earlier release of Windows 9x in the CD drive, or the first installation floppy for Windows 3.xx in the A: drive. If you use a Windows 3.xx floppy, be prepared to put as many as three other diskettes in the A: drive when asked. The diskette number varies--I often have had it ask for diskettes 1,2,3 and 6. Once you have installed Windows 98 SE, you will then have to (re)install all your applications. It is a lot of work, but it will also mean that you don't have anything on the machine that doesn't belong there. Q. I have a pair of machines with Windows 98 on them. For testing purposes, I need a machine that has Windows 95 on it! Can I "downgrade" 98 to 95? A. If the machine came with 98 on it, you can not "uninstall" back to 95--you will have to wipe the disk clean (FDISK and FORMAT) as described above. Q. Every three or four days my machine won't boot when I turn on. It complains about registry problems and advises me to reboot. I do so, and everything is fine. How do I determine what is causing the problem? A. The only suggestion we could come up with is to get in the habit interrupting the boot by pressing the F8 key right after the "Starting Windows 95" or "Starting Windows 98" message appears on the screen, and selecting the "Logged" option. If your machine boots with a screen from the machine vendor (such as Compaq) you may have to hit the Esc key to see the "Starting Windows 9x" message. This will cause Windows to write to a file start and complete status for every item in the boot process. When it fails, you will have an indication of what happened. If it doesn't fail, you will have a fairly sizable file (BOOTLOG.TXT?) on your hard disk. Rename a "clean" boot for reference, and then when you have a problem, compare the two. Q. I upgraded from Juno 1.49 (text messages only) to 3.0 (attachments allowed), and now I have a real mess. I had to reload 1.49. Any suggestions? A. Members had been able to install 3.0, but most reported that they installed as a new install rather than as an upgrade. You might try saving all of your current settings, then wiping 1.49 off and installing 3.0 as if you were a new account. Q. I have two notebook machines and would like to transfer data between them using the infrared port. A. The simplest solution is to use LapLink for Windows 95/98/NT. The cheapest solution: Get a LapLink cable and use the "direct cable connection," but this doesn't use the infrared solution. Note: If you are using Windows 95, be aware that the "direct cable connection" has a bug--both machines must be set up to use COM1, or both must use COM2, but you can't have one on COM1 and the other on COM2. To use the infrared ports you need software that knows about the infrared port. There aren't many of them. Q. I tried to register at a collector's Web site and it wouldn't let me, saying that it would not accept registrations from a user with a "free e-mail" e-mail address. Why? A. A recent article in one of the industry watch newspapers (sorry, don't remember which one) reported that the majority of fraudulent transactions in e-commerce are originated by users of free e-mail accounts. Since there is no way to find out who the free account user really is. Since there is no traceable contract with an Internet Service Provider (with a charge card behind it), many vendors attempt to reduce their exposure to fraud by not working with free accounts.

Bruce Preston is president of West Mountain Systems, Inc., a consultancy specializing in database technology. In addition to moderating the Random Access sessions during the General Meeting, he is a member of the DACS Board of Directors and is the chair of the DACS MS Access SIG.