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4

Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking and TCP/IP

Here is where the excitement starts. You will have a connection to the Internet by the end of this chapter. We have much to cover about Windows 95, TCP/IP, and Dial-Up Networking. You'll also install a very handy file compression/decompression program called WinZip, which will help you install various software included on the CD.

The topics are presented in order in a hands-on fashion. We cover just as much as you need to know because we want to stick to our promise of getting you up and running as quickly as possible.

Preparing Windows 95

First, you need to decide what the disk drive and directory structure will be. For the sample site you will be building in this book, the C: drive (at least 300 MB) will be the system drive on which you install Windows 95, utilities, and other programs (Internet client applications). Although it isn't mandatory, we think it's a good idea to keep your operating system and application programs physically separated from your Web site files and directories.

If you haven't already done so, now is the time to install Windows 95. We don't have the space to discuss the details of installing Win95, but we will cover aspects of configuring Windows 95 as necessary. For help in installing Win95, please see the Microsoft guides that accompany the product.

The D: drive will be dedicated to Web files and FTP files for the Web site. The larger it is, the better. A 1 GB drive might seem excessive for a small company, but it should allow you room to grow. The next step is to map out a directory structure for the D: drive. We suggest you create the following subdirectories as a good way to organize your Web site:

These will be all of the directories needed to start out. As time goes by and the company grows, other directories can be added to logically separate additional HTML files. For example, you might also install the SMTP server (Chapter 17) and the FTP server (Chapter 18) on the D: drive.

Now comes the fun part: getting the Windows 95 Internet components installed and configured. The rest of this chapter assumes that you already have Windows 95 installed and are ready to set up TCP/IP and Dial-Up Networking.

Installing and Configuring TCP/IP

This section shows you how to install TCP/IP before Dial-Up Networking; when you install the latter, it will automatically make use of any network protocols already loaded. There are many ways to configure Windows 95 for Internet access, but we can't begin to describe every possible scenario. So we are going to stick to the bare essentials. In most cases, this should be sufficient and it might even help keep things as simple as possible. We will not discuss LAN configuration issues; but nor will our suggestions conflict with a LAN configuration (for example, when connecting a Windows 95 machine to a Windows NT LAN server).

For more information about configuring Windows 95 for the Internet, see the Windows 95 Resource Kit published by Microsoft. If you don't want to pay $50 for that book/CD and you do have the CD version of Windows 95 itself, you can peruse the Resource Kit help file by pointing Explorer to this path on the CD: \Admin\Reskit\Helpfile\Win95rk.hlp. Just double-click the file, and you can read all the material that is contained in the printed Resource Kit.

Another helpful resource is The Windows 95 TCP/IP Setup HOW-TO/FAQ, compiled by Michael Rose. It can be found online at this URL:

http://www.aa.net/~pcd/slp95faq.html

The first thing to do is check if you already have TCP/IP running in Windows 95. (This is in case you aren't sure how the operating system was installed on your machine when you bought it.) These steps will check if you have it; if not, we'll show you how to add it:

  1. Click Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel. You can also get to the Control Panel via My Computer or Explorer, but the Start Menu seems a little quicker on my machine.

  2. Double-click the Network icon. You should see the dialog shown in Figure 4.1. If your screen shows TCP/IP in the list, as this one does, you can skip to the section titled "Configuring TCP/IP."

    Figure 4.1. This Windows 95 machine already has TCP/IP.

  3. If you don't have TCP/IP loaded already, choose the Add button. You should see the dialog shown in Figure 4.2.

    Figure 4.2. Adding Windows 95 network components.

  4. Select Protocol in the list and choose the Add button again. You'll see the dialog shown in Figure 4.3.

    Figure 4.3. This dialog adds Microsoft TCP/IP.

  5. Select Microsoft in the list on the left and TCP/IP in the list on the right. Choose OK.

Now TCP/IP will be loaded on your machine each time Windows 95 is started. Look back to Figure 4.1 for a moment. You should now see TCP/IP in the list on your machine just as in Figure 4.1. You might see other network protocols (for example, NetBEUI or IPX/SPX) in the list on your machine as well. If you are not running on a LAN, you can select and remove these protocols. Removing unused protocols frees a little extra memory for Windows 95 to run other programs. If you are running on a LAN, you should probably not remove other protocols unless you are certain they are not used by the other computers that you need to communicate with.

Speaking of optimizing memory, another thing you don't need if you are not on a LAN is the Client for Microsoft Networks. If that shows up in the Network list, remove it unless you are planning to log into a Windows LAN. The Client component lets you set your network password and share your files with other machines on the network. You wouldn't want to do that on the Internet.

Configuring TCP/IP

Getting TCP/IP loaded is only the beginning; you still have to configure it with an Internet address and enter some information about the ISP. Here are the steps to do this:

  1. If the Control Panel Network dialog is not showing, click Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel. Double-click the Network icon.

  2. Select TCP/IP in the listbox and choose Properties.

  3. Click the IP Address tab as shown in Figure 4.4.

    Figure 4.4. Configure the IP Address for TCP/IP.

  4. Select the radio button titled Specify an IP address. Fill in the 4-byte IP Address given to you by your ISP or your network administrator. You do not have to fill in the Subnet Mask unless one has specifically been given to you. If it is left blank, Windows 95 will default to the Class-C Subnet Mask, which is 255.255.255.0.

  5. There are two tabs to go before closing this dialog. Choose the DNS Configuration tab as shown in Figure 4.5.

    Figure 4.5. Enter the DNS information provided by your ISP.

  6. Select the radio button titled Enable DNS. Fill in the Host name of your computer and your Domain name that you registered with your ISP or with the InterNIC. If you haven't officially received your domain name, you might want to leave DNS disabled and operate with the IP address only.

  7. In the textbox for DNS Server Search Order, enter the 4-byte IP address of the Domain Name Server that your ISP is running. Choose Add. You may enter additional IP addresses if others are provided to you. The Domain Suffix Search Order is optional.

  8. Click the Gateway tab, as shown in Figure 4.6.

    Figure 4.6. Configure the Gateway IP Address provided by your ISP.

  9. In the textbox for New Gateway, enter the 4-byte IP address provided by your ISP. Choose Add to include it in the list of Installed gateways.

  10. Choose OK to return to the Control Panel Network dialog. TCP/IP is now configured.

If you chose OK in the Network dialog at this point, Windows would ask if you wanted to reboot. That is a necessary step to make these changes take effect. After you complete the next section, you might need to reboot again.

Installing Dial-Up Networking

Dial-Up Networking could have been installed at the same time that Windows 95 was installed. If you upgraded from Windows for Workgroups with RAS installed, Windows 95 would automatically install Dial-Up Networking. Follow these steps to see if you have it, or add it if it isn't currently loaded:

  1. Click Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel. Double-click the icon labeled Add/Remove Programs.

  2. Click the Windows Setup tab as shown in Figure 4.7.

    Figure 4.7. This is the Windows 95 Setup dialog.

  3. Select the row for Communications and choose the Details button. This opens the dialog shown in Figure 4.8.

    Figure 4.8. Listing the Communications components of Windows 95.

  4. If Dial-Up Networking is not checked, please check it and choose OK. Otherwise, choose Cancel.

Now Dial-Up Networking is installed. There are two sections to go before you can connect to the Internet. In the next section, you'll configure the Dial-Up Adapter to use the right protocols.

Configuring the Dial-Up Adapter

Here are the steps to prepare the Dial-Up adapter for use with the Internet.

  1. Click Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel. Double-click the Network icon. If you do not see the Dial-Up Adapter in the list, you need to reboot so that the changes from the previous section will take effect.

  2. Select the Dial-Up Adapter in the list and choose the Properties button.

  3. Click the Bindings tab. You will see the dialog shown in Figure 4.9.

    Figure 4.9. Checking the Dial-Up Adapter bindings.

  4. Make sure that TCP/IP is in the list and that it is checked.

  5. Click the Advanced tab as shown in Figure 4.10. You have the option of using a log file. Selecting No is probably more efficient unless you plan on debugging your connection. Select Yes for the option to Use IPX Header Compression. This option might not be compatible with your ISP so you might want to check with them first. If you aren't able to get an answer to this question, try running with it on. If that doesn't work, you can always come back and turn it off later. Choose OK.

    Figure 4.10. Configuring the Dial-Up Adapter Advanced settings.

  6. Now you need to choose OK on the Control Panel Network dialog. It will be necessary to reboot.

Making a Dial-Up Connection to the Internet

Here are the steps to call your ISP and connect to the Internet.

  1. After your computer has finished a reboot from the previous section, double-click My Computer. You should see a new item for Dial-Up Networking. Double-click it. If it isn't there, you still need to go through the steps in the previous section.

  2. You should see an icon or a list item titled Make New Connection. The manner in which the folder is displayed depends on the settings in the View menu. Our screen looks like Figure 4.11. Double-click the icon for Make New Connection.

    Figure 4.11. Making a new Dial-Up Networking connection.

  3. You will see the wizard designed for making new connections. Follow through the steps it presents you: Select your modem, enter the phone number of your local ISP, and assign a name to this connection.

  4. Depending on the login sequence with your ISP, you might need to use the option to bring up a terminal window after the modem connection is made. The way to do this is in the first step of the wizard; choose the Configure button underneath Select a Modem. Then click the Options tab, as shown in Figure 4.12.

    Figure 4.12. Enabling the terminal window after dialing.

  5. After finishing the new connection wizard, you should have a new icon in the Dial-Up Networking folder. Right-click it and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. You should see the dialog in Figure 4.13.

    Figure 4.13. Customizing the properties of the ISP connection.

  6. Choose the Server Type button. You will see the dialog shown in Figure 4.14.

    Figure 4.14. Setting the Server Type for the ISP connection.

  7. Select the item for PPP: Windows 95, Windows NT 3.5, Internet. This assumes that your ISP offers PPP service. If not, consult the Windows 95 Resource Kit for more information about establishing SLIP connections. Select the other options as shown in Figure 4.14. For example, make sure TCP/IP is checked. You won't be able to use an encrypted password unless your ISP provides that feature. Similarly, the ISP must permit software compression, or you should not check that item. If you are unsure, turn on Enable Software Compression and see if it works. Choose OK to save the Server Types dialog and choose OK again to save the new connection properties.

Now you are ready to try the connection. You might want to drag the new icon from the Dial-Up Networking folder to your desktop to create a shortcut for easy access. Then double-click the icon to connect to the Internet.

Installing WinZip

WinZip is shareware developed by Nico Mak Computing, Inc. It is necessary that you use some form of a Pkunzip file decompression utility before installing the Web server and the Web editor.

WinZip is a self-extracting archive on the CD-ROM. The file is called WZNT56.EXE (or WZBT60.EXE). All you need to do to install it is copy the file to a WinZip or Utilities directory on your server and then double-click the file from Explorer. After the file extracts itself in a DOS Prompt window, you can run the WinZip setup program. Just double-click SETUP.EXE in the directory in which WinZip was extracted. The setup program will install WinZip and start WinZip for you. You should see the main WinZip screen, which is shown in Figure 4.15.


Figure 4.15. The WinZip main window.

What's Next

Now that you have installed Dial-Up Networking, TCP/IP, and WinZip, you're poised to conquer the Internet. The next several chapters walk you (quickly) through the process of using several common client applications: two e-mail clients, two Web browsers, one FTP client, and two newsreaders.

Our reasons for introducing these client applications (even though the book is about running an Internet server) is that some readers might need help in understanding the impact and the wide array of client tools that having an Internet connection suddenly brings to the desktop. Secondly, these client applications were selected because they are essential to the online research that a good Webmaster will conduct on a regular basis to seek support and stay informed.

We'll wrap up Part II of the book by installing our first server software: the Web server. Actually, two of them!

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