Network and Communication Tips

Using More Than One Modem at a Time

(Win98, WinME and Win2000)
 If you have two phone lines in your home and want to use them both to dial out,
you can use MultiLink, which will effectively double your connection speed.

1. Create a dial-up connection like your normally would.
2. Right click on the icon and select Properties
3. Click on the Multilink tab
4. Click on Use additional devices
5. Click on the Add
6. Click on the other modem you would like to use
7. If your ISP allows, you can use the same phone number, otherwise enter an additional phone number to dial.
8. You should now connect with both modems.
9. You can confirm this by opening up your dial up connection in the System Tray after you connect.

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Hiding Network Shares

If you want to hide your network shares from being seen by browsing, just end them with a $

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Seeing Servers Your Are Connected To When OnLine

To see what servers you are connected to when on the Internet
Simply run Netstat

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Backing Up Your ISP Settings

If you want to save your ISP settings (name, phone, login id etc.) for future installations:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ RemoteAccess
3. Select Registry / Export Registry
4. Make sure Selected branch is checked
5. For the name, enter any name that will help you remember the purpose of the .reg file
6. Now if you need to restore your ISP settings after a new installation of Windows, you just need to import this file

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Forcing Alpha-Numeric Passwords

In order to force passwords that just use alpha-numeric characters

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Network
3. Create a DWORD entry called AlphanumPwds
4. Give it a value of 1

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Speeding Up Internet Searches

When you go to a web site, the first thing that happens is that a query goes out to the DNS server for IP address of the web site.
In order to eliminate this query, you can simply add the IP address and web name into the HOSTS file in the Windows directory.
To find the IP address, just PING the web name (ping www.microsoft.com)

For example, Microsoft would be:

207.46.130.149 www.microsoft.com #.url

You can do this for all the sites you regularly visit.

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Auto-Dial Internet Connections (Win98)

If Win98 is not automatically dialing your Internet Connection:

1. Open up the Dial Up Networking box
2. Click on Connections / Settings
3. Uncheck Prompt for information before dialing

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Opening the Make New Connection Dialog Box

This command line will pop up the "Make new connection" window. rundll rnaui.dll,RnaWizard /1

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Help Stop Modem Disconnects

If you modem goes offline frequently, it may be due to a temporary lost carrier. To lengthen the time the modem will go offline after the carrier is lost, change the modem properties.

1. Open up the Control Panel
2. Double click on the Modem icon
3. Click on Properties / Connection / Advanced
4. In the Extra Settings, enter S10=10
5. This will enable the modem to stay connected without a carrier for up to 10 seconds.

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Speeding Up Your Modem's Dialing

For Win95, to make that modem dial much faster:

1. Open up the Control Panel
2. Double click on the Modem icon
3. Click on Properties / Connection / Advanced
4. In the Extra Settings enter S11=x , where x is how many milliseconds each tone sounds. Try S11 = 1, then dial, you'll be surprised.

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Showing Your Actual Modem's Connection Speed

Normally when you open up the modem icon in the system try, it shows the port connect speed.
So see your actual modem speed:

1. Go Control Panel
2. Open up the Modems icon
3. Click Properties
4. Click on the Connection tab
5. Click the Advanced button
6. In the Extr Settings, put ATW2L0 (the last character is a zero)

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Increasing Modem Performance

To increase modem performance when connecting to the Internet:

1. Disable compression on your modem
2. In SYSTEM.INI under 386enh section put in: COMxBUFFER=1024 (x is your modem port number )
3. Add AT%C0 (that's a zero),to the extra settings line of your modem's properties.
4. Wwitch errror correction off

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Controlling Your Modem's Speaker

In modem settings switch to the scripting tab and where it says extra settings, type in the following to achieve the following:

1. M0 : switches modem volume off completely
2. &L=1,2, or 3 : changes the volume of the modem 3 being the loudest and 1 the quietest)
3. By experimenting with M0, M1,2 or 3 you are able to turn the modem on during connection only, ring only etc..

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To Find Your IP Address

To find your IP address when connected:

1. Open Explorer
2. In the Windows folder find the file WINIPCFG.
3. Drag a shortcut onto your screen.
4. Now when you are online you can double click the shortcut to see your IP address and other data.

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Determine the Optimal MAX MTU Setting

There are several programs available that will change you MAX MTU setting for you or you can do it by editing the registry directly
An easy way to determine what that setting should be is to use the PING command.
You basically want to start out with a MAX MTU of 1500 then use the PING command as follows:

PING HOST_IP_ADDRESS -f -l PACKET_SIZE

where HOST_IP_ADDRESS is the IP address of the site you want to ping and
PACKET_SIZE is the size of the MAX MTU setting you are trying to test

Keep decreasing the packet size until you don't get any messages regarding fragmentation

To change the MAX MTU setting, see the section on Changing the MaxMTU and other Network Settings

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Faster Access to the Network Properties Box

1. Right click on the Network Neighborhood icon
2. Select Properties to see network configurations.

This is the same result as click on the Start / Settings / Control Panel / Network Icon

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Using UNC Network Names with Files

As already mentioned, you can use long file names in an MS DOS Box.
But you can even use UNC-style network names.

Example: DIR file://server/share1/dir1
will give you all files on the computer named "server", in the share named "share1" and in the directory "dir1".

This does not work with CD, but it will work with MD, RD, DIR, COPY, MOVE, REN, and so on.
I use this in combination with a batch file to copy files to a number of computers on a network.

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Faster Connecting to the Internet

I found that I had to wait about one minute to get connected to the internet.
In your Dial-Up settings, make sure you only have TCP/IP checked and that Log on to Network is not checked.

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Changing the Number of Rings Before Dial-Up Server Answers

To change the number of rings before Dial up Networking Server answers:

1. Find the INF file for the modem in the \WINDOWS\INF directory. The filename will begin with "mdm" and end with characters desciptive of the manufacturer, ie. "supra" for Supra Express modem.
2. Make a copy of this file.
3. Edit this file with notepad and look for a string "HKR, Answer, 1,, "ATA<cr>".
4. Change to HKR, Answer, 1,, "None".
5. A few lines up from this should be the line HKR, Monitor, 1,, "ATS0=0<cr>" Change the value of the S0 register to the number of rings you would like to have the modem answer on.
6. Remove the modem by using the Control panel | System | Device Manager.
7. Reinstall the modem using the REFRESH Button.
8. This should install the modem using the updated INF file.

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Resetting Forgotten Dial-Up Server Password

If you forget the password you set for you Dial-Up Server
simply delete (or rename) the RNA.PWL file in the WINDOWS directory

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Speeding up Dial-Up Networking for Games

To reduce lag on a dial-up connection, ie: for multiplayer network games:

1. Go to Dial-Up Networking
2. Right click the connection you use to play network games
3. Select Server Types & look in the Advanced Options window
4. Uncheck the Enable Software Compression option.
5. Also, in the General tab, look in the Connect Using box, where your modem should appear
6. Click the modem's Configure button.
7. Go to: Connection, Advanced (at the bottom of the Connection window)
8. Make sure that error control is on, but is not set to compress data.

NOTE: This type of connection isn't optimized for browsing, but will work in most cases.

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Monitoring Your Dial-Up Connection

There are some system checks you can use to see how good your ISP and Phone lines are.
You either net OEM SR2 or the ISDN Accelerator Pack 1.1 installed

1. Make sure SYSMON is installed. You can add this through the Control Panel / Add New Programs
2. Run SYSMON
3. Select Edit / Add Item
4. Click on Dial-Up Networking Adapter
5. Select CRC Errors
6. Click on OK

If you have lots of CRC errors, either the phone lines or your modem is having problems.

You can also add Framing Errors and Timeout Errors if you are still having problems and your phone line appears ok.

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No Network Logon Prompt

If you are not being prompted for a logon when starting Windows95,
and you need to be, there are some possible solutions:

1. Your password may be set to be blank
To correct this:

1. Open up the Control Panel
2. Open up Passwords
3. Click on Change Windows Password
4. Your Old Password is blank
5. Enter your password in the New Password and Confirm New Password boxes

2. Registry Setting
You may have an AutoLogon key set in the Registry which needs to be removed

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Network \ Real Mode Net
3. If the key AutoLogon=x appears, delete it

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Not Saving your Dial-Up Password

If and when dial-up networking won't remember your passwords anymore , you can have a corrupted password list file.

Either restore your PWL files from a backup or :
Do a file find on *.PWL and rename them to another extension (*.bak)
This will force dial-up to create a new password file

Notes from Bob: There are a few other possibilities:

1. You need to install Client for Microsoft Networks as part of your network setup.

2. You may have an entry in the registry that is causing problems:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Network \ Real Mode Net \
3. Either delete the key autologon or change the value from 0 to 01

3. If deleting the PWL file did solve the problem, you can also download the Password List Update (278 K) program from Microsoft to prevent it from happening again..

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Fixing a problem with Shortcuts that keep network UNC connections

By default, when you create a shortcut to a network application, both the Drive letter and UNC connection are stored as part of the shortcut.
The reasoning that if the drive letter gets reassigned or deleted, the UNC connection will serve as an additional way to ensure that the application is available.
This can also be a problem because when you want to re-assign the drive to a new server, it will still make the connection to the old one through the UNC

To disable this feature, there is a program called SHORTCUT.EXE in the Admin / Apptools / Envvars directory.
Execute the program with a -? to see a description of the available switches.

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Changing the MaxMTU and other Network Settings

There are four network settings that can be configured so when dialing to an ISP, you should get somewhat greater throughput.
They are the MaxMTU, MaxMSS and DefaultRcvWindow, and DefaultTTL

MaxMTU and MaxMSS

1. Start REGEDIT
2. Go to Hkey_Local_Machine / System / CurrentControlset / Services / Class / netTrans / 000n
   (where n is your particular network adapter binding.)
3. Right click on the right panel
4. Select New / String Value
5. Type in MaxMTU
6. Double click on it and enter then the number you want. The usual change is to 576
7. Similarly, you can add MaxMSS and give it a value of 536 (or 40 less that your Max MTU setting)

DefaultRcvWindows and DefaultTTL

1. Start REGEDIT
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ MSTCP
3. Add a new string DefaultRcvWindow and give it a value of 2144 (or 4 times your MaxMSS setting)
4. Add a new string DefaultTTL and give it a value of 60-64

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Disable Password Caching

As in Windows for Workgroups, when logging on to an NT Domain, it is preferable to disable password caching.
This allows for the single NT Domain login and eliminates the secondary Windows logon screen.
It also eliminates the possibility of the respective passwords to get out of sync.

To disable password caching on the workstation, a one-line addition to the registry needs to be made.
To make the change, create a ASCII text file called DISABLE.REG with the following lines:

  REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001

Open up a DOS box and type REGEDIT DISABLE.REG

You can also download the DISABLE.REG file.

If you need to re-enable password caching, download ENABLE.REG and repeat the process just with the different file name

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Starting a Dial-Up Connection from the Command Line

You can dial your ISP from a command line. This can make it easy to create a batch file that will
do things like dial, start your e-mail and web browser.

The syntax is:
rundll rnaui.dll,RnaDial connectoid

Note: The RnaDial and connectoid components of the command line are case sensitive

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Device Contention when trying to use a Modem

Occasionally, when trying to use your modem, you might get the following errors:

Another program is using the selected Telephony device. Try again after the other program completes.
or
Cannot initialize port

The state of Windows 95 device contention is determined by the value for the "COM n AutoAssign=x"
setting in the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file,
where n is the number of the serial port and x is a value from -1 to 1000.

The default setting in Windows 95 is -1. This setting causes Windows 95 to not release a serial port previously used
by a non-Windows-based program.

If you need hot-swapping capability between an MS-DOS-based communications program and a Windows-based communication program,
add the following entry to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file:

Com n AutoAssign=0

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Unable to Browse the Network

If you do not have a logon password, Windows95 might have problems when you try and browse the network.
Try the following steps to solve the problem.

1. Start REGEDIT
2. Go to Hkey_Local_Machine \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current_version \ Network \ Real mode net
3. Delete the line that says AUTOLOGON=0
4. Save the changes and reboot the system

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Automatic NT Domain Logon

When you need to logon to an NT Domain, Windows95 prompts you for you User ID, Password, and Domain Name
To have Windows95 automatically log you on:

1. Make sure Password Caching is Enabled, No Minimum Password Length has been set, and User Profiles is not enabled
2. Open the Control Panel
3. Double click on the Network icon
4. Change the Primary Network Logon to Windows Logon
5. Click on the OK button
6. Do not restart the computer when prompted
7. Double click on the Passwords icon
8. Click on the Change Windows Password button
9. Do not check the Microsoft Network box
10. Type in your old password and nothing for the new and confirmation password
11. Click on the OK button
12. Restart Windows95
13. Don't type any password for your Windows password. This is what you just set it for.
14. When the Domain Login screen comes up, check Save this password in your password list
15. The next time you start Windows95, you will be automatically logged into your NT Domain.

NOTE: This bypasses the security that logging into an NT Domain is used to provide.
Do not use in areas where security is critical.

You can also download the new Tweak from Microsoft which will also allow you to do the same function.
This will work for Windows95 as well as NT 4.0

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Auto-Dialing for 32-bit Internet Applications

If your 32-bit Internet applications do not automatically invoke your
Windows 95 Dialer, here is a way I found to enable this feature.

1. First, bring up an internet application such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.
2. Next, manually dial into your internet provider by double-clicking your connection icon.
3. Once connected, go to the Control Panel and double-click on the Internet icon.
4. Once the window open, uncheck the checkbox titled "Dial whenever an Internet Connection is needed".
5. Click the check box again and make sure there is a check in the checkbox.
6. Next, click the APPLY button.
7. Finally , click the OK button.

Once you do this, close your internet application and disconnect from your internet provider.
Re-start your Internet application and the Windows 95 dialer should start up.
NOTE: From my experience, all Internet applications will be effected and will automatically start the Windows 95 dialer.

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Dial-Back with Windows95

Some servers use dial-back as a security feature. How this works is that after you connect to the server
it automatically dials you back for verification.

To get Windows95 to hang up the phone and not end the PPP client:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Double Click on the Modems icon
3. Select your modem
4. Click on the Properties button
5. Select Connection tab
6. Click on the Advanced tab
7. In the Extra Settings area enter &C0 S0=1 - They are zeros not "o's"

The S0=1 sets your modem for Auto-Answer after 1 ring
The &C0 avoids ending the PPP client.

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Disabling File and Print Sharing

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
3. Add a new DWord Value
4. Rename it to NoPrintSharing or NoFileSharing
5. Assign it a value of 1

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Changing your Modem's Initialization String

1. Start REGEDIT
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem \ 0000 \ Init
3. Change the settings to the values for your modem

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Easy way to Re-Dial on busy signals

If the line is busy to your provider and you don't want to *wait* until your dialer will re-dial,
just press ESC key and then press enter key or click on connect - meaning it will dial-up again immediately.

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Increasing the Modem Timeout

If your modem it timing out during file transfers or loading Web Pages,
you might try increasing the timeout period.

To change it:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Services / Class / Modem / XXXX / Settings
   Where XXXX is the number of your modem
3. Move to the right panel and double click on Inactivity Timeout
4. The number of minutes for a timeout should be entered between the brackets.
5. For example, a US Robotics Sportster could have S19=<30> to set it to 30 minutes.

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Automatic Re-Dialing for Dial-Up Network

1. Open up My Computer.
2. Open up Dial-Up Networking.
3. Go to the Connection Menu then Settings.
4. Make sure Redial is checked.
5. Set the number of times you want to redial, up to 100 times.
6. Click Ok and your off !

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Potential problems leaving 16-bit winsock.dll's

If you re having problems getting some of your winsock applications
to work under Win95, make sure you delete any old 16-bit winsock.dll's.

If this file is in the directory were the application resides, it could
cause problems. Programs that could have problems like this are:

• Ewan.exe (Telnet app)
• WSIRC.exe (IRC app)
• WSGopher.exe (Gopher app)
• NX.Exe (NewsXpress)
• Netscape v.1.0

We found that if the software listed above is in the same directory as the
Trumpet Winsock.dll file, then they will NOT work under the MS-TCP/IP stack.