==================================================================== = = = PIPEX Dial Version 3.1 = = = ==================================================================== ----------------------------- Section 1: Installation Notes ----------------------------- 1.0 Installation This version of PIPEX Dial cannot be installed over a version of Dial prior to version 3.1. If you have an existing version of Dial on your PC, then you should upgrade to Dial 3.1 via the Online Upgrade route. Alternatively, you may uninstall your existing Dial software, then install PIPEX Dial 3.1. 1.1 Registration (New Accounts) After installing the PIPEX Dial software, you can register for a PIPEX Dial account by clicking on the 'Register' button in the Quick Launch panel, or by selecting the Commands->How To Register menu. You will be allocated your own personal account and password, and your PIPEX Dial software will be automatically upgraded to the full version. Your new account will remain valid for a number of days after installation. Each time you connect to the Internet with Dial you will be told how many days you have remaining before your account expires. If you wish to continue using Dial after this time you must subscribe to the PIPEX Dial service. To do this, you should click the 'Subscribe' button on the expiry dialog box, or select to the Command->How To Subscribe menu. 1.2 Registration (Existing Account Holders) After installng the PIPEX Dial software, you should register your existing Dial account by clicking on the 'Register' button in the Quick Launch panel, or by selecting the Command->How To Register menu. Your PIPEX Dial software will be automatically upgraded to the full version. ------------------------------------ Section 2: Setting up an email alias ------------------------------------ 2.0 Introduction You have been allocated an email address with your PIPEX Dial account. By default, this address consists of your Dial account username (without the letters sol or bbc if these are given with your account information) @dial.pipex.com For example, if your username is zzz99, your default email address would be zzz99@dial.pipex.com 2.1 Registering an alias You can register a "friendly" email alias of your own choice (perhaps your name or company name) by accessing the PIPEX Dial Support Services web page at URL: http://www.dial.pipex.com/support/ and following the links to the Email Alias Registration Form. Once this email alias has been registered and activated you must continue to log into the service using your current username but you will receive any email sent to either your original email address or your new email alias. 2.2 Restrictions There are a few restrictions to the email alias you can choose: You may only use letters, numbers, "-" or "." Upper and lower case letters are the same, so that "Joe.Smith" is the same as "joe.smith" Spaces cannot be used (we suggest that you replace any spaces with full stops) You may only have one email alias per PIPEX Dial account, so think carefully about what you want it to be before you fill in the registration form. ------------------------------------ Section 3: System File Modifications ------------------------------------ 3.0 Introduction This section describes the modifications that have been made to your system files during installation. 3.1 Modifications to the SYSTEM.INI file Setup adds the following entries: [boot] drivers=\pctcp\wcomapi.dll [386Enh] device=\pctcp\wcomvxd.386 where is the installation drive (eg C:) and is the PIPEX Dial installation directory (eg \DIAL). 3.2 Modifications to the WIN.INI file Setup adds the following entry: [Netscape] ini=\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.INI where is the installation drive and is the PIPEX Dial installation directory. 3.3 Modifications to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file If you allowed Dial to automatically modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file then the following modifications were made. If you skipped this part of the installation you must now insert the following lines yourself. The following lines are added to the top of the file: REM the next line was inserted by PIPEX Dial Version 3.1 set pctcp=\pctcp\pctcp.ini REM the next line was inserted by PIPEX Dial Version 3.1 \pctcp\vxdinit.exe where is the installation drive and is the PIPEX Dial installation directory. The following lines are added immediately after you first set your PATH environment variable, so that \pctcp is added to your PATH: REM the next line was inserted by PIPEX Dial Version 3.1 PATH %PATH%;\pctcp where is the installation drive and is the PIPEX Dial installation directory. ------------------------------------------------- Section 4: Working With Other Networking Software ------------------------------------------------- 4.0 Introduction This section describes how to create a DOS boot menu. You may need to do this in order to run PIPEX Dial on a machine that already has other network software installed. Network software will usually be DOS based or Windows based. DOS based network software will normally be run from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file or the CONFIG.SYS file (DOS startup files) at system boot time. Windows based network software (.DLL or .VXD) may be started from the Windows configuration files (SYSTEM.INI). The DOS startup files can easily be managed by a simple DOS boot menu. You will need to have version 6.0 of DOS or higher. PIPEX recommend that you use the latest version of DOS (6.22) to create a boot menu. The Windows configuration files can be managed by having a number of versions of the relevant files and copying the appropriate version into the Windows directory before Windows is started. 4.1 Example DOS 6.X Boot Menu This example demonstrates how easy it is to create a DOS 6.X boot menu to cater for both PIPEX Dial and Sun Microsystems PC-NFS. If you require further information then please refer to your DOS manuals. CONFIG.SYS ---------- [menu] menuitem=pcnfs, Sun Microsystems PC-NFS menuitem=dial, PIPEX Dial 3.1 menudefault=dial [common] DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS BUFFERS=30,0 FILES=50 DOS=UMB LASTDRIVE=Z DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE DOS=HIGH COUNTRY=044,,C:\DOS\COUNTRY.SYS DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1) STACKS=9,512 [pcnfs] REM pc-nfs specific entries go here DEVICEHIGH=C:\NFS\PCNFS.SYS DEVICE=C:\NFS\SOCKDRV.SYS DEVICE=C:\NFS\NFSODI.SYS [dial] REM no entries required for Dial AUTOEXEC.BAT ------------ REM common lines go here C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /Q PROMPT $p$g PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\DOS MODE CON CODEPAGE PREPARE=((437) C:\DOS\EGA.CPI) MODE CON CODEPAGE SELECT=437 KEYB UK,,C:\DOS\KEYBOARD.SYS SET TZ=GMT0 GOTO %config% :pcnfs REM pc-nfs specific lines go here PATH C:\NFS;%Path%;T:\MISC SET NFSLANG=USA SET NFSPATH=C:\NFS SET TN_DIR=C:\NFS\TELNET SET TNW_DIR=C:\NFS\TELNETW C:\ODI\LSL C:\ODI\EM960 C:\NFS\PRT * C:\NFS\NET INIT C:\NFS\RTM GOTO end :dial REM PIPEX Dial specific lines go here SET PCTCP=\PCTCP\PCTCP.INI \PCTCP\VXDINIT.EXE PATH %PATH%;\PCTCP GOTO end :end where is the installation drive and is the PIPEX Dial installation directory. 4.2 Summary The mechanisms described above are intended to help you and may require some adjustment according to the exact nature of your system. Your System Administrator will be able to help you with this process. ------------------------------------------- Section 5: Trouble Shooting, Hints and Tips ------------------------------------------- 5.0 Netscape Runs Slowly On My System (Windows 3.1/3.11) Netscape needs quite a lot of memory to run. On a system with little memory, Windows may use a swap file to temporarily copy some information to disk. This can slow down your PC. Check that Windows is using a permanent swap file. To do this, run Control Panel from the Program Manager. Double click on the 386 Enhanced icon, then on the Virtual Memory button. If the swap file type is shown as Temporary, click on the Change>> button. In the New Settings section, select Permanent. Accept the recommendation for the swap file size, then click on OK in each of the Windows to finish. This should speed up the operation of your PC.