To discuss the ups and downs of installing Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 95, the guest was Stephen H. Wildstrom of BW's Technology & You column.
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Good evening and welcome to Business Week Online. Tonight's your chance to swap war stories about installing that hot new product -- Windows 95 -- and to ask for help from an expert, Stephen H. Wildstrom, editor of Business Week's popular Technology & You column and himself a beta tester for Win95. Steve promises to pass any especially bewildering Win95 problems on to Microsoft.
Steve Wildstrom (SWildBW) has been editing the Technology & You column since mid-1994. Prior to that, he served as senior news editor in BW's Washington bureau for eight years and as a correspondent in Washington and Detroit. He has written frequently about Win95 in his column.
The moderator of this conference is Jack Dierdorff (JackBW), consulting editor of BW Online and former managing editor of the magazine. And now on to the ups and downs of installing Win95 -- and the questions and comments you send us here on stage via the Interact button.
JackBW: Good evening to all of you here on AOL. And hi, Steve Wildstrom.
SWildBW: Good evening.
JackBW: Steve, I have an opening question for you. What was your own experience installing Win95?
SWildBW: I've done maybe a dozen installations by now on a variety of equipment. Only two stand out as memorably awful. One was the first, an install of an early beta more than a year ago. We had so much trouble that Microsoft sent a developer out to fix it. And Brad Silverberg, who heads the Win95 team, ordered a copy of the network card we were using to see if he could duplicate the problem in Redmond (he did).
The other delight was an HP OmniBook 600, which uses a weird mouse. I had to get through the whole setup procedure with just the keyboard and, believe me, Windows 95 wasn't designed to be used that way.
JackBW: Here's a follow-up question.
Question: What's the biggest problem most people are encountering when trying to install Win95?
SWildBW: Well, a lot of folks installing from floppies are finding that the installation blows up when they reach the second disk. Microsoft originally blamed this problem on viruses lurking on the machines' hard drives, but there's probably a simpler -- though harder to fix -- explanation. Disk one is a normal 1.44-megabyte floppy. The others, beginning with two, use a special format to cram about 1.8 MB onto the disk. And it seems that some floppy drives just can't read these so-called DMF disks. The other big problem is stuff left over in configuration files -- AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS -- that cause conflicts with Win95 but that Win95 isn't smart enough to remove without being told to.
JackBW: Now, here's an unusual problem, from CGottesmann.
Question: I really like Windows 95 so far, but I installed Doom on my Pentium 75 and now, in order keep my computer from crashing, I need to run the game before I do anything else. What could cause this?
SWildBW: I'm not quite sure what you mean by "before anything else." Doom wants to run in what's called "exclusive DOS" mode, and maybe something you're doing blocks it from getting the control of the machine it wants. By the way, I've had a look at Doom95, using the new DirectX games stuff that will be part of the tune-up release of Win95. I'm not a Doomster, but the graphics were very impressive. And it's a real Windows application that behaves itself.
JackBW: Try this one from Air02.
Question: I have loaded Win95 on several different systems with only minor problems -- Genoa Phantom 32i video accelerator will not work in setres [a resolution-setting utility]. I am also unhappy with printer spooling, much slower than 3.1. Have any of these problems been reported?
SWildBW: You shouldn't be using setres as a separate program. Instead, right-click on an empty area of the desktop, and you'll get the Display properties dialog. Go to the settings tab and do your resolution (and color-depth) adjustments there. I haven't noticed any print-spooling problems, but it depends on what printer and driver you are using.
JackBW: MikeMerc in South Plainfield, N.J., throws in this question.
Question: Do you recommend backing up your hard drive before installing Windows 95?
SWildBW: Yes. You should always back up before doing anything drastic like installing a new OS. And you'll need it if you want to go back to the old Windows. But backup is kind of a sore subject. Windows 3.1 backup software won't work with Windows 95. The backup software that Microsoft included is pretty terrible. And the first Win95 tape backup software just hit the market last week. This has forced a lot of people to live dangerously.
JackBW: WikidWayz has a question for you now, Steve.
Question: I've noticed that the DOS Print command under Win95 lists the /D: option, but yet doesn't support it. Will this be cleared up in a maintenance release?
SWildBW: I haven't heard about this one. Frankly, I haven't spent a lot of time messing with old DOS stuff, but I can check. I don't even remember what the /D switch does.
JackBW: BobA in Teaneck, N.J., sends us this,
Question: Are any of the software packages that are supposed to double your RAM any good for use with Win95?
SWildBW: There are two on the market, and I've only had a chance to test one. The first is SoftRAM 95 from Syncronys. Both my informal tests and more rigorous testing by our sister organization, National Software Testing Labs, found it had little or no effect on performance. Quarterdeck has just shipped MagnaRAM, and I have not seen it. I was talking the other day to some folks from Connectix, which makes RAM Doubler for 3.1 and the Mac, and they say they are having a difficult time figuring out ways to improve Microsoft's memory utilization. So the short answer is "no."
JackBW: Take this next.
Question: After the initial publicity over Win95, the hype over the program seems to have all but disappeared. How are sales of the program going?
SWildBW: Microsoft says they're on target. They're clearly below the more optimistic estimates of some analysts, but those didn't have much basis in reality. Microsoft people told me a long time ago they'd be happy if 15% of the installed base upgraded, and numbers in the corporate world now are well below that. This will change dramatically next year. And the most important source of sales to the home market will be as the installed OS on new machines.
JackBW: LasaterJ has a chip question.
Question: This isn't really about installation, but what are your thoughts about running Win95 with the new P6 chip?
SWildBW: Well, you can't at the moment, because you can't actually buy a P6 machine. But from the test data that Intel and others have released, it appears there will be relatively little performance advantage on the early P6s -- now officially called the Pentium Pro -- versus a fast Pentium. Intel is pushing Windows NT or Netware for the P6.
JackBW: JasKo is up next.
Question: It seems to me that my system has lost a lot of speed since installation. Any ideas?
SWildBW: This should not be the case, so something is wrong. First thing to do is to right-click My Computer and select Properties. Look at the Performance tab. If the message is anything but "Your system is optimally configured," you have a problem, and sometimes the box will even tell you what the problem is. If that doesn't help, try removing everything from config.sys and autoexec.bat that you don't absolutely need to make sure that you are running new 32-bit protected mode drivers for everything. For example, Stacker will run under Win95, but it's a "real mode" device and will really slow your system down.
JackBW: Here's one from RichardWay.
Question: Why does Win95 always want to access your CD-ROM drive?
SWildBW: It shouldn't unless a program is convinced it needs something off that drive. Windows Setup will always look to the drive Windows was installed from when it needs a file, but this shouldn't happen in the normal run of things.
JackBW: You referred earlier to corporate buying -- and we have a question about that.
Question: Can you tell yet if corporations are jumping on the Win95 bandwagon? What's cheaper for most companies: upgrade their current machines for Win95, or buy all new ones?
SWildBW: Most corporations will be making their move in early '96, and the big question in my mind is how many will bypass Win95 and go straight to Windows NT when the Win95 user interface becomes available for it next year. As for whether to upgrade hardware or software, I think that depends on what you have. In our office, we have a lot of 386s, and those are going to have to be upgraded. But if you have reasonably fast 486s with at least 8 MB of memory and reasonably large hard disks, you'll be O.K. with your hardware for a year or two.
JackBW: BobA in New Jersey is back with a somewhat loaded question.
Question: Listening to some of your suggested fixes, it sounds like you need to be a software engineer to master Win95. Is the same true if you buy a comparable Mac?
SWildBW: Second things first. Setting up a Mac remains significantly easier than setting up any flavor of Windows. But that said, Win95 is, in fact, far easier to install than any previous version. The great majority of people have no significant problems at all, but they don't have questions either.
JackBW: MikeMerc wants more about what to prune before installing.
Question: Steve, I've heard you should trim your autoexec.bat and config.sys before installing Win95. How do you know what can go and what to keep?
SWildBW: I would remark out (put the word REM at the start of the line) every line you don't absolutely need. For example, if you're installing from a CD-ROM, you have to keep the two lines in CONFIG.SYS and the MSCDEX line in AUTOEXEC.BAT that set up your CD. Win95 will clean them up anyway. The nice thing about REMming out the lines is that the text is saved so that you can restore them if they prove essential. Make sure to have a bootable DOS floppy with the DOS EDLIN.COM program on hand so that you have a way to boot and fix your config files if things get really messed up.
JackBW: How about this question next?
Question: Is part of the problem the instructions Microsoft supplies? I've found that's often a big contributing factor with any kind of high-tech gear.
SWildBW: Basically, Microsoft supplies only the sketchiest of information. If you really want to know what's going on, you need the Windows 95 Resource Kit. It's a single 1,300-page volume and costs $50, but it's invaluable if you really want to understand what's happening.
JackBW: The news isn't all bad from DDNetwork.
Question: I found Win95 quite easy to install over WFWG. However, I still haven't gotten my HP to print (other than in DOS) -- Win95 driver and all.
SWildBW: What sort of HP?
JackBW: On another front, Steve, have you tried Microsoft Network -- and if so, what do you think of it so far?
SWildBW: Frankly, I don't like it very much. It's slow, and there just isn't very much content. I don't know quite what to read into this, but Microsoft is conducting the support forum for Club Win, an informal group of Win95 advocates and helpers, and the Windows 96 beta forum on CompuServe, not MSN.
JackBW: Now, another question about backup for Win95.
Question: Why didn't Microsoft ship Win95 with a backup utility? Nor did Symantec include a backup in the new Norton Utilities. Are third-party backup utilities ready yet?
SWildBW: I got a copy of Conner's Backup Exec 95 yesterday, and I understand HP Colorado is also shipping a program. Iomega should be out shortly. Microsoft did include a utility, but it's not very good and doesn't support a lot of drives. Why this happened remains a mystery; it caught both testers and the tape-drive makers by surprise.
JackBW: As our time runs out, here's a question about the future, from RichardWay. He wants to know when there will be an update to Win95.
SWildBW: Two are in the works. A "tune-up kit," mostly consisting of missing drivers and bug fixes, was originally scheduled for November but will now ship in early '96 (it wouldn't be a true Win 95 product if it came out on time). The next version, sort of Windows 95 1.1, but officially called Windows 96 and code-named Nashville, is about to start beta testing. I don't know much about it, and I'm afraid I couldn't tell you right now if I did because of nondisclosure agreements.
JackBW: And a similar question here, Steve -- make it quick, because we have to sign off.
Question: Does it make any sense to install the early versions of Win95, or would it just be better to wait six or eight months until the remaining bugs are eliminated?
SWildBW: I think most users will do fine with the current versions. All things considered, this is the cleanest first version of an OS that I've seen. And in closing, I'd like to invite anyone who wants to follow up to contact me by E-mail at SWildBW here on AOL or at tech&you@businessweek.com.
JackBW: Thanks, Steve, that's it for tonight.
OnlineHost: Thanks to Steve Wildstrom of Business Week's Technology & You column and all the BW Online team for this conference on installing Windows 95. And thanks to all of you on AOL -- with apologies to any of you whose questions we didn't have time for. If you'd like to continue the discussion, we invite you to move to the BW Online Chat Room.
Or you can post comments and questions on the BW Online Message Boards (where there are already related postings under Computers & Communications). Transcripts of this and all other BW Online conferences are available soon after the event (look under Talk, Special Events, or Search BW, or for this one also in BW Online's Computer Room, under What's New on the opening screen).
Mark your calendars for another BW Online event this week. Talk about Ross Perot and third-party prospects for '96 (Colin Powell, anyone?) on Thursday, Oct. 12 (9 pm ET, Odeon). Plus, remember to join us in the Globe every : Sunday at 9 pm ET for BW Online's weekly conference with editors and newsmakers, usually featuring a discussion of the Cover Story in the current issue of Business Week. Thanks again and goodnight!
Copyright 1995 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
