new stuff in OEM SR2
Eric Gisin
I just installed a recent version of Win95 Service Release 2 (build
1111, 1115 is out there too). If you are looking for it, make sure you
don't use an earlier build, and don't even consider the 26-disk version,
which is some idiots idea of a sick joke. A working version will be 50MB
or more (35+ disks).
Here are my latest notes. I have older, general info on SR2 at
http://www.webhaven.com/ericg/Windows-Version.htm.
OEM SR2 build 1111 (release candidate C).
Installation
You will need 50-70MB free to install over Win95.
Control Panel / System
Some new stuff under Device Manager
System / PCI bus
New setting sheets (no online help on any of these options):
device enumeration: use hardware or BIOS radio buttons.
override bridges, use IRQ steering, get IRQ table from PCIBIOS version
2.1 checkboxs.
(If anyone knows what what they do, let me know)
System / PnP BIOS
New settings sheet: disable NVRAM/ESCD updates checkbox.
SoundVideoGame / Creative Labs SB 16
I used to have just SB 16 here, SR2 added two:
Ad Lib Gold Compabible and
MPU-401 Compatible (what's this?)
Hard Disk / Standard Dual PCI IDE controller
New setting sheet:
drop down menu with Default / Both / Primary / Secondary / None channels
selectable.
The child devices, Primary/Secondary IDE controller, now default to
dual-fifo,
whereas Win95 defaulted to single-fifo for all but Intel PIIX devices.
This gives systems with disks on both Pri/Sec controllers the advantage
of
simultaneous I/O on both disks (assuming you have balanced things).
(I actually modified the original Win95 INF file to enable dual-fifo)
Control Panel / Power
Allow Windows to manage power use checkbox.
Advanced Properties sheet with checkbox for Suspend on Start Menu.
Disk Drives can be set to spin down after # minutes (is this good for
them?)
Control Panel / Display
A lot of stuff from DirectX 2 betas (that disappeard in the final) is
available in SR2.
Win95 is much more careful when changing modes and monitor type, always
asking if you want to keep or ignore new refresh rates.
Before, you had to reboot in safe mode when you screwed things up.
The settings tab has a checkbox to put the display icon on the task bar
(quickres).
The Advance Display Properties sheet has three tabs now.
The Adaptor tab gives you a summary of Adaptor/Driver information.
A Refresh Rate pull down tab lets you choose between BIOS default rates
and Optimal (as allowed by your monitor type).
The Monitor tab gives you checkboxes for Energy Star complient Monitor,
Auto detect PnP monitors, Reset display on Suspend/Resume.
The Performance tab lets you disable display accelerator functions,
and has some compatibility radio-buttons for mode switching.
Control Panel / Fonts
New fonts (from IE 3): Arial Black, Comic Sans MS, Impact, Verdana
family.
New Dial-Up Networking
The DUN setting property sheet has new options when establishing a
connnection:
show icon on tasktab after connecting, prompt for information before
dialing,
and show a confirmation dialog after connection.
The connectiod property sheet now has three tabs:
General (as before), Server Types (readily accessable now), and
Scripting (now standard).
An active connection now shows up as just an icon in the task bar.
Double clicking it gives you the Connected to ... window, now with bytes
sent/received.
New MAPI and Windows Messaging (was Exchange Client).
[TODO]
New stuff installed by default
These are installed by default, without any choice during setup
nor does Add/Remove Programs offer any way to delete them.
DirectX 2, ActiveMovie, ...
Internet Explorer 3 (build 1155) is now part of the Windows 95 core.
The SR2 version installs in \Program Files\Internet Explorer,
The downloadable version installs in \Program Files\Microsoft Internet.
It would be best to uninstall IE 3 before upgrading to SR2,
since the other version will not be deleted.
[check whether the security/cache-bug update (build 1158) installs
correctly]
There are four Online Service's software installed under
\Program Files\Online Services and ...\Microsoft Network.
Straight to the Recycle Bin with these.
FAT32
I'm not going to touch this. Success/Horror stories appreciated.
Does anyone know what really happens when you run fdisk and answer yes
to the FAT32 question?
Stuff I haven't found
Desktop Management. Any ideas.
Personal Web Server. Windows help mentions it.
Eric Gisin, Vancouver.bc.ca -- Windows/UNIX/Internet Consulting
http://www.webhaven.com/ericg/ mailto:er...@unixg.ubc.ca
Charles Vegman
In article <322cafde...@news.ucs.ubc.ca>, er...@unixg.ubc.ca (Eric Gisin) wrote:
>I just installed a recent version of Win95 Service Release 2 (build
>1111, 1115 is out there too). If you are looking for it, make sure you
>don't use an earlier build, and don't even consider the 26-disk version,
>which is some idiots idea of a sick joke. A working version will be 50MB
>or more (35+ disks).
>
>Here are my latest notes. I have older, general info on SR2 at
>http://www.webhaven.com/ericg/Windows-Version.htm.
>
>OEM SR2 build 1111 (release candidate C).
>
>
>Eric Gisin, Vancouver.bc.ca -- Windows/UNIX/Internet Consulting
>http://www.webhaven.com/ericg/ mailto:er...@unixg.ubc.ca
Thanks for the summary, Eric. I installed release C (39 disks) on 8/14/96
over my existing Win95 with no problems. I am curious, tho, does this release
have an expiration date?
Vegman
Eric Gisin
One more thing, I found Personal Web Server.
On Control Panel / Networking, click Add / Service / Personal Web
Server. When you reboot, it's on the task bar and control panel.
I think its the same PWS from FrontPage and NT WS 4, but there is no
Help/About to verify it. I never heard Microsoft or the press report PWS
for OEM SR2, is this a scoop?
Eric Gisin
veg...@aztec.asu.edu (Charles Vegman) wrote:
>Thanks for the summary, Eric. I installed release C (39 disks) on 8/14/96
>over my existing Win95 with no problems. I am curious, tho, does this release
>have an expiration date?
You must have the same version I got, 39 disks.
I heard the betas will expire in October. I tried setting the month to
Oct/Nov/Dec, and it still rebooted fine. May the release candidate don't
expire. Cross your fingers.
Charles Vegman
>I heard the betas will expire in October. I tried setting the month to
>Oct/Nov/Dec, and it still rebooted fine. May the release candidate don't
>expire. Cross your fingers.
>
>Eric Gisin, Vancouver.bc.ca -- Windows/UNIX/Internet Consulting
>http://www.webhaven.com/ericg/ mailto:er...@unixg.ubc.ca
Thanks for the info. I was going to try changing the date on my machine to
test whether the C release would expire, but you saved me the trouble.
I have found a program called tbfix which fixes the expiration date for the
beta releases. According to the readme file, the betas are supposed to provide
some sort of warning in the month before they expire. Of course, I would
prefer not to have to resort to the progam fix.
Vegman
Susan Heming
veg...@aztec.asu.edu (Charles Vegman) writes:
>In article <322ded7...@news.ucs.ubc.ca>, er...@unixg.ubc.ca (Eric Gisin) wrote:
>>I heard the betas will expire in October. I tried setting the month to
>>Oct/Nov/Dec, and it still rebooted fine. May the release candidate don't
>>expire. Cross your fingers.
>>
>>Eric Gisin, Vancouver.bc.ca -- Windows/UNIX/Internet Consulting
>>http://www.webhaven.com/ericg/ mailto:er...@unixg.ubc.ca
>Thanks for the info. I was going to try changing the date on my machine to
>test whether the C release would expire, but you saved me the trouble.
>I have found a program called tbfix which fixes the expiration date for the
>beta releases. According to the readme file, the betas are supposed to provide
>some sort of warning in the month before they expire. Of course, I would
>prefer not to have to resort to the progam fix.
Here's one interesting anomaly I've found in the OEMSR2. Almost all entries
in the device manager tab of the system properties shows "No driver files
are required or have been loaded for this device". The fact is, there
ARE drivers loaded: if I print out the properties to a file or printer,
it shows them, along with their version numbers.
Colin Sewell
cse...@infomatch.com
Charles Vegman
In article <50ph6e$e...@nntp.ucs.ubc.ca>, hem...@unixg.ubc.ca (Susan Heming) wrote:
>veg...@aztec.asu.edu (Charles Vegman) writes:
>Here's one interesting anomaly I've found in the OEMSR2. Almost all entries
>in the device manager tab of the system properties shows "No driver files
>are required or have been loaded for this device". The fact is, there
>ARE drivers loaded: if I print out the properties to a file or printer,
>it shows them, along with their version numbers.
>
>Colin Sewell
>cse...@infomatch.com
Confirmed. I also noted that one after installing OEMSR2. I recall my
reaction was something like "Hey, WAIT a minute..."
V