
Windows 98 From A to Z


- W -
WaveTop Data Broadcasting
WaveTop Data Broadcasting is a new wireless technology that allows you to acquire
the "Best of the Web" content, as well as software downloads, without using
either an ISP or a telephone line. WaveTop uses a combination of your local television
service and the TV Tuner card that is installed in your PC.
NOTE: If you don't own a TV Tuner card,
this service (just like WebTV) isn't for you. Likewise, this technology isn't quite
ready for laptop/notebook computer prime time, so don't attempt to use it unless
you possess a solid knowledge of your computer's hardware and internal components.
- 1. To install the WaveTop Data Broadcasting service, click the Start
button and choose Settings, Control Panel, as shown in Figure W.1.
Figure W.1
- 2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel
window, as shown in Figure W.2.
- 3. Click the Windows Setup tab in the Add/Remove Programs Properties
dialog box, and then scroll to the Web TV for Windows selection. Click the Web
TV for Windows selection box to highlight it, and then click the Details button,
as shown in Figure W.3.
Figure W.2
Figure W.3
- 4. Click the WaveTop Data Broadcasting check box, as shown in Figure
W.4, and then click the OK button to return to the previous screen.
Figure W.4
- 5. Click OK in the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box. The software
will be installed from the Windows 98 CD-ROM.
Configuring WaveTop Data Broadcasting To configure the WaveTop Data Broadcasting
service, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button, choose Programs, Accessories,
and then click the WaveTop entry, as shown in Figure W.5.
- 2. The WaveTop Network Initialization window appears, as shown in Figure
W.6.
Figure W.5
Figure W.6
- 3. The WaveTop software scans all the TV channels in your viewing area
in an attempt to find the local PBS station (a public broadcasting station). During
this process, the WaveTop Receiver Channel Scan window, shown in Figure W.7, appears.
This screen estimates the time remaining for the scanning process.
- 4. Unfortunately, as shown in Figure W.8, most of the time you'll receive
an error message stating that a compatible WaveTop channel could not be found. This
shouldn't discourage you from continuing to try to use this service. This idea is
way ahead of its time, and as such, will probably take a bit more time for it to
work on a regular basis (just like the early days of cellular telephones).
Figure W.7
Figure W.8
Web-Based Enterprise Management
Web-based Enterprise Management includes the components necessary for system administrators
and technical support personnel to provide remote problem tracking and systems administration.
This isn't a feature for a home computer, nor is it designed for the non-professionals
in the audience. However, those of you on corporate networks should probably be aware
of this feature so that you don't accidentally delete it because you want more hard
drive space available for your games.
Web Publishing Wizard
The Windows 98 Web Publishing Wizard provides an easy way to place, or publish,
your individual Web pages or sites on an Internet or intranet server. To use this
utility, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button, choose Programs, Internet
Explorer, and then click Web Publishing Wizard, as shown in Figure W.9.
Figure W.9
- 2. The first screen of the Web Publishing Wizard, shown in Figure W.10,
provides information about the wizard. Click Next to continue.
- 3. Select the file or folder that you want to publish to the Web in the
screen shown in Figure W.11. If you don't know the entire path to the folder or file,
click either the Browse Folders button or the Browse Files button.
When the file or folder name is in place, click Next to continue.
- 4. In the screen shown in Figure W.12, type a descriptive name for your
Web server, and then click Next.
- 5. Specify your server provider in the screen shown in Figure W.13, and
then click Next to continue.
Figure W.10
Figure W.11
NOTE: It is very important that you select
the correct service provider; failure to do so might result in your page being shown
incorrectly or not at all. When in doubt, select the Automatically Select Service
Provider option. This might alleviate some troubles down the road.
- 6. Specify the URL and directory in the screen shown in Figure W.14, and
click Next to continue.
Figure W.12
Figure W.13
NOTE: The URL is used to locate the Internet
or intranet site, whereas the local directory is used to locate files on your hard
drive.
Figure W.14
- 7. If you are publishing a page or site to the Internet, the server name
is required. If your service provider is an HTTP post, the posting command will also
be required on this screen, as is the case in Figure W.15. (Depending on which service
provider you have, this second requirement may vary.) Click the Next button
to continue.
Figure W.15
NOTE: All the information required in
this screen can be obtained from your network system administrator (if you are posting
to your company's intranet site) or your Internet Service Provider (if you are posting
to an Internet site).
- 8. Click the Finish button to post the site to the server. You
should now be able to view the site online.
WebTV for Windows
WebTV for Windows enables your PC to display both standard and interactive television
broadcasts, as well as Internet data broadcasts. You can receive the standard and
interactive TV broadcasts only if a TV Tuner card (a hardware device for receiving
television broadcasts) is installed on your PC. The Internet data broadcasts, though,
will allow you to capture TV broadcast listings and display them in the Windows 98
program guide that is a part of WebTV. To use WebTV for Windows, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button, choose Programs, Accessories,
Entertainment, and then click WebTV for Windows, as shown in Figure
W.16.
Figure W.16
- 2. The WebTV introductory screen, shown in Figure W.17, appears. Your
system will pause here for a few seconds before taking you directly to the WebTV
Program Guide screen, shown in Figure W.18. Scroll up and down this screen to figure
out what television shows are scheduled in your area.
Figure W.17
Figure W.18
NOTE: As part of the installation process
for WebTV, you will be prompted for your zip code. This is how the software knows
where you live.
- 3. Click the Search tab to view the screen shown in Figure W.19.
Type in the text string that you want to search for, and then click the Search
button to initiate the search. When you have found the show that you are seeking,
click it once to highlight it, and then click the Watch button.
Figure W.19
NOTE: The left side of the Search tab
features a scrollable Categories list. WebTV splits the television shows into
categories such as Action or Drama. The Categories listing enables you to
find a TV show that you want to watch, even if you aren't sure of its name.
- 4. To reconfigure your WebTV settings, you must first return to the channel
guide. Click the Guide tab to view a screen like the one shown in Figure W.20.
- 5. Double-click Channel 96 on the dial. This will take you to a
screen like the one shown in Figure W.21.
NOTE: If you want to take the interactive
multimedia tour, click the Next button at the bottom of the screen, and off
you go!
- 6. To adjust your settings, pull down the menu at the top of the screen
(see Figure W.22) and click the Settings button.
Figure W.20
Figure W.21
NOTE: You might want to click the Help
button for clarification on some of WebTV's more confusing screens and hidden menus
(like the Settings menu).
- 7. A screen like the one shown in Figure W.23 opens. Here you can deselect
channels to block them, and you can add closed-captioning to your screen. Click OK
to return to the previous screen.
Figure W.22
Figure W.23
Welcome to Windows
The Windows 98 Welcome to Windows screen will automatically appear the first time
you start your computer after installing Windows 98. If you want the screen to continue
to appear at boot time, check the check box in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
To access this screen at a different time, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button, choose Programs, Accessories,
System Tools, Welcome To Windows, as shown in Figure W.24.
Figure W.24
- 2. The Welcome to Windows 98 screen, shown in Figure W.25, appears. Click
any of the options in the Contents menu to jump directly to that online topic. Alternatively,
you can hover your mouse pointer over one of these options to view information about
it on the right side of the screen, as shown in Figure W.26.
Figure W.25
Figure W.26
NOTE: The screen shown in this example
varies slightly from the one that
will appear immediately after Windows 98 is installed. On the screen shown here,
the Register Windows 98 option isn't present because I have already registered my
copy of Windows 98. Presumably, you will have registered right away in order to get
free product support and updates. For more information, refer to the section titled
"Registering Windows 98."
Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer is the most important end-user application in Windows 98. It
is everywhere: inside other applications, behind Browse buttons, and inside
the Internet Explorer Web browser. It is even the core component of the Windows 98
desktop environment itself.
NOTE: If you've upgraded to Windows 98
from Windows 3.0 or 3.1x, consider Windows Explorer the replacement for File
Manager.
To use Windows Explorer, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button and choose Programs, Windows
Explorer, as shown in Figure W.27.
Figure W.27
- 2. The main Windows Explorer screen, shown in Figure W.28, opens. The
contents of this screen represent the contents of your computer. Using the scrollbar,
scroll down the left pane until you find the drive letter that represents your CD-ROM/DVD
drive (in this case, D:).
Figure W.28
- 3. Click the drive letter; the contents of that drive automatically appear
in the right-hand pane (see Figure W.29).
Figure W.29
Sharing a Drive If you are on a network and you want to share a drive or
folder, do the fol-
lowing:
- 1. Start Windows Explorer.
- 2. Right-click the folder or drive that you want to share (in this case,
I've right-clicked the D: drive, as shown in Figure W.30) and select Sharing
from the shortcut menu.
Figure W.30
- 3. The Sharing tab of the drive's (or folder's) Properties dialog box
will appear, as shown in Figure W.31. To share the drive, click the Shared As
option button, type a share name and a description, set the access type, set a password
if needed, and click Apply to immediately effect the share.
Figure W.31
NOTE: Only 32-bit versions of Windows
(Windows 95/98/NT) can see shares with long filenames (containing more than eight
characters). The filename you enter in the Share Name field shouldn't contain more
than eight characters if those who need this share are using older versions of Windows.
For more information on moving around and accomplishing tasks in Windows Explorer,
review the following sections:
- Disk Management
- File Management
- Folders
- Views
Windows 98 Help
Windows 98 contains numerous interactive help screens, demos, quick hints, pop-up
messages, and links. To access the primary Windows 98 Help feature, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button and choose Help, as shown in Figure
W.32.
Figure W.32
- 2. Click the Index tab in the main Windows Help screen that appears
to view the screen shown in Figure W.33. Highlight an item, and then click the Display
button to view information about the topic you selected.
- 3. Click the Contents to view Help information in a table-of-contents-type
format.
- 4. Click the Search tab to search for help by entering a keyword.
Figure W.33
Windows Update
Microsoft is pushing the envelope by presenting Windows Update, an Internet-based
software update and delivery system, in a major software application release.
NOTE: You must have Internet access to
use this incredible feature.
To use the Windows Update feature, do the following:
- 1. Establish an Internet connection.
- 2. Click the Start button and choose Settings, Windows
Update, as shown in Figure W.34.
3. Your web browser starts automatically, with the Windows Update web site
open by default (see Figure W.35). To start the software-upgrade process, click the
Products Update option found along the left side of the window or in the middle
of the screen (they both take you to the same place.
- 4. The Internet Explorer 4.0 Active Setup message box, shown in
Figure W.36, will appear, notifying you that your computer's hard drive will be searched
to determine what Microsoft Windows 98-compatible Internet components are already
installed on your PC. If this is okay with you, click the Yes button (if you
click No, the Products Update process will not work correctly).
Figure W.34
Figure W.35
- 5. When the search is complete, the Product Updates web page site,
shown in Figure W.37, appears. Scroll down the page, and select the additional Internet
components that you want by clicking the check box just to the left of each feature.
After you have made your selections, click the Start Download button.
Figure W.36
Figure W.37
- 6. The download start screen appears (see Figure W.38). Choose a download
site that is the geographically closest to you (this can help to shorten your download
time). Because I live in Chicago, the ConXion Corp. site in Chicago is my choice.
- 7. After you've made your selection, click the Install Now button
to begin copying files. You see the screen shown in Figure W.39.
- 8. When the download process has completed, an Installation Summary
message box like the one shown in Figure W.40 will appear.
Figure W.38
Figure W.39
Figure W.40
- 9. Click the OK button to return to the Windows Update web
page, shown in Figure W.41.
Figure W.41
- 10. Click the Click Here to Return to the Windows Update Home Page
hyperlink to return to the Windows Update web page, shown in Figure W.42.
From here you can click the Device Drivers and System Files update selection
to update those areas of your computer (this installation process works just like
the Product Updates feature).
Figure W.42
WinPopup
WinPopup provides a great way to send electronic messages between two or more
users. To use this utility, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button and choose Run, as shown in Figure
W.43.
Figure W.43
- 2. In the Run dialog box, type winpopup (as shown in Figure W.44)
and then click OK.
Figure W.44
- 3. Click the envelope icon in the WinPopUp window (see Figure W.45)
to initiate a message send.
Figure W.45
- 4. Type the name (system logon ID) of the computer, user, or workgroup
that you want to receive the message, and then type the message in the box below
(see Figure W.46). Click OK to transmit the message.
Figure W.46
- 5. You are returned to the main WinPopUp screen. Click the Options
button to view the dialog box shown in Figure W.47, where you can check any or
all of the three options. Click the OK button to accept all the changes.
Figure W.47
- 6. You are returned to the main WinPopup screen. When you close WinPopup,
the warning shown in Figure W.48 will appear. Click OK to end the session.
Figure W.48
WordPad
WordPad, which is built into Windows 98, enables you to create and edit text.
WordPad files can be any size you want, but if they are smaller than 64 KB, consider
using Notepad instead. To use WordPad, do the following:
- 1. Click the Start button and choose Programs, Accessories,
WordPad, as shown in Figure W.49.
- 2. The WordPad window, shown in Figure W.50, opens. To begin using the
application, just start typing in the white space as soon as the program begins.
- 3. You can create a new file by clicking the File menu option
and choosing New.
- 4. To edit an existing file you must first open it by clicking File
and then Open. You'll see a window like the one shown in Figure W.51. Navigate
to the file you want to open, click it to select it, and then click Open.
Figure W.49
Figure W.50
NOTE: The Files of Type list box
shows which file types are supported by the WordPad application.
5. As shown in Figure W.52, the file you selected opens onto the desktop.
Make your changes, and then click the File menu option and save, print, or
exit the file.
Figure W.51
Figure W.52


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