Windows 98 From A to Z

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Accessibility Options

The accessibility options of Windows 98 are enhancements of those available for Windows 95. These features enable individuals with mobility, hearing, and/or visual impairments to use a personal computer without the hassle of installing special equipment. Available options include the following:

To determine whether any of these options are available on your PC, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, choose Settings, Control Panel (see Figure A.1).
This opens the Control Panel window, shown in Figure A.2.
2. The Accessibility Options icon will probably appear in the Control Panel window, which means that at least one of the accessibility options has been installed on your PC. Move the mouse pointer to the Accessibility Options icon and then double-click the primary mouse button. This opens the Accessibility Properties dialog box, shown in Figure A.3. As shown in the figure, this dialog box has five tabs, each of which provides options for configuring various accessibility settings.

Figure A.1

Figure A.2

3. Experiment with the accessibility settings. For example, to enable the StickyKeys feature--which enables you to use a single finger to perform a key-combination command--click the Keyboard tab, and then place a check mark in the Use StickyKeys check box by clicking it once.

Figure A.3

4. Click the Settings button to open the dialog box shown in Figure A.4.

Figure A.4

5. Click the Use Shortcut check box to select it, and then click the OK button (or press the Enter key). You have now correctly set up the StickyKeys accessibility option.

If you don't see the Accessibility Options icon in the Control Panel window, but you want to experiment with these options, you will need to add them. For instructions on adding a Windows 98 optional feature, see the section titled "Add/Remove Programs" later in this chapter.

Windows 98 users have two sets of options available to them:

If you are not sure which level to install, select both so that Windows 98 will install all the available options. Then shut down and restart your computer to make these options available for use.

Accessibility Wizard

After the accessibility options are installed on your PC, a quick way to get them up and running is to use the Accessibility Wizard. To run the Accessibility Wizard, follow these steps:

1. To open this wizard, click the Start button, choose Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Accessibility Wizard, as shown in
Figure A.5.

Figure A.5

2. In the first screen of the wizard, shown in Figure A.6, select the smallest text you can read, and then click the Next button.

Figure A.6

3. The Text Size screen, shown in Figure A.7, enables you to change the size of text and other items on your screen. This is helpful for persons with visual impairments. After you have selected the options you want, click the Next button.

Figure A.7


NOTE: The options available on the Text Size screen are aimed at the visually impaired. Notice, for example, that the second check box in the Text Size screen is grayed-out (indicating that this option is not a valid selection). This is because the screen resolution of this monitor is at a standard SVGA resolution of 640x480 (in pixels). In short, a single pixel represents a dot of color on your screen--640 horizontally and 480 vertically--changing according to your computer's screen resolution. A discussion on how to change the screen resolution is covered under the "Display Options" entry later in this book. The rule of thumb is that the higher the screen resolution, the smaller the characters appear onscreen to the user.
4. The Set Wizard Options screen, shown in Figure A.8, is fairly straight-forward. Just click any check boxes that apply to your situation, and then click on the Next button.

Figure A.8


NOTE: The Restore Default Settings button will immediately apply the original, standard Windows 98 colors, fonts, and window sizes to your computer. That is, clicking this button will enable you to go back to the way your computer was probably configured the day you first received it. This is a nice feature, in case you have chosen some wacky font or too dark (or bright) a color scheme. One button fixes everything, instead of having to go back and redo each item separately.
5. Use the Set Automatic Timeouts screen, shown in Figure A.9, to specify whether accessibility features should remain on after the computer has been idle for a specified period of time. Make your selection by clicking one of the radio buttons. If you select the first radio button, the time limit must also be set. In this example, StickyKeys, FilterKeys, ToggleKeys, and High Contrast features will automatically turn off after the computer is idle (that is, no keys have been pressed and the mouse has not moved) for five minutes. After you have made your selections, click the Next button to continue.

Figure A.9

6. Click the Yes button in the Default Accessibility Settings screen, shown in Figure A.10, if you want your accessibility selections to be available to you whenever you log on to your PC, and then click Next.

Figure A.10

7. Click the Save Settings button in the Save Settings to File screen, shown in Figure A.11, to make a copy of all the accessibility options you have selected in the wizard. This file can then be transported to another computer, which is useful if you use multiple PCs (such as a laptop or another desktop at work).

Figure A.11

8. As shown in the Save As dialog box in Figure A.12, the default filename for your accessibility settings is MySettings.acw. You can easily change this filename to make it more descriptive, personalized, or memorable. (For information about properly naming a Windows 98 computer file, see the "Explorer" entry later in this book). Click the Save button to continue to the final screen of the Accessibility Wizard.

Figure A.12

9. Completing the Accessibility Wizard screen, shown in Figure A.13, lists all the changes you have made to your accessibility configuration. To accept all the changes, click the Finish button. To cancel all the changes, click the Cancel button. If you are undecided about a specific change, click the Back button to review the previous screens.

Figure A.13

Accessories

Microsoft tosses around two terms: accessories and components. To the average person, these might seem to be similar terms. In Windows 98 terminology, however, they are not. Accessories refers only to those features listed in the Accessories area in the Windows Setup tab of the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, shown in Figure A.14; components refers to everything else. The following Windows 98 features are accessories:

Figure A.14

The rest of the Windows 98 features found in the Accessories menu (to reach this menu, click the Start button, and then choose Programs, Accessories) should be considered Windows 98 components.


NOTE: For more information about these accessories, see their respective entries in this book.

Installing all the Windows 98 accessories requires 18 MB of disk space; the installation of all the Windows 98 components on your hard disk drive will consume 145.3 MB of storage space. These are important facts to remember, especially if you are using Windows 98 on an older computer that might have a limited amount of hard drive space. To install one or all of these Windows 98 accessories, use the Add/Remove Programs feature of the Windows 98 Control Panel (a discussion of this feature is available in the section of this chapter titled "Add/Remove Programs").

Active Desktop Environment

The Active Desktop environment, which is built into Windows 98, was first introduced by Microsoft in Internet Explorer 4.0 (a Web browser) in the fall
of 1997. Having the Active Desktop feature quite simply means that the Windows 98 desktop can display Web content saved in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) format, and can update it each time you connect to the Internet. For example, suppose you place on your Active Desktop a news site that is updated daily. Each time you connect to the Internet, that news site will be automatically updated on your PC's desktop. Additionally, favorite channels can be placed on the Windows 98 Active Desktop (for more information about channels, see the entry titled "Channels" later in this book).

To initiate the Active Desktop feature, follow these steps:

1. Right-click a blank spot on the Windows 98 desktop to open a shortcut menu, and then click the Active Desktop entry to view your Active Desktop options, shown in Figure A.15.

Figure A.15

2. A check mark next to the View as Web Page option indicates that the Active Desktop feature has been initiated; web content can be saved and activated directly from the Windows 98 desktop. If no check mark is
present, click the View as Web Page option to initiate it. That's all it takes!

To customize the Active Desktop to suit your needs, follow these steps: 1. Click the Customize My Desktop option.

2. Select the Web tab of the Display Properties dialog box, shown in
Figure A.16.

Figure A.16


NOTE: The Display Properties dialog box shown here might have more tabs than the one you see on your screen. One of the tabs in this figure is for configuring my computer's display monitor, which has its own custom software drivers.


NOTE: The other tabbed items in the Display Properties dialog box are discussed in the section titled "Display Properties."
3. Click the View My Active Desktop as a Web Page check box to activate or deactivate this feature.


NOTE: Viewing your Active Desktop as a Web page permits the use of active content directly on the Windows 98 desktop area. This content can come in the form of HTML (or web) pages, animated GIF graphics (such as the popular dancing 7-Up guys found on many web pages), and so forth. These items appear to float on your desktop, meaning that the normal Windows 98 background graphic appears on the bottom layer, with the active content appearing on the middle layer, and the normal icons that sit on the desktop (such as the Recycle Bin or My Computer) on the top layer. To try this, add a background, then place some active content (such as the Channel Bar) on top of it , and then drag your Recycle Bin on top of that. See how they stack?

Take this one step further, and you can begin to see the Microsoft vision for the desktop. It becomes an extension of the Internet Explorer web browser--or vice-versa, meaning that your Internet web browser is now your desktop folder and file manager. Everything is done in the same way, making Windows 98 that much easier to use, while increasing your productivity capabilities.


4. Click the New button if you want to add an Active Desktop file (HTML, GIF, JPEG, BMP, and so on) to your Windows 98 desktop. The dialog box shown in Figure A.17 appears.
5. If your PC is already connected to the Internet--via a local area network (LAN) connection or a Dial-Up Networking (DUN) connection--you can choose Yes to download additional Windows 98 graphics and web items directly from the Active Desktop Gallery at Microsoft's web site. If your PC is not connected to the Internet (or if you do not want to visit the Active Desktop Gallery), click No to proceed.

Figure A.17


NOTE: Clicking the In the Future, Do Not Show Me This Dialog Box check box instructs Windows 98 to discontinue the automatic display of this dialog box at startup, meaning that you will no longer be prompted to go to the Microsoft web site for free Active Desktop content. Instead, you will be prompted with the next window in the process, shown in Figure A.18.
6. If you know the exact location of the Active Desktop item you want, type it in the Location text box, shown in Figure A.18. If you do not know the exact location, click the Browse button to scan the hard drive for the desired item.

Figure A.18

7. Find the file you seek by selecting its parent drive and folder from the Look In drop-down list of the Browse dialog box, shown in Figure A.19. When you find the file, click it to select it (in this case, the file WULOGO.GIF from the Windows subdirectory has been selected), and then click the Open button to return to the preceding screen.

Figure A.19

8. As shown in Figure A.20, the file's pathname automatically appears in the Location text box. Click the OK button to continue.

Figure A.20

9. As shown in Figure A.21, WULOGO.GIF is highlighted and displayed in the Web tab of the Display Properties dialog box. To accept this change to the Active Desktop, click either the Apply button or the OK button. Choosing the Apply button enables you to stay in the Display Properties dialog box and customize the Active Desktop in other ways; clicking the OK button applies the change and returns you to the Windows 98
desktop.
10. The file WULOGO.GIF, shown along the bottom half of the screen, is the Windows Update graphic (see Figure A.22).


NOTE: Instead of using the logo shown in Figure A.22 to update any web content on your desktop, you can right-click a blank part of the desktop, select Active Desktop from the shortcut menu, and then click the Update Now menu option.

Figure A.21

Figure A.22

Active Movie Control

The Active Movie Control is useful for playing various multimedia files on Windows 98. These multimedia files can be in the form of movies, sounds, songs, and so on, and can originate from your PC, the Internet, or perhaps even a corporate intranet. To use the Active Movie Control, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, choose Programs, Accessories, Multimedia, Active Movie Control (see Figure A.23).

Figure A.23

2. In the Open dialog box, shown in Figure A.24, search for the parent drive and folder of the file you want to view by opening the Look In drop-down list (click the down-arrow button next to the Look In text field). When you find the file you seek, click it to select it.

Figure A.24

3. Click the Open button to confirm your selection; this opens the window shown in Figure A.25.

Figure A.25

4. To start playing the selected multimedia file, click the Play button (the right-arrow button in the bottom-left corner of the window). After the file begins playing, the Play button changes to a Pause button.

Add New Hardware

When you are adding new hardware to a computer, a piece of software is required: a driver. Think of a software driver as being like the driver of a car. When you act as the driver of your car, you control how certain aspects of the automobile operate. Turning the steering wheel, for example, causes the car to move in a particular direction; pressing the gas or brake pedal results in the automobile moving faster or slowing down; turning the ignition key causes the car's engine to start (well, usually). Likewise, a software driver controls how a particular piece of hardware reacts to commands being processed by the computer's brain, or CPU.

To add the software drivers necessary for adding hardware--such as a new modem, DVD-ROM drive, or network interface card--use the Windows 98 Add New Hardware Wizard:

1. Click the Start button, choose Settings, Control Panel (as shown in Figure A.26).

2. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon in the Control Panel (see Figure A.27) to start the Add New Hardware Wizard.

3. Before continuing with the wizard, be sure to close any running applications.
4. Click Next in the wizard's opening window, shown in Figure A.28.

Figure A.26

Figure A.27

Figure A.28


NOTE: It is possible that this wizard will start automatically when you boot your system, especially if the hardware you want to add goes inside the Windows 98 computer (such as a new hard drive, CD-ROM device, or internal modem).
5. As shown in Figure A.29, Windows 98 searches first for Plug and Play devices, and then for non-Plug and Play devices. Click Next to instruct Windows 98 to conduct the search.

Figure A.29


NOTE: A Plug and Play device is just a hardware component automatically recognized by the Windows 98 operating system. For more information about Plug and Play devices, see the section titled "Plug and Play."
6. In this example, you are not trying to install a Plug and Play device.
After it fails to find Plug and Play hardware, Windows 98 asks whether you want it to search for non-Plug and Play hardware, as shown in Figure A.30.

Figure A.30

7. The Yes button is selected by default, instructing Windows 98 to search for non-Plug and Play devices. In this example, however, you know exactly what you are attempting to install (software drivers), so it's much faster to click the No, I Want to Select the Hardware from a List radio button, and then click Next.
8. Use the scrollbar along the right-hand side of the screen to view all the Hardware Types menu choices (see Figure A.31). The device you want to install does not appear to be listed; click the Other Devices option, and then click Next to select your device's manufacturer and model.

Figure A.31

9. Use the scrollbars to view the devices available for installation. For this example, select the Legacy Serial Infrared Devices entry to see all the available models, select AIRport APA-9230 External Infrared Adapter (a wireless communications device) from the Models list (as shown in Figure A.32), and then click Next.

Figure A.32


NOTE: This is a good way to determine whether that new, snazzy piece of telephonic equipment that you have your eye on is compatible with Windows 98. (If it is, chances are it will show up somewhere in these lists.)


NOTE: If you have the floppy disk(s) or CD-ROM containing the Windows 98 software drivers, click the Have Disk button to continue the process.
10. Click the Finish button, shown in Figure A.33, to complete the process.

Figure A.33

11. To determine whether the hardware device was correctly installed,
double-click the System icon in the Control Panel (shown in Figure A.34).
12. Click the Device Manager tab in the System Properties dialog box, shown in Figure A.35.

Figure A.34

Figure A.35

13. Click the plus symbol (+) next to the Infrared Devices entry; note that your new hardware is installed.


NOTE: Had there been a problem with your installation, either a red X or a yellow exclamation point (!) would appear next to the device name.

Add Printer Wizard

Adding a new printer to a computer used to be rather complex, especially when you had to get all the applications installed on that PC to work correctly with the new printer. Under Windows 95, that changed because of the Add Printer Wizard. In Windows 98, this wizard still exists. To run this wizard, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, choose Settings, and then choose Printers, as shown in Figure A.36.
2. Double-click the Add Printer icon, shown in Figure A.37, to start the wizard.
3. In the first screen of the Add Printer Wizard, shown in Figure A.38, click Next.

Figure A.36

Figure A.37

4. In the dialog box shown in Figure A.39, you must specify how the printer is attached to your PC. A local printer is physically attached to the computer via a parallel printer cable (also known as a Centronix cable). In the case of a network connection, both the network printer and your PC are physically attached to a network device (usually known as a hub, concentrator, or MAU). Make your selection, and then click Next.

Figure A.38

Figure A.39


NOTE: If the computer is a home computer or a laptop (and you are not at the office), there is a 99.999% chance that it uses a local printer, not a network printer.
5. To determine the make and model of the printer you are installing, look on the cover of the instruction manuals that came with the printer or on the print device itself. (Hewlett-Packard, for example, marks its printers very clearly.)
6. Select your printer's manufacturer from the Manufacturers list, and then select your printer's model from the Printers list, as shown in Figure A.40. Click the Next button to continue.
7. If you have not yet done so, plug in the printer, turn it on, and connect the parallel print cable into the parallel port (also know as LPT1) on the back of your PC.
8. Unless your printer is a serial print device, make sure the LPT1 option is selected in the Available Ports list, as shown in Figure A.41. Click Next to continue.

Figure A.40

Figure A.41


NOTE: If you are attempting to connect a serial print device, such as an older dot-matrix printer, select the exact serial communications port to which the printer cable is connected. If you have connected the serial printer cable to your computer's COMx port (where x is the serial port number, such as 1 or 2), for example, the option you select in the Available Ports list should correspond to this port number. If the back of your PC uses letters rather than numbers to describe the COM ports, COMa is the same thing as COM1, and so on.
9. Type a descriptive name for the printer in the Printer Name text box (see Figure A.42). If you want Windows 98 to always use this printer by default, click the Yes button. Click Next to continue.

Figure A.42


NOTE: If you already have at least one printer installed on your PC, the screen shown in Figure A.42 will default to the No button.
10. If you want to print a test page to ensure that the printer has been installed correctly, make sure the Yes button is selected (as shown in Figure A.43), and then click the Finish button.

Figure A.43


NOTE: After you click the Finish button, Windows 98 will probably want to install some new software printer drivers before placing the new print device inside the Printers window. Windows 98 might prompt you to insert your Windows 98 CD-ROM disc in the computer's CD-ROM disk drive should it require additional files that do not already exist on your computer's hard drive.
11. If you can read the printout, the printer has been installed correctly. If not, it is possible that you installed the wrong driver. If this is the case, you should carefully repeat steps 1-10.
12. Return to the Printers window by clicking the Start button, then choosing Settings, Printers. The newly installed print device should be pres-ent, as shown in Figure A.44.

Figure A.44

Add/Remove Programs

The Add/Remove Programs feature of Windows 98 enables you to easily add and remove programs and Windows 98 components. You access this feature from the Control Panel, as follows:

1. Click the Start button, and choose Settings, Control Panel, as shown in Figure A.45.
2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel (see Figure A.46).
3. You have a few options in the Install/Uninstall tab of the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box (shown in Figure A.47):

Figure A.45

Figure A.46

Adding New Programs or Windows 98 Components When it comes to adding new programs or components, you have the following two options:

Figure A.47

For this example, install a Windows 98 feature (the Web TV for Windows) that was not preloaded on your PC. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the Windows Setup tab to display the full list of Windows 98 add-on components (components need not be installed on your computer to be displayed in this list).
2. Scroll to the Web TV for Windows option, and click its check box, as shown in Figure A.48.

Figure A.48


NOTE: Next to each component, a check box appears. If a box containing a check mark is shaded, it means that only some of that component's options have been installed. If the checked box has a white background, it means that all of that component's options have been installed. To change a box from gray to white, just click a gray box to deselect it, and then click it again. It should appear as white, indicating that all the component's options are installed.
3. Click the OK button to continue the installation process.
4. As shown in Figure A.49, Windows 98 prompts you to insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM if the appropriate files do not exist on your hard drive.

Figure A.49

5. Insert the CD-ROM, and then click the OK button to continue. As shown in Figure A.50, Windows 98 displays a progress dialog box that indicates which files are being installed in the hard drive and that shows how far along the installation process is.

6. In the event that a Version Conflict dialog box appears, as shown in Figure A.51, it is usually best to keep the file in question.

Figure A.51

Figure A.50


NOTE: Unfortunately, in the event of a version conflict, there is no perfect way of knowing which version is the best one to keep. When in doubt, stay with the original file. You can always go back and reinstall the program should this be an improper choice. Windows 98 will try to advise you of the best course of action by providing its recommendation within the text of this dialog box (look closely at the last line of the top paragraph).
7. When Windows 98 finishes copying the required files, it might request that you restart your computer to complete the process (see Figure A.52). If you want your new settings to take effect immediately, close all active programs, and then click the Yes button to reboot your PC.

Figure A.52

Removing Applications and Windows 98 Components

To remove a built-in Windows 98 accessory, utility, or component, just use the same process that you used to install the application, only in reverse. To remove the Web TV for Windows component that you added earlier, for example, just uncheck the Web TV for Windows check box in the Windows Setup tab of the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, and then click OK. Windows 98 will automatically uninstall this component, and delete any of the necessary files.


NOTE: A Windows 98 component, utility, or accessory is a piece of software that comes with the Windows 98 operating system at the time of purchase. A Windows 98 application is a non-Windows 98 piece of software that does not come in the same box as Windows 98 did. Microsoft Money 98, for example, is a home-finance software application that can be both installed and deleted from your PC by using the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, but it is a distinctly separate piece of software from anything found inside Windows 98. Applications are installed and deleted via the Install/Uninstall tab of the Add/Remove Programs dialog box; all Windows 98 components, utilities, and accessories are installed and removed via the Windows Setup tab.

To remove a Windows application from Windows 98, follow these steps:

1. Click the Install/Uninstall tab of the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box. As shown in Figure A.53, this tab lists all the 32-bit Windows programs that are installed on your machine. To uninstall any of these programs, select the one you want to delete (in this example, Windows 98 Uninstall Information is selected), and then click OK.

Figure A.53


NOTE: The Windows 98 Uninstall Information option permits you to uninstall Windows 98 if it is an upgrade to a previously existing version of Windows (3.1 or 95). After you have decided that you do not want to remove Windows 98 now or in the future, it is wise to uninstall this program to save space. Another reason for removing the Windows 98 Uninstall Information is that it will prevent you from accidentally deleting the Windows 98 operating system.
2. Click the Yes button in the dialog box shown in Figure A.54 to confirm that you want to remove this program.

Figure A.54

3. As shown in Figure A.55, Windows 98 confirms that the appropriate files have been deleted.

Figure A.55

4. Windows 98 returns you to the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box; as you can see, the Delete Windows 98 Uninstall Information option is no longer present.

Audio Compression

Windows 98 has a series of audio compression codecs built in to it, as well as several others that can be installed. A codec (short for compressor/decompressor) is essentially a series of software programs that permits the Windows 98 operating system to better manage any installed audio (as well as visual) devices. To put it another way, a codec is either an audio or a video compression methodology that both compresses and decompresses an audio or visual stream of data that is being processed by your computer. This can be very helpful now that PCs have become more multimedia focused, especially when processing huge amounts of this type of data for audio/visual presentations. A very popular type of video codec in use today is known as MPEG.


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