Windows 98 From A to Z

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- V -


Video Compression

Video compression within Windows 98 does exactly what it sounds like it would: It compresses video streams to make those videos work better for you. This technology is used in a variety of Windows 98 accessories, such as NetShow Player and Web TV.

Views

In Windows 98, view describes how information appears on your monitor. Numerous Windows 98 applications feature a View menu, which contains a number of choices for changing how that application displays information. This section focuses on configuring the Windows Explorer View menu, but it also provides some insight into how you can continue to personalize your Windows 98 PC so that it feels like it was made just for you.

Follow these steps to customize the View menu in Windows Explorer:

1. Double-click the My Computer icon on the Windows 98 desktop (see Figure V.1).

Figure V.1

2. The My Computer Explorer window appears (see Figure V.2), showing you the drives available on your PC, as well as a few Windows 98-specific system folders.
3. Click the View menu and choose the menu command you want. Note that every time you select a different option, your screen display changes accordingly.
4. Click the View menu and choose Folder Options. This opens the Folder Options dialog box. Click the View tab to see the screen shown in Figure V.3.

Figure V.2

Figure V.3


NOTE: The Folder Views section at the top of the View tab enables you to specify whether all the folders in your system should be displayed in the same view as the folder you were in when you opened this dialog box.


NOTE: The Advanced Settings section of the View tab enables you set various attributes for your files and folders.
5. Make changes as needed, and then click the OK button to close the My Computer window.
6. Click the View menu and select Arrange Icons, as shown in Figure V.4, to specify how you want visible files and shortcut links to be arranged on your screen. For example, if you click the By Type selection, the files and shortcuts will be sorted according to file type (that is, all .TXT files will be listed together, all .DOC files will be listed together, and so on).

Figure V.4

Virtual Private Networking

Virtual Private Networking (VPN) is a networking structure that provides a secure connection between two sites across either public networks (such as the Internet) or private networks. VPN relies upon a new networking protocol known as a tunneling protocol; the Windows 98 version of VPN uses PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol).

PPTP comes in handy when you are trying to connect to your company's computer systems via the public Internet. In such a case, you would probably want to keep your information as private as possible, and the Windows 98 VPN with PPTP allows just that. It gives you your own encrypted "tunnel" directly through the Internet, which automatically prevents others from looking at your information.

To configure a virtual private network connection, you must first ensure that the proper Windows 98 drivers are installed:

1. Click the Start button, choose Settings, and then select Control Panel, as shown in Figure V.5.

Figure V.5

2. Double-click the Network icon in the Control Panel window (see Figure V.6).
3. On the Configuration tab of the Network dialog box, shown in Figure V.7, scroll through the components list to determine whether a VPN adapter, such as the Microsoft Virtual Private Network Adapter, is installed.
4. If you do not find an adapter, click Add to install one. This opens the Select Network Component Type dialog box. Click the Adapter option, and then click OK.

Figure V.6

Figure V.7

5. The Select Network adapters dialog box, shown in Figure V.8, opens. If you have an installation disk from the manufacturer of your VPN device, click the Have Disk button and follow the prompts. Otherwise, select the name of your VPN device's manufacturer (in this example, Microsoft) in the Manufacturers list, and select the name of your VPN device (in this example, Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter) in the Network Adapters list. Click OK to continue.

Figure V.8

6. You are returned to the Network dialog box, but this time the Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter device appears in the network components list (see Figure V.9). Click OK to accept this change, and then follow the prompts for installing the appropriate software drivers for the VPN device.

Figure V.9

Volume Control

The Volume Control feature of the Windows 98 operating system does exactly what you would expect: It controls the volume settings for your multimedia devices (such as the CD Player, sound card speakers, TV tuner, and so on). To use the volume control, do the following:

1. Click the Start button and choose Programs, Accessories, Entertainment, and then Volume Control (see Figure V.10).

Figure V.10

2. The Volume Control screen, shown in Figure V.11, opens. Use the slider bars to control the volume output for each of the devices listed.

Figure V.11


NOTE: Clicking the Advanced button in the Microphone Balance section offers a few additional options (not all PCs even have this button).
3. After you make your changes, exit the screen by clicking the x button in the upper-right corner of the screen.


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