Setting Up An Internet Connection In Windows 9X

Checking An Existing Connection | Control Panel: Network | Control Panel: Add/Remove Programs | Control Panel: Modems & Device Manager | Creating a Desktop Shortcut

Creating A New Dial up Networking Configuration :

Open your "My Computer" icon then open the Dial-Up Networking folder:

Click the "Make New Connection" icon if the setup wizard doesn't start automatically.

The first screen welcomes you and begins the setup process. Click Next.

Name the connection Internet Xpress. 

Normally the correct modem will be selected by the computer. 

(Do not change this setting unless you are an experienced Computer user. )

Click the modem "configure" button to see the screen below.

Set the speed to 57600. A 115000 connection will be highly unstable.

Click Here to return to the configuration section if this is NOT a NEW Dial Up Network creation.

OR: Hit "OK" to get back to the screen below:

Click Next:

The area code is 509

Telephone number: 

In Colville use: 640-0100 NOTE: This number will not work outside of Colville (684 or 685 prefix areas).

All other areas use: 685-2188 or 684-6998

Place one comma at the front of the number. This makes the modem wait for a dial tone. 

Put 3 or 4 commas at the end of the number for a more stable connection.

Click Finish.

Continue to checking the properties of the connection as described in the following section.

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Checking The Properties Of An Existing Connection:

Open the Dial-Up Networking Folder: to get the following screen:

Right-click the Internet Xpress connection and choose "properties" to get the screen below.

Note: You can also get to these properties by clicking to highlight the connection and then clicking File Menu -> Properties.

Put in the correct phone number for your area with one or two commas on the end for more stable connections.

You may also need a comma at the front of the number to force the modem to wait for a dial tone.

In Colville use: 640-0100  This number will not work outside of Colville (only with most 684 and 685 prefixes.)

All other areas use: 685-2188

Remove the checkmark in the "use area code and dialing properties" checkbox.

For Modem Configure Options: CLICK HERE

Click the Server Types tab to see the screen below:

Always set "PPP: Internet..." as the type of dial-up server.

Remove the check from log on to Network because it will slow your connection. 

You need a checkmark for "enable software compression" for faster connections.

Do NOT put a checkmark in the "require encrypted password," "data encryption" or "record log file" options.

You do NOT want a checkmark for NetBEUI or IPX/SPX because this will slow down your connection. This does not disable Netware connections at work, etc. These settings only relate to your internet connection with Internet Xpress. They can have other configurations for their other connections to work or other service providers.

Click the TCP/IP Settings button to get the screen below:

Server assigned IP address and Server assigned name server addresses should be selected.

You do need checkmarks for "use IP header compression" and "use default gateway."

Hit "OK" all the way back to the main Dial Up Networking  window.

Double-click the Dial Up Networking icon to open the "connect to" window below:

NOTE: If you are in Colville, then the dial up number is 640-0100 not 685-2188.

This window shows you exactly how the number will be dialed. You have to go into the properties of the connection to change the number permanently. You can do a temporary change from here but it will revert to the old setting next time that you try to connect.

Once connected, you will need to open your Web browser (like Internet Explorer or Netscape) or your Email program (like Outlook Express or Eudora).

If you have problems surfing or connecting then look for conflicts in the Network Section of Control Panel (below). If everything appears to be correct then you may need to reinstall the Dial Up Networking and Network components (further below). You might also need to reinstall the modem or update a modem driver in the Device Manager (furthest below).

Creating a Dial Up Networking Shortcut for the Desktop

If you are not already in dial up Networking then:

Open your "My Computer" icon then open the Dial-Up Networking folder:

You will see your Internet Xpress connection. Right-click on the connection to create a shortcut. You can also Click to highlight your connection and then click the file menu to choose "create shortcut." 

A window will pop-up to tell you that you can't create a shortcut here. You really don't want it there, anyway. Click the "yes" button to put the shortcut on your desktop.

The shortcut will look like the picture below. Click on it to connect to the internet. Once you are connected you must open your browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) or your e-mail program to actually do something on the internet.

Configuring & Checking the Network Section of Control Panel 

Always check the Network section of the Control Panel when configuring or troubleshooting a dial-up network connection. You need to make sure that a dial-up adapter is installed with TCP/IP protocols. You also want to make sure that there are no conflicting settings in there. Even though you've already setup the Dial Up Networking properties, there may be conflicting settings in the Control Panel from a work connection or prior ISP.

Open the Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) (Alternate Route: My Computer -> Control Panel) and click the Network icon.

This window (below) will show you all networking components installed on that workstation. Don't worry about ethernet cards, etc. Your internet connection will need Dial-Up Adapter and TCP/IP -> Dial-Up Adapter installed. TCP/IP bound to a network adapter card (e.g. TCP/IP -> Intel Pro/100+ PCI Adapter in picture below) is totally irrelevant to your modem connection to the internet.

Frontpage users will also need Client For Microsoft Networks. You don't need that client unless you are using Frontpage. If that client gets installed then it will add the Network Neighborhood icon to your desktop.

Click the "add" button if you need to add a component. You will choose "adapter" to install the dial-up adapter or "protocol" to install TCP/IP [or "client" to install Client For Microsoft Networks). You will then get a prompt with two boxes. Scroll down the box on the left to highlight "Microsoft" then double-click the appropriate component in the right box.

Once the proper components are installed, double-click on TCP/IP->Dial-Up Adapter to configure the DNS settings, etc. Windows 98 users will get the warning window shown below. Windows 95 will go directly to the same configuration windows that Win98 users get after hitting "OK" in the warning window.

You will see the window below. It will always open under the IP Address tab. It is best to leave this window set to "obtain an IP address automatically."

Click the "WINS Configuration" tab to make sure that WINS resolution is NOT ENABLED. Disable it if it is enabled. Don't worry if it is set to use DHCP because that won't affect your connection.

Click the "Gateway" tab to make sure that there are no gateways enabled. Remove the gateway if it is installed because that will interfere with the connection to Internet Xpress.

Click the "DNS Configuration" tab. Make sure that DNS is DISABLED. If it is enabled, then disable it.

Hit "OK" and Windows will prompt you to restart the computer if any changes were made.

If you are still having problems surfing or connecting then try reinstalling Dial Up Networking and the Network components. You remove dial-up adapter and TCP/IP in Control Panel -> Network. You go to the Add/Remove programs section of Control Panel to reinstall Dial-Up Networking. This latter procedure is addressed in the section below.

Control Panel: Add/Remove Dial Up Networking & Network Components

(Recommended for Advanced Computer Users only)

Make sure that Proxy Watch/Global Safe are disabled (if you are using them) before removing the Dial-Up Networking components as described below.

Open the Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and double-click on the Add/Remove Programs icon pictured below.

Click on the "Windows Setup" tab to get the screen shown below.

Double-click the "communications" option to get to the window below:

Remove the checkmark for Dial-Up Networking. Hit "OK" and "Apply" the change.

Windows will ask you to restart the computer. DO NOT restart yet! Go to to the Network section of Control Panel and remove the dial-up adapter and TCP/IP first. This avoids having to restart the computer twice.

After you've restarted the computer, go back into the Windows Setup tab of Add/Remove Programs (as described above) and reinstall Dial Up Networking.

Once again, DO NOT restart the computer after this process is finished. Go to the Network section of Control Panel to make sure that the dial-up adapter and TCP/IP are installed. Afterwards, you will not need to recheck the TCP/IP settings because newly installed TCP/IP protocol stacks are very neutral. They won't have conflicting settings from other ISPs, etc.

Restart the computer after the dial-up adapter and TCP/IP are reinstalled. You will have fresh networking components and should be able to connect if (1) the modem is working and (2) it's not a port problem on any of the many hubs that traverse the internet.

Control Panel: Modems Section & Device Manager

(Recommended for Advanced Computer Users only)

You generally want to do your modem configuration in the Dial Up Networking properties. You would go to the modem section of the control panel to reinstall a modem and/or remove "ghost" modems that aren't actually installed even though the computer thinks that they are installed.

Don't bother configuring the modem's properties in the screen below. The Dial Up Networking properties will override these settings. Just add or remove modems as needed.

You can use the Device Manager to add/remove modems and/or update a modem driver. Click on the System icon in Control Panel to get to the Device Manager.

The basic system window is shown below. Click on the Device Manager tab.

Once inside the Device Manager tab, click the plus + sign to the left of the modem selection. Double-click that modem to get to its properties.

Once inside the properties of the modem, click the Driver tab to get to the screen below.

Most new modem drivers are "self extracting" and will automatically install themselves. If not, you can click the Update Driver button to force a modem driver update.

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