Installing Windows 95

Important Terms
The following special terms are used in this document.
wizard A wizard is a step-by-step process where the user is asked specific questions about configuration. Once all the choices have been made, Setup copies all the files and makes configuration settings based on the user's responses
legacy Older PC hardware in which its settings, such as IRQ, I/O, DMA, etc., must be manually configured by the user either through the setting of jumpers or switches on the hardware itself, or by hardware specific setup utilities.
Plug and Play Hardware that can be automatically identified and configured, without any user intervention. Windows95, a Plug and Play operating system, will configure these devices.
GUI Graphical User Interface. An interface based on visual cues, icons, and images rather than only text characters.
dialog A window presented by a program or application that provides information or allows you to enter text or make selections.
TSR Terminate and Stay Resident programs are usually loaded from your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files and remain in memory after they have executed.
FAT Partition File Allocation Table Partition. This is a standard DOS partition. Windows 95 can be installed on FAT partitions only.

New and Improved Features of Setup

Windows 95 setup has many new and improved features to ensure an easy and safe installation.

  • Complete GUI-based setup. If Setup is started from DOS, a basic version of Windows is loaded to provide a graphical environment.
  • Support for automatic Plug and Play hardware identification and configuration, as well as robust mechanisms for detecting and configuring legacy hardware.
  • Smart Recovery allows Setup to continue in the event your system freezes during legacy hardware detection.
  • A startup disk that can be used to boot and troubleshoot your system in the event that Setup or anything else renders your system unbootable.
  • Windows 3.1 settings are preserved when upgrading.

Starting Setup

Windows 95 Setup can be started from DOS 3.2 or above or Windows 3.1x.

  • To run Windows 95 Setup from DOS 3.2 or greater:
    Type the letter of the drive containing the Windows95 Setup disk or CD, followed by a colon.
    Press Enter.
    Type: setup and press Enter.

  • To run Windows95 Setup from Windows 3.1x:
    In Program Manager, click the File menu.
    Click Run....
    Type the letter of the drive containing the Windows95 Setup disk or CD, followed by a colon.
    Type: setup.
    Click OK.

Step by Step with the Setup Wizard

After Setup begins, proceed throughout the Wizard following along with the pages in this section.

IMPORTANT: When the Wizard prompts a response, select the options shown in Bold Underlined Type.

Upon entering Setup, the first screen congratulates you on choosing Windows95. The setup process can take 30-60 minutes, depending upon your system's configuration.

  • Choose CONTINUE to proceed.
  • Choose EXIT SETUP to quit setup.

Next, the Windows95 Setup Wizard is quickly prepared. A status bar illustrates the progress.

At this point Setup is running ScanDisk to check your computer's hard drive for any errors.

The dialog displaying your license agreement is shown. Once you read and accept the agreement, you can proceed with the installation.

  • Choose YES to accept the agreement and continue.
  • Choosing NO will exit Setup.

The next dialog welcomes you to the Windows95 Setup Wizard and lists the three parts of Setup.

NOTE: The ability to go back and change selections on previous screens in Setup is a feature new for Windows 95.

  • Click NEXT to proceed.
  • Choose BACK to go to the previous screen and change a selection.
  • Choose CANCEL to quit setup.

The next dialog asks you to choose the directory into which Windows95 will be installed.

  • Choose C:\WINDOWS to upgrade your version of Windows. This will allow you to use any applications and settings currently configured for your Windows. Click NEXT to continue Setup.

NOTE: If Windows is installed in a directory other than C:\WINDOWS, then that directory will be listed as an option (in place of C:\WINDOWS).

  • Choosing 'Other directory' and selecting a directory other than the current Windows allows you to preserve your older version of Windows. If this option is selected you will have to re-install your applications for Windows 95.

When upgrading, Windows 95 allows you the option to save your old Windows version and system files.

  • Choose YES to save the system files and click NEXT.
  • If NO is chosen, you will not be able to uninstall Windows95 and restore your previous version of Windows.

Setup then finds and saves the current system files. These files will be used to restore your previous Windows version if you uninstall Windows 95.

NOTE: During this setup W95UNDO.DAT and W95UNDO.INI are created. They exist on the root directory of the Windows95 drive.

These files must be present on the drive to uninstall Windows95.

The next dialog lists your setup options. Select from four different setup options.

  • Choose Typical then click NEXT to continue.
  • Choosing one of the other setup options will allow you to specialize how Windows 95 is installed onto the hard drive. Choose one of these options only if you are sure that the setup option you pick is the best choice for your system.

NOTE 1: If you choose Custom, Windows 95 later asks which Windows 95 components to install onto the hard drive. If Custom setup is not chosen, you will still be able to add or remove any Windows 95 component after installation is complete.

NOTE 2: If EMM386.EXE is listed as a DEVICE in the CONFIG.SYS file, Setup displays a warning message stating that Setup may fail to detect some hardware with EMM386.EXE resident in memory. If this message is displayed, Click OK to continue.

The next dialog asks for your name and company name. You must enter something in the Name box, but Company name is optional.

  • Enter your user information. Click NEXT to continue.

The system prompts you to enter your Product Identification Number. This number is provided with the CD-ROM.

  • Enter your Product Identification Number. Click NEXT to continue.
Next setup analyzes the computer, searching for legacy devices.
  • Select 'Yes, Recommended'. Setup attempts to detect all types of legacy devices. Click NEXT.

Selecting No allows you to specify the types of devices to be detected.

NOTE: On some systems, setup will ask you to select the devices you wish setup to search for. Click on the corresponding box for each device that is physically installed in your system, then click NEXT.

The next screen notifies that Setup begins analyzing the system.

  • Click NEXT to proceed.

A status bar shows the progress of the hardware detection.

During this phase, Setup is looking at the current configuration files, device drivers loaded in memory and ROM strings from adapters; as well as sending signals to I/O addresses for responses in an attempt to identify the legacy hardware.

NOTE: It is possible for the system to lock during detection. If no disk activity is present for a long time, simply reboot, run Setup again and choose 'Safe Recovery' when prompted.

The next screen allows E-Mail, fax, and online components to be installed.

  • Choose NEXT without selecting any of these options.

Next setup gives the option of customizing the list of Windows 95 components to be installed.

  • Click 'Install the most common components (recommended)'. Click NEXT.

In the next dialog, Windows 95 Setup gives the option of creating a bootable Startup Disk. This disk is very important in the event that the hard drive becomes unbootable or Windows 95 needs to be reinstalled. This disk replaces the function of "DOS disk number one" and includes many utilities useful in troubleshooting.

  • Select 'Yes, I want a startup disk' and continue.

The next screen notifies that Setup now begins the second part: copying Windows 95 files to the computer. If satisfied with all of the selections, choose Next.

After choosing Next you cannot go back and modify the choices.

  • Choose NEXT to start copying files to the computer.

Setup prompts you to insert a disk into drive A. Any files on this disk are deleted when Setup copies files to this disk.

  • Insert a disk in drive A. Click OK.

A status bar shows the progress of the Startup Disk file transfer. When finished transferring files, Setup asks you to remove the disk and then click OK to continue Setup.

  • Remove the disk from drive A. Click OK.

A status bar shows the progress of copying files to the hard drive.

Restarting the Computer and Finishing Setup

After copying files onto the computer select Finish. Setup begins the third part of the installation, Restarting Your Computer and Finishing Setup. If your computer does not completely reboot after you have clicked Finish, reset the system, and choose Safe Mode. Then restart the computer by clicking Start, then Shut Down, and when it asks if you want to Restart your computer?, click Yes. Installation should continue normally.

Upon rebooting, the first change noticed is:

Starting Windows 95...

Next the screen, Getting Ready to Run Windows95 for the First Time, is displayed while Setup is updating the system's configuration files.

Next Setup asks the time zone in which you are located.

  • Click on the world map to select your time zone. Click CLOSE.

Next Setup prepares to restart the system again.

  • Click OK.

After Windows 95 finishes restarting, the Welcome to Windows95 dialog appears. Windows 95 is now installed.



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