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Once the required networking hardware is installed and an IP address is assigned, or once a SLIP or PPP account is obtained on a server, the user needs to install a TCP/IP protocol stack and a selection of TCP/IP clients. The remainder of this paper describes such software.
For each application, I briefly outline the installation procedures. In earlier versions of this paper, written for Windows 3.1 applications, I included detailed instructions because there were often several steps involved in the installation. I also wanted to emphasize that the steps were simple to work through. Many of the TCP/IP applications for Windows 95 include setup programs that handle all the details of installing and uninstalling. As a result, installation instructions are now almost unnecessary.
Please be sure to read any text files included with each software package in order to complete the configuration and to learn about all functions of the software. It is also important to read the Help file included with an application.
Because of the multimedia aspects of the World Wide Web, browsers in particular have depended on additional software known as viewers or helpers to implement some functions. Among these functions are viewing graphics files and playing sound. Now even these functions are being implemented within the browser in a manner transparent to the user. Beginning in 1996 with version 3.01, Microsoft's Internet Explorer displayed GIF and JPG files, played MIDI sound files, and played RealAudio streaming audio files without the assistance of helper applications. One function that is not yet being included in Web browsers is Telnet. This function is of particular importance in my own professional field of librarianship, where links to library catalogs are usually implemented through a telnet connection.
I have installed the software described here for myself and many of my colleagues in the Virginia Tech Libraries. However, after September 1996, I no longer had access to a PC running Windows 3.1. Thus, I am no longer able to comment on the 16-bit versions of Windows TCP/IP software.
Read the Disclaimers and Warranties if you want to know that I am not a network expert, but that I warrant that I have personally installed and used the software I describe in one version or another in a variety of situations starting with 16-bit applications under Windows 3.1 in 1993 through 32-bit applications under Windows 95 using both desktop and laptop PCs using both direct network connections, SLIP dial-up access to an Internet Service Provider, and PPP access through a Windows NT Remote Access Server.
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Revised: April 7, 1999
Harry_M_Kriz , [hmkriz@vt.edu]