NCKCN Windows 98 Guide

DISCLAIMER & COPYRIGHT

The supplied programs are Copyright of their respective owners, All Rights Reserved. It is provided as shareware with the following limitations:

• These programs are shareware and are not to be resold or distributed for sale with other programs which are for sale.
• There is no warranty or claim of fitness or reliability, however, NCKCN has tested the software and has found them to be basic and functional Internet tools.
• The programs are distributed AS IS, and as such neither the authors, nor respective companies, nor NCKCN shall be held liable for any loss of data, down time, loss of revenue or any other direct or indirect damage or claims caused by these programs.
• It will be the user's responsibility to abide by the terms and conditions set forth in the documentation provided with each software package.

• NCKCN does not alter or change the installation software in any way, the programs are distributed AS IS. NCKCN is not responsible in any way to provide support for this software beyond this helpful guide.

This guide is written with the assumption that you already know how to operate your computer, and that you already know the basic terms used in this guide to describe operating your computer. NCKCN does not provide basic computer support as we do not sell computers or computer software. You must  go through the Help and On-line guides on your computer first to learn how to operate your computer. There are also local businesses that provide basic computer support as well as classes from local schools that might provide this basic training.

This guide is for the first version Windows 98, not the newer Windows 98 Second Edition. This guide will take you step-by-step through configuring Windows 98 to connect to the Internet. The last section is a Tips and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on the Internet and Windows 98. There is no software to install from NCKCN. You already have the software available to connect. Simply follow the instructions to connect to NCKCN and the Internet. There may be slight differences with the way the screen appear on your computer. However, the overall concept should be very similar.

There a two versions of Windows 98, the original first release and the second version (Windows 98 Second Edition) There are slight differences to configuring the different version of Windows 98. This guide is for  the first version of Windows 98. To determine which version you have of Windows 98, right-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, and select the Properties menu. The General tab will indicate which version of  Microsoft Windows 98 you have installed. For this guide, you will want to make sure you have the Windows 98, not Windows 98 Second Edition. 

Important Note: All prior Winsock or On-line  programs should be deleted or removed for maximum compatibility. This includes any version of America Online (AOL), Compuserv, etc. We do not support any other installation, connection method, or application except what is presented here. Please understand that we can not support the thousands of software applications available for Internet access or use. More often than not, if you experience trouble with connection and installation, it is because you have one, or several different "On-line" programs competing with Windows Dial-up Networking to connect to the Internet.

Windows 98 Configuration Instructions

Using the Internet Connection Wizard

 If your computer hasn't been configured to connected to the Internet, the Connect to the Internet icon appears on your desktop. You can start the wizard by simply double-clicking Connect to the Internet as shown. 

To start the Internet Connection wizard manually

• Click Start, point to Programs, point to Internet Explorer, and then click Connection Wizard.
• The Internet Connection wizard starts.

The Internet Connection Wizard (ICW) will step you through to connect to NCKCN. Please read the dialog boxes to follow the wizards. They are very easy to understand.

• Select the option "I have an existing Internet account..." as shown. Click Next to continue the wizard.

• Select the "Select this option if you are accessing the Internet using an Internet Service Provider..." as shown. Click Next to continue.

• Select the option "Connect using my phone line" and click Next to continue. (Note: If you are on a LAN, of course select the option "Connect using my local area network", and follow the easy to understand wizard).

• The Internet Connection Wizard will continue and ask for your NCKCN Phone Number. Type in the local access number you received on your Personal Information Sheet. Make sure to uncheck the "Dial using area code and country code" as shown so that your connection won't try to dial  long distance. Click Next to continue.  (Note:  You should have a local phone number, one that starts with the same prefix as your home phone number. Also, this will be the number you dial into, not your home phone number...NCKCN doesn't need to know that.).

• Supply your User Name and Password exactly as given in your Personal Information sheet. Click Next to continue.(Note: Your User name is just your username. For example jsmith or sbrown. Your username is not your email address which is in the form username@nckcn.com).  Important: Most things are case sensitive on the Internet. If your username is jsmith, then type jsmith, not Jsmith, or JSmith, or JSMITH. This is critically important on your Password. Your connection will not work properly if you type it in incorrectly. Your username and password have to be exactly as it is given to you. (Only asterisks will be displayed to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to get your password) . A word of caution about passwords. Your passwords are designed to give you maximum security and peace of mind. Don't give your password to anyone. In fact, the best way to keep youngsters from accessing the Net unsupervised, is of course, not give them your password!

• Make sure the option "No" is selected and click Next to continue. Unless you received different instructions with your Personal Information Sheet, you don't need to change anything under the Advanced Settings. Note: Please refer to your Personal Information Sheet which may have updated DNS information or other important updates.

• Type in "NCKCN" as shown to name the new Dial-up connection. Click Next to continue.

• The Internet Connection Wizard will now move to configuring your Email and News Account. Make sure the option "Yes" is selected and click Next to continue.

• Type in your name as you want it to appear on the From field in your email messages. Click Next to continue.

• Type in your email address which you received on your Personal Information sheet. Your email address must be correct or your email will not work. Click Next to continue. (Note: Your email address is in the form username@nckcn.com, it must be that way, without spaces, extra characters, or missing characters. Almost all email errors are because you didn't type in the correct addresses and your password).

• Make sure the option "POP3" is selected and type in the POP and SMTP mail servers nckcn.com as shown. Click Next to continue. (Note: The addresses must be that way, without spaces, extra characters, or missing characters. 99.99% of all email errors are because you didn't follow these simple instructions, and type in the correct server addresses).

• Make sure the option "Log on using:" is selected and type in your POP account name (Username) and Password exactly as given in your Personal Information sheet. Click Next to continue. (Note: Your POP account name is just your username. For example jsmith or sbrown. Your username is not your email address which is in the form username@nckcn.com).  Important: Most things are case sensitive on the Internet. If your username is jsmith, then type jsmith, not Jsmith, or JSmith, or JSMITH. This is critically important on your Password. Your connection will not work properly if you type it in incorrectly. Your username and password have to be exactly as it is given to you. (Only asterisks will be displayed to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to get your password)

• Type in the friendly of "NCKCN Email" as shown. Click Next to continue.

• The Internet Connection Wizard will now as you to set up your News account. Make sure the option "Yes" is selected as shown. Click Next to continue.

• Type in your name as you want it to appear on the From field in your News posts. Click Next to continue.

• Confirm or type in your email address which you received on your Personal Information sheet.  Click Next to continue. (Note: Your email address is in the form username@nckcn.com, it must be that way, without spaces, extra characters, or missing characters).

• Type in "news.nckcn.com" exactly as shown. This is your News server address. Click Next to continue.

• Type in "NCKCN News" for a friendly name for this account as shown. Click Next to continue.

• Select the option "No" to not set up an Internet Director Service at this time. These are not part of the NCKCN system, but you are more than welcome to set them up later if you wish. Click Next to continue.

• That's it, your done! Click Finish to complete the configuration wizard. Read the dialog box as it points out how to perform additional configuration tasks should you need to change things later.

• After your computer restarts, we will finish the configuration for your new Internet experience. Continue to the next section.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Configuration Instructions

You can customize your setting so that Microsoft Internet Explorer starts up with the NCKCN Home Page, dials in the way you want, and will disconnect you when you are finished with your NCKCN session. Please read the dialog boxes to follow the wizards. They are very easy to understand. Be sure to access the Help menu, it has all the answers to all your questions! You can set these settings in two places. Under the View and Internet Options while in MS Internet Explorer, or accessing the Internet icon in Control Panel. Both ways are shown below. Many of these settings are already set from the above configuration.

• Click the View menu and then select the Internet Options... command as shown.

• or another way is to click the Start button...Settings...and select Control Panel as shown.

• Double click the Internet icon in Control Panel to start the MS Internet Explorer options as shown.

• The General tab allows you to set your Home page (the web page which automatically starts when you open your browser).  Since NCKCN is your Internet provider, you will find useful notices and regional concerns on this page. We have designed this page specifically for North Central Kansas users with links to some of the world's, and our own region's most useful Internet sites. You can type in the address http://www.nckcn.com as shown to have NCKCN set to your home page. You can also "flush" the temporary Internet files that can accumulate on your hard drive by clicking on the Delete Files button. We recommend you do this on a scheduled basis, around every month or so. When you are finished with the Internet Options, it's best to click on the Apply button then the OK button to exit.

• The Connection tab allows you to change how you connect to the Internet. Make sure the "Connect to the Internet using a modem"is selected. You can also start the connection wizard by selecting the Connect button. During the installation you created a NCKCN dial-up networking connection (the component of Windows 95/98 that makes your connection). To view/change the way your modem connects select the Settings button.

• The Dial-up settings lets you select another Dial-Up Networking connect (if you have multiple accounts). You also set the the logon information for your connection. Supply your Account Name and Password exactly as given in your Personal Information sheet. Note: Your username is just your username. For example jsmith or sbrown as shown. Your username is not your email address which is in the form username@nckcn.com.  Important: Most things are case sensitive on the Internet. If your username is jsmith, then type jsmith, not Jsmith, or JSmith, or JSMITH. Your connection will not work properly if you type it in incorrectly. Your username and password have to be exactly as it is given to you. (Only asterisks will be displayed to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to get your password) . Also you can set the connection to automatically disconnect if idle for any number of minutes. We recommend you set this to 15 minutes. You can save your communities valuable modems by setting this so that you are not connected when not doing anything. The NCKCN system will automatically disconnect you after 15 minutes of inactivity to prevent users from wasting valuable time if the user is not doing anything as well. You can also view/change the Properties of the Dial-Up connection by selecting the Properties button. For more information on setting Windows 95 to automatically save your password (which it will not do by default), look on-line at the PC Info Center link on the NCKCN System web page at http://www.nckcn.com/support/.

• The General tab allows you to set your local access number as well as select which modem to use and to configure the way the modem behaves. Select the Server Types tab.

• The Server Types tab allows you to set the type of server to dial. This should be set as shown. Make sure "Enable software compression" is the only Advanced option selected, and "TCP/IP" is the only Allowed network protocol selected. Click the TCP/IP Settings button.

• Make sure the "Server assigned IP address" is selected as shown, and "Server assigned name server addresses" is selected as shown. Note: Please refer to your Personal Information Sheet which may have updated DNS information or other important updates. Click the OK button until you are at the Control Panel again. Close Control Panel and continue to the next section.

Connecting to NCKCN

You can connect (dial) to NCKCN several different ways. Essentially, whenever you start a program that wants to connect to the Internet, Windows 95 starts the Dial-up connection you created in the previous section. Perhaps the easiest way then to start an Internet connection is to simply double-click the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop. You can also go to My Computer, then Dial-up networking, and double-click on the NCKCN connection. For more information on this and how to view/edit your Dial-up Networking (DUN) connections view the Windows 95 Dial-up Networking link on the NCKCN System web page at http://www.nckcn.com/support/

• Double-click the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop

• When the connection dialog box comes up, simply supply your password exactly as given in your Personal Information sheet. Important: Most things are case sensitive on the Internet. If your password is milk7, then type milk7, not Milk7, or MilK7, or MILK7, or MIL    K7. It must be that way, without spaces, extra characters, or missing characters. 99.99% of all password errors are because you didn't type in the correct password. Watch out you don't have your Caps-Lock key on!  (Only asterisks will be displayed to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to get your password)click Connect to dial. For more information on setting Windows 95 to automatically save your password (which it will not do by default), look on-line at the PC Info Center link on the NCKCN System web page at http://www.nckcn.com/support/.

• The Connection will dial in and verify you as an NCKCN member.

• Once you connect Internet Explorer will download the NCKCN home page to your browser. That's it. You are ready to surf the Web! Just start pointing at the highlighted text (links) and click - the Internet will take you (maybe to a computer across the world) to your selection. Whenever your mouse pointer changes to a pointing finger, that's a link, all you do is click to go to that web page

• When you are finished with your NCKCN connection, simply quit Internet Explorer and your computer will ask if you want to disconnect. Simply click Yes to hang up your modem. The NCKCN system will automatically disconnect you after 15 minutes of inactivity to prevent users from wasting valuable time if the user is not doing anything as well. You can also view/change the Properties of the Dial-Up connection by selecting the Properties button. For more information on setting Windows 95 to automatically save your password (which it will not do by default), look on-line at the PC Info Center link on the NCKCN System web page at http://www.nckcn.com/support/.

Microsoft Outlook Express

Microsoft Outlook Express is used to send a receive email and view newsgroups follow these simple hints. With MS Outlook Express you can have multiple email and news accounts at one computer.

• Simply double-click the Outlook Express icon on your desktop.

• The first time Outlook Express runs, it will ask where you want to keep your messages. It's best to use the default the program picks. Click OK to continue.

• Outlook Express will ask you to Select the connection you want. Select the NCKCN connection you created above. Also select the option "Set as the default startup connection". Click OK to continue.

• If you need to supply your password, simply type it in exactly as given in your Personal Information sheet. Important: Most things are case sensitive on the Internet. If your password is milk7, then type milk7, not Milk7, or MilK7, or MILK7, or MIL   K7. It must exact, without spaces, extra characters, or missing characters. 99.99% of all password errors are because you didn't type in the correct password. Watch out you don't have your Caps-Lock key on!  (Only asterisks will be displayed to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to get your password). Click OK to dial. For more information on setting Windows 95 to automatically save your password (which it will not do by default), look on-line at the PC Info Center link on the NCKCN System web page at http://www.nckcn.com/support/.

Microsoft Outlook Express Configuration

To change configuration, or add account to Microsoft Outlook Express to send a receive email and view newsgroups follow these simple hints.

Please read the dialog boxes to follow the wizards. They are very easy to understand. Be sure to access the Help menu, it has all the answers to all your questions!

• Once Outlook Express (OE) starts, you can start receiving and sending email messages. Outlook Express is very easy to use. We will cover the basics of sending an email message and receiving email. In the next section you will configure OE to function easier. Simply click the Inbox to view a couple of default emails that really tell you what you need to know to use OE. We recommend you take some time to read through these two messages. Also a word of caution about using email as FTP or File Transfer Protocol. You can look at some Email Ettiquitte tips at http://www2.nckcn.com/NCKCN/EmailEtiquette.htm.

• The Tools menu allows you to access configuration options. To add/change accounts select the Options command as shown.

• The General tab allows you to set how often to automatically checking your email (a great way to keep your dial-up connection alive if you are reading your email), to set Outlook Express as your default email program and news reader. You can also set Outlook Express to open the "Inbox" when started s shown.

• The Send tab allows you to how your mail and news posts are sent. Outlook Express supports sending HTML format (the same as a Web page). Unfortunately, not all email programs can interpret this format. You will want to be careful with sending this format to others. Another useful setting is the "Send messages immediately" as shown.

  

• The Dial-up tab allows you to set your connection. Make sure the option "Dial this connection" with the NCKCN connection selected as shown is set. Click Apply the OK to close the options.

• The Tools menu allows you to access configuration options. To add/change accounts select the Accounts command as shown.

• Select the Mail tab to configure email accounts, the News tab to configure Internet News accounts and so on. We will access the Mail tab then click on the Properties button to see how to set/change email accounts. If you have multiple accounts you will want to select whichever account you want to change.

• The General tab allows you to name accounts as you wish. This is helpful if you have multiple accounts to deal with.  You can also  supply the Name your mail will display, any Organization you wish (optional), and your email address. Be sure to supply your email address exactly as it is given to you on your personal information sheet. It will be in the form of username@nckcn.com. Make sure it is exactly in that form or your email will not work. You don't have to supply a reply address unless you want email that is sent back to you to go elsewhere. Another useful option is the "Include this account when doing a full Send and Receive", which allows you to download several email accounts at once.

• The Servers tab is where you specify your email servers as well as your username and password. Both SMTP and POP3 should be nckcn.com as shown. Supply your Account Name and Password exactly as given in your Personal Information sheet. Note: Your account name is just your username. For example jsmith or sbrown as shown. Your username is not your email address which is in the form username@nckcn.com.  Important: Most things are case sensitive on the Internet. If your username is jsmith, then type jsmith, not Jsmith, or JSmith, or JSMITH. Your connection will not work properly if you type it in incorrectly. Your username and password have to be exactly as it is given to you. (Only asterisks will be displayed to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to get your password) .

• The Connection tab allows you to select the type of connection you use for your email. We recommend you set it to "Connect using my phone line" as shown. Make sure you have the NCKCN Dial-up Networking connection selected as shown. Click the Apply button. The click the OK button to set these options for this connection.

• To create an email message, you simply click the Compose Message button as shown.

• Fill out the "To:" to the address you want to sent to. Email addresses have to be exact. There is no such thing as "close enough" in email addresses. Fill in the subject of what the message is about, and type the body of the email. To send your email off, simply click the Send button.

• To receive your email, simply click the Send and Receive button to have Outlook Express check your email.

• If you wish to create multiple email accounts and set/change them exactly as above, you simply click the Add button and select the Mail command or News to start the Internet Connection Wizard to configure email accounts or  Internet News accounts shown. Again, you can then configure each individual account exactly as just described above if you need to after the Wizard is completed.

• Select the News tab to configure  Internet News accounts . You add/configure news accounts exactly like you do email accounts. We will access the News tab then click on the Properties button to see how to set/change email accounts. If you have multiple accounts you will want to select whichever account you want to change.

• The General tab allows you to name accounts as you wish. This is helpful if you have multiple accounts to deal with.  You can also  supply the Name your news post will display, any Organization you wish (optional), and your email address.  It will be in the form of username@nckcn.com. Make sure it is exactly in that form or your email will not work. You don't have to supply a reply address unless you want email that is sent back to you to go elsewhere. Another useful option is the "Include this account when doing a full Send and Receive", which allows you to download several news accounts at once. You may not wish to set this as news can take quite a while to download as shown.

• The Server tab allows you to set the Server name you point to to access news. Our News Server is news.nckcn.com as shown. You do not need to set any logon.

• The Connection tab allows you to select the type of connection you use for your email. We recommend you set it to "Connect using my phone line" as shown. Make sure you have the NCKCN Dial-up Networking connection selected as shown. Click the Apply button. The click the OK button to set these options for this connection.

• The first time you connect to a news server, it may take quite a while to download all the various newsgroups. There are almost 40,000 on our server!

That's it! Have fun folks. You can always look at the NCKCN Support on-line technical support page at http://www.nckcn.com/Support/.

Troubleshooting tips:

If you are having problems connecting:

• Most likely an error is due to incorrect typing of information, especially passwords and user names. Be sure to type lower and upper case exactly like it's supposed to be. Some times users will type in a space here or there without thinking about. As a general rule, there is no such thing as "close enough" with computers.
• If you cannot reach a site on the Internet don't panic, lots of places everyday are down due to maintenance, upgrading or errors. This is a normal occurrence.
• A word of caution about passwords. Your passwords are designed to give you maximum security and peace of mind. Don't give your password to anyone. In fact, the best way to keep youngsters from accessing the Net unsupervised, is of course, not give them your password!
• Make sure to access the help menus. Companies have spent millions of dollars to give you all the help you need to get going. Like it or not, you have to do things on your own on the Internet, and it is mostly self-discovery. But think of the possibilities!
• Make sure and visit the NCKCN support site at http://www.nckcn.com/Support/, there are links to almost any question regarding Internet use, programs, and help you can think of.
• If you need to view/change your Dial-up Networking connections (the actual Windows 95 components that connects you to NCKCN) you can go to http://www.nckcn.com/NCKCN/win95/dun/ for more information.

 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

The Internet Connection wizard collects information required for you to use the Internet. The wizard may open the first time you open a Web page or HTML file. To read more about the wizard, see "Setting Up an Internet Connection," earlier in this chapter.

If you aren’t connected to the Internet, you might receive this message when you try to jump to a Web page or use the Search Explorer Bar. See "Why do I receive an error message when I’m connecting to a Web page?" for more solutions.

Occasionally, the Web page you want to view won’t open. When this happens, you receive an error message in a dialog box or on a Web page. For example, you may receive the error "HTTP/1.0 404 Object Not Found," which means that the Web page you’re trying to view may not exist.

Often, the only alternative is to try connecting to the site at a later time, but there are other solutions you can try:

• Update the page by clicking Refresh.
• Click Back to return to the page you were just viewing, and then click the link to the page you want to view.
• If you typed an address for a Web site, check for errors.
• Display a different site. If you can connect to another site, the Web page you originally tried to visit either doesn’t exist or is malfunctioning.
• If you can’t connect to any Web site, then the problem is probably with your Internet connection. Make sure you’re still connected to your ISP and that your modem is working.

A channel is a Web site designed to deliver content from the Internet to your computer. A content provider determines when and what information is available for each channel. To view the content in a channel, you click one of the channel buttons on the Channel Bar.

The Channel Bar displays all of the channels installed on your computer. You don’t have to subscribe to a channel to view it, but the channel is added to the Channel Bar if you do subscribe. When you first install Windows 98, the Channel Bar appears on your desktop. If you close the Channel Bar at any time, you need to add it back to your desktop.

For information about channels, see Help Chapter 4, "Customizing Your Desktop."

What’s a subscription?

A subscription is a way to have Windows 98 automatically check your favorite Web pages for new content. You select how and when you are notified-Windows 98 automatically delivers the new content to your computer on a regular basis.

What’s the difference between a subscription and a channel?

A subscription is a tool for automatically downloading any Web page, including channels, to your computer according to a schedule that you set up. A channel is a kind of Web site specially designed to deliver content to your computer. You can follow a content delivery schedule suggested by the content provider, or you can set up your own schedule by subscribing to the channel.

For more information about using subscriptions and channels, see Help Chapter 4, "Customizing Your Desktop."

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