Microsoft touts Windows 95 as network-ready, but NetWare conflicts and setup glitches are keeping it off some corporate LANs
Barry Nance
Windows 95 must find its way into businesses, both small and large, to be successful. So far, however, many businesses are saying "no, thanks," typically because of the operating system's networking and security problems.
Sales figures proving this are hard to come by, but slow acceptance of Windows 95 in the business community is indicated by dramatically lower sales projections by market researchers Dataquest and IDC, as well as comments from companies that developed Windows 95-specific software. As Dr. Michael Cowpland, chief executive officer of Corel Corp., recently remarked, "Market absorption of Windows 95 has
not
yet met industry expectations. As a result, 32-bit applications like CorelDraw 6 that are designed to work on Windows 95 and Windows NT have had a slower market penetration than we originally expected."
Windows 95 and NetWare
One of the more serious networking issues is Windows 95's ability to crash NetWare-based LANs with just a few clicks in the Control Panel. For example, if you use the Network icon in the Control Panel to configure the Microsoft NetWare client for printer sharing, and if you inadvertently enable Novell's Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) on the File and Printer Sharing for NetWare Networks screen, your Windows 95 PC will broadcast LAN messages that tell other clients your PC is a NetWare file server (though people who try to log on to your PC as a NetWare server fail to get access). Oddly, Microsoft didn't release a patch until October 20, 1995, even though Windows 95 beta testers had reported this rude behavior during testin
g roughly six months earlier. You'll find the patch on Microsoft's Web site (
http://www.windows.microsoft.com/windows/software/w95fpup.htm
).
The new 32-bit NetWare Directory Service (NDS) client from Novell, still in beta testing as we went to press, fixes this problem by preventing Win 95 from emulating a NetWare server or otherwise doing file/printer sharing via IPX. Microsoft's NetWare NDS client software, however, continues to exhibit the problem. Furthermore, the Microsoft NDS client implements only a few NDS functions. Until Novell aggressively irons out the bugs in its Windows 95 client, people who use Windows 95 on a NetWare LAN will not have the same features and functions that users of Macintosh, OS/2, and Windows 3.1 clients enjoy.
In several other res
pects, Microsoft's NetWare client is well written and thorough in its cloning of the NetWare environment. While Microsoft's 32-bit NetWare client doesn't yet support NDS fully, it nonetheless presents virtually all the NetWare APIs that NetWare's NETX previously did. You can, in a Windows 95 command-line session, successfully run NetWare utilities such as RIGHTS, USERLIST, and NDIR. These utilities, which you'll find in your NetWare PUBLIC directory, are unaware that the "real" NETX isn't loaded.
Windows 95's internal representation of "shortcuts" to network resources is another problem on NetWare networks, especially large ones. Windows 95 shortcuts point to a specific file server through a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) machine-name address. When it creates the shortcut, Windows 95 resolves a NetWare drive mapping (R:, for instance, mapped to volume SYS1 on server SERVER1) into the UNC equivalent \\SERVER1\SYS1. If a LAN administrator changes the drive mapping, perhaps to achieve load balancing ac
ross multiple servers, Windows 95 ignores the change and continues to use the shortcut's embedded UNC.
Windows 3.1 behaves better; because Windows 3.1 clients refer to the server's volume through the drive mapping, rather than UNCs, they adhere to the change the next time they log in. In contrast, the administrator must manually update the shortcuts on all the Windows 95 PCs.
Windows 95's long filenames present another NetWare conflict. To use them on a NetWare server, you must apply Novell's patches to the network operating system (they're on
http://www.novell.com
) and then enable OS/2 namespace support on the file server. You must also use uppercase characters in log-in scripts, replace commas in scripts with the word
AND
, and avoid using log-in scripts to load TSRs--Windows 95 can't handle
them.
Caution: Manager in Training
Windows 95 could also use help producing network statistics and application tracking information. LAN software, written specifically to network APIs that were available in DOS and Windows 3.1, typically doesn't work in the Windows 95 environment. Frye Computers' DOS/Windows utilities are just one example. Frye NodeTracker, Frye Utilities for Networks, and Frye Statistics Display Rack for NetWare show incomplete network diagnostic statistics under Windows 95, and the Frye Software Metering and Resource Tracking program can't reliably meter file usage. The problem isn't the quality of the programming by Frye Computing, it's the newly rewritten network driver that's part of Windows 95. To help Windows 95 client PCs become part of a managed network, utility vendors and Microsoft will have to resolve the differences between the old and new APIs.
Lack of support for network management standards also hampers Windows 95's ability to recognize network
hardware. The Desktop Management Interface (DMI) is an important standard that specifies how LAN-management agent programs can interact with desktop computers and their peripherals. It lets LAN management software integrate information from and control the function of diverse products on LAN-attached computers. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn't ship DMI support in the initial release of Win 95.
The Windows 95 registry file, which is designed to track hardware and software changes in a standardized way, is another source of network problems. Kevin Dubauskas, a software developer for Programming Resources Company in Hartford, Connecticut, knows this firsthand. Each time Dubauskas configured his new Windows 95 PC for both Microsoft Network Client and Microsoft NetWare Client (so he could access both IBM LAN Server and NetWare file servers), Windows 95 dropped the NetWare Client entry and reverted to just the Microsoft Network Client (
see the screen
). Dubauskas could perform NET VIEW an
d NET USE commands to connect to the NetWare server, but he couldn't use the NetWare LOGIN utility nor could he get his machine to run the NetWare log-in script. Dubauskas concluded that his Windows 95 registry entries were corrupt. This suggests another challenge that developers might solve with a ScanDisk-like registry repair utility.
A few extra smarts in such a registry repair tool, when used proactively, could also help overcome installation and configuration difficulties. For instance, automatic detection of frame type (802.3, TOKEN RING, TOKEN RING_SNAP, etc.) doesn't often work properly in Windows 95. Incorrect detection typically happens on very quiet or very busy multiprotocol networks. That's because the auto-detect feature needs a steady stream of consistently formatted LAN frames to determine frame types. LAN administrators must configure the frame type manually, using the Control Panel--clearly a job for a LAN-aware Windows 95 repair tool.
Hardware vendors also face opportunities a
nd challenges. When we installed Windows 95 on a PC equipped with a Madge AT RingNode network adapter, Windows 95's hardware analysis and detection process failed to identify the adapter. A good installation program like the one in IBM's OS/2 Warp Connect can detect network adapters, even if they're non-Plug-and-Play. Hardware vendors need to work more closely with Microsoft to ensure that Win 95 detects their boards.
Windows 95's hardware conflicts also affect third-party application software. If you want to access a Lotus Notes server from a Windows 95 client, for example, you must configure Windows 95 to use IPX as the default protocol. If you don't, the Notes client will complain that the NetBIOS unit number is too large and it will fail to find the Notes server.
There are two solutions to this problem. The first entails using 16-bit real mode ODI drivers along with Novell's NETBIOS.EXE, and the second -- if you're using 32-bit network drivers -- involves clicking the checkbox labeled "Set
this protocol to be the default protocol" on the Advanced tab of the Network Control Panel's IPX/SPX Compatible Protocol property sheet. To fix this, Lotus needs to enhance Notes' installation software so it automatically makes the appropriate property sheet changes under Windows 95.
In the cross-platform arena, at least two companies' AppleTalk protocol stacks -- Miramar Systems' Personal MacLAN Connect and Cooperative Printing Solutions' COPSTalk -- work adequately under Windows 95, albeit without support for long filenames.
Symantec has emerged as a leader in Windows 95 networking. Developers can try out beta versions of Symantec Café, a Windows 95 tool for creating dynamic World Wide Web applets. The Café package includes Sun Microsystems' Java Developer's Kit and works with Symantec's C++ 7.2 compiler. You can find it on the Symantec Web site (
http://www.symantec.com
).
Symantec also offers Norton pcAny-where32, a utility that provides remote control, file transfer, and general communications between Win 95 and NT computers. Norton pcAnywhere32 can automatically synchronize files on both machines, helpful to anyone working on the road through a remote connection. And Windows 95's GUI lets you access remote data by dragging and dropping from the remote machine's directory.
Turning Problems into Opportunities
As with all its previous operating systems, Microsoft needs the help of third-party software vendors to fill in the gaps in Windows 95. This ensures the continuing viability of the software utility industry. For despite Windows 95's single-user improvements -- often achieved through outright absorption of formerly independent, third-party utilities -- its networking shortcomings should make network utilities a growth market.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Personal MacLAN Connect...............$199
Miramar Systems, Inc.
Santa Barbara, CA
Phone: (800) 862-2526 or (805) 966-2432
E-Mail:
sales@miramarsys.com
Internet:
http://www.miramarsys.com/
Circle 1082 on Inquiry Card.
COPSTalk..............................$179
Cooperative Printing Solutions
Norcross, GA
Phone: (770) 840-0810
Internet:
http://www.copstalk.com
Circle 1083 on Inquiry Card.
LANtastic for Windows 95..............$119
Artisoft
Tucson, AZ
Phone: (800) 233-5564 or (520) 670
-7000
Fax: (520) 670-7101
E-Mail:
sales@artisoft.com
Internet:
http://www.artisoft.com
Circle 1084 on Inquiry Card.
Norton pcAnywhere32...................$149.95
Symantec Café for Windows
Symantec Corp.
Cupertino, CA
Phone: (800) 441-7234 or (408) 253-9600
Fax: (408) 253-3968
Internet:
http://www.symantec.com
Circle 1085 and 1086 on Inquiry Card.
FIND OUT MORE ON THE INTERNET
While browsing the Internet, we found a detailed discussion of
Windows 95 networking and security issues. Rich Graves
(llurch@networking.Stanford
.edu) maintains a list of frequently asked
questions (FAQs) on the subject; the URL is
http://www.dccs.stanford.edu/NetConsult/Win95Net/faq.html
.
HotBYTEs
- information on products covered or advertised in BYTE
Novell NetWare Conflicts
PROBLEMS
Server name conflict: Users can accidentally identify
their client as a NetWare server
SOLUTIONS
Microsoft patch, available on the Web at
http://www.windows
.
microsoft.com/windows/software/w95fpup.htm
Novell's upcoming 32-bit NetWare NDS prevents Win 95 from
emulating NetWare servers
NEEDED: Updated NetWare NDS client from Microsoft
PROBLEMS
NetWare and Win 95's long filenames
SOLUTIONS
Add OS/2 namespace support; obtain Novell patches
(
http://www.novell.com
)
PROBLEMS
Different log-in script conventions
SOLUTIONS
Use all-uppercase characters; replace commas with AND; avoid
using log-in scripts to load TSRs (Win 95 can't handle them)
PROBLEMS
Win 95 shortcuts misrecognize drives due to faulty drive mapping
SOLUTIONS
None known
Weak Network Management Support
PROBLEMS
Some network monitoring utilities don't work with Win 95
SOLUTIONS
NEEDED: Update of Win 95's network driver code to make it
compatible with utility software
PROBLEMS
Win 95 doesn't support the popular Desktop Management Interface
(DMI) standard for reporting hardware information to network software
SOLUTIONS
NEEDED: DMI support
PROBLEMS
Some network monitoring utilities don't work with Win 95
SOLUTIONS
NEEDED: Closer cooperation between Microsoft and hardware vendors
PROBLEMS
Incorrect or corrupted Win 95 registry file
SOLUTIONS
NEEDED: Utilities to manage the registry
Inadequate Security
PROBLEMS
Network and dial-up passwords are too easily accessible in .PWL files
SOLUTIONS
Modify Policy Editor settings or registry's p
assword section
Use a peer-to-peer network (such as Artisoft's LANtastic for
Windows 95) that offers tighter security
screen_link (40 Kbytes)
A cascade of Windows 95's NetWare configuration problems. In
window 1
, the user had to choose the highlighted Madge network adapter from a pick list -- Windows 95 did not recognize it. The same window shows a NetWare client entry that will disappear after the user clicks OK and the system reboots.
The user tries to configure the client using the NetWare MAP command at the DOS prompt (
window 2
) but fails; MAP ha
s been replaced by the less familiar NET USE, a Windows 95 command.
Barry Nance has been a programmer for more than 25 years. Among the books he has written are Introduction to Networking and Client/Server LAN Programming (Que, 1994). You can reach him via the Internet at
barryn@bix.com
.
When Networking is Not Working
