I. Clever Uses of “System Information”
“System Information” is a utility in Win98 that you open from “Start” → “Accessories” → “System Tools.” It can view comprehensive information such as hardware resources, system components, and the software environment. It has a wide range of uses in system maintenance. Below are a few application examples:
1、Checking the CD-ROM drive’s data transfer speed
After running the “System Information” program, click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Components” in the left pane, then click the plus sign next to “Multimedia.” Put a good-quality CD into the drive, then select the “CD-ROM” item under “Multimedia” (that is, make that item turn bold). After a period of testing, some indicators related to CD-ROM performance will be displayed in the right pane. These include: drive letter, total CD capacity, data transfer speed, CPU usage while reading data, and it can even detect the model of the CD-ROM drive.
2、Searching for “startup” programs
I believe many people do not know what Win98 is doing when it starts up. If you want to know, run the “System Information” program. Click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Software Environment” in the left pane, then select the “Startup Programs” item. Then all programs loaded when Win98 starts will be displayed in the right pane. This includes: program name, load source (that is, by what method it was loaded), and the full path and full filename of the “startup” program. The most important thing here is the “load source.” Judging from the results shown under “Software Environment” and “Startup Programs,” the great majority of “startup” programs are loaded through the registry, that is, programs whose “load source” is shown as “Registry（Machine Run）”. In Win98, you can run Regedit and expand the branches in the following order: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Under Run you can find the key values for these “startup” programs.
3、Quickly diagnosing whether the computer has any problematic devices
For some beginners, it is rather difficult to check through “Control Panel,” “System,” and “Device Manager” whether the computer has any problematic devices. Using the “System Information” program makes it easy. The method is: click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Components” in the left pane, then select the “Problem Devices” item under that directory. Then the relevant information will be displayed in the right pane. If your computer has no “problem devices,” it will display “This machine has no problem devices.”
4、Quickly displaying IRQ usage
IRQ conflicts are the main cause of device conflicts, and the “System Information” program gives us a convenient way to quickly display IRQ usage. You only need to click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Hardware Resources” in the left pane, then select the “IRQs” item under that directory. Then the system’s IRQ usage information will be displayed in the right pane, including the IRQ number and the name of the device using it. Similarly, clicking “Conflicts/Sharing” under the “Hardware Resources” directory will display the IRQ numbers that are in conflict or shared by multiple devices in the system. Of course, you can also check DMA resource usage, and so on.
II. Other Uses for the Boot Disk
The Windows 98 boot disk has many uses. If you make a few modifications to the Windows 98 boot disk, it can meet special needs in certain special situations. The following are two bits of experience the author worked out:
1、Using the Windows 98 boot disk to boot into Windows 98
Most friends who have used the Windows 98 boot disk probably feel the same way as the author: although it is called a boot disk, in fact it cannot be used to boot into Windows 98. The solution is: copy the msdos.sys file from the root directory of drive C: to the Windows 98 boot disk and overwrite the file of the same name in its root directory. Note that if msdos.sys and io.sys are not shown in Windows 98, you need to select the “Show all files” option in folder properties. The reason the boot disk cannot boot into Windows 98 is that the msdos.sys file on the boot disk is empty. In fact, any floppy disk containing io.sys and the above msdos.sys file can boot into Windows 98.
2、You can very conveniently make a DOS6.22 boot disk with CD-ROM drivers and commonly used DOS6.22 commands
The method is to use the sys a： command under a DOS6.22 system to transfer the DOS6.22 system files, and that will make a DOS6.22 boot disk with CD-ROM drivers. Booting the system with this disk, you can see that the original Windows 98 boot menu becomes the DOS6.22 boot menu. But at this time, the DOS commands in the virtual disk (ramdrive) created in memory by the boot disk, as well as the several DOS commands included on the boot disk itself, are still DOS7.1 versions and cannot be executed under a DOS6.22 system. At this point, you can further modify the relevant files on the boot disk so that the DOS7.1 commands become DOS6.22 commands. In the Windows 98 boot disk, the ebd.cab file is the compressed file containing DOS commands. Therefore, if you compress the DOS6.22 command files you need into a cab-format ebd.cab file and replace the original ebd.cab file with it, you can make a DOS6.22 boot disk with CD-ROM startup support and commonly used DOS6.22 commands. In addition, you can also compress the DOS6.22 command files into an arj-format ebd.arj file. Copy arj.exe and ebd.arj to the boot disk, and at the same time delete ebd.cab and extract.exe. Finally, modify the autoexec.bat file on the boot disk: replace extract.exe with arj.exe, replace ebd.cab with ebd.arj, and replace the line ％ramd％:\extract /y /e /l ％ramd％:ebd.cab > nul with ％ramd％:\arj e ebd.arj ％ramd％: > nul.
III. Make Your System More Secure
When Windows 98 starts up and after it logs off, it asks the user to enter a username and password, but as long as you click “Cancel” you can still get in, so it cannot prevent unauthorized users from using it. Actually, Windows 98 already has a complete security mechanism; it just has not been enabled. As long as you adjust a few settings, you can enable its security functions and prevent use by unauthorized users.
First, you need to change the logon method to “Microsoft Friendly Logon.” Open Control Panel, double-click the Network icon, and look for “Microsoft Friendly Logon” in the drop-down list under “Primary Network Logon.” After you find it, click it, then click “OK,” and it will be set as the primary logon method. If you do not find it, that means it is not installed, so you need to add it. The method is: click “Add,” double-click “Client,” click “Microsoft” in the “Manufacturer” list, find “Microsoft Friendly Logon” in the list on the right, select it, then click “OK.” Then follow the above method to set it, and after finishing click “OK” to return to Control Panel. During installation and setup, you may be asked to insert the Windows CD.
Next, create users. In Control Panel, double-click the “Users” icon. Click the “New User” button and create a username for each user who can use this machine. You can enter the password right away, or leave it for the user to change after logging in.
Finally, you need to modify the registry. To be safe, please back up the registry first. Run regedit.exe, open
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon, create a new DWORD value on the right, rename it to “MustBe Validated”, double-click it, and change its value to 1.
After these modifications, Windows can refuse use by unauthorized users. Let’s test it: restart the machine, and when the logon window appears, try clicking Cancel. Ha, it won’t work now, right? Windows says you cannot log in. This proves that only those who have a username on the machine can use it.
We can also add some prompt information to the logon window to tell unauthorized users not to waste their effort. The method is also very simple. You can directly edit the registry to complete this step. Run regedit.exe and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon（if it does not exist, create it）. Create a new string value on the right and rename it to “LegalNoticeCaption”, then double-click it and set its value to the title of the prompt message, for example “Important Information”; then create another new string value and rename it to “LegalNoticeText”, then double-click it and set its value to the content of the prompt message, for example “Non-users of this machine, please do not log in.” That sets up the prompt information. Now we can restart and see the effect.
“System Information” is a utility in Win98 that you open from “Start” → “Accessories” → “System Tools.” It can view comprehensive information such as hardware resources, system components, and the software environment. It has a wide range of uses in system maintenance. Below are a few application examples:
1、Checking the CD-ROM drive’s data transfer speed
After running the “System Information” program, click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Components” in the left pane, then click the plus sign next to “Multimedia.” Put a good-quality CD into the drive, then select the “CD-ROM” item under “Multimedia” (that is, make that item turn bold). After a period of testing, some indicators related to CD-ROM performance will be displayed in the right pane. These include: drive letter, total CD capacity, data transfer speed, CPU usage while reading data, and it can even detect the model of the CD-ROM drive.
2、Searching for “startup” programs
I believe many people do not know what Win98 is doing when it starts up. If you want to know, run the “System Information” program. Click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Software Environment” in the left pane, then select the “Startup Programs” item. Then all programs loaded when Win98 starts will be displayed in the right pane. This includes: program name, load source (that is, by what method it was loaded), and the full path and full filename of the “startup” program. The most important thing here is the “load source.” Judging from the results shown under “Software Environment” and “Startup Programs,” the great majority of “startup” programs are loaded through the registry, that is, programs whose “load source” is shown as “Registry（Machine Run）”. In Win98, you can run Regedit and expand the branches in the following order: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Under Run you can find the key values for these “startup” programs.
3、Quickly diagnosing whether the computer has any problematic devices
For some beginners, it is rather difficult to check through “Control Panel,” “System,” and “Device Manager” whether the computer has any problematic devices. Using the “System Information” program makes it easy. The method is: click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Components” in the left pane, then select the “Problem Devices” item under that directory. Then the relevant information will be displayed in the right pane. If your computer has no “problem devices,” it will display “This machine has no problem devices.”
4、Quickly displaying IRQ usage
IRQ conflicts are the main cause of device conflicts, and the “System Information” program gives us a convenient way to quickly display IRQ usage. You only need to click the expandable directory with the “＋” sign next to “Hardware Resources” in the left pane, then select the “IRQs” item under that directory. Then the system’s IRQ usage information will be displayed in the right pane, including the IRQ number and the name of the device using it. Similarly, clicking “Conflicts/Sharing” under the “Hardware Resources” directory will display the IRQ numbers that are in conflict or shared by multiple devices in the system. Of course, you can also check DMA resource usage, and so on.
II. Other Uses for the Boot Disk
The Windows 98 boot disk has many uses. If you make a few modifications to the Windows 98 boot disk, it can meet special needs in certain special situations. The following are two bits of experience the author worked out:
1、Using the Windows 98 boot disk to boot into Windows 98
Most friends who have used the Windows 98 boot disk probably feel the same way as the author: although it is called a boot disk, in fact it cannot be used to boot into Windows 98. The solution is: copy the msdos.sys file from the root directory of drive C: to the Windows 98 boot disk and overwrite the file of the same name in its root directory. Note that if msdos.sys and io.sys are not shown in Windows 98, you need to select the “Show all files” option in folder properties. The reason the boot disk cannot boot into Windows 98 is that the msdos.sys file on the boot disk is empty. In fact, any floppy disk containing io.sys and the above msdos.sys file can boot into Windows 98.
2、You can very conveniently make a DOS6.22 boot disk with CD-ROM drivers and commonly used DOS6.22 commands
The method is to use the sys a： command under a DOS6.22 system to transfer the DOS6.22 system files, and that will make a DOS6.22 boot disk with CD-ROM drivers. Booting the system with this disk, you can see that the original Windows 98 boot menu becomes the DOS6.22 boot menu. But at this time, the DOS commands in the virtual disk (ramdrive) created in memory by the boot disk, as well as the several DOS commands included on the boot disk itself, are still DOS7.1 versions and cannot be executed under a DOS6.22 system. At this point, you can further modify the relevant files on the boot disk so that the DOS7.1 commands become DOS6.22 commands. In the Windows 98 boot disk, the ebd.cab file is the compressed file containing DOS commands. Therefore, if you compress the DOS6.22 command files you need into a cab-format ebd.cab file and replace the original ebd.cab file with it, you can make a DOS6.22 boot disk with CD-ROM startup support and commonly used DOS6.22 commands. In addition, you can also compress the DOS6.22 command files into an arj-format ebd.arj file. Copy arj.exe and ebd.arj to the boot disk, and at the same time delete ebd.cab and extract.exe. Finally, modify the autoexec.bat file on the boot disk: replace extract.exe with arj.exe, replace ebd.cab with ebd.arj, and replace the line ％ramd％:\extract /y /e /l ％ramd％:ebd.cab > nul with ％ramd％:\arj e ebd.arj ％ramd％: > nul.
III. Make Your System More Secure
When Windows 98 starts up and after it logs off, it asks the user to enter a username and password, but as long as you click “Cancel” you can still get in, so it cannot prevent unauthorized users from using it. Actually, Windows 98 already has a complete security mechanism; it just has not been enabled. As long as you adjust a few settings, you can enable its security functions and prevent use by unauthorized users.
First, you need to change the logon method to “Microsoft Friendly Logon.” Open Control Panel, double-click the Network icon, and look for “Microsoft Friendly Logon” in the drop-down list under “Primary Network Logon.” After you find it, click it, then click “OK,” and it will be set as the primary logon method. If you do not find it, that means it is not installed, so you need to add it. The method is: click “Add,” double-click “Client,” click “Microsoft” in the “Manufacturer” list, find “Microsoft Friendly Logon” in the list on the right, select it, then click “OK.” Then follow the above method to set it, and after finishing click “OK” to return to Control Panel. During installation and setup, you may be asked to insert the Windows CD.
Next, create users. In Control Panel, double-click the “Users” icon. Click the “New User” button and create a username for each user who can use this machine. You can enter the password right away, or leave it for the user to change after logging in.
Finally, you need to modify the registry. To be safe, please back up the registry first. Run regedit.exe, open
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon, create a new DWORD value on the right, rename it to “MustBe Validated”, double-click it, and change its value to 1.
After these modifications, Windows can refuse use by unauthorized users. Let’s test it: restart the machine, and when the logon window appears, try clicking Cancel. Ha, it won’t work now, right? Windows says you cannot log in. This proves that only those who have a username on the machine can use it.
We can also add some prompt information to the logon window to tell unauthorized users not to waste their effort. The method is also very simple. You can directly edit the registry to complete this step. Run regedit.exe and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon（if it does not exist, create it）. Create a new string value on the right and rename it to “LegalNoticeCaption”, then double-click it and set its value to the title of the prompt message, for example “Important Information”; then create another new string value and rename it to “LegalNoticeText”, then double-click it and set its value to the content of the prompt message, for example “Non-users of this machine, please do not log in.” That sets up the prompt information. Now we can restart and see the effect.
http://dos.e-stone.cn/dosbbs
uploadImages/200311161145850422.swf
uploadImages/200311161145850422.swf