Chapter 10 - Managing Windows Environments on Your Workstation
This chapter discusses managing Windows and Windows for Workgroups (WFWG) on your workstation.
You will use the Control Panel, which is a Windows application, to customize your environment. The Network icon in the Control Panel provides access to Banyan networking software and user information.
To Customize Your Windows Environment
1. Double-click the Control Panel icon in the Main group window. The Control Panel window appears.
2. Double-click the Network icon. The Banyan Network window, Figure 10-1, appears.
The Banyan Network window lets you:
View status information Set options for network messaging Edit your StreetTalk user profile Change your password
The following sections describe these options in detail.
Click Status from the Banyan Network window to view information about the network version, routing server, and VINES Files mapping. The Status window, Figure 10-2. appears.
Click Options from the Banyan Network window to set preferences for network messages. The Options window, Figure 10-3, appears.
The Options window lets you:
Set preferences for network message notification. Edit your StreetTalk user profile. Change your password. Note that the procedure for changing your StreetTalk password is different from editing your Windows password.
Setting Message Notification Options
The Messages area in the Options window lets you set your message notification preferences. Network messages are sent by other users, or generated by network printers and servers.
Example Receiving a Network Message
A message informing you that your document is printed appears in a dialog box on your screen as a network message. You choose how you want to receive messages by setting notification preferences.
Note: The SETMSGS statement in your user profile determines how you are notified of messages. Any changes you make through the Message Popup Options dialog box are valid for your current login session only.
The Messages area has four options, described in Table 10-1.
Editing Your StreetTalk User Profile
If you are not authorized to edit your StreetTalk user profile, this button appears dimmed in the Options window.
Click the Edit StreetTalk Profile button in the Options window to edit your user profile.
Your StreetTalk user profile appears in a window. Edit your profile as you would using the Windows application Notepad. Changes made to your profile take effect the next time you log in to the network.
To Change Your StreetTalk Password
1. Click Change Password in the Options window. The Change Password window, Figure 10-4, appears.
2. With the cursor in the top text box, enter your current password and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the middle text box.
3. Enter your new password and press ENTER. The cursor moves to the bottom text box.
4. Enter your new password again and click OK.
Click Cancel at any time to stop the operation and return to the Options window.
Click Help at any time to view on-line information about changing your password.
Note: Depending on the security enforced at your site, Banyan networking software maintains a record of the last ten passwords you use, and does not let you change a password to one used previously. An error message appears if you try to enter an old password. Refer to Managing VINES Security for more information.
To Customize Your Windows for Workgroups Environment
1. Double-click the Control Panel icon in the Main group window. The Control Panel window appears.
2. Double-click the Network icon. The Microsoft Windows Network window, Figure 10-5, appears.
3. Click on the VINES button under the Options section. The Banyan Network window appears. See Figure 10-1.
The Banyan Network window in a WFWG environment lets you perform the same tasks as in a Windows environment. For detailed information, refer to the descriptions of these tasks for the Windows environment presented earlier in this chapter.
Running Windows on a Banyan Network
This section describes the following issues involved with running Windows on a Banyan network:
VINES configuration files Protected network connections Creating PIF files Running Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs PC Dial-in support PCPRINT support
The VINES.INI file resides in your Windows directory. Like the WIN.INI file that specifies your workstation environment, VINES.INI specifies your network environment. The message notification and login preferences you set in the Options window in the VINES Network window are reflected in this file.
This file also contains:
Search patterns specified in the StreetTalk Directory Assistance (STDA) Subset window Versions of VINES and Windows software Communication buffer size
For a sample VINES.INI file, refer to Chapter 8.
Protected Network Connections in Windows and WFWG
Protected network connections are connections to file and print services that cannot be deleted. These connections can be set to prevent users from deleting standard connections.
For example, certain applications might require specific connections to network drives to run successfully. Protecting these connections ensures that users do not accidentally change these connections.
Protected network connections are marked by a shield icon in the Network Connections dialog box in Windows or Windows for Workgroups. If you try to remove a network connection through File Manager or Print Manager in Windows or the Network Connections dialog box in WFWG, the Remove command is dimmed. In addition, if you try to remove the connection from the WFWG Disconnect Network Drive dialog box, the following error message appears:
System Error 56, see your administrator.
To Protect a Network Drive Connection
1. Place a SETDRIVE statement in the user's profile, using the following syntax:
SETDRIVE /T [drive:] [file service]
The /T switch sets the network drive connection's status to "protected."
For network printer connections, use the following syntax:
SETPRINT /T LPTx /p:print queue
2. Log out of either Windows or Windows for Workgroups and log in again. A shield icon appears in the Network Connections dialog box in Windows or in the Connect Network dialog box in WFWG.
Note that all other options for the SETPRINT and SETDRIVE commands are valid. For more information on using these commands, refer to the Command Reference.
Creating Program Information Files
Creating Program Information (PIF) files for applications that do not run in the Windows environment is documented in the Microsoft Windows User's Guide. Though you adjust memory parameters to suit your own needs, you can use the default settings for such Banyan programs as OPERATE, SETARL, and the Intelligent Messaging option.
Note: Application memory requirements can change with upgrades and patches. PIF files you create at one point for applications (whether they are Banyan applications or others) might need updating. Otherwise, problems may result.
Running Terminate and Stay Resident Programs
Many Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs that feature pop-up windows are incompatible with Windows. This incompatibility exists because of the way TSRs write to the screen, and the way they contend for memory and interrupts.
VINES TSRs, (such as STDIRECT, R3270, and others) that write to the screen work under Windows if you load these TSRs before you run Windows. Always access these TSRs in the MS-DOS window.
To run PCDial-in, the workstation must run DOS 3.3 or higher. PCDial-in will run with Windows in Standard Mode, but is not supported under Windows Enhanced Mode. You must log in to VINES before running Windows. For best performance, run Windows from your local hard disk.
Since Windows for Workgroups does not run in standard mode, PCDial-in is not supported under Windows for Workgroups.
Run PCPRINT before running Windows in any mode. PCPRINT runs correctly on Windows workstations. In enhanced mode, however, Windows causes problems when virtual DOS machines attempt to use printer ports assigned to PCPRINT.
Windows in enhanced mode manages port contention between itself and any virtual DOS machines. Each time a virtual machine attempts to use the PCPRINT port, Windows prompts you to confirm whether you want the new machine to have access to that port.
Example Resolving Device Conflicts
If you work in a Windows or Windows for Workgroups word processing application and another user sends a PCPRINT job to your printer, the following message, Figure 10-6, appears.
This message appears even though PCPRINT jobs normally print in the background, forcing you to respond to device contention messages on every job sent to your printer.
To Prevent Device-Contention Messages
1. Open the Control Panel window and double-click on the 386TM Enhanced icon. The 386 Enhanced window, Figure 10-7, appears.
2. In the Device Contention box, select the port specified when the PCPRINT command was issued. If no port was specified, select LPT1.
3. Click the Never Warn option button.
4. Click OK.
Windows now automatically reselects access to the port for any machine trying to use it, without prompting you first.
This section lists some issues regarding memory managers.
If you decide to use a memory manager other than the one provided by Microsoft, make sure that it is compatible with Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
Different memory managers employ different methods of gathering memory, which can cause problems with adapter card memory requirements. Note that the first problems you face when running Windows might result from these memory conflicts.
HIMEM.SYS is the memory manager provided by Microsoft. Refer to the Microsoft Windows User's Guide for information on using HIMEM.SYS.
