Where can I get SnowCrest's Internet Tools for Windows 3.1?
You may call SnowCrest at (916) 926-6888 or (916) 245-4698, and ask for a copy of the latest set of disks. There is a $5 fee for the disk media and postage costs. Alternatively, you may download it from SnowCrest's FTP site. The archives are stored in Zipped format, and they must be unzipped onto floppies before you can install them. In order to unzip them, you will need Pkunzip. This can be obtained from SnowCrest's ftp site, or directly from PkWare. Once you have unzipped the archives onto disks, be sure to follow the instructions for installation.
SnowCrest Internet Tools provide you with all the tools you need to access all the aspects of the Internet. It is a suite of shareware and freeware programs which have been configured to work with SnowCrest's service.
See the readme file.
Simply follow the installation instructions the way you did the first time you installed the software. You will be asked whether you want to reconfigure your parameters or write over the old files. The only time that you would want to reconfigure your parameters is if you changed your user name, password, or the phone number you will be dialling. Otherwise, you will want to copy over the old files. Some of your configuration will be replaced, but you will not lose your e-mail or your bookmarks.
Almost all of the programs which are installed by the SnowCrest Internet Tools are placed in the C:\Winsock directory by default. To remove the Internet Tools, first remove this directory. Trumpet Winsock is installed in your Windows directory, which is normally C:\Windows. You may want to delete the files "winsock.dll", "tcpman.exe", "trumpwsk.ini", "login.cmd", "bye.cmd", and "setup.cmd". These files make up the Trumpet Winsock dialer. On versions of our software prior to version 9, Microsoft's 32-bit extensions to Windows, Win32s, are also installed. If you wish to remove these, you need to do two things. First, you need to remove the entire contents of the C:\Windows\System\Win32s directory from your hard drive. Second, you need to edit the C:\Windows\System.ini file, and remove the line which reads: "device=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WIN32S\W32S.386". Keep in mind that if you remove this, any 32-bit applications you may be using in Windows, such as Freecell, will no longer work.
In Program Manager, there is a folder labelled "Winsock". In this folder is a program called "TCPMan". Open TCPMan, go to the "Dialler" menu, and select "Login". Your modem should dial, and it should finish with the text "My IP address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", where the x's are numbers. At this point, you should minimize the window by clicking on the down-pointing arrow in the top-right corner of the window. DO NOT close the window! If you do, you will have to dial again, and your Internet programs will not work until you do.
First, check to make sure that the last line in TCPMan is "My IP address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", where the x's are numbers. If this line isn't there, you are definitely not on-line. Second, try running the "WS_Ping" program. Click on "Blocking Ping," and type in "www.snowcrest.net". If it works, you should get a number of lines of text, about once per second. The lower the packet loss, the better your connection.
The most likely cause for this is that you are not actually on-line. If you are not connected when you try to run Internet applications, they will complain that they can't find the Name Server. This does not mean that the programs are corrupted, that you have a virus, or that anything is wrong other than you are not on-line. See the previous question to check to see if you are on-line.
You have probably specified an incorrect baud rate (speed) for your modem. If you have a 14.4 Kbps modem, the baud rate should be set to 19200, and if you have a 28.8 Kbps modem, it should be set to 38400. You can change this by re-installing the software and reconfiguring the parameters, or you can change the settings directly in TCPMan by going to "File" and to "Settings". You should not set the baud rate higher than 38400, because you will not get any better performance, and some modems, particularly U.S. Robotics, will not be able to connect unless they are set to the correct baud rate.
If this doesn't work, there may be something else wrong with your modem or with the connection you have to your phone line. Refer to our general modem fixes document.
U.S. Robotics modems sometimes require different modem initialization strings than the one that SnowCrest Internet Tools uses by default. The default string is "at&c1&d2", which enables hardware-handshaking on most modems. You may need to change the string to "at&f1&d2" on a U.S. Robotics modem. To change the modem initialization string, open TCPMan, and go to "Dialler" and the "Edit Scripts". Find the line which reads "output AT&C1&D2\13", and replace it with "output AT&F1&D2\13". Save the file and exit.
If this doesn;t work, there may be something else wrong with your modem or with the connection you have to your phone line. Refer to our general modem fixes document.
You have probably specified an incorrect value for the COM port. Most modems are on COM 2, but they can be on COM 1-4. COM 1 is used for most serial mice. You need to determine which COM port your modem is on. If you do not know how to do this, you can try each of COM 1 through COM 4, and see which one works. You can change the value of the COM port either by re-installing the software, or by changing the settings directly in TCPMan by going to "File" and then "Settings".
If this doesn't work, there may be something else wrong with your modem or with the connection you have to your phone line. Refer to our general modem fixes document.
The commercial version of Netscape includes its own TCP/IP stack and Dialler. If you have already installed the SnowCrest Internet Tools, then you already have a TCP/IP stack and Dialler, TCPMan. The easiest and best thing to do in this case is to tell Netscape not to install its TCP/IP Stack and Dialler. Then you continue to use TCPMan to connect to the Internet, and use Netscape in the same way as Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you absolutely must use Netscape's Dialler, and you are a power user, you can use our system information. SnowCrest's tech support will not support this, however. If you have a problem with using Netscape's dialer, and you call us about it, our answer will be "Install our Software!"
Again, the easiest and best thing to do is to tell the program not to install its Dialler. TCPMan already handles this task, and it is pre-configured. If you absolutely must install the Dialler, you can use our system information. SnowCrest's tech support will not support other Diallers, however.
Norton Desktop doesn't allow the icons to appear. The easiest way to fix this is to disable Norton Desktop, install the SnowCrest Internet Tools, then re-enable Norton Desktop. Alternatively, you can locate the new .grp file in your Windows directory and make a new folder out of it.