Introduction | Installation | Creating Setup Files | Loading Setup Files | Licensing | FAQ | About the Author

Below are a number of questions which are frequently asked about NetSwitcher. Please review these questions and answers before contacting the author.

Q1) I would like to register my copy of NetSwitcher via credit card. How do I do it?

A1) You can find details at the NetSwitcher Web Site or in this document.

Q2) Why does NetSwitcher require me to reboot my computer after making changes.

A2) NetSwitcher is not requiring you to reboot at any time. It is telling you however, that some of the changes you have made will not take effect until Windows 95 reboots. This is the way Microsoft designed Windows 95 and is beyond my control. I believe that this is a stupid way to design an operating system but then, Microsoft never came to me and asked for my advice when building Windows 95.

Q3) I’ve seen two utilities, TCP Switcher and NetSwitcher. What is the difference? Do I need both?

A3) You are right, there are two utilities and I’ve have written both of them. NetSwitcher is a superset of TCP Switcher and so it is probable that you don’t need them both. TCP Switcher deals only with the DNS server address problem associated with Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking or DUN. Microsoft is aware of this problem (see Knowledge Base article Q139948) but seems unable (or more likely unwilling) to fix it. The main purpose of TCP Switcher is for users who need to use one DNS server when connected to a LAN and another when connected to an ISP, or those who use two (or more) different ISPs. See the URL http://www.bysnet.com/tcpsw.html for more information about TCP Switcher. NetSwitcher controls almost all of the Windows 95 network setup features. It is primarily designed for mobile computer users who need to plug their computer into different networks at different locations. NetSwitcher will change the DNS server setup just like TCP Switcher, it’s just a bit more complicated to use. For this reason, many users have decided that they need to use both TCP Switcher and NetSwitcher. That is perfectly acceptable and they work together just fine.

Q4) Is use a 3rd party TCP/IP stack like { Trumpet Winsock, NetManage Chameleon, PC/TCP, etc… }. Can I use NetSwitcher?

A4) Probably not, these tools handle their setup information in very different ways than the TCP/IP stack included in Windows 95.

Q5) Why are all the fields grayed out in my copy of NetSwitcher? I’d like to be able to directly edit the data for my computer.

A5) That feature is included in the registered version of NetSwitcher. Please register and you will have access to that capability.

Q6) I need some of the capabilities of NetSwitcher for users within my company but NetSwitcher seems to be far too powerful for less sophisticated users. Can you build me a “idiot-proof” version for their use?

A7) Absolutely, I’ve made custom versions of NetSwitcher for more than a dozen companies worldwide. Please EMAIL me with your requirements and I’ll provide you with the details on what it would take to accommodate your needs.

Q8) I’m concerned that NetSwitcher will mess up my system, what does it do?

A8) NetSwitcher does nothing to your system that you couldn’t do yourself via the Network Control Panel. It just brings all of those settings to one screen and allows you to save and load those setups to and from the disk. Therefore, anything NetSwitcher does to your system can be undone by using the Network Control Panel.

Q9) I received a confusing message about “Adapter not found”. What gives?

A9) This means that NetSwitcher was unable to locate the setup information about one of your network devices. This almost always means that the driver for your network card is incompletely installed or somehow a mixture of two versions. The best thing to do is to reinstall your network card driver from either the Windows 95 CDROM or from the driver disk which came with your card. If that fails to help, run the REGDUMP.EXE program which is included with NetSwitcher and send me the output. I can usually debug your problem from this information. The worst offender seems to be Xircom PCMCIA adapters, they seem to release new versions of their drivers every week and not all versions properly update themselves.

Q10) Will NetSwitcher work under Window NT Workstation 4.0?

A10) Yes it will. But note that not all of the parameters which can be changed under Win95 can be setup under NT.

Q11) I hate installing programs to try which install a bunch of files and then I can’t get rid of them all. How do I remove NetSwitcher from my system if I no longer want it?

A11) NetSwitcher does not install any files to your system other than those which end up in the target directory where you install NetSwitcher. Therefore, to remove NetSwitcher just delete the directory where you installed it and all traces of NetSwitcher will be gone.

Q12) I’m compiling a Windows CDROM Shareware collection and want to include NetSwitcher on it. Is this permitted?

A12) Yes, permission is granted to include NetSwitcher on any CDROM collection, Internet site, or BBS provided that the original distribution file is unaltered and that all files are included. If you need other arrangements (such as different compression utility) please contact me.