Crash-proofing Windows 95
Plug and Play freely, without BIOS
Write back if you can
Q I know that Windows 95 comes with its own version of ScanDisk, which repairs minor hard disk problems. Does Windows 95 have any hidden tools that can help me recover from total hard disk crashes?
-- John Perez
A Well, Microsoft had to leave something for third-party companies to do. My favourite all-purpose hard disk recovery package will sound familiar: Norton Utilities for Windows 95. To begin with, this update of the ever-popular utility library comes with Norton Disk Doctor, a program that works much like ScanDisk. It searches for cross-linked files, lost clusters, corrupt FATs (file allocation tables) and other problems, and fixes them on the spot.
Run regularly, Norton Disk Doctor (or even ScanDisk) can prevent major problems. But if your hard disk won't boot, you may not recover anything unless you have a floppy disk to boot from. You can create your own Windows 95 boot floppy with the Startup Disk tab found in Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs dialogue box and then, for emergency hard disk repair, copying ScanDisk to the floppy.
But on installation, Norton does better: it creates bootable rescue disks containing Disk Doctor plus FAT, boot record and root directory information to help restore the contents of a hard disk that has been accidentally formatted or badly damaged.
The Rescue Disk program even copies over Windows 95's Registry, the hidden database containing vital hardware configuration information (if the Registry is corrupted, Windows 95 generally resorts to its semidisabled Safe Mode). The program also backs up the contents of your system's CMOS memory the small, battery-backed memory chip portion that contains your hard disk parameters, memory configuration and other specs.
In my experience, when a system won't boot, either a cable has loosened, or the hard disk parameters have been lost from CMOS memory due to a bad battery. The Rescue Disk restores those parameters so you don't have to enter them manually (and you can do that only if you remembered to write them down).
The Rescue Disk is Norton's most important feature, but it's only
part of the package. You also get an enhanced Recycle Bin with
undeletion, a disk defragmentation program, a Space Wizard to
help clean out unnecessary files, and a dashboard-like readout
of Win95 resources called System Doctor. My favourite extra is
System Information, which, among other things, graphically shows
how much memory each active program occupies.
Q As I understand it, Windows 95's Plug and Play needs three items in order to work: Windows 95 itself, PnP devices and a PnP system BIOS. My PC doesn't have a PnP BIOS. My system manufacturer told me that no BIOS upgrade is available and so I need a new computer or a new motherboard. Is this really true?
-- Randy Rowland
A You don't need a PnP BIOS to enjoy the benefits of PnP's automatic configuring, and you shouldn't let the lack of such a BIOS prevent you from upgrading to Windows 95.
As long as you've correctly installed all existing non-PnP hardware under Windows 95, you should be able to plug in a PnP card, turn on your system, and sit by as Windows 95 checks its roster of free resources against those the new card demands (IRQ, I/O address, DMA channel or whatever).
Usually this works, Win95 simply assigns the new device the resources it requires. But if the new card needs resources taken by a non-PnP device, you may need to reconfigure that non-PnP device manually, which is a pain.
A PnP BIOS also makes it possible for you to add certain PnP devices that must be functional before Windows 95 boots, by temporarily shouldering Windows 95's configuration tasks.
For example, Windows 95 can't configure the hard disk interface because the operating system must boot to configure it - one of your classic chicken-and-egg problems.
In this instance, a PnP BIOS can hold the information about which resource goes to which device and can configure the hard disk interface and all other devices before Windows 95 boots up.
Additionally, a PnP BIOS ensures that your system will configure
PnP devices properly, even if that configuration information is
temporarily missing because a hard disk problem forces you to
boot from the A drive. But Windows 95 can always rebuild that
information, so even here a PnP BIOS isn't vital.
Q I am considering a Pentium OverDrive but do not
know if my system has a write-back cache. Is there any way that
I can check to see whether or not my
system has one?
-- Ryan Hudson
A Assuming your system has a Pentium OverDrive socket, the only way to determine if your PC supports the Pentium OverDrive's write-back caching mode is to consult your manual or ask your system vendor.
Unfortunately, this question often throws tech support for a loop, and some manuals claim support, while the system itself doesn't deliver.
One rule of thumb: if your system is more than a year and a half old, it very likely does not support OverDrive's write-back caching mode no matter what anyone says.
Try and get a money-back guarantee with your Pentium OverDrive, and if the upgrade doesn't give you the performance you hoped for, get a refund.
Eric Knorr