Microsoft® Connection Manager is a versatile client dialer you customize to include the features and appearance you want to present to your users when they are connecting to your service.
As your service expands and your online features become more sophisticated, it becomes a challenge to make it easy for new users to get online and also keep current users aware of changing Points of Presence (POPs) and configuration.
Connection Manager helps you meet these challenges. Using the Connection Manager Administration Kit wizard, you can build custom Connection Manager service profiles with the look and features you want.
Connection Manager consists of the following:
Connection Manager service profiles require that Connection Manager is installed. Connection Manager, in turn, requires several supporting files from Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 or later. You can include the basic Microsoft Connection Manager version 1.0 software and the supporting Internet Explorer files with the service profile.
If a user installs more than one service profile, each service profile is installed in a separate folder. The service profiles share the same copy of the Connection Manager software.
Connection Manager 1.0 automatically configures the user’s computer to use TCP/IP (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), Dial-Up Networking, Dial-Up Scripting, and a modem if any of these are not already set up.
Note
Including the Connection Manager 1.0 software increases the size of your service profile. For more information, see “Considering the Service-Profile File Size.”
You use the Connection Manager Administration Kit wizard to create a Connection Manager service profile with the look and features you want. You can use the wizard to incorporate a variety of brandable elements, such as custom bitmap images with a company logo.
A service profile can contain ready-to-use features that let users connect seamlessly to your service. Building such features into a Connection Manager service profile means you spend less support time helping with configuration issues, and your users have a better Internet experience from the moment they connect.
The service profile you create is a complete, easy-to-install package you distribute to your users. The profile is a self-installing file. Users must have the basic Microsoft Connection Manager software, which you can include in your installation package. The basic Connection Manager program files are installed in a subdirectory of the Microsoft Internet Explorer folder. A service profile is installed to its own folder (for example, \Connection Manager\ServiceProfileFileName). If a user installs more than one service profile, each version is installed in a separate folder. Multiple service profiles share the basic Microsoft Connection Manager version 1.0 software.
Connection Manager requires 2 megabytes (MB) free disk space and one of the following: