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WinXs Version 4.0 Copyright (C) 1998 Mick Meaden Software Online Limited All Rights Reserved INTRODUCTION WinXs for Windows is a shareware program that provides UNIX-like tool functionality under Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT. To run WinXs, you will need a 486-based PC (or later), at least 4mb of main memory and 2.5 mb of disk space to install the 16- bit version, or 8mb of main memory and approximately 5.25mb of disk space to install the 32-bit version. WinXs comes in 16-bit and 32-bit versions. The 16-bit ver- sion will run on Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups or Win- dows 95; the 32-bit version will only run on Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. The two versions are functionally similar, albeit that for integration with Explorer, or to take advan- tage of long filenames and pre-emptive scheduling on Windows 95/98/NT, you will need to run the 32-bit version. CONTENTS WinXs for Windows is a suite of programs that brings Unix- style tool functionality to the Windows platform. This ver- sion of the program runs on Windows 95, Windows 98 or Win- dows NT 4.0, and consists of a series of 50 popular file and text utility commands and utility applets. Access and implement them using the menu bar in the Windows File Manager (Windows 95/98 only), or the Explorer and Taskbar. The distribution includes cat, cksum, cmp, col, comm, compress, cp, csplit, cut, dd, df, diff, dircmp, dos2unix, du, expand, file, find, fmt, fold, grep, hd, head, join, ls, man, more, mv, nl, od, paste, pax, pg, pr, rm, sdiff, sed, sort, split, strings, tail, tee, touch, tr, uncompress, uniq, unix2dos, uuencode, uudecode, wc, whence, xargs and others. See the file "winxs.txt" for more information. INSTALLING WINXS (32-bit Version) WinXs is distributed either as a free-standing .EXE file or as a .ZIP archive. If you have the former, run the .EXE file and proceed to step 3 below. Otherwise, you can install WinXs from a .ZIP file as follows: 1. If you have WinZip on your system, open the ZIP file containing the WinXs distribution (e.g., winxs32.zip) and double-click the WinXs .EXE file (winxs32.exe). 2. If you do not have WinZip on your system, unzip the WinXs distribution file (e.g., winxs32.zip) to a tem- porary directory and then run the WinXs .EXE file from File Manager or Explorer. Delete the temporary direc- tory and its contents when the installation is com- plete. 3. Run the WinXs Shell by double-clicking the desktop icon created by the installation program. Further configuration options are made available by selecting the Configure option on the File menu. Note that File | Configure can be re-run at any stage to change the installation options. Whenever this is done, however, you must exit and restart the WinXs shell before installation changes can take effect. Windows NT. Because the WinXs setup program modifies the registry, you must logon as the Administrator to install the product, and whenever you want to modify the configuration via File | Configure. UPGRADING A PREVIOUS VERSION OF WINXS Because this release updates the WinXs DLL, it is important to ensure that File Manager IS NOT running when you upgrade. Otherwise, install the software as indicated above. ADDING THE WINXS SHELL TO FILE CONTEXT MENUS Use the File | Configure option to add the WinXs tools to folder context menus in Explorer. On Windows 95 you can also make the Shell available on file context menus by doing the following: 1. From Explorer, locate and select the SendTo folder, which is normally located in your Windows directory. 2. Select File on the Explorer menu bar, then select New and Shortcut in the resulting drop down menus. 3. Select Browse in the Create Shortcut dialog and locate the file winxssh.exe in your WinXs folder. 4. Select Next and give a name to your shortcut in the "Select a Title for the Program" dialog (e.g., WinXs Shell). 5. Select Finish. To use the new shortcut, select a file in the right-hand Explorer pane, then select Sendto. Your shortcut will appear on the SendTo drop down menu. Selecting this shortcut will result in the appearance of a new window con- taining the WinXs Shell, with any selected files highlighted. CONFIGURING THE COMMAND LINE TOOLS Two types of tool are delivered with WinXs: i. Windows based tools. These are available from the WinXs shell (on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0) and File Manager (on Windows 95 only). ii. Command line tools. These are used at the command prompt. As delivered, the product is configured to access the com- mand line tools by running command.com (cmd.exe on Windows NT). The WinXs command line tools are added to the direc- tory search path automatically whenever command.com (or cmd.exe) is started from the WinXs Shell, which should be sufficient for most needs. However, if you want to use the command line tools in other circumstances, such as when the command line interpreter is started from the Windows Start menu, you will need to make manual adjustments to your environment as follows: - Windows 95. Assuming Windows 95 is installed in direc- tory c:\Windows, and WinXs is installed in c:\WinXs32, add the following command to your c:\autoexec.bat file: PATH c:\winxs32\bin;c:\windows;c:\windows\command This identifies three directories that will be searched automatically when entering a command at the command prompt, namely: 1. c:\winxs32\bin 2. c:\windows 3. c:\windows\command The exact nature of this command will vary from system to system, so you should check your current setting before making any changes. - Windows NT 4.0. The situation on NT is more complex. Firstly, NT has two command interpreters (command.com and cmd.exe). It is recommended that you use cmd.exe wherever possible, which has the doskey program built in. If you really must use command.com, add the following line to your c:\winnt\system32\autoexec.nt file: PATH c:\winxs32\bin;c:\winnt\system32;c:\winnt This assumes that WinXs is installed in directory c:\winxs32, and Windows NT in directory c:\winnt. The effect is the same as described for Windows 95 above. To use the WinXs tools with cmd.exe, you will need to modify the environment as follows: i. Logon to the system with Administrator permis- sions. ii. On the Start menu, select Settings | Control Panel and double-click the System icon. iii. Select the Environment tab in the System Proper- ties dialog. iv. In the System Variables group, select the Path variable. This causes the Value edit box at the bottom of the dialog to be loaded with the current setting of the Path environment variable. Add c:\winxs32\bin to the beginning of this field, e.g., c:\winxs32\bin;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot% v. Click OK and close the Control Panel. All WinXs commands line tools support an option -h, which causes the tool to display a brief synopsis and usage line. For more detailed information use the "man" command, which displays a reference manual page for the named command or commands (e.g., man man). Use "man -k -" to display a com- plete list of manual reference pages. UNINSTALLATION (32-bit Version) To uninstall WinXs from your system do the following: 1. From Explorer, locate your WinXs installation folder and double-click the file setup.exe. Select Uninstall in the resulting dialog box. 2. From Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs. 3. In the list of installed software, select WinXs and then click Add/Remove. REGISTRATION WinXs is a shareware program. It can be used for a period of up to 30 days free of charge, after which it must be removed from your system or a license fee of $30 dollars U.S. must be paid. Benefits of registration include: + All nag screens are removed. + Free product upgrades. + Options can be saved from More. This includes font selections, tab settings, editor preference, and window position. The last of these, window position, also affects the hd utility. + The AddOns Organizer can be used to add, remove or edit items on the AddOns menu in the WinXs Shell (32-bit version only). + A copy of the WinXs User Reference Manual will be sent by email. This document is distributed in HTML format and is the definitive guide to using the various WinXs utilities. WinXs can be registered in a number of ways, as follows: By email or fax. Run the WinXs shell and select Register on the Help menu. This will display a form that you should fill in and then email, fax or post to the indicated address. Visa, Master Card, American Express and First Virtual payments are accepted by the registra- tion program. By Compuserve. GO SWREG. The registration ID for WinXs is 7400. Direct ordering. Direct ordering can be made by using the order form in file REGISTER.TXT. Your registration number and a copy of the WinXs User Refer- ence Manual will be emailed to you immediately on receipt of registration (if possible), or will be sent to you by return of post. As a registered user of WinXs, you will be notified about future product updates as soon as they become avail- able. You can download these free of any additional software charges. REPORTING PROBLEMS If you have any problems with WinXs, or if you have any queries or comments, please send email to the following address: 100345.2641@compuserve.com If you do not have access to email, then write to the address given in the file REGISTER.TXT. All support issues and queries will be dealt with as quickly as possible.