3Com (R) Corporation EtherDisk (R) Diskette for The 3C5X9 EtherLink III NIC Family NDIS 3.0 driver for Windows 95 The NDIS 3.0 driver for Windows 95 is the 32-bit protect-mode driver. This diskette contains a miniport NDIS 3 driver. The driver name is ELNK3.SYS. This driver is a replacement driver for the Windows 95 native driver full NDIS 3 driver, called ELNK3.VXD. Both drivers work on all adapters in the 3C5X9 product family. However, only the 3Com driver provides installation support for the 3C509B-TPC TP and Coax only ISA NIC. It's important to use the driver on this EtherDisk if you are either using 3Com's DRMON network management or desire to use PACE to obtain better network performance to meet real-time needs. Due to the driver name change, you cannot update the driver by manually coping the driver from the EtherDisk to the Windows 95 system directory. Rather than update the driver, remove the current EtherLink III driver from the network control panel, then go to step 2 in the first time installation instructions below. First-Time Installation in an Existing Windows '95 computer. ------------------------ 1. IMPORTANT: Install and configure Windows 95 BEFORE installing the NIC. Failure to follow this instruction may result in using the NIC driver on the Win 95 CD. 2. Before installing the NIC, delete the files \WINDOWS\INF\NET3COM.INF and \WINDOWS\INF\W95EL5X9.INF, assuming \WINDOWS is the Windows 95 install directory. Then shut down the computer, install the NIC, and restart the computer. 3. Windows 95 will autodetect the NIC in the system and either present you with a menu of where to locate the driver or an installation wizard. If Windows 95 does not detect a 3C509B NIC (because the 3C509B does not have Plug 'n Play enabled), open the control panel and press the Add New Hardware icon. This will cause the NIC to be detected. 4. Select Driver from disk provided by the hardware manufacturer from the prompt that appears. Then Press OK. 5. Insert the 3Com EtherDisk diskette in your floppy drive and then specify the correct drive letter at the prompt. If the diskette is in drive A:, then just press OK. 4. Once the installation files have been read, Windows '95 will prompt you for the Windows '95 installation media. Enter the correct location of the media. For example, if the Windows '95 CD is located in the CD ROM drive D:, then enter D:\WIN95 Press OK 5. Once the process of loading and configuring the network is complete, you need to check that all the proper network components were loaded. If Windows '95 prompts for a shutdown and reboot at this point, press No. 6. From the start button on the lower right, open the menu and choose settings, control panel. On the control panel, choose Network. Examine the Configuration. The default network setup for Windows '95 is the following five components: 3Com EtherLink III driver, IPX/SPX compatible protocol, NetBEUI protocol, Client for Microsoft Networks, and Client for Novell Networks. If any of these components are missing, you can add them by pressing the add button. The protocols can be added by choosing the Protocol and clicking on the Add button. On the Select Network Protocol, choose Microsoft on the left pane. On the right pane, pick the protocol and press OK. Similarly, the clients can be added by choosing the Client and pressing the Add button. On the Select Network Client menu, choose Microsoft on the left pane, the Client on the right pane, and press OK. If you use the Client for NetWare Networks, press the Properties button, select the name of the NetWare server you want to use, and press OK. If you want to use the internet, you need to add and configure the Microsoft TCP/IP protocol. Consult your network administrator the correct TCP/IP configuration settings. When the configuration is correct, press the Identification tab. The computer name is your logon name to the network. Make sure this is the name you want to use to log into the network and connect to your server. The Workgroup name is the group you will be closely associated with on the network if you use peer group networking. Peers can see each other when the look in the network neighborhood. The Computer Description is visible to other members of your workgroup when they see you in the network neighborhood. Now press the OK button, and the network will be configured the way you chose in the last two paragraphs. At the completion of this step, Windows '95 will prompt you to restart the computer. Press the Yes button. After the computer restarts, the network is ready to use. Hints ----- 1. If an error message appears, saying that the .INF file cannot be found in the specified location, verify that the file actually exists. The file should be in the root directory of the 3Com EtherDisk diskette. The filename is W95EL5X9.INF. If it is missing, download the disk from 3Com's download sites, and make sure you expand it properly. Refer to the SUPPORT.TXT file on this disk for more information. 2. Verify that the NDIS 3 miniport driver was copied to your Windows 95 system. Look that the file \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ELNK3.SYS exists. 3. Verify the driver is working. Open control panel, system, device manager. Look at the network adapter. If the EtherLink III NIC is visible with a yellow exclamation mark, the driver was not able to get the NIC working. This could be due to a resource conflict, i.e. the base address or interrupt is in conflict with another device. If the EtherLink III NIC is visible with a red 'X', Windows 95 detected a problem that it considered very serious. One example is all the interrupts were used prior to the NIC installation, so Windows 95 cannot assign an interrupt to the NIC. Windows '95 Peer-to-Peer Networking ----------------------------------- General Overview In a peer-to-peer network, a relationship exists between two or more "like" computers. Each computer may make portions of its devices (such as disk drives, CD-ROM driver, and printers) available to other computers on the network. You can decide what to make available to other users. When you share a disk driver or folder, you also need to decide if you want to grant other users the right to store and change information on your drive or folder. The general characteristics of a peer-to-peer network are: The network provides the capability to share resources with any computer on the network. When you share resources, your computer acts as a server for all other computers in the network while still retaining all it's capability for your use. In a server-based network, only the resources on the dedicated server can be shared. A peer to peer network is more difficult to administer than a server-based network. Its flexible resource-sharing and lack of central management and control make management difficult. However, the network works with your existing equipment and does not require the purchase of a dedicated server. This lowers the cost of networking. Peer-to-Peer Networking with Windows '95 Microsoft Windows '95 comes with a built in peer to peer network. It also supports a wide range of network environments and Network Software vendors to work with dedicated networks. To configure Windows '95 for peer-to-peer networking, follow the steps below. Install Windows '95 and configure the network as outlined in the previous instructions in this document. To use peer to peer networking, you must have the Microsoft Network Client in your network configuration. Before you can share resources on your computer, you need to add file and print sharing capability to your network configuration. To install file and print sharing, do the following steps. 1. Open the Control Panel window and select Network. Click on the Start button on the Windows '95 Taskbar, select Settings, and then select Control Panel. Double-click on the Network icon. 2. In the Network window, click Add... 3. Select Service from the list of Network Components and click Add... 4. Select Microsoft from the list of Manufacturers on the left column. 5. Select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks from the right column. 6. Click OK. 7. Go back to the Network window and select the Identification tab. 8. Assign a Computer name that will identify you on the network. This name must be unique. 9. Assign a Workgroup name. The workgroup name must be the same on all the computers on your network whom you want to share information with. More than one workgroup may exist on a network, but members of a workgroup cannot directly see members of a different workgroup. 10. Give a description of your computer. This description is what another users sees when he browses the network from his computer. It further defines who you are on the network. 11. When you are done entering this information click OK. 12. Click OK at the bottom of your Network window. Windows '95 will prompt you for the location of the Windows '95 CD-ROM or diskettes containing the files needed for sharing. Assuming the CD-ROM is drive D: on your computer, enter D:\WIN95. 13. When Windows '95 prompts you to shut down and reboot the computer, click the Yes button. After Windows '95 reboots, you are ready to share resources. 14. You can share a device by opening "My Computer" on your desktop and clicking the right mouse button over each device you want to share. From the menu that appears, selecting "Sharing" properties for the device. From the menu that appears, pick a share name for the device, and click OK. The device is now shared. 15. In a similar manner, you can share folders rather than an entire disk drive. Select a drive and click the left mouse button to open the drive. Select the folder and click the right mouse button, and select "Sharing" from the menu. When the share menu opens, select a share name and select the way you want to share the folder. Read only means no user can write or delete the files and folders in your shared folder. Selection read and write access gives other users permission to delete or change files and folders. For more detail, refer to your Microsoft Windows '95 manual on how to share resources with other computers on your network. (%VER W95NDIS3.TXT - NDIS 3.0 in Windows 95 v5.1b)