WW1247: Windows 95 System Check Application Note

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows 95

The "Microsoft Windows 95 System Check" (WW1247) Application Note contains a tool that performs a basic test of your computer's hardware and software to ensure compatibility with Windows 95.

You can obtain this Application Note from the following sources:

• Microsoft Download Service (MSDL)
• The Internet (Microsoft anonymous ftp server)
• Microsoft Product Support Services

THE TEXT OF WW1247

  Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
             WW1247: MICROSOFT WINDOWS(R) 95 SYSTEM CHECK

                                                   Revision Date: 9/95
                                                       1 Disk Included

 INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT AND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MAY
 ACCOMPANY THIS DOCUMENT (collectively referred to as an Application
 Note) IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
 EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED
 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
 PURPOSE. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and
 the use of this Application Note. This Application Note may be
 copied and distributed subject to the following conditions:  1) All
 text must be copied without modification and all pages must be
 included;  2) If software is included, all files on the disk(s)
 must be copied without modification (the MS-DOS(R)  utility
 diskcopy is appropriate for this purpose);  3) All components of
 this Application Note must be distributed together;  and  4) This
 Application Note may not be distributed for profit.

 Copyright (C) 1995 Microsoft Corporation.  All Rights Reserved.
 Microsoft, MS-DOS, and Windows are registered trademarks and
 Windows NT is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
 IBM and OS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business
 Machines Corporation.

Introduction

Windows 95 System Check is a tool that performs a basic test of your computer's hardware and software to ensure compatibility with Windows 95. Windows 95 System Check is not intended as a comprehensive diagnostics tool to check for every known Windows 95 incompatibility. Instead, this tool is designed to answer some common questions you might have before you upgrade to Windows 95.

How to Use Windows 95 System Check

You can run Windows 95 System Check in Windows version 3.x, Windows for Workgroups version 3.x, Microsoft Windows NT(TM) version 3.x, and IBM(R) OS/2(R). If you want to run Windows 95 System Check in Windows version 3.0, make sure that the Ver.dll file included with this Application Note is in the same folder from which you run Windows 95 System Check (W95check.exe). These files do not need to be on the hard disk in order for you to run Windows 95 System Check.

To run Windows 95 System Check, follow these steps:

1. On the Program Manager File menu, click Run.

2. Type the following line in the Command Line box, and then press ENTER

         <source>:\w95check
   

   where <source> is the drive letter of the floppy disk drive containing the WW1247 disk, or the folder containing the Ww1247.exe file you downloaded from an online service and extracted. (To extract the Ww1247.exe file, switch to the drive or folder containing the file, and then type "ww1247" without the quotation marks.) For example, if you inserted the WW1247 disk in drive A, type the following line:

         a:\w95check
   

   Or, if you downloaded the Ww1247.exe file from an online service to the C:\Download folder, type the following line:

         c:\download\w95check
   

3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

How Windows 95 System Check Works

Windows 95 System Check scans your computer for the following information:

• Processor--It checks your computer's CPU to determine if it meets the minimum requirement for Windows 95. It also checks for older versions of the 80386 processor that are incompatible with Windows 95.
• Memory (RAM) --It checks the amount of physical memory (RAM) in your computer to determine if it meets the minimum requirement for Windows 95.
• Disk Space--It checks the amount of free disk space on the hard disk that contains your existing operating system to determine if it meets the minimum (and recommended) requirements for Windows 95. It also checks for swap file and boot-drive disk space on hard disks that use disk compression.
• Programs--It scans the top three folder levels of all the hard disks in your computer for Windows-based programs with significant known compatibility issues with Windows 95. Note that for most of these programs, upgrades that are fully compatible with Windows 95 are now or soon will be available.

  NOTE: If Windows 95 System Check does not detect any programs on your computer with known compatibility issues, the Your Programs page of Windows 95 System Check is skipped.

• It does not perform diagnostic tests for hard disk problems (such as problems that might be found by hard disk tools such as Microsoft ScanDisk).
• It does not detect peripheral hardware devices connected to your computer (such as modems and fax/modems).
• It does not perform an analysis or detection of installed network resources, network protocols, or network adapters.
• It does not check for computer viruses.
• It does not check program compatibility on shared network resources.
• It does not distinguish between 386/SX and 386/DX processors. A 386/DX or better processor is the minimum requirement for Windows 95 to ensure good performance. If your computer has a 386/SX processor, you can run Windows 95, but performance may be slower.

TO OBTAIN THIS APPLICATION NOTE

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Software Library:

 ~ Ww1247.exe (size: 80825 bytes) 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q119591
   TITLE     : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services