Windows 95 treats networking very differently than Windows NT. In relative terms, compared to the security and integration of networking with NT, Windows 95 networking feels "tacked on." Windows 95 was designed as a desktop operating system, with networking added. Security features are not as strong, but then again, Windows 95 works as a desktop system with fewer hardware requirements, and it has more backward compatibility than Windows NT.
Networking functions in 95 are very similar in components to NT Workstation, where the focus is on local applications, then client connections to servers, and then sharing disk drives and printers with others.
Because Windows 95 has Plug and Play, it automatically detects new network cards that have been inserted into the system and loads the drivers for them. The driver information will be in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\PCI for PCI-based cards or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\ISAPNP for all ISA-based cards or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\PCMCIA for PCMCIA network cards. There will be a code for the vendor of the network card, and under it, a code for the card will be listed. The settings for the card are in binary code, so it makes it very difficult to set the cards through the Registry.
Details for the
drivers are in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\
Class\Net, with each adapter having a key under Net. My modem is used as a dial-up
adapter, so it uses the 0000 key, and my normal network card uses
0001.
Figure 19.1 shows the contents of the key for the network card. Additional adapters
would be listed as 0002, 0003, and so on.
Figure 19.1. Settings for the 3210 Generic PCI Network Adapter.
As in Windows NT, you can have multiple client connections simultaneously to different networks. The two that are the most common are clients for Microsoft networks and clients for NetWare networks. The NetWare client will support both bindery services (NetWare 3.12 and earlier) and NDS (NetWare 4.0 and later).
Information about the Microsoft client is in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Network\Vredir, and information about the NetWare client is in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Network\NWRedir. The settings for the clients are also in binary code, making it very difficult to edit here.
Specific details of the clients are in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetClient, with the individual clients listed with 0000 and 0001 keys. The values in those keys name the exact location of the driver files. In my system, the client for Microsoft networks is 0000, and the client for NetWare is 0001.
One of the most important settings is the default client. Figure 19.2 shows that 0000, or the Microsoft client, is the default. You can also set that in the Control Panel. It is critical because it determines which network will be logged onto first, and which logon script will have precedence.
Figure 19.2. Settings for the clients in the Registry.
The protocol bindings are easily found in the Registry, and there are separate
keys for each adapter or modem used as a dial-up adapter. The protocol bindings are
listed in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Network. Table 19.1 lists the keys and
their protocols.
Table 19.1. Protocols in Windows 95.
| Registry Keys | Protocols |
| MSTCP | TCP/IP |
| NETBEUI | NetBEUI |
| NWLINK | NWLink |
| NWNBLINK | NWLink with NetBIOS |
Figure 19.3. TCP/IP settings in the Windows 95 Registry.
You can set up file and printer sharing easily in the Control Panel, in the Networking
applet. In the Configuration tab, if you don't
have it listed, you can add the service.
When it is added, you will get entries in the Registry in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\
Services\Class\NetService key. It lists the drivers and the controls necessary
for the
file and print sharing to work.
Information that is required for Windows 95 systems to connect to a network is contained in the Registry and in auxiliary files on the hard disk. Because of the limitations associated with protecting files and the Registry in Windows 95, it is not as secure as Windows NT, but the benefits of performance and the use of older devices outweigh that for many people. The ease of use, of setting up cards and drivers, and of sharing files and printers has made Windows 95 the most networked of all operating systems, and brought networking to countless thousands who would never have ventured forth before.
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