Microsoft Windows Operating System

The Microsoft Windows Operating system makes up the icons and buttons you see and use everyday. It allows you to run programs such as Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. The Microsoft Windows operating system can easily be divided into two main categories based on the appearance of the interface: Microsoft Windows 3.x and Microsoft Windows 95/98.

The process of updating your Microsoft Windows operating system depends a great deal on what version of the software you have installed. Please refer to the article "Determing Your Version" to see what version you have installed.

Once you know what interface you are using, you can begin running the appropriate updates necessary for Y2K compliance. Remember that we are only providing the instructions for updating versions officially supported by Computer Services. For information on updating any version not shown, visit Microsoft’s web site at www.microsoft.com/year2000. In addition, you can install the below listed patches from Microsoft’s Web site. Please read the article "How to Update from Microsoft" for more information.

Before installing this or any other program, you should always run maintenance on your machine. Please refer to the article "Cleaning Up My Machine" for instructions on running scandisk and defrag. Now, let’s move on to the section labeled with your particular interface and begin.

NOTE: You must have at least 10MB free hard disk space to install these updates.

 I. Update Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11:

*NOTE: You must be logged on to our Microsoft Network to use these instructions.
  1. Make sure you have at least 10MB free hard disk space. To check, open the Main group in the Program Manager window. Double-click the MS DOS Prompt icon. Type ‘dir’ (w/o the quotes) and press enter. At the end of the listing, take note of the ‘bytes free’ figure. If less than 10,000,000 – please call the PC Helpdesk at x5470, menu option #2 for assistance in freeing up some disk space before continuing.
  2. Open the Main Group in the Program Manager window.
  3. Double-click on File Manager.
  4. Click on Disk à Connect Network Drive in the menu bar.
  5. Click the down arrow next to Drive: and change the drive letter to X:.
  6. In the path field, type \\pchelp1\year2000.
  7. Make sure the Reconnect at Logon option is not selected. Click OK.
  8. Close the File Manager window.
  9. From the Main group, double-click on MS DOS Prompt. You should see a black screen. Type cd\windows and press enter.
  10. Your cursor should now be blinking at a C:\windows> prompt. If not, repeat step #9.
  11. At the C:\windows> prompt, type "copy winfile.exe winfile.old" (without the quotes) and press enter.
  12. You should see 1 file(s) copied printed on your screen. If not, repeat step #11.
  13. At the C:\windows> prompt, type "X:" (without the quotes) and press enter.
  14. At the X:> prompt, type "cd\\Windows\WFW311\Winfile" (without the quotes) and press enter.
  15. Your should now be at a X:\Windows\ WFW311\Winfile> prompt.
  16. Now type "copy winfile.exe c:\windows\winfile.exe" (without the quotes) and press enter.
  17. Type Y and press enter when asked if you want to overwrite the existing file.
  18. You should see 1 file(s) copied printed on your screen. If not, repeat step #16.
  19. Type exit at the current prompt and press enter.
  20. From the Main window, double-click Control Panel.
  21. Double-click the International icon.
  22. Under Date Format, click Change.
  23. Click the box to the left of the Century option. This should place an ‘X’ in the box.
  24. Click OK, then OK once more.
  25. Click Settings à Exit to close Control Panel.
  26. Restart the computer.

Congratulations! You have now made your Workgroups 3.11 version of Microsoft Windows move its Y2K compliance status to Compliant with Minor Issues.


II. Update Microsoft Windows 95:

*NOTE: You must be logged on to our Microsoft Network to use these instructions.

First, find out the exact version of Windows 95. Click Start à Settings à Control Panel. Double-click the System icon. On the General tab at the top, the version number of Windows should be listed. Look to see whether there is an ‘a’ or ‘b’ (without the quotes) after the version number. For example, it may read version 4.00.950 or version 4.00.950a. If it is version 4.00.950a or higher, skip section A.

A. Upgrade to version 4.00.950a:

  1. Make sure you have at least 20MB free hard disk space. To check, open ‘My Computer’, then single right-click on the C: drive, and click Properties. Take note of the Free space figure. If it is less than 20,000,000 – please call the PC Helpdesk at x5470, menu option #2, for assistance in freeing up some disk space before continuing.
  2. Click Start à Find à Computer.
  3. In the Named field, type PCHELP1.
  4. Click Find Now.
  5. When the computer is found, it will be listed at the bottom of the window.
  6. Double-click on PCHELP1 under name. A window will appear.
  7. Double-click on the Year2000 folder, then double-click on the Windows folder in the next window.
  8. On this window, double-click on the Windows 95 folder, then on 4.00.950.
  9. Next, double-click on the SR1 folder.
  10. Finally, double-click on the setup.exe file.
  11. Click Yes when prompted to continue.
  12. After you have read and understand the license agreement, click Yes if you accept.
  13. Click OK when installation is complete.
  14. Close all windows and restart the computer.

B. Install the Y2K compliance update:
  1. Make sure you have at least 10MB free hard disk space. To check, open ‘My Computer’, then single right-click on the C: drive, and click Properties. Take note of the Free space figure. If it is less than 10,000,000 – please call the PC Helpdesk at x5470, menu option #2, for assistance in freeing up some disk space before continuing.
  2. Click Start à Find à Computer.
  3. In the Named field, type PCHELP1.
  4. Click Find Now.
  5. When the computer is found, it will be listed at the bottom of the window.
  6. Double-click on PCHELP1 under name. A window will appear.
  7. Double-click on the Year2000 folder, then double-click on the Windows folder in the next window.
  8. On this window, double-click on the Windows 95 folder.
  9. Finally, double-click on the w95y2k.exe file.
  10. After you have read and understand the license agreement, click Yes if you accept.
  11. Click Cancel when asked to install Internet Explorer update. It is best to follow the instructions under the Internet Explorer section of this newsletter to update IE.
  12. You may be asked to restart your computer if a previous program installation was not completed. If so, click Yes to restart.
  13. Click OK when asked to continue with update.
  14. Click OK when asked to restart the computer.
  15. When the computer is restarted, click Cancel to the log-on screen.
  16. Click Start à Settings à Control Panel.
  17. Double-click the Regional Settings icon.
  18. Click on the Date tab (at the top of the window).
  19. Under short date style, click the down arrow and choose the mm/dd/yyyy option. Click OK. Close Control Panel.
  20. Restart the computer and log-on as usual.

Congratulations! You have now made your version of Microsoft Windows move its Y2K compliance status to Compliant with Minor Issues.

III. To update Microsoft Windows 98:

*NOTE: You must be logged on to our Microsoft Network to use these instructions.

First, find out the exact version of Windows 98. Click Start à Settings à Control Panel. Double-click the System icon. On the General tab at the top, the version will be shown. If on this screen, it lists Windows 98 Second Edition, no further action is required for Y2K compliance. Otherwise, follow the instructions below.

  1. Make sure you have at least 20MB free hard disk space. To check, open ‘My Computer’, then single right-click on the C: drive, and click Properties. Take note of the Free space figure. If it is less than 20,000,000 – please call the PC Helpdesk at x5470, menu option #2, for assistance in freeing up some disk space before continuing.
  2. Click Start à Find à Computer.
  3. In the Named field, type PCHELP1
  4. Click Find Now.
  5. When the computer is found, it will be listed at the bottom of the window.
  6. Double-click on PCHELP1 under name. A window will appear.
  7. Double-click on the Year2000 folder.
  8. Next, double-click the Windows folder, then the Windows 98 folder.
  9. Now, double-click the MSJavx86.exe file.
  10. Click Yes when asked if you would like to install Microsoft VM.
  11. Click Yes to the license agreement, if you agree after reading and understanding it.
  12. Click Yes when "The installation is complete" box appears.
  13. Finally, click No when asked to restart your computer.
  14. Go to the Windows 98 window.
  15. Double-click the y2k.exe file.
  16. When complete, go to the Windows 98 window.
  17. Double-click the y2kw98_2.exe file.
  18. Click Yes when asked to continue.
  19. After you have read and understand the license agreement, click Yes if you accept.
  20. Click No when prompted to restart your computer.
  21. Close all open windows.
  22. Click Start à Shutdown.
  23. Select the Restart option. Then click OK.
  24. Click Cancel when prompted to enter your network password.
  25. Click Start à Settings à Control Panel.
  26. Double-click the Regional Settings icon.
  27. Click on the Date tab located at the top of the window.
  28. Click the down arrow next to the short date range field and choose the ‘mm/dd/yyyy’ option from the list.
  29. Click OK. Close all windows.
  30. Restart the computer and logon as usual.

Congratulations! You have now made your version of Microsoft Windows move its Y2K compliance status to Compliant with Minor Issues.

  Kristin Bison
PC Support Analyst II
kbison@lsumc.edu
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