Windows 95 can be installed and run with DEC PATHWORKS version 5.x. You must install Client for Microsoft Networks plus the DEC PATHWORKS protocol (there is no DEC PATHWORKS real-mode client). DEC PATHWORKS uses NDIS 2 network adapter drivers. Also, the Windows 95 AUTOEXEC.BAT file must contain a startnet.bat line to refer to the batch file used to start DEC PATHWORKS.
To install support for DEC PATHWORKS 4.1, you must install support for Windows for Workgroups 3.11 before running Windows 95 Setup. This software is available from the DECPI forum on CompuServe. This is not necessary for installing support for DEC PATHWORKS 5.x.
If you are running DEC PATHWORKS 5.x, Windows 95 Setup detects the network. And, if you are using an NDIS, DLC, ODI, built-in DEPCA or Etherworks™ 3 data-link layer, Windows 95 Setup converts the configuration to NDIS drivers; Setup does not support X.25 or asynchronous data-link layers.
DEC is providing a 32-bit network client to be available after the release of Windows 95. Contact your vendor's sales support representative for information about the availability and features provided with this new client.
After Windows 95 is installed, you can use Network Neighborhood to browse DEC PATHWORKS servers running version 5.x. You can also use the standard Windows 95 methods for connecting to printers. Long filename support is possible only if you are connecting to a DEC PATHWORKS server version 5.0 or greater.
Also, if you are upgrading from Windows 3.1, you must install additional network components supplied by DEC; these are provided on the Windows 95 compact disc and installed automatically by Windows 95 Setup.
Note For DEC PATHWORKS 5.x, you can use a DECnet™ protocol, or you can use NetBEUI or Microsoft TCP/IP.
The following table shows the entries required in configuration files when DEC PATHWORKS real-mode network support is installed with Windows 95.
Configuration file | Entries |
AUTOEXEC.BAT | c:\windows\net start |
CONFIG.SYS | dos=high,umb |
PROTOCOL.INI | [DLL$MAC] [NWLINK$] [NETBEUI$] [DEPCA$] [PROTMAN$] [NDISHLP$] |