The networking components in Windows 95 are designed for dynamic Plug and Play operation with most ISA, EISA, PCI, IBM Micro Channel®, and PCMCIA network adapters. To take advantage of these features, the computer must be running all protected-mode networking components, including client, protocols, and network adapter drivers.
NDIS 3.1 supports adding and removing Plug and Play network adapters dynamically while the computer is running. If an event occurs such as undocking a portable computer, the Windows 95 protocols can remove themselves from memory automatically. However, the Windows 95 protocols must load information during system startup to be available. So when an event occurs such as the dynamic addition of a PCI network adapter, the operating system prompts you to restart the computer. If you are certain that the required protocol is already loaded, you can ignore this message.
Additional Plug and Play networking benefits are available when you use 32-bit sockets with PCMCIA cards. You can click the PCMCIA icon on the taskbar to remove the card without shutting down Windows 95 or turning off the computer. Using the PCMCIA icon causes the operating system to perform an orderly shutdown. Windows 95 notifies applications that the network is no longer available and automatically unloads any related drivers or protocols.
To help mobile users who might need to change adapters in their hardware, Windows 95 uses 32-bit Card and Socket Services to support hot removal and insertion of PCMCIA cards, including network adapters. Support for hot docking means that users do not have to restart their computers each time they make a change to the configuration. For information about using and configuring PCMCIA cards, including how to enable 32-bit Card and Socket Services, see Chapter 19, "Devices."
Network Plug and Play support in Windows 95 includes application-level support. An application created for Windows 95 might be designed with the ability to determine whether the network is available. Therefore, if a network adapter is removed, for example, the application automatically puts itself into "offline" mode to allow the user to continue to work, or it shuts down.