Using Public Domain Tools

There are a variety of navigation applications available in the public domain on the Internet, including Gopher, Archie, and Wide Area Information Server (WAIS). These applications allow you to find information on the Internet easily. The following sections provide information about several of these applications. You should contact your Internet service provider (ISP) to find these public domain and shareware applications. To download them, you can use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Note

Many TCP/IP applications from non-Microsoft vendors offer Internet browsing, viewing, and connection capabilities. Many of these applications are 16-bit and do not currently work with the 32-bit version of TCP/IP provided with Windows 98.

Caution

Windows 98 provides a 32-bit Windows Sockets interface (Winsock.dll). Any attempt to override the Windows 98 interface could cause TCP/IP applications to fail or could cause the computer to stop responding.

Using Gopher

Gopher offers menu-based access to Internet information. Gopher hides the intricacies of FTP servers and bypasses complicated TCP/IP addresses and connections. You choose information from a list of menus, and Gopher makes the connections necessary to retrieve the files. Gopher is most helpful when you need to find specific pieces of information on the Internet.

Using Archie

Archie is a server that supports a database of anonymous FTP sites and their contents. Archie stores the contents, descriptions, and file names of many FTP sites. Archie applications are available from many major Internet sites.

Using Wide Area Information Server

With Wide Area Information Server (WAIS), you can browse the hundreds of databases and library catalogs on the Internet in an organized way. WAIS searches the contents of documents based on words as opposed to titles. After a search, WAIS displays a list of documents. This list, however, can be extremely large, so WAIS sorts the documents based on how many times a key word is found in each one. If the list is too large, you can narrow the search by specifying categories.

Microsoft TCP/IP Utilities

Windows 98 provides several TCP/IP utilities for copying files, initiating host sessions with other servers, checking the status of your IP configuration, and verifying your connection.

Using File Transfer Protocol

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows the transfer of text and binary files between a host computer and a computer. FTP requires you to log on to the remote host for user authentication. Sometimes, you may log on as "anonymous" and use your e-mail address as your password. Some FTP servers limit the number of anonymous users they can handle at any one time, so you might have to attempt to connect more than once to get a connection.

You can use FTP to gain access to the Microsoft FTP server for troubleshooting help and other information. This support service uses anonymous FTP to provide documentation, utilities, updated drivers, and other information for many Microsoft systems products.

To get support from Microsoft using FTP

1. Make sure you are connected to your Internet provider.
2. From the Start menu, click Run, type ftp, and then click OK.
3. At the command prompt, type open ftp.microsoft.com
4. When you are prompted to specify a user name, type anonymous
5. Type your Internet account name (your e-mail name) as your password, using the format userid@hostname.domain.

   As you type your Internet account name, characters might not appear on the screen. This is a security measure to protect your password.

   You are now connected to the root directory of the Microsoft FTP site.

Note

You can also use FTP from the Internet Explorer browsing software. To navigate to ftp.microsoft.com, use the following URL format: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/.

Working with Directories and Folders at an FTP Site

You can view a list of directories and files at an FTP site, change directories, and download files. Most FTP servers contain text files that describe the layout of their entire directory structure to help you find what you need. For example, the text file Dirmap.txt may describe that server’s directory structure.

To list the directories and folders at an FTP site

• At the ftp> prompt, type ls

To view more details about the current directory

• At the ftp> prompt, type ls -l

This command provides a detailed listing similar to the following:

In this list:

• The left column indicates whether the item is a file (r) or a directory (dr).
• The fifth column indicates the size of each file in bytes.
• The last column describes the name of the file, directory, or link. A link can be to a file or directory somewhere else on the FTP site (similar to a shortcut to a folder or file in Windows 98).

To change directories

• At the ftp> prompt, type cd directory_name

  For example, to get more information about desktop applications, you might type cd deskapps

To go back to the previous directory

• At the ftp> prompt, type cd

  If you have navigated through many directories and want to go back to the beginning, instead of typing cd .. again and again, you can type cd / to return to the root directory of the host.

Tip

Notice that the forward slash "/ " is used (as opposed to the backslash " \" that MS-DOS and Windows users are accustomed to). On most UNIX computers, the way to change directories is the forward slash. Thus UNIX FTP servers typically understand only directory names using the forward slash, while Windows NT FTP servers, such as ftp.microsoft.com, understand directories using both the forward slash and the backslash.

Downloading Files with FTP

To download files from the Internet using FTP, you must indicate whether the file is an ASCII or a binary (for example, Microsoft Word) file. By default, when you begin using FTP, you are working in ASCII mode. To transfer text files, it is not necessary to change modes; however, you cannot transfer a binary file while you are in ASCII mode.

Tip

Most text-based FTP clients are case-sensitive, so make sure you use the correct case when you attempt to transfer resources from these FTP sites.

To switch from ASCII to binary transfer mode

• At the ftp> prompt, type binary

  The following message appears to confirm the change to binary transfer mode:

  200 Type set to I

To switch from binary transfer mode to ASCII

• At the ftp> prompt, type ascii

  The following message appears to confirm the change to ASCII:

  200 Type set to A
  

To transfer a file to your computer

• At the ftp> prompt, type get filename

  For example, to get the directory map on the Microsoft FTP server, type get dirmap.txt

  To place the file on a computer with a name other than the one it had on the server, type get filename newname

If you receive an error message, remember that you are using software that is case-sensitive, so make sure you typed dirmap.txt exactly.

When you see the ftp> prompt again, look in Windows Explorer for the Dirmap.txt file and open it by using a text processor, such as Microsoft WordPad.

To disconnect from your host

• At the ftp> prompt, type disconnect

To quit the FTP client

• At the ftp> prompt, type quit

Using Telnet

Some of the information on the Internet is still available only if you use telnet. Windows 98 provides a version of telnet that you can run from the Start menu.

To run telnet

1. From the Start menu, select Run, type telnet, and then click OK.
2. In Telnet, click the Connect menu, and then click Remote Session.
3. In the Connect dialog box, type the host name of the telnet site to which you want to connect.
4. In the Term Type box, select a terminal mode. The default is VT-100.
5. In the Port box, select a port. The default is telnet.
6. To start the telnet session, click the Connect button.
7. To capture data to a file, type terminal/start logging

For more information about using telnet, see Help.