I'd greatly appreciate advice concerning my old Dell laptop, which has Windows 95. It was my daughter's unit, which she used in grad school a long time ago. Last summer at about 3 A.M. there was a phone call to our home with one long, single ring. The caller ID indicated "no data". I think perhaps a power surge? I was offline but power was connected. Since that time, when I attempt to restart my computer, the unit powers up to my desktop. The way MSN told me to connect to the internet won't take me to that connection. However, I've been able to get to MSN Messenger on occasion but I cannot remember how I did it. My questions are:... How could I find out if Windows 95 is still on my unit? Is there a shortcut I could take to connect to the internet besides the steps MSN gave me several years, which doesn't work now? I had called technical support with MSN and am told there is no longer assistance from them for Windows 95. I'd greatly appreciate suggestions from the forum. Thank you ahead of time. Sharon

If the unit powers up to the Desktop, then you still have an intact version of Windows 95. It sounds like the power surge may have fried the modem. Have you tried creating a new Dial-up connection? Do you know how to do that? What's the model of the laptop? Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!

From what i'm reading it sounds like the modem was zapped by the surge. But you say "However, I've been able to get to MSN Messenger on occasion but I cannot remember how I did it. " Does that mean you can connect and chat with MSN Messenger? or you just found the program and it comes up? Now bear with me, it's been awhile since I used windows 95. I think if you open my computer, then open dial up networking or whatever it's called you should have properties for ISP. You could try to connect that way. On testing your modem you can go into control panel, find modems, I think it's a advanced tab but not for sure. Somewhere in there you will find a diagnostics button you can click and run. If it brings up a bunch of hardware info about your modem your half way there. If nothing then either your modem driver has become corrupt or modem is dead. Now more on modem testing. If you have went this far and all seems to checkout then go back to My Computer, open it up, go back into dial up network, now create a new connection. Just make up any kind of info you want but enter a real phone number, like the time & tempature number lol. Save it and click connect. If you can hear your modem dial out and hear it try to connect to the number you dialed it probably means there is a problem with MSN install. My guess is from your description is your modem was fried. If you want a ISP that will still run on windows 95, or any operating system be it windows, mac, or linux try ispwest.com http://www.ispwest.com/support/dialup/windows98_95.html It will walk you step by step on creating a dialup connection. I used it for a couple years before dsl came to town. They even have a 15 day free trial u could use to test your modem. ASUS A7V8X Athlon XP 2700+ @ 2.17ghz 1GB DDR 2700 nVidia 128mb FX 5200 WD 80gb SE NEC ND-3500AG DVD R/RW

In addition to the above, if the modem IS damaged, and if that laptop has a PCMCIA slot(s) you can easily obtain a PCMCIA modem, or use an external serial port modem.

I don't know what happened to my follow up messages concerning my attempts to resolve my issues, but I'll try again. I did attempt the ISPWest set up but at the final step of entering the password, it wouldn't accept the password, so I couldn't sign in. I called MSN Tech support. They took me through the steps of set up and again all went well until I was asked to enter the user name and password. I couldn't get the password to be accepted, so couldn't sign in. An error 691 kept popping up. MSN suggested I obtain a Windows 98 upgrade second edition and run it, hoping for the best. I'll see if I can get one from Ebay. With the expert advice from previous messages, does it seem that this is the likely tool I'd need? I did purchase a new phone modem card after the supposed surge, so I think that's OK as I can hear the phone attempting to connect.

>>MSN suggested I obtain a Windows 98 upgrade second edition and run it, hoping for the best. i.e. "we haven't got a clue." Before spending money you could also reinstall Windows 95 from your original c.d.s Also, before that, you could try: 1. deleting any file with a .pwl extention. Reboot and try again. 2. making absolutely sure you are entering the password correctly (remember these are case-sensitive). 3. Get to your modem properties. click "configure" and ease the speed back a notch. then go to "server type." Make sure "log on to network" is NOT checked. Check with your ISP as to the type of dial-up server, but this field should be "PPP Internet" or something like that. I know someone who was having a similar error with dial up networking, and it turned out to be the "log on to network" setting - different authentication is required if you are dialing to a local area network, rather than the Internet. (NOTE: M$ should have labelled this crucial field "log on to a remote business network" or something like that to avoid confusion) "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - BILL CLINTON