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Windows 95/98 Connection Guide

The following instructions and illustrations are provided to assist you in setting up your computer to connect to BCPL.NET.

Please follow these instructions carefully and in order. These instructions are just one way of configuring Windows 95/98. If you are unable to establish a connection after following these instructions, please call the BCPL.NET Internet Help Desk at 410-887-3297.

Double click My Computer located on the desktop.

Double click the Dial-Up Networking folder.

Sometimes Windows will start the Make New Connection Wizard for you. If it doesn't do this then you can start it manually by double clicking Make New Connection.

You may see a welcome screen that tells you what you have started and displays a Next and a Cancel button at the bottom. If there are no boxes to type in, just click Next.

You will see a box labeled: Type a name for the computer you are dialing:

Type BCPL in that box.

Make sure your modem's name is displayed in the Select a device: box. If it isn't, click the arrow at the right of the box and select your modem.

NOTE: Your modem name will probably be different than the one displayed here.

After you have done this, click Next.

Ignore the Area code: box.

Click in the Telephone number: box and type 4102965500.

If you have call waiting, type *70,4102965500 instead.

Some versions of Windows will have a check box below where it says United states of America. If you see a checkbox anywhere on this page, make sure it is unchecked.

Click Next.

Click Finish.

Right-click the BCPL icon in the Dial-Up Networking window and select Create Shortcut.

A window will appear that says Windows cannot create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead? Click Yes in this window. This will create a BCPL icon on the desktop.

Right-click the BCPL icon again, and select Properties.

The Properties Window for the BCPL Connection will appear.

There will be one or more tabs, depending on which version of Windows and Dial-up Networking you have.

About halfway down, there will be a checkbox that says either Use area code and Dialing Properties or Use country code and area code. Make sure it is unchecked.

There will probably be a Server Types tab. If there isn't, there will be a Server Type button near the bottom next to the Configure button.

Click the Server Types tab or the Server Type button. The Server Type button may open a new window when you click it.

Make sure that the Type of Dial-Up Server: box starts with PPP.

Verify that the only boxes checked are Enable software compression and TCP/IP.

If anything else is checked, uncheck it now.

Click OK. This should close the BCPL properties window.

Windows 98 puts in a setting by default that may cause frequent disconnects from the Internet. If you have Windows 98, you must fix it. This step is not needed on Windows 95. To fix the issue, do the following:

Go to your Control Panel (Click Start, Settings, Control Panel).
Double-click Network.
In the Network window, there will be a white box containing installed components. Look for one that says TCP/IP or TCP/IP Dialup adaptor. Click it once.
Click Properties.

A warning message will appear:
(You have asked to change TCP/IP Properties. . .);
click OK.

You should now see a TCP/IP Properties Window.

Click the WINS Configuration tab.
You will probably see that there is a black dot next to Use DHCP for WINS Resolution. The black dot should be next to Disable WINS Resolution. To do this, simply click in the white circle to the left of Disable WINS Resolution.
Click OK.
Click OK again.

Windows may prompt you to restart at this point. If it does, go ahead and restart your computer and then proceed.

Testing the Connection

For this part, you will need the username and password that were sent with these instructions.

In Dial-up networking, double click the BCPL icon.

The Connect To window will appear.

Enter your username and password in the appropriate boxes.

Put a check in the Save Password box.

Make sure that the number in the Phone number box is either 4102965500 or *70,4102965500 (if you have call waiting)

Click Connect.

If everything is correctly configured, you will see a window indicating that you are connected. If you do not see this, look at the task bar near the clock and see if there is an icon with two computer screens or a modem: if so, you are connected. If you do not see this, double click the BCPL icon again. It will either tell you that you are connected or prompt you to try to connect again.

You have now established a connection with BCPL. You may now run a web browser, e-mail program, etc. If you are using Windows 95 or 98, it is likely that you already have Internet Explorer installed on your PC.

If you don't see a shortcut for Internet Explorer (sometimes called "The Internet") on your desktop, look for it by doing the following:

Click the Start button.

Choose Programs and look for Internet Explorer. If you don't see it, look for another web browser such as Netscape. If you find one, click it to start it up.

If you have followed these directions carefully and in order, and still cannot establish a connection with BCPL, please call the BCPL.NET Internet Help Desk at 410-887-3297.