More Modems and On-Line Services for Dummies Book

About This Book

How to Use This Book

Who Are You?

Finding Your Way Around the Book

Part I: Plugging In More Modem Stuff

Part II: Another Helping of Software Stew

Part III: More E-Mail, Files, and Other Riches

Part IV: More about Those BBS Things

Part V: Get Around, Round, Round, Round

Part VI: The Complete Modemer's Shortcuts, Tips, and Tricks

And . . . More Margin Icons

About the Lack of Coupons . . .

Where to Go from Here

Chapter 1: A Typical Day in Cyberspace

6 a.m. to 8 a.m. News Wave

8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Crosstown Traffic

10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Modem at Work

12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Job Hunt

2 p.m. to 4 p.m. A Good Book

4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Kids' Stuff

6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Going SOHO

8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Personal Time

10 p.m. to 12 p.m. Nerding Around

12 a.m. to 2 a.m. Playtime

2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Talk, Talk

Chapter 2: Troubleshooting

Finding a COM Port (in a Storm)

Dealing with Comm Drivers

Installing a Beefier Serial Port

Accommodating High-Speed Modems

Chapter 3: More Troubleshooting

Grappling with Noisy Phone Lines

Getting Your Fax Modem to Receive a Fax

Downloading without Troubles

Running a DOS Comm Program under Windows

Chapter 4: Upgrading Your Modem Software

Discovering Software Support Forums

Finding and Using Patch Files

That was easy, wasn't it?

Find the program's forum or conference

Finding updates for Crosstalk for Windows

Call the program's BBS

Scan bulletins for clues

Find the command that lists files

Find any update files and mark them for downloading

Download the files onto your computer

Installing a Software Update

Downloading the program updates

Installing the new version

Grabbing updates off the Web

Chapter 5: Another Round of Friendly Modem Commands

Why Bother With AT Commands?

Discovering Command Strings

AT commands

S-Registers

Escape code

Command suffix

Telling Your Modem Where To Go

Untangling Your Software's Command Strings

Init Strings, Auto-Answer, and Other Types of Command Strings

Deciphering the Popular Commands

Working with AT commands

The basic, standard, no-frills AT command set

Rolling Out the S-Registers

Fun with S-Registers

Looking for Result Codes (in All the Right Places)

Resources

Chapter 6: The Top Windows and DOS Communications Programs

Rules of the Game

Your basic, just-get-me online features

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Actually making use of a capture file

Recording a script

Hefting a Few Windows Comm Programs

A peek into Procomm Plus for Windows 2.0

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back to previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

QmodemPro for Windows

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

HyperAccess

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

Dallying with DOS Comm Programs

QmodemPro

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting the data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

Telix

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting the data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Procomm Plus

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

Chapter 7: The Top Macintosh Communications Programs

White Knight

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

Microphone Pro

Adding phone numbers to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

ZTerm

Adding a phone number to a dialing directory

Changing the terminal emulation

Setting data parameters

Capturing what you see online

Scrolling back through previous screens

Uploading and downloading files

Recording a script

Chapter 8: More Faxing (without Asking)

Why Fax with Your Computer?

Figuring Out Fax Modems

Understanding fax standards

Fax-specific standards your software cares about

Other, probably avoidable, fax standards

General fax standards

Deciding How to Fax

Faxing from any program

Faxing from fax software

Faxing within your comm software

Sending a fax within Procomm Plus

Faxing from Windows 95

Sending a fax with Windows 95's Microsoft Fax

Receiving Faxes

Ready to receive

Ogling OCR and Other Software Goodies

Troubleshooting Failed Faxes

Chapter 9: Sending E-Mail between Here and There

Anatomy of an E-Mail Address

The Domain Name System

The binary of it all

Sending E-Mail Hither and Yon

America Online

AT&T Mail

CompuServe

DELPHI

GEnie

Prodigy

Tracking Down an E-Mail Address

Chapter 10: The Joys of Offline Messaging

Discovering Offline Message Readers

How it works

Why bother with offline message readers?

Finding an offline message reader

Setting up your offline message reader

Forging a path

Choosing a compression program

Why bother using something besides the built-in packer?

Setting other settings

Catching Up with Your Friendly Neighborhood BBS

Setting up the BBS's mail door

Discovering a mail door

Choosing some conferences

Downloading a message packet

Getting help with the BBS mail door

Loading a QWK packet into the offline mail reader

Working with the mail packet

Adding an Offline Message Reader to Your Comm Program

Faking an Offline Message Reader

Readers for Online Services

Chapter 11: Information Overload (and How to Get It)

Finding a Quick Info-Nugget

Tubed out, totally

Getting choosy with TV1

Slamming down even more TV resources

Thumbing through an encyclopedia (without building up

your thumbs)

Encyclopedias on the Commercial Services

Consulting Compton's on AOL

Flipping through Hutchinson's on CompuServe

Zooming in on Internet reference materials

Yahoo!

Britannica Online

Internet search tools

Performing a search

Searching with Alta Vista

Shopping online

Hunting for a house (by mouse)

Fashion zone

Malling it over

Searching and Researching in Depth

Magazine Database Plus

Dissertation Abstracts

Uncover

Keeping Up-to-Date in Your Field

USENET newsgroups

SIFTing NetNews

Searching for newsgroups by topic

Searching bulletin board conferences by topic

Gathering Information while You Sleep

News filtering services

CompuServe's Executive News Service (ENS)

NewsPage

Mailing lists

Electronic journals and e-zines

Femme, Femme on the Net

Chapter 12: The ABCs (and XYZs) of File Transfers

Revisiting Some File Transfer Basics

Uploading, downloading, and freeloading

It's like copying a file

Binary transfers versus ASCII transfers

Why file transfer protocols exist

Protocols Rule! (Finding Out Why)

Why you need protocols

Anatomy of a file transfer

Rules of the Game

Flow control

Blocks and headers become packets

Protocols do windows, too

Streaming protocols

Why you need to care about flow control

Error detection

Checksum checks a sum

CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check)

No error control

And this stuff is important because...

Other stuff governed by protocols

Retries

Batches o' files

File characteristics

Choosing the best protocol

ZModem

XModem and its variants

YModem

YModem-g

CIS-B+

Kermit

ASCII

FTP

Understanding Uuencode (and Other Sneaky Ways to Tuck Files inside E-Mail)

Chapter 13: Overcoming Decompression and Other Modem-Day Maladies

Coming to Grips with Compression

Archives of archives

Other keen compression tricks

What's in Those Files?

Assembling Your Compression Arsenal

Working with Compression

Working with PKZIP/PKUNZIP

Installing PKZIP/PKUNZIP

Unzipping a file

Zipping together an archive

Making a self-extracting archive by using PKSFX

Working with WinZip

Installing WinZip

Unzipping an archive with WinZip

Creating a zip file or archive by using WinZip

Making a self-extracting archive by using WinZip

Working with StuffIt

Installing StuffIt LITE

Unstuffing a StuffIt archive

Stuffing an archive or file

Resources

Chapter 14: Once It's Yours (Figuring Out File Names)

What's in a (File) Name?

Viewing a file before you download it

Peering at Bubba

Delving into Accidents of Nature

Turn your 2400 bps modem into a 9600 bps modem!

Looking Up File Names by What They Do

In the beginning was the word

Getting with the program

Image is everything

Compressed files

Chapter 15: Finessing & Messing Around on the BBSs

Types of BBSs You Encounter

Introducing Yourself to the BBS

Deciphering BBS Menus

Main menu

User settings

Questionnaires

Conferences and forums

Chatting and writing messages to the sysop

File menu

Musing over the message menu

Saying Good-Bye

Chapter 16: So You Want to Run Your Own BBS?

What Is a BBS?

Types of BBS Programs

Features to look for in a BBS program

Multinode versus integrated BBS programs

File support

Messages

First impressions: the BBS's look and feel

Expansion capabilities

The biggie BBS programs

Amazing Uses for a BBS

Hobbyist BBSs

Business BBSs

Entertainment BBSs

Equipment Needed to Start a BBS

Phone lines

Modems

Computers

Operating systems

Hard disk space

CD-ROM drives

Tape backups

Software utilities

Running and Maintaining a BBS

Copyright infringement

Hackers and flamers

Getting callers

Adding new files

Maintaining your caller database

Expanding your BBS

A Summary of Different BBS Programs

FirstClass

MediaHost

NovaServer, NovaTerm

PCBoard

Searchlight

TBBS

The Major BB

Wildcat!

Chapter 17: Networked BBSs

The Magic of Networking

How networked BBS works (the compressed version)

How Alternative Networks Work

How mail gets routed through a BBS network

Types of mail a network can carry

Finding a Networked BBS

Using a Networked BBS

Chapter 18: Finding More BBSs (Than You'll Ever Find Time to Call)

How to Find a BBS Number

BBS List Keepers

Resources

Chapter 19: Born to Be Dialed

Calling Your Friend's Computer

Stuff you need to set up in advance

Actually dialing someplace

Auto-Answer

Quick'n'dirty manual answer

Now what do we do?

Stuff that doesn't have to match but at least one of you

will probably have to tweak

Sending a File to your Friend's Computer

Sending a file

Receiving a file

Troubleshooting the Call

Try something else

Any dip switches in the house?

Turnabout's fair play

Locking modem and port speeds

Other handy AT commands for calling your pals

Answer after 1 ring

Answer the phone

Dial the phone

Dialing a high-speed modem with a slower one (or just gaining more time for the modems to recognize each other)

Echo off and echo on

Set flow control type (confirm this command in your manual)

Playing with Host Mode

Using host mode to access your computer

Security department

Epilogue

Chapter 20: A Whirl on the Internet

A Quick Internet Review

What's It All About?

Does the Net matter?

Sorting out the main types of Internet accounts

Which connection's for me?

Accessing the Internet through an ISP

Accessing the Internet through an online service

Reaching the Internet through BBSs

Chapter 21: Fear of Dialing

Flame-Proofing E-Mail with a Spray of Netiquette

Flame-bait

Emoticons and abbreviations

Emoticons

Abbreviations

E-mail do's and doughnuts

Avoiding Urban Legends

Discovering Anonymous E-mail

Guiding Smart Kids Safely Online

Guidelines for parents

A child's rules for online safety

Resources

USENET newsgroups

Kids' online safety

Chapter 22: More Fear of Dialing

Preparing for Virus Protection

Three viruses, a worm, a bomb, and a Trojan (horse, that is)

Using virus protection software

Disk defense

Finding and using InVircible on a PC

Finding and using Disinfectant on a Mac

Just Say "No" -- or "Cancel"

Discovering Encryption and Other Privacy Measures

What's PGP?

How's PGP better than older encryption tools?

How can you be sure a key's genuine?

Can't someone break the private key?

Why so many PGPs?

To learn more . . .

Cobbling Firewalls

When a firewall's out of your reach

Intruder lexicon

Resources

Viruses

USENET Newsgroups

Chapter 23: Accumulating the Best Loved Comm Utilities

DOS Utilities

LIST

DIRMATCH

Magellan

Fractint

Windows Utilities

Uninstaller

Drag and View

Macintosh Utilities

DisKeeper

Chapter 24: One for the Road

Staying Wired Wherever You Go

From the hotel room

From the pay phone

Cool Modem Tricks

RJ-11 jack of all trades

Acoustic couplers

Modem of Babel: Online When You're Overseas

(Not so) totally modular

A traveler's garden of AT commands

Ignoring a dial tone

Using the phone to manually dial

Giving Your Modem More Dialing Time

A Traveler's Software Primer: Remote Access Software Resources