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USE MSD BEFORE INSTALLING WINDOWS 95

If you haven't yet decided to install Windows 95, then I would definitely advise you to first run a DOS program called MSD (which stands for MicroSoft Diagnostics) before doing so. This program is misnamed, because it doesn't really interactively help you to diagnose problems you might encounter with your computer (except indirectly.) What it actually does is provide you with a very detailed description of your specific computer configuration. You may not understand its output: what are "ports"? and "IRQ lines"? What does all that information in the file WIN.INI really mean? But if you don't comprehend all the computerese gobbledygook, maybe your friendly neighborhood computer guru will. Or if you don't have the name of such a person in your address book, then you might consider calling the MicroSoft Help Line, which is available free for use by new Windows 95 users for a period of 90 days after you first try to install Windows 95 on your system. (The telephone number is 206-635-7000.) The Help Line person will probably need information that is contained in that 20 or 30 pages of printout that is generated (optionally) by MSD.