Microsoft Personal Web Server 4.0 Release Notes

This document contains information about new features, important product considerations, and installation instructions for Microsoft® Personal Web Server (PWS). The following sections are included:

Welcome to Personal Web Server 4.0
Product Comparison: PWS for Windows 98 and PWS for Windows NT Workstation
Installing PWS 4.0
Product Documentation
Other Known Problems and Limitations
Troubleshooting
Providing Feedback


Welcome to Personal Web Server 4.0

Welcome to Personal Web Server! In the Personal Web Server package, Microsoft has pulled together some exciting new functionality that makes Microsoft® Windows 98® an even easier platform to use for sharing information on a personal Web site.

The Personal Web Server package makes it easy to install any of the following new features:

Microsoft Personal Web Server 4.0
A desktop Web server that can be used to host a Web site on the corporate intranet, or to develop and test a Web site before hosting the site on an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions
Supports the use of Microsoft® FrontPage® to manage your Web site, as well as create the site content.
Microsoft Transaction Server 2.0
Supports creation of Microsoft® Transaction Server (MTS) applications. A transaction is a server operation that succeeds or fails as a whole, even if the operation involves many steps. MTS also supports process isolation of applications.
Microsoft Data Access Components 1.5
Easy use of databases with support for ActiveX™ Data Objects and the Microsoft® Access driver.
Message Queue Server 1.0
Makes it easy for application programs to communicate with other application programs quickly, reliably, and asynchronously by sending and receiving messages. The key features of Message Queue Server (MSMQ), such as ActiveX support, comprehensive security controls, powerful administration tools, extensive feature set, and integration with strategic Microsoft products such as Internet Information Server and MTS, make MSMQ the message queuing product of choice for applications running on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. The Personal Web Server package includes the MSMQ Dependent and Independent Clients.

Product Comparison: PWS for Windows 98 and PWS for Windows NT Workstation

PWS for Windows 98provides a graphical administration interface designed for users with no prior experience creating and administering Web sites. This interface is also provided as the default administration tool in Personal Web Server for Microsoft® Windows NT® Workstation; however, with the Windows NT Workstation version, you can also administer your personal publishing site with Internet Service Manager, the same full-featured administration tool used to control Microsoft Internet Information Server.

Product Comparison
Feature PWS for Windows NT Workstation PWS for Windows 98
Typical Uses Full-featured site development or personal publishing on a corporate intranet Personal publishing on a low-volume corporate intranet
WWW Service Yes Yes
FTP Service Yes No
Connection Limit 10 10
Active Server Pages Yes Yes
Site Use Logging NCSA Log File Format (default) MSCSV standard and extended (optional) NCSA Log File Format
Publishing Sources Local and network drives Local drives only
Optional ISM Interface Yes No
Authentication Basic or Windows NT Challenge/Response None

Installing PWS 4.0

These are the system requirements for the installation of PWS.

Hardware Component Requirement Recommendation
Processor33 MHz 48690 MHz Pentium®
RAM16 MB20 - 32 MB
Free hard disk space30 MB40 MB
MonitorVGASuper VGA

On Windows 98, PWS offers the following three installation options:

The following table describes the available options for each type of installation. An X in the Min. column indicates options included by default in the Minimum Install option. An X in the Typ. column indicates additional options included in the Typical Install option. Options without an X in either column are available as selections in the Custom Install option.

Min. Typ. Components and Sub-components
  X FrontPage Server Extensions
Supports the use of Microsoft® FrontPage® to manage your Web site, as well as create the site content.
  X    FrontPage Server Extension Files
       Connection Manager Administration Kit
       Product Documentation
         Connection Manager Administration Kit Documentation
         Getting Started Documentation
X   Microsoft Data Access Components
Easy use of databases with support for ActiveX Data Objects and the Microsoft Access driver.
X      Data Sources
X        Jet and Access
         Oracle
X        SQL Server
X      MDAC: ADO, ODBC, and OLE DB
         ADO Documentation
X        MDAC Core Files: ADO, ODBC, and OLE DB
X      Remote Data Service
X        RDS Core Files
         RDS Docs
         RDS Samples
         RDS v1.1 Files
    Microsoft Message Queue
Allows applications to pass along transaction notification and continue processing without waiting for confirmation that the transaction has completed.
       HTML Documentation
       Microsoft Message Queue Client
       Software Development Kit
X   Personal Web Server
A Web server that uses TCP/IP to host a Web site on a corporate intranet.
X      Common Program Files
  X    Documentation
         Active Server Pages
  X      Common Documentation Files
  X      PWS Administrator Documentation
X      Personal Web Manager
X      World Wide Web Server
X   Transaction Server
Supports creation of Microsoft Transaction Server applications. A transaction is a server operation that succeeds or fails as a whole, even if the operation involves many steps. MTS also supports process isolation of applications.
X      Transaction Server Core Components
X      Transaction Server Core Documentation
       Transaction Server Development
         Transaction Server Development
         Transaction Server Development Documentation
         Visual Basic Transaction Server Add-In
    Visual InterDev RAD Remote Deployment Support
Enables the remote deployment of applications on your Web server by using Microsoft® Visual InterDev™.
       Visual InterDev RAD Remote Deployment Support
To install Personal Web Server

See Troubleshooting for more information.

The Windows® 98 CD includes Personal Web Server (PWS); however, PWS requires a separate setup step to be fully installed and configured. To install PWS, you will need the Windows 98 CD, and you will need to follow these steps:

  1. Insert your Windows 98 CD in its drive.
  2. Click Start and then click Run.
  3. In the Run dialog box, type x:\add-ons\pws\setup.exe
  4. Substitute the letter of your CD drive for x, and click OK.
  5. Follow the directions in Personal Web Server setup.

Product Documentation

All documentation for the product is available online. You can view the Help topics by clicking Start and pointing to the program group where the product is installed, or by using the Help menu of the administration tool. Context-sensitive help is also available by pressing the F1 key while viewing a property sheet or dialog box.

Using the Documentation

Please observe the following guidelines when using the online documentation:


Other Known Problems and Limitations

The following list contains problems and limitations that are known to exist in this release:


Providing Feedback

Peer-to-peer newsgroups are available to help you interact with other users of our products, including Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs). You can use any newsreader software to access these newsgroups. Regardless of the newsreader or news client you are using, you may need to configure it to read the newsgroups. When prompted for News Server, type msnews.microsoft.com. You do not need to enter an account name or password. Before posting to the newsgroups, please review the Microsoft Newsgroup Rules of Conduct. For more information about Microsoft newsgroups please see http://www.microsoft.com/support/news/ and select Personal Web Server.

Newsgroups supporting the Personal Web Server 4.0 will become available in the near future. You should refresh your newsgroup subscriptions often in order to find the latest newsgroup for this product.


Copyright Information

© 1997 Microsoft Corporation

These materials are provided “as-is,” for informational purposes only.

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Neither Microsoft nor its suppliers shall have any liability for any damages whatsoever including consequential, incidental, direct, indirect, special, and lost profits. Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow exclusions of implied warranties, the above limitation may not apply to you. In any event, Microsoft’s and its suppliers’ entire liability in any manner arising out of these materials, whether by tort, contract, or otherwise shall not exceed the suggested retail price of these materials.


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