Software Alert: Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2)

July 1997
=========

Overview:

      We have been made aware of a very serious problem with the
      latest OEM release of Windows 95. This problem results in
      corrupted keys in Comet keyed files.

Discussion:

      Microsoft has released an OEM update for Windows 95 known as
      Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2). Currently
      there is no retail version of Windows 95 OSR2 available. It is
      available from some PC manufacturers who preload it on the new
      PCs they sell to the public.

      This OEM release of Windows 95 contains a file that corrupts
      the I00 portion of keyed files on Type N directories. This
      affects Windows 95 peer-to-peer networks and 95-to-NT networks
      (in other words, non-Novell networks using Type N
      directories). The problem is caused by a driver named
      VREDIR.VXD.

Solution summary:

      You can fix this problem by replacing the VREDIR.VXD file with
      an earlier version of the file. We have placed the earlier
      version of VREDIR.VXD on our web download directory (see below
      for details).

What to look for:

      You can identify the release of Windows 95 in two ways:

      1.   From the Start button, select Settings | Control panel |
           System | General. Look for a version number of 4.00.950a
           or 4.00.950b. The "b" version is the one that contains
           the bad copy of VREDIR.VXD.

      2.   From the MS-DOS prompt, type VER. You will see the
           version number of 4.00.950 or 4.0.1111. The 4.0.1111
           version is the one that contains the bad copy of
           VREDIR.VXD.

      In addition, check the file size for VREDIR.VXD in the
      WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. The file size should be approx.
      138K. If the file size is 156,749, you have the bad version.

How to fix this problem:

      If you are running Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 and have
      the bad version of VREDIR.VXD, download the earlier version
      from our web site, unzip it, and copy it to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM
      directory. You'll find the file at the following location:

      www.signature.net/download/504/vredir.zip 

Note:

      We learned of the solution to this problem through the
      Internet. Several other computer companies, including IBM and
      Goldmine Software Corporation, reported the VREDIR.VXD problem
      on their web sites and outlined the solution listed above. We
      appreciate their assistance in helping us solve this problem.

For additional information, see the Windows95 OSR2 FAQ.