[C] Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 12:41:08 -0600 (MDT)
From: bgeer <bgeer@xmission.com>

This subject repeats quite often & I assume at least some of the
queryers know about the fine Aero FAQ & links at

        http://www.zenspider.com/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html

I haven't looked there recently to know if the Win96 upgrade info as
been updated, so here's the Win95 list of upgrades I used in January
1997.  Obviously there may be newer upgrade files available.  Other
than not yet having the 32-bit hibernation program, I'm quite
satisfied with the results.

What I used to upgrade to Win95:

    16 Megabyte RAM
   722 Megabyte hard drive - selected price/budget, not price/performance

   Compaq Aero upgrade software:
        384313 Dec 12  1996 sp1992.exe  ROM
        948622 Dec 12  1996 sp1329.exe  Win95 supplemental
         47529 Dec 12  1996 sp1350.exe  Diskette fix
       2370661 Dec 17  1996 sp2054.exe  Setup
       1277315 Dec 17  1996 sp2373.exe  Diagnostics/test
        103692 Dec 17  1996 sp2345.exe  Win95 kbd fix 
        863924 Dec 17  1996 sp1454.exe  Hard disk utility for crashed FAT
         41592 Dec 17  1996 sp2158.exe  LPT port utility

Notes:
        Win95 ran ok with 12Mb, however I am installing Linux & a Web
        server for portable presentation of a Web project my wife & I
        are doing.  

        I had to fiddle with the master/slave jumper on the drive to
        make it work properly.  The jumper definitely was required.

        The 722Mb disk arrived already formatted.  I unformatted it
        using fdisk to delete the partition.  Only then did the Compaq
        setup program do "the right thing".  The diagnostics partition
        from 2Mb to 4Mb, or thereabouts.

        File date is when I downloaded, NOT the file date at Compaq.

        I downloaded these files from:

        http://www.compaq.com/support/files/portables
                /RompaqsAndSystem/Contura_Aero/Contura_Areo_433.html

        Whether or not the appropriate URL is still the same is a
        function of Compaq, not me.  The "_Areo_" typo is in my "save
        bookmark" so at least it was the actual name of the page when
        I downloaded.

[C] From: Paul Gallivan <gallivan@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: My SoftPaqs recommends for Win95 and Aero

Hello list,

Well, Win 95 is installed and running on my Aero/25 with 12meg ram and the
little 170Meg drive. 
-APM functioning, suspends with button and by itself at medium and high
conservation. 
-Hibernate worked but currently off so I would have more than 1meg free space!
-Direct Cable Connection is working, although my desktop doesn't have an
ECP port so Aero's ECP is connecting to std LPT.
-Briefcase working, although not quite sure how to best implement it yet.
-PCMCIA hot swap functions with my IBM 14.4 modem card (its the only one I
got!) and series 2 floppy I'll be returning tomorrow. Occasionally inserted
cards won't be recognized. Occurs when Control Panel/PC card
(PCMCIA)/Resources gets set to manual config somehow (I did it once, and
now whenever I install a new software component it reverts to it).
Solvation is to enable Use Automatic Settings.

SoftPaqs Used:

-SP1992.EXE - RomPaq to upgrade system rom to 5/16/96
-Computer Setup for Portables Rev 1.11G - Upgraded Diag Partition.
-Computer Diagnostics Rev 10.07B  - Compaqs website now includes a locator
which lists the latest Diag version as 10.10C, but there is no English
version!

-Disabled (rem off) everything except for Himem.sys, EMM386.EXE,
SmartDrv.exe, (wasn't using any disk compression drivers) Lmouse.exe.
(using version 6.60, Compaq has Version 6.46 dated August '96 on their web
site)
-Added l2d.exe and l2dmap.exe at end of autoexec.bat to enable me to run
setup off my Win95 setup "CDRom" on my desktop. Once I got Direct cable
connection working I deleted those entries.


SP1329>EXE - Supplemnetal Programs for Win95 Ver 2.00B (specified for Aero)
I tried Ver2.03A & 2.03B which are slated for the Armada and I don't
recomend them. Version 2.00B integfrates with your other controls much
better and includes a PCCard manager for protected mode Win95 that works
well. The Armada files were inconsistant in the Aero environment and the
contols were a pain! 
-There is no need for any other PCMCIA support files like CardWorks, etc. 

Currently my CONFIG.SYS file has only 6 enabled lines (and 20+ disabled
ones!) HIMEM, EMM386, FILES=, DOS=, FCBS=, SHELL=.
Likewise my AUTOEXEC.BAT file has only 5 enabled lines - Set Path=, Set
Lmouse=, Set Prompt=, Set Temp=, AND C:\CPQDOS\HIBRN8.EXE (added by Sup
Prog Ver 2.00B setup) Hib32.exe may work just fine, but who cares if your
computer completely shuts you out 23 nano-seconds faster.