• Give us a call at 605-642-8166 and we can change it for you.

• Pentium processor
• 32M RAM
• 150M free space on hard drive

There is no dial tone:
I moved the computer and the modem doesn't work any more:
We had a power outage and I can't connect since the power came back on:

• Ensure the phone line from the wall goes to the line connection on the back of the computer
• The line should go from the wall socket to the connection socket on the back of the computer
  labeled 'line'. A phone may be connected into the computer socket labeled 'phone'.
• Make sure there are no other connections between the computer and the wall … splitters,
  fax machines or connections through a surge protector could cause a bad connection.
• Plug a phone into that line and try to dial out
• If the phone works the line from the wall to the computer is ok
• If the phone doesn't work, it is a phone line problem.
• Note: A phone plugged into the phone jack on the back of the computer can work even when
  the modem doesn't. It only takes 5 volts of electricity to disable a modem, so it is a good idea to
  make sure that the computer is disconnected from the phone jack and the electrical outlet
  during an electrical storm.

• Check the phone number being dialed to ensure it is correct

1. Double click the 'My Computer' icon on the desktop
2. Double click the Dialup Networking folder
3. Right click on the LOA dialup icon
4. Left click on properties
5. Check the phone number being dialed
6. Uncheck use country code and area code
7. Click ok

People calling me cause me to disconnect:

• Verify call waiting is set properly

1. Double click the 'My Computer' icon on the desktop
2. Double click the Dialup Networking folder
3. Double click on the LOA dialup icon
4. Click on the Dial Properties button
5. Ensure there are no entries in the local access or long distance boxes
6. Ensure call waiting is enabled or disabled, as appropriate
7. If disabling call waiting, make sure the code *70 appears in the drop down box
8. Click ok

How do I tell if I am connected?

• There should be an icon with two computers on your taskbar system tray
• Right click on that for connection status

How do I disconnect and break the modem connection?

• Right click on the icon with two computers on your taskbar system tray and select disconnect

• Double click the My Computer icon on the desktop
• Double click the Dialup Networking folder
• Right click on the Sodak.com, or BlackHills.com dialup icon
• Select Create Shortcut from the pop-up menu
• Click Yes I want to make a shortcut

It gets to: Verify username and password and asks for the password over and over:

• If you are using a GoldenWest dialup number
  -Make sure your user name is "your-username@sodak.com"
• If you are using a FiberCom dialup number
  -Make sure your user name is "your-username@blackhills.com"
• Make sure that your username and password are correct.
• Your username should be all lower case. Passwords are CaSe SenSitiVe!
• Make sure your CAPS Lock key is not on.

Why do I keep getting disconnected?

Disconnects can be caused by a variety of reasons and some basic troubleshooting should determine where the problem lies.

1. Are there any other devices sharing the phone line (cord), such as an answering machine, fax machine etc..? If so, try unplugging them, extra devices can cause line noise which will lead to a disconnect or a degradation in your connect speed.

2. Is your modem software up to date? Often modem manufacturer's will release software that helps the modem to communicate better and more efficiently. Sometimes dramatic improvements can be made by simply having the most up to date modem software installed.
For Additional Help Check out WinDrivers or 56k.com for your modem.

NT 4.0 connects but I can't transfer and data.

Sometimes NT connect but may gets no data transfers. Simply uncheck "Use IP header compression" in DialUp Networking/RAS. You can find that check box under Edit phone book entry, then servers, and then TCP/IP settings. This will normally fix the problem.

How do I change the homepage my Browser Starts on to somewhere else?

• For Internet Explorer:
• In the "address bar" type http://www.Sodak.com (or whatever page you want to make as the "start Page" and hit enter.
• Click on "Tools" and then "Internet Options"
• Click on "Use Current"
  
  
• For Netscape:
• Click on the pull down menu Edit
• Choose "Navigator" from the menu on the far left
• In the first section on the right choose "Homepage"
• In the next section down type the website address that you want your browser to automatically open when you start it up. (Be sure to use the whole address including the "http://" part.)
  
  Please Note: If the home page you selected is not available at the time you connect to the Internet you still should be able to go to other websites. Simply type in a different address into the location bar at the top of your browser or call up a different site from your favorites or saved lists.

What is a Cookie?

Cookies are short pieces of data used by web servers to help identify web users. Cookies are not programs or viruses. They are merely bits of text, a tool created by Netscape in 1994 to enable Web sites to identify repeat visitors. Sent primarily by the biggest commercial Web sites, cookies get stored on your computer. If you return to the site, your browser will send back the cookie, roughly equivalent to saying, "Hey, it's me again."

My Dial-Up Networking connection doesn't save my password.

The password option is grayed out due to a bug in Windows95. To correct this, go into your Control Panel, then double-click on the Password icon, then click on the User Profiles tab. Change the setting to "Users can customize their preferences and desktop settings. Windows switches your personal settings whenever you log in." This will require you to enter a user password when you start Windows 95, but will also create a .pl file that will allow you to save this password as well as the password for the dialer.

Each time I log in, I am asked for a password. Is there a way to prevent this?

To prevent Windows 95 from prompting you for a password at startup, follow these steps:

• From your My Computer icon in the Control Panel, double-click on the Passwords icon.
• Click on the Change Passwords tab, click on Change Windows Password, and then click OK.
• In the Change Windows Password dialog box, you should type in your current Windows password in the Old Password box.
• Leave the New Password and Confirm New Password boxes blank.
• You should click on the OK button, and then click OK again.
• You will need to restart your computer.

How do I delete the list of visited sites from the Location drop down menu?

The only simple way outside of altering the Registry under Windows95+ is to not have the URLs list in the first place.
When you open up your web browser (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc..), open a second browser and use that one.

Click on File

New web browser.
When you are finished, be sure to close the new browser first! Then take a look at the one you opened and never used, it won't have the sites listed like your other one did. This does work, and without going into the Registry.

After I'm using my web browser for more than an hour, everything seems to slow to a crawl.

Try clearing out your disk cache. Most of the time it's set to 5MB.

• Select Options
  
• Preferences
• Network/Images/Security.

What are the files in the \cache directory for?

The files in these directories are images and text that you have recently viewed. These files help speed up the display of images and text since retrieving data from your disk is faster than retrieving the data over the network. We suggest that you leave the files alone and Netscape will keep the file from growing beyond the files will be four megabytes unless you change the default. To view, delete or modify the size of the cache files

• Select Options
  
• Preferences
• Network/Images/Security.

BlackHills.com
511 W Jackson Blvd.
Spearfish, SD 57783
info@blackhills.net
Phone: (605) 642-8166