Windows 95 Support for Infrared Data Association Connectivity

Microsoft has added support for Infrared Data Association (IrDA) connectivity to Windows 95. The latest release of the Infrared (IR) Communications Driver for Windows 95 is version 2.0.

Infrared (IR) communications, based on technology similar to that used in remote controls, offers a convenient and reliable way to connect to peripheral devices without cables. IrDA connectivity is designed to take advantage of mobile computing features already built into Windows 95 and supports Plug and Play.

The Infrared Communications Driver version 2.0 is an optional component of the Windows 95 operating system. The Infrared Communications Driver supports hardware devices which enable networking and communications over infrared media. The hardware device can be an infrared port built into the platform or an infrared adapter connected to one of the platform's serial or parallel ports.

Infrared devices and Infrared Communications Driver 2.0 provide the following benefits:

•

You can use wireless infrared links instead of serial and parallel cables. For example, instead of using a serial or parallel cable, you can exchange files between two computers that are equipped with an infrared device and Infrared Communications Driver 2.0. You can also print to infrared-capable printers without the need for cable.

•

With IrLan you can use wireless infrared links rather than network cable to access your local area network (LAN). IrLan currently supports Access Point Mode. Access Point Mode enables a computer with an IrDA adapter to attach to a local area network through an access point device that acts as the network adapter for the computer. An access point device is hardware supporting both a LAN network interface controller (NIC) and an infrared transceiver. For communication over the infrared link, the access point device runs a protocol stack that conforms to the IrDA standards and runs the IrLan protocol over the IrDA stack. The access point device implements a network adapter for the client using infrared as the bus for accessing the adapter. Currently there are two companies building Access Points: Hewlett- Packard (HP) and Extended System. Infrared Communications Driver 2.0 has been tested on both access points.

Infrared Communications Driver 2.0 supports infrared communications links running at speeds up to 115.2 Kbps.

Back to the top

Installation

To install IrDA connectivity in Windows 95, follow these steps:

1.	Download the W95ir.exe file from one of the online services listed below to an empty folder.
2.	In My Computer or Windows Explorer, double-click the W95ir.exe file to expand the files it contains. By default, these files are copied to the Msir20 folder.
3.	Open the Relnotes.doc file in WordPad or another word processor for complete installation instructions. This file is in the Msir20 folder.

NOTE: The Relnotes.doc file is also available in the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Back to the top

Instructions for Downloading

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Back to the top