NetNak Readme File - Version 5.2.1 - Ad-Sponsored
(c) 1999-2000 Complete Software Solutions - Andy Erceg

NetNak in a "Nutshell"
----------------------
 - Shows your internet data rate through your modem easily.
 - Warns you when you are about to exceed your allowed time on-line.
 - Shows you when you are sending data unexpectedly.
 - Enables you to keep track of you time on-line easily and in detail.
 - Enables you to hang up when you are not "really" sending or receiving data.


What NetNak does
----------------
NetNak shows your internet data rate through your modem on a dial-up connection.
The data rate is displayed as both text and on a histogram. The display can be
either as a floating window or a docked window. You also have the option to make
the display unavailable while there is no active connection to monitor.

NetNak can also keep track of your time on-line as well as the total amount of
data you send and receive and the average send and receive data rate. You can
also get a warning if you are about to exceed your preset time on-line or data
limits to help control your internet access costs.

Further to this you can also see your statistics as both text and graphically on
a per month, day, hour and 5 minutely basis so you can see when your internet
connection handles the most and the fastest data, when you are on-line etc.

You can further cut your internet costs by using "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" to
hang up when you are not actually using the internet (but e-mail checkers etc
are keeping your connection alive) or when your internet data speed is too slow.

You can monitor the data through a shared modem from another computer so you can
know how busy the modem.

NetNak will also check your version of Microsoft Dialup Networking and give you
a warning if it is an older version - refer to the "Known Issues" further down
for details on updating Microsoft Dialup Networking.


Using NetNak
------------
The most important things to remember are:
 - Right-clicking.
 - If you have "Show Hints" enabled then as the mouse is moved over various
   setting a hint box pops up with a hint about that setting.
 - If you want to encourage development (or want to see different adverts) then
   select "Larger Adverts".

To change setting right-click on either the window or the System Tray icon and
select "Properties".

The easiest way to use NetNak is probably to:
 - Have it docked.
 - Enable "Make invisible when there is no connection" under "Properties".
 - Have "Show Hints" enabled under "Properties".

The Main Display ...
If the program is not docked you can:
 - Make the window wider and narrower by dragging the left or right edges.
 - Find it by double-clicking on the System Tray icon.

To close a "docked" window right-click on either the window or the System Tray
icon and select "Exit Program".

To see what the height of the graph is click on it or the number next to it, the
number will show the height for several seconds. If you do not have "Show
average on the numeric indicators" selected and you click again the number will
show the average, over the last minute or since the last "Clear the graphs", for
several seconds.

Clearing the graphs also resets the height of the graphs.

If you have NetNak docked but don't want NetNak on the top of all programs you
can temporarily disable this by selecting "Not on Top when Docked". This will
stay this way until you either restart NetNak, access the NetNak right-click
menu or double click on the System Tray icon. You can check the status of this
by moving the mouse over the System Tray icon. An example of when you may want
to use this is playing a game that uses the full screen.

If NetNak is docked you can set AutoHide on the right-click menu, this option is
unselected each time you connect - this is so you always know when you are
connecting (also as NetNak is paid for by ads this means that it is more likely
that some ads will be shown).

Statistics ...
To see your time on-line and other statistics right-click on either the window
or the System Tray icon and select "View Statistics". Note that the average data
rates displayed are the average of all your time on-line since the last "Reset"
so this will include when you are on-line and uploading and downloading nothing
as well as when you are uploading or downloading lots of data. Also, if you have
several different users that logon to Windows(r) then the statistics are for the
currently logged on user only.

On the "Warning" page you can set when you want to be warned about your time
on-line etc. When the warning comes up you have the
following options:
 - Snooze - this will hide the warning for 5 minutes.
 - Ignore Warning - this gets rid of the warning.
 - Hang-up Now - Hangs up the current connection.
You can also set a warning sound, the sound can either be a Wave or a Midi file.
You also have the option of having no warning and having the connection hung-up
immediately.

On the "Resetting" page you set up when you want these statistics reset.

Logging ...
Automatic logging is enabled by default and the default settings are set to be
the best for the average user. You can change the resolution of the logging
graph by right-clicking and selecting an option.

If logging is disabled almost no other details about logging are available to
simplify program usage. On the "Logging" page you can select to have separate
logs for each user, you may want to use this to separately keep track of several
users on-line usage. You can change the resolution on the log graph by
right-clicking and selecting an option. The details on the "Logging" - "View as
Text" page are listed with the most recent at the top for quick access to the
latest data, on this page you also have the option of saving the logged data in
the format currently displayed.

Hanging Up ..
You can have a "Hang-up" button that is only visible while you are online, this
button needs to be double-clicked to hang-up (to prevent accidentially hanging
up.

Use "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" if you want to hang-up a connection where the
amount of data being sent and received is less than the limit you have set. A
typical use for this is to prevent a e-mail checker or adware keeping your
connection alive when you are not using it for anything else. Selecting "Restart
Automatic Low Data Hang-up" on the pop-up menu resets the hang-up timer. Note if
you change either the "number of minutes ..." or the "number of KBytes ..."
settings for "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" the timer is restarted automatically.

On the Hanging Up page the selecting 'Enable "Automatic Low Data Hang-up"'
causes "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" to be enabled when NetNak is started, this
can also be turned off and on from the main right-click menu. You can also set a
warning sound, the sound can either be a Wave or a Midi file

If you have "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" enabled you can get:
 - A warning message with the choice of hiding the warning, hanging up
   immediately and resetting the hang-up timer.
 - A countdown progress bar, this has a black background that can flash red
   during the final minute (or when approximately half the time has passed when
   you have the "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" time set to less than 2 minutes)
   before hanging up.

The "Automatic Low Data Hang-up" warning has the following options:
 - Restart Timing - restarts the countdown timer for low data.
 - Hide Warning - hides the warning and continues the countdown to hanging up.
 - Hang-up Now - Hangs up the current connection.
 - Disable "Auto Hang-up" - Deactivates "Automatic Low Data Hang-up".

Sharing ...
If you share a modem you can enable seeing the data rate through the shared
modem from the computers that use that modem. You need to specify the "Computer
ID" on the computers that use the shared modem only if you have more than one
shared modem on your network.


Requirements
------------
Windows 95/98 or higher or Windows NT 4.0 or higher


Installation Notes
------------------
If you are installing a new version of this software you should uninstall the
old version first, you may need to restart your computer to free all the files.


Advertisements
--------------
Advertisements help keep this software free. The advertisement size is dependant
on your screen size.


Registration
------------
Please go to http://www.comsoft.co.nz/products/netnak.htm for information about
registration. Registered users will be given priority when asking for technical
support.

Differences between the ad-sponsored version and the registered version:
 - If NetNak is docked you can set AutoHide on the right-click menu.
 - You have the option to hide the main display.
 - No advertisements are shown.

If you represent an Internet Connection provider (or similar business) and you
are interested in a customized version for your clients or your business is
interested in being advertised on the first advertisement please contact the
sales e-mail address below.


Known Issues
------------
Audio Warnings
  Due to a Windows limitation only one program can play a wave file at a time so
  if there is already another program playing a wave file NetNak will not play a
  wave warning. This is also the case with MIDI files, but you can have a MIDI
  warning while another program is playing a wave file and visa-versa.

"Unable to open log file - NetNak.DAT" error message.
  The most common reasons for this message is if the file has been opened by
  another application or if the file has been set to read only.

Windows 95 - Microsoft Dialup Networking
  If you are using Windows dial-up connection and get "0 Bps" all the time you
  may have an old version of Microsoft Dial-up Networking. If you want to
  download the latest version try (this is free):
  http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/Msdun13.exe

  Iy you are using an older version of Microsoft Dialup Networking you will get
  a warning only once - so you can keep using the older version if you want to.

Windows 95/98 Only
  The monitoring of the data rate to and from your modem works only for the
  first four modem devices set up as dial-up adapters (most people only have one
  so this not likely to cause any problems).

Windows NT Only
  Some Windows NT drivers can cause a very slow memory leak when using
  Microsoft's Windows NT Performance Monitoring. You can use NetNakRestart
  (available via the NetNak FAQ page of our web site).

AOL and Cable Modem Users
  We have received reports that NetNak doesn't always display data when using
  AOL or cable modems, this occurs when the internet connection is not via a
  standard "Windows" dial-up connection, we are looking into this.

Sharing a Modem
  When you select "Computer with the modem used by other computers" you will get
  the data rate information made available on your local network. This enables
  a computer on your network that shares the modem to see how much data is going
  through the modem. A side effect of how Windows handles shared real-time data
  is that a small amount of data is also sent through the modem since this is
  still part of your local network. By specifying you local domain name in the
  "Sharing" setting Windows does not allow this data to be received outside your
  domain. Apart from this the data contains no personal details - it is only the
  data rate information and computer name in a condensed format.


Contact Details
---------------
Complete Software Solutions WebSite
    http://www.comsoft.co.nz/index.htm
Product Web Page
    http://www.comsoft.co.nz/products/netnak.htm
E-Mail Address - Product Support
    netnak@comsoft.co.nz
E-Mail Address - Sales
    sales@comsoft.co.nz

Names used throughout this document are trademarks of their respective companies

