Thank you everyone for your comments. I have a much better understanding
of winsock now, although I'm still digesting.
 
A short update, for those who are interested.
 
Yes, I have each winsock.dll in its own directory.  But, as suggested, RNS
winsock is already loaded whenTCPMAN burps because it can't use its
own winsock.
The reason is, when Windows for Workgroups starts, RNS loads
at the same time (we are also using the NetBios for wfw) and  there is no
option to close or shutdown RNS in this case. According to the manual that
is the way it is supposed to work.
 
If Windows is started without networking (win /n), RNS does not load at
start up and RNS can be loaded when needed. But then, of course, the wfw
network is unavailable during that windows session.
 
I also tried configuring SLIP in RNS. It seems to want to startup with the
RNS startup, which also disables wfw networking - that's if Windows will
load at all. I had Slip configured to start up on demand, not on startup, so
why? Obviously I'm doing something wrong there.
 
It seems the wfw NetBIOS doesn't get along well with RNS.
 
Windows 95 was a suggestion, unfortunately I'm stuck with wfw for now.
Luckily, my home PC works just fine - no network to worry about - so I can
acccess my ISP here.
 
Again, thanks for all the comments. I have been working in the HP3000
environment for about 16 years, and I may have learned more the past year
(reading this list) than in the previous years. If only PCs & software
were as reliable as the HP3000.  Thanks to you all.
 
Shirl
 
Shirley MacLaughlin
Crossley Carpet Mills, Truro, NS, Canada