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THE BUG REPORT
A monthly publication of
GS-BUG Inc. (c) copyright 1996.
Reproduction of any material herein by any means is expressly prohibited
unless written permission is granted. Exception: Articles may be reprinted
by other users groups in unaltered form if credit is given to the author
and the original publication.
STAFF
Editor - Kay Burton
PREPARING YOUR COMPUTER FOR A NEW OPERATING SYSTEM
TIME TO CONSIDER A NOTEBOOK (LAPTOP) COMPUTER?
 |
PERSPECTIVES
By Dr. John Hanson |
1. Why Learn DOS?
2. Name brand quality going down
3. Comdex Report
4. $99 Digital Camera
5. Ultra Tiny Computer
6. Pocket Flash Memory
7. PC Magazine at $10/year
8. Adobe still most Generous:
9. Many Generous Vendors at APCUG
10. $200 Laser Printer
11. Narrow Bezel LCD Monitors
12. Reviving a Dying Club
13. Computer Security
14. Tablet PC
15. iBill Payment Service
16. Forced to use a CDrom Disk?
1. Why Learn DOS? DOS is marvelous, powerful and
simple. Microsoft bought it from someone else and sold it for a fortune
to IBM. Disk Imaging programs like Drive Image and Ghost use it to
make a complete image of a partition or entire hard drive.
When you get in trouble DOS can rescue you, so it is useful to at least
learn a few commands such as DIR, CLR, CHKDSK, and ScanDisk. Bob
Hudak, the club’s librarian, is our resident expert on DOS as well as are
Carl Warner and Rich Bulow.
2. Name brand quality is going down: A recent issue
of PC Magazine tells about how the quality of major suppliers are going
down. If HP computer quality was never very good, imagine what going
down in quality means to it’s customers. I just saw an ad for an
HP computer slightly more powerful than the Dr. Hanson Special, and for
about the same price, but in small print it said it was refurbished, so
be careful and avoid the biggies, because you will pay more, get less,
and discover the non-standard parts when you need repairs.
3. Comdex Report: Seven club members attended, beginning with
the APCUG part which started Saturday noon and ended Wednesday with the
National Christina breakfast and presentation. President Dr. Gary
Sexton was there with his crutch and he did better than expected with all
the walking. Other attendees were Virginia Pfiffner, Bill Champion,
Shelley Miller, Kay Burton, Jack Burton and myself, John Hanson.
Comdex is getting smaller every year with many sections of both
the South and North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Cemter curtained off.
Very unusual! Many of the biggies were not there or had special
showings at their hotel. In spite of being smaller there were
lots of attendees from all over the world and so many people
crowded into the small area that it was difficult to get around
at times. There was hardly anything new except
the tablet PC and narrow bezel LCD screen which will be discussed
later.
4. $99 Digital Camera: It looks impressive from my first
look. I have no idea about the quality of the optics but it looked
fine on the 1.6 inch LCD. It also has an optical viewfinder
and a place for an SD or SM memory card besides the 7 mb
of internal memory. It sounds like the perfect camera
that Bob Hudak wants for Joyce Oliver to take pictures of new members.
It runs on two AA cells and has a USB connection and cable.
It even has flash and 4X digital zoom. Optical zoom would have
increased the cost. Jack Noble would not like the two megapixels
but I think it would be fine for what we want to accomplish. The
buttons and controls look well organized but the shutter button does not
have a half way position for locking the focussing and
exposure. It is a shame I didn’t have an SD or SM card
in my pocket or I could have brought the pictures I took in the store
home and see how they looked on the computer screen.
The brand name is Concord and it is available at Wall Mart now.
5. Ultra Tiny Computer: It is flat
and about a millimeter square and was folded
in a thin cardboard tri-fold that had a number of pills. It
is intended for keeping track of when patients in clinical
trials take their pills but could have many other uses.
The paper folder contains a flat battery and a
speaker like the ones in greeting cards. It beeps when you
are supposed to take your pill and as you pop the pill out it breaks
a contact and records the time and date. Later all that information
can be transferred to a larger computer by just laying the paper
on a special pad. Amazing! It was at the Swedish
pavilion.
6. Pocket Flash Memory: Carl Warner was one of the first
to get one of these about six months ago and now they were everywhere at
Comdex but still very expensive. They are about the size
of a lipstick cylinder but flat. I saw many people buying them
but I think a better value is the six in one card reader that slips
in your shirt pocket because now you can use whatever flash
memory is least expensive and the size to meet your needs. I
described them in a recent issue and now they were everywhere
and only about $20. At the show the cost was about
a dollar a megabyte but here in Los Angeles you can get
flash memory for about 30 cents a megabyte. You
are not likely to forget the 6 in 1 and put it
in the washing machine as you are with the very small
ones. For some reason they don’t retain their
contents when dried out.
7. PC Magazine at $10/year: They must be hurting as
the parent company ZDnet just declared bankruptcy. For several
years I told you I had given up my subscription as their quality had gone
down while PC World had gone up. But now they are getting better
so I will give them a try again and signed up for four years which
is required for the $10 rate even tho I am risking that they
might fold.
8. Adobe still most Generous: Despite cutbacks
and losing one of their star salesmen, Louise Miller, her boss gave
a fantastic presentation and dinner for all the
APCUG members and gave everyone a copy of Elements 2.0
besides many other valuable gifts like Photoshop 7. Elements
is almost as powerful as Photoshop and lists for under
$100 so is an excellent buy for any member interested in improving
their pictures.
9. Many Generous Vendors at APCUG: Other wonderful vendors
that sponsored excellent meals and gave interesting
presentations about their latest products were:
Microsoft, Intel, Jasc, Handspring, Creo
and National Cristina. There were numerous
other vendors showing their wares at the Vendor Fair
and many gave many valuable products for the drawings.
Microsoft showed off a number of
products but the one that appealed the most to
me was the Smart Display. It’s an LCD screen
you can carry around and wirelessly connect to your computer.
I was able to call up my web site from the dinner table and
check e-mail, etc. but it is almost as expensive as a whole natebook
computer. Microsoft gave us all a copy of their latest Picture.
It software and many other goodie prizes including
a pocket Nomad MP3 player with a tiny 2 gb hard drive capable
of 8,000 songs. Intel showed off their newest chip running at 3 gc
but capable of multi threading for programs like Photoshop which
could use it. Unfortunately you will need a new
Bios and XP software and maybe something else to take
advantage of it. My advice is to wait as most programs
can’t take advantage of its benefits. Jasc, the maker
of the very powerful, inexpensive and easy to use Paint Shop
Pro 7 gave us all a copy of After Shot, which is an even
easier foto editing program. Handspring gave away
some of their powerful Treo PDA’s.
10. $200 Laser Printer: For years I have avoided Samsung
products but their quality has improved dramatically,
especially with monitors and now with LCD monitors. They are
so good that they make them under a number of names for other
vendors in the same way that Canon makes the lasers for
HP. This new laser printer is 1200 dpi resolution
at rated 17 pages per minute. It is very small and has a regular
paper tray underneath. It won’t be available until about March
but if you need a laser right away you can get the 1450 at a computer show
for about the same price.
11. Narrow Bezel LCD Monitors: Have you ever noticed
how much space is wasted on the sides of regular
LCD monitors? Stock brokers, who like to have several
monitors on their desks, must have complained about the
2 to 3 inch bezels so now Samsung has monitors with only
about 3/4 inch bezel on the sides. Unfortunately they
are more expensive as it is difficult to terminate all the wires
in such a tight space. Coming soon will be plastic LCD monitors
instead of glass. After production builds up it should
reduce the price of LCD monitors significantly.
12. Reviving a Dying Club:
The Capitol users group in Washington had
6,000 members and shrunk to about a thousand when Henry Burtonson
became its president. He gave us a terrific presentation
on how he turned the club around to
make it profitable again in about three years.
13. Computer Security: After listening to
Charlie Burtonson, another fantastic speaker on the dangers
of the Internet, you might be afraid to connect
to the Internet. Even messages supposedly
coming from your friends could be infected
with viruses or Trojan horses. And almost never
open attachments unless you are sure.
Tell your friends to put whatever they might
attach right in with your e-mail so you can see it right away.
He thinks that the best protection is to have both
a software and hardware firewall in addition to
a anti virus program that is updated weekly. I suggest having
a switch if you have DSL or Cable so that you can disconnect
when you are not accessing the Internet. Always on can
be very dangerous.
14. Tablet PC: This is like a notebook computer but
less powerful, gets hot and has no keyboard. Why write on the screen
whena pad of paper is much easier and faster. Even tho many
vendors were showing them at Comdex. For the same price or less you
can get a good notebook with a floppy drive and CD rom built in and of
course a keyboard. For some purposes I can see a need for about 250,000
of these if I could get someone to write a substantial software
program. It was surprising to see so
many people sitting on the floor in the halls of Comdex typing on
their ultra modern slim notebooks. Some day some kind
official of Comdex will feel sorry for those forced to sit
on the floor and provide some chairs. At the very
back of the South Hall someone dide a number of those
Styrofoam bead beanbags you sit on, which are quite comfortable.
15. iBill Payment Service: If you have been
hesitating about selling your products on the Internet because
of the high costs and complications of Pay Pal or Verasign
you should take a look at iBill. There is no monthly
fee and the transactions costs are very reasonable. It looks
so attractive I think I will open an account to make
it easier for my customers to order Tooties, especially
in other countries.
16. Forced to use a CD rom Disk?
Some programs, especially games, require you to use your
CDrom disk in the drive. It’s a real nuisance but probably
used to try to prevent use in multiple computers. Disney was one
of the worst along with Broderbund. I hated looking for the
disk when the kids wanted to play a game. You can try
to put it on your hard disk and install from there but
it still won’t work. Now a new program has come
to our rescue and it’s only $20. It is called “Game Drive”
and their site is www.Farstone.com.
You can use it for up to 23 virtual CD rom drives. Less if you used
up other drive letters besides A, B and C. It even includes a well
done 48 page book. Another benefit is that your games
run much faster from the hard drive. I will test it soon,
write a review and send a copy to Farstone in Irvine, California.
Editor’s Note: John Hanson is the inventor
of Tooties, a superb self-teaching system used by millions
in schools, homes, and by eye doctors around the world to improve
vision. He also invented a new form of psychology called
QET (Quick Effective herapy) which transforms poor students
into good students, almost over-night, usually in 5 to
15 days. He has also had outstanding success
in helping brain damaged people, even years after their accident.
Why go to therapy for years and spend lots of money when
you can improve quite fast with QET? He uses computers to document
his cases for his books so that others may benefit and improve
their vision and other skills. Visit his web site
at www.Tooties.comfor
more information.
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 |
 |
INTERNET TALK
By Frank Chao |
Allow me to begin the 52nd article in the “Internet Talk” series
by wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season. Liz and I hope
to see all of you in person at the annual Christmas party. This is the
ninth newsletter that is being edited by Kay Burton and we greatly appreciate
her successful efforts.
“YAHOO! MAIL PLUS”
While continuing their totally free version which
is still called “Yahoo! Mail”, Yahoo is now offering an enhanced,
fee-based e-mail service that is called “Yahoo! Mail Plus”. See
http://mailplus.mail.yahoo.com/
for details.
The new fee-based service allows you to have more storage
space, a larger maximum message size, more file attachments, POP
access (via software such as Microsoft Outlook), POP forwarding, and allows
you to block more addresses.
To compare the totally free version with the new fee-based
options, see
http://mailplus.mail.yahoo.com/help
“BROADBAND READY” AS AN IMPAIRMENT
During a visit to the CompUSA in Redondo, I notice that all of the
computers that they sell now have a 10/100Base-T network adapter AND an
internal dial-up modem. Apparently, the manufacturers of computers want
to make sure that their products are easy to connect to both broadband
and dial-up Internet connections.
If you buy a computer and the descriptive literature that comes
with it says that it is broadband-ready, cable-ready, or DSL-ready, it
means one of two things: either the computer has a PCI or PC Card (a.k.a.
PCMCIA) network adapter installed in it OR the computer has an network
adapter that is integrated into it’s system board. If you have a cable
modem or a DSL modem, you would connect your home network to this bundled
network adapter, as part of your fast Internet setup.
However, if you make a dial-up connection to the Internet and you
do not wish to network the computers in your home together, then you do
not need the network adapter. If you remove or disable the bundled
network adapter, your computer will run 20 to 40 percent faster.
If your computer has a PCI or PC Card (a.k.a. PCMCIA) network adapter
in it, and you do not need it, turn off your computer and remove it.
Then boot up your computer and go to the Network icon and/or your Device
Manager and delete the network adapter. After you reboot your computer
again, you will find that you have a faster computer.
If your computer has a network adapter that is integrated into it’s
system board (also known as a “motherboard”) and you do not need it for
anything, you will have to run the BIOS configuration screens in order
to disable it. Check your computer’s owners manual or the computer manufacturer’s
Website for details on how to do this.
Also, one simple test of the speed of a computer is to configure
Internet Explorer to load a “blank” page, then close Internet
Explorer. Finally, see how many seconds that Internet
Explorer takes to start. You can run this test before and after
removing or disabling a network adapter.
LEARN THY COMPUTER
Along the same line of thought, you should remove/disable all software
and hardware that does not serve a known, useful function, in order to
have the fastest possible computer. Computer users tend to put software
and hardware into their computers and they tend forget about these items.
Any PCI or PC Card peripherals that you no longer need should be removed
from your computer: Remove them physically. Then remove all software applications
and drivers that are associated with them. If you need help, the
Greater South Bay PC Users Group has a great Daytime Hardware Special Interest
Group where you can bring your computer in order to get help from geniuses
such as Carl Warner and Rich Bulow. Or, if you feel like spending some
big bucks, you can hire a CompUSA technician to go to your house to help
you with your computer. According to their Website, they charge about
$325 for two hours. See
http://www.compusa.com/promos/vip/default.asp
for details.
SOMETHING WON’T RUN !
In many instances, a computer can become so bloated with software
running in the background that some application programs will not run at
all. In a recent case, the teenage son of a friend of mine stated that
some high tech adventure game would not start in his Windows 98 Second
Edition laptop computer. In fact, he could not even install this
computer game. Whenever he tried to start the installation, an error
message popped up and stated that the installation was being terminated
because his computer did not have sufficient “resources”. As a temporary
measure, I taught him to press Control + Alt + Delete to bring up a Windows
“Task List” and to use the “Task List” to close about five programs that
he had running in the background inside his computer. After he closed
these five programs, his new game was able to install and, once installed,
it then ran fine without any further problems.
EndItAll2
However, he had to run Control + Alt + Delete to generate a Windows
“Task List” five times every time that he booted up his computer, in order
to stop the five programs that were running in the background in his computer,
since the Windows Task List only allows you to stop one program before
it closes. As a slightly more efficient measure, I sent him a copy
of “EndItAll2”which made it easier for him to shut down the five programs
that I had taught him to shut down using Control + Alt + Delete.
You can download a free copy of EndItAll2 for yourself at
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,2265,00.asp
Be sure to read the documentation in it’s “Help” function before
using it on your computer. If you are trying to determine if you should
use “EndItAll2” to shutdown a program that is running in your computer,
you might be able to find advice at
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_n.htm
I wish to thank our librarian Bob Hudak for telling me about “EndItAll2”
about two years ago. It is my favorite utility program. I get a lot
of good ideas by letting him bend my ear. He is not exactly shy about
giving me advice about computers !
Unfortunately, “EndItAll2” must be activated each time you boot
up your computer. It is not a permanent solution to getting the software
fat out of your computer. The rigorous, long-term solution is to uninstall
and permanently delete the software that you do not need. This long-term
solution involves the most work and sometimes it is easier to start from
“scratch” by formatting your hard drive, reloading the Windows operating
system and then re-installing all of your software applications.
This final solution is a great holiday project. Let me know what
happens if you attempt it.
HARDWARE INFORMATION SIG
The informative presentation files of Ed Leckliter’s Hardware Information
SIG are available at the GSBUG Website at
http://gsbug.apcug.org/hwinfosig.htm
in Powerpoint and PDF formats. These presentation files can
be used either as a supplement to live attendance at the Hardware Information
SIG or as an online way to participate in this SIG if you are unable to
attend. I have learned a lot from these files. I plan to attend these SIGs
in person after I retire from my day job someday !
WAYS TO CONTACT ME:
If you have any questions or problems, I can be contacted by the
following methods:
1. Send me e-mail at: fchao@pacbell.net
2. Send “snail” U.S. Postal Service mail to
Frank Chao PO Box 6930
Torrance, CA 90504-0030.
Or sell your computer and take up fishing instead !!
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FOR ALL YOU OLD TIMERS:
By John Sullivan, GSBUG
Ever open up your computer’s case and miss that warm, orange
vacuum tube filament glow that you used to see in radios and tv sets? Well
it seems a manufacturer named “AOpen” has just released a computer motherboard
with a vacuum tube on it!
Apparently they feel that computer sound chips don’t have the same
rich audio tonality of vacuum tubes, so now their AX4B-533 Tube motherboard
comes complete with a vacuum tube!
(Go to: http://club.aopen.com.tw/activity/tube/en/default.htm to
read more about it.) However, if the tube ever burns out, don’t think you’re
going to pop in one of your old 6J6 or 6SN7’s, PC World magazine reports
that replacements forthe Sovtek brand 6922 Dual Triode tube will run between
$10 to $15.
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COMPUTING FACTOIDS
Complied by Steve Bass, Pasadena IBM Users Group
There are unrelated things I pick up in e-mail that are terrific
but not long enough for an article. Here are two of them.
Saving Paper? Ha!
I just bought a program (which I think is excellent) called “Cool
Edit Pro” from Syntrillium (www.syntrillium.com)
which is audio editing and processing program.
The registration card has a box to check that has this amusing statement:
“Yes! Please send me a hard-copy manual. (A complete manual is included
on your CD. In the interest of paper conservation, Syntrillium ships hard-copy
manuals only on demand.)”
So I can print it out (conserving their paper) or have them send
me something that should have been in the box in the first place (conserving
my paper, 225 pages for the manual plus 42 pages for the addendum). Since
I paid $399 for the program, I think I’ll conserve my paper instead of
theirs. —Stan Slonkosky
Listen Up and Take Heed!
I always tell people to unplug their PC when working on the insides.
It’s something I never do. My unsolicited advice? Do it. All the time.
Here’s why: I added a sound card to my wife’s PC the other day.
Easy enough, right? Then, while the system was up and running, I replaced
the cover. I’ve done it that way since I started with PCs in 1983. This
time it bit me on the butt. The case cover touched an add-in card and the
systemboard fried. Better it should have happened to my PC, you know what
I’m saying? -Steve Bass
Steve Bass is a Contributing Editor with PC World and runs the Pasadena
IBM Users Group. He’s also a founding member of APCUG. Check his Home Office
columns at http://snurl.com/homeoffice and
sign up for the Steve Bass online newsletter at http://snurl.com/signup
§
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TIME TO CONSIDER A NOTEBOOK (LAPTOP) COMPUTER?
One of the questions I often have been asked on my weekly
radio shows, and emails from readers of this column is, “What would be
better (for me); a new laptop or a desktop computer?”
A simple review of the Sunday sale books from the major
office supply and electronics stores clearly shows that there is an abundant
supply of notebook computers available. Standing in the security
lines at the major airports also shows the popularity of notebook
computers.
So, which one is better? Desktop or notebook? As I have
consistently replied, “What are you going to use it for?” If a computer
is intended for home or office use, likely in one location for a period
of time, a desktop computer is more practical. Usability
features, such as a full size keyboard, large screen monitor,
and readily accessible drives, coupled with significantly
lower prices for comparable machines, make the desktop the clear choice
in this scenario. Another factor is longevity. The average
useful life of a desktop computer, according to both personal experience
and published reports, is typically four to six years.
Desktop computers are also usually easy and relatively inexpensive
to upgrade or repair. The average desktop computer becomes
functionally obsolete long before it physically fails. Notebook
computers, commonly called “laptops” by many, have some
very strong advantages, compared to desktop computers, as well
as some very strong disadvantages. The obvious advantage of
a notebook computer is portability. At Golden Triangle PC Club meetings,
when I would have to present, I would often have to drag my desktop from
home to the meeting place; it was heavy, bulky, and easy to break.
Lugging around the computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse
was a headache. I was not the only one hauling a monster around.
For a while, I had a “lunchbox” computer that I used for my presentations.
It contained a standard sized PC motherboard, hard drive, floppy,
and other internal parts, along with an integral 7" monitor.
The keyboard snapped over the front of the computer, closing
it. While mine was a home built, noname generic, it was the
early lunchbox computers that gave Houston’s Compaq its early competitive
edge. While still large and heavy, it was portable. Today’s
notebook computers are a far cry from my long-gone lunchbox. They
are a fraction of the size and weight of the old lunchbox machines,
but contrary to other high-tech electronic items, have
not dropped substantially in price. Feature for feature, it is not
rare for a notebook to be twice the price of a comparably equipped
desktop computer. The relatively small size, and light weight
is what makes today’s notebook computer popular. They are
convenient portable, and can often run for a few hours on their internal
battery, but those are about their only major advantages. For
those who need portability, such as business persons who travel and need
computing power, or people like me who frequently do presentations, a notebook
computer is a near necessity. For those who want the power of a modern
PC, in an even smaller and lighter package, the next generation of “Pocket
PCs” is speculated to do to the contemporary notebook the same thing
that the notebook did to the lunchbox; render them functionally obsolete.
Pocket PCs will be covered in a future column.
The disadvantages of a notebook computer are many, yet
still they are a necessity to many users. Other than their
relatively high cost, notebook computers are also typically
fragile, difficult to repair, hard to upgrade (other than swap hard drives
or add memory), and according to widely published tests, have
a much shorter operational lifetime than do desktop computers. Notebooks
are also subject to easy loss or theft. In a recent news article,
citing a report from Safeware, an insurance company that specifically
insures computers for loss or damage, notebook computers have a far higher
rate of loss. In 2001, for example, Safeware states that an estimated
600,000 notebook computers were lost or stolen, up 53% from the year 2000.
A large part of this increase is due to the rapid increase in sales
of notebook computers. Notebook computers are also one of the
most obvious items to steal (and stolen) at airport security checkpoints,
due to their small size, high value, and obvious nature. By comparison,
while there is an estimated seven times as many desktop
computers in use than notebooks, only 15,000 desktops were
reported stolen in 2001, according to Safeware.
While there are “ruggedized” notebook computers, such
as Toshiba’s Toughbook series marketed to law enforcement, utility, and
construction companies, the majority of notebooks are very easy to break,
and expensive to repair. The notebook reviews published in
the major computer magazines often include a “drop test” where
an open notebook computer was gently pushed off a tabletop on to a carpeted
floor, simulating a common falling accident. Many notebooks
suffered major physical damage, with some models of major brands
shattering to utter destruction. In addition to extraordinary
care in protecting from theft, notebook computers must also be transported
in quality protective cases. I have seen people ruin a $2000
notebook in a $29 carry case, a false economy.
Screens are especially sensitive to physical shock, can easily
crack, and cost several hundreds of dollars to replace.
Lacking a large physical volume to circulate cooling air while
turned on, notebook computers are more vulnerable to heat damage than desktops.
Often containing only tiny cooling fans, and using the notebook itself
as a heat sink, overheating is the principle cause of internal notebook
failure. The more powerful the processor, the more prone the
notebook is to overheating, a well-documented problem.
I have heard several anecdotal stories of fairly new notebooks failing
when left on overnight, due to over heating. I recently replaced
my oldest daughter’s notebook due to that exact cause. Published
reports indicate that the average life expectancy of a notebook computer
is only about 18 months, before it is lost, stolen, accidentally broken,
overheated, or worn out. Notebooks, on average, have
only about a fourth of the longevity of a desktop.
Desktop or notebook is a common decision to be made.
Weigh the advantages and risks before purchasing either.
By Ira Wilsker - email ira@apcug.org
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PREPARING YOUR COMPUTER FOR A NEW OPERATING
SYSTEM
An easy and safe way to add and manage a new OS with System Commander
7 (?)
I have been debating for some time now how best to install the new
Windows XP Professional operating system on my computer. Reading
various articles and technical newsletters can be a virtual adventure
and impress upon you the four most-important facts before jumping
into the arena:
1. Read all instructions very carefully and follow them
2. Back up your system because extensive changes will be made to
your hard disk
3. Make a bootable diskette for your current OS.
To create a new bootable floppy disk, click on Start, Settings, Control
Panel, and then the Add/Remove Program’s icon. Now
click on the “startup Disk” tab at the top, and select Create Disk. You
may be asked to insert the Windows OS CD. When you have a startup disk,
it allows you to start your computer, run diagnostic programs, and fix
many problems.
4. Clean up your machine’s hard drive by deleting unnecessary
memory hogs and run Scan Disk followed by defragmentation.
Although the backup and boot diskette may never be necessary, they provide
a safety net should you experience serious bugs or problems that
overwrite critical areas on your hard disk.
I was not quite sure whether to add an additional hard
drive on my machine and facilitating a clean install or simply to upgrade
from my Windows 98 SE. One of our club members
(Bill Wolf) suggested the use of a helpful automatic preparation software
package for adding operating systems. It’s called System Commander and
widely recognized for quality and reliability. You can find more
information and other related operating system management products
on the company’s Web site at http://www.v-com.com
The product can be directly purchased from VCOM for $69.95.
OK, I got their software and installed it on my computer.
I should have said “I was trying to install it”. Seconds into
that process a window popped up and informed me: “System Commander
has detected a disk manager program such as EZ-BIOS or Ontrack installed
on your system. These programs will not operate properly if System Commander
is installed. The installation will be cancelled”. So
I checked to see if I had any of them but did not.
Obviously, something else was holding me up. But what? The
extensive (200+pages) user manual for version 7 might give me the answer.
Right? Not exactly! In chapter 9 (Troubleshooting) or anywhere else
nothing refers to my first problem.
Contacting Technical Support was my next step.
On page 195 of the manual you are encouraged to check the index to see
if you can save yourself a phone call. Also mentioned is a troubleshooting
assistance program called “SCIN” which allows you to press F1 or Alt-H
in most places to get context sensitive help. Unfortunately, the program
had not been installed as I mentioned above, and I couldn’t take
advantage of that lifeline. OK, let’s go to the Website <www.v-com.com/support>
and seek help.
I entered details about my problem, sent it as an E-mail and
was informed that a support technician was going to respond
within 3 days, and often much sooner. The answer came the following
day!
It read:
“Dear Customer,
Downloading and installing v7.03 should solve that problem. This
was an error that was corrected in v7.03.”
Good. So I went back to the company Website and tried to locate
version 7.03. Could not find it but instead discovered the System Commander
7 Maintenance Release page which indicates what you will need to update
System Commander 7:
1. System Commander 7 installed on your computer
2. System Commander 7 Serial number
3. 2 blank formatted 1.44MB diskettes
4. The Update file: sc703_us.exe
Download size: approximately 4.2 MB
“Holy Moses” I said, wouldn’t it be much easier to just let you
download an update file? In my case, this wouldn’t have worked anyway because
I was unable to install this software in the first place.
But wait, this is getting more complicated. Next you find instructions
on how to obtain the System Commander 7 update: Fill out and
submit the online Download Request Form. You will
need your serial number to complete the form. (For DOS users
only, click on the DOS Version Download Request Form). After
you have successfully completed the form, you will be able to download
the update file sc703_us.exe.
Note: While not critical, for Windows 9x/Me users, please rename
the file C:\SC\SC7.EXE to SC7OLD.EXE before running the sc703.us.exe
update program. If you fail to do so, the older SC7.EXE utility program
will not be updated.
This last bulleted item really raised my eyebrows. If it is not
critical, why go through this whole process? Well, since I
am a fairly tolerant and understanding individual I filled out the online
form to see where all this would lead me. My 56K modem had a good day and
it took only 13 minutes for the download. And in order to follow
all procedures, I sent another E-mail to the Support team to find out how
to interpret the “Critical” designation referred to in the note.
The following answer arrived on the next day:
“Dear Customer,
The reason it is not “Critical” is that you will probably not have
to start over with the oldest file. Even if you do have to, the latest
update will update the original file utility program when it is applied.”
The good person who wrote that message completely ignored my initial
question of how to rename that important original file that
still resided on the CD and not on my hard drive.
Obviously, another message had to be dispatched in which I stated
that the techi person completely bypassed this problem and that I could
not see how this response could help me. I then suggested that we cut this
run-around game and they should send me a new CD that included the update
and will allow me to install System Commander. This was Friday evening.
Here is the answer that came Monday morning:
“Dear Customer,
Here is the latest full copy. (See attached file: System Commander7.exe)”.
Hurrah, no more problem! Think again. Just as it happened originally
with version 7.02, the installer quit a few seconds into the installation
procedure and a similar message appeared on my monitor screen:
“System Commander has detected the EZ-BIOS disk manager on your
system. This program will not operate properly if System Commander
is installed. The installation will be cancelled”. Am I lucky or what?
So, again I went back to searching
my computer by entering “EZ-BIOS disk manager” into the search box.
172 answers popped up but unfortunately none included
EZ-BIOS. I had copied the installation message with Printkey 2000
and sent it together with the entire list of file
names to the technical support team and repeated my request for help. Here
is what I received the following day, which was Tuesday:
“Dear Customer,
You don’t say what version of SC7 you have. This is a false error
message It should have been corrected by the v7.03 update.
If you do not have v7.03 installed, download it from our website.
If you have installed it, let me know and we’ll continue working
on this issue”.
I am beginning to feel as if I am writing the script
for a cyber soap opera. BTW, what is a “false error message”? In my answer
to the last customer support message I mentioned that I have been
very patient for one week now, but would love to receive a solution
to this software problem?
Let’s see what tomorrow’s mail might bring. Here comes the answer:
“Dear Customer,
It means that we are detecting something in the BIOS
that appears to be a drive overlay (such as EZDrive or EZBios), but as
we discuss this, we find that you have never had a drive overlay
installed. Therefore we are displaying an error message that is “false.”
We are aware of this issue. We don’t know
at this point what is triggering this error message, in some cases it seems
to be related to Western Digital hard drives, but that is not true in your
case. The issue is in Engineering and they will have a solution and a new
update soon. I’m sorry it is turning into such an inconvenience for you.
The only way I can narrow down the possibilities is to have
you try the latest update, v7.03, and gather as much information as
possible”.
OK, now I know at least where the problem is located, namely
in the engineering department for this software. But doesn’t the last sentence
sound a bit ridiculous? They sent me that update and it does NOT work.
I dispatched another E-mail for an explanation on the last part and when
this update will be available for customers like me. Here is the answer:
“Dear Customer,
I should have been more clear QA is narrowing the cause(s)
of this problem and Engineering is writing an update that will correct
it/them. It was necessary to see if v7.03 will install or not. Several
drive overlay issues were fixed in v7.03 and yours may have
been one of them. We are being told about a month for the update”.
Doesn’t this sound as if I have been a guinea pig for this vendor?
Well, I still want to finish this article and review the “working edition”,
and if everything goes well, the conclusion of this dramatic development
will appear in next month’ edition of our news magazine. Would have loved
to install Windows XP by now but this has to wait for another month, I
guess.
By Guenter Schoett, Fallbrook CC email schott@tbf.com
Guenther Schoett is the editor of the Fallbrook
Commputer club as well as, I believe, the Advertising Director.
If you use his article please send him an email to let him know.
Thanks
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