croc, sounds good. Chat with wife. Will call next week. Thanks.

axdpc, Will be in tomorrow after 5:30 if you want to call

My laptop has developed a prob on the hard disc which scandisk won't fix. I can boot in safe mode. Dell have sent me instructions for fixing it; it largely sounds double dutch to me. Do I type EXACTLY as written (except for :)
I would ring dell again but it's usually such a pain getting through to them, so if anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.

please ensure that all data is backed up before proceeding with debug. Type
in the following commands at the a prompt after booting with a windows 98
boot disk.

debug
-F 200 L1000 0
-A CS:100
xxxx:0100 MOV AX,301
xxxx:0103 MOV BX,200
xxxx:0106 MOV CX,1
xxxx:0109 MOV DX,80 ? "80 for hd 0,"81" for hd 1
xxxx:010C INT 13
xxxx:010E INT 20
xxxx:0110 ? Leave this line blank
-G
program terminated normally

For win98 you will need to run fdisk after debug to recreate the partitions
before formatting and reinstalling the operating system

Yes you type exactly as written, but as you go through it you will see that the "-" prompts and the xxxx:0100 etc will be written for you. Be aware however that this will totally reformat your disk and lose all data and programs on it.

Thanks Kayak, yes I was aware of that, most stuff already backed up before this happened - fortunately!

And talking of back up......

Most of us have CD RW's, I would think. So what's the best software to use to back up data onto CDs?

I use (edit) Adaptec Easy CD creator, but I mainly use the direct CD facility where you can format a CD for Direct CD then simply drag & drop - but I always keep all my data in one large directory & simply copy that onto a CDRW. There is no specific backup software, although they used to have something in earlier versions which would mirror the HD completely onto (several) CD's so you could make an identical restore, but it took forever and a day to run - you couldn't do this every week.

DocProc, funny you should ask. It was only yesterday that I found an application that backs up user selected files and folders to a specified directory (can be on HDD, ZIP or CDR). Im using this to replace the old DOS based routine I wrote myself as this was getting a bit hard to manage with an ever expanding home network.

Unlike the various microsoft backup functions this particular application DOES NOT compress the files or change their extensions so restoring them (or copying them to a new PC or drive) is a simple copy/paste process.

The app is called Backup Magic and can be viewed / downloaded from http://www.moonsoftware.com

and a review can be seen here; http://www.padring.com/soft/Utilities/FileManagement/BackupMagic.html

I would suggest that you view the abode user manual to check that it matches your requirements.

After a free trial period there is a registration fee of $20 but if anyone cares to contact me I 'may have further info that could be to your benefit' ;-) ;-)

To backup onto CDR I would recommend that you firstly use Backup Magic to copy everything into a single directory on your HDD, then use NERO, Roxio, Adaptec or whatever to burn this folder onto your CD


Neil

My computer operates on Windows 98SE with 700mh Pentium III and 640mb of memory. I was considering upgrading to XP because I am pondering opening a GNI account and they no longer support Windows 98SE. However the wizards on Tottenham Court Road said they would happily do the upgrade but there was a pretty high chance that I would lose a lot of stuff in the transfer. Not an option!

Backing up all this history onto CD is a daunting task on Windows 98 and apparently I may have to reinstall everything all over again if I go for the upgrade.

Is the answer to get a laptop with XP in the sales - transfer across all the files and then upgrade the office machine and transfer back?

Feel free to explain in words of one syllable. I know nothing about how this haunted fish tank works!

Thanks

vasey
Upgrading Windows SE to XP is not a good move, It is far better to backup your data files (which you will have to do anyway) and perform a "Clean" installation.
This will increase the performance and reliability
Please call me if you require any advice
D,

Croc: IF!!??!!?

The latest PCPlus (#199, Feb 2003) has on offer Jaws pdf Creator 2.11 which can
create pdf documents. The companion upgrade to Jaws pdf Editor for 17 looks
attractive until I realise it won't run on Windows 98. At 199+VAT, Adobe Acrobat 5 is too expensive for me (125+VAT is the cheapest I can find).

Does anyone know where I can find or buy, at a reasonable price, pdf editors runnable on Windows 98. Second hand or Adobe Acrobat 4 is OK.

Thanks.

Vasey
Sorry, my post was unclear. Windows XP is far superior to Windows SE. But a clean installation is far better than performing an upgrade although it is harder work to reload programs and files.

axdpc
Possibly but EMail me
david@crocsoft.co.uk

axdpc and Croc:

I use a dinkie little pdf creator called FinePrint pdfFactory. You can get a free evaluation copy download from www.fineprint.com -- the purchase price for an unlocked licensed version is $49.95 as I recall.

It just looks like another printer on Win 98, so any software that can print can create PDF files. It's not perfect, and there is a more expensive version available which will be better at some things, but if your problem is similar to mine where I wanted to create legal documemts (contracts) that could be emailed but not edited thereafter, it is ideal.

They have versions for all versions of Windows.

MM

axdpc, ebay is often the best place for cheap software, although you might on occasion be offered illegal copies :-0

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?GetResult&query=pdf&shortcut=2&ebaytag1code=3&ht=1&currdisp=1&st=2&category0=160&Top10=&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&catref=C1

The "PDF generator software" auction expires in 16 hours so be quick...

croc, MightyMicro, Kayak. Thanks.

Anyone any tips about using "Academic" software?

It looks to me like the saving are enormous! Lots of it for sale on Ebay too.

I mean, should I go down to my local Adult Education Class and sign on for one night of cookery or flower arranging? And then get the teacher to give me a course reference number with the AEC's rubber stamp on it.

Does Dill, sorry a slip of the keyboard, I mean Bill, actually write and ask you really embarrassing stuff if you buy Windows XP Home Version Academic? Would Windows XP Professional Academic be an absolute "No!No!" on the grounds that you can't be a professional as well as academic?

croc, not sure whether you got my email about pdf editors ?

Bought a PowerLeap for a Dell PII Slot1 from Total Memory & Media. Arrived 24Dec.

Real saga - if you are thinking on doing likewise read on.....

First web order ignored/lost. Second web order resulted in a delivery of a unit minus any manual or install instructions.

Got instructions from PowerLeap site. To their credit it was simply unplug PII and plug in PowerLeap. No jumpers neded changing. PowerLeap went up in smoke - literally. Big panic as to the state of the motherboard. Replaced PII and all OK thankfully.

Request RMA from Total Memory - two mails and one call later and still don't have more than a promise that I'll hear from them. Next step may have to be money recovery via my crdit card co.

PowerLeap Brochure and web site look great. Unit showed no sign of any transit damage - but to have components actually melt/smoke - incredible!!

axdpc
Yes thanks, will answer tomorrow, looking for CD!