dacs.doc electric

Random Access

Instant Replay: February 2000

Bruce Preston, Moderator

Q. (Askdacs@aol.com) I am considering purchasing a new home computer and would like to get something that will last at least three years. I am looking at a Gateway 700 with an AMD processor. I will be using the machine for Internet surfing, gaming, spreadsheets, CAD drawings (AutoCad), and word-processing. I plan to add the following options: 1): an upgrade from a 16MB RIVA TNT 2 to a 32MB ATI Graphic Accelerator; 2) a 17x/40x CD-ROM, vs. a 4x/4x/24x CD-RW (recordable/re- writeable) with 8x/32x DVD-ROM; 3) increased SDRAM from 128 MB to 256 MB. Each option will drive the cost up about $200 for every addition. The basic system will cost $2,700 fully loaded with a 27.3 GB hard drive and a 19-inch VX900 monitor.

A. First the easy one. If you are going with Windows 2000 as the OS, then you will probably want more memory. The 128MB in the machine is fine for Windows 98SE. Now for items that are more matters of preference. With a machine of this size, considering the large files you might be creating if you are using CAD or graphics, you will need a backup device-a CD-RW is a good way to go. You are not likely to be able to observe much of a read-performance difference between a 17x/40x CD-ROM versus a 4x/4x/24x CD-RW, since the read numbers are somewhat inflated. Depending upon where the data is on the CD, they should be interpreted as "up-to" numbers. DVD technology is just entering mainstream. The disks have a much higher capacity than CD-ROMs, but unless you are looking at watching movies on the PC, there aren't many consumer applications that use them Lastly, the audience couldn't reach an agreement about the video upgrade: It became a question of "How fast is fast enough?" One person highly recommended the Matrox line of display adapters, since this company is "the only vendor out there that doesn't write trash video drivers."

Q. I receive faxes on my machine using Microsoft Outlook. When I print them out, I get a solid black sheet of paper, even though the fax is legible on the screen. Other e-mail prints properly. What might be the problem?

A. The first suggestion was that in Outlook you had a "form" defined for fax that has a defined background color that is being interpreted as being black. (In Outlook and various other applications you can define a "stationery" for your documents; even a pastel color on the screen might get converted to black during printing.) It was suggested that if you don't use Outlook for anything else (such as e-mail), that you want to use a made-for-receiving-fax-only application, such as WinFax Pro or WinFax Light. The later is often bundled with modems and/or with other software, such as Norton Utilities. The Pro version has additional capabilities you aren't likely to need, such as being able to share the fax-modem with other machines on a local network. Another recommendation was to see if there is an updated driver for your printer. This can never hurt.

Q. Just about every other time I shut down my Windows 95 machine, it doesn't really shutdown. How do I get it to turn off?

A. A device driver (perhaps the network driver) isn't "getting the message" to shut down and is holding the machine up. If you still have the desktop visible, you can try doing a Ctrl-Alt-Del to get the Task Manager to see what is still running. Of course, once you identify a component, it may be hard to get an upgrade. The simplest solution is to count to ten or so, make sure the disk drive isn't active, and then turn off the machine. See if there is an updated device driver for your network card. Other item: If you are running Norton Antivirus, disable the "scan floppy disk on shutdown" option. This has a known bug that will hang the machine if there is no diskette in the drive, which is usually the case.

Q. (Askdacs@aol.com) How do I add another serial port to a machine?

A. First take an inventory of what you have. Most machines come with two serial ports and, if you have an internal modem, an implied serial port as well. The serial ports on the machine have either a male DB-9 or DB-25 connector. In addition to the physical connector, the ROM BIOS must know that the port is to be active. Get into the hardware setup, usually by pressing DEL when the machine is first powered on (some machines use F10 or F11, so check your hardware manual). Find the screen that has something like "onboard peripherals." You will usually see references to serial ports or communications ports. Often the machine will refer to the ports as Serial A and Serial B, and then have an address and an associated interrupt number. For example: Serial A: 3F8/IRQ 4, Serial B: 2F8/IRQ 3. The traditional addresses for COM1 and COM2 are 3F8 and 2F8, respectively. If one of them looks like this: Serial B: DISABLED, it means that although the port is physically present, it isn't currently activated, which further means that Windows can't see it. To enable it, tab the cursor to the address area and change the value, usually by using either the space bar or the PgUp/PgDn keys. But don't do it just yet: You need to make sure that you have an IRQ available, which you can easily do from within Windows.

Record on a piece of paper what you have, then close the ROM BIOS setup (usually Esc, or F10) Start Windows and go to My Computer / Control Panel / System, and select the Device Manager page. Click on the little computer icon and then click on properties. You will get a two-column table consisting of Settings and Hardware using Settings. The settings column lists IRQs, numbered from 00 through 15. Mice and serial ports don't like to share IRQs. See if you have one available. If you do, and you have a disabled serial port in the BIOS, try enabling it, using the available IRQ. If you don't have a disabled serial port, or the available IRQ isn't one of the ones offered by the BIOS, then you will have to throw hardware at the problem.

Get a "high IRQ" serial card (they are available in as either ISA or PCI cards), but get the one that matches an available slot. If you can use either, the PCI is a better choice. PCI will try to assign the port(s) at machine startup time. If you choose this, you are done. If not, or if you have to use an ISA card, then use the jumpers on the card to select the port and IRQ to be used. Once the port is enabled, Windows should find it and load the device drivers. If this is confusing, have a qualified shop do it for you.

Q. When I use ftp to transfer files to a Website, the file date and time stamp are changed. Can I preserve the date and time stamp?

A. Not if you are using the ftp client provided with Windows 9x or NT. There are third-party ftp clients (WSF ftp and CUTEftp were mentioned) that permit preserving the date and time stamp. Their defaults vary.

Q. Is there a fast way to shut down all of the little "helper" applications that show in the system tray (next to the clock) portion of the task bar? I want to get them out before I install applications.

A. Ctrl-Alt-Del to get to the Task Manager, then kill them one by one. All you really need are Explorer and Systray. (Explorer is the Windows graphic interface, not to be confused with Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer.) Alternatively, boot the machine, and as soon as you get the desktop (hourglass on screen) hold down the shift key. This should stop them from loading. A method I use if I am working on a machine and anticipate doing a number of boots is to create a folder in the Windows/Start Menu/Programs area called "StartNot." I then drag everything from StartUp to StartNot. (You can not delete StartUp.) Then, after the machine is the way I want it, I drag the contents of StartNot back to StartUp. This will get rid of most of the helper applications but not those that get triggered by Registry entries. There is no similar way to easily disable the things in the Registry.

Q. (askdacs@aol.com) When I try to install Microsoft's Real Player 5.2 beta, I get "System Error--cannot write to device AUX--Cancel or Retry." Retry does nothing, Cancel lets it continue, and things then proceed. I continue and everything seems to work, including Media Player.

A. We were confused about whether you mean Real's "Real Player" or Microsoft's "Media Player". Either way, expect such things with betas. If it works, it is just a problem with the installer. Background: When developers write code, they sometime write logging or diagnostic information to a file or device so that they can determine what went wrong. It looks like the beta had some of this code remaining.

Q. I have a Laser Jet II connected to a Windows 98 machine. It had been working, but now I get pages with one line of garbage per page.

A. Further inquiry revealed that you have a ZIP drive attached to the printer port, with the HP-LJII connected to the ZIP drive. ZIP drive and older HP printers do not get along well. The printer is probably old enough that HP is no longer providing driver updates. The best solution would be to attach the printer to a second printer port. To do this, you might need a printer card (about $15) to put into the machine, but it would require an available slot and an available IRQ. Check with Iomega to see if they have an upgraded driver. Next best would be to put an A/B switch box on the printer port, and manually change from the ZIP drive to the printer. (Yes, HP has always said not to put A/B boxes on their printers under threat of voiding your warranty. But your warranty has been expired for a long time. Just don't flip the switch while you are printing.)

Q. I use Woodbury Telephone as my ISP and am trying to access the Delta Airlines site, where I have a profile. It doesn't let me in, saying that I have an insecure connection. (Woodbury Telephone, for whatever reason, doesn't support 32-bit connections.)

A. Several members reported problems with links through Woodbury's service, but only when "stron encryption" security is involved. Sign up with one of the "free" Internet service providers (Juno, AltaVista, Yahoo, Free-I.Net) to use when you want to go to the Delta Airlines site. It will probably be a toll call to Danbury or Waterbury, but it will get you to the account without going through the restrictive Woodbury ISP connection.

Q. I am using Thinnet (co-ax) Ethernet. How long a drop line may exist between the BNC T connector and the back of the network adapter card?

A. None. The BNC should be connected directly to the network adapter card.

Q. How many logical partitions can be put on a disk drive?

A. Depends upon the OS. Upon asking, we found you are looking at Linux, where it is 15.

Q. In the device manager, there is a "Refresh" button. What does it do?

A. It does a quick scan for changed device status. The only common area where this may matter to you is for devices attached to the SCSI chain. For example, if you have a SCSI scanner attached to your computer but it is not turned on when you boot the machine, the scanner will not appear in the device manager's window; nor will it be available to applications. If you click "Refresh" after turning on the scanner, the scanner will appear and be available to applications. This is a lot faster than booting the machine.

Q. What is the difference between RD-RAM and SD-RAM?

A. RD-RAM is Ram Bus RAM and is not compatible with Synchronous RAM. They are used by different motherboard types and have different sockets.

Q. I have an external ZIP drive that says SCSI but looks like a parallel port connector. Can I connect it to a parallel printer port?

A. No. SCSI-1 used the same physical connector (and thus caused a lot of confusion) but has different electrical characteristics. It is not the same as the parallel port ZIP drive. Iomega further complicated the situation by loading a SCSI emulator for those using a parallel port ZIP drive. They did this so that their software had only to "think" that it was talking to a SCSI device. The emulator made the translation for the parallel port.

Q. Has anyone used CD-RWs?

A. Yes. They work just fine. However, there have been problems reported with the devices that attach to parallel printer ports. (Deja vu all over again: See question about ZIP drive and HPLJ-II printer.) Get an IDE interface, or for better performance, get one with a SCSI interface.

Random Access

Instant Replay: February 2000

*Bruce Preston, Moderator*
Q. (Askdacs@aol.com) I am considering purchasing a new home computer and would like to get something that will last at least three years. I am looking at a Gateway 700 with an AMD processor. I will be using the machine for Internet surfing, gaming, spreadsheets, CAD drawings (AutoCad), and word-processing. I plan to add the following options: 1): an upgrade from a 16MB RIVA TNT 2 to a 32MB ATI Graphic Accelerator; 2) a 17x/40x CD-ROM, vs. a 4x/4x/24x CD-RW (recordable/re- writeable) with 8x/32x DVD-ROM; 3) increased SDRAM from 128 MB to 256 MB. Each option will drive the cost up about $200 for every addition. The basic system will cost $2,700 fully loaded with a 27.3 GB hard drive and a 19-inch VX900 monitor. A. First the easy one. If you are going with Windows 2000 as the OS, then you will probably want more memory. The 128MB in the machine is fine for Windows 98SE. Now for items that are more matters of preference. With a machine of this size, considering the large files you might be creating if you are using CAD or graphics, you will need a backup device-a CD-RW is a good way to go. You are not likely to be able to observe much of a read-performance difference between a 17x/40x CD-ROM versus a 4x/4x/24x CD-RW, since the read numbers are somewhat inflated. Depending upon where the data is on the CD, they should be interpreted as "up-to" numbers. DVD technology is just entering mainstream. The disks have a much higher capacity than CD-ROMs, but unless you are looking at watching movies on the PC, there aren't many consumer applications that use them Lastly, the audience couldn't reach an agreement about the video upgrade: It became a question of "How fast is fast enough?" One person highly recommended the Matrox line of display adapters, since this company is "the only vendor out there that doesn't write trash video drivers." Q. I receive faxes on my machine using Microsoft Outlook. When I print them out, I get a solid black sheet of paper, even though the fax is legible on the screen. Other e-mail prints properly. What might be the problem? A. The first suggestion was that in Outlook you had a "form" defined for fax that has a defined background color that is being interpreted as being black. (In Outlook and various other applications you can define a "stationery" for your documents; even a pastel color on the screen might get converted to black during printing.) It was suggested that if you don't use Outlook for anything else (such as e-mail), that you want to use a made-for-receiving-fax-only application, such as WinFax Pro or WinFax Light. The later is often bundled with modems and/or with other software, such as Norton Utilities. The Pro version has additional capabilities you aren't likely to need, such as being able to share the fax-modem with other machines on a local network. Another recommendation was to see if there is an updated driver for your printer. This can never hurt. Q. Just about every other time I shut down my Windows 95 machine, it doesn't really shutdown. How do I get it to turn off? A. A device driver (perhaps the network driver) isn't "getting the message" to shut down and is holding the machine up. If you still have the desktop visible, you can try doing a Ctrl-Alt-Del to get the Task Manager to see what is still running. Of course, once you identify a component, it may be hard to get an upgrade. The simplest solution is to count to ten or so, make sure the disk drive isn't active, and then turn off the machine. See if there is an updated device driver for your network card. Other item: If you are running Norton Antivirus, disable the "scan floppy disk on shutdown" option. This has a known bug that will hang the machine if there is no diskette in the drive, which is usually the case. Q. (Askdacs@aol.com) How do I add another serial port to a machine? A. First take an inventory of what you have. Most machines come with two serial ports and, if you have an internal modem, an implied serial port as well. The serial ports on the machine have either a male DB-9 or DB-25 connector. In addition to the physical connector, the ROM BIOS must know that the port is to be active. Get into the hardware setup, usually by pressing DEL when the machine is first powered on (some machines use F10 or F11, so check your hardware manual). Find the screen that has something like "onboard peripherals." You will usually see references to serial ports or communications ports. Often the machine will refer to the ports as Serial A and Serial B, and then have an address and an associated interrupt number. For example: Serial A: 3F8/IRQ 4, Serial B: 2F8/IRQ 3. The traditional addresses for COM1 and COM2 are 3F8 and 2F8, respectively. If one of them looks like this: Serial B: DISABLED, it means that although the port is physically present, it isn't currently activated, which further means that Windows can't see it. To enable it, tab the cursor to the address area and change the value, usually by using either the space bar or the PgUp/PgDn keys. But don't do it just yet: You need to make sure that you have an IRQ available, which you can easily do from within Windows. Record on a piece of paper what you have, then close the ROM BIOS setup (usually Esc, or F10) Start Windows and go to My Computer / Control Panel / System, and select the Device Manager page. Click on the little computer icon and then click on properties. You will get a two-column table consisting of Settings and Hardware using Settings. The settings column lists IRQs, numbered from 00 through 15. Mice and serial ports don't like to share IRQs. See if you have one available. If you do, and you have a disabled serial port in the BIOS, try enabling it, using the available IRQ. If you don't have a disabled serial port, or the available IRQ isn't one of the ones offered by the BIOS, then you will have to throw hardware at the problem. Get a "high IRQ" serial card (they are available in as either ISA or PCI cards), but get the one that matches an available slot. If you can use either, the PCI is a better choice. PCI will try to assign the port(s) at machine startup time. If you choose this, you are done. If not, or if you have to use an ISA card, then use the jumpers on the card to select the port and IRQ to be used. Once the port is enabled, Windows should find it and load the device drivers. If this is confusing, have a qualified shop do it for you. Q. When I use ftp to transfer files to a Website, the file date and time stamp are changed. Can I preserve the date and time stamp? A. Not if you are using the ftp client provided with Windows 9x or NT. There are third-party ftp clients (WSF ftp and CUTEftp were mentioned) that permit preserving the date and time stamp. Their defaults vary. Q. Is there a fast way to shut down all of the little "helper" applications that show in the system tray (next to the clock) portion of the task bar? I want to get them out before I install applications. A. Ctrl-Alt-Del to get to the Task Manager, then kill them one by one. All you really need are Explorer and Systray. (Explorer is the Windows graphic interface, not to be confused with Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer.) Alternatively, boot the machine, and as soon as you get the desktop (hourglass on screen) hold down the shift key. This should stop them from loading. A method I use if I am working on a machine and anticipate doing a number of boots is to create a folder in the Windows/Start Menu/Programs area called "StartNot." I then drag everything from StartUp to StartNot. (You can not delete StartUp.) Then, after the machine is the way I want it, I drag the contents of StartNot back to StartUp. This will get rid of most of the helper applications but not those that get triggered by Registry entries. There is no similar way to easily disable the things in the Registry. Q. (askdacs@aol.com) When I try to install Microsoft's Real Player 5.2 beta, I get "System Error--cannot write to device AUX--Cancel or Retry." Retry does nothing, Cancel lets it continue, and things then proceed. I continue and everything seems to work, including Media Player. A. We were confused about whether you mean Real's "Real Player" or Microsoft's "Media Player". Either way, expect such things with betas. If it works, it is just a problem with the installer. Background: When developers write code, they sometime write logging or diagnostic information to a file or device so that they can determine what went wrong. It looks like the beta had some of this code remaining. Q. I have a Laser Jet II connected to a Windows 98 machine. It had been working, but now I get pages with one line of garbage per page. A. Further inquiry revealed that you have a ZIP drive attached to the printer port, with the HP-LJII connected to the ZIP drive. ZIP drive and older HP printers do not get along well. The printer is probably old enough that HP is no longer providing driver updates. The best solution would be to attach the printer to a second printer port. To do this, you might need a printer card (about $15) to put into the machine, but it would require an available slot and an available IRQ. Check with Iomega to see if they have an upgraded driver. Next best would be to put an A/B switch box on the printer port, and manually change from the ZIP drive to the printer. (Yes, HP has always said not to put A/B boxes on their printers under threat of voiding your warranty. But your warranty has been expired for a long time. Just don't flip the switch while you are printing.) Q. I use Woodbury Telephone as my ISP and am trying to access the Delta Airlines site, where I have a profile. It doesn't let me in, saying that I have an insecure connection. (Woodbury Telephone, for whatever reason, doesn't support 32-bit connections.) A. Several members reported problems with links through Woodbury's service, but only when "stron encryption" security is involved. Sign up with one of the "free" Internet service providers (Juno, AltaVista, Yahoo, Free-I.Net) to use when you want to go to the Delta Airlines site. It will probably be a toll call to Danbury or Waterbury, but it will get you to the account without going through the restrictive Woodbury ISP connection. Q. I am using Thinnet (co-ax) Ethernet. How long a drop line may exist between the BNC T connector and the back of the network adapter card? A. None. The BNC should be connected directly to the network adapter card. Q. How many logical partitions can be put on a disk drive? A. Depends upon the OS. Upon asking, we found you are looking at Linux, where it is 15. Q. In the device manager, there is a "Refresh" button. What does it do? A. It does a quick scan for changed device status. The only common area where this may matter to you is for devices attached to the SCSI chain. For example, if you have a SCSI scanner attached to your computer but it is not turned on when you boot the machine, the scanner will not appear in the device manager's window; nor will it be available to applications. If you click "Refresh" after turning on the scanner, the scanner will appear and be available to applications. This is a lot faster than booting the machine. Q. What is the difference between RD-RAM and SD-RAM? A. RD-RAM is Ram Bus RAM and is not compatible with Synchronous RAM. They are used by different motherboard types and have different sockets. Q. I have an external ZIP drive that says SCSI but looks like a parallel port connector. Can I connect it to a parallel printer port? A. No. SCSI-1 used the same physical connector (and thus caused a lot of confusion) but has different electrical characteristics. It is not the same as the parallel port ZIP drive. Iomega further complicated the situation by loading a SCSI emulator for those using a parallel port ZIP drive. They did this so that their software had only to "think" that it was talking to a SCSI device. The emulator made the translation for the parallel port. Q. Has anyone used CD-RWs? A. Yes. They work just fine. However, there have been problems reported with the devices that attach to parallel printer ports. (Deja vu all over again: See question about ZIP drive and HPLJ-II printer.) Get an IDE interface, or for better performance, get one with a SCSI interface.

Bruce Preston is president of West Mountain Systems, a consultancy in Ridgefield, CT, specializing in database applications. A DACS director and moderator of the Random Access segment at the monthly general meetings, Bruce also leads the Access SIG. Members may send tech queries to Bruce at askdacs@aol.com. Responses will be published in the next issue of dacs.doc.