dacs.doc electric

Random Access

Instant Replay: October 1999

Bruce Preston, Moderator

Q. A friend just purchased a new laptop computer. It came with an operating system but no application software. In looking in the stores and catalogs, almost everything that we find is an "upgrade" release rather than the "full product." How do we get the first installation?

A. You qualify for the "upgrade" release if you own a copy of any of the qualifying products listed on the upgrade box. The qualifying product need not be physically installed on the machine; you only have to show proof of purchase. This can be in two forms. With some, showing/faxing the title page or first diskette to the vendor is sufficient. With others, the installation program has a "snuffer" routine that looks for qualifying products. Even then, the product need not be installed on the machine, since the snuffer will often instruct you to "browse" to the product's location, which may be the installation diskette for the previous product.

Q. A related question: I have MS Office 95 and am considering Office 2000. Do I have to upgrade to Office 97 first before I can get to Office 2000?

A. No, usually the upgrade pricing will go back several major releases, including older releases of competitive products.

Q. When I purchased my machine, I asked for the upgrade pricing for Office, since the machine I am retiring has the suite. The dealer said that would cost more. Why?

A. Dealers get the OEM version of products such as Office at a deep discount. They would have to acquire the upgrade version individually without a volume discount.

Q. At "computer fairs" I see office suites marked "Not For Resale." What are these?

A. Not for Resale, or NFR may be from several sources. They could be out-of-date OEM overstocks being liquidated. Often the OEM versions do not include printed documentation. If it is the current release, they are more likely to be copies obtained through the educational resale pricing. These are copies intended for educational institutions, libraries, non-profit foundations, etc., and are intended to be sold only to people who meet the requirements. Sale to general "consumers" violates the software contract. There have also been cases of pirated software being sold, although the publishers are very active in watching for and prosecuting vendors of pirated software. While they have been successful in taking vendors to court here in America, they have been less successful in prosecuting piracy in countries that do not have or enforce intellectual property rights. Being enrolled in an adult education class may be sufficient to qualify for an educational discount.

Q. I recently purchased a Logitech Internet Keyboard and installed it on my Compaq desktop machine. I am having problems: for one, every time I move the mouse, the machine beeps! I worked with Logitech, and they eventually exchanged it, but I still have the problem. Logitech refers to the problem as a "beeping" keyboard. Does anyone else have one of these devices, and how does it work?

A. No one else was familiar with this device; it has only recently been introduced. The keyboard has extra controls for scrolling windows while browsing, adjusting the speaker volume, etc. The best suggestion we can make is to continue to work with Logitech. They are usually very responsive to user problems. You also might try calling Compaq to see if they have any reported problems, but don't be surprised if they tell you that they only support their own keyboards.

Q. I've been getting e-mails from a friend for about a year, with no problem. Lately I've been getting messages containing extra characters such as "&nbsp" that appear to be randomly sprinkled through the message.

A. Those are codes usually used in HTML to signal the browser that the blank is not to be removed. Your friend is using an ISP and a MIME-sensitive e-mail program, and further questioning revealed that you are using an older version of AOL's mail client. You would be advised to update your client software. Until then, ask him to see if he can mark the text of his message to be sent "without style". AOL also has a downloadable module that can handle MIME messages and attachments.

Q. I just upgraded Prodigy, and now when I start my Web browser it automatically goes to Prodigy.net as a home page. From there I can go to other places, but usually I don't want to go to Prodigy first. How do I fix it?

A. It sounds like Prodigy cavalierly set the home page preference to its own home page. For Internet Explorer, select Tools on the main menu, then Internet Options, and select the General page. The upper portion of the properties page will let you specify Use Current, Use Default, or Use Blank as your start-up page. There is a similar mechanism in Netscape's browsers.

Q. I have a laptop and it periodically goes into a suspend mode. I have disabled the screen saver via the Windows Desktop Properties and Suspend in the BIOS. What is causing the suspend?

A. Suspend is used to taking a snapshot of the machine and putting a machine into a "fast restart" mode so that you don't have to go through a full boot. Turning it off in the BIOS is only half of the solution. You should also go into the Power Saver settings. Look in the Windows control panel, and also look in the C-MOS BIOS settings.

Q. I am trying to install a software application that I use at work on my home machine. It reads the install floppy first, then the CD. Then it starts the installation and crashes. I have recorded the module and address of the crash. Any suggestions?

A. Sometimes it can be that the CD-ROM hasn't gotten up to speed in time and the software times out. To get the CD up to speed, you might try using Windows Explorer and take a look at the CD before the installation program calls for it. One tech support person suggested that you go to www.deja.com and put the module and address (such as Kernel c800:00001234) in the search window. Often this will reveal a known problem--and with luck a workaround. Recently this revealed a problem with a video driver. Another possibility is that the package has a restriction as to how many installations you can perform. If it is using a diskette as part of the installation, it might have a copy/installation protection scheme in play.

Q. Has anyone tried using e-Scoop as an ISP?

A. Yes. Works fine.

Q. A Mac question: I am using an application (Word), and I would like it to remember to maximize the document window within the application. I can use the icons in the upper right corner to minimize, or to go to a sizable window. How do I get it to go to a "full screen" window?

A. If you are using the most recent release of the OS-8, the application will remember your preferences. So maximize the window by dragging the margin. It will then remember the size when you minimize and restore it to the size that you had.

Random Access

Instant Replay: October 1999

*Bruce Preston, Moderator*
Q. A friend just purchased a new laptop computer. It came with an operating system but no application software. In looking in the stores and catalogs, almost everything that we find is an "upgrade" release rather than the "full product." How do we get the first installation? A. You qualify for the "upgrade" release if you own a copy of any of the qualifying products listed on the upgrade box. The qualifying product need not be physically installed on the machine; you only have to show proof of purchase. This can be in two forms. With some, showing/faxing the title page or first diskette to the vendor is sufficient. With others, the installation program has a "snuffer" routine that looks for qualifying products. Even then, the product need not be installed on the machine, since the snuffer will often instruct you to "browse" to the product's location, which may be the installation diskette for the previous product. Q. A related question: I have MS Office 95 and am considering Office 2000. Do I have to upgrade to Office 97 first before I can get to Office 2000? A. No, usually the upgrade pricing will go back several major releases, including older releases of competitive products. Q. When I purchased my machine, I asked for the upgrade pricing for Office, since the machine I am retiring has the suite. The dealer said that would cost more. Why? A. Dealers get the OEM version of products such as Office at a deep discount. They would have to acquire the upgrade version individually without a volume discount. Q. At "computer fairs" I see office suites marked "Not For Resale." What are these? A. Not for Resale, or NFR may be from several sources. They could be out-of-date OEM overstocks being liquidated. Often the OEM versions do not include printed documentation. If it is the current release, they are more likely to be copies obtained through the educational resale pricing. These are copies intended for educational institutions, libraries, non-profit foundations, etc., and are intended to be sold only to people who meet the requirements. Sale to general "consumers" violates the software contract. There have also been cases of pirated software being sold, although the publishers are very active in watching for and prosecuting vendors of pirated software. While they have been successful in taking vendors to court here in America, they have been less successful in prosecuting piracy in countries that do not have or enforce intellectual property rights. Being enrolled in an adult education class may be sufficient to qualify for an educational discount. Q. I recently purchased a Logitech Internet Keyboard and installed it on my Compaq desktop machine. I am having problems: for one, every time I move the mouse, the machine beeps! I worked with Logitech, and they eventually exchanged it, but I still have the problem. Logitech refers to the problem as a "beeping" keyboard. Does anyone else have one of these devices, and how does it work? A. No one else was familiar with this device; it has only recently been introduced. The keyboard has extra controls for scrolling windows while browsing, adjusting the speaker volume, etc. The best suggestion we can make is to continue to work with Logitech. They are usually very responsive to user problems. You also might try calling Compaq to see if they have any reported problems, but don't be surprised if they tell you that they only support their own keyboards. Q. I've been getting e-mails from a friend for about a year, with no problem. Lately I've been getting messages containing extra characters such as "&nbsp" that appear to be randomly sprinkled through the message. A. Those are codes usually used in HTML to signal the browser that the blank is not to be removed. Your friend is using an ISP and a MIME-sensitive e-mail program, and further questioning revealed that you are using an older version of AOL's mail client. You would be advised to update your client software. Until then, ask him to see if he can mark the text of his message to be sent "without style". AOL also has a downloadable module that can handle MIME messages and attachments. Q. I just upgraded Prodigy, and now when I start my Web browser it automatically goes to Prodigy.net as a home page. From there I can go to other places, but usually I don't want to go to Prodigy first. How do I fix it? A. It sounds like Prodigy cavalierly set the home page preference to its own home page. For Internet Explorer, select Tools on the main menu, then Internet Options, and select the General page. The upper portion of the properties page will let you specify Use Current, Use Default, or Use Blank as your start-up page. There is a similar mechanism in Netscape's browsers. Q. I have a laptop and it periodically goes into a suspend mode. I have disabled the screen saver via the Windows Desktop Properties and Suspend in the BIOS. What is causing the suspend? A. Suspend is used to taking a snapshot of the machine and putting a machine into a "fast restart" mode so that you don't have to go through a full boot. Turning it off in the BIOS is only half of the solution. You should also go into the Power Saver settings. Look in the Windows control panel, and also look in the C-MOS BIOS settings. Q. I am trying to install a software application that I use at work on my home machine. It reads the install floppy first, then the CD. Then it starts the installation and crashes. I have recorded the module and address of the crash. Any suggestions? A. Sometimes it can be that the CD-ROM hasn't gotten up to speed in time and the software times out. To get the CD up to speed, you might try using Windows Explorer and take a look at the CD before the installation program calls for it. One tech support person suggested that you go to www.deja.com and put the module and address (such as Kernel c800:00001234) in the search window. Often this will reveal a known problem--and with luck a workaround. Recently this revealed a problem with a video driver. Another possibility is that the package has a restriction as to how many installations you can perform. If it is using a diskette as part of the installation, it might have a copy/installation protection scheme in play. Q. Has anyone tried using e-Scoop as an ISP? A. Yes. Works fine. Q. A Mac question: I am using an application (Word), and I would like it to remember to maximize the document window within the application. I can use the icons in the upper right corner to minimize, or to go to a sizable window. How do I get it to go to a "full screen" window? A. If you are using the most recent release of the OS-8, the application will remember your preferences. So maximize the window by dragging the margin. It will then remember the size when you minimize and restore it to the size that you had.

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 sessions at general meetings, Bruce also leads the Access SIG.