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Text File | 1993-08-16 | 22.7 KB | 396 lines

---------------------------------------------------------------- COMPUTING TIPS, TRICKS AND TRAPS ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes it takes months or years to stumble onto the ESSENTIAL tips, tricks and traps with which every new PC user should become acquainted. Let's discuss a few of the more important items which never seem to be covered adequately in the instruction book which arrives with the computer . . . Don't experiment with ORIGINAL copies of your files! If you want to tinker with a word processing file or slice and dice your accounting data FIRST make a floppy or hard disk copy of the file and then work on the COPY in case something goes wrong. That way you will have the original to fall back on in case you need it. Don't buy floppy disks when the price is too good to believe. If your data is worth anything at all, a few pennies more can make the difference between having that important business letter obtainable or a dreaded error message on the screen that your file format is unreadable just when you needed that file at 3 AM. Make backup copies of important files. If the data is REALLY important, keep yet a second or third copy in a safe deposit box in case your home or office burns down! Sounds a little severe, but just wait until you discover the joy of doing your income tax return on your PC (fantastic compared to the old pen and pencil way) and then discover somehow the ONLY copy of the file is no good when the IRS decides to perform a routine audit! For backup you might want to switch from the COPY command to the sensational DOS XCOPY command (available in DOS versions 3.2 and later) which also allows file copying and backup using additional parameter switches which you can read about in your DOS manual. For example the /S switch used with XCOPY will copy all files from your subdirectories to the new target disk. Adding /P to XCOPY will cause a pause at each step to ask whether you want each file copied. Using the /D switch followed by a date will allow you to copy only those files created or modified on that date or later. All three of these switches can be used in tandem. Here's a standard tip which is so simple most people overlook it. Whenever you buy a box of new diskettes, FORMAT them immediately. Why? Reason one: you will find out if any disks are bad and be able to return to the store rather than be down to your last (surprise: defective!) disk when you need it. Reason two: usually you are right in the middle of a long word processed document and need to save the file, but OOPS, your current disk is full. No problem. Just reach into the desk drawer and grab an empty floppy disk. SURPRISE! The floppy disk is NOT FORMATTED which forces you to exit your word processor, lose the data permanently from RAM memory, and format the disk just as you should have in the first place. Beginners luck, I guess. . . Here's an extremely important tip most beginners should consider: AT class computers and those containing a 80286 CPU chip also contain a special battery to maintain the "setup configuration." This battery will eventually die and thus cause you to lose your important setup data. The first sign that your battery is going are mysterious losses of time and dates. Other "strange" data losses may start to occur. Eventually your computer will even refuse to start! Preventative maintenance suggests that you dig around on your DOS disk(s) and locate the SETUP program. Run setup and when you see the configuration report screen (lots of funny numbers and settings), hit the SHIFT-PRTSC (Shift key and Print Screen key pressed at the same time). This will force a printout of the valuable setup data to paper. You can also obtain shareware and commercial software programs that will store this data to disk. Most experienced users deal with the situation by making a copy of this setup data onto a "safety disk." If your battery dies, you will be able to quickly reconstruct the setup data from your paper sheet or safety disk after replacing the battery and running the setup program (or safety disk backup program.) A better method, of course, is to realize that the battery contained inside the computer lasts for about 2 to 4 years and simply keep a record (much like oil changes on your car) and manually replace it well before the deadline. Of course when you replace it, run the setup program and record the setup data on paper, since once you remove the battery the data will be lost from memory. You might investigate newer battery systems which automatically recharge themselves from the power source of the computer and thus never need replacement. IBM originally designed this feature, by the way, to supplant the older "dip switch system" on the first PC's. In older computers of the XT design, a user had to remove the PC cover and carefully set tiny switches deep inside the computer whenever a different circuit board or monitor system was used. This was tedious, so the software equivalent of the tiny switches were created in memory with settings stored by battery (when the computer was shut down). This allowed users to change the setup from the keyboard using the DOS setup program from the DOS disk rather than removing the cover and fiddling with switches. The downside is that now we must replace the battery periodically and of course record the setup data on paper or disk. Technology marches on! Here's an "insider's" tip power users are familiar with. When working with long text or document files such as instructions for shareware packages, business letters and other text files it is frequently useful to extract small portions to a separate file or print for future reference. Power users frequently use the shareware program LIST which browses or displays these documents and can "clip" screens using the frequently overlooked ALT-O key (press and hold ALT then hit O). Assuming LIST is currently browsing your document, it will ask for the name of a file to create which you may supply (e.g., custom.doc). List will extract that single screen of data to the file. As you continue browsing the document, hitting ALT-O will append or add any additional screens to the special target file! When finished you have a compact file of extracted text data which you can save, print or edit with your word processor rather than wading through endless screens of the lengthy master document! LIST is available from all shareware vendors, many computer clubs and individual users. Several shareware vendors are listed in the PC-Learn tutorial on software. Want the ultimate simple database? Combine LIST with any simple word processor or text editor. Using your word processor type in any list of ideas, phone numbers, addresses, parts inventory which needs to be tracked. Save the information on disk as an ASCII (plain text) file. Load the file into LIST using the appropriate command (e.g., LIST INFO.DOC) and use the high speed search feature by pressing the F key (F for find) and enter a search phrase to locate (e.g., Denver). List will locate that phrase and the information near it very rapidly. Pressing the F3 key will take you to the NEXT occurrence of the same search phrase. When finished, hit the HOME key to return to the top of the document to begin a new search. Technically you could use your word processor's search feature to locate information also, but LIST is quicker and more flexible. To update your simple database, periodically edit the master document with your word processor to change, delete or update entries. When you turn on your computer each morning does DOS greet you with several prompts instead of one? Do you see: C> C> C> This is easy to fix since most beginners are unaware that someone has probably tinkered with the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and inadvertantly added a few extra carriage returns to the end of the file by pressing the return key several times when the file was orginally created and saved on disk. Simply load AUTOEXEC.BAT back into your word processor and remove all (usually invisible) lines and spaces and carriage returns at the end of the file (use the delete key). Resave the file as ASCII text with the same name and your problem should disappear. Beginners also need to know about the alternate keyboard. Sometimes you need a special symbol like the cents sign, the British currency (pounds sterling) symbol, or the one half fraction sign. IBM compatable computers contain an "alternate keyboard" system which allows access to special math, foreign language and graphics symbols. The source is a special ASCII chart printed in the appendix of your DOS manual as well as most computer reference books. It's easy to use this system: while you are in your word processor, DOS or other program, press AND CONTINUOUSLY HOLD DOWN the Alt key and then USING ONLY THE NUMBER KEYS ON THE NUMERIC KEYPAD (to the right of the keyboard, not the normal number keys above the keyboard) hit the three digit DECIMAL number code of the special character you need. For example, from the ASCII table in the back of my DOS manual I note that the symbol for the British currency Pound is decimal code 156. I hold down the Alt key, press in sequence the three numbers 156 on the numeric keypad and finally release the ALT key to get the proper symbol on my screen. There are many useful symbols for foreign languages, math, fractions, foreign currency, symbols to draw boxes, lines and useful graphics symbols. Note that these ASCII symbols will usually display properly on your screen but MIGHT NOT print properly on your printer since some are used for special control codes and other activities. Many will, however, display on both your screen and printer. Jot down the codes for the most interesting ASCII symbols to keep near your keyboard! By the way, PC-Magazine published a shareware utility called ASC.COM several years ago (available from many computer clubs and BBS systems) which can "pop up" over many of your programs and display the full ASCII code table for quick reference and handy use if you don't want to go searching for the ASCII index in the back of your DOS manual. Before leaving the discussion about the alternate keyboard, note that crucial control of your printer - setting various typefaces and features - can be provided via a combination of batch files and use of the alternate keyboard. See the printer discussion at the end of the PC-Learn batch file tutorial elsewhere on this disk. Absolutely lethal trick: If you get the message ABORT, RETRY IGNORE? from DOS while you are attempting to copy files from one drive or disk to another DO NOT EVER switch disks in the target drive (i.e., the drive to which files will be sent) then answer RETRY. If you do, you will end up with a hopelessly scrambled mess on the target disk if it already has important files in place. This can occur, for example, when you try to copy files to a disk which has a write protect tab in place. Your temptation might be to insert another different disk and retry. However, when DOS copies files, it first reads the directory of the target disk and stores it in memory. If you switch disks, the in-memory copy of the directory of the OLD disk will overwrite the directory of the new disk. Best situation in this case is to answer abort and rekey the operation again (shortcut with DOS is hit F3 to automatically reissue the last command) then try another disk, if necessary. There are other ways this dangerous situation might arise besides a write protect tab, so be careful. Don't install or change add-in circuit boards or cards within your computer with the power on. And be extremely careful about static electricity. Try to briefly touch a metal ground such as a lamp or metal window frame to discharge stray static electricity before you touch your fingers inside the PC. Static electricity discharges can blow out one or several integrated circuit chips and leave you with a repair bill of $300 or more! If you ever see the message: ARE YOU SURE (Y/N)? always answer no unless you really know what is going to happen next! This message usually precedes disaster as DOS prepares to delete all of the files on a floppy disk or format your hard drive and wipe out all data. Don't invite dumb power problems. You are typing the last draft of a valuable client contract and your 30 foot long power cord dangles in front of both family cats on its meandering way across the middle of the living room carpet to the wall socket. It is plugged into a rat's nest of four way plug adapters along with high-current drawing air conditioners and toaster ovens. This is a great way to send your data to toaster heaven while we are on the subject. Treat your hard drive with EXTREME tender loving care while it is spinning. No bumps, jolts, slams or ramma-lamma-ding-dongs! One little bump will send the read/write heads plowing into the spinning disk surface. Kind of like a 747 jet crash into the library of congress. Translation: large data catastrophe! If your data is sensitive and you lock the keyboard with that cute little key which slips into the front panel of your machine, DON'T forget to remove the mouse or other input devices. Since a mouse is an alternate input device, a savvy user can easily direct the computer to spill forth its information even while the keyboard is locked. Use the DOS command DISKCOPY in ONLY two cases: to make a backup copy of new commercial software OR when you have somehow damaged a disk and want to work on it with the Norton utilities or some other recovery program. For all other copies you are safer to use the COPY or XCOPY command. Reason? DISKCOPY does not remove file fragmentation which COPY does. Second reason? DISKCOPY can attempt to copy good information onto a target disk sector which has formatted bad or is otherwise unavailable to DOS. Use COPY *.* to copy all files on a disk and you will simultaneously copy everything and unfragment the files. Two operations for the price of one! Thunderstorm coming? Shut down the computer and unplug it from the wall INCLUDING the modem or telephone line! LIghtning hits to the power or phone line send very high voltages hurtling down the wire. If you prefer you can leave the computer plugged in and chose as to whether you wish your PC scrambled, sunnyside up or just deep fried! Never switch or remove disks in the middle of an aborted program operation. If for some reason you get an error message in the middle of a file copying session or disk writing operation, don't swap in another disk! DOS may think the old disk is still there and continue to write the remainder of the data over something valuable on the new disk! Better to stop what you are doing and issue a non-writing command such as VER or DIR or even shut down the computer in extreme situations rather than mangle two disks with misinformation. Be careful using the DOS commands ASSIGN, FORMAT and RECOVER. Especially if you are being a little too clever and change disk drive letters with the DOS commands ASSIGN, JOIN and SUBST. What happens is that you might temporarily rename your hard drive the B: drive and then absent-mindedly try to format B: or recover B: which will lead to a lot of deleted data on your hard drive. Generally the RECOVER command is best removed from your DOS subdirectory and never used. It is just too dangerous! If you delete some files by accident, Norton Utilities, PC Tools and several other utility programs can bring them back if you are quick to use them and haven't created or changed any files since the accident. Best to go out and get a copy of Norton, PC Tools or a shareware unerase utility (e.g., Bakers Dozen) before the need arises. Then practice using them on a dummy disk for the likely day you need them. Be careful when using the powerful DOS redirection and piping commands discussed in our earlier DOS tutorial. (example) a>sort < this.doc (sorts contents of this.doc on column one and displays contents on the monitor - a nice idea!) (example) a>sort > this.doc (trashes any existing this.doc and gives it a file length of zero! Bad news!) The same advice also applies to using the MORE command with redirection arrows < > since you can likewise wipe out data files. Watch the direction of those cute little redirection arrows! Same thing applies to using the redirection arrows when you write batch files. Look at the sample line from a batch file listing below: (example) ECHO -------->This message is important! In the above example, DOS will erroneously think the little > redirection symbol is telling it to create a file named THIS and use ECHO to redirect text from that line of the batch file into the file. A goofy, dangerous result! Another good boner is the following batch file example: (example) ECHO Now use the c>prompt to return to DOS The above perfectly innocent batch file line creates a file called PROMPT because DOS spots the > symbol and does what you told it to do! Instructions mean business! If program documentation says MUST BE USED ON A COLOR MONITOR don't try to run it on your hercules or monochrome system. Software can indeed destroy a monitor and it only takes a second! Know what your monitor and display card can handle and be SURE that the intended software matches hardware capabilities. If you suspect a business or individual may be illegally using a commercial software package, for example buying one copy and then installing MANY copies on various machines, you should report the violation to the Software Publishers Association. Call tollfree: 800/388-7478. SPA use of Federal and State law enforcement methods is sudden and highly visible. The SPA is quite aggressive on this point. The majority of calls received by the SPA are from "whistleblowing" employees within a business which is illegally using software. If you use a RAMDISK to hold data be sure to stop every half hour and copy the information into a more permanent floppy or hard disk area in case of power failures. In fact every half hour, check to see that your data from ANY program is transferred to magnetic disk. No exceptions! For those using the newer disks having 1.44 Meg and 720 K sizes - those little plastic diskettes - don't swap and mix formats willy nilly. Label the diskettes clearly and know the format density (1.44M or 720K) with which you are working. If data is sensitive and you want it GONE from snooping eyes, use a utility like Norton's WIPEFILE to truly delete it from the disk so an office curiosity seeker can't bring it back with an unerase utility! Likewise, some word processors create backup files having the extension BAK. You may think you have deleted that sensitive client proposal when a second document CLIENT.BAK also exists! DOS manuals make reference to the VERIFY command. You can add the /V switch to the COPY command to supposedly verify the accuracy of the second file copy. Likewise you can turn VERIFY ON and VERIFY OFF from within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Unfortunately, the VERIFY command does a rudimentary CRC check which can test only gross errors in file transfers. To be sure the second copy is good, use the COMP command which, although slow, is deadly reliable when you "gotta be sure." The FC command found in MSDOS versions is even better and DOS manuals discuss its use. Likewise use the DISKCOMP command whenever you use DISKCOPY if you absolutely have to be certain that the second diskette is PERFECTLY identical to the first. Tutorial finished. Have you registered PC-Learn to receive your bonus disks? Registration is encouraged. Shareware works on the honor system! Send $25 to Seattle Scientific Photography, Department PCL6, PO Box 1506, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Latest version of PC-Learn and two bonus disks shipped promptly!